We arrived in County Wickford after spending a couple of nights in Dublin with Mick, Leonie, Imogen and Mike and Ann. Dublin is a beautiful city and we have not done it justice for the short time we stayed there. It will be a city that we return to. Judy texted me a name of a restaurant "Winding Stair" that had a review in the Good Reading Magazine back in Australia. We were able to reserve a table for the 4 of us left in the City, which were Mike, Ann, Paul and myself. I am so glad that we booked as it was a very popular place as people were being turned away. The food was delicious and not that expensive. Great tip Judy, glad you are reading the subscription I gave you.
Venturing out on our
first day in County Wickford “The Irish Garden”. Avondale House and
Forest Park was a complete surprise to us as we were heading off to visit
Glendalough a famous monastery when we took the wrong turn which happens
frequently here in Ireland especially to Paul and me. Our friends had left us
with a Paddy Paddy aka Tom Tom, however, you are not always guaranteed a signal
especially in the mountains where we started from.
The forest park is some 214 hectares and I reckon we walked at least 212 of them! The park lies on the west bank of Avonmore River and is lined with lovely towering conifers. As you walk along the River Trail you see where the trees are desperately hanging onto the earth as some parts of the riverbank have eroded. Some of the trees look like they could topple into the water at any moment. As we walked along there was evidence of where trees had been felled and a sign attached to the stump apologising to the public for this action. A note at the end of the apology stated that a new tree has been planted for the tree that needed to be chopped down. We did get caught in a couple of heavy showers of rain, however, we kept mostly dry as we had that many huge trees to choose from to stand under. Our raincoats were left in our knapsack back in our cottage! (I had my hands full with maps and other incidental items and I thought that Paul had picked up the knapsack and vice versa.)
Avondale House was built in 1777 for Samuel Hayes, a barrister, also known as the “tree man of Avondale”. His passion for trees led him to write a book on Irish Forestry. Avondale passed to the Parnell Family in 1795, and on 27 June 1846 when Ireland was in the grip of famine, Charles Stewart Parnell was born. Charles went into politics (not when he was a baby) but as a young man and went on to become one of the greatest leaders of modern Irish history. In O’Connell Street, Dublin, you can see a massive triangular obelisk of granite, fronted by a bronze statue of Charles Parnell – “The Uncrowned King of Ireland”.
The forest park is some 214 hectares and I reckon we walked at least 212 of them! The park lies on the west bank of Avonmore River and is lined with lovely towering conifers. As you walk along the River Trail you see where the trees are desperately hanging onto the earth as some parts of the riverbank have eroded. Some of the trees look like they could topple into the water at any moment. As we walked along there was evidence of where trees had been felled and a sign attached to the stump apologising to the public for this action. A note at the end of the apology stated that a new tree has been planted for the tree that needed to be chopped down. We did get caught in a couple of heavy showers of rain, however, we kept mostly dry as we had that many huge trees to choose from to stand under. Our raincoats were left in our knapsack back in our cottage! (I had my hands full with maps and other incidental items and I thought that Paul had picked up the knapsack and vice versa.)
Avondale House was built in 1777 for Samuel Hayes, a barrister, also known as the “tree man of Avondale”. His passion for trees led him to write a book on Irish Forestry. Avondale passed to the Parnell Family in 1795, and on 27 June 1846 when Ireland was in the grip of famine, Charles Stewart Parnell was born. Charles went into politics (not when he was a baby) but as a young man and went on to become one of the greatest leaders of modern Irish history. In O’Connell Street, Dublin, you can see a massive triangular obelisk of granite, fronted by a bronze statue of Charles Parnell – “The Uncrowned King of Ireland”.
Setting the Paddy
Paddy, we ventured off to another close by attraction “Meeting of the Waters”
before heading back to our accommodation. This is where the Avonmore (large
river) meets Avonbeg (Small River). This area is another lovely picnic spot
with tables and bbq’s for the locals and tourists to sit and enjoy the view of
the rivers. It is also famous for the tree of “Thomas Moore” where the poet
would sit and compose his poetry. Paulapedia fact - Thomas Moore is the Irish
equivalent to “Robbie Burns” from Scotland. Moving on from here we stopped at
Avoca where Ballykissangel series was filmed. The houses in the main street that were used
in the production are all painted in beautiful soft colours and the street is
well maintained. On our journey home when our Paddy Paddy died we only went
around in a circle once. I was driving at this stage and mentioned to Paul that
we needed to get around the mountains, soon enough we were back on the wee
winding track that led us to Knockanarrigan and our accommodation. Another meal
cooked by me, red wine and a movie on the life of Peter Sellers and we were
ready for bed tired from the 212 hectares!
Avondale House
Ballykissangel - the main street in Avoca
Erosion on the bank of the river
Gatekeepers cottage at the entrance to Avondale House
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