If you are touring Ireland with children, especially very young ones, please read the article about Touring Ireland with Kids, which has a ton of useful tips and advice which will help ensure your trip runs smoothly – for everyone. The posts below are all specifically tagged as ‘fun for kids’ – but that doesn’t mean that kids will hate everywhere else! These are simply the most reliably fun things to do and places to visit in Ireland for the majority of kids.
A fantastic Arts festival specially for kids, with music, dance, theatre, literature, film, puppetry, story telling and much more aimed at children aged from three years to 16 years.
It’s lively and entertaining and there is much for adults to enjoy also with both outdoor spectacle and imaginative and exciting events.
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Step through the wardrobe and travel the Narnia Trail to visit Green Santa in what is probably Ireland’s most magical Christmas adventure.
No tacky plastic toys either – kids go home with a tiny tree that Santa helped them to plant and a magic seed shaker that will attract fairies (or butterflies at least) to their garden.
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This annual event is intended to get kids involved in, and enjoying, reading and there are activities and events for all ages, from tiny tots to teens.
It is not specific to any location and activities will be running in libraries, schools and arts centres all over the country throughout the month of October.
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Dunamase Castle, built on a high limestone outcrop overlooking a flat plain, has been a ruin for almost 700 years, but is still worth seeing.
There is a magical atmosphere about the place, and magnificent views over the surrounding countryside.
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Children are welcomed almost everywhere in Ireland, but touring anywhere as a family can have its moments!
We’ve loads of advice and tips here to keep you keep everyone safe, happy and entertained.
Read MoreMitchellstown varies from most of Ireland’s other show caves in being a very low key place, still owned and run by the same family on whose land it was discovered in 1833. You buy your ticket at the family’s home, there are basic amenities like toilets and picnic tables available, but no shop, cafe or other facilities.
This is in my book a very wonderful thing, a great break from the normal highly commercialised tourist experience.
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Known as the ‘dead zoo’ to Dubliners this is an amazing collection of animals, insects and birds in a beautiful and historic museum building. Sadly it is closed at present for renovation, following the collapse of an old staircase, but it will reopen some time in 2009 – we’ll keep you posted.
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Dublin is a good city for kids, with lots of attractions they will enjoy and activities specially aimed at younger visitors.
However touring as a family means a different approach and a different pace then if there are just adults, and these three days are specially designed to ensure that all the family have fun.
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This has always been an excellent museum to visit, especially with children who particularly love the natural history section. It was extensively refurbished in recent years and now has greatly expanded facilities and a regular programme of special events.
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An interesting old house in a beautiful location with Clew Bay on one side and a serenely lovely lake on the other.
There is a virtual theme park in the grounds, which won’t be to everyone’s taste but is terrific fun for kids.
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This is the big event of the year for Irish show jumpers and horse breeders, a hugely competitive event with classes for all types of horse from tiny ponies to thoroughbred stallions.
And it’s not just the horses who are in competition. It’s an event for the style conscious too, with hotly contested best-dressed events for both women and men.
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This fascinating centre tells the often tragic story of Irish emigration in a most vivid way and also commemorates the departure of the Titanic from Cove on its final voyage.
Not a traditional museum, it has reconstructions of what life was like in an emigrant ship and is located in the train stations which was the their last stop in Ireland.
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