We decided to start the coastal walk at Killesk church (Eircode Y34 AV90) on the Duncannon road as it allowed us to park our car in a safe location and it removed all the road walking from this trail. The church entrance is opposite the trail here. We have a 6-week old baby in our hiking family, so we needed to bring our buggies and avoid the metal stairs at the Arthurstown start point here.

Walk key information

** This trail is open to the public but it is not fully finished yet**

• Distance- out and back walk 4km total
• Time- 1 hour 30mins – 2 hours (With kids)
• Parking- Available at church (Eircode Y34 AV90) or Arthurstown Quay
• Difficulty- 3 out of 10. The path is not finished yet.
• Recommendation- 7 out of 10. This has great potential when complete.
• Buggy friendly- Very bumpy must start from Duncannon side
• Length- 2km to Arthurstown and 2km back to Duncannon, 4km total.

About the Arthurstown to Duncannon walk

Killesk Church is directly opposite our starting point. We parked on the church grounds and started our walk on a dust path that cuts through the farmland of Dunbrody house. The walk initially cuts through 2 fields with distant sea views to our left. This is a perfect location to let the 2 and 4-year-olds release energy after their long drive. You can find out more about this beautiful Wexford coast walk here.

We reach a cross junction with some old signposts point straight on. Turn left here and go down the hill into the mature woodland. The map below shows the correct route to take.

We continued straight (this was the wrong direction) and walked until we reached the Dunbrody house hotel. We knew this was not correct and turned around.

Junction for Arthurstown coastal path

After we turned down the hill toward Arthurstown, we walked into a shaded dense woodland. The forest floor was covered in thousands of bluebells.

The path had a very poor surface which was barely suitable for buggies but with a bit of Daddy power, we made our way down to the bottom. The hill down was steep and all we were thinking was how hard this was going to be walking back up with 2 buggies.

When we came out of the woodland we were greeted with beautiful coastal views. The path cut through dense gorse bushes on one side and the sea filled with passing boats on the other side. The gorse bushes provided an amazing coconut scent to our walk.

We walked to the end of the trail where Wexford Council are adjusting the walk to provide better access at the Arthurstown starting point. We had a small picnic here admiring the beautiful Wexford coastline. Wexford is really a beautiful county.

Would we recommend the Arthurstown to Duncannon Coastal Walk?

Yes, our children loved this walk. When the signposting and surface are improved, we can see this walk becoming an annual walk for our little family. It’s hard to give negative feedback about the lack of signs, as it’s still a work in progress. Once this walk is finished it will be a fabulous walk.

Is the coastal walk child safe?

We feel it is safe for children. Most of the dangerous sections are either fenced off or not too steep. If you don’t walk the Duncannon road section the walk is totally safe and really beautiful.

Is the walk buggy friendly?

It is buggy friendly to an extent. If you have a big-wheeled buggy it would be more suited to this trail. We walked this trail with a mountain buggy and travel buggy but did find it difficult in stages due to surface conditions.

Note– It’s only buggy friendly from the Duncannon side as there is a large metal staircase on the Arthurstown side of the walk.

Activities after our walk- Duncannon Beach

Sadly, this was our first time visiting Duncannon. We drove down to the beach and to our great surprise and excitement we could drive onto the beach. This proved to be a great novelty with the children and parents alike.

This was a great spot for a bit of lunch, sandcastles and soaking our feet after our 4km walk. We highly recommend Duncannon beach after your Arthurstown to Duncannon walk.

This was a great way to finish off our Wexford adventure. We truly had a great time exploring these little hidden gems in Wexford. Hopefully, we can find some more.

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Cahore Beach Cliff Walk location

Cahore is about 20 minutes south of Courtown. The village of Cahore is best known as a fishing and holiday destination.

The starting point of the Cahore walk

We started the cliff walk at the pier here. There was lots of parking when we arrived but it was a cold windy December day.

As we parked at the pier and we brought a buggy with us (there are steps at the start) we walked back up the road to the strand Cahore restaurant and started our walk beside the coffee shop.

About the Wexford Cliff Walk

• Very Good path over 2 meters wide and perfect for a buggy.

• The walk is 2.5km out and back

• There are Great views of the coast filled with wildlife, beach and Cahore beach

• No large drops, it’s relatively safe for small kids

• Food is available at the start/end. The kids loved being able to get hot chocolate at the end of the walk. We were too early for the Pizza :(

• Lots of parking on the pier and the Strand restaurant

• Beach section optional- You can walk down to the beach at the turn around point

• Loop walk option is also available

• Buggy Friendly- One of our children is 2 years old and is out of her hiking bag and the buggy but the buggy is still being used.

Would we recommend the Cahore Cliff walk?

Yes, this cliff walk is perfect for families, our children are 4 & 2 years old at the minute and they loved this walk. At the end of the walk, you can walk down to Cahore Beach or just return the way you came.

Our Instagram Reel of our Cliff walk

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Please Check With the Covid guidelines and Restrictions before attempting any of these hikes. At present, there is a 5km restriction from your house so adventue and explore within your 5km local area and these hikes will be here for you when its safe to travel again. Stay safe, Thank You

1. Mount Leinster

Mount Leinster is the highest point in County Wexford and Carlow. It sits at an altitude of 795m and has road access to the summit. The walk starts at the 9 stones viewing point.

• Amazing Views from the top
• Tarmac Road to the Top
• Buggy Friendly to the mast only
• Very Steep (But rewarding)
• Allow 2-3 hours including breaks
• Optional hikes to Knockroe, and the Blackstairs

2. Raven point Wood

Ravin Point is situated beside Curracloe beach in County Wexford. The walk is a 7km long lopped walk with an additional option to do the return loop along the beach. The walk starts at the entrance to Raven wood. At the start of the walk, there is a large carpark but it fills up very quickly on the weekends so come early.

This is a lovely walk filled with woodland trails, beach walks and lots of sea views. Visit Wexford has a map available.

• Woodland section only buggy friendly
• 2-hour walk with stops for snacks and sandcastles
• 7km+ walk depending on the route
• Amazing quite beach
• Large car park

3. Edenvale

We only recently discovered Edenvale and it was by chance. We drove past the entrance one day and spotted the walk sign, so we decided to explore it. Edenvale is situated between the N11 to Wexford town and Castlebridge. The Walk is through a woodland trail that follows along the River Sow to a water pumping station. If you decide to explore the water plant bring straps to keep the kids safe. It is buggy-friendly until you reach the water plant at the end. A metal platform leads you to the rear of the plant where there are stairs that allows you to walk alongside the waterfall to the top. There you will see an old bridge and the ruins of an old building.

• 2.5km long
• Buggy friendly
• Bring straps for small kids
• Flat walk

4. Oulart Hill – Tulach A Tsolais 

At the top of Oulart Hill is a monument to the United Irishmen’s uprising of 1798 called Tulach a’ tSolais. The car park at the start of the walk is large with lots of information signs. The monument is a 500m walk away from the carpark and is buggy friendly out to the monument. The walkout to the monument is filled with 360-degree views of Wexford and surrounding counties. Additional walks can be done but they entail road walking and are not buggy friendly see our previous blog post and Wexford walking trails for more information.

• Large Carpark
• Easy walk to the monument
• 1km is the shortest walk
• Hilltop walk
• Buggy friendly
• Large Carpark
• Great views
• Kids love exploring the monument
• Additional walks available

5. Lackin Hill

Lackin Hill is situated just outside New Ross. The walk to Lackin Hill starts at the Dunbrody Forest Walk and is fully signposted with large information boards at the start see here. Our Kids love the 5km walk up to the top of Lacken Hill. It’s filled with a large fairy village 100m away from the start and Ourlittlehikers loved every step of this. The route to the top of Lackin Hill is not buggy friendly but is sprinkled with fairy doors painted onto trees to help motivate little legs. There are 4 walking routes available to walk in Lackin Hill.

• 5km walk
• Fairy village
• Large Cross at the summit
• Not buggy friendly
• Large Car park
• Additional walks available

6. Cahore Cliff Walk

The Cahore cliff walk starts beside Cahore pier. We walked up Cahore Strand road until we got to the start of the trail. The trail is 2.5km in total and is an out and back walk. The path is wide and in good condition. There are amazing views of the sea, lots of sandy beaches and lots of birds overhead. We went on a winter’s day, so lots of layers were essential to keep warm. You can walk on the beach at the end if the weather permits. We decided on a nice hot chocolate at Cahore Strand instead.

• 2.5km long out and back and an optional 5km looped walk
• Buggy friendly
• Great sea views
• Beach section at the end
• A coffee shop at the start/finish with pizza :)
• Lots of parking

7. Tintern Abbey

Tintern Abbey is a great stopping point if you plan to visit Hook lighthouse. Use Eircode Y34 KR64 to get to the carpark.  There is an admission fee into the Abbey and walled garden but there are amazing FREE walks around the grounds. This is a great place to explore. The grounds are filled with lots of distractions for children to explore and wander around. There are 4 walks available at the Abbey.

• Free admission to walks
• Free large carpark
• Buggy friendly walks
• Wood carvings/distractions
• Good paths/signs
• Woodland walks
• Nice bridge/river walks

8. Tara Hill

Tara Hill is a lovely forest walk in the village of Tara. There are 2 walks available and both require some road walking. The views from the top of Tara Hill are amazing and well worth an out and back walk if you do not want to do the road sections. This walk is not buggy friendly. The start of the walk can be accessed from here.

• Limited parking
• Not buggy friendly
• Great views from the top
• Road sections
• Poor signposts

9. Carrigfoyle Quarry

Carrigfoyle Quarry seems to be a bit of a hidden gem in Wexford. The walk around the quarry is currently receiving a facelift but you can still walk down to the lake and around sections of the higher forest. We still used the old car park at the side of the road but the new sign at the trailhead shows a new carpark here.

• Limited Parking but being extended
• Buggy friendly
• Amazing lake views
• Short loop walk
• 15 minutes from Wexford Town

10. Sliabh Coillte

Slieve Coillte is opposite the JFK Arboretum. The access road to the top of Slieve Coillte has opening times but access to the top is free. The road is 3km long to the top and can be walked or drove. There are a number of stopping and viewing points along the way to the top. At the top, there are nice loop walks around the summit along with a 1798 memorial and a trig point. Sliabh Coillte has stunning views and is a great starter high point to get young children interested in walking and hiking.

• Stunning views
• Free access
• Large carpark
• A short walk around the summit
• Visit JFK Arboretum after
• Great picnic location

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• Good path to the summit

• Limited Parking

• 8km out and back

• Hiking boots required

• No sign posts

• Amazing views

Knockroe Blackstairs Mountains/ Mount Leinster Carlow

Our little family hike on Knockroe in County Carlow which borders County Wexford and the Blackstairs mountains. The mountain sits at a height of 540m and is overshadowed by its neighbour Mount Leinster. The hike can be started from Scullogue gap car park or from Mount Leinster/ the nine stones. The hike up Knokroe from Scullogue gap is 4km out and 4km back- 8km in total.

Knockroe Bombing History

To give a very brief history of the bombing event. In 1941, a German bomber dropped 8 bombs at Knockroe with the third bomb hitting the Shannon Family farmhouse and killing 3 members of the family. Additional information can be found here and here.

Parking to hike Knockroe

This guide will detail how to hike Knockroe from the Blackstairs/ Scullogue gap side of the mountain. It is also possible to park at the 9 stones and hike over Mount Leinster and then onto Knockroe. The section of the hike is done on the Blackstairs mountains challenge.

Parking at Scullogue gap is done in two places “Scullogue Gap car park” and “Shannon’s lane parking”.

The hike starts at the bottom of a Shannons lane. The Eircode of the farmer’s house at the bottom of the lane is possibly the easiest way to find the parking/starting point. The Eircode of the farmer’s house is R95A5X2. There is enough space in both places to park 4-5 cars at each location.

Knockroe Hike – Blackstairs mountains

We started the hike at the sign of the 1941 bombing. Initially, we felt we were walking up a private lane but the lane is a trail to Knockroe.

The hike to the summit of Knockroe is a steady climb to the top. The hike is a nice quiet, safe hike. The cottage that was bombed in 1941 is 300m on the right-hand side.

We eventually reach a pedestrian gate and start gaining in height. We walked sandwiched between two stone walls and the Blackstairs mountains start to become visible behind us the higher we walk.

At the start of the forest, we reach another gate. After the gate, we are greeted with two very old abandoned stone cottages. Ourlittlehiker cannot understand why these houses have no roofs and why sheep are living in the house :)

After the forest, the stone walls disappear but the trail is still very prominent. We continue to follow the trail and now we can see mount Leinster in front of us.

Between the base of Mount Leinster and Knockroe, the trail up Knockroe starts to circle around the base slightly but then zig-zags to our left-hand side gaining height upward toward the summit.

Summit of Knockroe

At the summit of Knockroe, there is a ruin of an old house/building. We briefly had a quick look around but continued our hike down to the Holy cross on the other side of the hill.

We followed the trial already warn into the top of the hill downhill toward the cross.

Our Instagram Reel of the Hike

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Knockroe Map

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About our Pumpkin patch Ireland Experience:

Ballycross apple farm is a real working farm and it’s home to the delicious Ballycross apple juice. There is a great mixture of woodland walks, meeting the witch at the amazing witches village, pumpkin picking, tractor rides,  animals, go-karts, bouncy castles, coffee shops, food stands, and ice cream vans. There is a long drive up to it and there is a big field on your left-hand side where you can park free of charge.

How to get to the Pumpkin Picking at Ballycross Wexford:

Ballycross Apple farm is around 15mins drive from Wexford town and is a 10-minute drive from Kilmore Quay which is famous for its delicious fresh fish. It is just outside the Village of Bridgetown. If you are coming from the Wexford direction you turn left at the t-junction at Centra in Bridgetown and then take a right, you will pass St. David’s Well housing estate, Ballycross is on the right-hand side on this road. you will see a sign at the entrance.

General opening times:

Open every Saturday and Sunday 12pm-6pm

Open throughout Mid-term 26th October-3rd November from 12pm-6pm daily.

Cost:

Child: €4.50

Adult: €5.50

Family (2+2) €19

Family (2+3) €20

The walk to the witches village

On the way in, when you pay, you get a lovely colorful map to show you where everything is. Before we got started exploring we bought some hotdogs and sat at a picnic table in the courtyard. The sun was shining and it was lovely there, we couldn’t have asked for a nicer picnic location.

Once we finished our snacks we started our journey to find some witches and pumpkins. We could have queued up to go on the trailer ride (€1.50 each) to the witches village but it was such a lovely Autumn day and we love a good walk so it was an easy decision to make. The walk was very well signposted and there was a lovely mixture of woodland and wildflower meadows, then more woodland and you cross a little wooden bridge and then walk along the edge of an apple orchard and a field where there is a pumpkin patch until you reach the witches village on your right

The witch was far too nice to be a bad witch, Our girls loved her, she was so nice and friendly. My phone ran out of memory and my mam left her phone in the car, so the witch gave me a lend of her phone to take pictures and then she sent them to my phone. She was so sweet and Ourlittlehikers loved her, she was so good with young kids.

Once we explored the witches village we went into the next field to pick pumpkins. We walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere and then made our way back to the start. We already had a pumpkin at home so we decided to buy a forever pumpkin back in the gift shop, It was a lovely big metal pumpkin.

We finished our day with Icecream cones from the retro icecream van. It’s not a day trip if it isn’t finished with Icecream.

The witches Village

Conclusion of Ballycross Pumpkin Picking

We loved our day trip to Ballycross Apple Farm, it was a lovely family outing. The day was very entertaining and filled to the neck with little details that our little girls loved. We found it well set up with extremely friendly staff that went above and beyond in their customer service. We highly recommend this pumpkin picking experience to everyone we meet.

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We have put our hill walking to one side for another year as we are in the middle of Autumn and the weather is getting colder and the evenings are getting shorter. At this time of year, we are always looking for interesting looped walks, forest trails and close walks to home that don’t require too much driving.

We found the Dunbrody forest walk after a bit of Googling ‘Wexford walks’. We previously did a tour of the Dunbrody famine ship so we found it interesting to discover that there was a walk around the woodland that the timber came from to make the ship.

Carpark to start the walk

If you put “Lacken Fairy Woods” into Google maps the Dunbrody Forest carpark will be shown. The carpark for this walk can also be found here.

Key Information about this Wexford Walk

• It has a fairy village at the start of the trail
• Great Autumn walk
• Amazing views on Lacken Hill
• Young kids love all the hidden fairy doors
• Fairy doors the whole way to the top of the hill
• Short walk to Lacken hill & Cross
• Sign posting to the Cross location could be better
• One of Wexfords best Autumn walks
• Hard to find on Google Maps- Click the link to go to Maps.

Starting the Dunbrody forest walk

We parked our car at the gates of the forest which probably has room for about 8 cars. There is a large timber sign at the start of the wood saying “forest of the Dunbrody”. We looked at the information board and decided to do the small loop walk around the wood and then walk up toward the 1798 monument.

As we walked into the forest, the Red arrow pointed right at the Y junction. There is also a sign pointing up the steps toward the 1798 memorial.

We followed the red arrow looped walk through the beech forest. As it is Autumn we were showered in fallen multicolour leaves, Ourlittlehiker was amazed by all the colours. She has become so independent lately and doesn’t want to be in her hiking bag as much anymore. We left her bag in the car for today. She loves hiking and walking and even insisted that we all have hiking sticks from fallen timber.

At the end of the long straight that cuts through the beech forest, the path started to rise gently and turn back toward the direction that we started from. We walked for about 5 minutes through a pine wood and then started to walk back down toward the beech forest again.

The trail then cuts through another pine tree section that is filled with amazing fairy doors, this was a lovely surprise. We played and knocked many of the doors but all the fairies must have been asleep.

From here we walked over a sty and fence and up a lane which then cut back into the woodland. The trail follows the natural lines of the trees and bends and rises around all the mature pines overhead. We eventually come back out onto a larger woodland road similar to the one we were walking on previously. We follow this road uphill until we come to a dead end. A smaller trail cuts off to the right through a freshly planted forest, we follow this for 5 minutes until we reach the monument at the top of the hill.

Lacken Hill 1798 Rebel Camp memorial

At the top of the hill, a metal cross and large stone mark the place where many died in the 1798 rebellion. From the top of the hill, there are lovely views of Wexford. We decided to not continue on the Blue loop as the second part of the walk goes onto a road and Ourlittlehiker hasn’t mastered the skills for road walking just yet.

Map to Lacken Hill

The walk to Lacken Hill is less than 1km. this is a perfect distance for a Sunday stroll with the kids. this is one of our favourite Autumn walks with the Kids, they love it.

Thoughts on Lacken Hill and Dunbrody forest Walk

It is very obvious that the local community take great pride in this lovely Wexford woodland walk. The Red loop walk is a lovely easy walk for a young family. Most of the walk can be accessed with a buggy with about 100m near the end that would require the buggy to be carried. The wood has loads of fairy doors scattered throughout and the paths are in superb condition.

Overall this is a very easy Sunday stroll that has a nice bit of history scattered through it. We easily explored the whole area with a toddler insisting on walking most of the trail in around 1 hour and loved every second of it.

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This was the very first Mountain that we hiked as part of the 32 Peak county high points with Ourlittlehiker but we didn’t record much information from that adventure, we decided to hike it again but this time with our 2 little hikers. This will be our baby hikers first time up Mount Leinster and Ourlittlehikers second time.

Our Babyhiker is 7 weeks old and we pushed her to the top of Mount Leinster in her Quinny Buzz and carrycot. Ourlittlehiker is now 2 years old and she walked a good section of the road herself. When she got tired, we put her into her own buggy. This is the first time we brought the kids pushchairs on a hike. We previously hiked Mount Leinster with Ourlittlehiker, when she was 6 months old, the photographs are a mixture of both hikes.

Why Hike Mount Leinster?

Mount Leinster is an easy mountain to hike, as there is a tarmac RTE access road leading from the carpark at the nine stones the whole way to the summit. This is similar to Kippure, Truskmore and Cornhill, county high points. Out of all the access roads to the county high points, Mount Leinster is definitely the steepest hike to the top.

As this was our first hike to a County High Point with Ourlittlehiker, it was more of a recce mission than actually trying to complete a full hike to the summit. We really wanted to see how comfortable OutlittleHiker would be in her Deuter baby hiking bag, especially for a long period of time, potentially 2-3 hours in warm conditions.

2017 Hike to Mount Leinster

Hiking Mount Leinster

We walked around the metal barriers and started walking uphill. The road is fully tarmacadamed to the top of Mount Leinster. We initially walked beside a wood to our left that seemed to be filled with flies. We put some insect repellent on Ourlittlehiker, which seemed to be doing a good job of keeping them all off her and projecting them onto her parents.

As this was our first CHP with a baby, we wanted to see were we able to hike up these hills with a baby on our back and wanted to make sure that our baby daughter was enjoying herself. After walking halfway up toward Mount Leinster, we quickly realised that our fitness levels were not as good as they were in 2015, but we were loving the challenge and more importantly, Ourlittlehiker was amazed by all the views, wildlife and other families out hiking.

We reached a gate and cattle grid, we decided to swap the bag over to give Mammy an opportunity to carry Ourlttlehiker up the side of the mountain. Gina did a super job and carried her the remaining way to the summit. This section after the gate was definitely the steepest section of the Mount Leinster hike.

We reached a left bend in the road and then reached a right bend, we could see another long steep section of road ahead. When we reached the final corner we could eventually see the compound for the TV mast in front of us. The summit is to the right-hand side of the compound gate of the mast. We quickly ran over and got a few pictures at the top.

The verdict of Mount Leinster Hike

We were super nervous about this whole hike. As this would be the first proper mountain that we would hike with our baby daughter. We were initially afraid that it would be too warm for her in the bag, we then were afraid of all the flies. The higher we got, we started becoming fearful of the wind and cold but we quickly realised that we had chosen the right hiking bag in the Deuter. (Ourlittlehiker was 6 months old at the time of writing this)

When the wind started to become cold and stronger we put blankets around Ourlittlehiker and installed the windbreaker cover. This is a godsend and we definitely wouldn’t attempt mountain hikes without it.

The hike up Mount Leinster is very easy. Okay, it is steep but the road brings you straight to the summit and we were reasonably sheltered from the wind until we reached the summit.

Conclusion on hiking Mount Leinster with a buggy or baby Carrier?

After hiking Mount Leinster once before with our Deuter Baby Carrier and once with the Quinny buzz buggy, we found it far easier with the Deuter baby carrier. We found it hard to push the buggies up the steep incline and the kids seemed far more content in their carriers. Our new addition to the family (babyhiker) loves her Ergo Carrier and sleeps constantly in it but she doesn’t seem to sleep in the baby buggy. When she is in the Ergo carrier she is nestled up against her Mammys skin and can even breastfeed while walking, she sleeps 90% of the time when she is in it.

Ourlittlehiker likes being up high and looking around her in the Deuter carrier when she gets tired from walking. She didn’t really like been in her buggy and she kept trying to get out. She kept saying she wanted to be on her daddy’s back, we assume this is toddler code for the baby carrier.

In future, we are going to stick to the Deuter kids comfort for hikes.

Mount Leinster Map

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We read about the Jean Kennedy Smith walk in Oulart the Ballagh in the Irish Independent newspaper. It was voted the top historic walk in Ireland. It is a 30-minute drive from where we live and believe it or not we have never heard of this walk before. Well, what a hidden gem, it was such an enjoyable walk. And talk about picking the right time to do it, we walked through the village just in time to see the Parade and marching band for the unveiling of Mise Eire.

About OULART HILL and this Wexford Walk

It is an 11.5km looped walk that will bring you past a number of very interesting sights like Tulach a’t Solais on the top of Oulart Hill which consists of a grassy burial mound cut in half by a narrow passage that leads to a modern chamber. Oulart Hill was a scene of a United Irishman victory in 1798. The monument was erected to commemorate the battle. Along the walk, there are lovely viewing points of the countryside and Father Murphy’s grave, the bygone day’s storytelling house and also the tree of Liberty that Jean Kennedy Smith planted on her visit here in 1995.

We started the walk at the large carpark up the road from the church. Keep driving straight on the road until you see a large 1798 memorial stone at the entrance of the carpark.

The path is signposted and it cuts between a grass ditch and a field. The trail provides great panoramic viewing points with information signs detailing hills and historic locations in the distance, this is great for people that are not from the area.

Tulach a’t Solais Wexford Family Walk

We walked through a young small wooded area to be greeted by an amazing monument called Tulach a’t Solais on Oulart Hill. The monument was built to commemorate the 1798 rebellion and Jean Kennedy Smith turned the first sod of the building in 1999.

After taking many pictures around the monument we continued walking the blue loop. We continued down the back of the monument into a pine tree wooded area. At the end of the pine forest, we came to the edge of someone’s house and backyard but the signs pointed us through the yard. We sheepishly nudged and egged each other through the yard hoping that we were not intruding on someone’s privacy.

After passing through the yard we then crossed a busy main road and walked onto an old skinny horse and cart lane that was grown over. I’m sure 100 years ago this road was a hive of activity especially on market days in the town.

The hike then progressed to another busy road which we crossed to see the Jean Kennedy Smith monument, this town in Ireland is tiny in the scale of things, it’s amazing to think that Jean Kennedy Smith visited here.

We continued walking down another horse and cart trail but this time it was more overgrown than the last one and full of stingy nettles (not good for shorts). We walked out of the overgrown cart track onto another main road leading into the town but this time there were police at the exit.

We could see in the distance a large crowd and the road was closed off, we continued walking the trail and came up to the crowd. There was a marching band, and a parade full of people dressed up in 1798 army gear (We picked a good time to do this Wexford hike).

We started walking back toward the middle of the town and passing all the music and marching army folk, it made for an entertaining hike. We walked back to the church that we passed on our drive up to the carpark. We continued walking on this road until we arrived at the carpark where we started.

The verdict of Oulart Hill walk and the Jean Kennedy Smith trail

It was a very nice walk with an outstanding memorial at the start on Oulart Hill. There was a lot of road walking but the roads were very quiet and most of them were too small to fit cars on. Take care when crossing the busy road sections.

The Tulach a’t Solais on Oulart Hill is a monument that needs to receive greater publicity, as it is simply amazing and totally free.

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Rosslare Harbour is a 45 minute drive from our house so we decided to try to drive down and get this small walk in and a longer walk around Tintern Abbey. We drove to Rosslare harbour first to do the blue looped walk around the top of the beach and back into the town.

We parked our car in the car park provided for the walk that is across the road from the Topaz petrol station. From this car park there is a viewing point that allows views of the harbour.

We started following the blue arrows out of the car park, we crossed the main road and started walking up the hill. The walkway surface is in good condition on this point of the walk and is tarmac until past the Rosslare hotel.

The initial observation of the walk was not the sea views or even golden beaches but the amount of derelict houses and commercial buildings on either side of the walkway. As we reached the top of the hill there is a catholic statue of the Virgin Mary and a seat that is designed to admire the statue and the sea view, it was nice design.

From here the walk continues straight along the top of the harbour with a cobble stone surface until we meet a stone car road that leads to the harbour.

The walkway starts to narrow here and eventually turns into a mud path that will only fit one person. The path follows the rear gardens of houses on one side and a golden beach on the other side. There is a 50m drop to the beach so we didn’t attempt walking down to the beach but it looked like a clean nice beach.

This stretch of trail is the most scenic part of the trail, it skirts along the top edge of the beach for about 50 meters with it also allowing access to sections of the beach below. We didn’t walk down to the beach as the access routes were quite steep and they seemed to have poor footing so we stayed up on the higher section of the walk.

The trail then comes onto a green area with a childs play area to the left hand side and a main road to the front. The blue signs then direct you back in the direction of the original car park along a main road.

The walk then follows this road down past a number of derelict buildings, a number of rather large housing estates, the local bank of Ireland and a church that was closed.

Verdict on the Rosslare Harbour walk

This walk, like many walks in Ireland is set up to promote all the good aspects of the local area but unfortunately it seems that the recession is still quite prominent in Rosslare with the abundant supply of old ran down buildings. The walk does provide good views over the beach and even reminds me of the Howth walk for about 50 meteters.

Would I recommend the Rosslare harbour walk?

The simple answer here would be, no i would not recommend driving here just for this walk but if you were near here or drving the Norman way and wanting to get out for a short walk then i would recommed that you do half the loop, so follow the blue arrows until you reach the end of the cliff walk section where the playground is(if you have children they could play here for awhile before walking back to your car) and then turn around and walk back the way you came, that way you get to enjoy the sea view for longer as this was the nicest part and it was too short for us.

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Tintern Abbey is on the Hook peninsula and was built in 1203. The Abbey itself is semi-restored with parts of the building still in ruins but there are still good facilities on-site, such as a coffee shop and toilets. Tintern Abbey is ranked as one of the major tourist attractions in Wexford and it does not disappoint, the abbey and gardens are a must see when visiting Hook lighthouse as you will essentially drive past the entrance while going to hook lighthouse. The grounds around the Abbey and Tintern Abbey Hikes are free to roam around, to get access to the Abbey itself will cost €5.00. For updates on opening times on the Abbey visit their site here.

When driving into the Abbey you drive down a long private road until you get to the side of the Abbey, the day we were here there was ample parking beside the abbey. We walked down to the side of the Abbey passing the Coffee shop and toilets on our left-hand side until we reached a small bridge and a signpost showing all the walking routes on the grounds.

Tintern Abbey Hikes

There are 4 signposted walks available at Tintern Abbey, they are;

• The Blue arrow walk called the Gardeners trail 0.9km long
• The Red arrow walk called the Tintern Demesne Trail and is 2.4km long
• The White arrow walk called the Foxboro Trail and is 3.5km long
• The Green arrow walk called the Bannow Bay Trail and is 7.5km long

We decided to walk all the trails in Tintern Abbey and as usual, we went for the longest trail to hike first, which was the green signed trail.

Tintern Abbey Hike – Green Signs

The green signed hike is the longest of the Tintern Abbey hikes with a distance of 7.5 km and an expected walking time of 1.5 hrs to 2 hrs. The signpost highlights that the majority of this walk is done on small roads.

The green walk starts by walking across the small bridge at the signpost and then taking a sharp right into the woodland on a good wide gravel footpath until you reach the Abbeys large bridge that resembles the top of a castle. We walked through the deal park and on to the ‘Brickfield’ this is where the bricks were made to be used in the walled gardens.

Continue walking straight and follow the river towards Saltmill town, the trial will gradually rise until the small walking trail slowly starts to turn into a small local car access road with a tarmac surface.

While walking up to the top of the small hill we walk parallel to an estuary and are greeted with views of Saltmills bridge, which made for some nice views with the low winter sun shining through it.

Halfway to Saltmills about 1-2 km into the hike we came across a little pub called “Vine Cottage Bar” we didn’t go in as we felt we just got going and it’s just easier to keep walking instead of taking off the baby rucksack and taking our little hiker out so soon into the hike. We continued walking towards the town and then came to a T junction on a busy road. Be careful on this road as some cars are going extremely quick, so always assume the car has not seen you and stand on the grass verge and let the car pass.

We now cross Saltmills bridge, the footpath stops before you cross the bridge so if you meet a car you will have to walk on the grass. The bridge is called Tintern bridge and was built in 1817 it provided nice views of the Abbey and the Sea, can you imagine the traffic this bridge has witnessed over the years.

We continued on the side of the road passing the red galvanized sheds on our right-hand side going toward the next corner, this is possibly the most dangerous section of the walk as there is limited room to stand off the road when cars are coming toward you.

On the walk toward the next corner which is about 150m from Tintern bridge, St Marys ‘first fruit’ Church is on our left after this, we then came to a Y junction and at this junction, we walked down the small little road toward the Sea.

This road is a very small road with a lot less traffic, we did meet cars but they all slowed down to pass us. The road becomes quite muddy and I imagine it is prone to flooding in bad weather but on the day of our hike, it provided a nice level surface to experience the nice trail.

On right 100m down the road, we start walking along Bannow bay which also has a section of a nature reserve. We continue walking and on the left is an old IRA memorial.

This section of the walk meanders around the bay and the road sweeps in and out following the formation of the bay. Most of the road is visible around the bay so it gives you a good idea what is ahead. In the distance, we can see an old dredger boat that seems to have run aground or maybe even misplaced. The dredger is our visual goal for this section and provided some nice backdrop photos.

It was so relaxing walking beside the sea, listening to the waves crashing against the rocks and the odd bird flying overhead. Unfortunately, our little hiker had fallen asleep at this stage of the hike and missed the dredger and the wildlife, she might see it next time.

As we walked this section of the Tintern Abbey hike it provided much-needed family time and we started to talk about our little hiker’s weekly advances in life. So we decided to try every week on our hikes to make a private video while we are out on the hike detailing her weekly changes and new habits. This took many different attempts but we had good fun doing it.

The road turns 90 degrees soon after the boat and the gradient of the road starts to increase slightly, nothing our little hiker’s Mammy cant handle.

The road continues past a couple of farms and rural houses. We are now starting to walk back towards the Abbey and most of the best sights are behind us.

After about 10 minutes on this road, we come to a T junction at a slightly busier road, the signs point toward a corner on our left.

After the initial first corner, the road is reasonably straight with wide grass verges to stand on if cars are coming. There is not much to see in this section of the walk but it’s only about 15 minutes long and there is a nice little hill to take your mind off the lack of views. After the small hill, there is another T junction, this is the main road so take car approaching it. Opposite the main road, there is a gate back to the grounds of Tintern Abbey where you can walk over the wall or climb the gate to get access to the trail.

This section of the walk seems to have received a new layer of gravel lately and is a very nice surface to walk on. The path leads downhill through a wooded area leading past ruins of an old church and graveyard.

We took some time to explore the ruins of the old church and graveyard. We then continued down the hill and started walking back towards the second bridge that we initially crossed at the start of the walk.

We turned right here still following the green arrows, which eventually brought us back to the Abbey just in time to see a dog looking out a window and get some treats in the coffee shop.

Would we recommend Tintern Abbey Hike–Green Signed Walk

The Bannow Bay Green trail gave us a taste of all that Saltmills and Tintern Abbey had to offer. The majority of this trail is walked on roads but this is highlighted on the signpost at the start and they are quite roads, so it is hard to complain about this.

This walk gave us quite country paths, a town stroll which passed nearby pubs,  historical memorials, nature reserves, wrecked ships and churches along with graveyards. There were less entertaining sections of road but every walk has sections like this. Overall we enjoyed the hike but it is probably not buggy or small child-friendly due to the sections of busy road.

Tintern Abbey Hike – White Signs

Tintern Abbey Hike – Red Signs

Tintern Abbey Hike – Blue Signs 0.9km

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