The Irish National Heritage Park is located in Ferrycarrig, County Wexford in the beautiful South East of Ireland.
Situated in the heart of “Ireland’s Ancient East”, you will take an epic and realistic journey through Ireland’s Past from the Mesolithic Period to The Norman Conquests, spanning 9000 years of Irish History.
The Irish National Heritage Park is one of Ireland’s premier attractions with a vast variety of exceptionally accurate exhibits, which bring our long and distinguished past to life.
You will travel through time as though you were really there. To say The Irish National Heritage Park is exceptional would be an understatement, it is a one of a kind visitor experience set in authentic surroundings.
All the reconstructions you witness are built using authentic methods giving a real-life experience that you will remember forever. With a variety of tours and visitor experiences on offer from an array of historic eras, this is an experience everyone visiting Ireland should witness for themselves.
History comes alive at The Irish National Heritage Park, in County Wexford where some of Irelands most historic events took place.
Sinead’s Thoughts on The Irish National Heritage Park.
It’s hard to describe the special excitement of reliving one of your favorite childhood memories.
For me, The National Irish Heritage Park in Wexford holds a special place in my heart, as children we were brought on treasured family days to this wondrous place, memories that will live forever in my mind.
Maybe the wonder for this fabulous Heritage Park initially sparked my deep love of history and my lifelong thirst to learn more about our ancient ancestors and their lives.
As I walked back through these inspirational exhibits, I was once again reminded of the special love that I hold in my heart and mind for the history of Ireland. I now appreciate the incredible bond those days in our childhood created, that developed and forged the paths to our future and the foundation of My Real Ireland.
Your first impression of The Irish National Heritage Park will be the friendly and wonderful staff, their passion and enthusiasm so apparent.
You will be greeted in the warm and inviting visitor centre, surrounded by unique Irish items in the gift shop.
The sense of community is also at the forefront here, with a vast array of community projects in production, giving you a feeling that everyone in this area knows how unique The Irish National Heritage Park is.
Alan my tour guide and Maura the manager, are amazing, both have a passion for history, and a have knowledge that was simply outstanding.
As Alan, who was in his full Medieval costume, greeted me and guided me into the Park, I knew something that I thought was perfect as a child had become even more wonderful then my mind allowed me to imagine possible.
As I walked through the stunning paths that guide you around the Irish National Heritage Park, trees reached out protectively, transporting you into Ireland’s mystical past.
There is something so magical in the way the park is designed and laid out, you are under a spell, brought back in time and the modern world is left behind.
For me there was a sense of peace walking through the exhibits, I was first greeted by the Mesolithic Campsite, which will leave you speechless.
To get an absolute sense of what life was like 9000 years ago is indescribable to sit in huts that are perfectly constructed, as they would have been.
As a person who studied archaeology, this was a privilege to see in reality. It is a gift to see in for myself, what most of us only ever read about in books or imagine in our wildest dreams.
Walking around a Neolithic farmstead, you begin to imagine the people, not just the building; this building sparks your imagination.
You can honestly picture a family from this period living in houses just like you see in front of you.
I was guided to a Portal Dolmen protectively coated in moss, making it seem like this reconstructed megalith was born here, it belonged in this special place.
The Stone Circle inspiring thoughts of Bronze Age belief systems, what happened in these places, worship, sacrifice the possibilities are just endless.
As I walked into the Ringfort and to my delight discovered that you could stay here and live like our ancestors did, giving you an authentic ancient Irish Experience.
The warmth of the roundhouses comforting and inviting. The parks fires were all lit adding to that special feeling that the wonders of the past are coming alive.
The Early Christian Monastery perfect surrounded by beautiful green rustling trees, and it’s High Cross telling its bible stories.
As I approached the Crannog where feasts still occur, I was inspired to refresh my own memory about Ireland’s prehistory and how inspirational the Heritage Park is.
The Viking Harbor resonated with me, although it was a reconstruction. I was not far from where the original Viking Port of Wexford was established.
With a Viking Axe throwing course going on in the background the sound of metal hitting wooden posts was like being sucked into a time portal.
For me, something extra special was just over the horizon on top of an unassuming hill high above The National Heritage Park is one of the parks most wonderful sites.
The original Norman defensive ditch. This was where Robert FitzStephen built his first major defensive feature at the time of the Norman Conquest of Ireland.
I could not contain my smile and found it hard not to run up the hill as fast as I could to see one of Ireland’s most significant archaeological sites.
My heart lifted with delight upon hearing that this is a working excavation and artefacts and defensive systems are still being uncovered.
To know that this was the site that FitzStephen chose to be his first fortification, to know that this is the ground where the most famous characters in the history of The Norman Invasion of Ireland would have stood is inspirational.
You look out over the same view and vantage point that was to start the Norman Settlement of Ireland. This park is not just history and heritage; it is living history, you become part of past.
As I walked down the hill, I knew this was somewhere I would come back too. I fell in love with the Irish National Heritage Park and everything that its dedicated staff have achieved.
I cannot call the Irish Heritage Park an historic attraction; I would prefer the term historic inspiration. From past to present the enchantments here have inspired me and I can guarantee they will inspire you too.
The craftsmen’s skill and attention to the smallest detail in all exhibitions is breathtaking, all using traditional techniques.
It is not often that I am rendered without words but to find the appropriate wonderful words difficult. To do the Irish National Heritage Park justice is almost impossible became it is something that everyone visiting Ireland should see for themselves.
Everything was incredible, even walking back into the gift shop you are greeted by an array of fairy doors and fairy related items that make you smile from the inside out, I was delighted to hear that they are all lovely handmade in the local area.
The park offers a wide range of activities, adventures and family fun. I can honestly say this is suitable for people of all ages and interests.
On a very important note as someone who loves food, the restaurant was amazing.
I got to eat my delicious lunch with a view of A Crannog, for me, life just couldn’t get any better then that. The Irish National Heritage Park is almost totally self-funded and for me is one of Ireland’s National Treasures.
Location
The National Heritage Park is located approximately 3 miles from Wexford Town.
Contact Information
· The Irish National Heritage Park, Ferrycarrig, County Wexford, Ireland
· Telephone +353 (0)53 912 0733
· Website www.irishheritage.ie
· Contact The Irish National Heritage Park email directly through their website.
Admission to The Irish National Heritage Park
· Adult – 10:00
· Student – 8:00
· Senior – 8:00
· Family – €23: 00(2 adults + 1 child)
· Family – €25: 00 (2 adults + 3 children under 18)
· Group Rates are available on request
· You can also purchase an annual pass to The Irish National Heritage Park.
· Children Under the age of 18 must be accompanied at all times by an Adult.
· Major Credit Cards are accepted
· School Tours.
Opening Times
Summer Opening Times
1st of May – 31st of August
9.30am – 6.30pm
Last admission is at 5pm
Winter opening times.
1st of September – 30th of April
9.30am – 5.30pm
Last admission is at 3pm due to daylight hours.
Tour Information
· Self Guided Tours
· Guided Tours with a tour guide in costume.
· Allow 2 + hours for you day of historic adventure
· Audio Guides (€2:00 usage charge)
· Audio guides are available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Polish
· Tours are scheduled daily but may be subject to change, please check on the day of your visit to confirm tour times.
Accessibility
· The Irish National Heritage Park aims to be accessible to everyone and has adapted the park with that in mind.
· Service Dogs and Guide Dogs are welcome.
· The Irish National Heritage Park has designed the audio-guided tour with the visually impaired foremost in their minds. There are audio units in place at the Ringfort, Crannog and The Viking Site which are designed to help the visually impaired enjoy this sites.
· The park is mostly assessable by wheelchairs, areas that are not accessible to wheelchairs are clearly marked.
· The Irish National Heritage Park has 2 Mobility Scooters that are available for hire.
The Fulacht Fiadh Restaurant.
This beautiful Restaurant is situated in The National Heritage Parks visitor centre, adjacent to the Gift Shop.
This is a warm and inviting Restaurant, which was designed to compliment its surroundings, drawing inspiration from the exhibitions in The National Heritage Park.
With a beautiful view out to the Irish National Heritage Parks Crannog, allowing you to soak in the history and beauty of this wondrous place. The panoramic windows and beautiful outside seating area are beautiful and would be lovely to eat outside.
This is one of the best menus I have seen with a wide variety of choices, including full dinners, sandwiches, Paninis and salads. I had a Cajun chicken Panin, with chips, coleslaw and a lovely green salad (my absolute favorite), it was delicisous.
Every meal I saw being served looked delicious. There is something for everyone on the menu, including a children’s Menu.
The staff were bright, helpful, and friendly and were so efficient. The menu price is very reasonability. I would highly recommend eating at the Fulacht Fiadh Restaurant on your trip to the Irish National Heritage Park.
There are sample menus available on www.irishheritage.ie
Gift Shop.
The Irish National Heritage Park Gift Shop has something for everyone, within every price range. There are items available, some of which are locally made crafts.
There is a beautiful selection of handmade scarf collection and fabulous leather goods.
There is a magical section of fairy doors, fairies and magical items that will appeal to children and adults. There is a wide range of Irish made candy, T-Shirts and an excellent collection of Items that are suitable for children.
It is the perfect location to buy a keepsake from a day you will remember forever.
Facilities
· Family events (Easter Egg Hunts, Halloween Events, Santa at the Irish National Heritage Park)
· Gift Shop
· Restaurant / Coffee Shop
· Children’s Menu
· Toilet and baby changing facilities
· Free Coach/Car Parking
· Family Friendly
· Walking Trails
· Adventure Activities for adults and children
· Medieval Feasts in The Crannog.
· Private events and parties
Over Night Stays in the Early Medieval RingFort.
One of the most amazing aspects of The Irish National Heritage Park is that you can stay here. You can actually stay in a Medieval Ringfort. You can live like a Medieval Farmer.
This is a rare and once in a lifetime experience that will stay with you forever. It is something so unique and entirely Irish. To live as your ancestors did, to see how they would have lived, to sit around that campfire and get back to a time that is so different from our own.
This is one of the most wonderful facilities at the Irish National Heritage Park. For more information, please visit www.irishheritage.com or AirBnB https://www.airbnb.ie/rooms/22626089?location=Irish%20National%20Heritage%20Park%2C%20Ferrycarrig%2C%20County%20Wexford%2C%20Ireland&s=t0NjVQHm
Courses and Demonstrations
There are so many courses, demonstrations and community projects that take place at the Irish National Heritage Park; there is something for all interests and ages. For a full and up to date list of activities, please go to www.irishheritage.com.
Archery
If you would like to try your hand at Archery, The National Heritage Park is the perfect place to do so.
Archery is suitable for both adults and children and is available every day during July and August and costs €3 for ten shots.
Meet the Markers
The Irish National Heritage Park has produced some videos that are available on YouTube. This series is called “meet the makers” and is a series about the craftsmen and women that helped to create this beautiful treasure. We have added some links to this fantastic series.
Archaeological Excavations on The Original Norman, Ditch and Defensive System.
The Norman Era in Irish history began in 1166 when the deposed King of Leinster Dermot MacMurrough fled to France to seek the help of King Henry II to regain control of his Kingdom. This help came in the form of the Norman Lords from the Welsh Marches, also known as the Marcher Lords.
The most notable of these Lords was Strongbow, (Richard de Clare. Earl of Pembroke and Strguil) who would go on to marry MacMurroughs daughter Aoife.
Like any good military tactician, Strongbow sent an expeditionary force to Ireland which was lead by one of the most experienced and skilled Lords from the Welsh Marches Robert FitzStephen.
This force arrived on 1st of May 1169 under the command of Robert FitzStephen and Maurice de Prendergast. They landed at Bannow Bay in Country Wexford not far from the Irish National Heritage Park.
They arrived with approximately 40 cavalry knights, 60 men at arms and an estimated 360 archers, they were joined by about 500 warriors loyal to MacMurrough.
It was a sight that the native Irish could never have imagined, warhorses, chainmail and advanced weapons technology. They set about winning back the lands of this area that MacMurrough claimed and beat back the native Irish with ease.
They then besieged the Viking stronghold of Wexford. This scene is now immortalised in the Ross Tapestry in New Ross. The Siege of Wexford lasted for two days.
Upon its completion, the Robert Fitz Stephen set up a defensive feature on a prominent hilltop to mark his territory which over looked the River Slaney and conquered Viking Wexford.
As you tour The Irish National Heritage Park you will come face to face with those exact defensive features. This is where they built the first major Norman feature in Ireland.
A deep defensive ditch and bank, surrounding a large Mound that would have contained buildings. This area was first excavated in the 1980’s producing evidence that this large ditch contained evidence of one of the most violent eras in Irelands History.
This ditch is one of the original defensive systems established by the Normans and is now a part of our living history. We have a full article on the Norman Invasion of Ireland on myrealireland.com.
The Irish Archaeology Field School will be running excavations and research at this site; these excavations will expand our knowledge of this site and perhaps produce some long-hidden treasures from the first days of the Norman Invasion of Ireland.
This is an inspiring event and will help preserve this defensive system for future generations. The Norman Castle or Keep that you see in the distance is a reconstruction of a Norman stronghold.
They would have initially constructed defensive system and established motte and bailey style castles that were quickly and easily constructed.
These would have been replaced in stone making their presence in Ireland permanent and enduring.
A selection of the Irish National Heritage Parks exhibitions.
The Mesolithic Camp
The Mesolithic Camp in The Irish National Heritage Park is wonderful, using archaeological evidence, this Camp is true to life 9000 years ago.
The Mesolithic is the period between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic. This era in Irish History provides us with the first archaeological evidence of human habitation in Ireland. The first people to arrive in Ireland are from this period, and this event happened approximately 9000 years ago.
They were a hunter-gather society, and the people were nomadic. This camp is styled on what a home was like in this period of Ireland’s history. A typical camp would have been bigger than this with people living in communities.
One of the best examples of the Mesolithic period in Ireland was discovered at Mount Sandal in County Derry.
The Neolithic Farmstead
The Neolithic Farmstead in the Irish National Heritage Park is based on a typical farm during the Neolithic period in Ireland’s history. Neolithic means New Stone Age.
This period is when we see a transition from Hunter Gather society into an agricultural society. Permanent settlements were established, this transition of eras started to happen approximately 6000 years ago.
They cleared forests, planted crops and started to domesticated livestock such as cattle, sheep and pigs.
They started to use pottery but continued to use stone and bone tools.
There have been approximately 100 of these settlements discovered by archaeologists in Ireland, they were usually rectangular and constructed with wood, wattle and daub, with a thatched roof.
They would have been quite comfortable with 2 to 3 rooms that were used for typical domestic functions.
The Farmstead here is magnificent.
The Megalithic Tomb
There are several types of Megalithic Tombs from the Neolithic period in Ireland. These ancient and majestic monuments are dotted all over our landscape giving us a clear connection to our ancient past and ancestors.
These tombs included Passage Tombs such as Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, Portal Dolmens, which are scattered throughout Ireland, Court Cairns and Wedge Tombs.
The survival of these tombs gives us an insight into the significance of death and burial and how vital it was to the people of the Neolithic.
There is much discussion on the purpose of Megaliths and Neolithic monumentality, but primarily they are burial sites, of high-status individuals.
However, they are also thought to have been places of worship, gathering points for communities, and they could also have marked the territories of tribes.
They date from between 4000-5000 years ago, and many predate the pyramids at Giza.
The Megalithic tomb within the Irish National Heritage Park is a Portal Dolmen, and they consist of a capstone held up by portal stones. The capstone on this perfectly reconstructed monument weighs 27 tons.
These Neolithic tombs feature genuinely in Irish Mythology; they contain dramatic Neolithic Art giving us a broad cultural insight into the lives of Neolithic People.
The Stone Circle.
This is a monument made up of standing stones arranged in a circle. These monuments are from the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age era in Irish history.
They are dotted around Ireland, and probably the most famous stone circle in the world is Stonehenge in England. They are differing in size, orientation and were either constructed of wood or stone.
The stone circle here is styled on a typical stone circle found in the south west of Ireland.
Constructed of Boulders of differing size, the entrance is via the two tallest stones with the smallest directly opposite the entrance and lays on its side.
The purpose of these monuments is under constant discussion among archaeologists; they often contained burials and were thought to be for religious purposes.
These monuments could have been the sites of sacrifices.
Ogham Stones.
Ogham is a form of ancient Irish writing on large standing stones that was used 1700 years ago. Ogham was used up until the 900 BC.
It is based on the Latin alphabet and is made up of lines and markings on the sides of standing stones.
These lines and markings represent letters. It is read from left to right, and they are thought to have been grave markers and remembrance stones.
They are all written in Irish, and it is also thought that these markings also represent trees that were sacred to the ancient Irish.
The Early Medieval Ring fort.
Often referred to as a Rath in Ireland and many place names here still contain the word Rath, there are over 40,000 ring forts in Ireland.
A Rath was usually an earthen Ringfort while a Cashel was a stone Ringfort. The term Dun was also used to describe a Ringfort. The Ringfort you see at The Irish National Heritage Park is what a typical Rath would have looked like in early medieval Ireland and was constructed using the same methods.
This is the typical construction of a Rath, which was a defensive stronghold to the most important or high-status members of society. Ordinary people would have lived in smaller settlements outside the Ringfort and during times of war or unrest would have taken shelter here.
The most amazing aspect of the Ringfort in the Irish National Heritage Park is that you can stay here.
Crannog
A Crannog is an artificial Island constructed in lakes, rivers and waterways.
The Crannog has been used as a dwelling since the Neolithic period but most are considered to be from the early medieval period and some date from 400 years ago.
There were many uses for Crannogs as they were easily defended. The Crannog at the Irish National Heritage Park is based on a high status or Royal site. You can even attend a Medieval feast here.
Viking Harbour
This Viking Harbor is just magical; it is constructed to look like an actual Viking settlement and what they would have looked like when they first arrived on Irish shores.
The Vikings came from Scandinavia; they were a warring, seafaring people. They came as raiders and eventually settled in Ireland and became traders.
The first recorded Viking raids in Ireland started in approximately 795, and eventually, the Vikings established ports and seasonal settlements.
The First permanent Viking Settlement or town was situated at the Port of Waterford in 914 AD, but Waterford had been established as a seasonal settlement in 853 AD. The major Viking Ports in Ireland were Waterford, Dublin, Limerick, Cork and Wexford.
The exhibit situated perfectly on the edge of the majestic River Slaney. The river that the Vikings would have sailed their Longships up centuries ago.
This area of the Irish National Heritage Park is also the site where many courses and demonstrations take place. You will see a Viking Ship up close, and you might even try your hand at some Viking Axe throwing.