Adrenalin Activities in Dublin and Surrounds
The choice of activities is broad, from escape rooms, paintball, axe throwing, clay pigeon shooting, combat archery, horse riding, bubble football, go-karting right through to white water rafting and other water-based activities, such as SUP boarding and kitesurfing. All these activities and much more can be found on Geronigo®, the largest network of adventure and adrenalin activities in the UK and Ireland.
The Sightseeing ‘Must Dos’ in Dublin
The Dublin Musical Pub Crawl has to come top of the list. The best of the many that are on offer are run by professional musicians – as this experience is all about the music, and the odd drink or two! Your musician guides, who take you to some of Dublin’s most notable public houses, explain the history and stories behind traditional Irish music and perform songs and instrumental Irish Jigs and Reels throughout the tour. A truly immersive and interactive experience filled with great Irish music and dancing.
The Book of Kells Exhibition should be on your itinerary if history and religion are of interest. Located in the heart of the city centre in Trinity College Dublin, the Exhibition displays the Book of Kells, a 9th-century manuscript that documents the four Gospels of the life of Jesus Christ. The Book of Kells is Ireland’s greatest cultural treasure and the world’s most famous medieval manuscript. The Exhibition also features access to the Long Room, one of the world’s most beautiful libraries, that houses 250,000 of Trinity College’s oldest books.
Dublin Walking Tours are many and varied. History and culture are featured in the form of storytelling and music, one notable being a guided tour by opera singers. Others highlight the darker side of Dublin’s history and the ghost and ghouls who are said to wander the city’s oldest areas on the darkest nights. Tours like ‘The Grave Digger’s Tour’ should set your teeth rattling or the ‘Dublin Ghost Bus Tour’ that promises to take you to the scariest and most sinister places in the city. Dubliners love a good story and have many storytelling events that are hosted in the city pubs, museums and public spaces.
The Guinness Storehouse Experience and taste the story of Ireland’s most iconic stout beer – Guinness. For fans of this brew, the Guinness Storehouse is a veritable place of worship. The Storehouse – also called the Guinness Hop Store – opened in 2000 in a century-old fermentation plant. Today it comprises seven floors surrounding a pint-shaped atrium. Visitors are treated to a blow-by-blow account about how the delicious dark brown beer is made, the history of the Guinness brand and the life of its founder, Arthur Guinness. To round off your visit, you get a complimentary pint of Guinness in the spectacular Gravity Bar on the Storehouse’s 7th floor.
Jameson Whiskey Tour is another Dublin favourite. For over 200 years Jameson’s have been producing their fine whiskey in Dublin. The tour takes you from the year 1780, when John Jameson walked through the doors of the Bow St. Distillery in Dublin and through the early years when the distillery saw rapid growth, and employed so many people, it was seen as a vibrant city within a city. The story then takes you through the years and developments to the present day. Jameson whiskey is touted to be the world’s most famous and best Irish whiskey, and you can try it for yourself during your tour.
Dublin Castle – one of the most important buildings in Irish history. The castle has witnessed the historical progression from a country ruled by the British to one of independence. From 1204 until 1922 it was the seat of English, and later British rule in Ireland as a residence for the Viceroy of Ireland, and as a ceremonial and administrative centre. Originally a medieval fortress constructed on the ground once occupied by an earlier Viking settlement, and despite a severe fire in 1684, much of the medieval and Viking structures survived and can still be explored by visitors today.
In the late-seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw the Castle transformed from a medieval bastion into a Georgian palace. The new building included a suite of grand reception rooms known as the State Apartments, which accommodated the Viceroy and were the focus of great state occasions. The Castle remains one of the architectural highlights of Georgian Dublin today.
On 16 January 1922, the last Viceroy of Ireland handed Dublin Castle over to Michael Collins and the government of the newly-independent Irish state. Successive Irish governments have continued to use it for important national events, such as state dinners and commemorations. Since 1938, all of Ireland’s presidents have been inaugurated in St Patrick’s Hall within the castle. Among the many famous figures associated with the Castle is Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, who worked as a civil servant at the Castle from 1866 to 1878.
O’Connell Street has often been centre-stage in Irish history. Renamed in honour of Daniel O’Connell, a nationalist leader of the early 19th century, whose statue stands at the lower end of the street, facing O’Connell Bridge it forms part of the main thoroughfare created in the 18th century that runs through the centre of the capital, terminating at City Hall and Dublin Castle. It has great prominence in Irish history because it formed the backdrop of many protests, demonstrations and celebrations, and so has many monuments and significant tourist stopping points. To know the Irish is to know their history and this street is steeped in it. However, it would be hard to miss this famous street as it’s central to any location you visit in Dublin.
Theatres, Music Halls Clubs and Pubs in Dublin are all venues for performance, be that impromptu or planned. Irish people love to dance and sing and tell stories. So, one venue you must not miss, is Smock Alley Theatre, which is nestled on the banks of the River Liffey. Originally built in 1662, The Theatre Royal at Smock Alley gave the world the plays of George Farquhar (The Recruiting Officer), Oliver Goldsmith (She Stoops to Conquer) and Richard Brinsley Sheridan (The Rivals). 300 people attended the theatre each night, seven days a week to be enthralled, entertained and enlightened by actors, acrobats, dancers, musicians and trapeze artists. Now, 350 years after it was first built, the theatre has been carefully and lovingly restored to become Dublin’s Oldest Newest Theatre. It is now once again a bustling hub of theatre, song, dance, art and creativity. Check out their performance schedule, you will not be disappointed.
Dublin – the City of Diversity, Fun and Intrigue
So now you can combine a cultural visit to Dublin with a few activities; an ideal combination for a Dublin stag party weekend, a Dublin hen party weekend – or any holiday that affords you a little more time. Taking part in activities in the countryside that surrounds Dublin also enables you to experience some of the most breath-taking scenery that the county of Dublin has to offer.
By CJ