A Saturday at Malahide Castle and Medieval Mayhem

Again, based on the advice of an Expat in Dublin with Kids, I organized a trip to Malahide Castle located North of Dublin along the coast. Malahide Castle is one of the oldest castles in Ireland and dates back to the 12th century. Home to the Talbot family for 800 years, it website promised a glimpse into their life and history on the guided tour. On the particular weekend that we went, the castle was also hosting a Medieval Mayhem which seemed intriguing and our family loves a good festival.



For this trip, we went on our first Dart train ride. The Dart runs up and down the eastern coast of Dublin along the Irish Sea from Malahide (the north) down to Wicklow (the south). It was exciting for the kids and they found it interesting to wait on the train platform for the train to arrive.

The train ride was relaxing and interesting as it was our first chance to see the Irish coastline and our first trip north of Dublin, not counting Ikea. The kids enjoyed looking out the window and being able to move around a little bit (compared to being strapped into a car). The most challenging bit was keeping Lulu Belle in her seat. At almost two, she is most insistent at doing her own thing.

When we arrived at the Malahide train station, we exited to a little car park. There was a small tram there picking up people and giving them a ride to the castle, but we decided to walk despite the drizzle. It was a short walk to the entrance to the castle grounds and then a walk to the visitor center. From there, we found out that we could purchase tickets for the castle tour which started every half hour. The visitor center also housed the lovely Avoca Cafe and lots of interesting shopping. We decided to wait to the tour after we attended Medieval Mayhem. So, we walked down further to find the festival grounds.

After some wandering around on the large fields, we found the festival and realized that we were a bit too early. The festival was a bit disorganized and we let the kids run around the fields for quite a while while we waited. Once we got into the festival grounds, it was about 12pm and the kids were starving. It had also started raining. Luckily, the festival organizers had set up a tent with some blankets for families to hang out and several groups waited there for the rain to stop.

While we were waiting for the food booths to open, the kids decided they wanted to explore some of the other booths which included a cupcake booth, sweets, and several "Viking" related booths. There were a lot of people dressed up as Vikings and tents set up to to mimic Viking life with displays of armor, weaponry, falconry, clothing, etc.

Playing an game with a Viking child.

The children found it all interesting, but found the archery demonstrations the most fun. Mr Puffles paid 5Euro for me to participate in a demonstration and I got to shot a few arrows off. The kids were most impressed.

As part of the festival, the Vikings performed at mock battle at 1pm. The kids enjoyed the boasting and silly jokes and found the fighting interesting. Miss Piggy quickly determined that they were just pretending! It was good fun and the participants seemed to enjoy hitting each other with wooden swords and pretending to kick each other in the butt (literally).

Viking battle.

After we had exhausted all of the booths and displays and finished eating our cupcakes, we headed back to the castle. We were caught in a torrential downpour and took cover under some trees. Then we made it back to the visitor center to buy our tickets and walked over to the castle.

Walking to the castle.

A view from the side of the castle.

The castle is lovely from the grounds.

To summarize the guided tour, it was definitely not what we were expecting and we were a little disappointed. The tour was definitely not child friendly for very young children. There are no lifts. The lady at the front door kindly watched our buggy for us and we carried Lulu Belle through the tour. Unfortunately, we found oursevles huddled with the two other families with toddlers in the back corner trying to keep our children from touching anything. The acoustics of the castle made it difficult to hear the guide and our screaming toddlers did nothing to help. The tour guide was also very specific that we shouldn't touch anything. Hello? I have four kids under the age of eight. It was not a relaxing tour. The tour was only a few rooms and after it was done, I felt like I wished I had seen more of the castle! Still, it was interesting and the kids loved the part about the ghosts the best. I think if you have older children, then it might have been very interesting and you could take time to look at the beautiful furnishes and decor and listen to the interesting history of the Talbot family and the castle itself.

We didn't have time to play at the playground afterward, but we did stop for hot chocolates and coffee at the Avoca restaurant. It was very busy and a little bit confusing as there were several lines you could get into depending on what you were ordering. This may not have been confusing for other people, but if you have four small people wandering around in a crowded cafeteria, it can be difficult to organize them and figure out where you are supposed to go at the same time! The food was lovely and the displays of the beautiful dishes and kitchen items for sale definitely made me want to go crazy and buy the china. But I restrained myself!

It was late in the day and we headed back on the Dart. We didn't have a chance to explore the village either, but we will have to check it out next time!

A Saturday at Marlay Park

Our first and second weekends in Dublin, I took the advice of Expat with Kids in Dublin and made plans for our family to explore Marlay Park, located in Rathfarnham, Dublin 16. We had scheduled viewings to look at a houses in the area and decided to trek to Marlay Park as part of exploring the area and determining whether or not it was reasonable for us to manage without a car. 

Marlay Castle from the green.

On the first weekend, we looked a house on the southwest side of Marlay Park and tried walking up to entrance and the closest shopping center with a grocery store. It was a long walk uphill that left Miss Piggy crying and whining the whole way. It was definitely not a easy location for walking on a daily basis to shopping and easy access to local transportation. I had forgotten that there was a weekend market in the park. So, we ate at the convenience store at the shopping center first and then headed to the park to look around. We were so sad to discover that there was a gorgeous little market with delicious food and fresh veggies for sale after eating all that bad Centra food. So, we vowed to return soon to sample the yummy food.

On our first trip to the park, the weather was sunny but turned a bit chilly while we were hanging out on the green. Despite the chill, LuLu Belle quickly made friends with another little girl playing in the park and her mom was friendly and chatted with us.

Lulu Belle and her new friend. Or maybe she just chased the other baby around.

During our chat, she recommended that we walk through a bit of a forest grove in the middle of the park because along the trial there was a Fairy Castle. The children loved the idea of this and we quickly went on our way to explore. It was a fun little walk, do-able with a stroller, through a nice little wood and after a while, we found the Fairy Castle. It was very intriguing to the children.

Walking through the woods in Marlay Park in search of the Fairy Castle.

Fairy Castle in Marlay Park

Top of the Fairy Castle

On our second weekend in Dublin, we went to look at another house near Marlay Park. This house was closer to the LUAS. So, instead of taking a bus, we were able to take the Green LUAS down to the Balally Stop and walk from there to the house. After the viewing, we walked about 20 minutes through some nice neighborhoods and stopped at the Marlay Park market for lunch. The children decided on Sausages on a roll and it was a huge hit.

Seconds on the yummy sausage rolls.

The boys each had two and Miss Piggy chose a giant cookie the size of her head for a treat. We tried some of the non-dairy soy ice cream. The kids said it definitely didn't taste like ice cream. But I thought it was nice!

Wow. Cookies as big as your head.

After lunch, we went out to the green so the kids could run around a play. While we were there, we noticed someone riding a Dutch bike around the paths that curve around the green. I love the Dutch bikes! We never bought one because they are super expensive and because we never had a garage in Seattle. Storing a giant bike without a garage is a huge pain. I found the booth with the bikes and was able to take the bike out for a spin. The owner, Astrid Fitzpatrick, owns DutchBikeShop.ie and is very happy to lend out the bike for anyone to take a spin and it creates free advertising for her! The bike was great and I was able to ride it around with all four kids inside. It was much easier to ride than my vintage pedicab since it had gears. The kids loved it! I would have purchased one, but the house we are renting doesn't have a garage or garden access.

Testing out the Dutch bikes. All four kids fit!

For comparison, here's us a few years ago on my vintage pedicab! So sad that we had to sell it when we made our move!

Riding along on Mother's Day 2010.