WAC-6 Mid-Congress Tours on Wednesday 2^nd July

Optional Excursions
Optional mid-congress tours will run on Wednesday for the full day. Please note that the coaches for all tours will depart from the University College Dublin Belfield campus at 9.00am. Each tour costs €25.00 and has a limited number of places, which will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.
The tours will be led by archaeologists, all documentation, teas/coffees and lunch are included in the price and also included as a special feature to end each tour will be an early evening buffet reception before returning by coach to Dublin.

Tour 1: Brú na Bóinne – the Boyne Valley. The tour will focus on the World Heritage Site. There will be visits to Newgrange and Knowth, spectacular monuments in the Neolithic passage tomb cemetery, with a rich array of megalithic art and complex sequences of activity. The key historic site of the Battle of the Boyne (1690) battlefield at Oldbridge and newly-opened visitor centre will also be a feature. The tour includes a visit to the early medieval monastic site of Monasterboice with its figurative high crosses and round tower.	Newgrange passage tomb (Photo: Ken Williams) Newgrange interior (Photo: Ken Williams)
Tour 2: Kilkenny - The Fair City The historic urban centre of Kilkenny city retains much of its medieval fabric and atmosphere. Prominent medieval secular buildings, for example Rothe House and the Shee Alms House are a feature of the streetscape and there are numerous religious buildings, such as St Canice’s Cathedral. Kilkenny Castle dominates the south-eastern portion of the city. The historic streetscape was contained within a defensive circuit of stone walls which still define the inner core of this lively and vibrant city.	'Kilkenny Castlel' 'St Canice's Cathedral'
Tour 3: Tara and Navan – Royal Landscapes Tara in Co. Meath is associated with the high kingship of Ireland in the early medieval period. Emain Macha or Navan in Co. Armagh is the ancient capital of Ulster. Both sites are characterised by a range of archaeological sites going back in date to the Neolithic, but with a major monumental focus on the later prehistoric period. Tara and Navan both have enduring symbolic importance in modern Ireland and have been at the centre of recent debates about the impact of development.	Tara royal site (Photo: Ken Williams) Emain Macha royal site (Photo: Ken Williams)
Tour 4: Midlands landscapes – presenting the past At Corlea an impressive Iron Age oak roadway dated to 148 BC that crossed over raised bog has been preserved. Founded in the 6th century AD Clonmacnoise was one of the major monastic centres of early medieval Ireland. Here there is a wide range of structures that illustrate the character of monastic life. Built around 1722 Castletown is the largest and most significant Palladian style country house in Ireland. At Lough Boora explores themes of landscape transformation through art installations.	Clonmacnoise monastic site (Photo: Ken Williams) Corlea Iron Age roadway
Tour 5: Dublin: from Norse foundation to Georgian capital The Dublin tour will feature a choice of two tours (one in the morning, one in the afternoon, each about 2.5 hours in duration) from the following five The Historic Northside, Viking and Medieval Dublin, The Great Dublin Experience, Georgian Splendours, Medieval St Patrick's and the Cathedral Quarter (see www.walkingtours.ie ). Lunch will be provided and the evening buffet reception will be in the crypt of Christ Church Cathedral. Dublin was founded by the Vikings in the 9th century AD, developed as the key urban centre in Ireland from the 12th century and by the 18th century, featured some of the finest public buildings of any capital in Europe. Archaeological excavations since the 1960s have added to our understanding of urban history. The tour will provide the opportunity to understand the city and its evolution.	'Christchurch Cathedral' Dublin Georgian Doors (Photo: Ken Williams)

Please note that you must make your own way to all departure destinations