Post Conference Field Trips

Glendalough post-conference tour (Sat 2nd July)

Glendalough is one of Ireland’s most iconic landscapes: a place of remarkable natural beauty and the famed location of an early medieval monastic complex. It is also the focus of a long-term UCD archaeological research and training project. We will offer a one day tour of Glendalough.

We leave UCD at 9.30am sharp, from the main bus stop (see map) and will return by c.5pm. It is approximately 1 hour’s journey to Glendalough. Please note that Glendalough is in the opposite direction that the airport and we cannot facilitate dropping you off there!

We will take a leisurely walking tour of all the key features of the Glendalough landscape. This is all on good quality trails/paths – hiking boots are not needed. We will probably cover about 8-9km in total. (There will be an option to relax by the lake and miss out on one of the longer sections of this.) Toilets are available at multiple points on the tour. We do not provide food as part of the trip, but will stop at cafés/food stalls to allow delegates to purchase snacks/lunch/coffee etc. 

This film about Glendalough (opens in a new window)‘Spirit of Glendalough’  (see video below) was made by the local community heritage group, Glendalough Heritage Forum. It gives you a good sense of the character of the valley - but our tour may be less spiritual in focus!

There is a charge of €20 per head, payable through the main registration linksby 15th June. Delegates are welcome to register a partner/family member for the trip. This trip will run subject to suitable demand and is capped at 30 guests.

Dalkey Island post-conference tour (Fri 1st July)

Anchored a few hundred metres off the coast of urban but charming Dalkey Village lies Dalkey Island, where excavations in the 1950s revealed the presence of a Late Mesolithic “midden” site that produced many lithic and organic remains. The site is currently included in a PhD research project started in UCD School of Archaeology in September 2020, and was partly excavated in November 2021 under the direction of Graeme Warren, with the aim to preserve by record evidence of early human activity that is currently being eroded by the sea and disturbed by industrious rabbits and unsuspecting tourists.

We are offering an opportunity to discover the natural and archaeological riches of the island in close proximity with the sea with a sunset kayak tourof the island including the most recent updates from the ongoing research.

We meet at Bullock Harbour (Dalkey Village) at 5.30pm on Friday 1st July, for 2 ½ hours of gentle paddling with qualified instructors and walking the island - expect old flints, noisy birds, and grumpy seals. Equipment is provided, and detailed information is available (opens in a new window)here. Dalkey is less than 30min from UCD in a taxi (city traffic!), for an overall indicative cost of 30€ - less than 10€ if shared. Alternatively, a 25min stroll to the Booterstown DART station and a 17min trip to Dalkey station will leave you at 10 minutes by foot of Bullock Harbour. An optional post-effort pint and bag of chips awaits in one of the numerous pubs of Dalkey Village. 

There is a charge of €65 per head, payable by booking(opens in a new window)directly online- kayak seats are limited! Delegates are welcome to register a partner/family member for the trip.