Yesterday we spent an awesome day in the town of Dalkey! Dalkey is another little coastal village which is a suburb of Dublin. We took the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) about half hour south of the city and explored the town.

It is a super picturesque town, with a main street with cafes, shops, pubs, restaurants, and a castle, and also amazing scenery to explore beyond the town. It’s also been the home to many famous people, past and present. The rich literary history connected to Dalkey includes William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, and Maeve Binchy. Bono, Van Morrison, and Enya also all live in the area. No sightings of them though, unfortunately.

When we got off the train, we headed down to the main street and saw the castle up ahead. We stopped in and decided to do the tour, which gives a lot of history of Dalkey and a tour of the castle, complete with medieval actors in costume and speaking Elizabethan English. We learned that the town used to be a Viking village, the port for Dublin during medieval times, and a quarry during the 1800’s before becoming the artistic community it is today.

Isaac (“Lord Isaac” as the actors called him) enjoyed the castle tour. He got to practice holding the bow and arrow, climb up to the ramparts, and see mom and dad in the stocks. We also saw the “murder hole” where the castle inhabitants used to throw down rocks and burning oil onto any intruders trying to invade.

After the castle tour, we grabbed a bite to eat. There were lots of cute little cafes and even places to take food for a picnic up the hill. We got some sandwiches from a the natural/vegetarian food store/cafe and sat outside in a little town square.

Then we headed up the hill to Killiney Hill Park, where we had been told there would be stunning views! It was a bit hazy, but you definitely could see amazing views and the climb/hike was totally worth it. We could see all of Dublin Bay and Dublin city, as well as the pier of Dun Laoghaire. Cruise ships could also be seen heading out to the Irish sea to cross over to England, Wales, Scotland, and France. After playing at the playground for awhile, we continued up the hill, stopping for a snack at the Tower Tea room (amazing how you can get tea and food on actual china in the middle of a park!) and finally made it to the top.

The views again were gorgeous– you could see south over Killiney bay and toward the Wicklow mountains. The scenery has often been compared to the Amalfi Coast, and I can definitely see why. It also reminded us a bit of Kauai (at least on such a sunny day as we were there). You felt like you were on top of the world. I would say Dalkey and Killiney Hill are must-sees for any visitor to Dublin!