Side Trips from Dublin - Dublin - page 160

staring back only inches from your face. Once you reach “the
Deep,” the emphasis is on scary critters, like sharks (of course) and
the blue-ringed octopus. Count on spending about an hour or so
here—which works out to a pricey

€

.45 (55¢) a minute for a family.
Strand Rd., Bray, County Wicklow. & 01/286-6939. www.sealife.ie. Admission
€ 8.50 ($10) adults, € 6.50 ($7.85) seniors and students, € 5.50 ($6.60) children,

€ 27 ($33) families. Year-round Mon-Fri 11am-5pm, Sat-Sun 10am-6pm.

Powerscourt Gardens, House Exhibition, and Waterfall
If you only have time to visit one of Wicklow's fabulous gardens, then
let this be the one. On a 400-hectare (1,000-acre) estate less than
19km (12 miles) south of Dublin city, Powerscourt is one of the finest
gardens in Europe, designed and laid out by Daniel Robertson
between 1745 and 1767. This property is filled with splendid Greek-
and Italian-inspired statuary, decorative ironwork, a petrified-moss
grotto, lovely herbaceous borders, a Japanese garden, a circular pond
and fountain with statues of winged horses, and the occasional herd
of deer. Stories have it that Robertson, afflicted with gout, was pushed
around the grounds in a wheelbarrow to oversee the work. An 18th-
century manor house designed by Richard Cassels, the architect of
Russborough House (see below) and the man credited with the design
of Dublin's Parliament house, stood proudly on the site until it was
gutted by fire in 1974. The real reason to come is for the gardens.
Don't opt for the additional entrance fee to “the house,” as the exhi-
bition consists primarily of a mediocre video on the history of Powers-
court. The cafeteria serves up delicious, reasonably priced lunches and
a view that's not to be believed. The adjacent garden center is staffed
with highly knowledgeable green thumbs who can answer all your
horticultural questions. If you've brought the kids, they can occupy
themselves at a nearby playground. The waterfall is the highest in Ire-
land, at 121m (398 ft.), and is a favorite picnic spot.
Enniskerry, County Wicklow (off the N11). & 01/204-6000. Gardens and house
exhibition € 8 ($9.65) adults, € 7 ($8.45) seniors and students, € 4.50 ($5.40) chil-

dren, free for kids under 5; gardens only € 6 ($7.50) adults, € 5.50 ($6.60) seniors

and students, € 3.50 ($4.20) children, free for kids under 5; waterfall € 4 ($4.80)

adults, 3 ($3.60) children, free for kids under

5. AE, MC, V. Gardens and house exhibition Mar-Oct daily 9:30am-5:30pm;
Nov-Feb daily 9:30am-dusk. Waterfall Mar-Oct daily 9:30am-7pm; Nov-Feb daily
10:30am-dusk.

€ 3.50 ($4.20) seniors and students, €

Russborough House Ensconced in this 18th-century Palla-
dian house is the world-famous Beit Art Collection, with paintings
by Vernet, Guardi, Bellotto, Gainsborough, Rubens, and Reynolds.
Art lovers adore the place. Trouble is, thieves love it, too. Since