Overview
Lullymore Heritage Park is a family attraction on a 60-acre island of mineral ground rising out of the Bog of Allen, on the R414 between Rathangan and Allenwood in County Kildare. It is run as a community social enterprise, which is the part worth knowing: every ticket goes back into peatland restoration and education rather than to a shareholder. The bog around it holds a record too – on 2 January 1979 Lullymore logged -18.8°C, the lowest air temperature measured in Ireland in the 20th century.
A living archive: history and ecology
The island’s story runs back over 9,000 years. Mesolithic hunters crossed here first, using the higher mineral ground as a natural causeway through the developing wetland. Later it became a ritual landscape for pre-Christian communities, then a secluded monastic settlement that lasted roughly a thousand years. Its isolation had its uses: it sheltered United Irishmen during the 1798 Rebellion, and local families bore the full weight of the Great Famine.
In the 20th century the focus turned to industry. Bord na Móna opened a briquette factory in 1936, mechanising peat extraction until the site closed in 1992. Recovery began in earnest when the Irish Peatland Conservation Council bought the adjacent Lullymore West Bog in 2005, turning cut-away peatland back into a wildlife reserve where lakes reformed and native plants returned. The Heritage Park grew up to tell both halves of that story – the people who worked the bog, and the work now going into its repair.
What to see and do
Peatland boardwalk and nature trails
The centrepiece is a raised boardwalk – Ireland’s first peatland biodiversity trail of its kind – floating over the recovering bog. It threads past small lakes, birch scrub and heather, with panels on how raised bogs form and why they hold so much carbon. Look for bog cotton and for sundews, the small carnivorous plants that trap insects to survive the nutrient-poor ground; wildfowl, waders and the odd raptor work the restored wetland. Indoors, the Peatlands Exhibition covers the same ground with multimedia displays if the weather turns.
Historical galleries
The indoor galleries move through the island’s human history in order: early Christian monastic life, the strategic role of the bog in the 1798 Rebellion, and the Great Famine’s toll on local farming families. The standout is the Emigration Cottage, which recreates the cramped conditions of families preparing to leave Ireland and follows documented journeys such as those of Michael Rush (1820) and Katie Gorey (1908). A reconstructed rebel hide-out shows how the bog’s dense cover kept people out of sight of pursuing troops.
Family activities and play
Lullymore leans hard towards families, and does it well. The Funky Forest is a climate-controlled indoor play centre with climbing frames, slides and soft-play for toddlers and younger children; outside there’s an adventure playground and a treasure-hunt trail that walks children round the boardwalk learning to name what they see, with a monthly prize draw for finishers. Add an 18-hole mini-golf course, a road train that loops the island, and a pet farm whose resident goats, Ronaldo and Messi, get top billing. Guided walks with trained volunteers and seasonal butterfly events round it out.
Planning your visit
If you’re deciding what to prioritise: the bog is the reason to come. The boardwalk and the peatlands story are genuinely local and hard to find elsewhere; the play areas and mini-golf are good, but you could meet their like at any family park. With children along you’ll likely do both, and two to three hours covers it at a comfortable pace.
- Opening hours: every day 10am to 6pm (last admission 4pm) from March to October; low-season hours from November to February vary, so check the website. For June 2026 the park opens to the general public only from 2pm to 6pm on weekdays, because of the volume of morning school tours.
- Admission and booking: a family of two adults and two children is €52, a single adult €15, under-2s free, and the ticket covers everything – walks, exhibitions, road train, mini-golf, indoor and outdoor play and the pet farm. Booking online is sensible for weekends and holidays but not essential; you can usually pay at the gate, except during seasonal events. Group bookings of 15 or more go through the office on 045 870238.
- Getting there: the park is on the R414, about an hour from Dublin; follow signs for Lullymore from Rathangan or Allenwood. Parking on site is free.
- Facilities: the Purple Heather Café does coffee and light lunches, with picnic areas, free Wi-Fi and a gift shop besides. Paths are wheelchair-accessible and suit mobility scooters and buggies.
- Seasonal events: Easter, Halloween and Christmas each bring ticketed events that book out, so reserve ahead. The Bog of Allen Nature Centre nearby, run by the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, pairs naturally with a visit, as do the canal walks around Allenwood and lunch in Rathangan.
Bring waterproof boots whatever the season – the boardwalk crosses open bog with no shelter, and the ground either side stays wet.