Overview
Punchestown is where the Irish jump-racing season goes to finish. The five-day Festival at the end of April is the climax of the National Hunt calendar, and the course – 450 acres of pasture in the parish of Eadestown, between the R410 and R411 near Naas – is built around a feature you will not find anywhere else in Irish racing: a cross-country banks course, run over earthen banks and stone walls set into the natural roll of the ground. Outside the racing and the odd big concert it is a working venue rather than a day out in itself. There are 19 fixtures a year, and the thing to time a visit for is the Festival.
The Festival
The Festival runs Tuesday to Saturday, starting on the last Tuesday in April, and it is the highlight of the Irish jumps season – a week built around a string of Grade 1 championship races including the Champion Chase, the World Series Hurdle, the Champion Hurdle and the Punchestown Gold Cup. The final day turns family-facing, with pony rides, a funfair and street performers alongside the racing. If you are going once, go then, and book a bed early: accommodation across Naas and Kildare fills for miles around.
History
Racing at Punchestown goes back to 2 April 1850, when the first recorded meeting was held here, billed as the Kildare and National Hunt Steeplechases; the Kildare Hunt Club behind it dated to 1752. The course grew quickly – by the mid-1860s attendance ran into the tens of thousands, and when the Prince of Wales visited in 1868 some five thousand people came out by rail from Dublin to see it. (Wikipedia gives 1875 as the formal opening date, a reminder that the meeting is older than the racecourse as such.)
The Longstone and standing stones
Long before any of that, the site had a marker of its own. The Punchestown Longstone is a Bronze Age standing stone about 7 metres (23 feet) tall and weighing some nine tons, a National Monument that stands just north of the racecourse. It toppled in 1931 and was re-erected in 1934. It is one of a scatter of standing stones across this stretch of Kildare, and its exact purpose – grave marker, boundary, something else – is still argued over.
Concerts and events
Punchestown doubles as one of the country’s bigger open-air concert grounds, with a licence for crowds up to 80,000. Rory Gallagher played here in 1982, supported by a young U2, Phil Lynott and Simple Minds; Radiohead, Bon Jovi and Eminem have all headlined since, and AC/DC drew 69,354 people in 2009. The Oxegen festival ran on the site through most of the 2000s. The racecourse also hosts an annual CCI three-day event and horse show, and staged the European Eventing Championships in 1991 and 2003.
Practical information
Getting there – Punchestown is about 40 km south-west of Dublin. By car, take the M7, exit at Naas and follow the R410/R411 to the venue. A dedicated shuttle bus runs from Dublin city centre on big days, roughly an hour in normal traffic; the nearest railway station is Kildare, about 10 km away, with services to Dublin Heuston, and local buses run from Naas and Newbridge on race days.
Parking and access – Parking is free, with room for up to 17,000 cars and a designated area for drivers with limited mobility. Wheelchair-friendly paths link the entrance to the food court, viewing areas and hospitality suites, and assistance dogs are welcome; the venue can arrange extra support on (045) 897704.
Tickets – Festival and race-day tickets are sold through the official website, priced by day, tier and concession, with family bundles on the final day.
Food and drink – On-site catering runs from the Food Court to the Sky Bar and Loft Bar, with extra stalls during the Festival and concerts.
Nearby attractions
A day at Punchestown extends easily into the rest of County Kildare. The Irish National Stud runs thoroughbred tours and keeps the well-known Japanese Gardens; the Curragh Military Museum covers Ireland’s cavalry history; and Donadea Forest Park has 200 hectares of woodland trails, a lake and old ruins for a quieter afternoon. Each is a short drive away.
The one date to build a trip around is the Tuesday the Festival opens at the end of April. The rest of the year, Punchestown is a racecourse going about its ordinary business.