Irish National Heritage Park

It was opened to the public in 1987.

It has 16 reconstructed dwellings, including a Mesolithic camp, a Neolithic farmstead, a portal dolmen, a cyst grave, a stone circle, a medieval ringfort, a monastic site, crannóg, and a Viking harbour. It covers 13.7 hectares (34 acres) of parkland, estuary trails, and wetland forest. It is a nonprofit organisation and all of its receipts from admissions, restaurant, and shop sales go directly back into the maintenance of the park.

The park has a carpark, toilets, and a restaurant.

 

The park runs a selection of courses throughout the year ranging from blacksmithing and wood carving, to stone masonry and mounted combat. One of the goals of the park is to bring traditional skills back into the public. The Trials of Tuan are a set of activities for children. The park also offers guided tours led by costumed guides, as well as audio guides or self-guided options. The guided tour lasts about one and a half hours and ends at the reconstructed Viking harbour.

Carrig

The newest addition to the park is an archaeological excavation at the site of the first Norman fortification in Ireland, on the hill of Carrig, overlooking the river Slaney. The park partnered with the IAFS (Irish Archaeology Field School) to excavate and research the site. The site contains ringwork, burnt wooden structures, and a later stone castle. A town grew around the castle and existed until the 1300s.