Activities
Blackstairs Ecotrails offers Wild Food Foraging, Wild Mushroom Foraging and a Celtic Tree Trail. We also offer Company Days Out.
If you would like an event outside of our Event Calendar, we can tailor an experience to suit your group and your time scale. Check out our Event Calendar at www.blackstairsecotrails.ie
Borris House is one of the most picturesque country houses in Ireland. Built in 1731 by Morgan Kavanagh, it is now a popular tourist destination, wedding and events venue.
Borris House is the hereditary home of the MacMorrough Kavanagh family, former Celtic kings of Leinster.
The house is open to visitors from May - September for guided tours. Visitors can also explore the surrounding gardens and parkland. A walk through the gardens of Borris House will take in the breathtaking views of Mount Leinster, the Blackstairs Mountains and the Barrow Valley. The newly-established Lace Garden takes inspiration from Borris Lace, using symbols and shapes from the lace as well as a white colour palette of plants.
Be sure to visit The Store which is located in the Gate Lodge of Borris House selling eclectic art, craft and local artisan produce.
Borris House is also a premier Irish wedding venue and has been successfully hosting weddings since 2008. The regency grandeur of Borris House, its beautifully romantic gardens and breath-taking views provide the perfect setting for exclusive weddings.
Contact Details:
Website: www.borrishouse.ie
Email: (General Enquiries ) : info@borrishouse.com
(Weddings - Sarah, Wedding Coordinator ) : events@borrishouseweddings.com
Phone: (All Enquiries) : 059 -9771884
Address:
Borris House
Borris, Co Carlow, Ireland
Eircode R95 W983
Google Maps: Link
Social Media:
Facebook: @BorrisHouse
Instagram: @BorrisHouse
Twitter: @BorrisHouse
An annual weekend gathering of international writers, journalists, musicians, film-makers, and theatre producers, this is one of Ireland's leading literary festivals.
The Borris Festival of Writing & Ideas takes place on the grounds of Borris House, and in the Village, in June each year. It is a weekend of stimulating dialogue and discourse, gathering together intriguing international minds from all over the world and inviting them to south County Carlow for a few days. Prize-winning novelists, poet laureates, genre-changing musicians, mind-expanding academics, journalists from far reaches of the globe, but also artists, film-makers, political commentators, musicians, architects - and regular people who have experienced the extraordinary - grace the stages across the weekend.
Curiosity might lead a festival-goer from the Middle Eastern front-lines, to first-hand accounts behind the lyrics and music of Florence and the Machine or Pink Floyd, to the latest research in neuroscience, to a forgotten novel penned 50 years ago, or to a local uilleann piper’s call.
The Festival of Writing & Ideas has become known for its casual, friendly atmosphere, and for its extraordinary line-up of speakers, carefully curated by a small team led by Vivienne Guinness and Hugo Jellett. Spilling out from the magnificent grounds of Borris House into the pubs and halls of this idyllic village, the festival is a place that the curious find inspiring.
In the past years the festival has welcomed Donna Tartt, Fiona Shaw, Michael Morpurgo, Simon Schama, Chrissie Hynde, Dominic West, Kate Tempest, Don McCullin, John Paul Jones, Michael Chabon, Sebastian Barry, PJ Harvey, Antony Beevor, Anne Enright, Martin Amis, Roy Foster, Michael Cunningham, Tommy Tiernan, Michael Harding, Louis De Bernieres, Philomena Lee, Joseph O’Connor, Bob Geldof, Michael Craig Martin, Colm Toibin, Florence Welch, David Simon, David Gilmour, Mary Robinson and many many others.
As well as over 70 talks and conversations over three days, the festival features many music performances, often impromptu, and some theatre and film work.
Email: info@festivalofwritingandideas.com
Web: www.festivalofwritingandideas.com
Borris House, Borris, Co Carlow
Social media links
Facebook: @writingandideas
Twitter: @writingandideas
Glenn Lucas makes salad bowls in native Irish wood and also teaches woodturning. All skills levels welcome on private and group day-long classes.
The Glenn Lucas Woodturning Study Centre is dedicated woodturning training center near Garryhill, just 8 km from Borris. Glenn is well-known for his classic salad bowls in native Irish wood, which are very popular gifts and can be bought directly from Glenn’s workshop - just give him a call before you arrive.
He also has an online shop selling his bowls, own range of woodturning tools, DVDs, classes, as well as gift vouchers. Since May 2020 Glenn offers Zoom demonstrations and private tuition online.
Contact Details:
Tel: (087) 297 3400
Email: info@glennlucas.com Website: www.glennlucaswoodturning.com
Instagram: @lucaswoodturning
Facebook: @glennlucaswoodturning
Glenn Lucas Woodturning, Flander’s Cross, Garryhill, Co. Carlow, IRELAND R21 PC79
Go with the Flow is an adventure activity provider based on the Barrow river offering canoeing and kayaking for all ages and abilities. Go with the Flow offer guided trips and canoe hire options.
Go with the Flow has been operating on the Barrow river for over 25years. The services provided include safe & exciting guided whitewater adventures, guided flat water adventures, 1 day and multi-day canoe hire & camping self guided trails and corporate team bonding adventure days.
The business is owned and operated by Charlie Horan - a passionate paddler both in Ireland and abroad. Charlie and his team have a solid reputation for delivering a quality service with an emphasis on positive engagement, safety and fun.
You can access a scheduled booking service via a very informative website. Calendar of events operates from May to September. Or if you wish to organise a bespoke event contact Charlie directly - he will definitely have options available.
Go with the Flow continues to offer unique events to Corporates as well as families but also regularly work with sports organisations, youth service providers, Hen and Stag groups and just about anyone looking for adventure on the water.
Get in touch now by calling or emailing - A ton of fun is guaranteed.
Contact details
Phone - Text - Whatsapp - 087 2529700
Email - info@gowiththeflow.ie
Web - www.gowiththeflow.ie
Instagram - @gowiththeflow.ie
Facebook - @Go with the Flow River Adventures
Landline - Voicemail only 056 7801299
Address - The Lockhouse, Clashganny, Borris, Co Carlow
Bike Hire maintains a large fleet of top quality mountain bikes for hire, perfect for discovering the Barrow Way. Explore a natural wonderland cycling along the towpath on a trail which is fringed with fabulous deciduous trees and well-preserved hedgerows. Enjoy uninterrupted and peaceful, quiet travel with the opportunity to encounter some of the local wildlife including heron, otter, pine marten, tree creeper and many more.
Graiguenamanagh Bike Hire also hires out electric mountain bikes for those who want to tackle some of the higher peaks in the south Carlow area including Brandon Hill and the Blackstairs Mountains. All bikes come equipped with helmets, hi-vis vests and locks as required and are perfect for families, couples or groups. Graiguenamanagh Bike Hire also offers ecology based bike tours and bike and stand up paddle boarding days in association with local company Pure Adventure.
Co. Kilkenny.
GPS: 52.540231, -6.953942
t: 059–9724246/086–4084008
e: bike&hike@watersideguesthouse.com
w: www.watersideguesthouse.com
f: www.facebook.com/Waterside-Guesthouse-
Instagram: @graiguenamanaghbikehire
Mount Brandon Pottery School in Tinnahinch is run by Carmen, who is a potter registered with the Design and Craft Council of Ireland and has been running weekly pottery classes and workshops for adults and children since 2013.
We create pieces out of earthenware clay and after bisque firing the creations are ready to be decorated and glazed; the students create work from start to finish (not paint some mass produced ready-made piece of ceramic).
Carmen also designs and creates her own range of hand built and wheel thrown work like those shown below.
Telephone: 085-1108257
Hire a canoe in Borris and paddle down the River Barrow through some of Ireland’s most scenic and beautiful landscapes and locations. Paddle Your Own Canoe offers visitors the opportunity to rent a canoe and camping gear and organise a unique trip passing through lush countryside, rolling hills, and forests and mountain ranges including Mount Leinster, the Blackstairs and Brandon Hill.
The supplied two-man open Canadian canoe has enough room to store luggage, paddles, buoyancy aides, helmets, camping gear, dry bags, watertight barrels, tents, sleeping mats and kelly kettles.
There is an abundance of wildlife on the River Barrow with plenty of opportunities to see otters, egrets, herons, kingfishers, salmon, trout and many more. Beautiful riverside towns and villages offer ample opportunity for shopping, eating and enjoying a pint or two of Guinness in any of the unique and authentic pubs along route. The river also has a 200-year old fascinating navigation system and some wonderful examples of fine industrial heritage.
Contact Details;
Paddle Your Own Canoe, Milltown, Borris, Co. Carlow Tel: 087 4140461
Email: info@paddleyourowncanoe.ie
Social Media:
Specialists in exceptional outdoor experiences and training in outdoor sports, Pure Adventure is based in Graiguenamanagh on the banks of the River Barrow in the heart of the Barrow Valley. It’s a family run business with passionate, experienced and trained quality instructors.
From white water kayaking to a gentle canoeing tour of the River Barrow, visitors can enjoy the weirs and rapids of Ireland’s second longest river.
Pure Adventure also offers stand up paddle boarding which gives a real sense of the wilderness, tradition and adventure associated with a trip along the River Barrow. The feeling of walking on water is hard to beat as one watches kingfishers buzzing by, herons fishing on rocks and an otter swimming around.
Pure Adventure, The Quay, Graiguenamanagh, Co. Kilkenny (No Eircode available)
GPS: 52.539363, -6.953981
t: 087–2265550
e: info@pureadventure.ie
w: http://www.pureadventure.ie
Facebook: @PureAdventureIreland
Twitter: @PureAdventurekk
The former Church of Ireland Church, originally built in 1811, now houses the St. Mullins Heritage Centre, situated beside the monastic ruins and cemetery. All aspects of local history including publications, church records, maps, old photographs and artefacts are displayed here and provide an account of village and rural life over the centuries. The exhibition presents eleven different storylines including Pattern Sunday, St Moling, 1798, the River Barrow and the flour milling connection.
Opening times: please refer to facebook page. Guided tours by appointment.
Admission: Adults €2, children free.
Contact Details;
St Mullin's Heritage Centre, St. Mullins, Co. Carlow.
GPS Co-ordinates; 52.488967, -6.927657.
Tel: 087–9013672
Email: stmheritage@gmail.com
Social Media:
www.facebook.com/StMullinsHeritageCentre/
The Irish Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association is the National Association for the sports of Hang Gliding and Paragliding in Ireland. Founded in 1974 as the Irish Hang Gliding Association, it later expanded to include the newer sport of paragliding. The IHPA is a democratic association of pilots run by its members, from whom the executive committee is elected.
As the National Association for hang gliding and paragliding in Ireland, the IHPA's primary purpose is to ensure the highest level of safety for both pilots and the public, and oversees the safety standards and training methods used in flight schools. The IHPA works closely with the Irish Aviation Authority, which has approved its Operations Manual.
The IHPA also acts as a nationwide club, keeping members informed and in touch with each other, organising competitions and flying holidays overseas, and maintaining good relations with all the landowners upon whom the sport relies for access to flying sites around the country.
Flyable in almost all wind directions, Mt. Leinster is Ireland's premier flying site for hang gliders and paragliders, and offers superb cross country flying opportunities.
If you have ever dreamed of flying, the IHPA will help you to get your feet off the ground... and safely back down again!
Contact details:
Website: www.ihpa.ie
Email: committee@ihpa.ie | chairman@ihpa.ie | secretary@ihpa.ie | safety@ihpa.ie | training@ihpa.ie