Things to do in Kilkenny with kids
11 family days out across Kilkenny, from its medieval castle and city streets to craft trails, farms and river walks. A county made for wandering, all loved and added by home educating parents.
Days out & things to do
8Grounded in Nature Forest School
Child-led forest school at Shankill Castle. Term-time afternoon sessions and school-holiday forest camps for ages 5–15 — bushcraft…
WhenAfternoon sessions Tue–Fri (term time); older children (11–15) Tuesdays 4.30–6.30pm; holiday forest camps Tue–Thu 10am–2pm
Jurassic Newpark
A prehistoric-themed adventure park on 25 acres just outside Kilkenny, with life-sized animatronic dinosaurs, an inflatable bounce…
Castlecomer Discovery Park
Home to Ireland's Longest Zipline | Skywalk Challenge | Archery | Junior Woodland Adventure Course | Boating Activities
Nore Valley Park
An open pet farm and activity park at Bennettsbridge, Co. Kilkenny — bottle-feed lambs and animals, pedal go-karts, tractor-and-tr…
IMC Kilkenny Kids Club
IMC Kilkenny's Kids Club on Barrack Street — great-value weekend-morning family film screenings for younger children. See the IMC…
WhenWeekend mornings (see site for films & times)
Junior Parkrun (Kilkenny Countryside Park)
A free, weekly, timed 2k junior parkrun for children aged 4 to 14 at Kilkenny Countryside Park. A fun, friendly Sunday-morning run…
WhenEvery Sunday, 9.30am
Kilkenny Castle
The big castle in the middle of Kilkenny, with fifty acres of free riverside parkland and a playground wrapped around it. Children…
WhenCastle open daily; about 9.15am to 5.30pm in summer, to 5pm in winter. Parkland open longer
The National Reptile Zoo
Ireland's only dedicated reptile zoo, at Gowran, home to snakes, lizards, tortoises, crocodiles and more, with daily handling sess…
What's on in Kilkenny
3Halloween at Nore Valley Park
A working farm near Bennettsbridge that turns its grounds over to pumpkin picking, a torchlight treasure hunt and a scare maze for…
WhenDaytime pumpkin picking on selected dates 10 to 30 October; evening fire trail and scare maze 23 to 26 October
Savour Kilkenny Food Festival
Kilkenny's harvest food festival has a dedicated kids strand over the mid-term weekend, with hands-on sessions like a cookies work…
WhenThursday 22 to Monday 26 October
Toil and Trouble: Family Afternoon at Rothe House
Toil and Trouble is Kilkenny's festival built around the 1324 Alice Kyteler witch trial. On Halloween day the medieval Rothe House…
WhenSaturday 31 October, drop-in afternoon
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