Best Scenic Place in County Wexford, Ireland - Map and Reviews

Annagh Hill is a modest upland summit located in County Wicklow in the eastern reaches of the Republic of Ireland, sitting within the broader expanse of the Wicklow uplands that form one of the most significant highland areas in the country. Rising to a relatively gentle elevation compared to the more dramatic peaks of the Wicklow Mountains to the west and north, Annagh Hill nonetheless commands a pleasing presence in the landscape, offering walkers and visitors a sense of solitude and openness that is characteristic of this quieter corner of Wicklow. The hill lies in the southern portion of the county, in an area that sees fewer visitors than the celebrated Wicklow Mountains National Park further north, giving it a genuinely off-the-beaten-track quality that appeals to those who seek undisturbed countryside walking and panoramic rural scenery. The surrounding landscape is one of rolling upland heath and improved pasture, with the hill sitting within a mosaic of blanket bog, rough grazing land, and the kind of open moorland that typifies the less-visited southern Wicklow hills. This part of County Wicklow transitions gradually toward County Wexford to the south, and the countryside takes on a softer character than the granite massif of the central Wicklow Mountains. The ridgelines here are gentler and the valleys broader, with small farms and scattered rural settlements dotting the lower ground. Rivers and streams draining eastward toward the Irish Sea cut through the surrounding terrain, feeding into the agricultural lowlands that eventually give way to the Wexford coastline. Physically, Annagh Hill presents itself as open, unenclosed ground with the characteristic texture of Irish upland — a combination of heather, rushes, coarse grasses, and boggy ground that rewards visitors with good waterproof footwear. The summit area is unlikely to be dramatically rocky but instead offers the sweeping, uninterrupted sky views that come from elevated open ground in this part of Ireland. On a clear day the views extend across the undulating hills of south Wicklow and into Wexford, with the Irish Sea visible to the east and the higher Wicklow summits discernible to the north. The soundscape is dominated by wind moving through the vegetation, the calls of skylarks in warmer months, and the distant sound of farmland activity below. The area around Annagh Hill carries the deep imprint of rural Irish history, though it is not associated with any single dramatic historical event. The wider south Wicklow landscape was shaped by waves of Celtic settlement, medieval landholding patterns, and the plantation era that brought significant change to land ownership across Leinster. The name Annagh itself derives from the Irish "Eanach," meaning a marsh or boggy place, a common toponym in Ireland that reflects the waterlogged character of much upland terrain. This kind of place-name evidence speaks to the long observation of the land by Irish-speaking communities who named hills, valleys, and streams according to their practical and ecological character. For practical visiting, the hill is accessed from the network of minor roads that thread through south County Wicklow. The nearest significant settlements include Tinahely and Shillelagh to the south and west, both small market towns that serve the surrounding rural hinterland. Visitors should expect to navigate by detailed map or GPS, as this is not a signposted walking destination in the manner of the more developed Wicklow Way trails further north. A sturdy pair of walking boots, waterproof layers, and awareness of the variable Irish weather are essential. The hill can be visited year-round, though late spring through early autumn offers the most reliable conditions underfoot and the richest sensory experience of the upland flora and birdlife. The broader south Wicklow area around Annagh Hill is part of a deeply rural and historically resonant landscape. The nearby Shillelagh woods were once among the most celebrated oak forests in Ireland, historically supplying timber for significant construction projects including, according to tradition, roofing timbers for Westminster Hall in London and St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. Though much of this ancient woodland has long since disappeared, the area retains a wooded, sheltered quality in its valleys. The Derry Water and other small rivers flow through the lowlands nearby, and the whole district has the feel of an Ireland that moves at an older, quieter pace, making Annagh Hill a fitting destination for those seeking uncrowded, contemplative countryside far from tourist infrastructure.

The Raven Nature Reserve is a remarkable and largely unspoiled coastal wilderness on the eastern tip of County Wexford, occupying a broad sand spit that juts northward into Wexford Harbour at the mouth of the River Slaney. Managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of Ireland, it covers approximately 600 hectares of diverse habitats including extensive sand dunes, dense coniferous forest, open grassland, freshwater wetlands, and intertidal mudflats. The reserve is one of the most significant nature reserves in the southeast of Ireland and is renowned above all for its extraordinary birdlife, drawing both dedicated ornithologists and casual nature lovers throughout the year. Its combination of habitats in a compact, accessible peninsula makes it genuinely unusual along the Irish coast. The land has a layered human history that stretches back far beyond its designation as a nature reserve. The broader Wexford coast was shaped by Norse settlement — the very name Wexford derives from the Old Norse Waesfjord, meaning harbour of the mud flats — and the harbour itself was a strategically vital body of water through medieval and early modern times. The dune systems at The Raven are among the most extensive and actively evolving on the east coast of Ireland. The conifer plantation that now covers much of the interior was largely planted in the mid-twentieth century by the Irish state forestry service, Coillte, and this human intervention sits somewhat in tension with the wilder character of the reserve's fringes, though the forest now provides its own value for sheltering wildlife. The reserve was formally recognised for its ecological significance and is designated both as a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area under European Union law. Physically, The Raven is a place of striking contrasts and sensory richness. Walking from the car park toward the sea, visitors pass through corridors of Scots pine and Corsican pine that creak and sigh in the Atlantic wind, their floors carpeted with soft needles that muffle footfall. Then the dunes begin — a tumbling landscape of marram grass, sea holly, and sand that shifts and blows across the paths with every strong breeze. Breaking out onto the open beach itself is a sudden, almost overwhelming experience: a vast, pale strand stretching for several kilometres with almost no development in sight, backed by dune ridges and fronted by the grey-green waters of the Irish Sea. The beach is frequently empty even in summer, giving it a remote, elemental quality that feels worlds away from the busy town of Wexford just a few kilometres away. On windier days, the roar of the surf and the cries of waders and gulls are constant companions. The reserve is internationally celebrated among birders because of its position on important migratory flyways. Wexford Harbour and the sloblands to the west together form one of the most important wintering grounds in Europe for Greenland white-fronted geese, and The Raven sits at the edge of this complex. In winter, vast flocks of waders — dunlin, knot, bar-tailed godwit, golden plover — feed on the intertidal areas and the nearby Wexford Slobs. Hen harriers quarter the dune grasslands, and short-eared owls hunt low over the open ground at dusk. In summer, breeding birds include skylarks, meadow pipits, and various warblers in the scrubby areas. The marine zone off the beach can produce divers, scoters, and the occasional rarer seabird during passage periods. The reserve is also home to red squirrels in the pine forest, a species that has become scarce across much of Ireland due to competition from the introduced grey squirrel. The surrounding landscape amplifies the sense of wilderness. Across the harbour to the west lie the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve and the North Slob, a reclaimed slobland that is itself a statutory nature reserve and one of Ireland's most important bird sites. The town of Wexford, with its medieval streetplan, Viking origins, and good range of accommodation, restaurants, and services, lies just a short drive away. Curracloe Beach, which was famously used as a filming location for the opening D-Day sequence in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, lies a short distance up the coast to the north and is one of the finest beaches in the southeast. The village of Curracloe itself is a quiet, pleasant base for exploring the area. Reaching The Raven is straightforward. From Wexford town, visitors drive north on the R741 and then take the road toward Curracloe, following signs for The Raven Nature Reserve. There is a well-maintained car park with toilets at the end of the access road. The main trails through the forest and out to the beach are clearly marked and relatively easy underfoot, though the looser sand of the dunes can make for slower going. The reserve is open year-round and access is free, though the car park may have a fee during busier summer periods. Dogs are generally welcome but should be kept under control, particularly in areas where ground-nesting birds are present in spring and summer. Wellies or sturdy walking shoes are advisable in the wetter months when some of the forest paths can become muddy. The best time to visit depends on what you are hoping to see. Birders favour winter and early spring, when the sheer number and diversity of wildfowl and waders on and around Wexford Harbour is at its peak and the bare vegetation makes observation easier. Summer visits offer the pleasures of a largely deserted beach in good weather and the chance to see breeding species, as well as the reserve's rich insect life including various dune-specialist species. Autumn brings migrant passerines moving through the coastal scrub. In any season, early morning visits reward with the greatest wildlife activity and the best chance of having the place to oneself. The juxtaposition of sheltering pine forest and wide open ocean beach means there is almost always somewhere comfortable to walk regardless of the weather, which adds considerably to the reserve's practical appeal. One of the less-told stories of The Raven concerns the dynamic and unstable nature of the spit itself. Like many sandy coastal landforms on the Irish coast, it is not a fixed feature but a constantly shifting one, shaped by longshore drift, storm action, and sea-level change. Aerial photographs taken over decades show measurable changes in the outline of the spit, and there are places on the beach where stumps of ancient woodland occasionally appear at low tide after storms have scoured away the sand — ghostly remnants of a formerly more extensive forested landscape that was swallowed by the sea centuries ago. This quality of impermanence gives The Raven a peculiar, slightly melancholy grandeur: a beautiful place that exists in its present form only provisionally, shaped by forces that operated long before human memory and will continue long after.

Ballyteigue Burrow is a remarkable coastal nature reserve located on the southern coast of County Wexford, Ireland, stretching along a long, thin peninsula of sand and dune systems that juts into Ballyteigue Bay. It is one of the finest and most extensive examples of a sand dune complex in Ireland, forming a narrow barrier beach that separates the open waters of the Celtic Sea from the sheltered lagoon and wetland habitats behind it. The reserve is managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of Ireland and holds designations as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Natural Heritage Area (NHA), reflecting the outstanding ecological value of its habitats and species. For naturalists, birdwatchers, and those who simply want to walk somewhere genuinely wild and undisturbed, Ballyteigue Burrow represents one of Wexford's hidden coastal treasures. The physical landscape here is defined by dynamic dune systems that have formed and shifted over centuries due to wind and wave action. The burrow itself is a long sandy spit, running roughly east to west, backed by a sheltered lagoon known as Ballyteigue Lough, which is an important wetland habitat attracting wintering wildfowl and wading birds in considerable numbers. The seaward face of the burrow takes the full force of Atlantic swells sweeping up the St. George's Channel, while the landward side is calm, sheltered, and hauntingly quiet. Walking along the crest of the dunes, a visitor experiences the dramatic contrast between the crashing surf on one side and the still, reed-fringed waters of the lagoon on the other. The vegetation is classic dune flora — marram grass anchoring the shifting sand, sea holly, sea bindweed, and in damper dune slacks, occasional orchids and other moisture-loving plants. From a historical perspective, this coast has long been shaped by both natural and human forces. The broader Wexford coastline was heavily involved in the events of the 1798 rebellion, and the area around Kilmore Quay and the Barony of Bargy has a deep history of Norse, Norman, and later English settlement. The sea itself has always been both a livelihood and a threat to communities here; the treacherous shallow waters and sandbanks of the south Wexford coast have claimed numerous ships over the centuries, and local folklore preserves stories of wrecks and rescues. The sand dune landscapes of south Wexford, including Ballyteigue, were also important for rabbit warrening in medieval times — the very word "burrow" reflects this old land use, where warrens were deliberately managed for fur and meat. Ecologically, the site is of exceptional importance. The dune system supports rare and protected plant communities, and the lagoon behind the burrow is a designated habitat type of European importance. The area is particularly valued for its bird life: in winter, large numbers of Brent geese feed in the fields adjacent to the lagoon, while waders such as dunlin, golden plover, lapwing, and bar-tailed godwit can be seen on the muddy margins. Terns nest in the area during summer, and the burrow itself provides habitat for skylarks, meadow pipits, and linnets. Seals are sometimes seen hauled out on the beach, and bottlenose dolphins occasionally appear in the bay offshore. In person, the experience of Ballyteigue Burrow is one of expansive wildness and solitude. The beach is rarely crowded, even in summer, because it requires a walk to reach and is somewhat off the beaten track for casual visitors. The sound of the wind through the marram grass, the crash of waves on the open shore, and the occasional cry of a distant wader over the lagoon create a sensory environment that feels genuinely remote. The sand is pale and fine, and the dunes rise to modest heights but provide enough elevation for sweeping views across the bay and toward the Saltee Islands to the south and east. On clear days the sense of space and light is extraordinary, the sky enormous above the flat agricultural hinterland. The nearest settlement of any size is Kilmore Quay, a picturesque traditional fishing village a few kilometres to the east, known for its thatched cottages, working harbour, and ferry services to the Saltee Islands (themselves an internationally important seabird sanctuary). The village of Duncormick lies to the north. Access to the burrow is typically gained via the small roads and farm tracks that lead down to the shoreline near Cullenstown or from the western end near the Kilmore area; parking is limited and access tracks can be narrow. The terrain on the burrow itself is uneven dune grass and sand — sturdy footwear is advisable and there are no formal facilities such as toilets or cafes on site. The best times to visit depend on one's interests. Summer brings the full flowering of dune plants, warm weather, and good chances of seeing terns and other breeding birds. Autumn and winter offer spectacular wildfowl gatherings and the moody, elemental atmosphere of a storm-lashed barrier coast. Spring is excellent for migrant birds passing through. In all seasons, visitors are asked to keep to the beach and dune margins and avoid disturbing nesting birds or trampling sensitive vegetation, as the habitat is fragile and legally protected. Dogs should be kept under control. The reserve is freely accessible at all times but its very lack of infrastructure means visitors should come prepared and self-sufficient.

The John F. Kennedy Arboretum is one of Ireland's most significant and expansive tree collections, established as a living memorial to the 35th President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, following his assassination in November 1963. Spanning approximately 252 hectares on the southern slopes of Slieve Coillte in County Wexford, it holds a collection of over 4,500 types of trees and shrubs from temperate regions around the world, making it one of the most diverse arboreta in Europe. The arboretum is managed by the Office of Public Works (OPW) and is classified as a National Monument and amenity site, drawing nature lovers, families, botanists, and heritage visitors from across Ireland and abroad. The connection to Kennedy is deeply personal — his great-grandfather Patrick Kennedy emigrated from New Ross, just a few miles to the northwest, during the Great Famine of the 1840s, making Wexford ancestral territory for the Kennedy family. When JFK visited Ireland in June 1963, just months before his death, his visit to the region was among the most emotionally resonant moments of his short presidency. The arboretum was formally dedicated in 1968, five years after Kennedy's assassination, on lands donated and developed to honour both the man and his Irish roots. Ireland's close ties to the Kennedy family made this a project of national significance, and the site was deliberately chosen for its connection to the New Ross area from which Kennedy's ancestors had emigrated. The planting of the arboretum was a long-term horticultural endeavour, with specimens sourced from across North America, Asia, Australasia, and Europe, arranged both by taxonomy and by geographic origin. Forested plots are organised so that visitors can walk through themed zones — conifers, broadleaves, Asiatic species, North American trees — creating what is effectively a living encyclopaedia of the world's temperate flora. The arboretum continues to expand and refine its collection, and researchers and botanists visit regularly to study its rare and unusual specimens. The physical experience of visiting the arboretum is one of scale and tranquility. Winding paths and forest roads wind through tall stands of exotic conifers, past open meadow areas punctuated by specimen trees, and along the edges of sheltered hollows where moisture-loving plants thrive. The scent of pine and eucalyptus mingles with damp Irish earth, and birdsong is near-constant — the arboretum is rich in bird life, particularly woodland species such as treecreepers, woodpeckers, and various warblers that find refuge in its dense plantings. In autumn, the arboretum transforms into a spectacular display of colour as deciduous trees from North America and East Asia enter their seasonal change, offering shades of amber, crimson, and gold across the hillside. In spring, rhododendrons and flowering cherries add vivid bursts of colour, and the rich green of fresh broadleaf canopy creates a lush, enclosed atmosphere. Slieve Coillte, upon whose slopes the arboretum is set, rises to about 271 metres and offers a commanding viewpoint at its summit that is accessible from within the arboretum grounds. On clear days, the panoramic view from the top takes in much of County Wexford, the broad tidal estuary of the River Barrow and River Nore as they converge near New Ross, the Blackstairs Mountains to the northwest, and on the finest days, stretches of water visible toward the distant Waterford coastline. This elevated perspective gives the arboretum an added dimension beyond its horticultural interest — it becomes a landscape experience that connects the visitor to the wider geography of southeast Ireland. Nearby, the town of New Ross is visible in the valley, and the Dunbrody Famine Ship, a full-scale replica of the type of vessel that carried emigrants like Patrick Kennedy to America, is moored there as a companion heritage site. The surrounding area is rich in history and natural character. County Wexford itself was a centre of the 1798 United Irishmen rebellion, and the landscape carries traces of that turbulent period. The countryside around Slieve Coillte is quiet, agricultural, and deeply rural — patchworks of fields, hedgerows, and small farms typical of the Irish southeast. Hook Head Peninsula and the dramatic Hook Lighthouse, among the oldest operational lighthouses in the world, are within about an hour's drive south. The Kennedy Homestead at Dunganstown, the actual farmhouse from which Patrick Kennedy emigrated and still owned and operated by Kennedy descendants, is just a few kilometres from the arboretum and is open to visitors, making for a natural pairing with a visit to the arboretum for those tracing the Kennedy heritage trail. Practically, the arboretum is well signposted from New Ross, which is itself accessible from the M9 motorway corridor linking Dublin to Waterford. The site has a car park, visitor centre, and toilet facilities, and the internal road network means that even visitors with limited mobility can experience much of the arboretum from a vehicle, though walking the paths on foot gives the fullest and most rewarding experience. The grounds are open year-round, though the visitor centre may have reduced hours outside peak season. A small entry fee is charged, which is consistent with other OPW heritage sites. The best times to visit are spring for flowering displays and autumn for spectacular foliage colour, though summer offers the fullest canopy and the longest evenings for leisurely exploration. Dogs are welcome on leads, and picnic areas are available. One of the more fascinating aspects of the arboretum is the way it quietly stitches together the personal and the political, the horticultural and the historical. Kennedy's June 1963 visit to Ireland — just five months before Dallas — included stops in Wexford, Dublin, Cork, and Galway. His return to ancestral Ireland was widely seen as among the most emotionally authentic moments of his presidency, and the subsequent decision to create this arboretum in his memory on land so close to his family's roots gave the site a poignancy that goes beyond conventional heritage tourism. There is something quietly moving about walking among redwoods, Japanese maples, and southern hemisphere conifers on an Irish hillside, knowing they were planted as an act of collective grief and gratitude — Ireland's tribute to a president who was, in some real sense, also theirs.