From this Saturday, all children under the age of 12 will be given free entrance to all heritage sites managed by the Office of Public Works (OPW) Heritage Service. This is great news for families, especially when faced with bored children during the summer holidays.

Speaking in the Seanad, Minister of State for the OPW, Kevin Moran, said that this will provide “a huge opportunity to encourage our children to experience some of the best cultural and heritage sites in the country.”

He added: “We have some wonderful places to visit like Clonmacnoise, Kilkenny Castle, Newgrange and the Rock of Castle and I want every child to have an opportunity to visit them with their families during the summer holidays and up to the end of the year.”

Children under the age of 6 already had free entrance to the heritage sites and the OPW offers free access to schoolchildren under their Free School Visits scheme.

It’s hoped that this new approach will encourage families to visit these places during the holidays. “I’d like to spread the message to families that wouldn’t normally think of coming to a heritage site and encourage them to make a visit,” Kevin added.

So grab the kids and visit some of Ireland’s beautiful heritage sites this summer. The initiative begins this Saturday, July 1st.

For more information, visit heritageireland.ie