Wicklow Beaches

 

Upon an island hard to reach,

the East Beast sits upon his beach.

Upon the west beach sits the West Beast.

Each beach beast thinks he’s the best beast.

Which beast is best?…Well, I thought at first

that the East was best and the West was worst.

Then I looked again from the west to the east

and I liked the beast on the east beach least. 

With apologies to one of the greatest poets of all time, Dr. Seuss, I feel the urge to burst into verse: ‘East beach or west beach? Which beach is the best beach?’ Back from the west coast of Ireland, we are now touring parts of the east coast and we still have plenty more beautiful beaches to visit, from the sandy cove at the imaginatively named Sandycove in County Dublin, to the stony beaches of Bray and Greystones in County Wicklow, to the golden sands of Brittas Bay, also in Wicklow. I really can’t make up my mind which beach is the best beach. They are all so wonderful!

Talk about a double take! After having just visited Bray Head in County Kerry, we are now looking at Bray Head, County Wicklow. Well, they do say that two heads are better than one…

This Bray Head, less than 20km from Dublin city centre, is a very popular spot, especially on a sunny Sunday. Hoards of humans have climbed up to the cross on the summit. And quite a few of them have jumped off too – attached to paragliders, of course. These contraptions look like a lot of fun, but the ‘wingspan’ required to carry a human is enormous! It takes quite a bit of skill for them to land on the beach without hitting the crowds of paddlers, dog walkers, and ice cream eaters.

In Bray I again meet many beach beasts, namely seabirds. Lots of gulls, oyster catchers… the usual suspects. In Bray Harbour there are also herons and dozens of swans who seem to be a permanent feature there.

This particular swan was anxious to take me under his wing. Nice, friendly chap, but that huge webbed foot of his was a little too close for comfort for me. I got quite a kick out of Bray, but I didn’t fancy such a big kick!

Like many an Irish seaside town, Bray has plenty of palm trees. These often catch foreign visitors by surprise – palms are not exactly the first thing that springs to mind when considering the vegetation of a north western European country – but they thrive in the mild, damp Irish climate.

Also in the east, but further inland, we took a trip out to County Kildare. Home of the famous Curragh Racecourse and the Irish National Stud, there was no doubt about the fact that we were in horse country. Somehow however, we managed to meet more birds here. ‘The Birds’, to be precise, as in the famous Hitchcock horror movie. Scary!

This was part of the fascinating Museum of Style Icons in the Newbridge Silverware Visitor Centre. The factory owners have put together an impressive collection of clothing and artefacts relating to movie and pop stars including Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Princess Grace, Michael Jackson, and the Beatles. Of course, my favourite display was the one of Tippi Hedren’s chic little suit which she wore in ‘The Birds’, but I was also quite gobsmacked (or should I say, ‘beaksmacked’?) to discover that the museum owner had paid €120,000 for a pink cocktail dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in the film ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’. For that kind of money, even I could be persuaded to part with a few of my feathers!

Back downstairs in the factory showrooms, His Lordship had quite a glint in his eye when he saw this silver corset, made, of course, by Newbridge Silver and modelled by Naomi Campbell.

I suspect, however, that Her Ladyship is not too happy about this type of bird watching!