Slieve Aughty Centre

Slieve Aughty Centre is the first riding centre in Ireland to receive an ecotourism award!  Our Walking with a Donkey  Holidays and Family Green Holidays earned a SILVER award from Ecotourism Ireland.  This award will be upgraded to GOLD upon completion of the new guest house.

Based on rigorous criteria, the award means that walking and family holidays at Slieve Aughty Centre are sustainable, environmentally conscious, supportive of the local community and culturally rich.  Seeing as Esther began her organic garden more than 30 years ago and has always operated in an eco-friendly manner, we are delighted to finally have some official recognition.  We also anticipate welcoming more guests who share our passion and appreciation for the natural beauty of Ireland and want to have a unique family holiday with a small carbon footprint.

Slieve Aughty Centre offers residential and post to post Walking with a Donkey Holidays.  It is a great way to explore the countryside, and you can choose to return to the same accommodation each night or, for the more adventurous, travel to different eco-friendly B&B’s every other day.  Your donkey carries a large pack for your things and an organic picnic, and we give you plenty of instruction and practice handling and caring for your donkey.

Family Green Holidays are residential holidays full of outdoor activities for a variety of nature experiences.  Throughout the week, you can choose from active family pursuits such as horse riding, gardening and outdoor survival skills.  We have found all the local hidden treasures for you so all you have to do is decide which gems to visit!

To celebrate our new award, the first 10 families to book a Family Green Holiday receive a copy of Catherine Mack’s fantastic book Ecoescape Ireland.  Catherine Mack is the author of the Ethical Traveller and is a freelance travel writer specialising in responsible travel.

There’s a lot of information and photos on our web site as well as all our environmental policies.  Contact us to book a fun-filled eco-friendly family holiday this year.

Just yesterday we were browsing through the Christmas photos from the 2012 festival, smiling at the images of joy, contentment, excitement and wonder caught on camera.  It is such a special time of year that you can’t help but be caught up in the excitement.  We got some incredible feedback from our visitors this year and feel that we accomplished our goal of creating a place alive with the true spirit of Christmas.  We like to think that everyone who came left here with a full belly and a full heart.

Here’s just a few of the amazing comments we received:

The whole experience was lovely.  Best Santa ever, lovely relaxed and friendly.  Arts and crafts great, brilliant ideas story/dress ups/face painting.  Lovely home cooking.  Long may you continue.

Loved everything, brilliant atmosphere.  Robin Hood was a great hit with two boys.  Could not fault anything.  Would recommend the day to all friends, you succeed in all you do!

It is such a magical experience.  The set up is lovely and so welcoming.  Staff are very nice and costumes are fantastic.  The arts and crafts room and pancakes are a big hit with my daughter.  This is our third year to come and love it every time.  Keep up the good work!

Really magical afternoon, a surprise around every corner.  Very special with the lights on after dark.  Loved all the food for kids and adults!  Very kiddy friendly = relaxing for adults too!!  Personally my favourite memory will be the reindeer/ponies, very cute!!

Although we are probably best known for our stupendous Christmas festival, Slieve Aughty holds 3 other magical festivals each year: Easter, Summer Solstice and Halloween.  Each one is a family event and, like the Christmas Festival, offer indoor and outdoor activities that engage minds and bodies of children of all ages.  Entry is free for all 3 festivals, and once you’re here you can choose from a variety of activities or just relax with a fair trade tea or coffee.  It’s a great way to have fun the old fashioned way: as a family without the TV or computer!  Check out our Festivals page for more information.

Slieve Aughty was alive with activity the weekend of September 24th as 39 TREC Ireland competitors landed with friends, family, horses and ponies for the TREC Ireland Open Championships. Esther put a lot of effort into the little touches as usual, bedding up the stables with fresh shavings, brightening the place up with a fresh coat of paint, and preparing loads of fresh bread.  We were blessed with great weather on Saturday and everyone was in great spirits.  Several of our own horses competed at both Level 1, 3 and 4, travelling from 12 to 32 km, and we hear the going was hard.  Thanks to the fine weather, we had a lovely outdoor BBQ and pizza party Saturday night with the usual fine Slieve Aughty fare.

Sunday brought back the rain but that didn’t stop the competitors, and we did our best to offer a hot lunch for cold and wet riders as everyone waited for results.   Wooda went on one of the lorries back to the UK to begin a new career as a TREC competition horse, the perfect job for a handy pony with a lot of energy, and Portus scored the highest points for the obstacles phase of all the horses in his level!

Overall it was a fantastic weekend.  We hope everyone enjoyed themselves and look forward to hosting another competition next year!

Here’s some of the feedback we got from others:

Thank you so much for hosting such a lovely competition at the weekend.  We really enjoyed ourselves and were really impressed at the efficient way the competition ran and how you fed so many hungry people on Saturday night in such a relaxed and welcoming way.  Now it’s back to the real world of work and domestic matters – but I do have lovely memories of a thoroughly enjoyable stay in Ireland; thank you both very much indeed.

I just wanted to thank you and your staff for a lovely weekend with special thanks to Bilbo for being such a good boy. He is a credit to you.  Thanks again

Hi! I had such a great weekend, enjoyed every minute! Great people, venue, horses, food, saturday weather (perhaps not so great on Sunday…)

TREC has some lovely photos in their gallery!

Summer came and went with the usual buzz at the centre.  Already the crisp leaves of autumn are collecting in quiet corners and the days are a bit shorter.  The best part of autumn is the earthy colours, the fresh breeze and the time to sit down, reflect on the summer, and plan the rest of the year.

So what are you planning for the coming year?  Maybe you are thinking about a birthday party or family reunion.  Maybe you would like to do something different and unique for Halloween or Christmas or plan a weekend getaway before the cold sets in.

We’ve been looking around the world wide web at what is available to you and are convinced that Slieve Aughty is truly the Difference.  It is possible for the kids to have a great birthday party WITHOUT a bouncy castle!  It is possible to get away for the weekend WITHOUT a television and be active.  It is possible to have a great day out for the whole family WITHOUT cost (meaning its free!).  It is possible to see Santa WITHOUT commercialism.  And finally, it is possible to do something you have never done before, reconnect to nature, and spend quality time as a family.

At Slieve Aughty, we are a family.  We want to give your family a chance to be together, have fun and be active.  Did you know that the average child watches TV for almost 3 hours per day?  This means that by the time a child reaches the age of 70, they will have spent almost 9 years watching TV (http://parentsforhealth.org/too-much-tv).  We suggest you get rid of the TV for a few hours, a day, or a weekend and do something the kids will remember for a long time to come.

So plan a party with us, and mark your calendar for the Halloween Festival beginning October 29th.  We’ve got donkeys, ponies, walking trails, organic food, pony rides, games, arts and crafts, dressing up clothes, face painting, storytelling and more to keep everyone occupied.  The restaurant is a lovely place to relax with a glass of wine, and for an adult party we can line up some live music and horse riding.  Contact us or check out more information on Festivals and parties on our web site.

See you soon!

Or donkeys and pizza???

Slieve Aughty’s got some new things “in the oven”!  For a fun and different social event, book a pizza party at the centre and try out the clay oven.  The pizzas are hot and delicious in less than one minute, and each person can choose their own combination of delicious toppings.  The clay oven gives the pizza a unique wood-smoke flavour that will have you coming back for more.

Not only are the pizzas delicious, you can customise your pizza party for any size and age group.  Live music, pony rides, adult horse treks, teambuilding activities and more are possible.  The pizza garden is a lovely setting for any type of gathering, professional or personal. If you live in the area, we’ve got a “hot” pizza party every Friday evening starting at 6:00.  Dance the night away to live music and meet the centre’s guests.  You might even get a chance to practice your French or German, or make a new friend.

Add even more variety to your party with a lovely stroll through Kylebrack Forest with a donkey!  Half day, full day, and even overnight options are possible.  We have some adorable cuddly donkeys that make great company for walking and can carry your rain gear and a picnic.   The surrounding forest is scenic and easy to navigate, and we’ve got maps to get you safely home.  Just this week new packs arrived for the donkeys, and we’re excited to try them out!  You can bring a picnic of your own or order an organic picnic basket from us.   We also offer reduced rates for anyone adventurous enough to “test drive” a young donkey, which can make for great stories to tell later.  Walking takes on a whole new meaning with a donkey by your side.  Check out all the options for walking with a donkey.

Looking for something new and different for your next family holiday?  Why not bring the horse too!

That’s just what William and his daughter, from Kildare, did this week.  William works on a ship and after a few months at sea was ready for a holiday with his family.  His daughter came up with the idea for the 2 of them to bring their horses for a week on the trail.  William starting looking on the internet, searching for holidays with your own horse, and found very few options.  Slieve Aughty Riding Centre sounded like the perfect place for a reasonable price.

For their first holiday like this, William and Caitlin are thrilled with their experience.  For William, the holiday has exceeded his expectations, with full access to Slieve Aughty’s well laid out cross country course, delicious food, nice accommodation and excellent paddock for his horse and Caitlin’s pony.  Every day they have done some trekking and cross country jumping on their own, and Caitlin has joined group cross country lessons 3 days during the week.

When asked what the highlight of their horse holiday has been so far, Caitlin says for her it’s been jumping in the forest, although the food is a close second.  William says the whole week has been perfect, and he particularly liked the opportunity to explore the surrounding area (with good maps!) and the flexibility to do your own thing or join the structured riding holiday programme.  It certainly helped that the weather has been warm and sunny!

Many thanks to William and Caitlin for sharing their story and photos and we wish them the best!

For more information on bringing your horse and family on holidays to Slieve Aughty Centre, visit Horse Holidays on the web, or contact us!

Hi this is Sandrine!

It’s the last day… a bit sad because we are really enjoying ourselves.  We slept great in a ‘new’ tent on some waste land along the canal.

To complement our breakfast, we went to the local shop where we bought carrots for the horses and some nice tea for us.

Again the path along the canal is very beautiful though different every day.  Today we didn’t need to squeeze our horses through too many small gaps in the bushes. Instead, we enjoyed the view of breathtaking old ruins.  We daydream about how life would have been back then… Pampered princesses on cushions by warm fires, probably very comfortable, but then maybe we wouldn’t have been allowed out of the castle…

At last, we made it!!!! after four unique days guided by the Grand Canal we arrived at Shannon Harbour. We also brought the sun with us as we heard that there was a storm here in the West of Ireland.

Because we saw a lot of ‘dying’ boats we think maybe we should do a charity ride for boats next time. At least it would be a reason for another great trip!!
Thanks a lot to everyone who helped us!!! It was unforgettable

Today Merel and Sandrine rode and rode and rode and rode…

They started a bit late, 11:00 am, after a late night in the local pub soliciting donations for the hungry horses of Ireland.  Originally intending to do 25 km, they completed 40 km today, and walked on foot quite a lot to rest the horses and their sore behinds:)

The Canal is very tidy and beautiful, and each lock is well looked after.  The landscape varies along the way and the girls are enjoying the views and fine weather.

After a scenic walk through Tullamore town, they arrived at beautiful Tullamore Castle at 9pm.  Sandrine says that the walk to the castle, following a long path beside old trees, felt like being brought back in time to the old days when transport was only by horse.  After 9 hours in the saddle, the two girls can appreciate what it must have been like to have to travel a long distance on horseback.  They felt like princesses arriving at the castle after a long journey.

Looks like the girls are having a good time navigating the canal!

Artist lost a shoe last night, but with her usual good luck Merel happened to have met a blacksmith the night before, so she gave him a ring and he came out in the morning to replace it.

When they get tired of riding, the girls get off and walk for a bit to stretch their legs.

Looks like some lovely views

Merel and Sandrine started out Sunday morning in a light drizzle at the Grand Canal in Sallins, which is a historic but not terribly beautiful place.