← All events
heritage · Sunday 23 August 2026 · 11:00am 
Big Dig at Glendalough
At Glendalough Visitor Centre · Glendalough, Co. Wicklow
At Glendalough Visitor Centre · Glendalough, Co. Wicklow
If you have children who ask what archaeologists actually do, this is the event to bring them to. The Big Dig is a hands-on excavation workshop run by the School of Irish Archaeology, set on the lawn of Glendalough Visitor Centre during National Heritage Week. Children get to work a real replica dig site, uncovering Viking artefacts and learning the techniques that professional archaeologists use every day. It is free, drop-in, and one of the more genuinely memorable things a family can do in Wicklow on a summer Sunday.
The School of Irish Archaeology brings a mobile replica Viking house and excavation site to the visitor centre lawn, directly in front of the famous monastic enclosure. Children dig through the layers, unearth replica Viking treasures and artefacts that replicate finds dating back over 1,000 years, and hear from qualified archaeologists about what those objects tell us about daily life in early medieval Ireland.
Hourly sessions run from 11:00am, so there is no need to rush. You can arrive, join the next slot, and take your time walking the monastic city before or after. The event is organised by the Heritage Office of Wicklow County Council in association with the Glendalough Heritage Forum, and it forms part of National Heritage Week, which celebrates local archaeology and history across Ireland every August.
The setting adds a lot. Glendalough’s round tower - 34 metres tall and largely intact - stands a few minutes’ walk from the lawn. The surrounding monastic enclosure, founded by St Kevin in the sixth century, is one of the best-preserved early Christian sites in Ireland. The combination of a living dig and a real ancient landscape makes the history stick in a way that a museum visit rarely does.
Glendalough is in the Wicklow Mountains, reached via Laragh village on the R756 from Rathnew or from the N11/M11 south of Dublin. The drive from Dublin city takes roughly an hour. Car parking is available at the Glendalough Visitor Centre car park. Bus Eireann and some private coaches serve the area from Dublin during summer - it is worth checking current timetables before you travel if you would prefer not to drive.
The Wicklow Mountains National Park surrounds Glendalough on all sides, and the lakes at the Upper and Lower Lough are an easy walk from the visitor centre. Laragh village, a few minutes away by car, has a handful of cafes and is a good stop on the way home. There is more to see in Wicklow and across Co. Wicklow.
Heading to Glendalough Visitor Centre in Wicklow? Wicklow has plenty more to see. Read the Wicklow area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.