Whittling a Wicklow adventure paradise

Claremorris woman creates Wicklow adventure paradise


Trevor Quinn

Megalithic tombs and Oscar-winning Hollywood blockbusters are a long way from Taugheen in Claremorris, but one Mayo woman has been closer than most to both since she purchased 1,500 acres of land in the Wicklow wilderness.
Since her arrival, that once-quiet wilderness has seen people swinging on ropes, trekking through tree tops, shooting arrows and climbing towers. It has revealed its ecological and historical secrets to students, environmentalists and culture buffs. It has even witnessed Mel Gibson lead Scottish warriors into a bloody battle against an English army.     

Eye on the prize
Della Kyne (nee O’Boyle) admits that some locals were perplexed, even bewildered, when she and her husband, Tim (who hails from Moycullen, Co Galway), decided to invest in the land. “It was derelict at the time, but the auction in 1978 was very competitive. We probably paid more than we had envisaged for it. Once Tim got over the shock of the purchase we had to decide what we were going to do with it,” Della remembers.
It was easy to see the potential for Kippure Estate. The wild and beautiful confines of the 240-acre estate are surrounded by the captivating Wicklow Mountains. “It was considered to be marginal land, by farmers but we always felt it would make wonderful amenity land.”
While the plan to develop the land remained at the forefront of the couple’s minds, the demands of a young family allied with the economically challenging years of the 1980s meant that those plans were put on hold.
In the mid-’90s, however, Della and Tim decided to push ahead and transform the barren landscape in to a tourist Mecca. In 2003, they opened their own outdoor-activity centre. Self-catering and guesthouse accommodation, as well as dining and conference facilities, have since been added.
Just 40 minutes from Dublin and a world away from the hustle and bustle of city life, Kippure Estate provides an idyllic escape. It is situated off the winding Sally Gap Road, just minutes from Blessington Lake and at the heart of the Wicklow Mountains, bordering Wicklow National Park. The centre offers everything from an 33-feet-high ‘Sky Trek’ in the tree tops to climbing, abseiling, mountain walking, orienteering and archery – all set in stunning scenery with panoramic views.

Outdoor education
Della and Tim are both former teachers and both are enthusiastic academics. They met in UCG in the mid-’60s. In 1995 they returned to education and both completed postgraduate MA courses in ecology and the environment at UCD. Their daughter Sorcha, who has worked at Kippure for many years, is also a teacher.
Della and Tim are immensely proud of the dedicated outdoor education department at Kippure. It offers courses and workshops in geography and ecology field studies, as well as outdoor experiential learning, team building and outdoor activity days.
Passage graves dating from about 2,000 BC lie on the periphery of Kippure Estate on the two nearest mountain peaks Seefin and Seefingan, and Della says students from as far away as Oxford have visited on tours.
“We also carry out ecology studies in our oak woodland with primary, secondary and third level students,” Della explains. “It gives them a chance to explore, enjoy nature walks and absorb the natural environment around them.”

Braveheart
Ireland’s low tax rate helped persuade Mel Gibson to shoot ‘Braveheart’ in Ireland. However, the untouched mature woodland and seemingly endless farm pastures of Kippure also provided an ideal backdrop for the multi-million-dollar film. According to Tim, “Mel Gibson was attracted to come here because the landscape looked very much like the Scotland of the 13th or 14th century.”
“It was a June evening and we were sitting in our house on Leinster Road when we got a call to go to Kippure and meet Mel Gibson,” Della recalls. A few hours later the she and Tim were sitting in the middle of a large field watching a helicopter pierce through the clouds. “Mel got out with five minders and took a tour of five or six locations … He had a good look at the mature oak and scots pine and came back to us and said, ‘This place is ideal’.”
Della’s son Timothy was hired to weave wattles for the construction of buildings which included a massive fort, the town of York and a cottage where William Wallace secretly meets his sympathiser the Princess of France.  For three months, the estate witnessed romance, political intrigue and pitched battle as William Wallace’s role in the First War of Scottish Independence was brought to life.

The battles might be long over and the film crews might be gone, but the word most associated with the epic production still echoes around the hills as visitors escaping from the pressures of daily life inhale the unpolluted air and marvel at the breathtaking views: Freedom.

For more information on Kippure Estate, visit www.kippure.com.