A Message from Boston for Siobhan's Hen Night

Map to St. John's Cloughlea

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The location marked A on the map is St. John's Church of Ireland, Cloughlea. If you look to the left of the map you'll see an area called Crosscoolharbour, you can zoom in on this area until you find the Red Lane. Miley Hall is about half way down this road, you'll recognise it as a large old yellow house with pretty gardens, but we'll hang some signs to help you.

Public Transport to Blessington

Dublin Bus Routes: The 65 bus to Blessington leaves from Eden Quay at 12:45 on a Saturday which will get you to Blessington Village for 13:55 (the later bus won't allow for sufficient time to get to the church), where you'll need to make arrangements with someone to bring you to the church. If you're coming along the evening part of the wedding, you can get off the bus at the top of the Red Lane (ask the driver) and either walk for 5 minutes to Miley Hll or have someone meet you (if you're wearing heels). Check the Dublin Bus website for details on stops along the way, but youll be able to catch it on Georges st, all the way out the N81 through Terenure, Tempelogue and Tallaght.

Otherwise you can get the Luas Red Line to Tallaght and get the 65 Bus from there.

Accommodation

There is plenty of accommodation around the Blessington area, however due to the fact that it's a popular family holiday destination, it would make sense to reserve your digs now. I've done a little research on what's available, and prices but they are subject to change.

The closest and largest is Avon Ri, which is a collection of self catering holiday homes situated on the lake shore. Its beautiful surroundings make it very popular and the rates are very reasonable. You can get a 3 bed house, which sleep 6 people comfortably for €250. I think this is a great option if there's a gang of you coming down, and it's less than 10 minutes away from the venue.

There are also a few B&B's locally, most of which are also family homes. They're very well priced, and again they're all within 10 minutes drive from Miley Hall.

Fairhill B&B is about 5 minutes drive from Miley Hall, but you could walk it if you're feeling fit. You'll need to contact Eileen Dolan, she has five rooms in all, the breakdown is as follows:

Rooms 1 & 2 are double rooms (two single beds that fit together, as a double bed or split as a twin)
Room 3 Sleeps three, one double bed and a single bed (small family room)
Room 4 Sleeps five, a double bed and three singles (large family room)
Room 5 Standard twin bed
Sleeps 13 in all, and her rates are €35 per person sharing, or €45 for a single occupancy.

Fairhill,
5, Pipers Stones,
Naas Road,
Blessington,
Co. Wicklow
Telephone:+353 (0) 45 865692, Mobile: 087 9905723

Patricia Gyves runs another local B&B, it's a quiet enough spot which is only really open for half the season. She only caters for small groups usually, but she's opening up the rest of the rooms for us especially. We would ask any guests staying with Mrs. Gyves to ensure that they take special care when arriving and during their stay, as the owners are getting on in years a little and are making an extra effort for us on the night. There are five rooms in all broken down as follows:

Room 1 is a double room
Rooms 2 & 3 have a double and a single bed with en-suite
Room 4 is a family room with a double and two single beds with en-suite
Room 5 has a double and a single bed.
The rates range from €65 - €70 with child rates available on request.

Patricia Gyves,
Haylands House,
Dublin Rd,
Blessington
Telephone: +353 (0) 45 865183

Citywest & Tallaght Hotels: Citywest is about 15 minutes drive from the venue and
Tallaght is about 20 minutes drive, and they have a selection of larger hotels which might suit some people better.

The Citywest Hotel is an impressive hotel 15 minutes away from Miley Hall. Double rooms start at €88 per night.

The Maldron Hotel Kingswood is located at the Kingswood exit on the N7 and is about 15-20 minutes drive from Miley Hall and rooms start at €54 per night. There is also a Maldron Hotel situated at Tallaght Cross, formerly The Tower Hotel, with double rooms starting at €79.

The Abberley Court Hotel, next to The Square Shopping Centre, is 20 minutes drive from the venue and double rooms start at €59.

The Plaza Hotel is a short distance from the Abberley Court and double rooms start at €49 for a single occupancy.

For more information on family home B&Bs check www.familyhomes.ie

How to get to the wedding

If you're traveling to the church by car, you'll simply head for the N81 and, depending on the direction your coming from, you'll turn left (from Dublin) or right (from Blessington) onto the R759 which brings your directly passed the Church. The turn for the R769 is shortly after Brittas, at a place called The Lamb. The land mark to look for is an antique shop called The Tramway, on the opposite side of the N81. For further detail check the map here

Once you're on the R759, you'll pass a bar called Mooney's, the road will take a very sharp corner over a small bridge, and the church is a short distance away from there. There is very limited parking, so we're looking into the possibility of having a coach shuttle guests from the reception venue, Miley Hall, to the church. In which case we'll ask people, where possible to rendezvous at Miley hall at around 2.30 -3pm.

If you're travelling to Miley Hall, you'll stay on the N81 heading toward Blessington. About 10 minutes after you pass The Lamb, there will be a statue of the Virgin Mary on the right hand side of the road, a little further down the road on the left hand side there is a bus stop. You'll take the next left after the bus stop down Red Lane. Follow the signs for the car park beside Miley Hall.