Battle of the Boyne Visitor Centre — Attraction in The Municipal District of Laytown — Bettystown

On Saturday 9th December 2023, my friend and I (plus my 2 well trained older dogs) battled the elements and took the lovely walk from Drogheda to Old Bridge House and Gardens.

When we got there we wanted to get some lunch and warm up before visiting the museum and gardens. We then saw the signs no dogs allowed in the gardens. Fair enough.

So we went to the cafe. We asked a nice young employee who was coming out the door if we could sit inside in a quiet corner as the weather was stormy. He came back with the answer No and we could sit outside. The seats were soaking and there was no shelter from the heavy rain. He pointed us to the front of the cafe which had a cover and there we sat in the freezing cold and rain.

When we went into order our lunch there were only 3 people in the cafe, a couple and a toddler who was removing the Christmas decorations and climbing up onto the ice cream cabinet.

The staff in the cafe ran by Brambles were lovely and made me a very nice veggie sandwich and the supervisor was very apologetic about us having to sit outside in a storm.

As soon as we had eaten our food a person in a security rain jacket came up to us and very rudely barked at us that there were signs all over saying dogs are not allowed in the garden and told us to leave. The dogs were leashed to our table on the terrace overlooking the garden we never got to see.

We were absolutely shocked by the treatment and discrimination we received from the OPW employees. We will NEVER go again and we are telling everyone we know about our experience.

I own bars in Dublin and our daily trade is made up mostly of dog walkers who spend a lot of money on coffees and snacks particularly in the cold months. They are losing out on a huge market. If we were to run our business and run our customers like they do we would...

I had an amazing visit to the Battle of the Boyne Visitor Centre at Oldbridge Estate.

The centre is located right on the historic battlefield where King William III and King James II faced off in 1690—a turning point in Irish and British history. the exhibitits ,cannons are nicely restored and displayed ,lot of religious context to the war shown in its neutrality. The visual cinema was excellent

The Octagon Garden symmetrical with the 9 English Yew trees which are the few of the oldest in Ireland. Infact English Yew trees are the most known oldest trees on earth.Well Kept lavender gardens, the Apple orchards, Dog Kennels,Peach tree enclosure, Lush Open greenery and places to sit for a picnic at the open gardens

The views over the river and battlefield are stunning, and walking the trails gave me a real sense of the landscape that shaped the events of the battle.

The staff were friendly, and everything was well-kept, beautifully restored and managed by OPW and...

If you are a battlefield tourist, as I am, this should be on your list. That said, it’s about the oddest one I’ve visited. Despite the name, this is really a stately home, with nice gardens that happens to be where the battle of the Boyne took place. There’s a courtyard with examples of artillery, and a good video on the battle. But the field itself is almost unsignposted and even the trails have no explanatory signage. It’s almost as if they are embarrassed about what happened there. When I asked someone in the ‘visitor centre’ where I should go he asked ‘what do you want to see?’. Slightly taken aback I said ‘the battlefield’. He sent me to see the film (which is good, as I say) then to the walled garden! The contrast with the excellent battlefield centre at Aughrim is striking. The latter does everything very well on what I would guess is a far smaller budget than...