THE guidebook says "vast parkland expanse and adventure playground" and it does not lie. Malahide Castle Park is open daylight hours, admission is free, there are several picnic benches and acres of grass to picnic on, and the large wooden adventure playground must be one of the best in the country.
The play equipment is imaginative and safe; the absolute highlight is a rubber tyre suspended by a chain from a sturdy hook on a slanted pole. With the help of a parent willing to push it into circular motion, two children sitting together will find it better than the best roundabout. Runner up was the viewing platform in the play area shaped liked a boat. The playground has equipment suitable for disabled children too.
Also in the grounds are 12th century Malahide Castle, the Fry Model Railway Museum and Malahide Castle Gardens, none of which is as appealing to the children as the free playground. But if two adults went, they could break the monotony of playground watch with a visit to the castle, open from 10 a.m. to 12.45 p.m., 2 p.m. to 4.45 p.m. (£2.50 adult, £1.25 children); the Railway Museum (£2.50 adult, £1.40 children); or the gardens (£1 adult, 50p children). A combined ticket for the castle and railway is £4 for an adult, £2 for a child). We visited the railway museum, the highlight of the day for me. This brought the total cost of the day out to a more than reasonable £14.30.
How to get there: By DART to Tara Street station, and on No 42 bus from Beresford Place (near Busarus, opposite back of the Custom House) to the bus stop next to train station and church in Malahide village.
Total time taken: Going: one hour 20 minutes from point of leaving home in Glenageary on foot at 11.15 a.m. Returning, one hour 45 minutes from point of leaving Malahide Castle Park at 4.15 p.m. Frequency of transport: DART, every 15 minutes, No 42, every 20/25 minutes, fairly reliably.
Fare: DART, adult return, £2.20, child return, £1.20. Bus, adult return, £2.20, child return, £1.10. Highlight of journey: The rollercoaster thrill of sitting in the front seat on the top of a doubledecker bus. To two suburban seven and eight year old girls used to being ferried everywhere by car, everything is a novelty, from the feeling that you're flying - "maybe we are, maybe the bottom half of the bus has been chopped off" - to the graffiti - "Look, it says `Kara loves Mark'," giggle, giggle - to chasing the No 27 in front, to the sighting of low flying Jets at Belcamp. The route (Beresford Place, via Coolock, Kinsealy, and Balgriffin to Malahide) hits delightfully twisty and bumpy scenic country roads at Kinsealy. Don't stop off there is little en route to deter you.
Food: Sweets and snacks available at the railway museum and a restaurant in the basement of the castle. Overall, a delightfully junk free zone.
Toilets: Black hole of Calcutta variety, and nowhere to change a baby. The only disappointment of the day.
Children's verdict: Susan: "You wouldn't think of a bus as a place to have great fun, but it was."
Molly: "Tell them about that swing, it's humungous."
