We started collecting stamps for the Wicklow Passport last year during my maternity leave. I saw someone post about it on TikTok and signed up. We moved to Wicklow a few years ago and I thought it would be a great way to see more of my new home county. I started when my baby, Stevie, was 6mths old. She’s a year and a half now and I didn’t realise how much she would be actively participating in it with me, when we started. I started hiking with my baby around the same time and wanted to pair my passport stamps with local hiking spots. For example, some of our favourites are:
Blessington greenway – Russborough House (Blessington)
The Great Sugarloaf – The Kingfishers Kitchen (Enniskerry)
Carrick Mountain – Jolys, & an ice cream in The Gate Lodge (Glenealy)
The Vartry Reservoir playground loop – Byrne and Woods Gastro Bar, on a Sunday after 5pm for the trad (Roundwood)
and of course, Glendalough – Wicklow Mountains National Park – Information Centre (Laragh & Glendalough)
We ate a lot of great lunches! Some of our favourite stamps aside from hiking and lunch were Wicklow Gaol (Wicklow Town), Shillelagh Stickmakers (Shillelagh), Kilmacurragh Botanical Gardens (Kilbride) and Glenroe farm (Kilcoole).
As my baby grew, she was able to participate more. She loves to hike now and we have a bank of great places to bring her as she grows up. The Wicklow Passport challenge was such a rewarding way to document my maternity leave and the time my baby and I had to bond together in her first year. I’ve so many precious memories and a gorgeous keepsake to show her and tell her stories from. My advice to anyone who plans to do this project with their baby is to get the bigger passport book and fill the extra pages with polaroid’s. Your child(ren) will love to see their early achievements and you’ll love looking back and seeing them grow in front of your eyes.
Our next adventures are the 1000hrs outside project, to collect all of the Wicklow Town Stamps and to continue hiking together across Wicklow. We’re making our way through https://wicklowtrails.ie/ at the moment. I also dream of hiking the Wicklow Way with her and my husband as a through hike over multiple days. We are all currently in training for that one!
If you’d like to follow us on our adventures, you can follow our TikTok channel @aismckenna
Order your Wicklow Passport today: Click here
