The Irish Whiskey Museum was opened in November 2014, since this time, it has become one of the most popular tourism destinations in the Centre of Dublin City. It is housed in an Edwardian style listed building on the bottom of Grafton Street.

The museum is housed over three floors, each one accessible by stairs and a lift. This building is prime example of a protected structure, which has been opened up, ensuring it is accessible to everyone.

To access the entrance, you go through an archway into a small courtyard, where there are steps and a lift. The lift will bring you directly to the first floor, as this is where the Café Bar, Shop, are located and this is where the tour starts. For security purposes, the lift does not automatically go to the next levels without a key.  The key is available from the person behind the reception desk who will give you access before your tour starts.

Upon entering, there are toilets to your right, the accessible toilet meets all of the criteria, but is also a lot less clinical and is decorated in the same way as the other toilets!

The shop and ticket office are to your left and the Café Bar is straight ahead. This is a really nice room with a lot of space and this is where you will wait until your tour begins!

The tour begins on the second floor, I really had no idea what to expect, as I didn’t know a lot about whiskey, only that my grandparents, enjoyed it very much! We initially learned about the whiskey making process, from the beginning.

Our guide was excellent; she was enthusiastic, incredibly knowledgeable and relaxed in her manner. She made everyone feel very welcome from the outset.

The tour begins with history about whiskey, which I found really interesting! We then moved on to a second room, called a Shebeen, you will have to visit to find out more! The rooms are really spacious and completely accessible throughout.

We moved from the Shebeen, to the Bar, where we learned about how many distilleries there were in Ireland and about the distillers. This was done in a virtual interactive process. We then moved to the third floor, where as you can see, you can actually see the timeline in bottles and various memorabilia from each era.

We then moved into the bar area, where, depending on your ticket choice, you can actually sample different whiskeys. My fellow guests enjoyed every aspect of this part! Our guide, once again, showed her understanding and great knowledge in this area and was open to lots of questions.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Irish Whiskey Museum; it is certainly one of the most accessible tourism destinations in Dublin.

For any information on the Irish Whiskey Museum: www.irishwhiskeymuseum.ie

Email me: angela@trainability.ie

For more information on accessible destination: www.trainability.ie

Travelling with young children, is always stressful! Even the most prepared parents, will agree, I have travelled with four children for the past fifteen years!

Autism, itself, can lead to a lot of anxiety for children, around travel, a new place, crowds, noise, long queues etc

Dublin Airport, began an initiative to give children with autism, an important flyer lanyard and wrist band, to ensure a smoother journey through the airport.

We put our son’s IAA (Irish Autism Action) Card inside with it, for ID purposes. In order to get a lanyard, you need to contact Dublin Airport directly, at email: prm@daa.ie or post it to us Dublin Airport Customer Experience Department, Level 5, Terminal 1, Dublin Airport, Co. Dublin. You must provide, evidence of diagnosis.

*Please note that due to high demand we can only issue wristbands or lanyards to people who have travel arrangements made*

We have now used this system twice with our son with autism. It has eliminated a lot of stress in our journey.

From the check in desk, where a very friendly Aer Lingus Staff member helped us through the bag and drop system and was very kind and understanding towards our very distressed child.

We then went straight to security, which I know from even flying by myself, can be very busy and stressful for everyone. When you add in autism and the whole family, bags, buggies, blankets, you know yourself!

The lanyard gives the whole family, fast track and the staff in the security area, incredibly understood, while being very thorough at their job.

I explained to the Security that our son is a “bolter” he has a limited understanding of danger and would be gone, he would just see something that would attract his attention. As one of us always sets off the alarm, I was worried about him going through ahead, but the staff were fantastic, engaged with him and thankfully I didn’t set off the alarm this time!

We have flown twice with the lanyard and it has given us such peace of mind when travelling and the staff in Dublin Airport have been incredibly understanding, yet not intrusive.

Aer Lingus also have a visual guide available for children with autism, which is available online on their web-site here: https://www.aerlingus.ie/travel-information/travelling-with-children/travelling-with-an-asd-child/#/tab-0-pre-flight

OCS are also available in Dublin Airport and offer a fantastic service to both children and adults travelling with disabilities.

http://www.ocsireland.ie/sectors/aviation/passenger-assistance/

Please feel free to contact me for anymore information:

angela@trainability.ie

www.trainability.ie