Journal Volume 7 2013
Holidaymaking
From the mid-19th century on, Greystones attracted ever-growing number of holiday-makers, some arriving by excursion steamer on day trips, but most travelling by train and renting houses in which they lived for three or four months every summer. One of these annual visitors was the young John Millington Synge, whose family had a longstanding connection with Wicklow. Long after Synge’s death, his brother, Rev Samuel Synge, recorded his memories of those summers, of their childhood pursuits, of the town as it was then and of the various houses in which they stayed . With the growing popularity of the area, a number of hotels, boarding houses and businesses were established to cater for visitors’ needs. The opening of the Grand (later the La Touche) Hotel in 1894 was an indication of the importance of the tourist industry to Greystones, and of the hopes of prominent local figures for further development.
