The Magpies prepared for last season's Sky Bet Championship title-winning campaign at the resort in County Kildare. They also visited before the 2009/10 season, which also ended with United lifting the Championship trophy. Real Madrid, AC Milan and the British & Irish Lions have all used the facilities in recent years and Rafa Benítez's side will head there again this summer.

And, with its impressive training pitches allied with convenient gym facilities and on-site team-building activities, the Newcastle manager believes Carton House is the ideal place to step up United's pre-season after the players reported back to the training ground last week.

The team will arrive on Sunday, and while there will be no friendly fixture in Ireland - last year United beat Bohemian 6-0 in a warm-up match - the Magpies will use the trip to prepare for their games against Preston North End and Bradford City.

And we'll bring you behind-the-scenes coverage, interviews and more on nufc.co.uk, NUFC TV and our social media channels.