Historical Houses & Gardens
Historical Houses & Gardens
Beyond Ballyfin, a number of remarkable houses and gardens lie within easy reach, each offering its own glimpse into the region’s history, architecture and landscape.
Nearby Emo Court is an elegant neo-classical mansion designed by James Gandon in the late 18th century, surrounded by beautiful landscaped grounds. Birr Castle combines dramatic gardens with a fascinating scientific legacy and has been home to the Parsons family for more than 400 years. Abbeyleix, meanwhile, offers Georgian elegance and a charming sense of stepping gently back in time.
to the region’s storied legacy.
Set in the heritage town of Birr, Birr Castle’s 120-acre grounds are full of riverside walks, waterfalls and more than 5,000 species of trees and plants. Discover the Great Telescope, the Lunar Heat Machine, one of the world’s oldest darkrooms and Ireland’s Historic Science Centre. Visitors can also explore the remarkable legacy of the Parsons family, whose work in science, engineering and astronomy spans more than 400 years. Fascinating and tranquil in equal measure..
Emo Court is a fine neo-classical mansion set against the backdrop of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. Designed by James Gandon, who had recently completed the Custom House and Four Courts in Dublin, work began in 1790. The estate was home to the Earls of Portarlington until the War of Independence, after which they left Ireland. In the 1960s, Major Cholmeley-Harrison restored Emo Court and later opened the gardens and parkland to the public before gifting the estate to the people of Ireland in 1994. Today, visitors can enjoy lake and woodland walks, explore the gardens and finish in the tearooms, which feels only right.
Colonel William Hutchinson Poe commissioned Sir Edwin Lutyens to design the gardens at Heywood, known as the Italian Gardens. Completed in 1912, they remain the only example of Lutyens’ work outside Dublin.
Formal planting, lakes, woodland and architectural flourishes are all part of the picture, from Gothic gates to artificial ruins embellished with medieval fragments, including a window taken from Aghaboe Abbey. The gardens remain strikingly intact, giving visitors a vivid sense of the original design and all its quiet theatricality.
