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To find out more about Lodge Park Walled Garden call, +353 1 628 8412.

Lodge Park Walled Garden is an 18th Century walled garden has been under restoration for the last few years.  It boasts an array of wonderful featured such as brick-faced walls covered with fruit trees, roses and climbers, a South facing shrub border edged in box hedges and topiaried Yew trees running the length of the garden, a pond, vegetable area, walkway of sweet peas and much much more. The greenhouse at Lodge Park Walled Garden has an unusual collection of plants from around the world. Another exciting feature of the garden is the outstanding rosarie which is encountered on entering the orchard.

Visitors to this attraction can also visit the adjoining Steam Museum, Steaming Kettle Tea House and Gift Shop.

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To find out more about Coolcarrigan House & Garden call, +353 45 863 527.

Coolcarrigan House & Gardens is a hidden oasis on the edge of the Bog of Allen near Coill Dubh, with a fantastic 15 acre garden full of rare and unusual trees and a small church in a woodland setting, surrounded by a moat.

Coolcarrigan House is an attractive Georgian house built in the 1830's and originally used as a shooting lodge.  The house which has been added to and modernised over the years, was built by Robert Mackay Wilson.  The church, built by the same architect, has some very interesting stained glass windows and Gaelic scripts on the walls chosen by Douglas Hyde, the first President of Ireland.

The gardens underwent a major renovation program in the 1970's after a windstorm. During this renovation major replanting took place with the assistance of Sir Harold Hillier, the eminent English plantsman. What was created is a very unusual collection of trees and shrubs, many of which will not be found elsewhere in Ireland. It is open to visitors and is visited by many worldwide gardening groups and international dendrologists.

Paths meander through the eight acre garden and create surprises and vistas around every corner. The arboretum was extended by an additional seven acres in 2003 with many new rarities, and a special wild flower meadow.

Find out more about Coolcarrigan Gardens here

 

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To find out more about Larchill Arcadian Garden call, +353 1 628 7354.

Created between 1740 and 1780 Larchill Arcadian Garden is a ‘Ferme Ornée’ or Ornamental Farm and is the only surviving, near complete, garden of its type in Europe. The Ferme Ornée gardens of the mid 18th century were an expression in landscape gardening of the Romantic Movement. Emulating Arcadia, a pastoral paradise was created to reflect Man’s harmony with the perfection of nature.  Freed from the restrictions of the 17th century formal garden, the Ferme Ornée represented the first move towards the fully fledged landscape parkland designs of Capability Browne.

Although the follies became semi derelict and obscured by undergrowth and trees, the mystery and beauty of Larchill is still recognised.  Folklore stories of hauntings and the ‘strange’ nature of Larchill ensured its continued notoriety.

In 1994 Paddy Bowe, Garden Historian, visited Larchill and was the first to realise that Larchill was indeed a Ferme Ornée and an important ‘lost’ garden, four years of restoration then took place.

Visitors can walk through beech and lime avenues leading from the formal Walled Garden adjoining Larchill House and the Gothicised Farmyard, around an  8 acre Lake, linking follies and gazebo seats, all with marvelous views of the Dublin mountains. The original 18th century layout extended further to include two more lakes,  waterways and a fish hatchery.

Find out more about Larchill Arcadian Garden here

 

House Opening Hours (March - October)
(Parklands open all year round)

Monday	10.00 - 17.00
Tuesday	10.00 - 17.00
Wednesday	10.00 - 17.00
Thursday	10.00 - 17.00
Friday	10.00 - 17.00
Saturday	10.00 - 17.00
Sunday	10.00 - 17.00

Guided Tours of the house run daily at 10:15, then hourly on the hour until the final tour at 16:45.

To find out more about Castletown House, simply visit their website or call, + 353 1 628 8252.

Castletown House, Celbridge, was built in 1722 for ‘Speaker’ William Conolly, the speaker of the Irish House of Commons from 1715. It was and is the only house in Ireland designed by the famous Italian architect Alessandro Galilei (1691-1737).

The only Irish Palladian house to have been built with the correct classical proportions, it is said to have influenced the design of the White House in Washington. Catherine Conolly, widow of the great ‘Speaker’, continued to live in Castletown until her own death in 1752. Castletown was then inherited by her nephew William. He died just two years later and the house was inherited by his son Tom Conolly. ‘Squire’ Conolly, as he was known, married Lady Louisa Lennox, daughter of the Duke of Richmond in 1758. Louisa was only fifteen years of age at the time. The ‘Print Room’ dated c.1765 is attributed to Louisa. It is the only print room in Ireland to have survived. The fashion of print rooms originated in England and consisted of engravings and mezzotints being pasted onto the wall and framed with decorative borders.

In 1965, Castletown was put up for auction by Lord Carew, whose mother was a member of the Conolly family. It was bought by speculators who, after obtaining permission from Kildare County Council, built a modern housing estate beside the avenue of Castletown House. In 1967 Desmond Guinness bought the house and made it the headquarters of the Irish Georgian Society. The house was opened to the public. Money was spent on restoration and refurbishment of Castletown, which had lain empty and decaying for two years.

Find out more about Castletown here

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To find out more about Burtown House, simply visit their website or call, +353 59 8623148.

Burtown House, an early Georgian villa, is surrounded by lush flower, vegetable and woodland gardens with beautiful park and farmland walks. It was built for the Quaker Robert Power in 1710; Burtown House is marked on early maps as Power’s Grove.  The house contains some interesting features such as ornate plasterwork and a tall arch sash window.

There is a walled kitchen garden which has been in operation for over 150 years. Much of the present flower, vegetable and woodland gardens were reclaimed from paddocks, fields and woodlands by the Fennell Family. The Nutgrove, once a formal garden in the 18th century, is perhaps the oldest part of the garden. Neighboring fields are also being devoted to arboretums, woodland walks and ponds.  Burtown is still a working farm, with 180 acres of wheat, barley and forestry.

Find out more about Burtown House & Gardens here