Glendalough

After golf today we drove over, and had lunch at, the Wicklow gap before heading down to Glendalough. It was still windy but not quite as bad as on the Curragh Plain.

We’ve been here several times before and it really is worth a visit. There’s a visitor’s centre (which we didn’t go into this time) which explains the history of the are and where you can pick up routes to walk in the surrounding hills. The very grand sounding Monastic City (it’s really just a few very old buildings and a graveyard) is worth a look as it contains the iconic round tower. It’s also worth having a walk up to and around the Upper Lake - really beautiful scenery. Near the lake there’s a small house/information centre and we talked with the attendant there about wildlife in the area and other such things. She was very knowledgeable and probably happy to talk to some people who weren’t just looking for the nearest toilet! There’s also a nice sensory garden around the house.

Glendalough

View Larger Map

Duckett’s Grove

We’ve passed by Duckett’s Grove several times on our travels but have either had no time to visit it or in fact it wasn’t open to the public. This time, however, we saw one of those brown signs pointing to the place and we decided to pay it a visit.

Firstly, it was a fantastic, hot day and I think we saw the big house at it’s best, albeit that it is almost a shell. The house was off limits as it was considered unstable, although large steel beams were visible so some work had been done to stop it falling down. But it was great to see this striking, unusual place up close. All those chimneys, the crenellations and that tower are unlike anything else we’ve seen.

The walled gardens beside the house were opened just last year, in September 2007, and they were looking very well indeed for such a short period of existence. We spoke to the gardener, a knowledgeable young man who told us some of the house’s interesting history. It had been gutted by a fire in the 1920s (some think maliciously by an evicted tenant) and had not been lived in since then. In the 1970s a Miss Brady bought the place and lived in a few rooms in an out-building near the stableyard until just a few years when she passed away.

There are plans to improve the gardens and maybe have a cafe and a craft shop as well, but according to the gardener those are many years away as there is simply no money. Ultimately the house may be restored, or at least made totally safe to move through, when the money to do so becomes available.

Well worth a visit if you’re in the area.

(This Google image looks like it’s several years old - the trees in the house are gone and the walled gardens to the SE have been developed).

View Larger Map

Belvedere House & Gardens

Belvedere House is right beside Mullingar Golf Club and after golf we decided to pay it a visit. The weather had really picked up and it was sunny and warm when we arrived. After some making some lunch in the car park we headed in to explore.

Entry costs €8.95 for an adult, which we thought was reasonable, and once through the visitor area (which has more displays, a cafe and a 10 minute film which we didn’t watch) we headed for the house. Before you get there you pass the largest folly in Ireland, built to look like a huge ruin. It’s very impressive - as is the story of why it was built (I’ll leave you to discover that bit on your own!). You enter the house at the back through the basement area which has a dairy and a kitchen. There are no artefacts but plenty of displays and information about the house and its owners.

The ground floor upstairs is fully restored and though there weren’t many rooms they were very impressive. I particularly liked the dining room - very easy to imagine what it must have been like to dine there.

As we finished the tour of the house we got talking (and by we I mean Clive) to a very knowledgeable lady about Belvedere and many other houses in the area. She name-dropped shamelessly but Clive managed to keep up with his Lissadell connections! They chatted for ages about history and I kind of switched off - but she sure knew her big houses.

Out of the house we went to the walled garden which was as excellent as any we have visited. They get minus points, however, for the dead fish (carp no less) floating in their pond!

After that we went for a walk down to and along the lake shore. It wasn’t too taxing a walk, though longer routes are available if you’re feeling energetic. There seems to be a Narnia trail of some kind for the kids and it did seem like a popular attraction - the car park was packed as we left.

A worthwhile visit if you’re in the area.

Link: Belvedere House

Ilnacullin, Garinish Island

After our visit to Bantry House we wanted to visit Garinish Island, one of the Office of Public Works’ Heritage sites. In the past we’ve made excellent use of the Heritage Card and would recommend it to anyone travelling in Ireland as it is excellent value for money - €21 gets you free entry into any of the Heirtage sites for a year. We didn’t get a card on this occasion as we have pretty much visited most of the Heritage sites on our travels.

The island is in Bantry Bay. You get there by ferry from the little harbour in Glengarriff and the reason for going the island is to see its gardens.

Read more

Bantry House & Gardens

After golf at Bantry Bay we decided to head for Bantry House & Gardens. I had picked up a leaftlet at the club and it seemed foolish to miss such a magnificent looking place while we were in the area, especially on a day like today.

Read more

Ballintubber Abbey

This was one of those places where we just decided to stop off.

After playing at Dunmore we were making our way towards the next golf course, Castlebar. As would be expected there are well-preserved ruins, but the main part of the abbey has been restored and is now a catholic church. A pleasant young lady persuaded us to have a look at their 26min video describing the history of Ballintubber and, though showing its age, it was very informative and we enjoyed watching it.

Each year at Easter the local people participate in a reenactment of The Passion, some of which you see on the video, and it looks quite impressive. The crucifixion and entombment take place in the grounds of the abbey.

There’s no fee, but you are encouraged to leave a donation and we were happy to do so.

Redwood Castle and Abbeys

After golf we did a bit of a drive around and found a couple of Abbeys at Lorrha and also Redwood Castle. The abbeys were as expected, in ruins but well preserved. Not much else to say about them really.

The castle, however, was very impressive and was visible from a good distance away. We went through the gates and had a look around. It seemed to be either occupied or at least used in some way but there were no signs to indicate as much. So Clive stopped a tractor and we got some of the background from its driver.

It belonged to the MacEgans and up until around 30 years ago it was an ivy-covered ruin. But it was sold (I can’t remember to whom) and restored to the fine specimen it is today. I think it’s a private residence. The tractor driver told us that it was open in the summer for a couple of months and that the insides were well worth seeing.

If we’re in the area again we will certainly check it out.