A James Gandon-designed neo-classical mansion set in 250 acres of parkland, lake and woodland — restored by a devoted owner and gifted to the Irish nation in 1994.
Access to the mansion is by guided tour only (approx. 45 minutes). The tour takes you through the beautifully restored ground-floor period rooms — including the grand entrance hall with its coffered ceiling and the morning room — culminating in the spectacular rotunda with its painted copper dome, completed in the 1860s. You'll also descend into the atmospheric basement to explore the working lives of the servants who kept the house running.
Closest to the house, formal lawns are dotted with classical statues including the Four Seasons, Polyhymnia, Bacchus and Ceres. Behind the house, a 20-acre arboretum features grass pathways winding past rare trees: Bhutan pine, tulip tree, handkerchief tree, Blue Atlas cedar and Cedar of Lebanon. Keep an eye out for red squirrels feeding on the walnut and Spanish chestnut trees.
The on-site CaToCa Fine Food tearooms serve full Irish breakfasts, light lunches, artisan cakes and afternoon tea (pre-book 24 hours ahead). They use fresh local produce and cold-pressed apple juice from the Emo Court orchard. Open 7 days a week: March–October 10am–6pm, November–February 10am–4pm. Closed Christmas Day. Dog-friendly with even ice cream for dogs.
The Coillte-managed woodlands offer three waymarked looped walks: the Wellingtonia Walk (3 km, red markers), the Oak Fall Walk (4 km, blue markers) and the Emo Court Walk (6 km, orange markers). Two shorter loops also exist on the OPW grounds. All are easy grade. A beech walk behind the house leads to the 25-acre nursery lake.
Stretching a full mile from the estate gates, this grand approach is lined with giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) planted in the late 19th century — one of the finest surviving avenues of its kind in Ireland.
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