Muckross House is a grand Victorian mansion built in 1839-1843 at the heart of Killarney National Park, where the Herbert family hosted Queen Victoria in 1861. Gardens, a 1930s-style working farm and the Lakes of Killarney surround it.
Self-guided tours (the only way to see the house) lead through the principal rooms furnished in period style, showing the elegant life of the 19th-century landowning class, while the basement evokes the servants' daily chores. William Burn designed it for Henry Arthur Herbert, with building completed in 1843.
Free to enter, the informal lawns hold large Victorian rhododendron clumps and azaleas, plus a Sunken Garden, Rock Garden, Stream Garden and a colourful late-summer Hydrangea Border. A Garden Parterre gives interest and colour all year.
Three working farms, small to large, recreate the Ireland of the 1930s and 1940s with animals, poultry and horse-drawn machinery, plus a Labourer's Cottage, Carpenter's Workshop, Blacksmith's Forge and a period school house.
The animal petting area is a favourite with adults and children, and the sheltered Woodland Playground has a picnic area where parents can relax while youngsters use the swings and slides.
Watch traditional crafts made on site: hand-thrown stoneware pottery, scarves woven on looms almost 200 years old, and a bookbindery. The Muckross Craft Shop in the Walled Garden Centre sells these along with clothing and souvenirs.
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