A lived-in Pakenham family home since 1655, where 20 acres of walled and woodland gardens, two ornamental lakes and a tree-mad owner's collection surround an Irish castle just 80 minutes from Dublin.
More than 20 acres are divided between walled gardens, extensive woodland and two ornamental lakes, much of it laid out in the early 1800s. A walk to all parts takes about 1.5 hours at a reasonable pace, with seats along the way. Highland cattle and Nandi bulls live in the kitchen garden.
Guided tours of the still-lived-in historic rooms run May to September, Thursday to Saturday at 11am, 12.30pm and 2pm (no Sundays except Heritage Week). The 45-minute tour covers the Great Hall, dining room, drawing room, library and Victorian servants' quarters, and is not suitable for children under ten.
Owner Thomas Pakenham has numbered his favourite 24 trees around the gardens, from a 200-year-old common beech to a fossil tree found alive in China. Allow roughly an hour at a leisurely pace, using the garden map as a finding aid.
A garden map guides children to 14 things to spot, including a wizard, goblins, a dinosaur, a crocodile and a stone heron by a waterfall. It takes about an hour. There is also a climbing frame near the entrance, and paths are gravel or grass.
The parkland and its magnificent trees are open to walkers and dogs on leads throughout the year, and the descent to the lakes gives the garden's best long views. Note the water features are not fenced off.
Set in the castle courtyard and doubling as the ticket office, the tearoom was once home to the Earl's hunters and coach horses. It serves coffee, teas and homemade refreshments indoors or in the sunny loggia, plus books and Tullynally gifts.
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