At the weekend I went to visit Huntington Castle, in the charming village of Clonegal, Co. Carlow. As I said in an earlier post I will not make any judgements about the garden but I had a great time looking around the grounds. The castle was built in 1625 and is still lived in by members of the family. Locally the house is best known for the temple to the goddess Isis in the basement and the family are working hard to make the site an interesting visit for all the family. The Castle has been extended over the years, including a Victorian conservatory and there is a lovely courtyard and lots of interesting outhouses. I do not usually bother with house tours but I made an exception this time and I am glad I did. I recommend that you pay a visit to the place and if you do you must take the tour. As a day out this place has it all: tea room (with tea served in china pots – yay), children’s play area, lambs, hens, peacocks, extensive and neatly kept grounds and a house filled with ghosts. There is a link to their website at the bottom of the page.

Not a bad frontage! There are two holes in the front door: one to see who is coming up the drive and a second to fire a gun through if it is the taxman!

The stone part is the original house which has been added to over the centuries. The Victorian conservatory is perched on the side.

The ruins of the abbey

Pink daffs under a cherry beside the abbey.

The Castle was one of the earliest houses to have electricity and it was produced by a generator at the bottom of the garden, powered by the river Derry, which joins the Slaney north of Bunclody.

I was blown away by the biggest and densest stand of wood anemone (Anemone nemerosa) I have ever seen.

Water and trees in a formal layout makes for beautiful views.

Narrowly wired Irish yews line the formal gardens just below the Castle.

http://www.huntingtoncastle.com

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