Historic Places in County Laois

Castle Durrow is situated 65 miles from Dublin near the village of Durrow, in the centre of Ireland. The castle is set in formal terraced gardens which overlook the River Erkina and is built in a pre Palladian style from blue grey stone over two floors. The castle comprises of the main building, two wings and outbuildings. The grounds stretch out over 30 acres which include paddocks, an orchard and woodland. Facilities Castle Durrow has now been totally renovated and transformed into a luxury country house hotel with high ceilings and wooden floors. The rooms have been divided into different styles including oriental, de luxe, family and master suites. All are individually designed and are located in the main house, wings and the castle yard. The hotel facilities include dining rooms; where the food is seasonal and locally produced or produced at the hotel itself, beauty spa, tennis courts and a snooker room. There is even the opportunity to talk to the organic kitchen garden exert about the food grown at the hotel and the methods employed. Castle Durrow hotel offers All Inclusive Wedding Packages, with pampering sessions and a complimentary stay for the bride and groom. Castle Durrow was built in 1712 as the family home of William Flower an Irish politician and peer. The family finally moved into their new home in 1716 and the castle stayed in the family for over 200 years during which time it was improved and expanded. In 1922 the family were forced to leave for England after the bank foreclosed on the property. After two other owners the castle eventually fell into the hands of the Land Commission who divided up the lands for farming and left the castle empty. In 1929 the Parish of Durrow purchased the estate and the castle was turned into St Fintan's College and Convent. The Castle did not change hands again until 1998 when it was purchased by the Brookes family who transformed it into a hotel.

Emo Court in County Laois is a masterpiece of neoclassical architecture by James Gandon, the architect also responsible for Dublin's Custom House and Four Courts. Built from 1790 for the Earl of Portarlington, its domed rotunda and precisely proportioned facades place it among the finest late Georgian buildings in Ireland. Managed by the Office of Public Works and open to visitors, the grounds feature an arboretum with outstanding specimen trees, formal topiary yews and a beautiful lake. Emo Court sits in the flat midland landscape of County Laois close to the great Rock of Dunamase fortress visible from the main Dublin to Cork road.

The Rock of Dunamase is a dramatic rocky outcrop rising from the midland plain of County Laois, crowned with the ruins of a medieval castle that was one of the most strategically important fortifications in Leinster. Fortified since at least the Iron Age, the castle was associated with Dermot MacMurrough and passed to the Normans through the marriage of his daughter Aoife to Strongbow in 1169. Subsequently held by the Marshal earls of Pembroke and the de Mortimer family, the castle was destroyed in the 1650s during the Cromwellian wars. The scale of the surviving walls, the complexity of the gatehouse and outer ward, and the extraordinary hilltop setting make Dunamase one of the most atmospheric castle sites in Ireland, freely accessible and managed by the Office of Public Works.