Historic Places in County Wicklow

Avondale House stands in a 500 acre of estate of forest and parkland on the west bank of the River Avonmore and is situated 1 mile from the village of Rathdrum in the east or Ireland. Avondale House is grand, white, two storey Georgian house fully refurbished and shown in the period of the 1850's with original pieces of furniture and fine plasterwork. It stands next to formal lawns surrounded by flowerbeds extending out into the estate and woodland beyond. Facilities The house is now a museum in memory one of Irelands most revered political leaders of modern times, Charles Stewart Parnell. Inside the museum the 'American Room' is dedicated to Parnell's grandfather Admiral Charles Parnell who was stationed on the USS Constitution during the war in 1812. Popular with many visitors are the numerous walking and orienteering trails within the estate which last anything from one to five hours in length. The house has a special audio visual presentation which tells the history of the house and it famous occupant as well as a gift shop and restaurant. Avondale House is open daily between May and October and at the weekends in April. Avondale House was designed and built in 1777 by James Wyatt and passed into the Parnell family in 1795. Charles Stewart Parnell was born at Avondale in June 1846 and spent the majority of his time there until his death in 1891. He was the leader of the 'Home Rule Party' in the 1880's and although thwarted, he was instrumental in pressing Gladstone to introduce land reform and home rule in Ireland. Avondale was purchased by the state in 1904 when it has since been used as a training school for the Forestry Board known locally as the Coilte, and also as an experimental siviculture styled like a continental garden. In 1991 to mark the centenary of Parnell's death a park was created with a bronze statue in the centre.

Glenart Castle is a Gothic Revival country house of the early nineteenth century near Arklow in County Wicklow, built for the Earl of Carysfort with battlemented towers in the picturesque manner of the period. Set in extensive wooded grounds in the Avoca valley, the house was later acquired by the Oblate Fathers as a retreat centre. The Vale of Avoca, celebrated in the poetry of Thomas Moore and shaped by centuries of copper mining around Avoca village, is one of the most scenically distinctive river valleys in Leinster. The surrounding south Wicklow landscape combines wooded valleys with the upland heather moorland of the southern Wicklow Mountains.

Powerscourt House is set on a country estate, 12 miles from Dublin in the Wicklow mountains. The refurbished Powerscourt House was built in a Palladian style over 3 floors. On the corners of the main building are two semicircular towers each capped by a dome. The interior boasts an entrance hall over 60 feet in length and a magnificent Georgian Ballroom with double height ceiling. The house is situated on estate of 47 acres which includes formal Italian style gardens and a waterfall. The mile long driveway leading to the house is lined with over two thousand beech trees giving an air of grandeur. Facilities Powerscourt House now has two rooms open to the public as they would have been whilst the house was inhabited. The remainder of the ground floor is used as an exhibition space detailing the history of the house, two retail outlets selling Irish designed gifts, furniture and clothing and the terrace cafe. The other attractions of the estate are the gardens and the highest waterfall in Ireland at 397 feet. Within the estate there are Japanese and Italian gardens, winged horse statues, a deer park, a lake and ponds. The house also caters for corporate events and wedding receptions of up to 350 guests in the ballroom and 250 in the garden room, with catering from chef's of the Ritz-Carlton group. Powerscourt House is open year round (except Christmas) with the house and garden being open daily between 9.30am and 5.30pm, the ballroom and garden rooms open Sundays (and Monday's May to September) 09.30am and 1.30pm and the waterfall open until around dusk. The site was originally a strategic military position for the Anglo Normans in the 12th century and by 1300 a castle had been built there by the Le Poer (anglicised to Power) family. In 1731 a ten year project was started to remodel the castle into a magnificent mansion house by its owner Richard Wingfield. The German architect Richard Cassels was responsible for converting the central courtyard into an entrance hall with a double height ballroom above, adding two circular domed towers, another floor and creating some of the finest interiors in Ireland. Amongst his famous and influential guests was King George IV in 1821. The seventh Lord Powerscourt; Mervyn Wingfield, inherited the 49,000 acre estate in 1844 at the age of just 8 years old, when he reached 21 he set about renovating the house and creating new gardens similar to those he had seen at the Schonbrunn Palace and the Palace of Versailles. This enormous task was finished in 1880 after 20 years. On 4th November 1974 whilst the house was owned and occupied by the Slazenger family a fire broke out on the top floor leaving the main building totally destroyed. The house was left abandoned for over twenty years, but in 1996 the family started the renovation process with a new roof and restoration of the windows. The Arts The house and grounds have been used on many occasions for location filming including Stanley Kubrick's 'Barry Lyndon' before the fire in 1974, 'The Count of Monte Cristo' in 2002, 'David Copperfield' in 2000 and 'The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse' in 2005. Powerscourt House was also home to the fictional Lord Francis Powerscourt a Victorian detective in David Dickinson's series of novels. The gardens were used in the recording of the Celtic Woman "Isle of Hope" DVD and TV special.

Russborough House is situated near the Blessington Lakes between Blessington and Ballymore Eustace. The Palladian style house built from local granite has been well preserved keeping all of its original features. The house consists of a seven bay main block with colonnades; at 700 feet the longest in Ireland, and two wings. The house is accessed by a flight of steps flanked by lions and statues from Italy. The interior of the house is even more outstanding with baroque plasterwork, stucco ceilings, Cuban and San Domingo mahogany woodwork along with Italian marble and polished Kilkenny limestone fireplaces. The house is set in well kept formal gardens reaching out to the estate beyond. Facilities Visits to Russborough House are by guided tour only, but the estate and grounds can be visited independently. There are many things to do on a visit some of the most popular being a walk to the lake which rewards the visitor with magnificent views to the front of the house, another popular pastime is to get lost in the Beech Hedge maze and for art lovers the Sir Alfred Beit Art Collection with works from Gainsborough, Goya and Rubens. Russborough House has its own shop and tea room and is open every day during May to September and on Sunday's in April and October between 10am and 6pm. The house was designed for the 1st Earl of Milltown, Joseph Leeson, by the German architect Richard Cassels and was built between 1741 and 1755. The house stayed within the Leeson family until the death of the 6th Earl in 1931 when his decedents sold the house to Colonel Daly. The house was bought by Sir Alfred Beit in 1952 mainly to house his considerable art collection. In 1976 he generously donated both the house and art collection to the state. The Arts The art collection at Russborough has been subject to thieves on four occasions in 1974, 1986, 2001 and 2002 but the paintings have always been recovered. Four paintings by Claude Joseph Vernet were painted for Russborough in the 1750's and have remained there ever since.