Weekend Visit: Houses of County Louth – Booking Closed

HOUSES OF COUNTY LOUTH
Places are still available on our car-based weekend visit to a selection of houses in Co Louth (and one just across the county border in Meath).  The itinerary for the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May is:

Saturday 26 May
Travel independently to Beaulieu House (about 2½ miles east of Drogheda, overlooking the Boyne) arriving at 12.30 pm for a private tour of the spectacular late 17th century house, which the same family have lived in for 11 generations, followed by time to enjoy its impressive grounds, including a beautiful walled garden with outbuildings recently restored with support from the Irish Georgian Society.

Then we move on to our hotel, the Boyne Valley, on the old Dublin road just south of Drogheda, where we will have dinner together.

Sunday 27 May
We retrace our route through Drogheda and head north to Rokeby Hall (picture), designed by Thomas Cooley for Richard Robinson, Archbishop of Armagh and first Baron Rokeby in the 1780s and completed after Cooley’s death by Francis Johnston.  We will have a guided tour of the house, including the opportunity to admire the spectacular recently-restored Turner conservatory, and have a chance to look at the attractive gardens as well as hearing about the continuing programme of restoration work to the house and its outbuildings.

After a lunch break, we will head back to Dardistown Castle, a tower house dating from 1465, extended in the 18th and 19th centuries into an elegant country house.  We will have a tour of this fascinatingly multi-layered building with its turrets and spiral staircases as well as seeing the surrounding grounds and outbuildings, including a fine conservatory.

We will then return the comparatively short distance to the hotel where we will enjoy a second dinner together.

Monday 28 May
Our morning visit is to Townley Hall, a magnificent Regency mansion built by Francis Johnston in 1799 for the Townley Balfour family and notable for its circular cantilevered staircase and splendid plasterwork.  A tour of the house will enable us to learn more of its history and architecture.

When we complete our visit, participants who wish to head for home will be free to do so, while others will have the opportunity to visit nearby Newgrange and/or Oldbridge House (Battle of the Boyne site) independently (both free to Irish Georgian Society members).

Tickets: £215 sharing/£250 single room – Members only
Includes two night’s accommodation, dinner, bed and breakfast

Please book as soon as possible

*Your payment will be taken as one transaction. Refunds are not available for cancellations received less than 14 working days before event.