Renovated Mount Congreve is looking very well indeed this year.
You can fuel up at Stables Café.
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| The Temple, with the River Suir in background All pics taken 13.04.2023 |
Mount Congreve House and Gardens are situated in Kilmeaden, Co. Waterford, in Ireland’s Ancient East and are home to one of “The Great Gardens of the World”.
Mount Congreve House, home to six generations of Congreves, was built in 1760 by the celebrated local architect John Roberts. It is now in the hands of the OPW and, after a recent seven million euro revamp, is looking very well indeed, both the house and the gardens.
The gardens comprise around seventy acres of intensively planted woodland, a four acre walled garden and 16 kilometres of walkways and some great viewpoints. But don’t worry. There are some long and shorter walks and all are well signed and you can check the distances before you start off. If you tired halfway through and need some feed, then check out the Stables Café. The main walks are The Woodland Garden (55 mins), the Fragrant Walk (20 mins) and the Walled Garden Walk (30 mins). There are also guided tours.
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| The shop is alongside the café |
If you visited Mount Congreve in the past, you’ll remember that the cafe was down in the old out-buildings, near to the car park. Now it is part of the house itself with outside tables on a terrace as well. It is now run by Catoca Fine Food and Giftware, who already list Emo Court, Portumna Castle and Doneraile Court as places where they operate food facilities.
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| Something sweet? |
You have to queue to order your food here, then pay for it and then find a table. Not too difficult but do take a look at the menu boards around and also check the displays in the glass cabinet as the queue makes progress. Lots of us would prefer a menu in hand but this is a busy spot and some 80,000 visitors are expected this year.
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| Approaching the house from the car park (which is not very close at all) |
Anyhow, I settled on the (already prepared) Chicken Caesar Salad (13.00) which was neatly presented and a good one. No shortage of good quality chicken, crispy bacon pieces, one or two baby tomatoes, lettuce leaves, sauce and of course the essential parmesan. CL had to wait for hers to be cooked - Smoked Salmon and Prawn Salad (16.50) - ands brought to the table and that too proved quite satisfactory and we were ready for the garden walks!
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| Plants for sale here also |
The gardens are of course seasonal. The woodland garden peaks in the months of February through to May so the colourful rhododendrons and magnolias have reached their peak by now. One other side of the coin, the walled garden (a very extensive one) looks rather bare right now but will be the sight to see in late summer. Around the same time, in a three-quarter mile walk, there are over ninety different varieties of Hydrangeas is in full flower.
On this trip
The Local, Dungarvan
Vinilo, Lismore
Marvellous Sunny Morning On The Vee (Waterford/Tipperary)
Seafood Delights at Cliff House Hotel Festival Lunch
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| The Pagoda |
Before you go be sure and check out the very informative website here
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| The house, where you'll find the entrance to the gardens, the cafe and shop. |
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| River Suir in mid distance |
On this trip
The Local, Dungarvan
Vinilo, Lismore
Marvellous Sunny Morning On The Vee (Waterford/Tipperary)
Seafood Delights at Cliff House Hotel Festival Lunch
