We continued our outings for Heritage Week this week. We didn’t do our usual travel around to Section 482 properties as we were both too tired this year. As I mentioned in my last post, we went to Charleville Castle in Tullamore on Saturday, which is wonderful. Unfortunately we didn’t linger to wander in the woods as rain threatened and I wanted to visit my aunt who lives in the town.

On Monday we missed our booked visit to Number 6 High Street in Tullamore, unfortunately, but went to see Tullynisk house that afternoon. We were given a wonderful tour by its resident Alicia Clements, daughter of the Earl of Rosse, who married a descendant of Nathaniel Clements who built the Áras an Uachtaráin in the Phoenix Park.

On Wednesday we went to Emo Court in Laois, an Office of Public Works property, because the OPW opened a few rooms for tours during the week and it is closing again afterwards for more repairs. It is so disappointing it has been closed since 2019. We were not allowed to take photographs inside since the work is unfinished!

We found ourselves with spare time after Emo Park as it was too rainy to wander the lush grounds, so we headed to Roscrea for more OPW properties: Damer House and Roscrea Castle. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photographs inside Damer House except in the exhibition rooms. After a tour of Damer House we went across the bawn to tour Roscrea Castle. It is a treasure for the beautiful ancient town of Roscrea. I’ll be writing more about all of these places.

We stayed one night in Birr in the Stables townhouse. The houses along Oxmantown Mall are magnificent!

We didn’t get to visit the castle this time. Instead we were in the town to attend a talk about the Crotty Schism which took place in the Catholic church in the mid 1800s. I’ll be writing more about that soon, as the Crotty Church is a Section 482 property, although it is not open to the public! It is certainly meant to be open, and The Maltings across the road is meant to have tourist accommodation to earn its Section 482 status, but is also not open and never seems to have been since I started my blog in 2018, as I have often checked it out as a place to stay. For the talk on the Crotty Schism, we had to sit outside, despite rain threatening.

On Saturday we visited Ballybrittan Castle, which we were lucky to see before it changes hands to a new owner. Rosemarie warmly welcomed her visitors, sharing the home she lived in and loved for 27 years along with her late husband Jerry Healy, who served on the boards of the Irish Georgian Society and the Alfred Beit Foundation, which manages Russborough House, Co Wicklow.