| Lovable Laois
MALCOLM ROGERS looks at a round dozen day trips in an area of the
country often overlooked, Co. Laois.
 Emo Court
One of the finest stately homes in these islands, Emo Court was designed
by James Gandon. The magnificent neoclassical ‘big house’
is surrounded by impressive gardens, open the year round.
Tel 00353 502 26573 www.heritageireland.ie
Round Tower, Timahoe
All round towers are impressive, and utterly unique to Ireland. Timahoe
Round Tower, with its beautifully-carved doorway complete with heads boasting
impressive moustaches and curly hair is truly an architectural gem.
Stradbally Steam Museum
A museum which graphically tells the story of the steam age back to the
time when the railroad was the only way to go. Until the 1920s not only
did steam engines drive Ireland’s transport system — they
also drove the factories, mills and cranes.
Tel 00353 502 25154 www.irishsteam.ie
Mountmellick
In 1659 a small group of Quakers settled in Mountmellick and over the
next century they transformed a sleepy village on a bend of the Owenass
River into a thriving industrial centre. By the 1800s the town was a centre
of textile production, with factories also producing glue, starch, snuff
and candles.
Today Mountmellick’s fine buildings and historical sites are identified
on its heritage trail, signposted throughout the town.
Irish Fly-Fishing and Game Shooting Museum, Attanagh
The only museum of its kind in Europe, the IFFGSM explores 300 years of
fishin’ and huntin’ in Ireland. The collection includes rare
flies, vintage rods, reels and firearms. Specimens of fish and fowl are
also displayed.
Tel 00353 502 36112 www.irishflycraft.com
Poet’s Cottage, Camross
The replica of a traditional thatched cottage allows visitors to experience
what life was like for most rural people in the 1800s. The cottage is
named after Patrick Ryan, a local poet who wrote about life in the locality.
Donaghmore Agricultural Museum & Famine Workhouse Museum, Rathdowney
This museum presents a moving history of the families who lived and died
within the Famine Workhouse walls during the Great Hunger. The Museum
uses guided and self-guided tours combined with various exhibits to explain
the socio-economic conditions which led to the establishment of this and
other Workhouses.
Visitors also get a chance to see the extensive agricultural collection.
Tel 00353 505 46315 www.donaghmoremuseum.com
 Heywood
Gardens, Ballinakill
In an elegant 18th century park with fine trees and lakes Sir Edward Lutyens
designed a series of interlinked gardens to form these great gardens one
of his finest achievements. A central formal lawn flanked by herbaceous
borders overlooks the undulating park and countryside. Heywood Gardens
are known as the essential Secret Garden.
Admission free, open 8am to dusk all year
Tel 00353 56 7721450
 Castle
Durrow, Durrow Village
Built by the Flower Family between 1713 and 1732 Castle Durrow is one
of the last great houses of Ireland built in the pre-Palladian style.
Today it is a privately-owned hotel.
Visitors can now wander though the walled organic gardens which are used
by the hotel. Admission: Free
Tel 00353 57 8736555
Gash, Castletown, Portlaoise
Nothing outside the garden gate suggests the extent or beauty of Gash
Gardens. Once inside however an amazing oasis packed with rare and beautiful
plants inspires both the keen horticulturalist and the garden novice.
Tel 00353 57 8732247/ 087 2728337
Aghaboe Abbey
Founded by St. Canice (the man who gave Kilkenny his name) in the 6th
century this Dominican abbey built in the 14th century was the original
seat of the See of Ossory. Nearby is a tree-covered rath (an early pre-Christian
fort) on which was later built an Anglo Norman church. We’re talking
serious history here.
Rock of Dunamaise
Mapped by Ptolemy in 140 AD, plundered by Vikings in 842 AD, the dowry
of a princess in 1169, seat of the O’Mores of Laois in the 14th
century and destroyed by Cromwell’s forces in 1650 and currently
the subject of a conservation project, this magical fortress is truly
the stuff of legend and an essential visit. | 