Ireland day 0693. Tuesday 22 August 2023- Samsonite and Castletown *

Ireland day 0693. Tuesday 22 August 2023- Samsonite and Castletown

Today’s summary	Went to pick up Val’s repaired suitcase from an industrial estate near Blanchardstown, then drove to Castletown for a visit round the house
Today’s weather	Mostly dry with a couple of light showers but also plenty of sunny intervals. Moderate westerly wind. Appx 20C

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The orange line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Download

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

A few weeks ago, Val took her Samsonite suitcase, which had a broken hinge, to a Samsonite dealer (W G Skelton), on the Rosemount Business Park near Blanchardstown. She got word recently that the case had been fixed, so we went over there first thing today to collect it. Much to her surprise and delight, they had done it free of charge – even though it was seven years old and bought in another country – as it was covered by a lifetime guarantee. Excellent service, and a happy customer.

As we were in a generally westerly direction from Dublin, we decided after we had picked the case up to travel a little further anticlockwise round the M50 and then out towards Lucan on the M4 to visit Castletown. It’s run by the OPW and is one of our favourite Palladian Georgian stately homes in Ireland. Although we have visited a few times before, there is always something new to see and today was no exception. We booked ourselves onto a guided tour of the house and had a simply excellent guide, Celeste (I think) who gave us a fascinating and new insight into the history and people of this remarkable house. You just have to go to appreciate it all.

After the tour, which lasted well over the allotted hour because it was so interesting, we treated ourselves to coffee and an almond croissant (well, I did because I can’t resist) in the café, which we surreptitiously supplemented with the packed lunches we had brought with us. Once we had finished our refreshments, we just had time for a quick canter round the grounds and then a swift clockwise journey back round the M50 to Malahide via Tesco in Swords. We rounded off the day with a video call with family in Canada – a perfect end to another wonderful day.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Our first port of call – WG Skelton in a massive and somewhat unremarkable industrial estate near Blanchardstown – where Val collected her successfully repaired suitcase	From the sublime to the ridiculous – Castletown house in Celbridge, our next port-of-call

The magnificent Portland Stone cantilevered staircase in the entrance hallway	Grand dining room – most of the features are original to the house (18th century) although the dining table is not

Looking north out of the back of the house. All the land beyond the ha-ha has been bought by a property developer – so goodness knows what the view will be like in a few years’ time. Visit now, while it’s still unspoiled!	Magnificent Venetian chandelier in the big reception room on the first floor

Looking south from the mezzanine above the entrance hallway. Stunning triptych view over the Liffey and Dublin Mountains