Ireland day 1032. Friday 26 July 2024- Kilruddery 2

Today’s summary	Domestic chores in the morning then drove round to Kilruddery estate in the afternoon, to try and get at least some use out of our annual membership card, before it expired. A very nice afternoon looking round the grounds – though we couldn’t get onto a house tour as it was so busy. Spent the evening watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics then the final episode of the current series of “The Wire”
Today’s weather	Sunshine and showers, similar to yesterday. Light south westerly wind. Appx 18c

Today’s overview location (The grey 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): Kilruddery again

Commentary

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

Val was doing a bit of tidying up this morning and came across two membership cards that I think we had both completely forgotten about. They were to the Kilruddery house and gardens – a stately home to the south of Dublin – and more to the point they expired next week. We bought them in a fit of enthusiasm last year, anticipating regular visits over the next twelve months, but sadly, as we have been so busy, we went precisely no times. So we thought we better get our skates on and pay a return visit to get at least some return on our investment.

It was a straightforward drive round the M50 to get there, though much like yesterday, we were alternately deluged in rain and blinded by sun as we drove round the motorway. The car park was packed when we eventually got there – despite it not being a weekend – though I realised it was probably the school holidays that accounted for the crowds.

We had hoped to join one of the guided tours round the house – though were told they were all sold out by 11am and we were far too late. Probably we would have a better chance on a midweek winter visit. Nevertheless, we had a good look round the grounds which, in common with all the gardens we have visited in the last four days (i.e. Bodnant, Ardgillan, War Memorial and now Kilruddery) were looking stunning after the mild winter and wet summer.

We enjoyed our packed lunches in the picnic area, being entertained as we ate by the hens and cockerels clucking around in the nearby orchard and trying to keep the rooks from nicking their birdseed. After lunch, we headed over to the The Rock – a large outcrop, which used to be an alpine garden, on the eastern edge of the demesne. It’s a short walk to the top, but it feels enjoyably isolated and you get great views over the house and Little Sugarloaf from the top.

Before returning to the car, we stopped in one of the many cafés for coffee and cakes, then headed back to Malahide round a somewhat congested M50. Once home, we finished off the curry from last night then watched the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics ( a bit of an acquired taste, probably) and then the last episode to the current series of the “The Wire”.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The way in. The demesne is split between the Kilruddery and Belmont houses – previously it was a single large estate	Fabulous foxglove in one of the many herbaceous borders

Peering into the rather grand conservatory. All the house tours were booked up, so this was the best we could do	Study in pink outside the formal entrance to the house

A potential future residence perhaps (well if we win the lottery – though as we don’t do the lottery, it seems unlikely)	It’s an attractive house and the gardens are lovely

Forming an orderly queue in the orchard!