Curraghmore House
Curraghmore House
Curraghmore Estate. Waterford, Ireland.Curraghmore House in Waterford is the historic home of the 9th Marquis of Waterford. His ancestors (the de la Poers) came to Ireland from Normandy after a 100-year stopover in Wales around 1170, or, about 320 years before Columbus ‘discovered’ the New World.Some 2,500 acres of formal gardens, woodland and grazing fields make this the largest private demesne in Ireland and one of the finest places to visit in Ireland.A Sitka Spruce planted on the estate in the 1830s is among the tallest tree in Ireland and stands guard over King John’s Bridge. Built in 1205 this stone-arched structure, spanning the Clodagh River, is the oldest bridge in Ireland. Twelve miles of famine relief boundary walls and four sturdy wrought iron gates surround the estate.Gnarled pink chestnut trees line the approach to the big house and original castle tower. St Hubert’s stag with crucifix between its antlers – genuine horns on the de la Poer family emblem – gazes across the large Courtyard from atop the old castle.Group tours of the main reception rooms of Curraghmore House can be arranged by prior appointment. This tour takes in some of the finest neo-classical rooms in Ireland which feature the magnificent plaster work of James Wyatt and grisaille panels by Peter de Gree. Curraghmore, meaning great bog, is the last of 4 castles built by the de la Poer family after their arrival in Ireland in 1167. The Castle walls are about 12 feet thick and within one, a tight spiral stairway connects the lower ground floor with the roof above.Of the many curious and interesting features of Curraghmore, the most striking is the courtyard front of the house, where the original Castle is encased in a spectacular Victorian mansion with flanking Georgian ranges.The combination of architectural features from several periods around the ancient core of the original castle produces a most striking composition; “immediately recognizable and undeniably moving”, as it was described by Country Life. curraghmorehouse.ie Curraghmore Estate Waterford
