Johnstown Castle Gardens

Johnstown Castle was presented as a gift to the Nation in 1945 and was later occupied by the Department of Agriculture who established an agricultural institute here and undertook to maintain but not to alter the ornamental grounds.

The mature woodlands and lakes of this Johnstown Castle provide the perfect setting for this turreted castle of gleaming silver-grey ashlar, built for the Grogan-Morgan family between 1810 and 1855.

The Kilkenny architect Daniel Robertson, who was responsible for some of the building work on the castle, is generally believed to have laid out and planted much of the grounds in the 1830s. This would have included the digging of the five-acre lake opposite the castle with Gothic towers rising from its waters and a terrace lined with statues on the opposite bank.

In the area to the west of the castle lake there is a woodland garden created around the ruined medieval castle of Rathlannon. Nearby lies a two-acre lake dug in the 1860s, while in the area to the north is a four-acre walled garden built between 1844 and 1861 and rehabilitated by the Department of Agriculture. This is entered through the Devil's Gate, an arched gateway with gargoyles. To the right across mowed lawns a long hothouse shelters a colourful display of plants through out the year.

Other attractions at Johnstown include a cemetery, the site of the sunken Italian Garden close to the car park, and the lower lake, dug in the 1850s and covering some fourteen acres.

The attractive early nineteenth century farm buildings house the Irish Agricultural Museum where a variety of old horticultural implements are on display. It is open daily, all year 9.00 am - 5.00 pm.