Welcome to Castletown House
When it was built in the 1720s, Castletown set a radical precedent and it is an extraordinary part of our cultural inheritance. Now, as the OPW breathes contemporary life into Ireland’s earliest and finest Palladian house, it is trailblazing once more. We hope you enjoy your visit.
Open daily during Season
Castletown House is open daily from 10 am to 6 pm (last tour at 4.45 pm). Tickets can be purchased on site at the visitor reception desk in the main house. Click here to buy tickets online for our daily Guided Tours.
The grounds are open all year round, and are free to enter and explore.
Please download the Code of Conduct for Dog Owners at this link. Guidelines for suitable food for the ducks in our pond can be found here.
Discover Ireland’s Iconic Heritage Sites with the Office of Public Works
Be inspired by this video to explore Ireland’s rich and diverse history in 2018, the European Year of Cultural Heritage. From our Unesco World Heritage site Newgrange in Ireland’s Ancient East to Skellig Michael on the Wild Atlantic Way, from Dublin Castle to the Swiss Cottage, from Céide Fields to the Phoenix Park – whatever your fancy or destination, plan your visit with us here. We would love to welcome you soon!
Conservation in Progress
Watch textile conservators May Berkouwer and Ksynia Marko at work conserving the original nineteenth-century silk wall hangings in the Crimson Drawing Room at Castletown. Their work is part of a larger project which aims to restore the historic character of the room. Be sure to put Castletown House on your itinerary this summer when you can discover, or rediscover, the fully conserved Crimson Drawing Room.
What’s On
Click here to access our full online Calendar of Events.
From concerts to workshops, from theatre to exhibitions, from young audiences to those still young at heart – download our 2018 Events Programme here and discover the wide range of events we have organised for you this year!
Please note that, due to the bad weather this year, the spring maintenance programme of the Pleasure Grounds has been delayed and they are not yet ready for opening. We are working to open them as soon as possible; please check our website weekly for updates.
The Castletown Blog
Stay up to date, and enjoy glimpses from behind the scenes at Castletown! Here are the latest entries; click here for the archive.
Count Dracula, his Female Victims and Castletown House
By Dr. Catherine Bergin, Guide & Information Officer When one thinks of Castletown House, the words ‘Bram Stoker’ and ‘Dracula’, rarely, if ever, spring to mind. Yet thanks to Monaghan scholar Fearghal Duffy a connection between this stately neo-Palladian mansion...
October at Castletown
Our musical events this month include the songs of John McCormack and Leonard Cohen, baroque orchestral music as well as classical music for piano and violin - doesn't that sound good! We are also hosting a play in the Hunting Room which has won rave reviews both on...
Lady Louisa
Castletown flourished under Thomas Conolly and Lady Louisa. Lady Louisa, the third of the famous daughters of the Duke of Richmond, had spent much of her childhood at Carton near Maynooth, the home of her sister Emily, Countess of Kildare and later Duchess of...