Free Guided Tours
From guided tours to hands-on workshops to the ever changing exhibition programme, Castletown House is the place to bring students to experience inspirational learning.
Free guided tours of Castletown’s collection and exhibitions are available for primary and secondary schools. To book a tour or to find out further information, please contact us.
Notes for Teachers
Why not visit the house and parklands before your school group as our guest? We will allow one complimentary visit per class group booking in advance of the date you book so that you can prepare for your trip.
Thank you for helping us protect the house and its contents during school visits by stewarding students safely through the house. Please note that pencils only can be used with worksheets – erasers, which would leave a residue of rubbings on carpets or furniture, are not allowed.
Primary School Resources
Try out one of our NEW worksheets below and discover Castletown’s interiors from your own home!
Lady Louisa’s Print Room
Castletown’s Print Room, created by Lady Louisa is the finest surviving example of an 18th century Print Room in Europe.
Why not try our worksheet below!
The Edmund Corrigan Miniature Collection in the Lady Kildare Room and Pauline has made a great sheet for kids to complete all about miniatures!
Secondary School Resources
While you may not be able to visit Castletown with your class, we have put together some resources for Secondary School Level.
For Students planning to complete the Georgian Architecture question for Leaving Certificate Art History we have a ‘virtual’ tour which shows all the features our guides would show classes on a class trip to the house.
Architectural History at Castletown House
Primary
Castletown House, Ireland’s largest and most significant Palladian style country house, is a wonderful place to visit for a guided tour and can be used to support aspects of the primary curriculum outside the school environment in a number of different ways.
The following free primary school educational modules are now available for teachers to book at Castletown. Further modules are under development and will be rolled out in the coming months.
Step Back in Time with Living History
In this module children become aware of the lives of men, women and children from different social and cultural backgrounds with practical experiences from ‘below’ as well as ‘above’ stairs.
Children become familiar with life above stairs by dressing up in eighteenth-century costume, exploring and discovering the beautiful historic interiors of the house and finding out about the lives of children and adults who lived there in the past.
Discover Maths in an Eighteenth-Century House
Maths trails through the house for 1st & 2nd, 3rd & 4th and 5th & 6th classes are now available and have been designed to help children explore aspects of Castletown that relate to the maths syllabus curriculum in a fun and interesting way.
Using Castletown House as a tool, budding mathematicians can discover shapes and space, estimations and measures, discover secret doors and develop confidence in looking at cultural heritage from a different aspect.
Self-Guided Nature Trail
Using the landscape around the house as an outside classroom, pupils can explore the wildflower meadow, cross a ha-ha or sunken fence on their way to the garden temple or, time permitting (about 15 mins walk each way from the house), make their way to the River Liffey at the bottom of the meadow.
A Nature Trail booklet is available at Castletown House and includes a landscape map, wildflower pictures and descriptions to help you find them along with information on trees and water courses.
Secondary
At Castletown we offer a variety of fun and free educational tours for secondary school students. Tours can complement the curriculum and include information related to the Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate. Junior Cycle students can learn about life during the Georgian period in Ireland.
We offer specialised tours of our art collection and temporary art exhibitions to Art History students where they can learn about the layout, display, curation and philosophy behind our exhibitions. Our guides are trained to encourage discussion and interaction throughout tours, making it an enjoyable experience for students.
Guided tours are free for secondary schools at Castletown. If you would like to book a tour or make further enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us.