Castle Coole

Castle Coole is one of the finest Neo-classical houses in Ireland, built in the 1790s for Armar Lowry-Corry, 1st Earl of Belmore, to designs by James Wyatt and faced in Portland stone. Home of the Earls of Belmore until it passed to the National Trust in 1951, the house is seen by guided tour, taking in Regency furnishings, paintings and plasterwork upstairs and a full suite of servants' rooms and service quarters below. Outside, the Lake Walk circles Lough Coole, the Beech Trail passes the 18th-century Ice House, children have a playground and picnic area, dogs are welcome on leads, and the Tallow House tea-room occupies the building where soap and candles were once made for the estate. Reviewers rate the guided tour highly and describe the parkland as calm and quiet. One tip from regular visitors: tours are booked on arrival, so call at visitor reception first. Traffic runs one way, in from the Dublin Road and out by the Town End gate.