Free paths through the eighteenth-century designed landscape of meadows, waterways and woods from the house down to the River Liffey and along it to the Batty Langley Lodge, with a classical temple, gothic lodge, ponds and cascades; gates 07:00 to 20:30 from the Celbridge Avenue gate on Main Street, the Batty Langley pedestrian gate on the Dublin Road and the M4 gate by the car park; the paths from the house to the Liffey are wheelchair accessible, mostly level with one steep incline and some uneven sections; take care by the waterways.
About
Castletown is Ireland's first and largest Palladian country house, built from 1722 for William Conolly, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, to reflect his power and for political entertaining on a grand scale. The Italian architect Alessandro Galilei designed the limestone facade and the young Edward Lovett Pearce, later architect of the Irish Parliament, the interior, the curved colonnades and the two wings. Lady Louisa Conolly arrived in 1759 and spent forty years improving her home, remodelling the drawing rooms and the Long Gallery and building the great staircase; the house still holds three eighteenth-century Murano glass chandeliers and the only fully intact eighteenth-century print room in the country. Guided tours of about 55 minutes run on the hour. Around the house OPW's restored parklands run down to the Liffey through meadows, woods, still ponds and cascades on a network of free paths, open all year with dogs on leads welcome. Drive in from the M4 at Barnhall Road rather than trusting a satnav.
ClosedPick a day for times and prices
Parklands at Castletown open all year. Opening hours / gates open for the parklands are from 07:00 to 20:30. Castletown House open for guided tours from 15 March - 4 November 2026 The Courtyard Café is open daily from 9:30am - 5pm
- Until 4 Nov
- Daily 09:30–17:00
- From 5 Nov
- Closed
Today, Saturday 24 October
- Castletown House and Parklands09:30 – 17:00
Opening times may change at short notice.
Castletown House is open for guided tours from 15 March to 4 November 2026, daily 9.30am to 5pm with the last tour at 4pm; tours of about 55 minutes leave on the hour from 10am (none at 1pm), with tickets at reception or online about a week ahead, collected ten minutes before the tour. The parklands and gates are open all year from 7am to 8.30pm, and the Courtyard Cafe daily 9.30am to 5pm. Free admission to the house for everyone on the first Wednesday of each month, first come first served. 2027 house dates are not yet published; phone the guiding team on 01 628 8252 for tour times.
The ground-floor rooms are fully accessible but the upper floors and the Hunting Room are not (the lift is not a fire lift); accessible toilets are by the Courtyard Cafe in the Kitchen Wing, with toilets in the West Wing, a gift shop, WiFi and lockers (€1 deposit). Prams and buggies stay at reception; no flash, selfie sticks, tripods or recording on tours. The restored paths from the house to the Liffey are mostly level and wheelchair-accessible with one steep section, and the Biodiversity Garden and Pleasure Grounds are free; take care by the waterways. Children under 18 must be with an adult. Opening can change at short notice in bad weather.
Dogs: Dogs on a lead are welcome on the site but not in the Courtyard Cafe; whether a dog may join the house tour is not confirmed. Dogs on a lead are welcome throughout the free parklands and river walks, but not in the lake, where wildlife nests; no ticket is needed.
Photo: Castletown House with its colonnades and two wings, seen across the meadow and lake of the parklands. Knocko, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Celbridge_-_Castletown_House_-_20180802122200.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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