Free for everyone; outdoor areas only. No membership card is needed.
The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.
OPW lists a car park but publishes no tariff or free statement; reviewers describe plenty of parking and very clean public toilets in the car park at the entrance. The gardens lie 7 km south-east of Abbeyleix, off the R432 to Ballinakill, beside Heywood Community School. OPW names no bus service.
Driving pin: the gate lodge car park where OPW says the Heywood experience starts; OPW's own marker and the Eircode point are at the east end of the demesne by the school, about 900 m away.
The entrancing eighteenth-century landscape at Heywood, near Ballinakill in County Laois, consists of gardens, lakes, woodland and exciting architectural features on a sweeping hillside whose vista takes in seven counties. Frederick Trench built Heywood House in 1773 and, inspired by his Grand Tour, moved hills, dug lakes, planted trees and placed follies to make one of the most exquisite romantic landscapes of its time. In the early 1900s Sir Edwin Lutyens designed the formal gardens that are the centrepiece of the property, probably planted by Gertrude Jekyll, among the best surviving examples of his work in Ireland. A terrace that once ran along the front of the long-demolished house links a lime walk, a terrace above one of Trench's lakes and a sunken garden where circular terraces descend to an elliptical pool with a grand fountain watched by small stone turtles, beneath a red-tiled loggia inscribed with lines from Alexander Pope. Entry is free, the visit starts at the gate lodge car park, and dogs are welcome on leads.
Limited Access Access to outside areas only.
Free entry
Open all year: October to March 08:30 to 17:00, April and September 08:30 to 19:00, May to August 08:30 to 21:00. Access is to the outside areas only (no indoor space). Allow about an hour, plus the walk from the gate lodge across the park to the Lutyens gardens; information panels and signage guide the way. Guided tours are listed without times.
OPW notes limited access for visitors with disabilities, deep water in the parkland lake and uneven terrain needing suitable footwear. No cycling on the walkways, no fires, camping or barbecues. Toilets at the entrance; no cafe or shop.
Dogs: Dogs are welcome throughout the outdoor site on a lead at all times. Dogs on leads on the garden and parkland paths, free of charge.
Photo: The sunken garden at Heywood seen through its iron gates, the fountain in the pool ringed by turtle statues and the red-tiled loggia beyond. LoriStrang, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:County_Laois_-_Heywood_Gardens_-_20200520120451.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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Dogs, with restrictions
Signed walkways from the gate lodge car park across the hillside park of lakes and woodland to the Lutyens formal gardens, with information panels; free during the seasonal gate hours; no cycling on the walkways; uneven terrain and deep water by the lake.
