Johnstown Castle Estate, Museum & Gardens — Attraction in The Borough District of Wexford

'Gardens are not made by singing 'Oh, how beautiful,' and sitting in the shade.' Rudyard Kipling.

It is quite clear that there is a lot of gardening and very little sitting in shade in Johnstown Castle Gardens. They have everything, a castle, lakes, turrets/follies and statues, walled gardens, sunken gardens, trees, more trees and lots of wildlife. The walks arround the lakes are full of interest, lots of very photogenic views and offer a choice of distance. The Sunken Garden is a calm oasis, simplicity and excellent execution of design is evident. The Walled Garden is reimagined coupling great design with excellent planting and a beautifully restored glasshouse.

I was there for the inaugural 2025 Garden Fair, an acknowledged success, with one in the books for 2026. So there was some additional distraction of talks and plant stalls. This was held on 13 July 25. That meant I did not get a good look arround the museum, the castle itself and the second lake. All for the next visit. If you missed the Fair fear not, the gardens have a well stocked sales section propagated in house.

On a practical note: The attraction is well worth the entrance fee, [if you live nearby a season ticket should be a must, and would make an excellent gift],

There is a coffee /tea shop serving tasty small bites, cakes and other treats, with an additional ice cream truck in the grounds, There are multiple picnic areas [with seating] within the grounds, picnics are encouraged,

The gardens are evolving and offer year round interest,

The staff are efficient and friendly in all areas,

There are numerous events held on site such as bat walks, music, art, castle and garden tours as well as seasonal events. These should be booked to ensure a place.

In short, Johnstown Castle and Gardens is a must visit, so make the time and travel to the...

e visited Johnstown castle Saturday 21/6/2024 for their annual Jazz Music event. The quality of the musicians were outstanding. The visitor centre is of very high quality and the food provided by the cafe of excellent quality although somewhat overpriced considering the cost of produce in the local area. The general entrance fee for visiting the gardens is considerably over priced a matter that effect local people who would have been able to visit for free in the not so distant past. The closing time of the gardens at 4:30 PM is unbelievable considering we are in summer time and this effected a lot of people who visited the Jazz events thinking they could round off the day by a walk in the garden. In France they complain about parks closing at 19:30 hours so I cannot imagine it been tolerated by the public there, such an early closing time which should be urgently reviewed. The grounds and gardens which i have visited many times over the years are very good and I would still recommend all to visit and enjoy for themselves. Booking on line rendered an unexpected 1.90 booking fee when on line bookings should be discounted. Some of the business decisions of management of Johnston Castle concerning pricing are indeed very questionable however the staff at the venue are extremely friendly...

Paws and Claws at Johnstown Castle. We were at this event on Sunday the 17th of December last. I brought my 2 rescue lurchers to it as it was an event in aid of the WSPCA (noting the connection to the WSPCA of Lady Kathleen Lakin (Fitzgerald). One of my dogs is a WSPCA rescue, the other having been picked up from the road as a stray pup. Also, being from Wexford and of a certain age I was born in the "Lakin Wing" of Wexford General Hospital many moons ago. I don't have any children so every year I miss out on that excitement with Santa etc and it was lovely to bring them to see him and support such a worthy cause also. They were very happy with Santa and he was obviously used to doggos. His assistant took our photos for me with my phone and there was a darling little girl, Katie/Rosie?, who took our tickets, showed us where to go and generally was great craic. It wasn't too busy and we were able to see Santa straight away. I love Johnstown and have an annual membership. It is great for the doggos in the summer as the trees keep the walkways cool and shaded. Being dog friendly is a massive plus! There are always other interesting events on year round. I'd love to see more doggie events but otherwise I couldn't...