Birr Castle Demesne — Attraction in The Municipal District of Birr

This was a visit to the 🏰. We'd a young lady called Sylvia, who's very knowledgeable about the 🏰 & grounds. she took us on a guided tour, altho you don't have to go for the tour, you can take yourselves around the grounds & look for yourself. the tour lasted about 90 minutes, a few of us had to stop, cause the walking was a bit much & there's no where to sit on the tour & I didn't see many round where we went. there's so many trees in the grounds, 1 of the very big trees is around 4/500 years old, the only way to know is to cut it down, which they don't want to do, obviously. 😄 it's an enormous place to be kept going, I'm sure she said how many grounds keepers were there, but I xant remember 😅 but there's 4? staff in the 'big' house. we're given time to walk back to the café where our driver (local community guard was waiting) some of the ladies wanted to see the gardens & flowers, unfortunately they couldn't get in to see the flowers, 😪 we split up, on the way back, some ladies were more agile, some of us took advantage of a seat on the way back. all in all it's a lovely place to visit, I'm sure it'd take a couple of days, to really walk the grounds. we're shown the biggest telescope that 1 of the Earls made for his interstellar

We had a fascinating visit to the castle! 🌟 Sylvia's guided tour was very informative and engaging. The castle's grounds are very impressive, with those ancient trees being a highlight. 🌳 It's great that they're preserving them for future generations.

The lack of seating during the tour might have been a bit challenging for some us, but it's lovely that we could take breaks and enjoy the scenery at your own pace. The gardens and flowers seemed like a lovely addition, though it's a shame some of the ladies couldn't access them.

The telescope was an interesting piece of history! 🔭 In the early 1840’s, the Third Earl of Rosse designed and built the largest telescope in the world - The Great Telescope (also known as The Leviathan of Parsonstown). With this telescope, he discovered the spiral nature of galaxies, and from 1845-1914 this remained the largest telescope in the world! Standing at an impressive 72 feet long with a mirror measuring 6 feet in diameter, (there were 2 mirrors, so that when one mirror was being cleaned they had one spare theyd use, the telescope was not just a scientific instrument, but a symbol of human curiosity and innovation, built using cutting-edge engineering techniques of its time. I wouldn't like to have been 1 of the men having to hand turn the telescope, for the earl. 😆 when the telescope was refurbished they tried to salvage anything they could from the 🔭 & surrounding walls were taken apart, fixed & put together with the original pieces, they'd to change some bits. The bricks of the walls surrounding the 🔭 were numbered, taken out of the wall, cleaned & put back in the same place it'd have been taken out off!!! Overall, the castle is a wonderful place to explore, and it would take a couple of days to fully appreciate...

Unfortunately, we left ourselves not enough time to visit this great amenity.  We also arrived too late to visit the castle itself and the museum.  That all said... wow, what a place.  We just happened to arrive in Birr when the weather was perfect.  20C and very little wind.  Unusual for Ireland but when the weather Gods are shinning upon you, make the most of it.

Note that there did not appear to be any on site parking although there did appear to be plenty of on street parking and car parks so really not an issue.  Do bring some coins to pay for the parking as Birr has not entered the 21st century.  I thought that one of the benefits of Covid was the doing away with the need to carry cash but maybe not everywhere!  Parking was very cheap.  2 Euro for 6 hours in the car park we went in to.

When you enter the court yard you will find there is a cafe with food for all.  I was not that impressed by the coffee but then again, I like my coffee and not all blends are to my taste.  My wife did say that her cappuccino was only lukewarm.  She did enjoy her mushroom and cheddar quiche and says the 2 accompanying salads were delicious.

There was also a small shop selling ice cream cones which looked huge.  We did not partake as the ship was closed when we got back after our walk.

There is a shop that sells the tickets for entry to the grounds.  Very helpful, courteous staff pointed in the right direction and off we went to explore.  The shop also sells the usual gift wear.

The grounds are extensive and beautiful to walk through.  Whilst wheelchair and buggy friendly for the most part, there are some areas that some would find are no go areas.  We did not see too many areas like this but just note it.  I’m sure the staff can advise you better than me.

We only had time to complete part of the walk but we did manage to see The Great Telescope and the walled garden.  Both are impressive and are a must see for any visitor.  As I said, we did not leave ourselves enough time to visit all of the offerings but we know this now and will be...

Birr is in County Offaly, and it is a designated Heritage Town. We actually drove there to check out the castle and the Telescope, after I found this sightseeing spot on Google Maps. I then had a look at the homepage and that looked really promising, so we decided to explore this place.

We fortunately found a parking spot right next to the castle walls and then walked inside. In front is a small café where my Mum enjoyed a coffee and a cake later. But first we walked inside and got our tickets, which cost 10€ per Person; in here you can also find some souvenirs, postcards and the famous knick-knacks you bring back from your travels.

After being told that we sadly would not be able to head inside the castle itself that day, as the owners were currently present, we first went to the Science Centre. This area covers two floors and is filled with information about the history of the castle, with focus on the great Telescope. It’s really interesting and like a small museum showcasing equipment used in the middle and late 1800s.

We then walked right into the Gardens where we got a peek at the castle. You can book tours through this castle from 17th May until 3rd September. Such a tour costs 20€ per Person and lasts about 75 minutes.

The Gardens are seriously huge with 120 Acres of Parkland and 10km of walks. There are the Formal Gardens with the world’s tallest box hedges, and the Terraces from where you can see the suspension bridge. Sadly we weren’t able to cross it, but it looked truly interesting and is, in fact, from 1820 and thus the earliest in Ireland. On the other side of the river is the well of St. Brandon, who was a monk and later an abbot, of the 6th century.

Overall there is a lot to explore and enjoy, if you like the calm...