Co. Wicklow BLESSINGTON

Downshire House Hotel

Grangecon Café

Hunting Brook Gardens

One of the youngest open gardens, Hunting Brook has all the excitement of a fresh approach and new ideas. But the bones of the place are very old indeed - behind the house there is a ring fort dating back to the 7th century, and the namesake brook is part of a romantic landscaped demesne created in the 1830s.

Jimi Blake, former head gardener at Airfield, began gardening here in 2001, amid 15 acres of woods with beech, oak and larch. The area around his wooden house is now planted in a vibrant fusion of tropical and prairie style where tender plants like aloes and agaves rub shoulders with stately grasses like the rice paper grass Tetrapanx papyriferus and giant eryngiums like E pandanifolium. “I probably shouldn’t be growing plants like this at 900 feet,” says Jimi. So far so good though, and he is building up a national collection of miscanthus grasses amid particularly good late borders, and experimenting with plants propagated from species brought back from plant hunting expeditions to China, like Aralia echinotaulis.

A woodland garden is being developed near the ring fort with all manner of bulbs including trilliums ‘Ladybird’ and ‘Empresss’, shade loving plants like anemones and meconopsis, and rhizomes with exciting berries like the toad lilies and Diphyellia cymosa with vivid turquoise fruit. In between the two areas, acers and rhododendrons are being planted. At present five acres are open and the garden is still in the early stages of development, but it is an exciting place to see unusual plants and new planting styles - and Jimi runs excellent weekends courses.

* See Nearby, June Blake’s Garden and Nursery

June Blakes Garden & Nursery

June Blake’s Garden and Nursery is a plantaholic’s dream and the fact that it is just minutes away from her brother Jimi’s garden at Hunting Brook creates a double attraction. June’s three acres of young garden, set out around winding bark paths, mature beech trees and the terrible temptation of plants for sale, leads to many encounters with new and exciting plants especially perennials, shade loving plants and ornamental grasses. Many are propagated from seed from plant hunting expeditions and exchanges and June is on hand to tell you their stories and their habits. You won’t go home empty

Avon Ri Blessington Resort

For centuries, the hill where Avon Rí is now located looked out over a valley created by the Liffey and King's River. Avon Rí has taken its name from the latter and now looks out of the Blessington Lakes – a reservoir created in 1944 by the damming and flooding of the valley.

A resort of the highest standards has been created here allowing people who visit the area to stay and enjoy the landscape, partake in activities on the lake and in the countryside, and then be able to relax afterwards in a welcoming, familiar atmosphere.

The houses are designed to make you feel more at home than you ever can in a hotel – free to 'make yourself at home' in spacious, light-filled rooms, perfect for family and friends to really enjoy a carefree break. While the clubhouse aims to bring you all the self-contained pampering of a five-star hotel: fine restaurant, coffee bar, gym, pool, Jacuzzi (looking out over the lake), sauna, steam room.

Accommodation at Avon Rí in County Wicklow consists of 39 luxury self catering townhouses with stunning views of either Blessington Lake or the Wicklow countryside. Each self-catering townhouse comprises 3 large bedrooms with en-suite facilities, and a magnificent open-plan kitchen, dining and living room with fireplace.

The townhouses accommodate up to six people each and are equipped to a very high standard, with all the appliances of a private home (cable TV, washing machine, cooker, microwave and dishwasher) to make sure guests have everything they need for their stay while at Avon Rí. Each townhouse is extremely spacious and has been plushly furnished throughout.

On top of all this, you can participate in a wide range of sports and outdoor pursuits, supervised by a professional team to ensure you are safe and even learning! From tennis to clay pigeon shooting, from canoeing to sailing, from hiking to mountain biking.


 

Tulfarris Golf Resort

Tulfarris Golf Resort has a par 72 championship parkland 18 hole golf course set on three peninsulas overlooking Blessington Lakes that was designed by Ireland's renowned golf architect, Patrick J. Merrigan.

The imaginative use of the natural landscape to blend an exciting design into an excellent golf layout is evident throughout the course.

The integrity of the landscape and the environment has been preserved with the ponds and the wild grasses on the course providing an extension to the lakeshore itself.

Russborough House

Russborough House is a palladian mansion built between 1740 and 1750 by Richard Castle that displays fine stucco ceilings by the Lafranchini brothers, marvellous plasterwork and a wonderful mahogany staircase and is often referred to as the most beautiful house in Ireland.

It has magnificent views of the Blessington Lakes and the Wicklow mountains beyond. There are so many things to admire on the tour from the beauty of the Lafranchini ceilings to a wonderful collection of world class art and furnishings.

There is also an interactive 3D exhibition that celebrates the Beits’ exquisite life in an extraordinary photographic collection using camera work and methods far in advance of their time.

While the maze which was planted in 1989 is yet another fascinating feature at Russborough.

Tulfarris Hotel & Golf Resort