Go Niche

IF YOU’RE THE kind of person who wonders what goes on behind closed doors, this is your week to find out. “Who Lives in a House Like This?” is part of National Heritage Week (August 18th–26th) and you don’t have to be Lloyd Grossman to look inside.

For one week only, historic houses not normally open to the public, the sort you normally only glimpse behind high walls or through railings, will be open for guided tours, in many cases given by their owners.

There’s a huge range of properties to see around the country and it’s not all houses. In Cork you can take a guided tour of a traditional farm yard in Carrigadrohid, or visit the cloistered gardens of the Mercy Order (tomorrow only).

In Dublin you can get in to the Freemasons’ Hall on Molesworth Street.

Among the most interesting ones, however, are the private homes, mainly because they are just that. These include Deepwell House and gardens in Blackrock, Co Dublin, which dates from the 1740s, and Tibradden House in Rathfarnham, a Victorian residence.

In Kilkenny, it will be possible to take a tour of Uppercourt Manor in Freshford, a 12th century manor house and grounds, now part of a stud farm while, in Co Laois, Stradbally Hall, home of the Electric Picnic festival, will be open for inspection.

Tours of Enniscoe House in Mayo are organised by Susan Kellett, whose family have lived in what has been described as one of the county’s last Great Houses for 12 generations. Now that’s a guide who knows her subject.

see heritageweek.ie