1. Introduction Block
When the Trust began caring for Fota House, Arboretum & Gardens on Cork’s Fota Island in 2007, unique original features were at risk, including its impressive glasshouses and Victorian Walled Garden.
The Irish Heritage Trust immediately undertook an extensive programme of restoration, made possible thanks to the support of the Irish government and other agencies including local authorities and the Office of Public Works, as well as heritage experts and our wonderful volunteers.
We were able to open up previously derelict Regency rooms to the public, restored to their former splendour, and Fota House is now one of the key visitor attractions in Ireland’s Ancient East. The quality of our restoration work, as well as our education and interpretation initiatives, is recognised under the terms of Ireland’s rigorous museum accreditation scheme, which renewed Fota’s museum status in 2020.
2. Right Image & Content
In its first year of caring for Fota House, Arboretum & Gardens, the Irish Heritage Trust was fortunate to receive a generous donation of 18th and 19th-century Irish art and furniture from the McCarthy family in Cork.
This kind donation returned to the house many items that had been sold from Fota House as its fortunes wavered, and so it greatly helped us in our room restoration work.
3. Left Image & Content
At the new, immersive National Famine Museum on the stunning Strokestown estate, visitors can explore the parallel lives experienced in Ireland’s darkest times by 19th-century landlords, tenants, and cottiers.
The interactive displays and compelling exhibitions in this extraordinarily moving museum encourage visitors of all ages to engage with famine, past and present.
4. Right Image Group & Content
A tour of Strokestown Park’s Georgian Palladian House offers intriguing clues about the Irish experience in centuries past for people living vastly different parallel lives.
Soak in the atmosphere of a house where generations of gentryfolk left their influence. Visit the galleried kitchen to sense what life was like for the staff ‘below stairs’, and explore the charming nursery and the school room, before heading outdoors to enjoy our gardens and explore Strokestown Park’s lovely woodlands.
Then take time to refresh your senses and enjoy our elegant landscaped gardens and lush
woodlands in Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands.
Our children’s woodland trail is a great source of fun and fresh air throughout the changing seasons, and the tranquil gardens are a lovely place to relax before a visit to the Strokestown Café!
Relax and enjoy great coffee with a treat, or choose meals prepared with fresh local produce to enjoy with friends or family in the Café.
Our shop has an excellent range of gifts for you to choose from, including thoughtful mementos of your visit to the National Famine Museum.
6. Right Image & Content Watermarked
In its first year of caring for Fota House, Arboretum & Gardens, the Irish Heritage Trust was fortunate to receive a generous donation of 18th and 19th-century Irish art and furniture from the McCarthy family in Cork.
This kind donation returned to the house many items that had been sold from Fota House as its fortunes wavered, and so it greatly helped us in our room restoration work.
7. Left Image & Content
Refresh your senses and exercise your imagination in Strokestown Park’s 6-acre walled gardens and its lush mature woodlands.
Take time to wander at a relaxed pace and soak in the serenity of rural Roscommon. A rich variety of outdoor spaces await you, from colourful pleasure gardens and abundant fruit and vegetable gardens, to Strokestown Park’s woods where there’s space for contemplation, as well as opportunities for adventure on our family-friendly woodland trails.
Fota’s
8. Right Image Overlap & Content
Fota’s renowned gardens are home to one of the finest collections of rare and tender trees and shrubs grown outdoors in Ireland and Britain, and – thanks to the work of our committed staff and volunteers – Fota’s beautiful glasshouses and pleasure gardens, as well as its award-winning restored Victorian Walled Garden are bustling with energy once again.
Visitors of all ages enjoy exploring its family-friendly nature trails to learn about bees, trees, and biodiversity. Keen gardeners will take especial pleasure in Fota’s exceptional conifer collection, in a place where many conifer species were planted in Europe for the first time.
Join Us
9. Parallax CTA
Fota House is one of Ireland’s great houses, home to a nationally significant collection of paintings, a beautifully restored arboretum and gardens.
Once the home of the Smith-Barry family, Fota House, Arboretum & Gardens has been welcoming visitors for more than 200 years.
11. Left Image & Bullet Content
The Irish Heritage Trust exists to benefit the community.
12. Three Column Info Boxes
Are you keen to get your hands dirty in our kitchen gardens and formal flowerbeds? Or would you prefer to help us share amazing stories with our visitors from Ireland and beyond?
Whether you’re more at home chatting about the past, fixing a piece of furniture, or marshalling guests at our varied events, we can match you to a role that suits you.
Meeting people, sharing stories
Conserving and
growing
Working with us behind the scenes
13. Property Links
We care for and bring to life a variety of historic houses, museums, gardens and parklands, while also developing innovative visitor experiences at these beautiful places:
14. Membership Options
The Irish Heritage Trust is delighted to offer the following membership options:
Note: All memberships are non-transferrable and the membership card can only be used by the person/family named on the card.
Please check our Terms & Conditions for further details on proof of dependent children.
15. Property Prices & Right Image
Cork
| Adults | Child | Concessions | *Family | **Groups | |
| Guided Tour – House | €10 | €3.50 | €8 | €25 | €8 |
| Victorian Working Garden Tour | €10 | €3 | €8 | €25 | €8 |
| Combo Tour (House & Victorian Working Garden) | €15 | €6 | €12 | €35 | €12 |
| Tree Trails for Children (age 3 – 6 and 7 – 12) | Maps from €1 | Tree Trail Booklets from €3 |
| Arboretum Map and Trail (Adults) – Self-Guided | €3 |
| Irish Heritage Trust Members | Free of Charge |
*Family: Up to 2 adults & 3 children (under 16).
**Groups (15+) must be booked in advance by calling us + 353 (0) 21 481 5543
16. Property Prices & Left Image
Wexford
| Adults | Child (5-16) | Concessions | *Family | |
| **Full Day Entry | €9 | €4 | €7 | €24 |
| ***Guided Tour of the Castle | €4 | €2 | €3 | €11 |
| Irish Heritage Trust Members | Free of Charge |
*Family: Up to 2 adults & 3 children (under 16).
**Full Day Entry – to the Irish Agricultural Museum, the Gardens, Lake Walks and Woodland Play Area
***Guided Tour of the Castle – in addition to Full Day Entry Ticket
17. Full Width Text Dark
Our guiding motto is People, Place, Participation, and we engage with and connect people to these wonderful properties through innovative and imaginative exhibitions, events, and volunteering programmes. The Trust provides for their conservation and maintenance, and we work to ensure that some of Ireland’s most striking landmarks and important cultural resources remain available for everyone to enjoy in perpetuity.
18. Left Video & Text
In Following in the Footsteps of Strokestown’s Famine Emigrants (48:53), Professor Mark McGowan tracks their journey from the Strokestown Park House estate in 1847 along the National Famine Way walking trail on the banks of the Royal Canal to Dublin, and then on to Grosse Île and the Irish Memorial National Historic Site and the Niagara region in Canada.
19. Right Video & Text
In Tracing Strokestown Famine Emigrants on the Welland Canal (33:58), Professor Mark McGowan uses newly discovered correspondence from the Strokestown Park Famine Archive between the landlord Major Denis Mahon and his agent John Ross Mahon to explain how the 1,490 emigration scheme was planned to resettle former tenants in Canada’s Niagara region.
