Muckross House Tours

Muckross House featuring chateau or palace and heritage architecture
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Enjoy varied delights on this splendid estate, which offers a look into daily life in the past, both inside a luxurious home and on a busy farm.

At Muckross House visit a beautiful aristocratic home, wander through extensive gardens and learn about traditional farming culture. Explore a grand estate with many different perspectives of Ireland’s history.

Scottish architect William Burn was commissioned to design a house for Mr. and Mrs. Herbert, whose family had lived at this place for many generations. The house was completed in 1843 and reveals much about the daily lives of the landowning class at that time. Note the distinction between the elegant family home, ornate and decorated with expensive artworks, and the sparsely furnished servants’ quarters downstairs. Meet craftspeople busy with traditional weaving, pottery and bookbinding in the nearby workshop. Purchase goods with the Mucros label.

Visit Muckross House’s gardens. Admire the collections of rhododendrons and azaleas in the spring. Stroll through the elegant and ornate Sunken Garden, Rock Garden carved from natural limestone and Stream Garden, whose colors reflect the changing seasons.

While at Muckross House, visit the traditional farms on the estate where men and women still use methods developed before electricity. The three farms, small, medium and large, have farmhouses with traditional furnishings. On-site find the Labourer’s Cottage, Carpenter’s Workshop and Blacksmith’s Forge.

Take the children to meet cute farm animals at the Farm Animal Petting Area or enjoy the rides and swings at the Woodland Play Area. Look for the schoolhouse, dating from about 1910, to see how children had their lessons 100 years ago. Enjoy a meal at the Garden Restaurant, which has a view of the beautiful hedges and flowers. All of these sites together make up a fascinating open-air museum dedicated to life in Ireland of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Find Muckross House near Muckross Lake in Killarney National Park, 4 miles (6 kilometers) from Killarney. The House and Gardens complex is open daily, except during the Christmas season. To enter the Muckross House itself, sign up for a guided tour. The gardens have free entry while the house and farms charge admission. The farms are open from March to October. Check ahead online for specific open hours.

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Reviews of Muckross House

4.7
Top Destination
5 - Excellent
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3 - Okay
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5/5 - Excellent

Verified traveler
Oct 9, 2019

worth the visit. grounds are gorgeous. tour provides wonderful historical perspective and large/aging crowd was well managed.

4/5 - Good

Maggie
Sep 23, 2019

The times for the guided tours did not work out so we toured the gardens which were beautiful. Also rode bicycles.

5/5 - Excellent

Verified traveler
Sep 15, 2019

The tours of the house are guided only, which is nice so you get all the back story and inside scoop, about life in the house and Queen Victoria’s visit in the 1800s. It’s huge and beautiful. Also on the grounds is Muckross Abby, which you can walk to, about 15-20 min walk or pay a horse and buggy. Either way definitely don’t skip it if you love ruins of churches are castles. I personally enjoyed it more than the house.

5/5 - Excellent

Gina
Jul 9, 2019

Magnificent! You could spend quite a bit of time on the grounds here, and if you toured the house We didn't have a lot of time so we only walked around the outside of the house, and it was quite impressive!

5/5 - Excellent

Verified traveler
Jun 25, 2019

Go see the 1930s farm ...informative for adults and fun for the kids too

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