This summer I finally had the chance to take part in a guided tour of the first two floors of Doneraile Estate, a grand house dating back to the early 18th century in north Cork, Ireland. Overlooking a vast, walled park of ponds, streams and fields teeming with deer and cattle, Doneraile Estate sits in the heart of Doneraile Park, a place I have visited since I was a young child to play and, as I got older, run.

Once owned by an Anglo-Protestant family as far back as the 1640s, the house and estate eventually were given over to Ireland’s Office of Public Works, opening to the public as a park. But the house remained in a terrible state of disrepair for decades and merely stood. As as a child I would look at this great house and wonder what it looked like inside.

Over the last few years, however, OPW put a lot of money into renovating the house, tracking down as much of the original furniture as possible (most of it sold or auctioned off when the last Lady St. Leger left the house in the 1970s) and even taking loans from museums to install period pieces in the many rooms.

The result has been astounding. I finally got to walk through the large door that sat shut before me for more than two decades, following the guide through the various rooms as he explained the history of the St. Leger family, leading all the way to the house as it stands today. The hour-long tour was informative, covering some interesting details as well as some of the noteworthy figures who came to the house, including author Elizabeth Bowen, a longtime friend of one of the St. Legers.

On this tour I entered the room where Lady St. Leger overheard a Freemason’s meeting taking place through a hole in the wall. Upon being discovered (and thanks to her status and reputation), she became the first and only female Freemason in the world. Large windows open out to the gardens for unbeatable views of the green fields, and after the tour we ventured to the tea shop around the corner at the back of the house for a slice of cake and a cup of tea. While the park is open year-round, tours are available from mid-March to October, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. on the hour.

Doneraile Park is one of my many paradises in Ireland, and anyone venturing around Ireland (particularly around Cork) must set aside time to visit this small town and take a tour of this historic house. It offers a fascinating glimpse into the life of Anglo-Protestants in Ireland, for it is uncommon for a house to be so well-preserved and open to the public.

Elizabeth Bowen’s own house, Bowen’s Court, for example, was razed to the ground shortly after she sold it and left for England. That said, upon her death she was, upon her request, brought back to Ireland and buried in Farahy near Kildorrery, where you can find her grave today, located just beside the field where her family’s grand house once stood.

— Aoife O’Riordan, associate editor