Adare Manor, home of the Earls of Dunraven, was open to visitors between 1968 and 1980

Adare Manor, home of the Earls of Dunraven, was open to visitors between 1968 and 1980, from 1st May to 30^th September, Mondays to Fridays 10am to 1.30 pm and 2pm to 5.30 pm and on Sundays from 2 pm to 5.30 pm, according to the details on this old poster.  Free Car Park (100 CARS) at front door.
Admission to Manor House and Gardens: 30p.  Admission to grounds only: 15p.
Children (6-12 years):     House and Grounds: 10p.
Adare Manor, the family home of the Earls of Dunraven and Mount Earl since the middle
of the seventeenth century, is picturesquely situated in a beautifully wooded demesne, on the west bank of the River Maigue. It is adjacent to the village of Adare, reputed to be “the prettiest village in Ireland”. Adare is eleven miles from Limerick City and on the main road to Killarney and the south.
The guided tours of the house include the Great Hall, Picture Gallery, Reception Rooms, several Bedrooms and a Costume Room. There are features of historical and antiquarian interest in the pleasure grounds and park. All enquiries to the Curator. Phone Adare 119.
Morning Coffee and Afternoon Tea served “Below Stairs”
LIGHT Lunches (from 1^st June).

The present Tudor Gothic House which stands on the exact site of a smaller Georgian house (some of the walls have been incorporated into the new building) was begun in 1832. It took thirty years to build it and it was the creation of the Second Earl of Dunraven who employed no professional architect or builder for the outside of the house, although the most famous architect of the day, August Pugin, was called in to design the Minstrels Gallery and ceiling, the dining room and many of the carved mantelpieces which are of local stone and marble.
The balustrade along the top of the South Front is achieved by four feet stone lettering-using the Biblical Text – “Except the Lord Build House the House their labour is but lost that build it”. This and similar texts give a unique character to the house which is a lasting monument to the craftsmen and workmen of Adare, who built it.

On the south side of the house is a large geometrical Box Garden, designed by Hardwick, adjacent to a bowling green and rose border, bounded on the east by handsome cut stone terraced walls, surmounted by vases and containing a broad flight of steps leading down to the river, where there is an unusually fine specimen of a Cedar of Lebanon, and from whence a walk extends along the bank of the river to an ancient bridge in the vicinity of the Abbey.

FEATURES OF INTEREST IN ADARE MANOR

Manor House: Reception rooms to be shown.
Hall containing pictures of sporting and local interest
Picture Gallery (132 feet long) containing fine stained glass memorial window and 67 pictures of considerable interest of all dates from Tudor to the present day, including works by Gheeraedts, Pourbus, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Kneller, Domenichino, Jansen, Phillips, Barker of Bath, Sir John Cope, Leo Whelan and David Jagger. The pierced, carved door are of especial interest.

BEDROOMS AND COSTUME ROOM
Diningroom: Family portraits by Zoffany and two racing views by Tillemans, three D’Hondecoeter.
Library with Gothic vaulted ceiling.
Large Drawingroom with family portraits by Pompeo Batoni, two views by Canaletto, black and gold 18^th century lacquer furniture with the family crest.

Small Drawingroom, containing a set of Dixon’s birds, a picture by Ruysdael and other pictures, French Bureau Plat.
Outside features of antiquarian interest include a collection of Ogham and other ancient incised stones in the pleasure grounds.
Park: Two ruins, one a Franciscan Priory erected in 1464 and destroyed at the suppression of the monasteries in the time of Henry V111.
The second ruin is Desmond Castle, incorporating an ancient Manor House known to have been occupied in 1226.

Two advertisements

ADARE ANTIQUES AND
HANDCRAFTS            
HIGH QUALITY KNITWEAR
SOUVENIRS AND ANTIQUES
Open daily, 9 am. To 6 pm.
except Sundays

DUNRAVEN ARMS   HOTEL
This old world hotel is the ideal base for
hunting, fishing and golfing in Co. Limerick.
Grade A                                      Phone Adare 9.