The mansion of Farmleigh is the former house of Edward Guinness


Dear readers, we would like to share with you another one of our finds in Ireland. A majority of times, interesting things are somewhere near and not across the Seven Seas. An example of this happened to us on the Saturday before Easter.

We went to visit the Residence of the President of Ireland but had a little bit over one hour before the tour so we began to think on how to spend the time. Phoenix Park, where the Presidential Residence is located, was familiar enough to us, but leaving the park for 1.5 hours seemed pointless. Then suddenly, we remembered that the mansion of Farmleigh is located in Phoenix Park.


The mansion of Farmleigh

The mansion of Farmleigh isn’t really advertised in Irish guides so we hoped to see something unique. But what we saw went beyond our initial expectations. Secretly, visiting this mansion was even better than visiting the Presidential Residence.

Now we will tell you everything in order. We found out that the small house, which serves as the basis of the mansion, was built in the XVII century, but the mansion of Farmleigh got it’s new attachments in the year 1873, after Edward Cecil Guinness had bought it. Here he wanted to build a family house after his marriage on his cousin Adelaide. Edward Guinness was the great-grandson of Arthur Guinness, the founder of the beer empire of Guinness.


Park of Farmleigh

Edward Guinness decided renovate the mansion of Farmleigh he invited architects from the year 1881 until 1901, when the last attachment to the mansion was made. So what we see today was created and it didn’t turn out bad. In fact, during our stay in Ireland we have not seen a more unique mansion, then the mansion of Farmleigh. It’s inside interior, is a palace!

Standing 3 stories tall, the mansion of Farmleigh soaked in all the aspects of a great interior and kept them for over 100 years. Sadly photographing is prohibited inside the mansion, so you will just have to trust us and see it all yourself, especially because visiting the mansion of Farmleigh is free.


Yard of Farmleigh

Tours are held only on the first floor of the mansion, so we cannot tell you about the 14 bedrooms on the 2nd and 3rd floors. But each room that we were in was an absolute work of ant. Columns made from green marble, decorations from red wood and oak, huge crystal chandeliers, small bronze statues, beautiful rocks and embroidered panels on the walls. The collection of panels which we are talking about was included in the collection of the Spanish Queen. Another one of the panels in this collection is located in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

We were also amazed by the arched Conservatory. The marble floor, the exotic plants and expensive furniture makes this place absolutely enchanting. The area that surrounds the mansion of Farmleigh also amazed us. A neatly mowed lawn an alley of exotic trees, a pond with wild ducks, a couple of flower gardens and even a field with domestic animals, all this really highlights the uniqueness of the mansion.


Garden of Farmleigh

So when the Irish Government bought this mansion for almost 30million Euros in 1999, they didn’t waste anything. Since then, the mansion of Farmleigh is used for guests on an international level.

In conclusion our opinion of the mansion of Farmleigh was this. The mansion itself isn’t only a jewel of Phoenix Park; it’s a jewel of Dublin.