A claimant to the longest continuously inhabited building in Ireland

Sir Richard Talbot was a knight who accompanied King Henry II to Ireland in 1285. He loved the place so much that he built a castle and his family lived here for 800 years until 1973. This makes it one of the longest continuously inhabited castles by the same family in Ireland! It was considerably enlarged around 1470 during the reign of Edward IV and the towers were added in 1765. Times were however not always easy for the Talbots; on the morning of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, 14 members of the family sat and had breakfast together for the last time as none of them returned. Dublin County Council bought the property and its 265 acres in 1975 giving the public access to some of Ireland’s finest period interiors and also to the beautiful botanical gardens. It is also used for music festivals and has a great food outlet.