Gardens
Words can only convey a small impression of what Mount Congreve has to offer. To get a full appreciation of what has been achieved here in such a short time by Mr Ambrose Congreve, one has to visit the garden as the seasons unfold.
The gardens at Mount Congreve, Waterford, consist of around seventy acres of intensively planted woodland garden and a four acre walled garden. The owner, the late Mr Ambrose Congreve, was inspired by Mr Lionel de Rothschild’s exceptional garden at Exbury in Hampshire, England.
It was here that his interest in gardening was nurtured and he became infected with a passion and enthusiasm for plants such as Rhododendrons, Magnolias, Camellias and indeed many other floras from every continent in the world.
The entire collection consists of over three thousand different trees and shrubs, more than two thousand Rhododendrons, six hundred Camellias, three hundred Acer cultivars, six hundred conifers, two hundred and fifty climbers and fifteen hundred herbaceous plants.
Curraghmore House is situated in the lovely valley of the Clodagh river, which enters the estate at Lowry's Bridge and almost halves the land of Curraghmore.
For sheer grandeur and scale it would be hard to equal this great Waterford estate. Curraghmore House has a magnificent setting amid ancient oak woods and formal gardens.
The Curraghmore estate offers the visitor a delightful array of attractions and places of interest to explore
The grounds of Curraghmore House, were laid out by the first de la Poer - Beresford Earl of Tyrone around 1750 and provide a splendid example of an eighteenth-century romantic landscape, with the house as its centrepiece.
Behind the house is the garden in the French manner designed by Louisa, third Lady Waterford. Its formal terraces, with balustrades and statuary, overlook a man-made lake.
To the west a vista through the woods stretches off to infinity.
Hidden in a shrubbery is the enchanting Shell House, created by Catherine Countess of Tyrone, with 'her proper' hands in 1754.
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There are many more gardens to visit in the area , a comprehensive list can be found here.