Overview
Huntington Castle has been the same family’s home since 1625, and if the rooms look familiar it’s because Stanley Kubrick filmed much of Barry Lyndon here. The castle is the reason most people come to Clonegal, a small village in a river valley where County Carlow meets Wexford. It sits at the meeting of the River Slaney and the River Derry, 22 km from Carlow town and 5 km from Bunclody, with its twin hamlet, Watch House, just over the river in County Wexford. The backdrop of the Blackstairs and Wicklow Mountains earned it the old tag ‘Switzerland of Ireland’.
Huntington Castle and gardens
Huntington Castle, also called Clonegal Castle, was built in 1625 by Laurence Esmonde, 1st Baron Esmonde, on the site of an earlier structure that may have gone back to the 15th century. Later generations extended it through the 18th and 19th centuries. It comes with the usual castle folklore – Druid ghosts blamed for mists and sudden showers, a well on the grounds said never to have run dry – but the gardens are the real event.
Laid out from the 17th century, they include a formal lime avenue, a clipped parterre and the well-known Yew Walk, its trees arched into a dark tunnel. Ornamental fish ponds flank the central wilderness walk down to a lake, and beside it stands one of Ireland’s earliest water-turbine houses, built in 1888 to generate the estate’s electricity. Rarer trees – hickory, cut-leaf oak, Siberian crab, buckeye chestnut – are dotted through the grounds.
Castle tours run at set times on open days (1pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm), and the gardens, playground and tea rooms open daily through the summer, weekends only in the shoulder seasons. One thing worth checking before you drive out: the whole estate closes for weddings and private events, so ring ahead.
The village
St Fiaac’s Church of Ireland stands on a mound over the Derry valley, built in 1819 in a Gothic style on the site of an older church enclosure, with a tower, belfry and three double stained-glass windows – the Good Samaritan, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection. The graveyard has headstones back to 1777. The Roman Catholic church, St Brigid’s, came later in the 19th century.
Clonegal keeps its streets well: it took the Tidiest Village title in the national Tidy Towns competition in 2014 and 2015, and won the Carlow Pride of Place award in 2017. A new Heritage Audio Trail, put together by Carlow County Council and Carlow Tourism, now walks you through the village’s history stop by stop. In the 1800s this was a busier place, with eleven malt houses, a wool and corn store and a police station; the Kildavin/Clonegal GAA club, formed in 1914, still carries the parish name.
The Wicklow Way ends here
Clonegal is the southern end of the 127 km Wicklow Way, which starts at Marlay Park in Dublin. The final leg, Stage 6, is a 26 km walk from Shillelagh over the hills of Stokeen, Moylisha and Urelands before it drops into the Derry valley. For something shorter and flatter, the River Derry walk follows the water down to the Slaney – easy going, good for families and dogs. The Slaney and its feeder streams draw anglers after brown trout and salmon.
Practical information
- Getting there: Clonegal is off the R702 between Carlow town and Bunclody, with Huntington Castle and St Fiaac’s signposted from the main road. By bus, Bus Éireann runs twice daily from Bunclody via Kildavin (3 km away) to Dublin; TFI Local Link offers an on-demand service from Carlow to Kildavin, and routes 132 and 133 link Carlow town with Clonegal.
- Parking: Use the Castle Car Park, opposite the tea rooms – drive in through the main entrance. There’s street parking in the village too.
- Admission and hours: Garden and tour prices are set by the castle; check the official site before travelling, as opening days shift by season and the estate closes for private events.
- Nearby amenities: The village has a primary school, a community centre and a few shops; for a fuller choice of food and services, Carlow town is a short drive.
Nearby Attractions
- Brownshill Dolmen – a huge Neolithic portal tomb in a quiet field, about 30 km north-west.
- Duckett’s Grove – a Gothic ruin with restored walled gardens, roughly 35 km north-west.
- Borris House – an 18th-century house with parkland and a walled garden, about 33 km west.
- Delta Sensory Gardens – a therapeutic garden at Strawhall Estate, around 30 km north-west.
If you’re walking in off the Wicklow Way, time your arrival for one of the afternoon castle tours – it’s a fitting place to finish, and the gardens are a good spot to sit and let the legs recover.