Overview
The actor Robert Shaw, Quint in Jaws, lived at Drimbawn until his death in 1978 and had a nine-hole golf course cut into the grounds. What draws people now is the garden, not the film history: a restored Victorian layout running down the slope to Lough Mask, open only by appointment. That last point matters. This is a working private house, not a public attraction, so a visit takes a phone call or an email first, and the reward is a quiet, unhurried walk with the place largely to yourself.
The grounds shift as you go: a formal walled garden gives way to lawns, a young arboretum and an orchard of heritage apple varieties, then to fern-carpeted woodland, a bog garden and a sheltered corner planted with New Zealand species.
History and the house
The lodge went up in 1855–56 for the Honourable Catherine Plunket, originally under the name Lough Mask Cottage. The design is attributed to the Dublin architect Patrick Byrne (1783–1864), better known for the Catholic churches he designed across the city, and the house is sited to take in the lake and the mountains beyond. It’s built of a distinctive ruby-coloured sandstone with limestone dressings, flush quoins and a hipped slate roof, with a later extension added in 1911–13. Inside, much of the Victorian detail survives: carved timber door surrounds, six-over-six sash windows, marble chimneypieces and run-moulded plasterwork ceilings.
The garden
The original grounds were laid out in the mid-19th century by Ninian Niven, the first Curator of the Botanic Gardens in Dublin, for Bishop Plunkett. After a long decline, the current owners began a full restoration in 2001, with the garden designer Daphne Shackleton guiding the redesign. The walled garden is the most finished part, with gravel paths and dense planting of perennials, climbers and shrubs, plus a working vegetable plot. A stone terrace and pleached hedging step down towards the lake; the orchard holds a collection of heritage apple varieties; and higher up the slope the planting turns naturalistic, through woodland and a bog garden into that surprising patch of New Zealand ‘Jungle’.
Robert Shaw and the ambush
Drimbawn has passed through several families, and had its brush with wider history. Its best-known resident was the actor Robert Shaw (1927–1978) of Jaws and From Russia With Love, who lived here in his last years and became part of the local community; a memorial stone on the Lough Mask shore, put up in 2008, marks the connection to Tourmakeady. Decades earlier, the estate sat on the edge of the Tourmakeady ambush of 3 May 1921, during the War of Independence, when the property’s gate was a strategic position for the IRA.
Planning your visit
Because Drimbawn is still a private residence, every visit is arranged in advance. The garden is open from April through September, strictly by appointment; beyond the odd public open day, the way in is to contact the head gardener directly. If arranging your own visit doesn’t suit, some guided Mayo garden tours (such as Travel Department’s) build in a morning at Drimbawn with a tour by the head gardener.
- Contact: Head Gardener Frank Steffens
- Phone: +353 87 775 0107 (email is listed on the RHSI Drimbawn page)
- Address: Drimbawn House, Tourmakeady, Co Mayo, F12 D252
- Admission: Free for current RHSI members on presentation of a membership card. Other visitors should confirm any fee when booking.
- Parking: On-site but limited; confirm when you arrange the visit.
One honest caveat: the terrain slopes and the woodland paths are uneven and naturalistic, so this is not a wheelchair-accessible garden. Flag any mobility needs when you call. Sturdy shoes are the right call in any case.
Nearby
Drimbawn is just outside Tourmakeady, in the South Mayo Gaeltacht, close to the ruined church, St Mary’s and the Irish-speaking Tourmakeady College. The western shore of Lough Mask offers quiet scenic driving away from the busier routes, with walking and angling all around. When you book, ask the head gardener when the apples are due; late spring gives peak bloom in the walled garden, but autumn and a heritage-apple harvest are a good reason to come later in the season.