Overview
In 1986 Noel Keenan, a Castletown dairy farmer with a horticulture habit, started digging up a four-acre field where his cows had been grazing. What grew out of it is one of the more personal gardens in the midlands: not a grand demesne but a working plantsman’s plot on the banks of the River Nore, divided into three moods – a semi-formal gravel garden, a lawn with deep herbaceous borders, and a looped riverside walk. Noel’s daughter Mary and her husband Ross run it today, and still propagate much of what you see for sale in the nursery.
If you have twenty minutes, spend them at the Moon House. The rest rewards a slow hour.
What to see
The Moon House and the water
The Moon House is a stone grotto built into the garden, and it’s the thing people come back talking about: a controlled waterfall cascades past a circular window in the rock and drops into a lily pond below. The moving water is the constant soundtrack, and the still pools bring in frogs, newts and the odd dragonfly. Benches are set where the reflections are best. From here the riverside loop follows the natural bend of the Nore at a slower pace, past native bankside planting – the quiet end of the garden.
The borders and plant collections
The planting is built around texture and a long season rather than bedding-out formality. By the water, large-leaved rodgersia, gunnera, astilbe, ligularia and darmera do the heavy lifting; iris, crocosmia and Cirsium rivulare ‘Atropurpureum’ add height and late colour. Look for Lilium martagon, Alstroemeria psittacina and a collection of old-fashioned roses threaded with hardy geraniums. In the shade, the woodland and fernery hold specialists – Polygonatum, Ypsilandra thibetica, Saruma henryi, Triosteum pinnatifidum – reached through a laburnum arch and a beech-hedged path that funnels you down toward the river. The borders peak in July and August; spring is quieter but strong on early perennials and woodland plants.
The nursery
The garden doubles as a working nursery, propagating many of the plants in the borders – the practical, Irish-weather-hardy kind that earn their keep over a long season. You can buy container-grown perennials, shrubs and bulbs on site, and get straight advice from people who actually garden this soil.
Before you go
- Season and hours: open 21 May to 19 September in 2026, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday only, 11am to 5pm. Monday and Tuesday are by appointment; closed Sundays. The exact dates move a little each year.
- Booking a weekday or a group: call +353 87 272 8337 or the landline +353 57 873 2247, or email info@gashgardens.ie. Groups of ten or more can arrange a private tour. The official website has been intermittent lately, so phone or email is the surer bet.
- Admission: €5 per adult. RHSI members enter at half price with a current card.
- Facilities: free on-site parking (with coach and mini-bus space), public toilets, and picnicking is welcome. Refreshments can be arranged in advance for booked groups.
- A real caveat: this isn’t a garden for small children. There’s a working river and unfenced water features, and some paths near them are uneven. Older children are fine if supervised; toddlers are a genuine worry.
Getting there and nearby
Gash Gardens is about 15 km from Portlaoise – roughly a 20-minute drive – and signposted from the Castletown turn-off. The nearest train stations are Portlaoise and Ballybrophy, and Bus Éireann’s Expressway route 12 (Dublin–Limerick) stops at Castletown; you’d want a lift or a taxi for the last stretch.
For a full garden day in Laois, pair it with Heywood Gardens under the Slieve Bloom foothills, the woodland walks and folly at Oughaval, or the parkland and neoclassical house at Emo Court. The Laois Heritage Trail links more of the county’s ruins and estates if you want to build the day out.