Proleek Dolmen

The Proleek Dolmen is one of Ireland's best known and largest. Interestingly, it is located on what is now a fashionable golf course and resort, but the signage is good, and determined megalith hunters can find it with little difficulty.

Little remains of the great house that once anchored this
demesne...

Nice grounds though

And rose garden

The signage was indeed good

But you still had to run a golf ball gauntlet

Finally, the allee couverte that accompanies the dolmen

Fellow megalith hunters

And, just a hundred yards away, the Proleek Dolmen

Right there near the 5th green

Thus

Non-country club environs

I have seen this sort of thing on golf courses in Brittany, but
always assumed they were just contemporary follies...

Castle Ward

Bernard Ward (later 1st Viscount of Bangor) and his wife Lady Anne had irreconcilable differences, and later parted over them. Before parting, however, they memorialized their differences in Castle Ward (built 1762-1770): he of the Palladian, classical bent, she, Gothick. And so you have here a great house in a beautiful Irish setting, the front half of which, inside and out, is classical, and the backside, inside and out, is Gothick. [I understand "Gothick" to be like neo-Gothic]. Anyhow, a schizophrenic house is something we could not pass up. Alas, the tour was so good, especially in its emphasis on social history, we almost forgot why we came to Castle Ward. And then there was the Game of Thrones thing. But I digress.

His

Hers

Ceiling of her boudoir

Tea service: you drank out of the saucer; if the tea were too hot, you would have a
servant blow on it

Drawing room (hers)

Interesting furniture

Ceiling decor; obviously I found her side of the house far more
interesting than his

His side bedroom

Piss pots; one of the many fascinating things we learned was that in Georgian
times it was considered the height of rudeness to leave the dining room before
everyone was finished; if Nature called, and you couldn't stand it any longer,
you excused yourself to the corner of the room and discreetly (!) used one of
these...

Georgian exercise equipment, helps with horse riding skills

Every visitor to Castle Ward was weighed coming and going;
several explanations of this: showed how well you were fed...
cut down on loss of silver, etc.

Your rang, sir? Episode #19,472

Housekeeper's rooms (Mrs. Hughes)

Nice if not overwhelming garden

Monkey Puzzle

Among the structures down the hill...

I lost interest in Game of Thrones when they killed off Boromir

Mount Stewart: The Gardens

The extent of Edith's gardens is depicted in the map below. They literally surround the house. A principal feature is the variety. Situated on Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland's east coast, Mount Stewart gets some of the most temperate weather to be found at this latitude, and Edith took full advantage of this, acquiring temperate and sub-tropical specimens from all over the world. At the height of activity, she had 36 gardeners working for her. When over-night guests came, they were presented with a shovel and wheel barrow the next morning after breakfast, with explicit instructions on what was to be done before lunch and after. Formal entertaining would resume at dinner.

One of the best gardens yet

Looking toward the Shamrock Garden

At several National Trust properties we've
visited, a gardener, volunteer, and sometimes
the head gardener, will lead a tour; "meet by
the flagpole at 2PM," and if it's the head
gardener, as here at Mount Stewart, you're in
for real treat; so, passing by, Vicki and I of
course fell in and enjoyed one of the most lively
and interesting talks on plants, landscaping, etc.,
we've ever heard; charming, captivating, etc.;
and, oh, so Irish; after 45 minutes in the
Shamrock Garden alone, one of the Trust
personnel tactfully informed us this was a
private tour, arranged by the National
organization; knowing what those cost, we
quietly fell away and did the rest of the gardens
ourselves; still the best garden talk I ever
expect to hear; maybe "next time"

The Hand, in the Shamrock Garden

Topiary all over, all from Edith's personal stories and myths;
she herself was Circe

Monterey Cypress

The Pond

Everything in bloom, well, except the rhodos and azaleas,
now long-gone, but from their expanse one could see they
would have been incredible a month before

Near the Tir Nan Og, the family burial ground

Fuschias, of course

And much else

View of the house from the Formal Gardens

Black Roses, just like in Menlo Park

Statuary all over, again, much of it from Edith's mythology

And an arch, of course

We found a lay-by right on Stangford Lough, just beyond
Mount Stewart, and spent a quiet evening watching the tides