On Saturday the 6th of May, members and guests of the Limerick Chapter of the Irish Georgian Society visited Abbey Leix House and Demesne.

Site of some of the last surviving vestiges of Ireland's primeval forests and home to the oldest oak tree on the island, Abbey Leix was settled by Cistercian monks in the late twelfth century. It was subsequently acquired by the Vesey, later de Vesci, family, who commissioned the young James Wyatt to design the mansion at its centre and who cared for Abbey Leix for almost three centuries. More recently it has become home to Sir David Davies, President of the Irish Georgian Society and President of Wexford Festival Opera, who embarked on a comprehensive restoration project.

We had a wonderful morning and lunch at the house, and thank Sir David Davies for the great welcome we received. Please enjoy some photographs of the day below. All proceeds raised from this tour will go to the Small Works Scheme to repair historic street features in Georgian Limerick. You can read more about that Scheme here.

You can purchase the brand new book on Abbey Leix from the IGS shop.

The next outing organised by the Limerick Chapter will take place on the 11th of June, to historic Doneraile in Co. Cork. We will visit St Mary’s Church, the spire of which gave its name to the term ‘steeplechasing’ in the eighteenth century. After this we will take in Creagh House, a townhouse built in 1837, with important literary and historical connections. The day will finish with a guided tour of Doneraile Park, which features a house dating to the seventeenth century on 400 acres of gardens, park, and ancient woodland. You can book your place on this tour here. 

Words/images: Rose Anne White, Limerick Chapter