Strokestown Park House, Gardens And Famine Museum

Strokestown Park House was the seat of the Pakenham-Mahon family from 1600 to 1979, and the vast estate, which stretches for miles in every direction, was granted to Nicholas Mahon by King Charles II after the Restoration in appreciation of his support of the House of Stewart during the bloody English Civil War. It was quite a reward. The original house, completed in 1697, was considered to be too small and unimposing by Nicholas's grandson, Thomas. So he hired Richard Cassels (also known as Richard Castle) to build him something bigger and more impressive. The result is this 45-room Palladian house. The north wing houses Ireland's last existing galleried kitchen (where the lady of the house could observe the culinary activity without being part of it). The south wing is an elaborate vaulted stable so magnificent that it has been described as an "equine cathedral." To see the other end of the economic scale, head out into the old stable yards to the excellent Irish Famine Museum. Anyone who wants to understand the effects and causes of the deadly potato blight of the 1840s will want to visit this exhibition. It chronicles the twists of fate, catastrophic mistakes, and callous disregard that caused widespread starvation and mass deaths. The cruel irresponsibility of the landowners and the British government of Ireland in ignoring the spreading death and disease is exposed in jaw-dropping detail. This has been called one of the most important museums in Ireland, and that is not overstating it.

Strokestown Park House, Gardens And Famine Museum is located in Strokestown. To communicate or ask something with the place, the Phone number is +353 71 963 3013. You can get more information from their website: http://www.strokestownpark.ie/. The coordinates that you can use in navigation applications to get to find "Strokestown Park House, Gardens And Famine Museum" quickly are 53.776966094971,-8.1021060943604