While Johnstown Castle may be one of Wexford’s most striking heritage destinations, adorned with gothic towers and turrets, for much of its modern history, it was anything but a visitor attraction.
Once a private home, Johnstown Castle was handed over to the State in 1945, and became a site for agricultural research for Teagasc. Old period bedrooms were re-purposed as laboratories for soil research and soil was sent in by farmers from all four corners of the country to be analysed by scientists. This changed the landscape of agricultural research in Ireland, providing a service for farmers to improve their land.
Johnstown Castle reopened to the public in 2019 under the care of the Irish Heritage Trust, after over one year of restoration works. The castle had undergone some major upgrades, including re-roofing, window repair, and lifts were also installed to make the castle fully accessible.
Dogs are allowed to walk around the 120 acres of gardens and three lakes on the estate.
Visitor experience
Making Johnstown Castle fit for purpose in the modern day has been a key part of creating seamless and immersive visitor experiences, while still preserving the castle’s original historic interiors and honouring its decades-long contribution to agricultural research.
A tour of the castle submerges visitors in the long and fluctuating history of Johnstown Estate, taking you through the grand staircase hall, old library and dining room as well as one of the old laboratories.
“It’s a real contrast when you go around on the tour because you’re going through beautiful period rooms and then suddenly you find yourself in a 1950s lab environment,” says Matt Wheeler, general manager of Johnstown Castle.
“We kitted out one of the labs using the historic collection which the Irish Agricultural Museum has compiled over the years. We also have photographs to give people an idea of how things would have been back then with soil research.”
Matt and his team of volunteers also used some of the collection from the Irish Agricultural Museum to recreate the feel of the old basement kitchen, which would have been the servants’ quarters.
“When we first came into the castle, the basement kitchen was really empty because it was just being used for storing soil samples from the days of Teagasc. We copied a Victorian kitchen blueprint and put in old period kitchen utensils from the collection in the Irish Agricultural Museum and we created a little butlers’ pantry and a scullery, where servants would have done the washing up,” he says.
The Peacock Café uses producers in the Wexford area.
Guided castle tour
Back in those days, servants were not allowed to be seen in the ground floor area of the castle and they would have entered and exited the property via an underground tunnel “or subterranean passageway as we like to call it, it sounds a bit more glamorous,” says Matt, laughing.
“That was their handy way in and out of the castle and it dates back to probably the 1840s. We think the passageway is one of the longest of its type in the country. It runs about 90m and there are various cellars lying off it as well, where they would have stored coal and wine and things like that.”
The tunnel is also the end point of the guided castle tour. “You enter the castle through the grand entrance and basically leave as a servant heading out through the tunnel,” says Matt.
While it is certainly one of Johnstown Estate’s major attractions, it is not always the history or grandeur of the castle that gets people through the door. The Peacock Café and Gift Shop at Johnstown Estate, proud champions of local producers in the Wexford area, is becoming a standalone visitor experience that is drawing more and more people in.
“We’re all about bringing people to the Wexford area and we’re very keen to promote the area and county in terms of the suppliers that we use,” explains Jess Sinnott, customer experience manager. “We’re up to around 13 local producers in the café and gift shop.”
“A lot of people would think of Wexford for its beaches, but one of the things that I love most about Wexford is the food. There are fantastic food producers, like Wexford Home Preserves, Wexford Sea Salt, Killiane Castle Honey, Wexford strawberries and local chocolate from Bridgetown.”
As the home of South Wexford Beekeepers Association, Johnstown Estate also produce and sell their own honey which sells out in a matter of weeks, according to Matt.
“We sometimes do a spring honey, which we harvest at the beginning of June. We have a lot of trees here which produce nectar in the spring. At the moment the sycamore and horse chestnut are in flower and those trees produce huge amounts of nectar. Hopefully this year, if the weather stays good, we’ll have a spring honey in June.
“Then we’ll do a summer honey, which we harvest in August and that’ll be mainly from things like clover, blackberry briars and the lime trees that we have near the walled garden. The lime trees give the honey a bit of a minty flavour.”
Historians, nature lovers, farmers and families aside, there’s another group of visitors who enjoy visiting the estate just as much: dogs.
Johnstown Estate is proudly dog-friendly and dogs are allowed to walk around the 120ac of gardens and three lakes, and have a lie down in the Peacock café and the seating area.
“We’ve always been dog-friendly here,” says Matt. “If you take a tour around the castle and you go into the period rooms, you’ll see various paintings going back in time. In nearly every painting, the family are all pictured with their dogs.
“The last private owner of the castle, Lady Maurice Fitzgerald, was very big into her dogs. She used to breed spaniels here and a few other hunting dogs as well. I’m sure in days gone by, the dogs would be running around the castle causing havoc.
Some of the collection from the Irish Agricultural Museum has been used to recreate the feel of the old basement kitchen, which would have been the servants' quarters.
“In the Wexford area, we obviously have beaches where dogs can go for a run or walk but there’s not many other public places available. I certainly know of families that bring their dogs because it’s so different. All the sights and the smells and the wildlife and the peacocks, there’s lots for dogs to take in.”
The team host dog-friendly events throughout the year for owners and their pets to enjoy. Last Christmas, Johnstown Castle hosted a Santa Paws experience, where dogs could meet Santa, and on Saturday, 24 May, Johnstown Castle is hosting its annual car show Castle ‘n’ Cars Exhibition in collaboration with Park ‘n’ Chill from Waterford.
Both car and canine enthusiasts are invited to peruse over 400 cars on display, sample from the different food vendors, and go along to the dog show on the same day. This charity dog show will be held in the walled garden and all proceeds will go to the Wexford Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. All restricted breeds must comply with the Control of Dogs Act 1998.
“We’ve called it ‘Park n Bark’ and people will be able to enter their dogs,” says Jess. “There are prizes to be won for the best dogs, it’s like a mini Crufts.”
Between the castle, museum and gardens, at Johnstown Castle there really is something for everyone.
See johnstowncastle.ie
While Johnstown Castle may be one of Wexford’s most striking heritage destinations, adorned with gothic towers and turrets, for much of its modern history, it was anything but a visitor attraction.
Once a private home, Johnstown Castle was handed over to the State in 1945, and became a site for agricultural research for Teagasc. Old period bedrooms were re-purposed as laboratories for soil research and soil was sent in by farmers from all four corners of the country to be analysed by scientists. This changed the landscape of agricultural research in Ireland, providing a service for farmers to improve their land.
Johnstown Castle reopened to the public in 2019 under the care of the Irish Heritage Trust, after over one year of restoration works. The castle had undergone some major upgrades, including re-roofing, window repair, and lifts were also installed to make the castle fully accessible.
Dogs are allowed to walk around the 120 acres of gardens and three lakes on the estate.
Visitor experience
Making Johnstown Castle fit for purpose in the modern day has been a key part of creating seamless and immersive visitor experiences, while still preserving the castle’s original historic interiors and honouring its decades-long contribution to agricultural research.
A tour of the castle submerges visitors in the long and fluctuating history of Johnstown Estate, taking you through the grand staircase hall, old library and dining room as well as one of the old laboratories.
“It’s a real contrast when you go around on the tour because you’re going through beautiful period rooms and then suddenly you find yourself in a 1950s lab environment,” says Matt Wheeler, general manager of Johnstown Castle.
“We kitted out one of the labs using the historic collection which the Irish Agricultural Museum has compiled over the years. We also have photographs to give people an idea of how things would have been back then with soil research.”
Matt and his team of volunteers also used some of the collection from the Irish Agricultural Museum to recreate the feel of the old basement kitchen, which would have been the servants’ quarters.
“When we first came into the castle, the basement kitchen was really empty because it was just being used for storing soil samples from the days of Teagasc. We copied a Victorian kitchen blueprint and put in old period kitchen utensils from the collection in the Irish Agricultural Museum and we created a little butlers’ pantry and a scullery, where servants would have done the washing up,” he says.
The Peacock Café uses producers in the Wexford area.
Guided castle tour
Back in those days, servants were not allowed to be seen in the ground floor area of the castle and they would have entered and exited the property via an underground tunnel “or subterranean passageway as we like to call it, it sounds a bit more glamorous,” says Matt, laughing.
“That was their handy way in and out of the castle and it dates back to probably the 1840s. We think the passageway is one of the longest of its type in the country. It runs about 90m and there are various cellars lying off it as well, where they would have stored coal and wine and things like that.”
The tunnel is also the end point of the guided castle tour. “You enter the castle through the grand entrance and basically leave as a servant heading out through the tunnel,” says Matt.
While it is certainly one of Johnstown Estate’s major attractions, it is not always the history or grandeur of the castle that gets people through the door. The Peacock Café and Gift Shop at Johnstown Estate, proud champions of local producers in the Wexford area, is becoming a standalone visitor experience that is drawing more and more people in.
“We’re all about bringing people to the Wexford area and we’re very keen to promote the area and county in terms of the suppliers that we use,” explains Jess Sinnott, customer experience manager. “We’re up to around 13 local producers in the café and gift shop.”
“A lot of people would think of Wexford for its beaches, but one of the things that I love most about Wexford is the food. There are fantastic food producers, like Wexford Home Preserves, Wexford Sea Salt, Killiane Castle Honey, Wexford strawberries and local chocolate from Bridgetown.”
As the home of South Wexford Beekeepers Association, Johnstown Estate also produce and sell their own honey which sells out in a matter of weeks, according to Matt.
“We sometimes do a spring honey, which we harvest at the beginning of June. We have a lot of trees here which produce nectar in the spring. At the moment the sycamore and horse chestnut are in flower and those trees produce huge amounts of nectar. Hopefully this year, if the weather stays good, we’ll have a spring honey in June.
“Then we’ll do a summer honey, which we harvest in August and that’ll be mainly from things like clover, blackberry briars and the lime trees that we have near the walled garden. The lime trees give the honey a bit of a minty flavour.”
Historians, nature lovers, farmers and families aside, there’s another group of visitors who enjoy visiting the estate just as much: dogs.
Johnstown Estate is proudly dog-friendly and dogs are allowed to walk around the 120ac of gardens and three lakes, and have a lie down in the Peacock café and the seating area.
“We’ve always been dog-friendly here,” says Matt. “If you take a tour around the castle and you go into the period rooms, you’ll see various paintings going back in time. In nearly every painting, the family are all pictured with their dogs.
“The last private owner of the castle, Lady Maurice Fitzgerald, was very big into her dogs. She used to breed spaniels here and a few other hunting dogs as well. I’m sure in days gone by, the dogs would be running around the castle causing havoc.
Some of the collection from the Irish Agricultural Museum has been used to recreate the feel of the old basement kitchen, which would have been the servants' quarters.
“In the Wexford area, we obviously have beaches where dogs can go for a run or walk but there’s not many other public places available. I certainly know of families that bring their dogs because it’s so different. All the sights and the smells and the wildlife and the peacocks, there’s lots for dogs to take in.”
The team host dog-friendly events throughout the year for owners and their pets to enjoy. Last Christmas, Johnstown Castle hosted a Santa Paws experience, where dogs could meet Santa, and on Saturday, 24 May, Johnstown Castle is hosting its annual car show Castle ‘n’ Cars Exhibition in collaboration with Park ‘n’ Chill from Waterford.
Both car and canine enthusiasts are invited to peruse over 400 cars on display, sample from the different food vendors, and go along to the dog show on the same day. This charity dog show will be held in the walled garden and all proceeds will go to the Wexford Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. All restricted breeds must comply with the Control of Dogs Act 1998.
“We’ve called it ‘Park n Bark’ and people will be able to enter their dogs,” says Jess. “There are prizes to be won for the best dogs, it’s like a mini Crufts.”
Between the castle, museum and gardens, at Johnstown Castle there really is something for everyone.
See johnstowncastle.ie
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