Ireland Guide
The Midlands: Westmeath, Longford, Offaly and Laois
Belvedere House
Address:
Belvedere House (daily: March, April, Sept & Oct house 10.30am–5pm, gardens 10.30am–7pm; May– Aug house 10am–5pm, gardens 9.30am–9pm; Nov– Feb house and gardens 10.30am–4.30pm; last admission 1hr before closing; €8.75; Heritage Island 
044/934 9060 
www.belvedere-house.ie ) on the eastern shore of Lough Ennell, 5km south of Mullingar on the N52 was built in the 1740s by Richard Castle as a hunting lodge for Robert Rochfort. Commanding beautiful views of the lake, it has been painstakingly restored and authentically refurbished by Westmeath County Council. It holds some gorgeous fireplaces of carved Irish oak with Italian marble insets, but is most notable for the exquisite craftsmanship of its rococo ceilings, the work of a French stuccodore, Barthelemij Cramillion. Look out especially for the vivid depictions of the Four Winds, a fire-breathing dragon and a horn of plenty in the dining room, while the library, intended for night-time use, features sleeping cherubs wrapped in a blanket of clouds, a crescent moon and stars, and on the cornice a swirl of flowers with their heads closed.
As one of the county's chief amenities, the gardens boast all manner of attractions, even a tram that provides guided tours of the estate on certain days of the year (€2). A feud between Robert Rochfort and his other brother George was behind one of the main sights, the Jealous Wall. When George commissioned Richard Castle in the 1750s to build Tudenham House, a much larger mansion than Belvedere, just a kilometre away, the Earl of Belvedere spent £10,000 building this huge Gothic folly, three storeys high and nearly 60m long, just to block the view. Other sights include a Victorian walled garden, enclosing an unusual collection of Himalayan plants, a small animal sanctuary, playgrounds for kids, and a café in the old stable block by the entrance. Or you can just take a stroll around the extensive woodlands and lawns: the 45-minute Earl's Trail, for example, will take you along the lakeshore and back, past an octagonal gazebo, a folly known as the Gothic Arch and a restored ice-house.