Emo Court Walks

1.9 miles (3 km)

This walk visits a wonderful neo-classical mansion near the village of�Emo�in�County Laois.
The historic Emo Estate is a great place for a walk with miles of trails to follow around the woodland, parkland, gardens and a lake.
Scenic highlights include an orchard in the walled garden and an avenue, statues lined by�giant sequoias. There's also glades of�azaleas,�rhododendrons,�camellias�and an an�arboretum. From the landscaped park there are fine views to the surrounding�Slieve Bloom Mountains.
The park is also great for wildlife with rare birds including buzzards and egrets to look out for on your walk.
To continue your walking in the area head south to visit another local historical highlight at the Rock Of Dunamase. Here you can explore the atmospheric ruins of a fascinating ancient Celtic fortification. Near here you can also pick up the epic Slieve Bloom Way and explore the mountains further.

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Further Information and Other Local Ideas

The architect James Gandon designed the house in 1790 for John Dawson, the first Earl of Portarlington.
This residence is among the few credited to Gandon, whose other notable works include Dublin's Custom House and Kings Inns. Construction began in the 1790s but was not completed until the time of the third Earl of Portarlington in the 1860s, following the death of the first Earl in 1798. Having changed hands several times in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the house and gardens eventually came under the ownership of the Irish state in the 1990s. The entrance to Emo Court is via a gateway, leading down a driveway through a beech wood, which then opens up to an avenue flanked by giant sequoias. These trees, introduced in 1853, were named Wellingtonias in honour of Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington, who passed away the previous year. There is a visitor car park adjacent to the house, with coach houses and servants' quarters to the left, mature trees to the right, and the entrance front centred by a pediment upheld by four Ionic pillars, showcasing the Earl's coat of arms and eighteenth-century friezes.
Inside, the house features an octagonal entrance hall with doors set into each of its four angles, two leading to other rooms and two for aesthetic symmetry. A larger doorway opens to the rotunda, inspired by the Pantheon and a key element of the mansion, providing access to major rooms and the garden. Completed around 1860 by Dublin architect William Caldbeck, the rotunda is two-storey high, topped with a dome rising above the house's roofline, and supported by Siena marble pilasters.
The gardens at Emo, covering 35 hectares, comprise formal areas, woodland walks, statues, and a 20-acre lake, typical of neoclassical landscape design. Several original statues were recovered from the lake, believed to have been submerged during the Jesuits' residence to obscure the pagan nudity of the figures.

To continue your walking head north to the Derryounce Lakes and Walkways at Portarlington. The wildlife rich site includes raised walkways, bog, peaceful woodland and pretty lakes.