Castletown House near Celbridge, about 25 kilometres north-east of Kildare, is the largest Palladian mansion in Ireland. Built in the 1720s to designs inspired by Italian architect Alessandro Galilei, it was the model for grand house-building across the island for the rest of the century. The Office of Public Works restored it in the 1990s after it had fallen into serious decay, and it now stands in fine condition, open for guided tours. The grounds run down to the River Liffey.
Castletown House
A story
Castletown was built for William Conolly, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and reputedly the richest man in Ireland. When Conolly died in 1729 with the interior unfinished, his widow remained in the shell for decades. A later owner, Tom Conolly, finally completed it in the 1760s — the extraordinary Long Gallery, painted Pompeian blue and lined with Venetian chandeliers, was his wife's doing.