Howth Castle

The Rhododendeon Garden is the most magical and surprising woodland I’ve ever visited. Think Secret Garden mixed with Sherwood Forest and a sprinkling of Lilliput.
It’s truly special when all the trees are blooming (from May onwards). The trees are unexpectedly tall and because they grow along uneven paths, you’re completely nestled in a blaze of colour.
The skyline is a crescendo of magenta, violet and cream. The fiery hues shelter your journey along pathways and caves littered with silken petals. There are small copses where you can relax, and you never know whats around the corner.
We were lucky enough to go on a warm day, and even then there were so few people around, it was bliss. You honestly feel like you’re in a solitary, magical kingdom. View the photos to see what I mean.

Built in 1564, Howth Castle is now the oldest inhabited house in Ireland. Unfortunately the building itself is closed to the public, but the rhododendron gardens in the grounds are open to the public in the summer. A barn on the grounds houses the National Transport Museum, which contains old tractors, model railways, and a horse-​drawn fire engine.
Howth Castle was namechecked in James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake, and legend has it that pirate Grace O’Malley abducted the grandson of the Baron of Howth when she was refused entry to the castle to visit the Baron in 1576.