Birr

Just a last few photos. I am sorry I don't have any worth sharing of the hornbeam cloisters - they are so wonderful, but at this time of year they are so leafy that you don't see the structure as well as you would earlier and later in the year.

72" reflecting telescope, originally constructed in 1841 - 1845, and restored in 1997.

Fagus Sylvatica "Aurea Pendula"  - always a striking splash of colour.

Poppies

The lake - again!

The  meadow land in front of the castle hasn't been ploughed for a couple of hundred years - it used to be grazed by sheep. It's full of all sorts of wildflowers. I didn't see it this time, but in the past they have mown a path through part of it in the shape of the spiral nebula  as observed by the 3rd Earl of Rosse who built the telescope.

The Castle - not a good photo, but I think I have to include one.