Lismore (Ireland) Voyage Tips and guide

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Lismore is a village in County Waterford in Ireland. It's on the banks of the River Blackwater in the northwest corner of the county, near the boundaries with Cork and Tipperary. It's a small place, with a population in 2022 of 1350, yet has a graceful castle, gardens and cathedral. Several mansions and gardens open to the public are dotted around the countryside between Lismore and the even smaller village of Cappoquin. There are also active monasteries and convents, though none can be visited.

Lismore in Irish is Lios Mór, "great ringfort": this prehistoric settlement was on the hillside to the north but nothing remains of it. In the 7th century St Carthage (or Mochuda) founded a monastery. In 1171 Henry II of England stayed in the monastery and his son King John built a small castle on the site, which became the seat of the local bishop. The area was part of the huge territory held by the Earls of Desmond, but after the revolt of the 15th Earl, Queen Elizabeth I awarded it to Sir Walter Raleigh. He sold it (hurriedly, anticipating confiscation and execution) to Richard Boyle, First Earl of Cork. Boyle was an Elizabethan adventurer par excellence, who by marriage and property speculation amassed a substantial estate spanning east Cork and west Waterford. Lismore Castle was his principal seat and his son Robert Boyle, the physicist and chemist, was born here in 1627.

In 1753 the daughter of the 3rd Earl married the 4th Duke of Devonshire. The 19th-century 6th Duke had the castle rebuilt in Gothic style, creating the version you see today. During this work, two remarkable medieval objects were found hidden in an old wall: the vellum Book of Lismore (now at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire) and a bishop's crozier (now in the National Museum in Dublin). The castle remains a private residence of the Dukes of Devonshire, though their main home is Chatsworth.

Lismore Heritage Centre in the middle of the village has visitor information. It's open M-Sa 9AM-5:30PM, Su noon-5PM.

52°9′0″N 7°54′0″W

Map of Lismore (Ireland)

By road from Dublin follow M8 towards Cork and branch off at Fermoy onto N72 east. Scenic alternatives over the hills from Cahir are described below.

Lismore has no direct bus from the cities. Local Link Bus 363 / 364 runs M-Sa hourly from Dungarvan to Cappoquin, Lismore (30 min) and Tallow, with alternate buses continuing to Castlelyons and Fermoy. Dungarvan has hourly buses between Cork and Waterford.

The bus stop in Lismore is by Rosie O'Dowd's West End Bar.

The bus will get you between Lismore and Cappoquin. You need your own wheels to reach the mansions and gardens dotted around the countryside.

No local taxi, it would have to come from Dungarvan.

• 52.1381-7.93321 Lismore Castle Gardens, Castle Ave P51 F859, ☏ +353 58 54061. Apr-Oct daily 10:30AM-5PM. The castle itself is not open to the public, though you can hire it for a suitable fortune. It's a mock-Gothic 19th-century concoction, home to the Dukes of Devonshire. Previous buildings here were a 7th-century abbey, a Norman fort guarding the river crossing, the property of Sir Walter Raleigh, the aristocratic birth place of chemist Robert Boyle, and a charred ruin after an anti-Cromwell army came a-calling. You visit for the gardens: the lower gardens were laid out along with the present castle, though the yew avenue is much older. There are bosky walkways, lawns and flowers. The walled upper garden is 17th century, with a mix of decorative borders, fruit, vegetables and potherbs. Dogs are permitted but must be kept on a lead. Admission also includes the Castle Arts Centre. Adult €10.50, child €6.50, conc €8.50. (updated Jul 2025)
• Castle Arts Centre main gallery is an outbuilding of the castle, included on the gardens ticket. There's a small permanent collection but mostly it's rotating exhibitions of modern art. Their second gallery is St Carthage Hall, by the church in village centre. This is open F-Su noon-5PM and free.
• St Carthage's Cathedral in village centre is Church of Ireland. Completed in 1679, it contains elaborate tombs, and Pre-Raphaelite stained glass windows by Edward Burne-Jones. The cathedral is named for the 7th-century Saint Mo Chutu mac Fínaill or Carthach the Younger. Ejected from Rahan in County Offaly (perhaps in the dispute about calculation of the date of Easter), he travelled south and founded a monastery here.
• St Carthage's Church just south is Roman Catholic, an attractive Italianate building.
• 52.1535-7.972 Ballysaggartmore Towers. 24 hrs. These are a Victorian folly, a pair of grandiose Gothic entrance lodges linked by a bridge over a dell. They graced the driveway to Ballysaggartmore House, which was plain by comparison; probably the owner intended to replace it with an even grander mansion but the money ran out. The house was burned down during the Irish Civil War and the site was later cleared. Follow R666 to the parking bay and picnic tables then walk along the loop trail through the forest to the towers. Free. (updated Jul 2025)

• 52.1495-7.85043 Cappoquin House Gardens (Belmont House), Cappoquin P51 D324, ☏ +353 87 670 4180. mid-Aug to Sep M-Sa 9AM-5PM. The mansion was built in 1779, burned down in 1923 in the Civil War, but rebuilt. There are extensive landscaped gardens. The Estate also offers self-catering accommodation. House €10, garden €6, both €15. (updated Jul 2025)
• 52.146-7.8274 Glenshelane is a scenic woodland 1 km east of Cappoquin.
• 52.1076-7.86525 Dromona House and Gardens, Villierstown P51 X682, ☏ +353 86 818 6305. Jul-Aug daily 1-5PM. Mansion built in the 1780s, though what's left nowadays is just one wing of a vast pile. Its most remarkable feature is the 19th-century Hindu-Gothic gate, which you pass through on the lane from Cappoquin. House €10, garden €6, both €15. (updated Jul 2025)
• 52.1204-7.86416 Tourin House, Cappoquin P51 YY1K, ☏ +353 58 54405. Apr-Sep Tu-Sa 1-5PM. Mansion and extensive garden constructed in 1840, home of the Jameson whiskey family. House €6, garden €6. (updated Jul 2025)
• 52.187-7.8577 Mount Melleray Abbey, Cappoquin. Closed. This Cistercian Trappist monastery was founded by monks fleeing France in 1830. Construction took a century, with the last phase using limestone recycled from Mitchelstown Castle, which had been burned down by the IRA. The monastery closed in 2025 and the monks transferred to Roscrea. The future of the building is not yet known. (updated Jul 2025)
• 52.103-8.0128 Lisfinny Castle is a crumbling medieval tower house overlooking the road through Tallow. That's close enough: it was owned in the 16th century by Sir Walter Raleigh but was already derelict by the 17th. A Georgian mansion next to it has taken the same name and is a private residence.

• Lismore Golf Club is north of the river on the lane towards the Towers. White tees 5871 yards, par 69.
• Knockmealdown Mountains are the range north of Lismore dividing County Waterford from County Tipperary. Knockmealdown, the highest, is 794 m. It's usually climbed from the Vee Gap, via Sugarloaf Hill at 663 m. None of the climbs are difficult, just wet and muddy.
• The Vee Drive can be done as a scenic drive or cycle tour of 65 km from Lismore, or form a route to Cahir or Clonmel. For the best views make a clockwise circuit from Lismore, leaving northwards on the Clogheen road R668. The road climbs the wooded valley to the county boundary and the Vee Gap, with a great panorama of County Tipperary beyond. (Pity the horses: this was the old stagecoach route.) There are laybys for views, forest walks, and mountain trails. The road descends into Clogheen: for Cahir stay on R668, but the circuit turns east on R665 towards Clonmel; follow it to Ardfinnan. From there take either the direct lane southeast to Newcastle, or detour south to the attractive village of Goatenbridge then head east. From just west of Newcastle, take the lane south back over the hills into County Waterford, passing Mount Melleray monastery. Descend into Cappoquin and take the main road back to Lismore.
• Angling: River Blackwater has salmon fishing 1 Feb - 30 Sep. There's also trout and various coarse freshwater fish. Ask at the Heritage Centre or your accommodation about permits and tackle.

• Apply pressure while keeping temperature constant. Robert Boyle (1627-1691), born in Lismore Castle, made a huge contribution to the natural sciences, though he was just one of several behind what we now call Boyle's Law. Double the pressure on a fixed mass of gas, and you compress it into half its original volume; it re-expands as the pressure is released. Triple the pressure, you get a third of the volume, simple. That's at constant temperature, but under high pressure the gas becomes hot, what's going on? Boyle thought of matter as little particles covered in coiled springs; it took another 200 years for Boltzmann to understand both pressure and temperature as the kinetic energy of the gas molecules. And however much pressure Boyle's tutor applied, he couldn't get his head around Irish, though he quickly grasped French and Latin. Ireland he found to be "a barbarous country where chemical spirits were so misunderstood and chemical instruments so unprocurable that it was hard to have any Hermetic thoughts in it." He left to conduct his best work in Oxford then London.

• Farmers and Craft Market is on the avenue leading to the castle. It's held Apr-Oct on Sunday 10AM-4PM.
• Centra store on Main St is open daily 7AM-10PM.

• Foleys on the Mall is a restaurant and bar on East Main St, open W-Su 12:30-11:30PM.
• Farmgate opposite Centra on Main St is open Th 5-8PM, F Sa noon-8PM, Su noon-5PM.
• Thairish Castle Lodge is open Th-M 9AM-11PM.
• Richmond House Hotel in Cappoquin serves non-residents W-Su 6-9PM.
• Barron's Bakery in Cappoquin is one of the few that still produces the "Waterford blaa" by the traditional method. It's a floury bread bun unique to this region, see County Waterford#Eat.

• Classroom Bar is open daily noon-11:30PM.
• Redhouse Inn is open daily 10:30AM-11:30PM.
• Rosie's West End Bar is open 9AM-11:30PM.
• Cappoquin has Cliffe's Bar, Tavern, Sportsman's Bar and Toby Jug.
• Blackwater Distillery is 5 km west of Lismore on R666, producing gin, vodka and whiskey. Tours available.

• 52.146-7.92921 Ballyrafter House, Lismore P51 Y369, ☏ +353 58 54002. Welcoming country house B&B open Apr-Oct, with extensive grounds and squawking peacocks. B&B double €160. (updated Jul 2025)
• 52.1412-7.84832 Richmond House, Cappoquin P51 FW72, ☏ +353 58 54278. Sumptuous restful small hotel a short walk from Cappoquin village. B&B double €180. (updated Jul 2025)
• Cappoquin Estate (above) has self-catering farm stays and cabins.
• Blackwater Eco Pods in Villierstown are available year round.
• 52.0559-8.18693 Ballyvolane House, Castlelyons P61 FP70 (38 km northeast of Cork), ☏ +353 25 36349. This gorgeous country hotel is across the boundary into County Cork, but worth travelling for. It's in a Georgian mansion, excellent dining. Fancy a gin? They distill their own "Bertha's Revenge". B&B double €290. (updated Jul 2025)

As of July 2025, Lismore and its approach roads have 4G from Eir and Vodafone, and 5G from Three.

• Waterford is an old port with a rich Viking, medieval and Georgian heritage.
• Cahir has an island castle and the playful Swiss Cottage.
• Cashel is a remarkable religious complex teetering on a crag.