Discovering Fernhill House And Gardens was like finding a hidden local gem that I honestly had no idea about. I hadn’t see it feature on any “Things to do in Dublin” searches on Google, but stumbled across it one day driving past.
Fernhill is situated a 30 minute drive south of Dublin’s city center on the foot of the Dublin Mountains. At the moment, the mountains are completely jammed with cars and people trying to get some fresh air so I haven’t been able to hike over the last few weeks since the beginning of the second lockdown, so discovering Fernhill was great timing for me to get out and enjoy the outdoors.
Currently there isn’t a car park at Fernhill, which I guess is the reason it’s not as busy as the popular mountain routes, like Ticknock Forest. Fernhill are busy constructing a car park facility, ready for use in June 2020 (their website isn’t showing this latest information but I spotted the information available at the garden).
About the estate and garden
Fernhill, situated in Stepaside, was a family estate dating back to around 1823, consisting of 34 hectares of land. Fernhill, being situated on the foot of the Dublin mountains provides beautiful views overlooking Dublin Bay and the surrounding city.
The Estate is home to one of Ireland’s rarest native cattle, grazing the fields of Fernhill. The cattle themselves are endangered in Ireland, and are being conserved and protected on the estate. You can take a look at them while walking through the estate. There is an important note at the garden not to feed the cattle, because it would make them sick.
The paths are all easy to walk, just muddy in some places so it would be a good idea wearing shoes you don’t mind getting muddy. There are a few trails you can take through the garden, giving you easily about an hour worth of exploration through the estate.
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