Description of the attraction
About 6 km from the town of Killarney (County Kerry) in the heart of Killarney National Park on the picturesque green peninsula separating Lough Lane and Macross, is the famous Macross House - one of the most popular attractions in Ireland, with which, as a rule, guests emerald island and begin their acquaintance with the reserve.
The beautiful Victorian mansion that you will see on the estate was designed by the famous Scottish architect William Byrne for Heinrich Arthur Herbert and his wife, watercolorist Belfort Marie Herbert. Construction began in 1839 and was completed in 1843, and in the 1850s, in preparation for Queen Victoria's 1861 visit, a magnificent garden was laid out near the mansion, which today is considered one of the finest gardens in Ireland. The mansion has been perfectly preserved to this day and is open to visitors. You can see pompous Tudor-style ceremonial rooms on the first floor and much more modest rooms on the second floor, as well as peer into the kitchen and utility rooms on the basement floor.
In 1899, the estate was sold to Irish businessman, politician and philanthropist Arthur Guinness, and in 1911 Macross House was acquired by California tycoon William Bourne for his daughter Maud and her husband Arthur Vincent as a wedding gift. The family lived in the estate until Maud's death in 1929. In 1932, Arthur Vincent, with the consent of his late wife's parents, decided to donate Macross House to the Irish State as the Bourne Vincent Memorial Park, which became Ireland's first national park. Over time, its territory was extensively expanded, and the park was named Killarney National Park.
In addition to the old mansion and the garden, the specially built Macross Farm, which perfectly illustrates the life and life of Irish farmers in the 30-40s of the last century, certainly deserves special attention. No less interesting is the arboretum, opened in 1972, for which exotic plants were specially brought from the southern hemisphere.
