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The Demense Walk and Interesting Points Move Pointer over map to see notes  'The Russborough Demesne - An Illustrated Guide' booklet, which identifies and explains each of the numbers on the map above,
1. Start Point. Arched Gateway to Kitchen Court The walking route starts at the arched entrance to the former. kitchen court which was cleverly concealed behind the curved wing and pavilion of the main house. This was a device introduced by Andrea Palladio to ensure the functional elements of a busy country house did not detract from the symmetrical facade of a classically inspired design.
Also Car Parking and Entrance to shop and House
2. Obelisk gates. A pair of granite obelisk gates stand opposite the entrance to the kitchen court-yard, to the east and the farmyard, to the west. The eastern gates mark the start of the walking route to the walled garden and southern parkland.
3. Gateway and main avenue. Before following the path down to the walled garden it is worthwhile taking time to enjoy the view down the main avenue towards the entrance gateway. The main approach to the house was from the east, through a heavily rusticated and pedimented archway with flanking pedimented doorways advanced with rampart lions. The southern frontage of the house was revealed slowly to the visitor, maximising the dramatic effect and creating a strong sense of arrival. The road which presently passes to the south of the estate and which provides splendid views of the south facade was not constructed until 1829. The avenue is flanked by a splendid double avenue of limes some of which have fallen during storms. A gate lodge once stood to the south of the gates. 4. Walled kitchen garden. The walled kitchen garden first appeared in a smaller form than its current layout as part of the eighteenth-century land?scape. It was extended to form a larger rectangular shape by 1839 with struc?tures visible along the northern wall and internal space divided into eight square plots for planting. By 1909 the features within the garden changed with the southern half planted as an orchard. A rose garden, divided by beech hedges was created later, but this was converted to sheep pasture in the last century. A fine iron framed greenhouse with curved glass panels, no longer extant, was built on the south facing side within the walled garden. The outer southern wall of the walled garden is screened by a row of flowering cherries, planted by Sir Alfred and Lady Beit in 1964 to celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. The aboretum out?side the walled garden contains a variety of conifers and small broad leaved trees. 5. Island walk and bog garden. An Island with a moat, at the south-east corner of the walled garden first ap?peared on a map, in the possession of the Earl of Meath, in about 1800. A foot bridge providing access to the island first appeared in about 1909. The island retains a number of splendid specimen trees including douglas fir, silver fir, west?ern hemlock, cypresses and a collection of azaleas. This area is currently inacces?sible and awaiting conservation. The bog garden located to the south of the island is encircled by tall Scots pine, two of which stand alone seeming to form entrance portals. To the right is a pool surrounded by a variety of reeds, sedge and other shallow-water plants but domi-nated from Spring to Autumn by a luxuri-ant growth of gunnera. A magnificent bed of azaleas backed by rhododendrons lies to the left of this garden.
6. South East Parkland and views. The pathway through the south east parkland follows the line of a natural ridge. Beech trees predominate with scattered oak, sycamore and lime. There are remnants of a pocket of woodland to the south-east angle between the bog garden and demesne wall which has been there since at least the beginning of the nineteenth-century. The south elevation of the house was intended to be viewed from the parkland as the road immediately south was not constructed until 1829.
7. Lakes. The lakes to the south of the house occupy a natural hollow formed by the uneven deposit of the glacial till and appeared on Rocque's map as a single entity. It was not until the 1839 ordnance survey that the lake was separated by a causeway to form two distinct parts.
8. South West Parkland. The south west parkland contains some of the best preserved wooded avenues of the eighteenth-century landscape design. A large pocket of woodland survives in the south west corner.
9. Lime kiln. A lime kiln, currently inaccessible, is located within the west parkland. The kiln, long disused, first appeared on an eighteenth-century map. It is constructed of roughly squared granite and limestone.
10. Ice House. The ice house was a common feature of eighteenth-century landscapes. It was packed with snow and ice during winter and remained frozen for the greater part of the year, providing ice year round. This created a primitive deep freeze in which perishable foodstuffs could be stored and fresh water frozen, to create ice to cool drinks and chill desserts. It is an interesting brick arched structure half buried in the ground. The ice house is currently inaccessible and awaiting conservation.
11. Obelisk gates. A pair of granite obelisk gates stand op-posite the entrance to the kitchen court-yard, to the east and the farmyard, to the west. The eastern gates mark the start of the walking route to the walled garden and southern parkland.
12. The Royal Wellingtonia. The great Wellingtonia tree, beside the west farmyard entrance, is interesting for several reasons. The nearby wall plaque records its planting by the Prince of Wales in 1861. Wellingtonia is native to California, where it can live as long as 3,500 years. The species first came to England in 1853, two years after the death of the Duke of Wellington, which accounts for its English name. The specimen at Russborough was among the first to be planted in Ireland.
13. Views south. The view from the front of the house extends far beyond the immediate designed landscape - far into the Wicklow Mountains - a view which has changed little since the mid eighteenth-century.
14. Hippodrome. A pathway to the north of the main avenue provides access to the north pleasure garden and to the hippodrome which first appears in 1839 as a ring of trees to the north east of the house. It is not until the map of 1886 that the current circular structure appears. It is thought to have been built to exercise horses.
15. Maze. A large maze is located to the north-east of the house. It was planted by Sir Alfred and Lady Beit in the later half of the twen?tieth-century. At the centre of this stands an impressive statuette of an angel on top of a Doric column.
16. Upper pond. The rectangular pond with its curved front on a terrace to the north of the house, was not only an ornamental feature with in the landscape but was also used as a reservoir to provide water for the house and farmyard. A small island exists in the middle of this lake and it is possible that it was designed as the site of a garden ornament such as an urn or a small obelisk. The north terraces and upper pond are currently not accessible to the public. Plans are however, in place to restore the pond, re-plant the avenues and open up this northern circuit for public access.
17. Rhododendron Garden. The north corner of the demesne is occupied by a collection of rhododendrons planted by Sir Alfred Beit. Among the planting are some fine nineteenth-century specimen trees including two Irish yew, a common yew and mature oaks, Douglas fir and Monterey pine.
18 Lord Milltowns Tomb: Under this stone in sight of his loved Irish mountain home rests EDWARD NUGENT, 6th EARL OF MILLTOWN, K.P., P.C., D.L., J.P. of Wicklow, Kildare, Middlesex, and London. Lord Lieutenant of Wicklow, born with the highest talents he devoted them to the service of his God, his country and his Queen. An able debater his voice was heard on many subjeots and listened to with the greatest interest and attention in the House of Lords where he was a constant attendant but was never raised in such eloquence as when the subject was Ireland's prosperity. By nature noble generous-hearted kind and courteous the true type of a high bred honourable Irish gentleman. He was loved by many, respected by all, hated by none. He spent a great part of his fortune in beautifying Russborough which became the most lovely spot in the world, Milltown's Paradise, where he passed away in his sleep cut orf in the afternoon of life on the 30th May, 1890, aged 54 and woke in a far brighten world, that is a heavenly.
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