Weekly on Saturdays at 12.30pm
New: The Grand Tour: Architecture, Art and the 18th-Century Vision of Russborough
In 2026, Russborough marks an important moment in its history with the return of nine paintings from the original Milltown Collection. Their arrival allows visitors to experience the most complete presentation of the collection at Russborough in over a century, with thirty-five Milltown objects now on view in the house.
To celebrate, a new guided tour explores the 18th-century vision behind Russborough’s architecture, art and landscape. Rather than viewing the house simply as a beautiful historic building, this tour reveals it as a carefully considered expression of Palladian design and Grand Tour taste.
The experience begins outdoors at the South Front, where visitors are introduced to the architectural ideas that shaped the house. Designed in the 1740s by Richard Castle for Joseph Leeson, later 1st Earl of Milltown, Russborough is one of Ireland’s finest Palladian houses. Inspired by the classical principles of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio, its symmetry, proportion and classical detailing reflected the education, ambition and cultural outlook of its patron.
The tour continues through the principal ground-floor rooms, exploring paintings that reflect the artistic world encountered on the Grand Tour. Landscapes inspired by Italy, biblical and historical scenes, mythological subjects and family portraits together reveal the intellectual and cultural ambitions of 18th-century collecting.
The return of the Milltown paintings restores a rare connection between architecture and collection. Few houses in Ireland retain such a clear link between the art on the walls and the building for which it was acquired.
This tour offers a deeper way to experience Russborough, revealing how architecture, art and identity were brought together to create a complete cultural statement in the 18th century.