A Historic House – What It Takes To Re-Open for Season

5 Things That Go Into Re-Opening Historic Westport House to the Public – Mark Your Calendar for March 1st

We have been trying to hibernate for January and February. We really have. But to be honest with you, we have actually been super busy.  Our small team has been beavering away getting ready to re-open the stunning historic house for our 2016 season.  And with only 5 more sleeps to go, we thought you might enjoy what is involved in re-opening the house to the public for the season ahead.

1. Making Sure that Westport House Remains Ireland’s Most Beautiful Historic House – We are blessed with this beautiful house and environment. In fairness, even on a cold Winter’s day, she’s a stunner.  All the same, we’ve been touching up the paintwork, varnishing floors and givin g her a deep clean in advance of re-opening on Tuesday, March 1st for daily visits.  Sean, our gardener, is back and is focused on the gardens around the house and making sure they’re looking fabulous.  Thank goodness for the glorious sunshine of late!  It makes life easier for Joey & the maintenance team as they mend fences, replace and update signs as well are prepare all of the rides in the Pirate Adventure Park for an early Easter mid-term open.  And yes, this does include hand-washing our gorgeous swan pedal boats – looking good, Paul!
2. Cleaning Up After the Storms– Mother Nature was a tough cookie this past couple of months but I guess, in comparison to others, we got off pretty light.  Nonetheless, we are working to protect the old bridge to Westport House by removing many of the plants that were putting pressure on the structure during that strong stormy river flow.   We have had the unfortunate happenstance of a wall falling down.  We hate it when that happens.  We hope you’ll bear with us as we bring in the necessary expertise to re-build the wall of the rose garden on the south side of Westport House.
3. Finishing off the Greenway Connector – if you have visited recently, you may be aware of the gorgeous new greenway that now meanders through the grounds. Built in partnership with Mayo County Council, it connects the Great Western Greenway on one end to the Coast Road and Westport Quay at the other.  Local walkers and cyclists are already loving this safe, off-road path through the estate. We encourage all of our visitors to embrace the Westport Smarter Travel philosophy and ditch the cars and visit us by foot or on your bike.  As you can see, the finishing touches are being put on all the greenway so that it will be ready for our re-open on March 1st.
4. The Westport Sight-Seeing Train Tour Has Been Chugging  Along All Winter– Bless but it hasn’t had a rest at all – we have kept the Westport Train busy with groups who are renting the train for their own private event, for hen parties or for the lovely combo-package of the train tour of Westport town and a guided tour of Westport House.  The train will continue to be available for group rental but it will start running its own weekend schedule from March 5th and 6th onwards. Check out the train stops and train schedule here.
5. We Have a New Look And a New Website – We have just launched a new mobile-enabled website with our new branding and would love to hear your thoughts. We hope that it gives you a really good visual feel for the experience in the historic house, family fun of the Pirate Adventure Park, caravan and camping, events and adventure experience that we offer. And that it helps make it easy for you to plan your family’s day trip or camping holiday with us.  Please let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Our team is a massively important part of the Westport House experience.  If you’re interested in joining us, we are currently interviewing so please send your CV with a cover letter to [email protected].

We are looking forward to re-opening for the season and to welcoming you back.  Check out our website to plan your trip.

There’s always something happening at Westport House. Check out our Adventure Park, take on the Interactive Gaming Zone or enjoy a pizza at Gracy’s.