Rossmore Forest Park

Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan


Crumbling remains of the Rossmore family's 19th-century castle, including its entrance stairway, buttresses and the family's pet cemetery, can still be seen at Rossmore Forest Park, where rhododendrons and azaleas blaze with colour in early summer. The park contains several giant redwoods, a yew avenue and Iron Age tombs, and is home to badgers, foxes, pygmy shrews, hedgehogs, otters and five of Ireland's seven bat species. There are forest walks and pretty picnic areas. It's 3.5km southwest of central Monaghan.

Birdlife in the park includes warblers, flycatchers and cuckoos.