Parading peacocks guard the splendid 19th-century Johnstown Castle, the former home of the once-mighty Fitzgerald and Esmonde families (the estate was gifted to the nation in 1945). The empty castle (not open to public) is surrounded by 20 hectares of beautiful wooded gardens complete with ornamental lake, a sunken Italian garden, statues and waterfalls. The castle is 7km southwest of Wexford town.
The outbuildings of the castle house the Irish Agricultural Museum , a fascinating collection of early Ferguson tractors, farm machinery, Irish country furniture and re-created farmhouse kitchens. The exhibition on the Great Famine is one of the best explanations of this national tragedy anywhere in Ireland.
