From the Cappoquin road there are stunning glimpses of the riverside Lismore Castle , which is closed to day-trippers but available for groups to hire. You can visit the 3 hectares of gardens , thought to be the oldest in Ireland, divided into the walled Jacobean upper garden and less formal lower garden. There are brilliant herbaceous borders, magnolias and camellias, and a splendid yew walk where Edmund Spenser is said to have written The Faerie Queen . There are contemporary sculptures dotting the gardens.
