Belvedere House and Gardens
Belvedere, Co. Westmeath
A small rural villa by Richard Castle for the Earl of Belvedere on the shores of Lough Ennell.
Image courtesy of Kevin MulliganBelvedere, Co. Westmeath
Image courtesy of Kevin Mulligan
Image courtesy of Kevin Mulligan
Belvedere, Co. Westmeath
A small rural villa by Richard Castle for the Earl of Belvedere on the shores of Lough Ennell.
Image courtesy of Kevin MulliganBelvedere House and Gardens are located on the shores of Lough Ennell. It was opened to the public in 2000 after it was restored by Westmeath County Council, Bord Fáilte and the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund).
The Belvedere Estate is 160 acres in size and is now a major tourist attraction in Westmeath. Why is that so?
Robert Rochfort
Belvedere House is an 18th century stately home which was owned by the Earl of Belvedere, Robert Rochfort. It was designed by Richard Castle, a German architect.
Rochfort, or the "Wicked Earl" as he was known was famous for locking his second wife up in Gaulstown for 18 years. It was a huge scandal at the time and his younger brother George, who was very upset with his brother's behaviour, decided to build a bigger mansion close to where Belvedere House was.
Jealous Wall
The Jealous Wall At Belvedere House was built by Robert Rochfort to obscure his view of his brother George's mansion at Rochfort House.
Jealous Wall
Jealous Wall
The Jealous Wall At Belvedere House was built by Robert Rochfort to obscure his view of his brother George's mansion at Rochfort House.
The "Wicked Earl" was so angry with this that he had a massive wall built to block the view of his brother's more impressive house. This is known as The Jealous Wall.
Belvedere Gardens
The gardens at Belvedere are dominated by the Walled Garden, which was designed by Ninian Nevin in 1857. It houses some of the finest specimens of rare and unusual plants found in Ireland.
The gardens are also home to the Belvedere Apiary (where bees are kept) and to the Belvedere Falconry Centre. This centre organises flying displays by falcons, hawks and eagles, as well as housing a wide variety of owls.