Tully, Kildare Town, Co. Kildare.
Phone: +353 45 521617 / 522963 Fax: +353 45 522964
Email: stud@irish-national-stud.ie
Opening hours: 12th Feb - 12th Nov : daily 9:30 - 18:00 (last admission 17:00)
How to get there: By car: take the M7/N7 south to Kildare, then follow the signs.
By train: from Heuston Station to Kildare.
By bus: from Busaras, Store St., Dublin 1 (phone +353 1 8366111) departs approx. every hour;
Kildare town, approx. 45 minutes drive from Dublin, has 2 major attractions, the Irish National Stud and the Japanese Gardens; and in 1999 Saint Fiachra's Garden was opened nearby.
The Irish National Stud, on the Tully farm, has been breeding thoroughbreds since 1900: with nearly 300 boxes on the land, it provides high class stallions to the Irish bloodstock industry. The ruins of Black Abbey (built 1212) are preserved nearby.
The Japanese Gardens were created in 1906; acclaimed as the finest Japanese gardens in Europe, they are home to some rare plants. An underground stone passage takes you into the new St. Fiachra's Commemorative Garden. St. Fiachra (born 590 AD) is the patron saint of gardeners and this garden is a very unusual tribute, featuring a stone hermitage surrounded by water, and an inner rock garden containing handcrafted Waterford Crystal pieces |
