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seasonal · Saturday 5 September 2026 · 11:00am 
Harvest Festival Foraging Walk at Mount Congreve
At Mount Congreve Gardens · Mount Congreve, Kilmeaden, Co. Waterford, X91 PX05
At Mount Congreve Gardens · Mount Congreve, Kilmeaden, Co. Waterford, X91 PX05
Mount Congreve Gardens marks the turn of the season with a Harvest Festival foraging walk on Saturday, 5 September 2026 at 11:00am. The hour-long guided walk takes small groups across the estate’s 18th-century gardens and older woodland to look at what the land is producing as summer turns to autumn.
An expert guide leads the group through the gardens and woodland pointing out edible plant species that can be safely foraged, alongside sustainable foraging practice, and folds in some of the less obvious science of how plants communicate and adapt through the growing season. It is a hands-on, outdoor session rather than a lecture, pitched at a general adult audience with an interest in nature, food or the gardens themselves rather than at foragers with prior expertise. Numbers are capped at 40 participants, and the walk is rated a moderate level of exertion across the estate’s paths and grounds.
Mount Congreve is best known for its 70 acres of gardens and woodland, built up around an 18th-century house and planted over decades with one of Ireland’s largest private collections of trees, shrubs and rare plants. Early September puts the foraging walk right at the seasonal hinge, with the last of the summer planting still in flower alongside the first signs of the woodland’s autumn colour, so the same paths used on the walk are also worth returning to later in the season.
Mount Congreve is at Kilmeaden, on the N25 between Waterford city and Kilmacthomas, about a 15-minute drive from the city centre. Signposted parking is available on site, with a blue badge area and drop-off point at Mount Congreve House for visitors with mobility needs.
A harvest-season walk is a good excuse to spend longer at Mount Congreve’s 70 acres of gardens either side of the tour. There is more to see and do in Kilmeaden and across Co. Waterford.
Heading to Mount Congreve Gardens in Kilmeaden? Waterford has plenty more to see. Read the Kilmeaden area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.