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heritage · Saturday 15 August 2026 · 2:00pm 
Tours of Stradbally Hall
At Stradbally Hall · Stradbally, Co. Laois
At Stradbally Hall · Stradbally, Co. Laois
Stradbally Hall has been in the same family’s hands since the Plantation of Laois in the 1550s, and it shows - in the best possible way. During National Heritage Week, the estate opens its doors for free guided tours led by family members who actually grew up knowing these rooms, these portraits, and the stories behind them. If you have any interest in Irish country houses, Georgian architecture, or the kind of Anglo-Irish history that shaped this part of the midlands, this is a rare chance to get inside a privately owned mansion that is not ordinarily open to the public.
The house you see today took its present shape largely from an 1866-69 commission given to Sir Charles Lanyon, the prolific Belfast-based architect also responsible for Queen’s University Belfast and much of Victorian Ulster. He gave Stradbally Hall its commanding Doric portico entrance and a sweeping garden loggia with shallow barrel-vaults and coffered detailing. The original 1772 Georgian structure survives at its core, but Lanyon’s Italianate hand is what defines the exterior.
Inside, the standout space is the picture gallery - sixty feet long, running the full centre of the house, with a coffered barrel-vaulted ceiling of glass panels set in a steel frame and pink marble Corinthian pillars at the western end. The reception rooms along the garden front showcase late-Georgian plasterwork: an Adamesque dining-room ceiling with swags and laurel-ribbon moulding, a saloon in pale blue and salmon red stucco, and a drawing room with delicate acanthus fronds on the frieze. Family portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds are among the artworks on display.
The guides are family members, so questions about specific rooms, particular portraits, or the family’s history - from Francis Cosby’s role in the Tudor conquest to Admiral Phillips Cosby’s service in the American Revolution - tend to get real answers rather than scripted ones. Tours run hourly from 2pm, with the last departure at 5pm.
Stradbally is a small market town on the R427, roughly 10km east of Portlaoise. Coming from Dublin, the M7 motorway takes you to Portlaoise in about 75 minutes, then it is a short drive east on the R445 and R427. There is no regular bus service directly to Stradbally, so a car is the practical option for most visitors. Parking is generally available at the estate entrance.
The estate grounds also include the Stradbally Woodland Railway, a narrow-gauge steam railway run by the Irish Steam Preservation Society - worth a look if you are visiting with children or have any interest in industrial heritage. The town itself is a quiet, pleasant stop with a few local shops and cafes. There is more to see in Stradbally and across Co. Laois.
Heading to Stradbally Hall in Stradbally? Laois has plenty more to see. Read the Stradbally area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.