Mount Congreve Experience: The Art of Dining

Life in the Big House

Step inside the social world of one of Ireland’s great country houses and discover dining as ritual, theatre, and power. The Art of Dining – Life in the Big House is a scripted, character-led experience at Mount Congreve Gardens, guided by a Senior Estate Steward who never quite left service!

Available on selected dates | Booking is essential

What to Expect:

This is a 60-minute guided experience, delivered in two parts. Inside the House (approx. 20 minutes) Begin in the Large Drawing Room, also known as the Chinese Room. Lined with rare, hand-painted Chinese wallpaper, this remarkable interior reflects 18th-century wealth, global trade, and taste. A carefully selected group of Irish silver dining and service pieces reveals how hospitality was staged through ceremony, control, and skilled labour. Mount Congreve was famously the last house in Ireland to employ liveried servants, giving particular depth to an experience shaped by hierarchy, discipline, and performance. In the Gardens (approx. 40 minutes) The experience then continues outdoors with a guided walk through selected garden areas. This section shows how the estate sustained the table—supplying produce, shaping after-dinner movement, and reinforcing the social rituals of the Big House. This is not a conventional house tour, but a focused, immersive experience that connects interior splendour with the working landscape beyond, bringing the elegance—and the hidden labour—of the Big House into sharp focus.

For more information and booking, please visit: https://mountcongreve.com/the-art-of-dining/