Romantic Restaurants, Getaway Places in Portlaoise

"These lavish gardens with architectural features, lakes and woodland were landscaped by Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll and completed in 1912. The centrepiece is a sunken garden, where circular terraces lead down to an oval pool with a magnificent fountain.The gardens are 7km southeast of Abbeyleix, off the R432 to Ballinakill, in the grounds of Heywood Community School."

"The unusual, green-domed Emo Court is an impressive house, designed in 1790 by James Gandon, architect of Dublin's Custom House. The extensive grounds with their Greek statues contain more than 1000 different trees, including huge sequoias, and shrubs from all over the world. Enjoy refreshments at the cafe or a leisurely picnic, before enjoying a scenic stroll through the woodlands to Emo Lake.Emo is about 13km northeast of Portlaoise, just off the R422, 2km west of the M7."

"One of Ireland's most magnificent landscaped gardens, Altamont covers 16 hectares on the banks of the River Slaney, with carefully selected plantings arranged in naturalistic settings where peacocks, swans, squirrels and wild hare abound, surrounding an ornamental water-lily lake. The gardens are off the N80 at Kilbride Cross, 24km southeast of Carlow town."