D Irl 26784 e; Two swans at Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford

Johnstown Castle is a Gothic Revival castle located on the Johnstown Castle Estate, a 150 acres (61 ha) estate, located 5.5 km (3.4 mi) southwest of Wexford town.

The first castle built on the estate was a tower house built in the late 12th century by the Esmonde family, Normans who came to southeast Ireland from Lincolnshire in the 1170s after the Norman invasion of Ireland (1169). They also built a tower house, which still stands, at Rathlannan immediately to the south.

Oliver Cromwell spent a night on the estate in 1649, prior to the October 1649 Sack of Wexford. His Roundhead army used the land around Johnstown Castle to prepare. The Esmondes, Catholics, were expelled during the Cromwellian years.

Johnstown Castle was bought by the Grogan family in 1692. Cornelius Grogan was hanged for his part in the 1798 Rebellion; he had been commissary-general for the United Irishmen.

In 1810 the estate was restored to his brother John Knox Grogan, who, with his son, Hamilton Knox Grogan-Morgan, created Johnstown Castle as it stands today, on the "bones" of the Norman tower house. By 1863, the demesne was divided in two, with a deer park in the north and the castle, pleasure grounds, farm and two artificial lakes to the south.

The Grogans later married into the ancient FitzGerald family. Lady Maurice FitzGerald (née Lady Adelaide Jane Frances Forbes, 1860–1942), wife of Lord Maurice FitzGerald (son of Charles FitzGerald, 4th Duke of Leinster), was the last owner to live in the house.

On 1 May 1944, the contents of the castle were sold off at a public auction and the castle and Estate were formally handed over to the State by the family in lieu of death duties. (Source; Wikipedia)

There are a number of lovely walks and water features around the estate, as well as some exotic bird species. I was drawn to the beauty and elegance of the two swans on the river bank, and the deep and varied reflections.