Mayo’s stately home provides lots of family fun

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Westport House is proud to offer one of Ireland’s many stately homes, but one transformed into a successful family tourist destination by the 11th Marquess of Sligo.  

One of Ireland’s most beautiful estates, it has been owned by the same family since the 16th century.  Among its amenities are:

•  Pirate adventure park with water rides,
•  A miniature railway,
•  An activity centre with orienteering, archery, laser clay-pigeon shooting, a 270m zip wire, stand-up paddle-boarding and kayaking.
•  Ireland’s first ever zorbing route – in which you are sealed inside a vast inflatable ball and rolled downhill.

The variety of activities is the reason this ancestral demesne is regularly voted one of the best family attractions in Ireland with over 100,000 visitors a year. The caravan and camping park set amidst ancient trees and with views over Clew Bay is also popular with families, who get a chance to really explore all the activities on the 480 acres of meadows, forest and lake.

There’s a teashop in the old restored kitchens, as well as a bar and restaurant, with music at weekends.

The 18^th century mansion is built on the ruins of a castle belonging to the pirate queen, Grace O'Malley - a distant relation of the late Marquess of Sligo.