Beaulieu House Drogheda

Beaulieu House or Bewley as it is pronounced is a magnificent small stately home on the banks of the river Boyne just outside Drogheda, County Louth. For anyone interested in Irish history or indeed the local history of Drogheda, this is a very valuable resource. Local historian Noel, who conducts the guided tours of the house, during the summer is an expert and is as entertaining as he is knowledgeable. Beaulieu House is quite unique in Ireland, not only was it the first unfortified mansion to be built in the 17th century, but since then it has been held in continuous possession by the Titchborne family, having been passed down through the female side of the family.

Beautiful houses like this need to pay their way these days so Cara Konig, the current owner who inherited the property from her Mother, has made three of the sumptuous bedrooms at Beaulieu available for bed and breakfast, which would make a wonderful treat if you are touring Ireland independently as many of my clients, that I create tailor-made itineraries for, are. Despite being chock full of antique furniture, priceless artifacts and paintings the atmosphere in this house is very relaxed. There is nothing ‘precious’ about Beaulieu House which is after all a family home albeit a rather grand one!
You can sit on a French fauteuil and gaze up at the incredible "trompe l'oeil" ceiling painted by Van de Hagen, in the drawing room or bury your nose deep in one of the many fragrant flower arrangements, fresh from the gardens which are another delight, that is if you can tear yourself away from the house. The geese will follow you through the arched doorway into the walled garden, which was a riot of springtime colour when I last visited. Deliciously old fashioned, a cocktail of wallflowers and forget-me-nots contained in beds of neatly clipped box hedges, summer houses and well placed seats where you can watch somebody else do all the work....

For more information re visiting or staying at Beaulieu House please click here

10 Hidden Gems in the area...

1 Termonfeckin & Baltray two pretty small villages close by, interesting houses, famous seaside golf links and the 19th Hole Pub.

2 Mellifont Abbey a 12th century Cistercian abbey with octagonal lavabo, retrace the footsteps of 800 years as you cross the threshold stone.

3 Drogheda town former Viking settlement, check out St Laurence’s gate one of four original fortified tolled entrances to the town.

4 See the mummified head of St Oliver Plunkett which is on display in St Peters Church, on the main street in Drogheda.

5 Millmount Military Museum round building up on the hill to the south overlooking the town.

6 Battle of the Boyne visit the actual site and museum at Oldbridge House on the way out to Slane, very nice place for a walk on the banks of the river.

7 Francis Ledwidge’s cottage road out of Drogheda towards Slane, famous Irish poet who was killed in action in Ypres 1917.

8 Slane village check out the four large houses opposite each other at the crossroads originally belonged to four sisters or peep over the green gates to see Slane Castle, site of the legendary open air rock concerts run by Lord Henry Mountcharles.

9 Newgrange visit this 5000 year old burial mound, which predates the Pyramids of Egypt, that is famously aligned to the winter soltice on December 21st.

10 Tara another ancient seat of the High Kings of Ireland, on a scale bigger then Stonehenge, where St Patrick is alleged to have converted the first Irish people to Christianity.

Tour Scotland in 2024 with Susan Byron