Dunsany Castle and Demesne

The demesne holds a historic church, a walled garden, a stone farm complex, and an ice house, among other features, and is home to a wide range of fauna.

At nearby Dunsany Cross is a hamlet,[2] with a post office store, Catholic church and primary school, a GAA pitch with a clubhouse and bar and a mix of private housing with a small local authority development.

[3]: 76 Dunsany Castle began with four stone towers, with walls between and a yard inside, in the late 12th century, construction being thought to have begun in 1180 on the orders of Hugh de Lacy.

[7] Originally, it and Killeen lay on a single estate but the first generation of Plunketts gave Killeen to the eldest son, and Dunsany to the younger, Christopher, following which the estate was divided, and the Castle descended in the hands of the Barons of Dunsany, who enjoyed almost uninterrupted ownership and control, aside from issues around Oliver Cromwell's operations in Ireland (the then Lady Dunsany defended the castle against an initial approach but the family were later forced out in 1649, some dying on the way to Connaught), and the aftermath of some other troubles between Ireland and England.

Designed by George Jack from the office of William Morris, it was built in an "Arts & Crafts" style by 1914 and contains a spacious billiard room, two bedrooms, and other facilities.

Also present in the historic castle core, off a spinal corridor ("the passage"), are the ancient kitchen and a more modern one, a bedroom suite, and other rooms.

[10] The corridor in turn connects to buildings on the castle's internal yard, with living spaces and the gallery of the artist Edward Plunkett, the late 20th Lord Dunsany.

[3]: 74 The former main gateway, nearest to Dunshaughlin, leads to a long avenue, which abruptly reveals the castle to arrivals.

Built in its current form around 1830, it is in the neo-Gothic style, with a tower lodge, mock porticullis, and two sets of white gates, for a carriage entrance and a footpath.

The main entrance to the grounds today, opposite a medieval pilgrim cross near Dunsany crossroads, has the appearance of a Gothic ruin but is a sham.

It conceals a residential gatehouse lodge, and was originally built for arrivals smaller than carriages, such as horse-buggies and carts, and riding parties.

It is now a National Monument, with remnants of lofts and living quarters, and inside and around are tombs of family members and local residents, including the 20th Lord Dunsany.

The lands are home to a range of wildlife, including, as of 2000, owls, pheasants, sparrowhawks, kestrels, herons, moorhens and jays, as well as rabbits and hares, foxes and badgers, squirrels, deer and otters.

It is joined near the Glane Road by the small River Gansey or Ganzey, from Killeen and Corballis, which crosses through Dunsany lands.