Malahide Castle

I was generally impressed with this lovely castle and grounds. It is accessible by city bus, which was a huge advantage for me at the time I visited as I did not have a car. Tickets are purchased at the Visitor Center. The € 12 admission fee allows access to the Exhibition, the Gardens and permitted a Castle tour.
The real highlight for me was the roughly 45-​minute guided tour through the castle itself. Our leader did a fabulous job of taking us through the structure, explaining the history of the occupants. The most fascinating aspect was simply the longevity as the Talbot family lived there almost 800 years from 1185 until 1975. The idea of a family occupying the same home for that long and the same structure surviving essentially intact for as long as it did were both astonishing. The castle structure itself also held some interesting architectural features.
In general, I was quite glad that I took the time to see this place. If you are at all interested in architecture, history or natural history, this place is worth putting on your itinerary. The lovely seaside village of Malahide is just a short walk from the castle and is a lovely place in which to spend time.

Malahide Castle is one of Ireland’s oldest castles, built on land given to Richard Talbot, a knight who accompanied King Henry II of England to Ireland in 1174. It’s ancient and fascinating and very haunted. Many historic castles and houses have one ghost, some have two or three, but Malahide Castle has FIVE! Spooky eh
I’ll give you a little history of what happened so you all know what you are getting yourselves into ;) The Talbot family has lived in the castle since 1185. The haunting begins with a generation of the Talbot family with two children, one boy and one girl, who lived in the castle during the 1800s. One morning they sat down for breakfast in the dining hall when suddenly they all fell out of their chairs, dead. It is said that the cook poisoned them but no one really knows. Apparently that generation of the Talbot family had some unfinished business because they come every evening to the dining hall and visit. It is said that they throw plates, cups, and silverware in hopes of getting their revenge.
We enjoyed the guided tour, although we thought they spent a bit too much time talking about the furnishings and not enough time talking about the ghosts and history of the place, but this was minor. Overall, the tour was very interesting.
After the tour we took a walk around the botanical gardens beside the castle. These gardens were constructed by the Talbot family who owned the castle for 800 years. The gardens are beautiful, very well-​manicured and above all peaceful. The weather was not the best so we had the entire gardens to ourselves. It was a nice change after being on a packed castle tour!
There’s Avoca located in the gorgeous grounds of Malahide Castle. The food in the Avoca café is excellent. They have an amazing array of food and nibbles, I wasn’t hungry but couldn’t help buying some delicious Avoca cakes ;).The high pricing seems to be there to catch the tourist, ok for a coffee, but if dining, make sure that you have a good expense account.
If you are a ghost, history and/​or garden buff, this is a place you will want to check out!

Wir haben uns für diesen Ausflug von Dublin aus entschieden. Gut zu erreichen mit der Sbahn. Der Eintritt wie alle Eintritte in Irland recht teuer — 12 EUR. Und man musste 3 Stunden warten, bis man dran war. Man darf nur mit einer Führung darein. Das Schloss gehörte 800 Jahre lang der gleichen Familie, daher ist es bekannt. Und dafür dass hier man Oliver Cromwell kurz lebte und bis heute noch sieben Geister, die man dort treffen kann. Wir haben keine gesehen. Das Schloss ist nett, aber man hat echt interessantere Schlösser gesehen. Dazu gibt es auch einen kleinen botanischen Garten, aber da gibt es auch interessantere. Man kann sich diesen Ausflug auch schenken.

We took a short trip here on a visit to Dublin. The castle was not as medieval as I would have thought. Apparently someone lived here until the early 1970’s so it was more modern. The history was interesting but the tour was not given by an Irish native, which I would have expected. We didn’t see much of the garden since it was the end of winter. We had lunch there but it was overpriced.

Got there early and my husband and I ended up getting a private tour. The bakery and shop attached are ADORABLE and I wish I’d had more time to spend there. Well worth a visit.

Beautiful shop and bakery outside of the castle visit! Worth your while. I truly likes the healthy and fresh options. You can take out of sit in and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. Te bakery looks incredible with great presentation and wonderful flavors. Worth trying. The décor is perfect for a lunch date within girlfriends over tea and scones or a simple getaway on your own. Also great for large parties and kids.

A short castle tour that was good but not great. The walled gardens offer lovely surprises around every corner and surpass the beauty of their castle. Ruins of the chapel are captivating. Just a brief Dart ride out to the Castle and an even shorter ride back if you catch the commuter train. Very good food and gift shop. Pricey gifts though.

Skip this! A fairly boring castle, a very boring tour, nice gardens but not exceptional, and a very dull village. There are far, far better things to do in the Dublin area – save your time.

One of my favourite place in Dublin! I often go for a run around the castle in the morning.

I thought Malahide Castle was a gorgeous place to go. We packed our dog in the car and took the little one to play at the castle. There is a lot of open green space and so we were able to let our dog off the leash and play a good game of fetch after our picnic. Dogs aren’t allowed inside the playground, but I was able to find a shady place to sit down on the ground just outside the playground gate. There are also lots of walking paths. The only negative thing I have to say is that the toilets were absolutely disgusting. The ladies room was gross. Someone had peed all over the floor and I basically had to walk through it to get to the toilet. There is no soap (not even an option) and so I could only wash my hands with water.

Very interesting and beautiful castle, 45min north from Dublin. This has a very beautiful exterior look. The glass above the door looks awesome. Had a nice tour through here. It was my first Irish Castle visit. I’d give them 5 stars, only if they didn’t prohibit internal photographs. That was extremely lame, even though the Italians didn’t seem to care. What copyright infringement were they really worried about? Lunch there was awesome too. I’d love to take my mother there some day.

Castle is closed for renovation, re-​opening September 12, 2012. Once opened the Secret Gardens will be open to the public for the first time. Avoca Café will also be opening on the castle grounds.

Pretty cool castle that’s worth seeing. They don’t let you take any photos inside, but it’s very interesting. Tour guides are sufficient, but a tad boring.
Café inside has some great hot chocolate.

Antique hunters, auctioneers, and historians would say this place is the bomb! uh, well maybe not but if you like historical buildings and antique furniture then you might. Also, the tour guides swear it’s haunted!
Malahide Castle is one of the most historic castles in Ireland. From 1185 until 1975, it was the home of the Talbot family. The Talbot family were actually remarkable as well, having lived here longer then most families in all of Ireland.
The grounds cover near 260 acres and are full of trails for a nice walk. They have a banquet hall and a café to grab a bite. Of course the tourist attraction wouldn’t be complete without a gift shop (it always feels wrong to see a gift in a castle, maybe it’s just me). General admission will cost you 7.50 euro but to be honest it was worth it, I found it to be very interesting.

Malahide Castle is beautiful and a great day-​trip if you want to get out of the city for a few hours. If you walk to the Castle from Malahide DART station, you can walk through a beautiful forest and it’s got a nice playground in it as well– it took me nearly an hour to convince my nephews that it was time to move on.
The castle itself is very cute and small and you can spend an hour or two wandering around here. However, I’m not sure if it was a good idea to put a cafeteria into the castle. On the one hand, they make a nice cup of coffee there and there is no other place to go to if you’re all tired from the walk over to the castle, but on the other hand I don’t think a modern cafeteria fits in with the Castle vibe.

I actually always associated Malahide Castle with concerts rather than anything historical — I remember Belle X1 doing a gig here some years ago and while I wasn’t at it I read that it was a brilliant venue.
In the meantime it’s actually a lovely place for a Sunday stroll too. It’s all scenic woodland and paths. The day I was here there was nothing opened but it was really nice taking a winter’s walk around the grounds. I plan go back there on a summer’s day. Malahide is a beautiful village in itself and very accessible because the usually efficient Dart runs there.

It’s cool and full of neat history but I thought the recorded tour guide was a bit tacky. Kids didn’t seem to enjoy it and several whined and cried throughout our tour. If you like history — and don’t mind a castle with about a million changes since it was first built — this a very good time for 7.5 euro each. Skip the restaurant though — 6 euro for a thin sandwich with one thin slice of meat is pretty steep — even in Dublin. Oh yes — no photos inside — even though some were taken, including one of the ones by a another Unilocaler here. Shame on you.

Very beautiful castle.
The land it is on is stunning. Many, many acres of green grass and beautiful trees leaves more then enough room for relaxing out in the field for a picnic or a field game.
The castle itself is old, but kept up very nicely. The tour doesnt seem to allow you access to the ENTIRE castle, but you get to see 85% of it, which is nice.
I only wish they hadnt ruined it by putting in a full shop and a cafeteria. It takes away from the feel of the castle. Leave it as it was so the true beauty could have been seen.

Malahide Castle has a few distinct features to recommend it as a day-​out away from the city centre. The castle itself is certainly a site of historic interest. The tour of the castle interior definitely possess enough antiquated grandeur and character-​driven history to keep me entertained.
If you’re with little kids (or even big adults) who aren’t too impressed by the décor or hearing about centuries of goings-​on at the Castle, the grounds are expansive and offer a relaxed walk about for everyone.
Transport wise, it’s a reasonably hassle free retreat as public buses and the train-​line both stop adjacent to the castle (and I’m reliably informed that it’s straight forward to get to by car too). I recently visited with some friends who considered the tour too expensive at (€ 7.50 for adults) but the grounds and the café are free to visit and the castle’s proximity to Malahide village makes it well worth it, regardless of how deep your pockets are.

An absolute visit if you are in Malahide! This castle is beautiful and the tour is in detail of the Talbot family that lived there. With original furniture, tapestries, wall… beautiful.

Malahide castle does indeed have an interesting history, and is full of interesting art, tapestries and furniture. However, it has been used as a residence up until quite recently so unfortunately has all the hallmarks of constant renovation (and let’s face it, the 1960’s weren’t the best period for interior design). Inside is a real mix and match but is quite diverting to wander through for an hour or so. The grounds are lovely though — a great place for a picnic on a nice day. There’s also a fantastic playground for kids on the walk in from Malahide station. The castle also has a café and toilets. Entry is reasonably priced and the staff are really friendly. Not a bad day out at all.