fbpx

The Slazengers at Powerscourt

Ralph and Gwen SlazengerIn 1961, Ralph and Gwen Slazenger purchased Powerscourt from the 9th Viscount of Powerscourt, Richard Wingfield.
The Slazengers at PowerscourtThe Estate had previously been in the Wingfield family for 350 years .

Ralph Slazenger was from the famous Slazenger family His father and Uncle started the company that produced tennis racquets and balls (Slazenger tennis balls are still used at Wimbledon today) although that company was bought over and the Slazenger’s are not involved with it today.

Powerscourt HouseAn engineer and inventor, Ralph’s primary reason for purchasing the estate was not for the Grand House and Gardens, but his interest in renewable energey and is desire to harness hydroelectricity from the Waterfall. As it turned out the waterfall was not suitable for this, but it showed Ralph’s passion for renewable energy ahead of his time.

Meanwhile his wife Gwen’s was drawn to the estate as she had a passion for farming and the countryside,

Ralph and Gwen lived happily on the estate for over 10 years with plans to open it to visitors.

Tragic TaleA Tragic Tale
In 1974 a major refurbishment of the house was completed in preparation for it joining the gardens as a visitor attraction. Tragically, in the early hours of November 4th a fire broke out on the top floor of Powerscourt House and by the morning the main part of the house was a roofless shell. No one was injured, but all of the principal reception rooms and bedrooms were destroyed. The walls of the main house, revealing stonework dating back to the 16th century, stood as a stark reminder of the fire for over twenty years. After the fire, Powerscourt House was restored and re-opened in 1996, although not ​to its original glory.

Give Powerscourt as a gift

Give the gift of the wonder of Nature. Powerscourt Gift Cards can be used in the Gardens, Garden Pavilion or Golf Club.

CTA Section Logo
Coming To Powerscourt?
WHAT OUR VISITORS SAY

This place is amazing. Soo beautiful. We’ve been many times and each time we love it. We chose to come in May but maybe next time we’ll head over in June hopefully to see all the flowers blooming. The walks are soo relaxing and the view is just amazing. This time we stayed for lunch and cannot praise enough their food. Such fresh and tasty soup and sandwiches and yummy desserts. Cannot wait for our next visit as even if it’s far away from where we live and takes almost 3 hours to drive, it’s just soo beautiful ?

We visited Powerscourt gardens for the first time in late October. The walled gardens still had a colourful display of flowers and shrubs, the trees were in wonderful autumn shades and the Japanese gardens were delightful with the Acers looking very attractive. Powerscourt is certainly worth travelling to see if you are in the area.

I’ve been here many years ago and the grounds are just as beautiful as I remembered. The new addition of shops, Avoca cafe, nursery and distillery just adds even more things to do. This is a great place to stop and spend sometime.

This garden was incredible. We went on a very rainy day and it was difficult to really enjoy the beauty that was there. We quickly walked thru the formal gardens, Japanese garden and tower house. The collection of trees were magnificent but it was raining too hard to read all the labels Would definitely go back if we get a chance.

The walled gardens are the most amazing flowers I have ever seen. I could have looked at them for hours. The rest of the grounds are very beautiful and peaceful when there aren’t large tour groups. The lunch at Avoca is very good, fresh and reasonably priced. You can even have some retail therapy at the stores. Again, the most amazing flowers!!!

CTA Section Logo
Coming To Powerscourt?
WHAT OUR VISITORS SAY

This place is amazing. Soo beautiful. We’ve been many times and each time we love it. We chose to come in May but maybe next time we’ll head over in June hopefully to see all the flowers blooming. The walks are soo relaxing and the view is just amazing. This time we stayed for lunch and cannot praise enough their food. Such fresh and tasty soup and sandwiches and yummy desserts. Cannot wait for our next visit as even if it’s far away from where we live and takes almost 3 hours to drive, it’s just soo beautiful ?

We visited Powerscourt gardens for the first time in late October. The walled gardens still had a colourful display of flowers and shrubs, the trees were in wonderful autumn shades and the Japanese gardens were delightful with the Acers looking very attractive. Powerscourt is certainly worth travelling to see if you are in the area.

I’ve been here many years ago and the grounds are just as beautiful as I remembered. The new addition of shops, Avoca cafe, nursery and distillery just adds even more things to do. This is a great place to stop and spend sometime.

This garden was incredible. We went on a very rainy day and it was difficult to really enjoy the beauty that was there. We quickly walked thru the formal gardens, Japanese garden and tower house. The collection of trees were magnificent but it was raining too hard to read all the labels Would definitely go back if we get a chance.

The walled gardens are the most amazing flowers I have ever seen. I could have looked at them for hours. The rest of the grounds are very beautiful and peaceful when there aren’t large tour groups. The lunch at Avoca is very good, fresh and reasonably priced. You can even have some retail therapy at the stores. Again, the most amazing flowers!!!