Queen Vitoria's Lake
A view showing the lake in Carton as dusk begins to deepen on a beautiful autumn evening. You can see the main house on the hill overlooking the lake, the ornamental bridge crossing the river Ryewater as it flows into the lake, and the boathouse on the shore of the lake.
As hard as it may be to believe now, this lake was not part of the original design of the Carton grounds. Queen Victoria stayed in Carton a number of times when she visited Ireland (remember, this was the seat of the Dukes of Leinster, the highest peerage in Ireland, so important that their emblem represents Ireland in the Union Flag). Towards the end of her life the queen was due to visit again, and she wrote ahead to say she'd had a lovely dream about boating on the lovely lake in the grounds of Carton. There was just one teeny weeny problem with that - there was no lake! In preparation for her visit the river Ryewater was damed at Shell Cottage, causing the river to swell into a lake, and the elegant boathouse was built. It's not known if the queen ever made use of her lake, but we have her to thank for this majestic vista!
Queen Vitoria's Lake
A view showing the lake in Carton as dusk begins to deepen on a beautiful autumn evening. You can see the main house on the hill overlooking the lake, the ornamental bridge crossing the river Ryewater as it flows into the lake, and the boathouse on the shore of the lake.
As hard as it may be to believe now, this lake was not part of the original design of the Carton grounds. Queen Victoria stayed in Carton a number of times when she visited Ireland (remember, this was the seat of the Dukes of Leinster, the highest peerage in Ireland, so important that their emblem represents Ireland in the Union Flag). Towards the end of her life the queen was due to visit again, and she wrote ahead to say she'd had a lovely dream about boating on the lovely lake in the grounds of Carton. There was just one teeny weeny problem with that - there was no lake! In preparation for her visit the river Ryewater was damed at Shell Cottage, causing the river to swell into a lake, and the elegant boathouse was built. It's not known if the queen ever made use of her lake, but we have her to thank for this majestic vista!