Massy's Wood

I've been going for alot of walks recently, since we have a dog now, and we've been trying to go different places to make is a bit more interesting. So for the past couple of weeks we've been going up to Massy's Wood in Kilakee up the Dublin Mountains. It's only about 10 minutes from where I'm living in Tallaght and is about 15 mins from the M50 Firhouse exit. this place is SERIOUSLY cool. Seriously. It's across the road from the Hellfire Club and is a woodland walk with different trails and a river. The site used to be a mansion that was sold off and demolished in the 1940s but it had been there since the 19th century. I found this picture of it on the South Dublin Libraires website:

All that's left is the outline of the house and garden which is now someone else's house and garden. The house also had a walled garden which is still there and is absolutely huge, it may even have been bigger than the house actually. Obviously it's not used and it's basically just the walls and is all overgorwn but it's so amazing to see. You go on this walk through the wood and we followed the river and came upon the garden hidden away behind trees and bushes. And then you can walk through the whole thing and you can still see the out line of the irrigation system and the green house and the whole thing sits on sort of a hill top looking down the river and the river has all these little stone bridges over it. It's such a shame that the house got demolished, it was in such a gorgeous location and the gardens must have been amazing but at the same time the forest has gorwn around the ruins and created this really beautiful, enchanting space; everytime I go I feel like I'm going into The Secret Garden. There's also an icehouse where people kept their meat and perishables in the old days. The forest has been planted with loads of different speices of trees including a Sequoia which is only a baby but will one day be gigantic. There is also the ruins of a neolithic tomb which to be honest you'd thing was just a pile of rocks but it's still pretty amazing to think that people have been living in the dublin mountains that long. Anyway, here's a few photos:

This is just a ruin of either a small house of a mill because it's right next to the river and there's a big stone thing beside the river that could have had a wheel, but that's just a guess and not a terribly educated one at that!

The ice house

The outside of the garden, at the back looking over the river

This was just lying in the middle of the garden, looks like part of a statue, perhaps of some beautiful woman who died tragically and now haunts the place. Or not. I suggested to boyfriend that we make the little Blair Witch stick figure and hang it up somewhere to freak people out but he rightly pointed out the only person I'd freak out is myself.

 

The tomb.

Not sure what this was but it looked like it was something once.