Louth Urban Food Sanctuary’s team is excited to host an event at the enchanting walled gardens of Townley Hall, Drogheda. The event will combine history, horticulture, and climate science. We will begin with a talk from Dr. Rory Sheehan of Louth County Council, who will present a compelling overview of Louth's changing climate.

This brief yet informative presentation will examine how County Louth's weather has evolved and what the future holds, drawing on the latest climate change predictions for Louth and their implications for our growing seasons and rainfall patterns.

We will then be treated to a guided tour of the walled gardens led by Hilda Crampton, who will share the fascinating history of these gardens and their significance to the local community. If you would like to book a space, please email: creativeireland@louthcoco.ie
There will also be guided tours of the magnificent Townley Hall House. Designed by Francis Johnston for Blaney Balfour in 1794, Townley Hall is considered one of his finest works. The home was passed down through the Balfour family over the centuries and finally was purchased by Trinity College, Dublin in 1956. The house is set on a prominent site in parklands which, in 1827, were called by Gardener’s Magazine, “one of the most magnificent demesnes in the kingdom.”

Townley Hall is a two-storey, square building of seven bays. The west elevation has a kitchen which features deep-set windows and Grecian Doric columns. The exterior of the house was completed in a restrained manner with the roof concealed behind a parapet and few decorative effects but for a string course and cornice and a Doric single storey portico to the front. However, the interior is simply but masterfully executed, the main attraction being the central, coffered rotunda and spiral, cantilever staircase. Around the upper level of the rotunda are apses, niches, and arched recesses.

Address
Townley Hall, Main House and Walled Gardens, Co. Louth