The Woodland Walk

The very name of Adare Manor is intimately connected with the magic of trees. The Irish translation of Adare is Áth Dara, which means, the ford of the Oak Tree. Follow our woodland walk to a place forgotten by time, where trees dream their long dreams and leaves whisper their secrets. Here you will find poets’ huts handmade from wattle and reflective pools graced with ceramic art installations.

The woodland walk is punctuated with short poems, and fairies wait to guide you along the path: the Hawthorn Fairy, the Oak Fairy, and some of their playful friends. They have hidden beautiful ceramic toadstools high in the trees for you to find. Mysterious footprints of forest animals, encased in clay, invite children and adults alike to pause and wonder. Five hundred bluebell chimes hang from the branches of the ancient beech trees. If you’re lucky enough to visit in springtime, you’ll see them reflected in the carpet of blue at your feet as the true bluebells emerge from their winter sleep.

Greet the life-sized willow stag, a magnificent beast who will let you take a photo by his side, and look for his four little friends: three graceful willow hares and a willow squirrel chasing the biggest acorn he’s ever seen up along a tree. Weave through the live green willow tunnels, playing hide and seek with your shadow. Make the forest your own from the peak of the pirate fortress.

How can you make your way to this magical place? Here’s the secret: a graceful willow lady, a peaceful giantess twelve feet tall, beckons from the walled garden to the willow towers at the hidden entrance to the wood.