Áras an Uachtaráin

Did the tour this morning. .it was short but really enjoyable. I love how relaxed it was. Very informative tour. We even got to play with the presidents dogs. A perfect relaxing Saturday morning. I would advise getting there early as we got the last few tickets and you can’t pre book

To explain my 3 stars first: this is only due to the lack of time allocated for the tour.
A great way of getting a better idea and feel for irish history, politics and the people involved. And a beautiful and tranquil place to visit.
The tour is free, takes place every Saturday and you need to get your ticket beforehand at the tourist center.
The tour lasted 1 hour which included a bus transfer from and to the tourist center and a tour through the house and gardens.
The gardens are only part of the tour from April (?) to September. Outside this period you have a 45 minute tour of the house. Which I find more appropriate and from what I heard from others during the tour — plus the guides — it’s very tight for time doing both parts. So hopefully they learned from this years (first year of doing the gardens) experience and allow more time next year.
Both guides (1 in house & 1 in garden) were very good, enjoyed giving the information and interacting with the group.
You get to see the presidential historic car that hasn’t been used for a while and formal rooms. If the president is not working that day you get to see his office too. No photos allowed in the formal rooms.
The garden has several parts. A lovely wide green with some flowers and lots of old trees with many of them planted by visiting presidents or royals. A more natural park where you see gardai horses enjoying their break. The third part we got to see are walled gardens. They are laid out in the shape of a celtic cross and the four corner represent the four seasons.
A very enjoyable tour overall — just too short.

Áras an Uachtaráin is where Mary McAleese puts her feet up, pops a bag of Tayto and watches America’s Next Top Model.
Built in 1751, by a park ranger called Nathanial Clements (salaries must have been a lot better back then), it was acquired for use by the Viceroys who oversaw British rule in Ireland. That’s right, take our best stuff for yourselves. By 1938, we had gotten it back for the sole use of Irish presidents.
If you fancy a nose around, the house is open to the public each Saturday and 5,200 people visit the formal rooms and view the grounds each year.