For Heritage Week, 2024. I was invited to cycle with Pedal Vintage, Durrow, through the grounds of Abbeyleix House & Farm. Along with showcasing the estate’s beauty—now owned by John Collison—the cycle paid tribute to Hughie Sheppard, who passed away this year. Hughie established the first Bulfin cycle ten years ago to explore Heritage on a Highnelly bicycle. On the cycle, his family is present along with the brand new ‘Abbeyleix Vitality Hub’. Abbeyleix House (built in 1774 by James Wyatt) stands within a mile of the town. The mansion, gardens, and demesne are nestled amidst some of the most beautiful countryside in the Midlands. Unfortunately, the estate only opens to the public a few times each year, and today, as part of heritage week, is our lucky day.
The Abbeyleix House and Farm Gardens
After our extensive and beautiful cycle, we take in the widely-spreading lawns, the intersecting River Nore, and the rows and rows of ancient trees. Helen Roche begins the guided tour after homebaked scones and biscuits on the lawn. Helen has been the head gardener for the last three years. When she started her job, she expected she would uncover the archives and history of the gardens; “much to my dismay, everything had been thrown out. So the history of the garden was gone.” She had to go searching for it’s rich history and realised that the ‘Apple Walk’ is a hundred years old. She found out about the “incredible tree specimens” on sight and a very rare subspecies of magnolia. According to Helen, “we have learnt to be very careful before we change or move anything. The walled garden is a particularly big project, keeping most of the important shrubs that have been planted over the last 100 years.”
Tom De Vesci
Tom De Vesci a great promoter of heritage, takes us to the Church of Ireland, which is nestled within the picturesque grounds. It also happens to be the ancestral burial place of the de Vesci family, and the de Vesci family retain its ownership. The De Vesci family lived here for 250 years until the mid-1990s; Sir David Davies then took over for three decades, and John Collison has owned it for the past three years. According to Tom, who still enjoys taking private tours to the sight, “this was the original church in Abbeyleix before the town was moved to where it is today.” In the graveyard we learn of a Doctor Boxwell who was a GP in Abbeyleix during the famine years. Tom explains; “He was regarded as an unsung hero at the time because of his efforts to try and save the lives of so many people that were in real need of medical assistance at the time; he was held in very high esteem by all of the people that lived in the area.”
With heritage council grants and fundraising, Tom explains that a lot of work has gone into fixing the church, which was in a terrible state of disrepair. “We cleaned on the monuments, fixed the roof, replaced glass for the windows, replaced the whole church tower, fixed the weather vane, and still the floors and walls need to dry out from dampness.” He laughs when he tells us, “Any generation of my family that did work on restoring the church. seems to have died within a year or two, so I’m kind of spinning this out for a long time on purpose!”
Tom De Vesci, Laois Heritage Week at Abbeyleix House & Farm
A tribute to Hughie Sheppard
Before we leave the estate, we form a semicircle around the Malachy O Moore tomb, to commemorate the late Hughie Sheppard. It is fitting to host the remembrance here as, Hughie, like O Moore, held the status of a local chieftain. A leader of his tribe, he was the founder of the ‘Durrow Development Forum,’ where he was instrumental in developing amenity areas; like the Leafy Loop Walk, the library, the playground, and the ‘How r ya festival’, which morphed into the Durrow Scarecrow Festival. In 2013, his brilliant notion of cycling the back roads of Laois (without passing a pub) for the High Nellie Challenge, morphed into the annual Bulfin cycle to coincide with National Heritage Week, and here we are today. It was a final farewell to a beloved and devoted member of the community.
Hughie Sheppard
Animal Rescue at Abbeyleix House & Farm
As we exit the glorious vista of the House & Farm, on our vintage and electric bikes, horses and ponies gallop across the vast fields. The estate provides a haven for over 60 rescue horses and ponies, in association with the ‘My Lovely Horse Rescue Team’, who save vulnerable animals. It’s a joyful sight watching these animals roam freely and happily where they are safe and loved. And I think of Hughie’s smile, and how much he would like this sight.
For more on Abbeyleix House & Garden facebook page
For more on Pedal Vintage, Durrow and cycle routes in Laois
For more on Abbeyleix Vitality Hub click here
