One of Cork’s most enchanting Georgian homes is about to open to the public this weekend.

Visitors will be welcomed inside the newly refurbished Doneraile Court from this Saturday, June 22nd, with a pop-up market and a street party planned to mark the occasion.

Led by Mary Heffernan of the Office of Public Works, the project has involved a selection of experts in everything from building to restoring and enhancing the property’s 400-year-old gardens.

Architectural historian Christopher Moore has been at the helm indoors, where the ground floor of the stately home has been carefully restored.

The space has now been filled with original items, many donated to the Irish Georgian Society, that will help paint a picture of what life was like for the St Leger family, who lived in the magnificent home until they ran out of male heirs in the 1960s.

The Battle Of The Birds, a seventeenth century painting by the Flemish still life artist Frans Snyder, is on loan from the Crawford Art Gallery and will be displayed at the opening celebrations.

The fun begins in Doneraile Park at 1pm on Saturday, with the grand opening of Doneraile Court happening at 4pm.

A whopping 500,000 visitors explored Doneraile Park last year, with locals hoping the ongoing improvements at Doneraile Court will help to boost visitors numbers even further in the future.