Renowned 'Chinese Room' opens to the public for the first time

Kenneth Fox

Mount Congreve Gardens in Waterford reopens on Friday for the 2026 season with the launch of ‘Gardens and Grandeur’, a new guided tour experience which includes visitor access to the famous ‘Chinese Room’ for the first time.

The new ‘Gardens and Grandeur’ tour experience is presented as a guided tour that seamlessly unites the interiors of Mount Congreve House, most notably the ‘Chinese Room’, now home to an exhibition of Irish silver, with the surrounding gardens, creating a fully immersive visitor experience.

The tour is led by a senior estate steward character - a steward who never quite left service - who guides visitors through the house and grounds with authority, wit and insight.

Set primarily in 1775, the narrative allows for subtle movement through time, acknowledging later generations, including final owner Ambrose Congreve, while maintaining historical integrity throughout.

For the first time, visitors will gain access to the Chinese Room at Mount Congreve House as part of the guided experience. It is one of the house’s most distinctive interiors.

The room is renowned for its rare hand-painted Chinese wallpaper dating from the 1780s, reflecting Europe’s eighteenth-century fascination with Asia, and now, Irish silver forms a dramatic centrepiece, staged on Regency furniture and a carefully considered interpretation that evokes the discipline, theatre and elegance of dining in the big house.

The exhibition is structured around four interwoven themes: the Congreve family legacy, the art and etiquette of dining, the rituals of tea, coffee and Waterford port, and the often unseen world of domestic service.

The Irish silver on loan from the Irish Silver Museum at Waterford Treasures, with highlights including an epergne, fine serving pieces and tableware that capture the formality and ceremony of elite dining.

For almost four centuries, eight generations of the Congreve family shaped social and cultural life in Waterford.

The final owner, Ambrose Congreve, was renowned for his meticulous standards and love of entertaining, with dinner parties supported by produce and flowers harvested daily from the gardens. After dinner, rituals continued - port, cigars and coffee - made possible by Waterford’s historic role in global trade.

Mount Congreve is recognised as the last house in Ireland to employ liveried servants. Behind the elegance lay highly skilled labour, and an audio recording offers a rare and human counterpoint to the silver, ritual and ceremony on display.

A small selection of books is also included, written in the early twentieth century by American novelist Ellen Glasgow, the aunt of Marjorie Congreve.

Generously donated by Professor Kathleen James-Chakraborty, the volumes include early editions ofBarren Ground, The Battle Ground, The Builders, and a first edition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning In This Our Life, many bearing personal inscriptions.

The official opening of ‘Gardens and Grandeur’ will be performed by the Mayor of Waterford on Friday, marking the launch as a significant civic and cultural moment for Waterford.

Sara Dolan, chief executive of Mount Congreve, said: “Gardens and Grandeur marks an important moment for Mount Congreve. For the first time, visitors can move seamlessly between the house and the gardens and understand how they functioned together.

"Presenting this as a character-led experience allows us to tell that story with warmth, authority and subtle humour. Opening on the first weekend of spring, with free access to the gardens on the day, feels like a celebration of renewal, history and place.”

Curated by project manager, Éamonn McEneaney and the team at Waterford Treasures, the new exhibition includes generous loans from Noel and Stephanie Frisby, David Boles, Colman Curran and private donors.

While the original Congreve silver collection was dispersed after 2011, the objects on display evoke the material culture of dining and service once central to houses such as Mount Congreve.

The new guided experience operates weekends only in February, daily from March to August, and weekends again from September to December, with tours at 12:00pm and 2:30pm; booking is required.

Ticket prices range from €12 to €22, with free entry for children under 8 and discounted rates for members and seniors.