Great Irish Houses - Country houses both sides of the border

Russborough is among the finest and best-preserved Palladian houses in the British Isles, with the classic composition of central range linked to lower side pavilions by quadrant colonnades. It is encrusted internally with magnificent stucco sculpture and, having suffered denuding and neglect, is again well stocked with excellent and appropriate furniture and paintings. Set in an 800-acre estate, Killruddery House has been home to the Brabazon Family, the Earls of Meath since 1618. The house was remodelled and extended in the 19th century, with the addition of the striking orangery in 1852. The extensive formal gardens – first laid out in the 17th century – remain in their original form, and are the oldest gardens in Ireland to do so.

James Gandon and Lewis Vulliamy were the architects in the 1790s and 1830s of Emo Court, a Neo-Classical masterpiece with a spectacular circular salon. Emo Court is currently undergoing renovation works; an alternative will be included if these have not concluded before our tour. Private visit to Charleville House, a Palladian villa in a woodland setting with Regency interiors. Built in 1797 by Charles Monck and designed by Whitmore Davis. Dinner is at Carton House, now a hotel, which has superbly decorated state rooms with figurative plasterwork by the Lafranchini brothers.

Built in 1747, Newbridge is the only example of a James Gibbs house in Ireland; excellent stucco work and an important art collection. Beaulieu is an utterly charming house from the beginning of the 18th century, hipped roof, carved red brick window surrounds and a walled garden which runs down to the fields beside the Boyne estuary. Inside there is the lived-in patina unique to family homes and a couple of outstanding paintings. Cross into Northern Ireland for three nights at Belle Isle Castle, Co. Fermanagh.

Deep in County Tyrone, Baronscourt is perhaps as remote as any major house in the UK. Still occupied by the family who commissioned it in 1779, the leisurely visit is by kind permission of the Duke of Abercorn. There is a tour of the estate, and lunch is in the mansion house. The sequence of superb rooms was brilliantly redecorated by David Hicks in the 1970s, and the picture collection is among the finest of any house in Ireland (Lawrence, Reynolds, Van Dyck).

A superb 1790s Neo-Classical house, Castle Coole is the masterpiece of English architect James Wyatt, and has scarcely changed since its completion for a royal visit in 1821. After a few hours of free time at Belle Isle, drive to Crom Castle, where we stay for dinner. Splendidly sited overlooking Lough Erne, and again in the same family as its original patron, Crom was begun in 1834 in a Gothic Revival style by Edward Blore. The interiors include a cathedral-like stair hall.

Hillsborough Castle is the Northern Ireland base for the Secretary of State and visiting royalty. Largely 18th-century, the handsome two-storey L-plan building has pictures from the Royal Collection and 96 acres of magnificent gardens. We continue to the Ards Peninsula in Co. Down and reach Ballywalter Park for tea and a tour. For the next two nights we stay here as guests of Lord and Lady Dunleath. Ballywalter has a 1730s core but was enlarged in a final flourish of grand Italianate classicism in the 1840s. First of two nights here.

The National Trust has invested heavily in Mount Stewart, an early 19th-century mansion which is amply furnished, has good paintings and extensive formal and woodland gardens. Castle Ward, begun 1762, is distinguished by being conventional Classical one side and rather risqué Gothic the other, internally as well as on the façade; marital disagreement resolved by innovative compromise. The charming result is enhanced by an excellent site on Strangford Lough. Dinner and second night at Ballywalter.

Grey Abbey House, also built in 1762, remains in the family which has owned the estate since 1607. The temperate climate in the environs of Strangford Lough allows a wide variety of flora to flourish in the gardens. We have an early lunch here before driving to Belfast City Airport, arriving by 2.00pm, and then drive on to Belfast International Airport arriving at 2.45pm.