PICK OF TODAY’S TV

GREAT IRISH INTERIORS: JOHNSTOWN CASTLE, 8PM, RTÉ ONE

THE second season of Great Irish Interiors, following the restoration of Ireland’s most important historic houses, is proving just as compelling as the first. This seven-parter has so far featured Russborough House in Co. Wicklow, Castletown House in Co. Kildare, and Strokestown House in Co. Roscommon. Tonight, in episode four, it’s the turn Johnstown Castle, pictured, outside Wexford town. An outstanding example of Gothic Revival architecture, Johnstown Castle was built in the mid-19th century, although the estate is many centuries older than that; the first castle on the site was a Norman tower house built in the 12th century. The modern castle, along with its grounds, was donated to the State in the 1940s after the death of its last resident, Lady Maurice Fitz Gerald. In 2015, it was taken in charge by the Irish Heritage Trust, at which point a mammoth conservation project began, and it opened to the public in 2019. This week’s episode takes us inside the castle, where curator Matt Wheeler and his team are piecing together the castle’s 800-year history and bringing it into the 21st century. Among the curiosities to be found within are the elaborate carved ceilings of the Apostles Hall, and a spooky 86-metre servants’ tunnel.