CASTLETOWN FOUNDATION

The Castletown Foundation is an independent charitable educational trust dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Ireland's most significant Palladian house, Castletown, and its nationally and internationally important collections of Georgian paintings, furniture and decorative arts. Established in 1979, the Foundation managed the house and its assets throughout the 1980s and early-1990s, and in 1994 facilitated the transfer of the house and its surviving parkland into state ownership while retaining stewardship of the decorative-arts collection.

Today the Foundation works closely with the Office of Public Works, offering expert advisory support to ensure the house, its designed landscape and treasured objects are conserved for future generations. Its mission centres on advancing education, knowledge and public engagement with the fine arts and heritage, and it actively promotes appreciation of Irish artistic traditions through publications such as the Castletown Decorative Arts catalogue and the Kevin B. Nowlan Bursary, which supports emerging talent.

Based in Celbridge, County Kildare, the Castletown Foundation serves scholars, heritage professionals and the wider public, championing the sustainable conservation and vibrant interpretation of Ireland's cultural legacy.