Hollywood’s Patrick Dempsey has spent his weekend along the Wild Atlantic Way. After months of filming Disenchanted in Wicklow, the actor, who is best known for playing Doctor Derek “McDreamy” Shepard in the Emmy and Golden Globe award winning American medical TV series “Grey’s Anatomy” has finished in Enniskerry and journeyed west to explore the rugged coastline of Mayo and Galway.
On Saturday 24th July, Patrick Dempsey visited Westport, Co Mayo where he was invited to one of Ireland’s best loved heritage attractions, Westport House. Known as one of the most beautiful houses in Ireland, the stately home, which was built in 1731, is currently undergoing an extensive €5m conservation project to protect the house from the elements.
Patrick was given a private restoration tour of the historic Georgian-era estate with period rooms and verdant gardens owned by the local Hughes Family. He was particularly interested in the redevelopment plans to transform Westport House into a world-class tourist attraction which tells the story of Grace O’Malley, The Pirate Queen of Connacht.
Spellbound by the scenery along route from Westport to Ashford Castle, where he reportedly stayed; Dempsey shared a photo of the Doolough Valley to his global social media followers of over 6.4 million on Instagram. He also visited the Cliffs of Moher and flew over the Aran Islands as part of his weekend trip.
