Casino at Marino

Lonely Planet review

No, not that kind of casino; perhaps it's the images of blackjack and slot machines that make so many visitors overlook this bewitching 18th-century architectural folly, which is a casino in the Italian sense of the word, as in a 'house of pleasure' or summer home. Off Malahide Rd, it was built for the Earl of Charlemont (1728-99), who returned from his grand European tour with a huge art collection and a burning passion for the Italian Palladian style of architecture. He appointed the architect Sir William Chambers to build the casino, a process that spanned three decades and was never really concluded because the earl frittered away his fortune.

The casino at Marino is a grand old 18th-century folly in the best tradition of follydom; an attempt by an eccentric earl to pretend he was still living in Italy. The building is fronted by a dozen Tuscan columns, and its interior is a maze of rooms cluttered with fanciful architectural touches.