Below is a piece written about Woodstock in the Irish Farmer’s Gazette in 1863.  Many of these words are still very apt today

‘Woodstock – beautiful Woodstock – gardens and all, are open to the public of every grade from prince to peasant, at all times, where they can walk and ramble about at pleasure to enjoy its delightful scenery, of which the eye or the mind can never tire; the noble woods, the graceful, winding silvery Nore at its foot; Lady Louisa’s beautiful rustic cottage with the mountain torrent running through the romantic glen over which it hangs; the Red house for pic-nicks, the expansive views, the beautiful picturesque bridge at Innistiogue and Brandon Hill in the distance, are all their own for the time being and though we know that thousands enjoy it again and again, without ever tiring of it, we trust that many thousands more who have never done so will be induced to make the effort and enjoy its cool retreats, its quiet glades and beautiful scenery’.

 Irish Farmer’s Gazette, September 5th, 1863. p.308