Irish Garden Resources

Dermot O'Neill, Irish Gardner

Dermot O'Neill is Ireland's best-loved gardening expert.

His exciting and colourful style brings the joy of gardening to a wide-reaching audience. He has served on the council of the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland and was a founder committee member of the Irish Garden Plant Society.

With over 20 year's experience in broadcasting and lecturing, Dermot's programmes combine his proven knowledge of gardening with a fun and accessible presenting style.

As guest presenter of the BBC's popular "Greenmount Garden" programme, he provides the viewers proven techniques in a unique, easy to follow way.

Dermot is in regular demand for non-gardening programmes, including the popular travel programme "Time On Their Hands." He was also one of the few guest celebrities to achieve a 5-star rating on RTE's hugely popular show "The Restaurant."

Gardens Guide

Excellent site covering everything about garden design and landscape architecture, including public gardens around the world.

Information on garden tours and short breaks, hotels with gardens, gardens to visit, garden history, garden design and garden products.

Irish Gardens Tour - Coach Tours or Self Guided Tours of Irish Gardens

Suggested tour of many of the popular gardens in Ireland's south and southwest.

Garden.ie

For more than a year, Garden.ie has been building a comprehensive body of information about Irish gardening.

Put together by Gerry Daly and David Robinson, this is a rich resource for anyone who wants to grow an Irish garden.

Irish Gardens

Altamont Gardens, County Carlow

Known as the most romantic garden in Ireland, Altamont is an enchanting blend of formal and informal gardens located on a 100 acre estate. Whilst still little known, it ranks in the top ten of Irish gardens and is often referred to as 'the jewel in Ireland's gardening crown.'

Annes Grove Gardens, County Cork

Famous, privately-owned gardens open to the public during the summertime. Annes Grove Gardens are situated in County Cork, Southern Ireland.

Annes Grove demesne, known in the 18th century as Ballyhimock, was originally an estate of the Grove family.

In the late 18th century it became the property of the Hon. Arthur Grove Annesley, as a consequence of the marriage of his uncle, the first Earl Annesley, to Mary Grove.

His descendants have lived here ever since.

Ballymaloe Cookery School Gardens, County Cork

There is a lot more here than our cookery school. The entire garden is managed organically.

All the 'hungry' plants receive a generous dose of good farm yard manure early in the spring to set them up for the season.

Guided tours can be pre booked for groups.

We also have a number of Gardening Courses here in the school reflecting the philosophy of the gardens and school.

Bantry House and Gardens, County Cork

A house dating from 1740 when the second Earl of Bantry collected many valuable artifacts which are still to be seen in the house today.

Cois Cuain

Welcome to Cois Cuain (pronounced coush cuann), a garden as close to the sea as it is possible to get without becoming a boat.

We are the Walshs.  Mary is the gardener and Bob is the hole digger and rock mover.

With tremendous help from Mother Nature, we have created a garden which, we think, is a little bit different.

The Dillon Garden, County Dublin

Created by gardening writer and broadcaster Helen Dillon and her husband Val, this home garden combines a chorus of lovely plants with the warm and inviting personality of the Dillons.

Fernhill Gardens

See the Victorian laurel lawn or Mount Usher Gardens which date back to 1868 and displays plants from all corners of the earth.

Fota Arboretum

This formal garden contains an extensive collection of trees and shrubs extending over an area of approx. 11 hectares (27 acres) and includes features such as ornamental pond, Italian and walled gardens.

Fota Arboretum is now of international importance, its reputation deriving from the diversity of planting and from its collection of exotic specimens from all over the world.

John Smith-Barry showed considerable foresight in the initial planting, as the trees are well spaced, usually as single specimens in a park-like setting.

This generous spacing has enabled the trees to thrive and affords today's visitor the opportunity to appreciate each tree in isolation.

Garnish Island, Ilnacullin, County Cork

Located in the sheltered harbour of Glengarriff in Bantry Bay, in Southwest Ireland, Ilnacullin is a small island of 15 hectares (37 acres) known to horticulturists and lovers of trees and shrubs all around the world as an island garden of unusual beauty.

The gardens of Ilnacullin owe their existence to the creative partnership, some seventy years ago, of Anna Bryce, then owner of the island and Harold Peto, architect and garden designer.

Unless you are an avid fan of gardens, we suggest skipping this stop on your visit to Glengarriff and use the time touring the Ring of Beara.

Hillside Garden - This mature 4-acre garden has won the top national award in Ireland 1996 and again in the year 2000.

It consists of a large, sloping Plantsman's Garden, featuring Beach, Pines, Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Magnolias, wood land plants and exotic grass.

Two ponds large rockery with waterfall, Scree beds and many gravel areas and a newly planted gravel bed in the old orchard.

Many Australian and South African plants flourish in the garden.

Hunting Brook Gardens, County Wicklow

Hidden in the foothills of the majestic Wicklow Mountains, lies Hunting Brook - a sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of the modern world.

Bright colours, lush verdant foliage and inspiring designs welcome the visitor to this exciting new garden creation.

Owner Jimi Blake has created a plantperson's paradise adjacent to his family home.

The sound of the Hunting Brook running through the ancient glaciated glen mingles with bird song and the rustle of leaves - a true pastoral symphony.

Kilmokea Country House and Gardens, County Wexford

A privately owned Georgian rectory with two gardens.

Kilravock Garden

In 1989 my husband Malcolm and I started (with the help of a neighbour) clearing and planting this 2 acre field. 

We found lots of rock and barrow loads of stones. 

The stones came in useful for making paths and steps in this sloping south facing garden beside Dunmanus Bay. 

Killruddery House and Gardens, County Wicklow

Killruddery is unique in having one of the most extensive early formal gardens, still in their original style, surviving in Ireland, largely laid out in the 17th century and added to in the 19th century.

The gardens at Killruddery are the oldest in Ireland.

Lakemont Gardens, County Cork

The Garden was started in the early 1950's by Mrs. Peggy Cross, who laid out the basic form of the Garden by planting hedges to buffet the land from the relentless Atlantic winds.

The Garden is south-facing and slopes gently away from the house, supporting the cultivation of a multitude of plants from all four corners of the world. Since these early plantings, the garden has evolved into a wonderful oasis of calm.

Unlike most gardens, Lakemount can be described as a garden for all seasons.

Careful selection of plants and shrubs provides all-year-round spectacle. No matter what the month, there are always plants of interest and exciting planting compositions within the gardens' borders.

The key to this is how Brian treats each season individually by using different layers of planting to create maximum impact and interest, from tiny, low-growing plants to shrubs and trees

Loughcrew

Rich in historical, archaeological, religious and natural interest.

One of ancient Ireland's major roads passes through Loughcrew, crossing the great Road of the Chariots nearby.

The lakes abound with cranogs and the drumlins are topped with innumerable motte and bailey forts.

The Loughcrew Cairns (prehistoric passage graves), some 5,000 years old, are perhaps the oldest calendar known, and may even be the world's oldest existing dwellings.

Mount Usher, County Wicklow

Laid out along the banks of the River Vartry, Mount Usher has been designed in the Robinsonian style. Trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants have been introduced from all parts of the globe and are planted in harmony with woodland and shade loving plants.

Like all the great gardens of Ireland, Mount Usher offers varying pleasures at different seasons of the year.

Rhododendrons in Spring, a blaze of Summer colour and the wistful tints of Autumn, all elegantly set off by the crystal waters of the river.

In addition to the gardens, Mount Usher offers home produced refreshment in our Tea Room and a shopping court. Parking is available and the Gardens are within easy reach of Dublin.

National Botanic Gardens

National garden of Ireland containing over 20,000 floral species.

The Organic Centre

Established in 1995 as a non profit making company with the aim of providing training, information and demonstrations of organic gardening, growing and farming.

The Centre is located on a site of 19 acres in Rossinver in the unspoilt countryside of North Leitrim.

Each year since 1995 has seen significant developments at the Centre.

Powerscourt House and Gardens, County Wicklow

Formal gardens, sweeping terraces, statuary, ornamental lakes, secret hollows, rambling walks, walled gardens and over 200 varieties of trees and shrubs.