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Golden rhododendron blooms in Fota Arboretum, on Fota Island in eastern County Cork (Munster Province, southwest Ireland), on a mostly cloudy afternoon in late May 2024. This variety was one of several rhododendron shrubs, of different shades, in this section.

Fota Arboretum and Gardens were initially developed by members of the Smith-Barry family during the 1840s to complement its Regency mansion. Taking advantage of the plant-hunting expeditions of the period, they collected species of trees and shrubs native to Asia and the Americas, many of which have survived in the arboretum and have grown into rare living monuments. A set of walled gardens and terraces also reflects Victorian and early 20th-century design and planting choices.

Today, the historic arboretum and gardens are open to the public, administered by the Irish government’s Office of Public Works in coordination with the National Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin, Dublin. (Fota House itself is in the care of the Irish Heritage Trust, a private nonprofit organization.)

The Irish name of the island is Fóite; an alternative spelling of the island’s name in English is Foaty.

(Information from the Fota House, Arboretum & Gardens website and from Wikipedia, both last consulted 2 June 2024, as well as Fota Plant Hunters’ Tree Trail (Dublin: Irish Heritage Trust, [undated, between 2007 and 2024]). Place names in English and Irish from logainm.ie, the Placenames Database of Ireland (reference number 9371), also last consulted 2 June 2024.)

[Fota 26 rhododendron golden 2024-05-23 f; DSCF2654]

A Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) in Fota Arboretum, on Fota Island in eastern County Cork (Munster Province, southwest Ireland), on a mostly cloudy afternoon in late May 2024.

Fota Arboretum and Gardens were initially developed by members of the Smith-Barry family during the 1840s to complement its Regency mansion. Taking advantage of the plant-hunting expeditions of the period, they collected species of trees and shrubs native to Asia and the Americas, many of which have survived in the arboretum and have grown into rare living monuments. This Japanese cedar, for example, was planted in the arboretum during the 1880s. A set of walled gardens and terraces also reflects Victorian and early 20th-century design and planting choices.

Today, the historic arboretum and gardens are open to the public, administered by the Irish government’s Office of Public Works in coordination with the National Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin, Dublin. (Fota House itself is in the care of the Irish Heritage Trust, a private nonprofit organization.)

The Irish name of the island is Fóite; an alternative spelling of the island’s name in English is Foaty.

(Information from the Fota House, Arboretum & Gardens website and from Wikipedia, both last consulted 2 June 2024, as well as Fota Plant Hunters’ Tree Trail (Dublin: Irish Heritage Trust, [undated, between 2007 and 2024]). Place names in English and Irish from logainm.ie, the Placenames Database of Ireland (reference number 9371), also last consulted 2 June 2024.)

[Fota 15 Japanese cedar 2024-05-23 s; 20240523_065912]

View from the Walled Garden of Glenveagh Castle Gardens (County Donegal, Ulster Province, in the northwest corner of the Republic of Ireland), looking down towards the castle, on a partly cloudy afternoon in early May 2024. In the background are part of the Derryveagh Mountains (Sléibhte Dhoire Bheatha in Irish) across from Lough Beagh (also spelled in English as Lough Veagh, Loch Ghleann Bheatha in Irish).

The castle, gardens, and mountains are all within the Glenveagh National Park – its Irish name is Páirc Náisiúnta Ghleann Bheatha – which had its origins in the Glenveagh Estate created 1857-1859 by John George Adair (1823-1885). He became notorious for abruptly evicting 224 of his tenants from the land in 1861, a deed recorded in contemporary documents, history, and local tradition as the Derryveagh Evictions. The castle itself was built along Lough Beagh between 1867 and 1873, designed by architect John Townsend Trench based on the “Scottish baronial” style popular during the Victorian period.

Adair’s widow, Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie Adair (1837-1921), established the garden from around 1888, a sheltered spot around the castle that she continued to improve and expand. In the 1940s and 1950s, a later owner, art curator and collector Henry Plumer McIlhenny (1910-1986), oversaw the introduction of many new species. In 1979, he gifted the castle and gardens to the Irish State, after having sold most of the rest of the Glenveagh Estate to it in the mid-1970s. Today, the park is managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), while the castle and gardens are in the care of the Irish Office of Public Works through its Heritage Ireland unit.

The gardens are noted for their lush appearance, as they benefit from and reinforce the micro-environment of a temperate rainforest in the midst of the rugged landscape of mountain and moorland. They contain a number of plants that originated in other parts of the world, including palms, bamboo, a wide variety of rhododendrons, and many others. In addition to this Walled Garden, there are the Pleasure Grounds (a long lawn framed by extensive borders), the Belgian Walk (with landscaping work done by World War I Belgian refugees), Italian Terrace, Himalayan Garden, Rose Garden, Oriental (Japanese-style) Garden, View Garden, Swiss Walk, and Tuscan Garden.

(Information from the print guide -- Ó Gaoithín, Seán. Guide to Glenveagh Castle Gardens: Glenveagh National Park (Glenveagh National Park, 2022) -- as well as from the NPWS Glenveagh National Park website and Wikipedia, both last consulted 27 June 2024. Place names in English and Irish from logainm.ie, the Placenames Database of Ireland (reference numbers 111338, 111119, and 111025), last consulted 28 June 2024. Names in tags partly from US Library of Congress/NACO name records (reference numbers n84081220, no2004019921, and n84153406).)

[Glenveagh National Park 17 Walled Garden castle 2024-05-07 s; 20240507_074615]

Looking from the portico of the Italian tea house (casita) towards the loggia, in the Italian garden of Garinish Garden (West Cork, County Cork, in southwestern Ireland), on an overcast and at times drizzly afternoon at the end of September 2013.

The reflecting pool, with its winged statue of Mercury / Hermes, is surrounded by autumn-blooming plants as well as various shrubs and trees that flourish in the damp, relatively mild environment.

Also known as Ilnacullin (Irish Oileán an Chulinn, “holly island”) or sometimes spelled Garnish, Garinish (in Irish, Garinis) is an island in Bantry Bay, near Glengarriff, which is on the Beara Peninsula. In 1910, British businessman and politician John Annan Bryce (1841-1923) purchased it, and the garden was begun soon afterwards for him and Violet L’Estrange Bryce, his wife. The noted British garden designer Harold Peto (1854-1933) provided the architectural elements and layout; the garden was also maintained and expanded under head gardener Murdo MacKenzie. Garinish reflects a characteristic mixture of this formal Italian garden design and more Robinsonian woodland garden inspiration, together with a classic English walled garden, a Grecian-style temple, and a stone clock tower.

Today, it is open to the public under the care of the Office of Public Works (Heritage Ireland), which acquired the site in 1953. The island also features a Martello Tower, built in 1805 and now part of the garden.

In this view, some of the Beara Peninsula itself can be seen in the background, through the loggia.

(Information from the official garden guide as well as the Garinish Island website and Wikipedia, both last consulted 26 October 2023. Full form of Harold Peto’s name heading from US Library of Congress/Name Authority Cooperative “authority record” nr 96022053.)

[Garinish Italian Garden pool loggia autumn cloud 2013 sep 29 c; IMG_4545]

The Old Bridge over the River Boyne in Trim, County Meath, Ireland, has been, and continues to be a working bridge since 1393.
This bridge is one of Ireland's oldest complete and unaltered working bridges.

Trim Castle, is Ireland's largest Norman castle. It was constructed in the late 12th century following the Norman invasion of Ireland. Located in County Meath, Ireland, Trim Castle sits on the south bank of the River Boyne. The castle covers an impressive area of 30,000 square metres and was built over a 30-year period by the Norman Hugh de Lacy and his son Walter. The castle prominently featured in the Mel Gibson film Braveheart, where it represents the walled city of York

Fota House and Arboretum 11 hectares in size on Fota Island County Cork Ireland.
One of the finest collections of rare, tenter trees and shrubs grown outdoors in Europe.

Lavender-blue hydrangea blooming in a border along a path in Garinish Garden (West Cork, County Cork, in southwestern Ireland), on an overcast and at times drizzly afternoon at the end of September 2013. Beside it, autumn already bites as flowers fade to seed.

Also known as Ilnacullin (Irish Oileán an Chulinn, “holly island”) or sometimes spelled Garnish, Garinish (in Irish, Garinis) is an island in Bantry Bay, near Glengarriff, which is on the Beara Peninsula. In 1910, British businessman and politician John Annan Bryce (1841-1923) purchased it, and the garden was begun soon afterwards for him and Violet L’Estrange Bryce, his wife. The noted British garden designer Harold Peto (1854-1933) provided the architectural elements and layout; the garden was also maintained and expanded under head gardener Murdo MacKenzie. Garinish reflects a characteristic mixture of this formal Italian garden design and more Robinsonian woodland garden inspiration, together with a classic English walled garden, a Grecian-style temple, and a stone clock tower.

Today, it is open to the public under the care of the Office of Public Works (Heritage Ireland), which acquired the site in 1953. The island also features a Martello Tower, built in 1805 and now part of the garden.

(Information from the official garden guide as well as the Garinish Island website and Wikipedia, both last consulted 26 October 2023. Full form of Harold Peto’s name heading from US Library of Congress/Name Authority Cooperative “authority record” nr 96022053.)

(From the "archive" -- 2013.)

[Garinish path lavender hydrangea autumn 2013 sep 29 c; IMG_4588]

out in Connemara ~ summer 2020


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