Ireland: The Irish Rover 535

We depart from London airport on our flight to Belfast (flights from other regional airports may also be available at a supplement – please contact us for details). Upon arrival we will join our coach and transfer to our first visit, Mount Stewart, the dazzling and idiosyncratic gardens which bask in the micro-climate of low rainfall and humid coastal air that exists here. The Italian Garden south of the house is in the form of a giant parterre, edged in startling golden thuja or smouldering purple berberis and filled with plantings of carmine, yellow and scarlet on one side, with cooler blue, lavender and grey on the other. Elsewhere, there is a Spanish garden with huge eucalyptuses looming in the woods behind, and an exuberant and formal sunken garden surrounded by a fine pergola planted with clematis, honeysuckle and roses. The entrance façade of the house overlooks an entirely different landscape, a scene of serenity with noble trees leading gently uphill to a lake. East of the lake are blood-red and orange rhododendrons and the banks of the lake are planted with long drifts of arum lily. This is one of the most attractive and stimulating gardens, where traditional features are carried off with exuberance and panache, and we have allowed plenty of time here to take everything in.
Following our visit, we continue to our hotel, the comfortable Dunadry Hotel, County Antrim, where we will enjoy dinner in the evening.

Today, following our full Irish breakfast, we will travel to Rowallane Garden. The first impression is one of mystery as you approach the house through a dark tunnel of conifers and rhododendrons, but this is quickly dispelled by the flower-filled spectacle which opens up before you. The liveliest gardening is to be found in the walled garden, where mixed borders are stuffed with big old shrubs and the occasional rare rhododendron animates the scene. Astilbes, hostas, meconopsis, primulas and much else form the underplanting. The walled garden has a kind of inner sanctum, where a lawn is planted with specimen trees and shrubs. Outside the walled gardens a walk through ramparts of rhododendrons leads to a naturalistic rock garden planted with azaleas, daphnes, olearias and pieris.
In the afternoon we move to the southern tip of Strangford Lough, where Castle Ward sits in a wooded valley with a memorable view towards the lough. Apart from some traces of 18th century woodland, the garden is chiefly Victorian in character. Close to the house is a walled terraced garden filled with exotic planting, Acca sellowiana, Beschorneria yuccoides and large old plants of cabbage palm. Behind a screen of Irish yews a rock garden with dwarf conifers runs along one side of a mid 19th century pinetum with immense Wellingtonias. Perhaps the best thing about Castle Ward, though, are the grand walks in the huge demesne, with delicious views of trees and the lough beyond.
We return to our hotel where dinner is served in the evening.

Following breakfast we check out of our hotel and travel south, crossing the border into the Republic of Ireland towards Dublin, where we call in at Malahide Castle. Malahide Castle is one of the oldest and most historic castles in Ireland.  From 1185 until 1975, it was the home of the Talbot family, a remarkable tenure by a single family and one of the longest in Ireland. The estate survived such losses as the Battle of the Boyne, when fourteen members of the owner’s family sat down to breakfast in the Great Hall, and all were dead by evening, and the Penal Laws, even though the family remained Roman Catholic until 1774. The interior is lavishly furnished with many antiques and paintings of interest. The ornamental gardens adjoining the castle cover an area of about 22 acres and were largely created by Lord Milo Talbot. He was an enthusiastic plant collector who brought specimens from around the world to create the gardens here. The gardens are best described as a small Botanic garden, with in excess of 5000 difference species and varieties of plants present.
Following our visit, we transfer to The Spencer Hotel where dinner will be served in the evening.

This morning, after breakfast, we visit Hunting Brook, home of Jimi Blake.  Hidden in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains, near Blessington, the garden is a plantsman’s paradise with contemporary borders, creating a fusion of prairie and tropical planting in a natural setting.  There is something for everyone here, from lazy woodland walks through the ancient glacial valley to the remains of a 7th century ring fort, where an extensive range of woodland plants are grown, many of which were collected on various trips around the world.  Hunting Brook is now home to Ireland’s largest collection of ornamental grasses with over 200 different species and cultivars.
Following our visit, we continue to Jimi’s sister’s garden at June Blake’s Garden and Nursery.  June is a passionate plantswoman who grows from seeds sourced all over the world.  Her garden is extensive and sits in the old cut granite farmyard of Tinode House.  It is surrounded by majestic old beech and chestnut trees which provide a sheltered environment in which she grows a unique mix of bamboos, ornamental grasses and perennials with many plants offered for sale in her nursery.
We conclude today at Russborough House, a stunning Palladian mansion overlooking some of the most impressive views in Ireland. Designed in 1741 by Richard Cassels, it took 10 years to build and with the Wicklow Mountains and Blessington Lakes just a stone’s throw away, the setting is idyllic. There are two self-contained gardens within the estate, a woodland garden and a walled garden which has been restored to use in recent years by volunteers from the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland.
We return to the hotel where the evening is at leisure.

After breakfast, this morning we will travel to the gardens of Killruddery. The gardens are among the oldest in Ireland, providing the perfect destination for relaxing and leisurely walks. Nestled between the mountains and the sea and just a stone’s throw away from Dublin, Killruddery is a great historic house of Ireland. The magnificent 800-acre estate includes flowering woodland, painterly formal 17th century gardens, a high-hedge sylvan theatre, long ponds, and a walled garden.
Our second visit today is to Powerscourt Gardens, Ireland’s most famous gardens which first began to take shape over two and a half centuries ago.  Enjoy the charming walled garden, the striking terraces, fine statuary and varied trees which are linked by carefully designed walks and are all set in the magnificent surroundings of the Wicklow mountains.
We return to the hotel where the evening is at leisure

This morning after breakfast we check out of the hotel and head south, stopping en route at Mount Usher, a lovely informal garden which dates back to 1850. The garden was inspired by Irish gardening maverick William Robinson who eschewed formal Victorian bedding schemes in favour of a more naturalistic style. There are approximately 5000 different species of plants, shrubs and trees originating from all over the world, including some exceptional species from the southern hemisphere, such as the wonderfully scented Japanese Magnolia obovata and collections of eucryphia and eucalyptus.
Next we visit the gardens of Mount Congreve, home to one of the largest collections of plants in the world. The gardens comprise seventy acres of intensively planted woodland, a four-acre walled garden and ten miles of walkways. Among the treasures to be discovered are a Chinese pagoda, a rock waterfall and a splendid Georgian glasshouse.
We continue south to our accommodation at the Martime Hotel Bantry.
Dinner will be served at the hotel in the evening.

This morning after a full Irish breakfast we travel west to Bantry Bay and take the ferry across to Garinish Island to visit Ilnacullin, surely one of the high points of our visit to Ireland. Some gardens become so well known that their reputation quickly outstrips the actuality. Ilnacullin is, if anything, even more beautiful than one expects it to be. The garden, commissioned from Harold Peto, was made for Annan Bryce in 1910. The elegant Italianate folly overlooking a sunken garden is familiar from countless photographs with the Caha Mountains behind. The beauty of Ilnacullin comes from its wonderful intermingling of the formal and the wild.
In the afternoon we visit Blarney Castle and Gardens, which is perhaps most famous for its stone, which legend tells has the power of conferring eloquence on all who kiss it. However, the Castle is also surrounded by 60-acres of parkland, gardens, arboretums, avenues and waterways which provide a great source of interest and colour.
We return the very short distance back to our hotel, where there will be time for a rest and a reviving cup before dinner.

This morning after breakfast we travel to Cork Airport in time to check in for our return flight to London Airport.