Jardins d’Irlande : d’Est en Ouest, parfum de printemps

Wicklow teaches. Following the example of Ireland’s most “flowering” county, which for years, between May and August, hosts an internationally renowned flower festival, other regions are highlighting the history, nature, and characteristics of their own green gems.

In the West, great importance is being found by the Ireland West Garden Trail, a virtual itinerary that unfolds across the counties of Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon, painted with blooming rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, heather, and botanical varieties that find favor here in a climate tempered by the Gulf Stream. Included towering palms with an exotic look!

In the heart of Connemara, a true “veteran” in the sector is the garden of Ballynahinch Castle Hotel, created two centuries ago between the river course and the Twelve Bens hills. Complementing two illustrious hotels is also the “secret garden” of the Cashel House Hotel with its precious collections of old and modern roses, lilacs, magnolias, azaleas grown in a kind of nursery where, in 1919, Jack O’Mara inserted the most diverse and curious species from all corners of the world; and the informal garden of the Zetland Country House Hotel, overlooking the sea.

Celtic symbols and artistic installations instead for the Brigit’s Garden (Roscahill), a representation of the life cycle according to Celtic culture, designed by Mary Reynolds, where a non-profit organization organizes educational programs for adults and children.

Literary reminiscences instead at Coole Park (Gort), property of Lady Gregory, playwright and co-founder of the Abbey Theatre, where the “autograph tree” stands out, with the engravings of writers’ initials – among whom Yeats, Synge, Beckett – who visited the residence every summer; the Kylemore Abbey & Victorian Walled Garden created by Mitchell Henry in 1867 and considered one of the most interesting Victorian gardens on the island.

At Portumna, on the shores of Lough Derg, among the flowering geometries of Portumna Castle, espalier fruit plants, lavender bushes, and aromatic herbs of a garden created in the 17th century, recently restored, unfold; while at Letterfrack, on the ocean shores, Rosleague Manor opens romantic paths among groves and flowering bushes.

Finally, at Roscahill, the park of Ross Castle, on the shores of the eponymous lake, reveals an extraordinary variety of tall plants.

In Mayo, near Ballina, the Enniscoe House & Garden, next to the handcrafted artifacts and farming tools of the Mayo North Heritage Centre, presents the original 18th-century layout divided in the mid-19th century into an ornamental garden and a vegetable area.

Clear Victorian design for the green area that, at Castlebar, surrounds Turlough Park in a play of terraces, flowerbeds, and water mirrors around a very peculiar greenhouse. Instead dating back to the early 20th century is the scenic green space of Westport House, in Westport, built in 1685 and considered one of the most significant historic residences on the island and now also a usual location for exclusive weddings. Only two, but very valuable, are the floral wonders of the county of Roscommon.

At the gates of the capital, Castlecoote House and Gardens, is a Palladian residence, built on the ruins of a 16th-century castle and immersed in a centuries-old park among scraps of flower carpets, an apple orchard, a bridge, and three medieval towers.

A true record, in Strokestown, Strokestown Park around the eponymous 18th-century mansion now used as the Famine Museum, restored and reassembled with the furnishings. Besides the rose garden, collections of wildflowers and ferns, its peculiarity lies in the green border that outlines it. The longest of the British Isles, included in the Guinness World Records.