EXPERIENCE THE ABUNDANCE OF THE UN-EXPLOITED & UN-TRAMPLED STATELY HOMES & GARDENS OF IRELAND WHERE A PROFUSION OF PLANTS GROW WITH UNPARALLELED EXUBERANCE IN ELEGANT SURROUNDINGS.  THIS ITINERARY WILL SUIT ALL INTERESTS FROM  LANDSCAPE GARDENER TO PLANTSMAN, AND TO EVERY GARDEN THERE IS A HOUSE WITH A HISTORY & A WONDERFUL INTERIOR.

Sunday  Aug 15th  
Arrive Dublin.  Your driver will meet you at the airport & take you to the Four Seasons Hotel where you will be met by the tour manager who will be on call to answer any questions & help with arrangements.  A gentle day is suggested, strolling in the park, wandering around the city, or enjoying some of  the spa treatments at the hotel.

Monday Aug 16th  
Your guide will meet you at breakfast & give an overview of Irish gardening.  Our first stop will be Airfield Garden, a time capsule from 1880 surrounding a manor house on the southern outskirts of the city. Here you will find rare & unusual plants sourced from around the world, many obtained from seed & plant exchanges with other plant collectors & gardeners. You'll then depart for a curator tour of the National Botanic Garden. The Botanic Gardens were established in 1795 ; occupying a beautiful forty-eight acre site on the banks of the Tolka River & contain over 20,000 different plant species & cultivars including many exceptional specimens. There are some lovely trees, many outstanding displays of shrubs & perennials & the famous glasshouses, including Turner's magnificent Victorian curvilinear range.  We'll lunch here with the curator.   Then on to Malahide Castle  to see The Talbot Botanic Gardens.  The Gardens as they exist today were largely created by Lord Milo Talbot in the years 1948 to 1973 & cover an area of over 8ha - 6.5ha of shrubbery & 1.5ha of Walled Gardens. An emphasis has been placed on the cultivation of plants from the Southern Hemisphere - many species & varieties collected by Lord Talbot from his Australian estates. You'll spend a little time today seeing some of the more traditional sites of Dublin including St Patrick's Cathedral..  The group will dine together in the hotel

Tuesday Aug 17th  
After breakfast we'll visit Carysfort Lodge, an old-fashioned terraced Regency house, near the centre of Blackrock, lovingly restored by Siobhan & David Dillon, who installed running water in 1965! The garden was created over the past 35 years. It is well structured by trees, making it surprisingly private & is carefully planted, giving the impression of a much larger garden.  Another Blackrock garden is Deepwell.  The house, originally called Fairy Hill, was built on this site in 1810. Re-named Deepwell it was "substantially renovated" in 1840. It stands on a 1.2ha site overlooking Dublin Bay with Howth Head on the skyline.  The garden was re-designed in 1995 by Mitchell & Associates & now contains a formal or Italianate garden on axis with the north façade.  We'll lunch at Powerscourt Gardens.  Set in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains, it is a sublime blend of formal gardens, sweeping terraces, statuary & ornamental lakes together with secret hollows, rambling walks & over 200 varieties of trees & shrubs.  Our final visit will be to Fernhill Gardens   There the giant Wellingtonian redwoods in the broadwalk at Fernhill form a cathedral-like aisle. Beyond them stretches the greeness of the Victorian laurel lawn & a magnificent springtime blaze of colour from rhododendrons & azaleas. Many of these specimens were introduced from the Himalayas by the William Hooker expedition. Dine at leisure in the hotel or one of the nearby restaurants.

Wednesday Aug 18th 
First to Graigueconna a romantic garden of 1.5ha, designed in 1908. The original layout has been kept, together with some trees & shrubs, but has been largely replanted since 1970. Long flower borders run either side of a central grass path, leading to "a jungle area of walks, pool, shrubs, ferns, rose beds & an old orchard, with apple trees festooned with roses & clematis". There are many unusual plants - Southern Hemisphere shrubs & aroids abound. Killruddery is your next stop - unique in having the most extensive early formal gardens, still in their original style, surviving in Ireland. Dating from the 1680s they are amongst the most important gardens of their type in these islands. Killruddery has been home of the Brabazons (the Earls of Meath) since 1618. The core of the gardens is a pair of canals (550 feet long) which focus on the house at one end & on an avenue of lime trees at the other.  Lunch at Corke Lodge , an 1820's  Italianate sea side villa. A Mediterranean grove was planted with a Cork tree as its centrepiece. In the remains of this romantic wilderness the present owner, architect Alfred Cochrane, designed a garden punctuated by a collection of architectural follies.. On to Mount Usher, a lovely 8ha "Robinsonian"  garden, laid out along the Vartry River, dating back to 1850. The river is spanned by suspension bridges, from which numerous waterfalls & superb views can be enjoyed.  We'll return to Dublin for tea at The Dillon Garden - an urban garden, an oasis in the city, where a series of little gardens, each with a different theme, are arranged around a central stretch of water. This incorporates five different rectangular sections, the longest about 6 feet wide, with 2 small & 1 larger waterfalls, all set in limestone. Dine at leisure in the hotel or one of the nearby restaurants.

Thursday Aug 19th 
The Gardens of the Pale Harristown House was originally built in 1740 by one Whitmore Davis as the country seat of the La Touche family. For more than 150 years the late Georgian house stood undisturbed, overlooking the Liffey & adjacent parklands.   From there on to The Japanese Gardens at Kildare, created between 1906-1910 by the owner of Tully Estate, Col. William Hall-Walker. The gardens are laid out in their paths of beauty by the Japanese gardener Tassa Eida & his son Minoru, & have been carefully preserved as one of the gems of Ireland's Heritage. The significance of the Japanese Gardens is not only artistic & horticultural but also religious, philosophical & historical. They were planned to symbolise the 'Life of Man' from the cradle to the grave.   Private lunch at  Martinstown, which was originally part of the extensive estates of the Dukes of Leinster, built in the charming "Strawberry Hill" gothic style as a cottage ornée.   Outside there are wonderful trees, a well-maintained walled garden with croquet lawn, & an 18th Century icehouse.  On to  Coolcarragin, approached by a long, woodland avenue with a large collection of rhododendrons & azaleas. The formal gardens around the house have a good herbaceous border, rockeries & fine Victorian greenhouse. The rest of the garden, divided by various paths & covering some eight acres, has a very interesting collection of shrubs & trees, mostly chosen by plantsman, Sir Harold Hillier.   Return to Dublin via Primrose Hill in Lucan.  The 2.5ha garden has been created over the last forty years by Cicely & Robin Hall & is more of a botanical garden with a strong sense of design & subtle colour schemes.  This lovely, old-world garden, with a wide ranging collection of perennials, many rare & some our own hybrids of special interest to the plantsperson. Dine at leisure in the hotel or one of the nearby restaurants.

Friday Aug 20th 
Hamwood is an 18th Century house still lived in by the descendants of the original builder.  The gardens consist of the Pine Walk with fine specimen trees, the rose garden & walled garden containing the 1800s Serpentine walk garden , herb garden & shrubs.  At Straffan the 18th Century walled garden adjoining Lodge Park has been under restoration for the last few years & the old brick-faced walls are clothed with climbers, fruit trees & roses.  A magnificent South facing shrub border edged in box hedges & topiaried yew trees runs the length of the garden. Beech hedges divide the different compartments into a white garden, salad parterre, coloured borders, decorative vegetable area, herbaceous border & a walk-way of sweet peas. The newly restored greenhouse contains an interesting collection of unusual plants from all over the world. Outside a small pond is surrounded by beds of colourful annuals.  Another feature of the garden is the outstanding rosarie which is encountered on entering the orchard.  Your next stop, Larchill,  is one of Ireland's most important, rediscovered gardens. Created in the mid 18th century as a 'Ferme Ornée' (Ornamental Farm) & as such is the only surviving complete garden of its type in Europe with 10 magical garden follies.. There is a picturesque 8 acre lake with two fairytale island follies, a formal Walled Garden with Shell Lined tower & a decorative gothic farmyard.  You'll have lunch here.  On to Beaulieu Gardens, Drogheda  The walled garden is reckoned to have been designed by Van De Hagen & is one of the earliest examples of an Irish walled garden. Mrs Waddington is an avid gardener & apart from its historical interest the garden is well worth a visit from a horticultural point of view.  Another nearby garden to visit is Killineer - a perfect Victorian garden with laurel lawns, lake, gravel walks & lawns.   Your last visit is to Knockabbey Castle & Gardens  are currently under major restoration with the aid of the Great Gardens of Ireland Restoration Fund. They reveal some of the finest historical water gardens to be found anywhere in the country, dating back to the 11th century. The gardens contain a wide range of magnificent specimen trees & the tulip tree ranks among the largest & finest in Ireland.
Return to Dublin for a farewell dinner.

Sat Aug 21st
Depart

€2510 per person (€925 Single supplement)

Included: 
* 6 nights accommodation & breakfast 
* All transport within Ireland 
* A private lunch on 5 days
* Porterage for 2 bags per person
* Dinner on 2 nights, one night with cabaret.
* All admissions and talks by experts
* A professional guide / tour manager throughout the 7 days