The Walled Garden with The Castle in the background
In the spring of 2007 and the summer of 2008, I was very blessed to work in the gardens of Glenveagh Castle, set amidst Donegal’s Derryveagh Mountains. The gardens and castle are part of Glenveagh National Park, the second largest national park in Ireland.
There are many gardens within the garden – The Pleasure Gardens, The Rose Gardens, The Tuscan Gardens, The Italian Terrace, The Walled Garden, The Swiss Walk, The Belgian Walk, The Chinese Heath, The Himalayan Gardens, The View Garden…
The Pleasure Gardens
A Cool Stream at the edge of The Pleasure Gardens
The Pleasure Gardens and the Walled Garden were created in the 1880’s by Mrs Cornelia Adair.
My personal favourite of all the gardens is The Walled Garden which has its own micro-climate, home to beds of vegetables, fruit and flowers akin to an old fashioned Cottage Garden. I spent a heavenly summer in its midst!
Cavolo Nero (Tuscan Kale) with Cosmos companions in The Walled Garden
“Lough Kee” Crab Apples with Dahlia “Matt Armour” in the Background
In 2007, I worked amongst the roses, learning how to prune the collection of ornamental blooms set in domes; I also weeded amongst the Italian sculptures, pricked out seedlings in the glasshouse and had the added JOY of a group planting of the rare Wollemi Pine in the corner of The Pleasure Gardens.
Japanese Anemones on the edge of The Rose Garden
Statue of Bacchus on The Italian Terrace
Ganesh sits at the rear of a pond in The Himalayan Garden
Late Blooms of Hydrangea
I return every summer to enjoy this horticultural gem.
Two Balinese Statues guard The Pleasure Grounds
Teddy Bear’s Picnic in the Castle Tea Rooms
I also enjoy revisiting the Castle Tearoom’s and it’s huge array of home baking – Yummy!
I offload these extra calories by walking back to the car park four kilometres away, rather than take the bus!
Brigid P. Gallagher is a retired natural medicines therapist, passionate organic gardener and author of “Watching the Daisies- Life lessons on the Importance of Slow,” a holistic memoir dedicated to the art of mindfulness and healing from debilitating illness.
Such a beautiful work environment. Lovely pics. Thanks for sharing, Brigid. ☺
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My pleasure. I made a return trip yesterday to take these pictures.
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Breathtakingly beautiful gardens. The castle looks like something out of a dream. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you for your kind comments. Many famous people stayed in that Castle in the past.
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This is so beautiful. I would love to visit sometime.
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Thanks Marie, If you are ever up this way we could eat cake together in the tearooms among the Teddy Bears!
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I would love that! Visiting gardens and historic buildings is my all time favourite thing to do on holiday. Be lovely to meet for a cuppa and a chat. xx
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That would be AWEsome Marie.
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A very special visual treat.
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Thanks Bernadette. I took a lot more pictures yesterday but it would have been overload…
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What a glorious place to work!! Thank you for sharing such beauty!
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My pleasure. It was indeed a great place to work. I felt like I had just landed in Heaven!
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What a very special place. So beautiful.
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Yes, I love going back now to see it all again.
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[…] Watching the Daisies: The Gardens of Glenveagh Castle […]
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Thank you Nikki. That means such a lot. have a great week.
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So beautiful! Gorgeous images. Shared this in my Posts of Note today. 🙂
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Just sent you a reply on link. I am so pleased. Thank you.
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The first picture takes me back to a visit to Ireland as a small kid. We didn’t go here, but somewhere similar. I wish I knew the name of it. Lovely pictures.
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Thank you. There are a lot of similar places so could not be sure which it could be.
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What a treat. Everything is so lush and green. Thank you for these delightful images and well done on walking back to the car park!
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Thanks Janet. Most of the flowers are ebbing now into autumn but it still looks good. The walk was great and I had my sister with me.
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I would never leave….hide in a little nook and come out just to have tea.
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That sounds good, with tea every day among the Teddy Bears!
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Beautiful place , great photos and a teddy bear picnic …awww lovely
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Yes, my sister and I oohed and aahhed at the teddies. On another windowsill were little foxes having a picnic too. We were two big kids!
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Oh me too big kid..
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What a beautiful place 🙂 Thanks for sharing 🙂 The Teddy Bears tea party made me smile 🙂
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Thanks Judith. I just had to include their picture!
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Can’t go wrong with a few bears !!!! (I have a house full !!!) 🙂
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Thank you so much for sharing! This is a wonderful post. The pictures made me feel more relaxed inside. This really helped me right now.
I love the kale in the garden that you like 🙂
Many blessings,
Debbie
ps – adorable tea room too!
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Thanks Debbie. Yes, the kale looks lovely next to the flowers. It is such a great tearoom.
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I bet it is! 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend.
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You too. x
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[D] Very reminiscent of great gardens on the west of Britain – but it seems even greener, and maybe even wetter! Thanks for sharing this!
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Yes, it is probably wetter but set in a valley it has its own microclimate! Thanks for commenting.
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What a lovely experience that must have been. The pictures are just stunning!
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Thank you. I felt as though I had landed in Heaven! It still gives me a lift 9 years on!
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Beautiful and enchanting place.
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Thanks Jacqueline. There is such an aura about the gardens – pure magic!
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Thank you for sharing, you have a lovely collection of photos and atmospheres vary from each. Teddy Bears Picnic fun.
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The bears brought out my inner child!
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thanks for sharing this. wish i could pay a visit. fascinating views. 🙂
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Thank you. Maybe you will some fine day!
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wishful thinking 🙂
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What a lush garden! How did you come by the opportunity to work there? I’m definitely planning a return trip to Ireland, and I will put this on my map!
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I spent a month there in 2007 on work experience and applied for a summer posting in 2008. I was interviewed and accepted. The following summer they asked me back but I was unable to return due to other commitments. Let me know if you are in these parts.
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Beautiful gardens…. I would love to get a look inside that greenhouse and conservatory!
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Thanks Paul. I loved the walled garden best and tending to the young plants in the greenhouse. I was in heaven.
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Dear Brigid, I can imagine. In Swansea we have Singleton Gardens which is a council run facility with a number of greenhouses and rare plants which is great especially for free. There is also a charity plant sale to help pay for the gardens and you can pick up a lot of rare and exotic plants there- which suits us as it is one of our areas of interest. Because we take a lot of cuttings it is also a good place to donate excess plants as we know they are going to a good home. I will email you some photos of the garden and some of our plants over next weekend. Thanks for sharing your garden with me. PaulX
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Thank you Paul. That would be lovely. Looking forward to it. 😊
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I’d like this a 2nd time if I could a lovely place to revisit.. even if only in photographs
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I am going to do an update on the gardens soon. I took lots of photographs last week before the rain became heavy. 😊
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[…] The Gardens of Glenveagh Castle […]
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