watchingthedaisies

The Gardens of Glenveagh Castle

img_5648

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…

img_5625

The Pleasure Gardens

img_5632

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!

img_5636

Cavolo Nero (Tuscan Kale) with Cosmos companions in The Walled Garden

img_5643

“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.

img_5650

Japanese Anemones on the edge of The Rose Garden

img_5666

Statue of Bacchus on The Italian Terrace

img_5664

Ganesh sits at the rear of a pond in The Himalayan Garden

img_5667

Late Blooms of Hydrangea

I return every summer to enjoy this horticultural gem.

img_5668

Two Balinese Statues guard The Pleasure Grounds

img_5635

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.

54 comments

  9. 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.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. 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!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • 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.

      Like

      Reply

  22. 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

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment