Seamus OBrien, Head Gardener of the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland visits Carrick Hill to present the evolution of the 18th century garden to what it is today.
Seamus OBrien, Head Gardener of the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland visits Carrick Hill to present the evolution of the 18th century garden to what it is today.
Kilmacurragh is a 17th century estate in East County Wicklow and for several centuries was seat of the Acton family.
This talk traces the evolution of the estate and gardens from its monastic origins, to the creation of a Dutch Park in 1697, that was later swept away in the 19th century to create the present wild-style Robinsonian Garden.
The plant collection at Kilmacurragh was augmented by Dr David Moore and his son Sir Frederick Moore, successive Keepers of the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin in Dublin.
Following the Acton family’s bankruptcy after the Great War, the gardens and famous Queen Anne house fell derelict until 1996 when the estate was purchased by the Irish State to be managed as a satellite of the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin.
Kilmacurragh is now one of the largest garden (and house) restoration projects in Britain and Ireland and the garden is being re-stocked though expeditions to various parts of the world.
