Choose your language:

- ireland -

Ardgillan Castle & Demesne

Garden

A 200 year old estate with a walled garden, potentilla collection and garden museum.

Address:

Balbriggan
Co Dublin

About Skerries

Tel: +353 1 890 5334

Please mention ireland-guide.com when enquiring.

Ardgillan Castle & Demesne

Opening Months: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
Opening Days: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Opening Hours: Open all year, 10-5pm (to 6 pm in summer).
Admission Charge: 0

Appointment Only
Admission Charge

Georgina Campbell

Corrupted from the Irish Ard Choill (high wood), Ardgillan was aptly named until the Rev Robert Tayleur paid labourers a penny a day to clear the land for his new home in 1737. The estate, with its Gothicised house situated in a 200 acre park above Barnageera Beach and views stretching to the Mournes, is now owned by Fingal Council and is open to the public.

The garden has the benefit of old bones combined with new ideas. The Council have restored the gardens near the house, adding a new rose garden planted with hybrid tea roses around a lily pond and climbing roses ingeniously grown over a pergola of chains. Manicured lawns, a herbaceous border, the beautifully restored glass house with peaches, nectarines and grapes all provide a traditional note. A national collection of potentillas with over 300 varieties has been planted in this area.

The reinterpreted walled garden is full of interest: there is a potager where unusual vegetables like garden huckleberries and physalis are contained by hedges of clipped box; a herb garden has been laid out around a central lavender bed, and there is a neatly labelled herbaceous and shrub garden and Four Seasons garden (two seasons actually, as it is planted with tulips in spring and dahlias in summer).

The orchard area has fans of peaches and greengages and a collection of old Irish apple varieties dating as far back as Blood of the Vine (16th century) and Ballysattin (1820). The potting shed and bothy now house a gardening museum full of bygone horticultural technology, and new scree beds with Alpine displays have been created nearby.

Walks in the grounds are recommended, offering the opportunity to discover the ice house and the quaintly names ‘Lady’s Stairs’ leading to the beach.

Best time of year to visit: July, August

Gardens Strengths

Rose garden, herb garde, walled garden

Rare Plants worth mentioning

Collection of Potentilla Fruticosa

Groups & Tours

Groups Accepted
Groups Need Appointments
Accept Only Groups
Guided Tours

Tour Days:

Tour Times

2.30pm Thursdays in June/July/August

Additional

Trails

Festivals

Events

Concerts during the summer

Other Facilities

Great childrens playground, miles of parkland walks

Miscellaneous

Exhibition of coach design & Irish barony maps

Comments

There are currently no comments

You must be logged in to leave a comment
Not a member? Register for your free membership now!
Or leave a comment by logging in with:

Apps and Books

View all Products

From Tide to Table by Georgina Campbell

Paperback edition of From Tide to Table - Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Buying, Prep ...
more...
Georgina Campbell's Ireland - The Best of the Best

A selective companion guide to our famous broad-based online collection, the ‘glovebox bib ...
more...

Home > Ardgillan Castle & Demesne

Choose your language:

- ireland -

Ardgillan Castle & Demesne

Garden

A 200 year old estate with a walled garden, potentilla collection and garden museum.

Please mention ireland-guide.com when enquiring.