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Carraig Abhainn Gardens

Garden

Informal riverside garden with flowering shrubs and plenty of surprises.

Address:

Durrus
Co Cork

About Durrus

Tel: +353 27 61070

Please mention ireland-guide.com when enquiring.

Carraig Abhainn Gardens

Opening Months: March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October
Opening Days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Opening Hours: Mon.to Sat. 10.00 - 20.00 (Sunday by appointment only).
Admission Charge:

Appointment Only
Admission Charge

Georgina Campbell

People come from far and wide to visit Wiseman’s emporium, a fine example of a nearly extinct breed of general store, stocking everything imaginable. Visitors - including bridal parties in search of a photogenic spot - also flock to the Wiseman’s garden and it’s easy to see why. Millions couldn’t buy the wonderful setting beside the falls, pools and rapids of the Durrus River.

The Wisemans bought the two acre plot of ‘genuine jungle’ behind their shop in 1980 and began carving out a garden which “just happened”. Inviting grass paths lead off through mixed shrub borders with azaleas, rhododendrons, acers, giant stands of gunnera and camellias, to gorgeous vistas of the river.

They wind back via a gravel path where alders lean over the racing gold brown water to a wooden bridge over the old mill race with the mask of a mysterious river god topping a gnarled oak body. There are all manner of curiosities to be found in the garden, there’s a temple with a mural overlooking a pool where an ocean liner made by the Wiseman’s son-in-law Tommy Daly sails incongruously by Japanese bridges and an otter. There’s a seat fit for a Sun God, and a fern garden in what was once a bog.

Everything grows prolifically in this garden from Chilean holly -Desfontainia spinosa- to a huge leaved eucalyptus quaintly named neglecta according to Eugene and the Wiseman’s enthusiasm is infectious.

Best time of year to visit: May, June, July, August