Applepicking in Gormanston for local active retirement
A group of Transition Year students at Franciscan College Gormanston recently volunteered to pick apples in the castle gardens which were then donated to a local retirement group.
The pupils managed to collect a fantastic haul and these were then presented to the local ‘Golden Girls’ active retirement group in Stamullen.
The group welcomed the donation and said: ‘We were delighted to receive the apples from the Transition Year students and extend our sincere thanks to all the students concerned – the waft of apples cooking should be flowing through the village shortly!’
The Golden Girls meet up every Monday morning in the parish centre in Stamullen village from 11am. They are always seeking new members, so if you have the time and wish to become involved with this very active, recreational local group, then pop along any Monday at 11, where you will be warmly welcomed by all.
The walled gardens at the college date back to the 18th century and historically would have employed up to 50 groundsmen working in them and on the surrounding land, at a time when most of the food served in Gormanston Castle would have been grown locally in the gardens.
The school would like to thank the Franciscan Order for permitting Transition Year to undertake this project.
Gormanston Castle was, from the 14th century to the 1950s, the seat of the Preston family, who managed to hold on to their estate lands through the centuries despite being staunch Catholics. The head of the family is known as Viscount Gormanston, premier Viscount of Ireland. The current holder of the title is Jenico Preston, 17th Viscount Gormanston who resides in London.
The family sold the castle in the 1950s, when it was acquired by the Franciscan Order of Friars who then established a boarding school for boys in the grounds, known as Gormanston College.
The walled garden is just a small part of the stunning grounds of the castle and college, which also includes a river, a mature wood and a small 9-hole golf course.
The eastern face of Gormanston Castle looks to the sea, down a long straight field, known as ‘ Cromwells Avenue’. One of the most remarkable features of the estate is the yew walk, a foliage enclosed triangular area that dates back some hundreds of years, and leads down to the graveyard, where several of the Order, both priests and nuns, as well as some students, are buried.