Castletown’ welcome dignitaries as Annes Grove Gardens reopened
The great and good gathered in Castletownroche last Thursday for the grand reopening of Annes Grove Gardens by the Office of Public Works (OPW), following extensive restoration works over the last number of years. Today, the 30 acres of gardens are now open and available to visit, albeit only by guided tour for the moment.
Some hint of the excitement of the reopening could be garnered from the numbers of cars, lacking ‘ C’ registrations, coasting the roads around north Cork on Thursday afternoon looking for the gardens, as Google Maps led visitors to the historic site via the (very) scenic route! Queues of vehicles were guided safely into place by local OPW staff, while guests were treated to apple juice, wine and prosecco courtesy of Doneraile Tea Rooms, who were undertaking the catering for the day.
Some of those gathered were from outside the county bounds, with David Bawden and Alan Ryan both visiting from Wexford. The men are part of a community group in charge of Colclough Walled Garden, near Tintern Abbey, County Wexford. The invitation from the OPW is with the intention that visitors to the Wexford gardens will be directed to sites like Annes Grove Gardens in Castletownroche, as they travel throughout Ireland, and vice versa.
GUIDED TOURS
The sun battled with the rain on Thursday to ensure the day was relatively dry, as dignitaries treated those assembled to the obligatory speeches. Minister Patrick O’Donovan, with responsibility for the OPW, thanked the good people of Cork for allowing a Limerick man to open the attraction. Cork County Council was represented by James Fogarty, Divisional Manager of the Northern Division and Cllr Frank Roche, resplendent in the mayoral chain as he deputised for Cllr Gillian Coughlan, Mayor of County Cork.
Speeches were followed by a shortened guided tour of the gardens by OPW staff Aileen Spitere and Mary Leamy, where visitors could walk alongside the Awbeg river and learn a little history. On the day, TheAvondhu heard from guests who remembered, as children, breaking into the gardens to slide down a rock in the river and to play hide and seek amongst the garden’s bamboos. Debates were had if it would be possible to relive the good old days; legal issues notwithstanding, the bamboo is not quite ready to hide anyone just yet!
While the weather didn’t quite play ball, the odd shower didn’t appear to dampen spirits with visitors sheltering under the many trees in the gardens as well as in old sheds, where those ducking in from the rain could admire carriages harking back to olden times.
PLANS ON TRACK
The opening of the gardens is ‘phase one’ of the restoration project, and Howley Hayes Cooney Architects have been appointed by the OPW to oversee the further conservation of the buildings on the estate. Minister O’Brien confirmed that the OPW is on track to lodge a planning application in 2022 for the conservation of the main house, ancillary buildings in the farmyard, and for car and bus parking and staff facilities.
The 190-acre historic estate was donated to the State in 2015 by the Annesley family, and the gardens are the jewel in the crown. In the early 20th century, Richard Arthur Grove Annesley embarked on a project blending a new style of gardening at Annes Grove. He cultivated exotic blooms in Castletownroche, grown from seeds collected by the famous plant-hunter Frank Kingdon-Ward on his expeditions to Myanmar, the Yunnan Province in China, Tibet and Bhutan.
The gardens will be accessible by paid guided tour until the 22nd September. The reason for the ‘tour-only’ approach is that the site is new, the plants and planting are very new, and work is ongoing, ‘so it is the safest option’. History and art events will take place throughout the summer months and a coffee van and seating area are located on the Bleach Green by the house, offering visitors the opportunity for picnics and refreshments immersed in the sights and sounds of nature.