Savour a taste of the majestic Doneraile Park
NEW BOOK OFFERS A FASCINATING INSIGHT INTO THE HISTORY OF THE ESTATE
ONCE considered to be one of Ireland’s ‘ hidden gems’ the majestically beautiful surroundings of Doneraile Park are a secret no more.
In 2018 alone the Park attracted some almost half-amillion visitors, making it, by some considerable measure, Cork’s most popular free visitor attraction.
The ever increasing popularity of Doneraile Park, its impressive landmark building and its immaculately manicured historic gardens, was also evidenced by the fact that it proved more popular than a host of other well-known attractions including The National Museum of Ireland, Farmleigh and The Battle of the Boyne/ Oldbridge Estate.
Last year, a vision five-decades in the making finally came to fruition with the opening up to the public of the ground floor at the stately 17th century Doneraile Court.
Standing majestically at the heart of the estate, Doneraile Court is surrounded by 400-acres of walled parkland containing surprises around every, corner including its stunning collection of 17th, 18th and 19th century gardens that are unique to Ireland and the UK.
It is little wonder than that visitor numbers to Doneraile Park are expected to soar over the coming years, with predictions the figure could top 1 million within the next five-years.
The very essence of why the park has become such a popular place to visit has been encapsulated in a new book by local author and historian Michael O’Sullivan aptly entitled ‘A Taste of Doneraile Park’.
His book offers readers a fascinating insight into the history of Doneraile Estate, many of the colourful characters that have graced it over the centuries and the numerous attractions that lie just waiting to be discovered by visitors.
In his foreword renowned gardening expert Neil Porteous, who has been at the forefront of restoring the parks 400-years of horticultural history, was effusive in his praise for the book describing it as an exciting series of vignettes “ranging across international social and garden history.”
“The culmination of painstaking research; Michael O’Sullivan has told a series of stories; each revealing an aspect of Doneraile Court’s rich history. There are rich contextual, social and historical details. The work will serve as an invaluable reference and will help steer the garden and demesne restoration in the future,” he wrote.
He wrote that, on a more local scale, the book is a “rich social history for the town of Doneraile and its place in north Cork.
“Details of the lives of the town’s people are of equal interest to those of the great and the influential. The work adds significantly to our understanding of Ireland’s rich, complex history. It is a fascinating read.”
Michael said his interest was initially sparked some years ago after he was alerted to the existence of a 1725 estate plan showing extensive gardens adjacent to Doneraile Castle, a building no longer in existence.
He subsequently presented a paper on Doneraile Park to the 2016 Gardens Trust AGM at Cambridge University, where the suggestion of a book on the history of Doneraile gardens was first mooted.
Michael admitted the history of Doneraile Park was not an easy topic to write on as there are no known architectural plans, landscape designs or material family correspondence in on the subject in public paper records. Neither did records in private hands prove to be particularly illuminating.
“Consequently, one is necessarily left to draw on a range of other source to paint a picture of how 12 St Legers, 11 of whom held the title of Viscount Doneraile, developed, since the 1630s, a succession of garden landscape styles in a remote part of County Cork,” he said.
However, the physical record proved to be particularly useful with Michael saying that changes in garden fashion and repeated periods of benign neglect has left “an indelible mark on this demesne landscape
“This has been the saving of this unique inheritance. If this book has sparked and interest, and you are of a mind, do come