Lissadel Gardens

Set along the shores of Drumcliffe Bay among the 400 acre Lissadell estate, the Lissadell Gardens include a Victorian era walled kitchen garden producing an astounding variety of produce, a walled Alpine Garden in a stunning seaside setting, and an arboretum.

The present owners of Lissadell House sought to restore the estate’s walled Kitchen Gardens and Alpine Garden, motivated by grandiose visions to “bring back the estate to its original glory and to re establish a thriving horticultural enterprise and flagship of ecotourism in the Northwest.” And in less than five years they have largely realized this vision. Lissadell has become an attraction for horticulturalist and gardening enthusiasts from around the world.

One century ago Lissadell House was surrounded by 1800 acres of woodland and park, the vast estate and house once employing over 200 people to maintain. Like many of Ireland’s great houses the Lissadell demesne fell into fell into disrepair and neglect, with much of the land sold or repossessed. The current estate comprises some 408 acres of woodlands and two walled gardens: walled Alpine Gardens, located along the sea, and nearer to the house the walled Kitchen Gardens.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 5:26 pm. It is filed under Places. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.