The structure of the garden as we know it today, dates back to the second Earl of Bantry’s travels. Both he and Mary, his wife, travelled with notebooks and sketchbooks (now in the Archive at University College Cork) at hand, which helped to transform the small house at home into a “palazzo” comparable to those he had seen on the continent.
The ‘Cardinal Rule’ to be applied was that house, garden and site
must be a unit, as if one could not have been conceived without the others.
He terraced the land around the house, seven terraces in all, with the house sitting on the third terrace. A parterre facing south surrounding a wisteria circle which again surrounds a fountain was also created. From there rise the famous Hundred Steps, a monumental staircase built of local stone, set amidst azaleas and rhododendron.
The garden, indeed the whole demesne, had fallen into great neglect over many years. In 1997, due to the offer of EEC grant, the
decision was taken to start restorationwork on the garden.
The grant came to an end in 2000, but thankfully work in the garden is ongoing. Woodland is being cleared and maintenance of the
restored areas kept to a high standard.
