Back to life

The 25-acre private gardens and grounds of Malahide Castle have been part of a spectacular and extensive redevelopment, writes FIONNUALA FALLON

When the diplomat Lord Milo Talbot of Malahide Castle died suddenly, in 1973, at the age of 60, the avid plantsman left behind him the Talbot Botanical Gardens, a remarkable 25-acre private garden that was home to one of the finest, largest and most meticulously curated plant collections in Ireland.

Talbot began the collection around 1950, shortly after he succeeded to the title of Baron de Malahide. The collection highlighted his particular interest in plants of the southern hemisphere, honed throughout his lifetime by his extensive travels, as well as regular visits to his second home in Tasmania.

A dedicated plant collector, whenever an opportunity presented itself to acquire a rare, unusual, or what he called “a less common plant”, Talbot generally took it.

Just as importantly, from a garden history point of view, he carefully recorded each and every plant acquisition – not only its provenance but the date it was acquired, the method of propagation used, its location within the garden, and whether or not it flourished.

Many of the plants, such as the semihardy evergreen climber Berberidopsis corallina, had rarely been grown before in this country. Others – including Banksia serrata, a plant first collected by Sir Joseph Banks during Captain Cook’s voyages to the Pacific Ocean – are so tender that Talbot had to house them in a heated glasshouse specially constructed for the purpose.

When he died, the castle and its gardens passed into public ownership, acquired by Dublin Corporation from the Talbot family for the modest sum of £650,000. Since then, the corporation, and one of its later evolutions, Fingal County Council, have done a great job of caring for this wonderful garden, while successive generations of horticultural students, sent there on work experience, have enjoyed the unique opportunity to study its remarkable plant collection.

That said, the walled gardens were open to the public only one day a week during high season, something that often frustrated would-be visitors. More recently, the glasshouses and the hard landscaping of paths, lighting, and signage had also begun to look in need of a revamp. Cue one of the most extensive public-garden redevelopments in recent years, with a total of €10.5 million in funding for the project coming from Fingal County Council and Fáilte Ireland.

Work on the castle and its gardens began in early 2011 and continued throughout last year, with the formal reopening last November and the announcement that the site would be operated by Shannon Heritage on behalf of the council.

So what can visitors expect? For one, a spanking new interpretive centre, housed in what was once the castle’s old courtyard, now beautifully restored, extended and modernised. Along with a new commercial area that includes an Avoca cafe and shop, this airy, light-filled space is home to a first-rate interactive exhibition that highlights Talbot’s life as a modern-day planthunter.

The handsomely mounted displays of his plant collection, his handwritten records, his photographs and his garden tools are both moving and fascinating.

There’s also plenty for children to enjoy, including sensory displays of leaves and flowers that come with the invitation to touch and to smell, and computer screens that allow them to invent their own tree, flower, or shrub.

As for the gardens, they have, as Malahide Castle’s long-time head gardener Barbara Cunningham eloquently puts it, “been given a future, a wonderful opportunity to survive.” The seven glasshouses have been painstakingly repainted and reglazed where required. One (Talbot’s beloved Cambridge House) has even been rebuilt. Newly surfaced, wheelchair-accessible paths have replaced the old, ugly tarmacked ones, while modern lighting systems mean the gardens can be enjoyed for evening events. New plants (trees, shrubs, perennials, alpines, roses) have been sourced from specialist nurseries both in Ireland and abroad at a cost of €50,000.

Up to 40,000 spring- and summer-flowering bulbs (including heritage varieties of daffodils) have also been planted, both in the walled garden as well as in the nearby woodland areas, where large tracts of the scrubby undergrowth have been cleared to allow for the mass planting of shade-loving hellebores and other choice plants.

In short, I can’t wait to see it all burst into glorious growth this spring. As for the seventh baron, Malahide Castle is famous for its many ghosts but if Lord Milo Talbot is among them, my guess is he’s a happy one.

[ malahidecastleandgardens.ie ]

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:

Primrose Hill, Lucan, Co Dublin (open all of February, from 2pm until dusk, admission €6, tel: 01-628 0373), well-known for its collection of snowdrops and other spring bulbs

Crop by Crop Vegetable Growing with Organic Guru Jim Cronin gardening course, begins February 5th

(four evenings, €80, tel: 087-611 7538, email cc@carmencronin.ie

Design a Garden one-day course given by June Blake at Lavistown House (February 9th, 10am-5pm, €80, see lavistownhouse.ie)