Centuries of care

ONE of the best things about Ardgillan Demesne in Balbriggan is the wonderfully exhilarating open space. In front of the 18th century, castellated house, acres upon acres of mown grass plunge down towards the sea in broad contours. And as the sea breeze swells up off the blue green water, it fills your lungs with the freshest and most invigorating air. If you were younger, you'd run for miles. But you're not, so you content yourself with a leisurely ramble through the woods, parkland and gardens in this spacious corner of north Co Dublin.

A core of formal gardens surrounds the house but most of the 194 acre estate is in grass and woodland. And, even on a weekend, when there are coaches constantly unloading tourists, the demesne is not crowded. It is as easy as anything to find your own private field or leafy woods with no company other than diving swallows, worm hunting thrushes and shimmying wagtails.

Ardgillan, for more than two centuries the home of the Taylour family, was acquired by Dublin County Council in 1982. It is now expertly and sensitively managed by Fingal County Council. A mammoth, garden restoration programme was mounted around 1987 and it continues apace, with new projects being completed each year.

When you approach Ardgillan, the long drive, lined with ash, sweet chestnut and beech, brings you to the rear of the house and the so called "back lawn" - yet more acres of greenest green parkland, pin pricked by ancient cedars. The sea spreads out beyond the house. On this side, a 200 year old yew walk forms an impressive sight. Single file, 19 black green, bulky shapes solemnly line the perimeter of the house; the last yew, the 20th, is a golden one, its dark foliage dusted with yellow. A long herbaceous border runs next to them, its plants performing their late summer swan song before retiring underground for the winter.

Further on, a formal rose garden lures you into its flowery midst. Scores of different varieties are all helpfully labelled, a real boon to anyone planning a garden. At night, the roses are fenced in with stout green netting to exclude the colonies of hungry hares who like nothing better for their supper than giant helpings of best rose blossom.

The rose garden is backed by one of Ardgillan's latest acquisitions, a five part, Victorian, glasshouse, filled with tree ferns, yuccas, palms. passion flowers and grape vines. The beautifully elegant structure came from Seamount in Malahide, where it had been erected in 1880 by the Jameson family.

Behind the rose garden lies the huge walled garden. Here the heat retaining stone and brick walls create a warm microclimate where tender plants, such as salvias and abutilons, thrive. Before its recent new lease of life, the walled garden had been used as a winter enclosure for cattle. Now it is a gorgeous, secluded world with five smaller, themed gardens: a four seasons garden, a herb garden, an Irish, cottage garden, a vegetable garden and an alcove garden. Most popular of these is the vegetable garden: apparently many younger people are intrigued to see cabbages, spinach, lettuce, onions and leeks all lined up in the soil, rather than on supermarket shelves. Oh dear!

And in the cottage garden, sweet pea, tobacco, calendula, honeysuckle and many other old favourites tumble cheerfully about. But for me one of the warmest pleasures was to see little, furry peaches ripening in the alcove garden, where in protected niches fruit trees and vines grow like saints' statues nestling in their nooks.

Almost all of the plants are labelled in Ardgillan, a thoughtful and generous gesture. Please leave the labels there, for everybody to enjoy.