Killruddery Gardens' 19th Century
Garden Restoration, Ongoing Maintenance, European Statues
Ireland's Killruddery Gardens retain original 17th- and 18th- century garden features. Early 19th century maintenance was ongoing; owners purchased cast-iron statues.
Overview
The Brabazon family (Earls of Meath) has continuously owned Killruddery House and Gardens near the seaside town of Bray in County Wicklow since 1618. Killruddery Gardens reveal the presence of 17th-century garden features, believed by garden historians to be Ireland's oldest. Distinctive 18th- and 19th- century garden characteristics combined with the 17th-century garden features establish Killruddery as a unique and important formal landscape garden.
Twenty-first century visitors to Killruddery Gardens, who possess great perception, will probably share the same opinion as that of authors Keith Lamb and Patrick Bowe (A History of Gardening in Ireland):
“Gardens well cared for by the families that created them have an elusive quality hard to define and difficult to perpetuate under public ownership, just as great houses lose something of their aura when no longer lived in as family homes. Killruddery, County Wicklow, is fortunate in this respect.”
Georgian Period (Early 1800's)
Ongoing Maintenance
Ownership stability and maintenance continuity – except for World War II – insured preservation of these early original and illustrative formal gardens. Killruddery Gardens, begun about 1680 and stimulated mostly by the fourth and sixth Earls of Meath, are among the most significant surviving gardens in contemporary Ireland and the British Islands.
Garden Restoration and European Statues
Visitors to Killruddery in the early 1800s could admire the gardens' clearly established formal layout for both its traditional and historic value. In keeping with contemporary fashion practices and to continue further restoration of the 17th-century garden, the 10th Earl bought cast-iron statues of gods and goddesses and placed them around the garden. Landowners, or their intermediaries, usually bought statues and other items such as these at industrial expositions characteristic of the era. There are also four cast-iron statues of the Four Seasons placed at the entrances to the Beech Hedge Pond with a French fountain surrounded by playing children in its center.
Manufacturer stamps on statues still in place in the garden are:
- French - Barbezat Foundry and Co, and Du Val D'Osne Foundry;
- German - Kahl & Co, Potsdam; and
- Swiss – Geiss, Berne.
Additional Articles about Killruddery Gardens
Four Suite101.com Landscaping articles, as well as this one, not only describe Killruddery Gardens but also offer ideas and clues as to why gardens are more than just designs that contain collections of plants. These articles with their key points listed are shown below:
- An Overview
Ireland's Oldest Garden: Overview of National Pressures
- William the Conquerer to the Tudors
- British Rule, especially the Stuart Dynasty (1603-1714)
- The French Style and Restoration of the British Monarchy
- Detailed Description of Killruddery Gardens (17 April 1711, The Dublin Intelligencer)
Ireland's Oldest Garden: Existing 17th – and 18th – Century Landscape Design Features
- Twin Canals (Miroirs d'Eaux) or The Long Pond
- The Round Pond and Fountain, Deer Park and Double Linden (Lime) Avenue
- The Angles (Patte d' Oie) or Goose Foot
- The Wilderness (Bosquet / Bosket)
- The Double Beech Hedge and Pond
- The Sylvan Theatre and Turf Benches
Ireland's Oldest Garden: Killruddery - Victorian -19th-Century Landscape Design Features
- Restoration by Landscape Gardener Daniel Roberston
- Elizabethan-Revival Lavender-Rose Garden
- Victorian Ornamental Octagonal Dairy
- Cast-iron Decorative Statues
©Text and photograph by Georgene A. Bramlage, March 2007. Reproduction without permission prohibited.
