Garnish Island Ilnacullin
Garnish Island, known in Irish as Ilnacullin, in Glengarriff Harbour in County Cork is one of the finest gardens in Ireland, a small island transformed in the early twentieth century by Annan Bryce and the garden designer Harold Peto from a rocky and largely bare islet into a garden of extraordinary beauty and botanical richness. The combination of the formal Italian garden at the heart of the island, the extensive informal plantings of exotic trees and shrubs from across the Southern Hemisphere and the views of the surrounding mountains and harbour from every part of the island create a garden of remarkable variety in an island setting of complete enchantment.
The warm Gulf Stream microclimate of Glengarriff Harbour, sheltered from north and east winds by the surrounding mountains, allows plants from New Zealand, South America, the Mediterranean and South Africa to grow in the open in conditions impossible on the Irish mainland. The Casita garden, an Italian formal garden of considerable architectural quality, provides the structural centrepiece of the island design, while the surrounding plantings of rare conifers, rhododendrons, tree ferns and tender shrubs fill the rest of the island in a tour of the Southern Hemisphere's most remarkable plants.
The colony of basking seals on the rocks around the island and the boat crossing from Glengarriff village add to the experience of a garden destination that is entirely appropriate in its island setting, the journey across the harbour being an essential part of the Garnish visit rather than a mere practical necessity.