Garinish (''Garinis'' in Irish, meaning 'near island') is a privately owned island lying off the coast of the Iveragh Peninsula,

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

, Ireland.

History

In 1855 Edwin

Edwin Wyndham-Quin, 3rd Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl Edwin Richard Wyndham-Quin, 3rd Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl KP PC (19 May 1812 – 6 October 1871) was an Irish peer, Member of Parliament, and archaeologist. He was styled Viscount Adare from 1824 to 1850. The son of Windham Quin, 2 ...

(1812-1871), purchased Garinish Island as a holiday retreat from the Bland family of

Derryquin Castle Derryquin Castle was an 18th-century stone-built country house, now demolished, in the Parknasilla estate in Sneem, County Kerry in the Republic of Ireland. It stood on the Ring of Kerry route some 40 km (25 miles) south-west of Killarney. ...

. He commissioned the architect James Franklin Fuller (1835-1924) and the

building contractor A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...

Denis William Murphy (1799-1863, father of William Martin Murphy) with the creation of a house, later called "Garinish Lodge", and a garden on the island. From 1900 onwards his son, Windham Wyndham-Quin, 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl (1841-1926), developed the gardens on Garinish Island into a subtropical wild garden. It is still in existence today. The house, Garinish Lodge, was burned in September 1922 during the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United ...

(1922–1923), but later rebuilt. When Lord Dunraven died in June 1926, aged 85. he left Garinish Island to his only surviving child, Lady Aileen May Wyndham-Quin (1873–1962). About 1950 Reginald Browne and his wife bought the island and restored the house and the garden after many years of neglect. Their sons continued with the replenishing of plants and trees. Since the 1990s the island has been owned by Jacqui Safra, a Swiss investor and a descendant of the Lebanese-

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

Jewish Safra banking family.

The garden

Garnish Island has a fine garden, renowned for tree ferns.

Cordyline australis ''Cordyline australis'', commonly known as the cabbage tree, tī kōuka or cabbage-palm, is a widely branched monocot tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to tall with a stout trunk and sword-like leaves, which are clustered at the tips of ...

(cabbage palms) thrive in this region. They line the pathway in the photograph on the top left.

References

External links

Article from www.goldmedalwineclub.com

from the "

Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country. ...

", dated 10 January 2013
Article from "FieldBryology" No. 98, dated June 2009

Article from "The Bulletin of the British Pteridological Society", Vol. 7, No. 2, p. 203, dated 2010

"Kenmare and District Garden Club" from www.kenmarenews.biz/wp/, dated 16. April 2019
Islands of County Kerry Gardens in County Kerry Safra family Private islands of Ireland

History

The garden

References

Further reading

External links