Research articles on Parks, Gardens and Landscapes
Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesne of Special Historic Interest in Northern Ireland
List of entries by new (post 2015) local council areas (Texts Revised November 2020)
The texts in this document were drafted in 2020 to accompany the entries in the Register of Gardens, Parks and Demesnes. They replace much shorter entries originally drafted in 2004 and will be incorporated into the new local area plans, which are being introduced following the 2015 re-organisation of council areas.
An overview of the history of Glenveagh Castle Gardens
By Seán Ó Gaoithín, first published in the IGPS Moorea Vol 16 2014 and revised for NIHGT Sept 2020
Introduction
A concise history of the development of the Garden at Glenveagh Castle is presented here. There have been three significant periods of development of the Garden, the first - during the ownership of Mrs Adair from 1885-1921, the second - that of Henry McIlhenny from 1937- 1983 and the third - most recently under State ownership from 1983 to the present. Ownership of the Glenveagh estate has passed through six private owners - John George Adair 1857-85, his wife Cornelia (Mrs Adair) was widowed from 1885 and sole owner of the Glenveagh Estate until 1921. The estate was held in trust for Mrs Adair’s son Montgomery Ritchie from her previous marriage, until Glenveagh was sold to Arthur Kingsley Porter in 1929. In July 1933 A.K. Porter went missing presumed drowned off Inishbofin in North Donegal. His widow Lucy (Mrs Porter) maintained Glenveagh until 1937 when she sold the Estate to Henry P McIlhenny of Philadelphia. McIlhenny set about conserving and enhancing the Castle interior and renovating the gardens from 1947. McIlhenny donated the Castle and Gardens to the Irish Nation in 1983, having sold the lands of the Park to the Irish Government for the purpose of establishing a National Park in 1975. The Park which includes the Castle and Gardens are managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The three significant periods of development in the Gardens are outlined in the paper.
History of deer management in Ireland with special reference to the Glenarm Deer Parks
by Terence Reeves-Smyth
The managed exploitation of deer and its role in the history of the Irish landscape from prehistoric times is examined with particular reference to hunting and deer parks. Being the chief surviving physical manifestation of past deer management, deer parks were first introduced by the Normans, though they became a dominant feature in Ireland only during the 17th and 18th centuries, after which their numbers declined with the ascendance of fox hunting. One of the largest and best recorded of these parks, the 3,000-acre Great Deer Park at Glenarm, Co Antrim, is subject here to special attention.
INTRODUCTION
Chris Lynn’s excavation of a mound in Deer Park Farms, Co Antrim, in 1984–87 revealed a long sequence of enclosed Early Christian period settlements, with associated houses and artefacts. It was undoubtedly one of most significant archaeological excavations to have been carried in Ireland out for a generation (Lynn & McDowell 2011). The site’s survival owed much to its fortuitous location within the boundary of the 17th-century Great Deer Park of Glenarm. Although dramatically reduced in size to around 800 acres at the start of the 19th century, this deer park originally extended to nearly 3,000 acres, and was one of the largest of over 500 deer parks known to have existed in Ireland.
originally published in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Vol 74, 2017–18
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PICUS Sonic Tomography
As part of the NIHGC Conference 2012 Bartlett Tree Co gave a demonstration of PICUS Sonic Tomography on a tree in The Phoenix Park, Dublin. The following images are of the actual demonstration.
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on PICUS Sonic Tomography for the quantification of decay in White Oak [Quercus Alba] and Hickory [Carya Spp.]
Click here to see images of the 2012 Conference
NORTHERN IRELAND HERITAGE GARDENS INVENTORY
1992 by Belinda Jupp on behalf of the Northern Ireland Heritage Gardens Committee.
This inventory was complied in 1992 by Belinda Jupp on behalf of the Northern Ireland Heritage Gardens Committee. After completion of the inventory, the files were all transferred to the Monuments and Buildings Record, held by Built Heritage: Environment and Heritage Service.
Click on the following link to open pdf in seperate window HERITAGE GARDENS INVENTORY.pdf
REGISTER OF PARKS, GARDENS AND DEMESNES OF SPECIAL HISTORIC INTEREST IN NORTHERN IRELAND
Register of Parks Gds & Demesnes - Northern Ireland-NIEA.pdf
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SOURCES FOR HERITAGE GARDENS INVENTORY NI by Belinda Jupp (2003)
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'The archaeology of parks and gardens, 1600-1900: an introduction to lrish Garden Archaeology
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Thomas McErlean (2007) 'The archaeology of parks and gardens, 1600-1900: an introduction to Irish garden archaeology'. In Audrey Horning, Ruairi O Baoill, Colm Donnelly and Paul Logue (eds) The Post-Medieval Archaeology of Ireland 1550-1850. Irish Post Medieval Archaeology Group (IPMAG), Wordwell, Dublin.
'THE NATURAL HISTORY OF DEMESNES' by Terence Reeves-Smyth
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THE NATURAL HISTORY OF DEMESNES by Terence Reeves-Smyth
Published 1997 in J.W. Foster and H. C.G. Chesney (eds.) Nature in Ireland. A Scientific and Cultural History. Dublin: The Lilliput Press, pp549-572.
"Demesnes have been a dominant feature of the Irish landscape since medieval times and once occupied over 5 per cent of the country. Although dependent upon their surrounding tenanted estates, demesnes - the manor lands farmed directly by the lord - have evolved as separate social and economic areas with distinctive planned and managed layouts incorporating woodland, farmland, gardens and ornamental grounds, as well as a range of building types."
PUBLISHED SOURCES FOR IRISH GARDEN HISTORY RESEARCH by kind permission of Terence Reeves-Smyth
Please click on the following link:- SOURCES STUDY IRISH GARDEN HISTORY 2.pdf
'PROTECTION OF HISTORIC PARKS & GARDENS IN NORTHERN IRELAND'
Article by Terence Reeves'Smyth first published in An Taisce's Bi-annual magazine in Summer 2007
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The COUNTRY HOUSES and DESIGNED LANDSCAPES of FINGAL
By Terence Reeves-Smyth. Published 2005 in The Built Heritage of Fingal. Preserving the Past - Exploring the Future, edited by Sheila Flanagan and Kieran Coghlan. Skerries Patrician Millennium Group, Dublin.
Please click on the following link to open the pdf in a seperate window:-HOUSES & DESIGNED LANDSCAPES OF FINGAL-2005.pdf
DOCUMENTING A GARDEN'S HISTORY by Janette Gallagher, 1984 - York
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DOCUMENTING A GARDEN'S HISTORY: Methods for Research together with notes on Referencing, Storage and Presentation of Material by Janette Gallagher. Published 1984 by the Centre for the Conservation of Historic Parks & Gardens, University of York.
FORGOTTEN GARDEN by the late Donald Girvan (1937-2000).
This short paper about Antrim Castle Gardens was written by Donald Girvan in the 1980s, but was never published. Donald died on 13th June 2000.
Please click on the following link to open the pdf in a seperate window: FORGOTTEN GARDEN BY DONALD GIRVIN.pdf
IRISH GARDENS and GARDENING before CROMWELL
by Terence Reeves-Smyth. Published 1997. The Barryscourt Trust with Gandon Editions, Co. Cork
Please click on the following link: IRISH GARDENS and GARDENING before CROMWELL.pdf
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage -GARDENS
http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/Surveys/Gardens/
The objective of this survey is to begin a process of understanding of the extent of Ireland's historic gardens and designed landscape. Sites were identified using the 1st edition Ordnance Survey maps. These were compared with current aerial photography to assess the level of survival and change. This assessment is not an indication of a site's heritage importance. Fieldwork is now in progress to compile more accurate data and site assessments. The results will be added to the website as this work progresses.
Crawfordsburn House - Walled Garden
SHARMAN-CRAWFORD OF CRAWFORDSBURN AND RADEMON
2 x Artists Impressions © NIEA.
Further Reading: http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2010/07/crawfordsburn-park.html
HISTORIC GARDENS (THE FLORENCE CHARTER 1981) Adopted by ICOMOS in December 1982.
The ICOMOS-IFLA International Committee for Historic Gardens, meeting in Florence on 21 May 1981, decided to draw up a charter on the preservation of historic gardens which would bear the name of that town. The present Florence Charter was drafted by the Committee and registered by ICOMOS on 15 December 1982 as an addendum to the Venice Charter covering the specific field concerned.