Garnish Island

Ilnacullin was a bare rocky island with almost no soil until 1910, when Annan Bryce, a Belfast-born MP, and his wife Violet bought it and commissioned the architect Harold Peto to lay out a garden. Boatloads of topsoil were brought from the mainland and shelter belts planted, and the Gulf Stream did the rest: the climate here is mild enough that tender plants from the southern hemisphere and the Mediterranean survive outdoors, and the island holds species that would not last a winter forty kilometres inland. Peto's Italian garden with its casita and pool is the formal centre, with a Grecian temple, a Martello tower on the high point and a walled garden. George Bernard Shaw wrote part of Saint Joan here. The ferry from Glengarriff takes ten minutes and passes a rock where harbour seals haul out, which the boats slow for. Last boats back run earlier than people expect.

History

John Annan Bryce, a Belfast native, bought the island from the War Office in 1910 and had the garden designed by Harold Peto, and his son Roland bequeathed it to the Irish nation in 1953. A restored Martello tower from the time of the Napoleonic Wars stands on the island (Wikipedia, Garnish Island).

What's there

• The Italian garden - Peto's formal casita and pool at the centre.
• The imported soil - a garden built on rock that had none.
• The tender planting - southern hemisphere species surviving in the Gulf Stream air.
• The seals - hauled out on the rocks on the ferry crossing.

When to go

April to September; the island and ferries are seasonal. Rhododendrons and azaleas peak in May and June. Check the last boat time - it is earlier than most visitors assume.

Things to know

Seasonal opening and ferry service, with two charges - island entry and the boat. Crossings cancel in swell. There is no shelter to speak of on the island in heavy rain. Last boats leave early.

Nearby

Glengarriff Nature Reserve is at the pier; Bantry House is south.

Key facts