Ardnagashel House Estate is a highly important part of the heritage of Bantry Bay. The tree collection in the woodland has the potential to attract a substantial amount of visitors from overseas each year. Ellen Hutchins Arboretum is the worthy jewel between Bantry House and Garinish Island.
Location
Townland of Ardnagashel, between Bantry and Glengarriff, West Cork. Once an estate of about 300 acres. After WWII Ardnagashel West was sold to explorer Colonel Ronald Kaulback (1909 – 1995, right photograph), book author and Member of the Royal Geographical Society; he joined an expedition of celebrated rhododendron hunter Frank Kingdon-Ward (1885-1958).
Founded by
Arthur Hutchins (1770-1838) in 1800. His sister Ellen Hutchins (1785-1815) is widely recognized as Ireland´s first woman botanist (see book ‘Stars, Shells & Bluebells – Women Scientists and Pioneers’ Dublin 1997). Ellen became famous for her list of 1200 plants of Bantry Bay and her drawings of seaweeds, mosses and liverworts now to be seen in Glasnevin. Some plants are named after her (‘hutchinsia’).
Ardnagashel today
Ardnagashel House Estate: owned by Rent an Irish Cottage Holiday Homes, Limerick. 10 holiday homes in old buildings (stables), 8 holiday homes built in 2006/07 on ‘horse field’ on conditional planning permission No 04/9649 (23/09/2005). Owner has to protect and maintain the woodland according to ten year management plan.
East Ardnagashel: owned and re-designed during the past few years by Richard Hutchins (born 1915) and family, no access to the public. The best myrtle wood in the British Isles.
Specialities of the woodland:
Unique arboretum, great collection of mature rhododendrons from the Himalayan mountains, a coastal path, mature woodland with trees from all over the world, some Irish Champion Trees. Tree Specialist Sir Thomas Pakenham and the Irish Tree Society visited Ardnagashel in June 2006, the International Dendrology Society came in May 2010. A German documentary on Public TV about Southwestern Irish Gardens featured Ardnagashel in April 2010. Features in magazines as “Ireland Edition”.
Champion Trees
- Three mature cork trees (Quercus suber), probably the largest in Ireland (fell into pieces in spring 2011)
- An exceptional Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) with ten outstations
- The tallest Podocarpus salignus in Ireland and Britain (died autumn 2010)
- The biggest White Fir (Abies alba)
- 8 exceptional trees recorded by TROBI in 1966
Rhododendrons and camellias
Rhododendrons some exceptionally tall rhodos like R. sinogrande, most specimens collected at a Himalayan expedition in the early thirties. Camellias among many unnamed camellias there is a rare tree Camellia ‘Cornish Snow’
Special other plants
- a quite tall Sequoia sempervirens
- a unique and tall Trochodendron
- some rather tall treeferns Dicksonia antartica
- a rather tall Dove tree (Davidia involucrata)
- two tall and multistemmed Gingerbread Trees (Katsura japonica)
- a rather tall and rare Lomatia ferruginosa
- a very rare Colorado White Fir (Abies concolor)
- two very rare Tasmanian Dacrydiums (D. cupressinum and D. franklinii)
- a rare Magnolia campbellii planted in the 1930s
Other features
- walled garden
- ‘enchanted’ pond
- a stone built outdoor toilet of the 19th century
- old burial ground (owned by the Hutchins family)
Decaying conditions
The unique place is under serious threat. Every year there is a loss of another couple of trees due to storms and choking due to briars, ivy, myrtles. There are no funds to save the place of highly historical value.
We lived on Ardnatrush for 11 months in 2007/2008 When we discovered the garden we were delighted. It’s like a fairytale garden. We took all our visitors to see. They all loved it.
We sat for hours on the little beach and rocks. Dreaming off how it would be, living in that garden and restore it in former glory. Would love to see it all again.