Killruddery, a large estate outside of Dublin, has been in the Brabazon family for the past 400 years.
We arrived early Sunday morning and immediately headed to the border with the superb stand of echium.
There must have been more than 30 tall, thick, giant specimens, some at least 16 feet high, scattered throughout the border.
None of us had seen this many echium is a single border before. I have seen them in the south of France in gardens on the Cote d’Azure around Menton but nothing as spectacular as the ones here at Killruddery.
The border also contained a splendid myrtle tree with its superb soft coppery coloured bark and branches.
From this excellent border, we wandered by the house, pausing to admire the giant column of jasmine and passion vines in the orangery, and press on into the area called the Angles, where beech hedges have been clipped into walkways that radiate from a centrepiece cherub sculpture.
Some of what we were looking at was designed in the 1680s by a French gardener named Bonet who apparently had been a student of Andre Le Notre, the man who designed the gardens at Vaux le Vicomte and Versailles.
Next, we moved into the woodland and up to The Rock from where we had spectacular views of the house and the expanse of property and beyond to the Wicklow Mountains.
From Killruddery, we took a short ride to reach Powerscourt, our garden destination for lunch.
Powerscourt is very happy to boast about being named the world’s third best garden by National Geographic. But you have to bear in mind that NG named Versailles the best garden in the world, which shows how little they have considered the matter.
Nevertheless, there is no denying the beauty and grandeur and impressive natural woodlands and magnificent trees at Powerscourt.
We enjoyed walking the vast acreage and seeing all the sites – the Italian gardens, the Japanese garden, the herbaceous border, the Tower Valley castle and more.
Powerscourt is also home to the exquisite Avoca shop where everyone found lovely items to buy either for themselves or as presents for family and friends.
