VIDEO SOURCE: IRISH NATIONAL STUD/YOUTUBE

IRISH NATIONAL STUD & GARDENS

The Irish National Stud belongs to the people of Ireland but prides itself on being enjoyed and appreciated by visitors from all parts of the globe. Nowhere better symbolizes all that is great about County Kildare, the beating heart of Ireland’s thoroughbred industry, than the stud, a unique attraction of outstanding natural beauty that is home to some of the most magnificent horses and sumptuous gardens to be found anywhere in the world. For well over 100 years, the pride of Tully has been a working stud farm, its central objective being to produce for Ireland thoroughbreds capable of being crowned champions at home and abroad. In that aim, it proved an instant hit with Minoru, one of the first star horses born and raised on the stud’s idyllic land, triumphing in horse racing’s most important contest, the Epsom Derby, way back in 1909.

THE ICONIC JAPANESE GARDENS AT THE IRISH NATIONAL STUD

The Irish National Stud’s Japanese Gardens, renowned throughout the world and the finest of their kind in Europe, are far more than simply a treat for the eye. They also provide comfort to the soul, achieving exactly the objective that was set out when the gardens were created between 1906 and 1910.  Devised by Colonel William Hall Walker, a wealthy Scotsman from a famous brewing family, the gardens were laid out by Japanese master horticulturist Tassa Eida and his son Minoru.  Their aim was, through trees, plants, flowers, lawns, rocks and water, to symbolize the ‘Life of Man’. That plan was executed to perfection and Eida’s legacy is now admired by the 120,000 visitors who soak up the peace of the gardens every year.

That plan was executed to perfection and Eida’s legacy is now admired by the 120,000 visitors who soak up the peace of the gardens every year.  Very much representative of Japanese gardens from the early 20th century, Eida’s work traces the journey of a soul from oblivion to eternity and portrays the human experience of its embodiment as it journeys by paths of its own choice through life. Birth, childhood, marriage, parenthood, old age, death and the afterlife are all brought to mind as the gardens, a seamless mixture of Eastern and Western cultures, are explored.

ST FIACHRA'S GARDEN

St. Fiachra’s Garden was designed in 1999 by award-winning landscape architect Professor Martin Hallinan. The garden commemorates St. Fiachra, the patron saint of gardeners. It provides a perfect partner to the Irish National Stud’s Japanese Gardens while, at the same time, opening up a wholly different yet equally satisfying experience.  This stunning attraction seeks to capture that which inspired those involved in Ireland’s monastic movement in the 6th and 7th centuries. It does so principally by paying handsome tribute to the Irish landscape in its rawest state.

Rock and water are rulers in a garden rejoicing in the natural beauty of woodland, wetland, waterfalls, lakes and streams. Monastic cells of fissured limestone are surrounded by water while an inner subterranean garden is home to magnificent Waterford Crystal-shaped rocks, ferns and orchids. St. Fiachra’s Garden is the very essence of Ireland’s natural beauty, as it was then and as it is now.

Source: irishnationalstud.ie