CHAPTER XXVI 



TREES AND SHRUBS IN IRELAND 



IT is not possible, without going beyond the limits of 

 a volume of comfortable size, to do anything ap- 

 proaching justice to the trees and shrubs that are the 

 glory of many gardens in the sister Isle. It is a 

 favoured isle for the growth of Conifers, and trees 

 and shrubs that in other parts of Britain, except 

 under exceptional conditions, completely fail. The 

 Sikkim Rhododendrons at Kilmacurragh, Co. Wick- 

 low, the residence of Mr. Thomas Acton, D.L. ; the 

 Rhododendrons and Ghent Azaleas at Houth Castle, 

 Co. Dublin ; the noble Conifers in the gardens 

 of Viscount Powerscourt at Enniskerry, Wicklow, 

 and of Lord Annesley, Castlewellan, Co. Down, 

 besides other counties, are well known to every one 

 deeply interested in trees and shrubs ; while among 

 other notable gardens filled with rare treasures and 

 specimens of individual development may be named, 

 St. Annes', Clontarf, Co. Dublin ; Cong, Co. Mayo ; 

 and Muckross, Killarney, residences of Lord Ardi- 

 laun. The gardens of Mr. W. E. Gumbleton, 

 Belgrove, Queenstown, Cork, contain interesting col- 

 lections ; and the same may be said of Straffan, 

 Co. Kildare, the Duke of Leinster's famous residence ; 

 Carton, near Maynooth, in the same county ; Wood- 



