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The
centrepiece of the design is the Italian garden
with the perfectly proportioned buildings of the Casita and
the Temple showing the warm tones of mellow Bath stone, columns
of gloriously red Rosso Antico and the veined beauty of slabs
of marble from Carrara and Connemara.
As
a visitor, you may also wander the wilder planting
of less formal areas, enjoy the heavily shaded woodland environment
of The Jungle, stroll beneath the fine brick and stone walls
of the Walled Garden with its nurseries and climbing plants,
or climb the wide steps at the end of an avenue of Italian
cypresses that leads to the Grecian Temple with its views
over the sea to the Caha Mountains.
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you follow the path
from Happy Valley, a flight of blue shale steps leads you up
to the island’s Martello Tower, built in 1804-5, and one
of many such towers constructed around the coast as a precaution
against possible French invasion. It was in Bantry Bay in 1796
that the Irish patriot Wolfe Tone had anchored with part of
a force of 43 ships and 15,000 troops supplied by the Revolutionary
French government in an attempt to overthrow British rule. Extremely
stormy weather, however, scattered the armada and made effective
invasion an impossibility. |
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When
it’s time to rest, you can also enjoy
the welcome of the island’s café, taking your
refreshment while looking out over the sea to Glengarriff
with its backdrop of mountains.
Garinish,
which means ‘the near island’ is also known as
Illnacullin, ‘the island of holly’, which may
well be its original name
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