kissing the stone , a book about the castle and a few odd knick-knacks. Maureen bought the same but without the picture or book.We were armed with a brochure that told us of some of the things we could see.
Maureen wanted to go and see the fern garden and I thought ‘I don’t really want to go and look at ferns.
I’ve seen ferns. I lived in BC where there are lots of ferns’. But I said lets see the grounds first, hoping that we would run out of time and not have to go. I know, I'm Very selfish and mean.
So we went to look at the manor house. When we got to the house we found out that there was a tour every hour and a half but we would have had to wait for 45 minutes so we decided to forgo the tour of the house and just do the grounds.
They were very nice. An interesting start was the walk through an archway in the hedge.
This brought us to a wide lawn that graced the back of the house, with a view down to the lake. I could imagine sitting in the drawing room looking at that view.
Very Peaceful. A sundial on a path, although the sun was not out at that moment, was an interesting lawn ornament.
Side lawns with sinuous walks through a shrubbery containing rhododendrons that were 30 feet tall invited us to wander.
Now not that long ago I thought a shrubbery was a bush.
I have since learned that a shrubbery is a planting of some 6 to 8 feet in depth with the shorter shrubs in the front gradually increasing in height to the tallest plants in the back. This would line a winding gravel path and offer the onlooker quiet picturesque perspectives while providing privacy from the outside world. You have to love Jane Austen. I belong to the Jane Austen Society back home and so learned about landscaping in her time at one of our meetings. How fun!
We loved the variety of plants and the rhodos were magnificent. We paused to get a few photos to show how really large they were.
Some people would say 'but you are both short so that makes the rhodos look bigger'. Well yes we are admittedly short only 5 ft 2 inches, but we are not Leprechauns. No,we are not that short.
Then we wandered down towards the stables. We did not get there. A little sign that said 'Private Road' made us pause and wonder if we had somehow turned the wrong way.
We knew that we had permission to go to the stables and that the manor house was a private residence that opened its doors to the public, but for what ever reason we did not want to cross the line of the "Private Road" sign.
So we turned and went another route entirely. Past trees that were huge and obviously old. Through woods and past fields.
Maureen really wanted to see the fern garden so we found the right road and went to see the ferns.
The road was wet and lined with wild garlic. The aroma was very strong. Giant cedar trees lined both sides and made it seem very quiet and wild.
We past the ice house, we knew what it was as there was a sign, and a few other ruined buildings, almost completely grown over with brush.
The road became a path all twisty and hilly and wood chipped.
We went over a little rise and there appeared a most wondrous sight.
The Fern garden was magic. Ferns towered over us and around us at all levels to create a truly Cretaceous experience.
Where had these come from? How did they live here?
It was marvelous. I was now very glad indeed that Maureen had insisted that we go. I will tell everyone I know who is going to see Blarney about the Fern Garden.
What a great surprise. By the time we were finished wandering around and taking lots of photos of Giant ferns, stone benches tucked into quiet corners and statues semi hidden in watery grottos, the
sun had come out and it was getting quite warm.
We wandered back up to the manor house by a different route and found that it had gotten quite busy with tourists. Seemed the tour buses had started arriving .
I did tell people that I saw about going to see the fern garden but they said that they only had so much time and so probably would not get to see it.
We were so glad that we had decided to travel in our own rented vehicle as it gave us the freedom to stay and explore where ever we wanted.
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