A beautiful Japanese Garden in County Kildare in Ireland. Why? アイルランドの日本庭園
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- Опубликовано: 23 авг 2024
- A very different kind of film this week - we could almost be on a different continent, but we’re not, we’re in good old county Kildare at the Irish National Stud - yep, where they breed the horses, but we’re not looking at horses today. I’ve saved that for a later film. In fact, today we’re in this beautiful Japanese garden.
A lot of work goes into these videos. You can now buy me a pint as a means of appreciation for my work on Naked Ireland, no obligation, obviously - only if you can afford it... I appreciate it. Cheers.
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This garden is just one of the gardens that the National Stud in Kildare has on its estate. And the stud’s website makes the claim that it’s the finest of its kind in Europe. But that’s quite a claim, I imagine there’s a lot of Japanese gardens in all of Europe. So let’s take a look and make our own minds up.
It’s a pity we got such a rainy day for this - it really is pouring as you can see, but as I always say, the true test of the beauty of a place is weather it still looks amazing even when the weather isn’t favourable.
As you can see the hard landscaping includes such things as man-made caves and stone bridges, the sort of stuff you’d perhaps expect to find in this kind of garden. Landmarks like this (which are obviously not natural) can sometimes look a bit kitsch, but perhaps you can get away with it in a Japanese garden - maybe it’s all part of the aesthetic
This garden is quite old and was created between 1906 and 1910 and was conceived by a Scotsman named Colonel William Hall Walker. The construction itself was carried out by a Japanese master horticulturist Tassa Eida and his son Minoru.
I think this moss lined stone path is particularly attractive and perhaps is even one of those things that looks even better in the rain?
Japanese gardens however are not just pretty things to look at, they often have some deeper philosophical meaning. This garden is supposed to symbolise the life of man. Japanese gardens take you on a journey and this one traces the passage of a soul from oblivion to eternity. Aspects of the garden apparently symbolise birth, childhood, marriage, parenthood, old age, death and of course the afterlife.
I’m not exactly sure how this garden storytelling is realised and would love to walk around here with someone more expert than I to get a full explanation of how this all plays out, but regardless, the place is very beautiful and we can appreciate it for that alone.
This little pavilion is very attractive. I’m guessing this is a traditional teahouse or something. And some of the stone artifacts in the garden are very beautiful too. As we look inside the pavilion, it’s exactly the kind of minimalist architecture you’d expect this kind of traditional Japanese building to reflect.
120 thousand people visit this garden every year, although as you can see `I have the place to myself today, presumably due to the inclement conditions.
Water plays a big part in Japanese gardens and its prevalent here as you can see. The water features here are really stunning in fact. And just the sound of water in a garden I think creates so much atmosphere.
It must take a long time and perhaps a few gardeners to keep all these bushes clipped to perfection. Just going to go round behind the pavilion now…and you can see this beautiful Japanese well. It really doesn’t seem to matter that it’s raining, it’s all just so evocative of the east.
I got completely soaked making this film, but when you look at this garden you see immediately that it’s all worth it.
So now you know if you’re ever passing through County Kildare, call in and visit this amazing garden. Perhaps pick a dryer day than this. And it’s not the only garden here - I’ll be taking a look at what else is on offer in future films, including the amazing Irish National Stud itself. So look out for those.
Perhaps you’re watching this film in Japan. I’d love to hear what you thought of our Japanese garden here in Ireland, so please let me know in the comments.
I always am made to feel welcome when in Ireland.
Thank you so much. What a breathtaking beautiful video. The rain only added to its beauty. Thank you again for sharing it. Much needed after a long week ❤❤❤😊😊😊
Ah, so glad you enjoyed it and the rain didn’t ruin it for you. Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment.
That was truly beautiful! What a great wee walk! I think the weather was perfect, as water is so vital to Japanese Landscapes. An old garden. Great concept too. Thank you Greg,I owe you a pint👍
Thanks Des, yes it’s funny that the weather didn’t bother me. I quite enjoyed it.
I have visited but spent a brief amount of time in the garden as I was there for the horses. :) Enjoyed the video as usual.
Ah well, I’ll be doing a film on the National Stud at some point, so that may be of particular interest to you?
Thanks Greg for bring this to my attention as I wasn't really aware this existed! Yes, the weather makes all the difference as I'd love to see it with blue skies & sunshine, but then it wouldn't be Ireland otherwise lol! 😆
Have an amazing weekend my friend 🤗
Yes, you might have to go to Japan for that Rue!
Ive been to Ireland a few times. Never visited this beautiful place. I guess I have another reason to return! Thanks
And you’ll be very welcome when you come Douglas. Thanks for watching.
Stunning there used to be a lovely Japanese Garden in a Park where I used to live.My Son speaks Japanese he would love this.
Ah great, cheers for watching.
Glad you enjoyed it, feel free to send it on to your son.
Very interesting. Thanks.
Thank you for watching.
Thanks for sharing. I've stayed down the way a couple times at the hermitages and passed by but haven't been into the stud yet. Would like to on my next visit. Is the other garden just as lovely? :)
There are a couple of gardens at the stud, both incredible. I’ll be featuring the other one in a later video.
Proper Irish weather 😁, need a Guinness after that 😀. Cool garden, my misses would enjoy there.
Yes, I had a few pints on Guinness that night actually. I think I deserved it though, after the soaking.
@@nakedireland Quite right 😁 its the only way to dry out 😄
You need something wet to help you dry out!
@@nakedireland Spoken like a true Irishman 😁🍻
Yes, that sounded clever. 🤓
Thanks Greg. Pity you didnt have the weather.
Ah you can’t have everything. Generally I’m lucky with the weather in my videos, so I can’t complain.
Tried to buy you a pint or two, but something weird happened - the CAPTCHA window didn’t display fully, so I couldn’t prove that I’m not a robot. Sorry about that - you deserve a drink after walking around in the pouring rain. I shall try again another day. Slàinte!
I’ll take a look and see what might be wrong. I appreciate you trying, sorry it didn’t work.
Had a quick look and couldn't see anything wrong. I'm guessing it could be something like your browser not being compatible with the site or something. Your could try using a different browser I guess, but yeah, no hurry, try again another time. Many thanks for the thought - it really is appreciated.
Success! I tried Chrome and direct charge to my credit card. No picture CAPTCHA on that route.
Ah briiliant, so kind of you. Thank you so much and I hope you will visit Ireland again soon.