The parks and gardens in Cork and its surrounding areas offer an excellent alternative to staying at home any day of the week. From large national parks to the smaller community parks, Cork has many open spaces, and the gardens are also admirable. Most are free entry, and they all are a popular spot all year round. Here are a few of my favourites:
Fota Aboretum – Known as the finest park in Ireland by many, Fota Aboretum is home to subtropical trees from not only Ireland but all over the world. The park is very close to a lovely wildlife park and the Belvelley castle.
Fitzgerald s Park – The Park itself covers around eighteen acres of Cork and is on the bank of the river Lee. It is great fun for people of all ages with play parks for the children and landscaped gardens for the adults to admire. In addition, there are several sculptures by Seamus Murphy in park which are just wonderful to look at and admire. There is also a public museum in the park in which entry is free every day except Sunday.
Millstreet Country Park – With an area of a little over 500 acres, Millstreet Country Park is home to a lot of wildlife including native deer and many species of birds which include many aquatic ones which can be seen by the lake. In the vast area that this park covers, there are gardens, lakes, waterfalls, picnic areas and many more attractions which make this a wonderful park. This park is ideal for children as there are huge grass areas for them to run around in and some small woodland areas to play hide and seek. In the park there are many places to picnic however the best are near the lake as these areas offer the best views.
Doneraile Wildlife Park – Comprising of around 400 acres, it is an excellent example of an outstanding park landscaped in the mid eighteenth century. When visiting the park you will see many restored water features which were designed by along with most of the park by English landscape architect, Lancelot Capability Brown. To get into the park everyone must pay an admission fee however it is very cheap; the family ticket only costs a £3 and single entry is a meres 70p.
Bantry House and Gardens – Originally built by the Hutchinson family in 1740, the house was extended in 1765 by the White family. There are guided tours of the house and gardens in which the family’s treasures and fine art collections can be viewed. The tours usually run from mid March until October.
Ilnacullin – The gardens on this island are a very popular tourist attraction which is visited by thousands of people each year. The wonderful structures in the gardens include a clock tower and two temples. Although the gardens were designed by Italians many people think that there is definitely a Japanese influence on the design. Since this is an island it has been made easily accessible by many ferry services which are very frequent and do not last long at all.
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