Garinish Island (County Kerry)

Garinish (Garinis in Irish, meaning 'The near island') is a privately owned island lying off the coast of the Iveragh Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland.

Garinish Island
Native name:
Garinis
Garinish Island
Geography
LocationKenmare River
Coordinates51°48′17″N 09°53′57″W
Area57 acres (23 ha)
Administration
ProvinceMunster
CountyKerry
The view from Garinish Island. Knockanamadane is the mountain in the distance. Photograph dated August 1986
Print of Garinish Island Harbor (Parknasilla. County Kerry, Ireland) between 1890 and 1900

History

In 1855 Edwin Edwin Wyndham-Quin, 3rd Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl (1812-1871), purchased "Garinish Island" near Sneem (County Kerry, Republic of Ireland) as a holiday retreat from the Bland family of Derryquin Castle. He commissioned the architect James Franklin Fuller (1835-1924) and the building contractor Denis William Murphy (1799-1863, father of William Martin Murphy) with the creation of a house, later called "Garinish Lodge", and a garden on the island.

From 1900 onwards his son, Windham Wyndham-Quin, 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl (1841-1926), developed the gardens on "Garinish Island" into a subtropical wild garden. It is still in existence today. The house, called "Garinish Lodge", was burned in September 1922 during the Irish Civil War (1922–1923), but later rebuilt. When Lord Dunraven died in June 1926, aged 85. he left "Garinish Island" to his only surviving child, Lady Aileen May Wyndham-Quin (1873–1962).

About 1950 Mr. Reginald Browne and his wife bought the island and restored the house and the garden after many years of neglect. Their sons continued with the replenishing of plants and trees.[1]

Since the 1990s the island is owned by Jacqui (Jacob) Eli Safra (*1948).[2] He is a Swiss investor and a descendant of the Lebanese-Swiss Jewish Safra banking family.[3]

The garden

Garnish Island has a fine garden, renowned for tree ferns. Cordyline australis (cabbage palms) thrive in this region. They line the pathway in the photograph on the top left.

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References
  1. Valerie Bary: "Houses of Kerry", Ballinakella Press, Whitegate, Co. Clare 1994, p. 121-122, ISBN 0-946538-08-5
  2. Tommy Barker. "Sheen Falls poised for sale". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  3. Robert Kolker. "Shadows And Fog". New York Magazine. Retrieved 6 November 2013.

Further reading
  • Valerie Bary: "Houses of Kerry", Ballinakella Press, Whitegate, Co. Clare 1994, p. 95–96, ISBN 0-946538-08-5
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