Newtownbarry House is a hidden gem for garden visits and overnight stays, writes Jane Powers
IT IS A SOFT DAY in Wexford when we visit the gardens at Newtownbarry House. Indeed, it is so soft that the raindrops have swarmed over every surface of every plant, bejewelling them with crystal drops, and bowing them down with their watery weight. It is not the kind of day that one would choose to be out and about in a garden, but the (non) summer is flying by fast, and we can't be picky. And, as long as there is a big raincoat involved, it's surprisingly comfortable.
In fact (I'm determined to be cheerful about the weather), there should be more rain-time garden visiting in this country. The wet garden is an entirely different thing to the dry one: it sounds good, smells earthy, and - when seen through a veil of raindrops - looks achingly romantic.
Furthermore, if you are one of those people who attracts biting insects, then rain visiting is highly recommended, as nothing smaller than a blackbird takes to the air when it's pouring. Other garden visitors - faint-hearted souls - are also scarce, so unless there is a coach-load of foreign tourists, you have the place to yourself.
Such is our luck as we wander around the several acres of gardens and parkland at Newtownbarry House, on the edge of Bunclody. The only other human being is the determinedly bright Matty Doyle, who helps out here a couple days a week, and who is easing weeds out of the moist soil.
The rain may have temporarily depressed the herbaceous plants, but the smooth swathes of lawn wrapping around the house are happily suffused with a surreally green tone. And the centuries-old trees open out their big, wooden arms to wash their leaves.
The historic Newtownbarry House is the home of Clody Norton, and has been in her family (the Hall-Dares) since the 1860s. The magnificent trees, however, are considerably older, planted by the previous family, the Maxwell-Barrys, who came here over a century earlier. A glossy-leaved hickory Carya glabra, leaning at a jaunty angle, is a champion tree in these islands, and measures 19 metres high, and 1.88 metres in girth. Ancient oaks, yews, cedars and beeches lend the estate an august air, and act as a perfect complement to the stern, granite house, built between 1863 and 1869 by Clody's ancestor, Robert Westley Hall-Dare.
The house, which took the place of an earlier one, is a pleasingly geometric structure, with decisive lines and large windows. Its imposing presence radiates timeless sophistication - to these 21st-century eyes, anyway. But Clody is quick to disabuse this notion. Some years ago, a visiting historian "looked at me and looked at this house, and said, 'well, the nouveau riche always had classical houses, and the old families had Scottish baronial'. But," she laughs, "I think he was right, that's exactly what my family were up to. They came from England, and they had been marrying up. As far as I can see, that's what the Hall-Dares were about. The first one I traced was about 1798, and he was a clerk in London."
Sixty-some years later in Ireland, the Hall-Dares were well-heeled enough to engage one of the most fashionable and versatile architects of the day, Charles Lanyon (and his pupil William Henry Lynn). Lanyon was equally handy with Gothic revival and neo-classical styles. Among his many other designs are the Palm House in Belfast Botanic Gardens, the main building at Queen's University, and Castle Leslie.
When the Hall-Dares came to Newtownbarry they embraced the local life with gusto, entering farm and garden produce into agricultural and horticultural shows. In 1868, a report in this newspaper of the Co Carlow Agricultural Society Show noted that Mr RW Hall-Dare's collection of agricultural produce had "attracted very considerable attention. His mangolds and turnips were remarkable for their size and quality. The drumhead cabbage were particularly fine." He was awarded the Purdon prize, and not for the first time. His secret, he revealed two years previously, was to manure his land with "phospho guano", one of the first artificial fertilisers. At other shows he carried off prizes for asters, white grapes, figs and nectarines.
Alas, he died young, but his family continued to win prizes. In 1931, another RW Hall-Dare took first at the Co Wexford Horticultural Society Show for "gladiola", dessert apples, late-season cooking apples, pears and cucumbers. And when Clody was living here as a small child in the 1940s, there was much horticultural activity. A double herbaceous border in the kitchen garden has a special place in her memory. However, by the time she came back to live at Newtownbarry House, as a young woman in the 1970s, "the gardens were gone. There was nothing there except for the walls", and the greenhouse that had sheltered those prize-winning grapes, nectarines and cucumbers had been taken down.
It was 20 years before she was able to turn her attention to refurbishing the garden, but the past few years have seen remarkable changes. A little rose garden was the first to be tackled, and after that, a favourite spot of Clody's, the "Sunken Garden". This had probably been first created at the beginning of the 19th century, by Lady Lucy Annesley, wife of an early Maxwell-Barry. Her design was a gentle dip in the landscape, with a pond, and with rustic arches at either end. Then, in the time of the first Hall-Dares it was Victorianised into a more intricate affair - with box-edged compartments, bedding plants and little paths - and enclosed within deep retaining walls. Yet, half a dozen years ago, it had been thoroughly conquered by brambles, nettles and saplings. It remained intact only in Clody's memory.
A chance remark of hers ("Gosh, we must restore this one day!") encouraged Micky Dunne, who has worked on the farm here for 35 years, to undertake some serious clearance. Then, local landscape gardener, Kevin Raleigh, came in with an "army of little diggers and dumpers" to lay paths and lawns, while gardening friend Maria Levinge, and cousin Henry Lee-Warner offered advice on plants. The main planting around the newly-restored pond and in the box-lined beds, was the work of Imogen Stafford, who, until recently, worked here.
The Sunken Garden today is by no means a faithful restoration, which might cause garden historians to purse their lips and frown. But its bold-leaved plants (including globe artichoke, hosta, ligularia, rheum and fern), hardy geraniums, irises, alliums and other loose-looking perennials give it a most interesting and welcoming character. A simple fountain offers a mesmerising focal (and aural) point, and ensures that visitors are pleasingly tranquillised.
Above the Sunken Garden, a double mixed border, just three years old, is a reminder for Clody of the much-loved herbaceous border of her childhood. It is punctuated with flashes of red: phormium, helenium, Berberis 'Rose Glow', and other ruddy specimens. During this soft Irish summer, they infuse some much-needed warmth into one's spirits.
jpowers@irish-times.ie
Newtownbarry House and Gardens, Bunclody, Co Wexford, 053-9376383; Open noon to 6pm, Thursday to Sunday and bank holidays until August 31st. B&B is offered May to September, when the house and gardens are open. www.newtownbarryhouse.com.