A riot of colour and elegance is what greets you as you enter Vandeleur Walled Garden. An oasis of calm after a busy few days sightseeing along the Wild Atlantic Way. Simply enjoy sitting in the beautiful gardens whilst the kids happily play another game of chess or get lost in the tall beech maze.
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How Do I Get To Vandeleur Walled Garden?
Vandeleur Walled Garden is located in Kilrush, County Clare. Easily accessed by car from the N67 and only a short distance from the Shannon car ferry. So it’s a great stop on the Wild Atlantic Way either to or from County Kerry to the South.
By public transport the garden is easily accessed from a variety of bus routes heading to Kilrush. It’s around a 1km walk to the garden from the town centre.
What Is There To Do At Vandeleur Walled Garden?
The Gardens
The walled garden is obviously the main highlight, wandering around the beautifully filled flower beds. Admiring the huge variety of shrubs, trees and flowers. Keep an eye out for a variety of sculptures, found throughout the garden.
You can also find beautifully maintained vegetable beds. Perfect for those who enjoy growing their own veg to see how to grow a range of vegetables neatly. It puts my own vegetable beds to shame!!
The garden also has a large beech hedge maze and flat paved labyrinth. It’s fun to explore the maze and it’s surprisingly difficult to find your way through it! We definitely struggled to find the way through without cheating!
Our children also loved the large garden games, particularly the chess board and Jenga. Chess is one of their favourites to play and they did manage a few games whilst we were in the garden. Giant jenga is also a fun one to play, although apparently I’ve been playing it wrong and forgot to stack the pieces on top when you pulled them out. Whoops!
The Vandeleur Visitor Centre
To the right of the reception desk is the visitor centre entrance. It’s small, but has a lot of information on not only the walled garden but wider Vandeleur estate and family. Explore the museum to find out where Kilrush House was located (only the courtyard and walled gardens remain) and the family history.
The Vandeleur family were important in the development of Kilrush in the 17th century and were landlords for many of the local families. However there was also another side to the family, who carried out mass evictions of local families during the famine period in the 1840’s, forcibly removed from their homes. This ended during the land wars and some families were able to return to their homes.
Unfortunately not too long later Kilrush House was raised to the ground by an accidental fire. Leaving only what still remains there today.
There is also the legacy exhibition, with a large collection of butterflies pinned to cards from all around the world. It’s inserting, but definitely part of a bygone era. We don’t encourage collecting specimens anymore.
Garden Centre
Beside the gardens is a garden centre, where you can buy a range of flowers, shrubs and trees. Many grown at Vandeleur itself. It’s the perfect place to buy for your garden, or even a gift for friends and family.
It’s also very pretty to just walk around and admire!
Cafe
Enjoy a snack or lunch at the Brambles Woodland Cafe in the Courtyard. There are plenty of options for cakes or a light lunch , and if it’s dry it’s beautiful out in the courtyard with plenty more flowers to admire!
I can guarantee that the cakes are delicious and perfect for a visit to the gardens!
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