Garinish Island lies in a sheltered position in Glengariff Harbour at the north east end of Bantry Bay. It is also called Ilnacullin, Ilaunacullin (Island of Holly) and Garnish Island.
The island was bought from the British War Office in 1910 by MP Annan Bryce. He shipped in vast quantities of topsoil and turned the island into an exotic garden. The architect and designer was Harold Peto. It has been open to the public since 1953.
There is a formal Italianate garden, a walled garden, Grecian temple and a Martello Tower. Access is by passenger ferries from Glengariff. The island covers only 15 hectares.
There are toilets on the island and a café, which I thought was overpriced. Since my first visit in 2007, the house has been opened up to the public for guided tours at set times. I asked the lady who welcomed me onto the island how long the tours were and I thought she said 40 minutes. As I only had an hour and a half in total, I thought that was too long to spend indoors, especially as it had finally stopped raining and the sun had come out, so I went for the "peer in through the windows" self-guided tour. It looked like a typical National Trust house inside. It isn't very big, so I don't know why the tour takes so long. Maybe I misheard and it is shorter than that.
Mountains of the Beara Peninsula from the Martello Tower
Martello Tower
Martello Tower
Italian Garden
Italian Garden 2016
Italian Garden 2007
Casita or Tea House
Casita or Tea House
Bryce House
Winged Lion on the Bryce House
Tree Ferns in the Jungle
Common or Harbour Seals on the way to Garinish Island
Some more seals
Clocktower in the Walled Garden
Entrance to the Walled Garden
Walled Garden
Walled Garden
Walled Garden
Roman marble sarcophagus in the Walled Garden
Steps down into Happy Valley
Happy Valley
Grecian Temple
View from the Italian Garden towards the mountains of the Beara Peninsula
Jetty on Garinish Island
Harbour Queen at Garinish Island
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