April Sketching Trip to the Corke Lodge Garden in Dublin

Hi everyone!

Hope you all had a lovely Easter and had been enjoying the sunshine. Sorry it's been a while since we last organised an outing, but I'm excited to tell you about a gorgeous venue I've recently found which will suit not only those of us interested in the great natural outdoors, but also those sketchers with a keen eye towards architecture as well.

Corke Lodge Garden

"The gardens are an intrinsic part of the presentation of Corke Lodge. Planted as a pleasure ground soon after 1815, it contains fine specimens of Evergreen Oaks, American Cedars and Sequoias as well as a magnificent Cork tree. These were meant to evoke a Mediterranean olive grove, in keeping with the Italianate trend in the development of Killiney and Bray. Using this as a backdrop the garden was recreated incorporating the re-erected remains of Glendalough House, a Tudor revival mansion built for the Barton family by Daniel Robinson in Anamoe. Robinson designed the nearby gardens at Powerscourt. Because of a favourable microclimate the gardens now boast an extensive and rare collection of sub- tropical plants and trees that reflect the spirit of the original concept of 1815." -- from the Corke Lodge website.

"The house was built in the 1820’s to designs by William Farrell as an Italianate seaside villa. A Mediterranean grove was planted with a Cork tree as its centrepiece.

In the remains of this romantic wilderness, the present owner, architect Alfred Cochrane, designed a garden punctuated by a collection of architectural follies salvaged from the demolition of Glendalough House, an 1830’s Tudor revival mansion, built for the Barton family by Daniel Robertson who designed Powerscourt Gardens." -- from the Dublin Gardens Group webesite

“There is more fun at Corke Lodge” writes Jane Powers, The Irish Times, where ” the ‘ancient garden’ of box parterres is punctuated by melancholy gothic follies, and emerges eerily from the dense boskage of evergreen oaks, myrtles, and a writhing cork oak tree with deeply corrugated bark. Avenues of cordyline palms and tree ferns, dense planting of sword-leaved New Zealand flax, and clumps of whispering bamboos lend a magical atmosphere to this rampantly imaginative creation.”

More information and pictures and video of the Corke Lodge Garden can be found on its own website, as well as the Dublin Gardens Group webpage* here:

http://www.corkelodge.com/

http://www.dublingardens.com/cms/the-gardens/corke-lodge/

Some pictures of the Garden from the website and the owner:

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/2/8/6/600_448500646.jpeg

Tropical trees:

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/2/b/7/600_448500695.jpeg

Our Trip:

This is a Private Garden located in Shankill in Co. Dublin. I have contacted the owner Alfred who kindly granted our group access to visit on Saturday 16th April, and the caretaker Ron will open the gate for us on the day.

The Corke Lodge is accessible by Bus 45a which operates from the Dun Laoghaire train station, and according to the owner stops right at the entrance to the Garden on Woodbrook Golf Club avenue:

http://www.dublinbus.ie/Your-Journey1/Timetables/All-Timetables/45a/

I have booked us to be present at the venue around 1pm. It should take about half an hour to get there on the bus from the Dun Laoghaire station.

So the plan is to get Bus 45a at 12:30pm on Saturday from the Dun Laoghaire Station together.

Those of you who drive, you can find directions to the venue here:

http://www.dublingardens.com/cms/the-gardens/corke-lodge/

We have the access to the Garden until 5pm so there should be enough time for proper sketches in different corners of this lovely Garden for all of us. We can finish earlier of course depending on how we do on the day.

There is no cafe facility on site, and the House is closed at this time. However, we should be able to go to a nearby cafe / pub / restaurant afterwards to compare sketching notes :)

The Cost:

This is a private garden. Entrance fee is 5 euros per person. There is a minimum of 50 euros charge per group visit so it would be ideal to have at least 10 people turning up for this event, but even if this does not happen, I will be happy to pay the remaining charge even if we don't have enough numbers showing up on the day. Of course, if more than 10 people turn up on the day, that would be absolutely fine :) We will pay the individual entrance fees on the day to Ron the caretaker.

The Expectations:

It would be lovely to catch up with old members and to meet new members on this trip. As per all our other visits, please make sure we pick up all our sketching materials after ourselves and be considerate of other visitors if there happen to be any around. This is a private garden opening for our group visit, and so we need to be respectful of whatever instructions/directions may be given to us by the caretaker Ron on the day.

Other Notes:

1. Please note that this sketching trip, unlike almost all our other sketching trips before, takes place on a SATURDAY rather than Sunday.

2. I will email attendees my mobile number a few days before the event so that you can contact me on the day if there's any issues with you arriving. It is important that you let me know if you happen to be arriving late, so I could let Ron the caretaker know to watch out for you when you get there.

3. Those of you arriving early, please stay at the entrance until the main group arrive from the 45a Bus at just after 1pm (depending on the bus traffic on the day), as we need to ensure we have a proper head count of all members of our group before going in, so that I don't end up paying extra if we happen to be fewer than 10 in number on the day.

That's it! Really looking forwad to seeing you later this month and getting the sketching kits out again :) Hopefully we will be greeted with the kind of glorious weather we'd been having recently which will really suit the Mediterranean setting of this garden.

*(By the way the Dublin Gardens Group - a group of private gardens open to the public for visits - is a great resource and we may be planning a few other sketching trips to the other gardens in the coming months when they also become accessible -- as most are open from May onwards :) You can all take a look at the other gardens also in and around the Dublin area and let me know which one you'd be interested in sketching in over the coming months: http://www.dublingardens.com/cms/ )

Look forward to seeing all of you on the 16th :D