DeBurgh gardens in Naas reopens

AFTER more than a quarter of a century of delays and setbacks, the jewel in the Naas crown – the De Burgh Woodland Garden has reopened to the public.

Located in the heart of Naas, and accessed off Mill Lane, the De Burghs Woodland Garden date back to around 1696.

The woodland gardens are an important historic landscape, and the area of estate subject to this initial opening consists of approximately 18 acre of mature woodlands, walkways, water features including an octagonal pond, waterfalls, canals and a rich collection of plants and trees.

“Oh yes, it’s open four days a week, Thursday until Sunday, from nine to five,” said Mayor of Naas Cllr Seamie Moore, who has been following the tribulations of the amenity since it first came on Kildare County Council’s radar back in 1998.

Cllr Moore led a group of delighted visitors through the gardens last week where they were photographed on the curiously named Horse Bridge.

Cllr Moore explained said: “The last owner (Major JH de Burgh) was a horse breeder who would exercise his mares through the woodland path and installed this concrete bridge to allow them exercise safely,” he said.

“It’s also known as the meeting of the waters, as three feeder streams come in here and flow away into the canal.

“There were plans by the Major to donate 23 acres to the council, but he got into a deal with some developers, and left it to them to hand it over, but they only gave 50 per cent, but 50 per cent is better than none.

“De Burgh was well-intentioned, and to be fair, the developers couldn’t do much in the woods even if they wanted to.

“It opened nearly three weeks ago, but had been opened for limited numbers of maybe 30 for the last two Heritage Weeks.

“It is right in the heart of the town, which is one of the main reasons deBurgh got out of the horse breeding because of the amount of building around him.

“There are a lot of Baroque features, but a lot were in disorder and needed tidying up and being made safe by the council.

“Then there was the big storm last Autumn which took down a number of significant trees.

“A lot of laurel had to be removed also - like the rhododendrons in Kerry.

“Now the walkways are gravel, so it’s not really wheelchair accessible yet, but there are lots of paths that criss-cross, so it’s not like there’s any one route.

“Birdwatch Ireland have done a survey, and have recorded 66 different species in the Wood.

“Significantly, there’s a lot of ground growth here which encourages this, and add to the overall woodland feature,” he said.

As it stands, Kildare County Council has full possession of the 18 acres of the gardens, with the remaining six – including the famous Well of St Patrick - still in some degree of negotiation.

The Oldtown Gardens have been included in Naas Town Plans since 1998, when Major John DeBurgh indicated his intentions to the then County Manager, prior to his sale of Oldtown House in 1999.

The leafy estate has been in the family since Thomas Burgh, Surveyor General of Ireland in the early 18th century, and a forefather of singer Chris de Burgh and his model daughter Rosanna Davison.

In 1696 he acquired almost 3,000 acres outside Naas called Oldtown, near a holy well where St Patrick reputedly baptised Oillill and Illann, the sons of King Dunlang of Leinster.

In 1709, he designed and oversaw the construction of a new house here, one of Ireland's first Palladian winged houses.

It was to remain the pride of his descendants until the centre block was destroyed by fire in the 1950s and the family moved to one of the wings until the sale 21 years ago, ending a lineage in the town that lasted 10 generations.