Belfast Botanic Gardens - The Palm House

The Palm House

The gardens' most notable feature is the Palm House conservatory. The foundation stone was laid by the Marquess of Donegall in 1839 and work was completed in 1840. It is one of the earliest examples of a curvilinear cast iron glasshouses in the world. Designed by Charles Lanyon and built by Richard Turner, Belfast's Palm House predates the glasshouses at Kew and the Irish National Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin. Turner went on to build both of these glasshouses. The Palm House consists of two wings, the cool wing and the tropical wing which contains the dome. Lanyon altered his original plans to increase the height of the dome, allowing for much taller plants. In the past these have included an 11 metre tall Globe Spear Lily. The lily, which is native to Australia, finally bloomed in March 2005 after a 23 year wait. The Palm House also features a 400 year old Xanthorrhoea.