Historic Cork Gardens - Cork Botanic Gardens

Cork Botanic Gardens

The Royal Cork Institution was set up in 1803 and received a Parliamentary grant of two thousand pounds per year. The Governors decided to establish a botanical garden, and in 1807 leased a 5.5-acre (22,000 m2) site at 'Lilliput', Ballypehane, Cork. In 1808 they employed Scotsman James Drummond (1787–1863) to lay out the gardens. In 1822 the garden was described (Power: Botanist's guide to the County of Cork, 1845) as having approximately six acres and a glasshouse in a walled enclosure of 1-acre (4,000 m2). Drummond was a noted field botanist during his time in Cork (and subsequently in Western Australia). The Government grant was withdrawn in 1830 and the Governors declined Drummond's offer to lease the gardens and opted to surrender the lease. The lands were then let to Fr. Mathew of Temperance fame for a cemetery which use still continues. The only current evidence of the gardens is a cedar tree.,