‘We call Mount Congreve Ireland’s global garden because there are 10,000 different plants here’

“Connecting with nature.” “Trying something different.” “An appreciation of history.” Ask a new generation of gardeners just why they want to embark on a course in horticulture at a country house estate and those are the kinds of answers they will give you.

The Irish Times Magazine has travelled to Mount Congreve in Co Waterford, a country house estate which has set up a horticulture school in its beautiful grounds. We are here to meet the first batch of students as they complete what is Ireland’s first full-time course in horticulture in a country house garden.

The remodelled original Georgian house and its 29 hectares of gardens overlooking the river Suir are managed by the Mount Congreve Trust, as its last owner, Ambrose Congreve bequeathed the house and gardens to the state following his death in 2011.

Since it opened to the public in 2023, following a €7 million restoration project, Mount Congreve has attracted visitors for its garden tours, while also welcoming guests to stay in the renovated self-catering gate lodges. It also draws in walkers and cyclists from the popular Waterford Greenway, which runs along the perimeter walls next to the river Suir.

Today, though, the focus is on the students who have spent the last months getting their hands dirty deadheading flowers, pruning trees and weeding borders. Prospective students for the 2024 course are also here to get a taste of the one-year syllabus and to walk the lands to view the stunning collections of magnolias, rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas.

“We need a new generation of gardeners. The average age of gardeners here is 54,” says Ray Sinnott, horticulturist and estate manager of Mount Congreve, when asked about the decision to start the course. He jokes