We visited some wonderful villages and towns in Counties Kerry & Cork, but my favorite was Kinsale, a lovely Georgian town with many of the original houses still surviving and a decidedly colourful approach to decorating them. It was also a fine example of how Ireland has managed to resist chain stores – with a population of roughly 5,000 people (and many additional holidaymakers in the summer) it has three independent bookshops – oh that our town of 70,000 had even one! It was also the location of the best domestic garden we saw on our travels. Sadly it is under threat as the owner died last year and the half acre site on the waterfront is up for sale for redevelopment. Even after a year of neglect it is still brimming with lovely plants, but they may soon all be gone – grubbed and replaced by concrete and tarmac.
The Soon-to-be-Gone Garden