On our way out of Dublin (headed to the west coast city of Galway), we stopped at the National Botanic Gardens for a very lovely walk. We got lucky with some sunshine even though it was supposed to rain: it kindly held off until we were back in the car.
We opted to park a ways away, on R135, since that was on the way to the highway and enjoyed a walk through the Glasnevin Cemetery. The Cemetery and Botanic Gardens are separate entities, but the back of the cemetery has an entrance directly to the Botanic Garden, in front of the Herbarium, via a very pleasant ten-minute walk. Both the cemetery and gardens are free and have cafes and public restrooms.
The National Botanic Gardens is a real treat. It has some excellent sculptures and statues and other art installations, charming greenhouses, and some really beautiful flowers. There are more than 15,000 plant species in total, and our visit in June seemed to be the perfect time to see everything in bloom. The small but mighty Tolka River runs right along the cemetery and through the gardens before depositing in the Dublin Bay. I always find a water feature is a nice addition to a botanic gardens. That and the hilly terrain makes for more interesting landscaping opportunities.
There were a few different greenhouses with different climates for different types of plants, and they were all really nicely maintained. There was even a nice waterfall in one with a bunch of ferns, which I love, and some vertical green walls, which I also love.
We got doubly lucky at the gardens. Not only was the weather great and the flowers in bloom, but there was a charming event going on. It was the "Plein Air Painting Festival," and there were people set up with easels all throughout the gardens. It was lovely to see people's art, where they chose to set up, and what aspect of the gardens they chose to paint. It was a great day for people-watching, and it was cool to see people experiencing and enjoying nature in a different way.
There was a large statue of Socrates (for some reason) in front of a small waterfall, which was hard to see but easy to hear. There was also a small fenced-in rose, and its placard had printed on it sheet music for a song called "The Last Rose of Summer." It's a poem by Irish poet Thomas Moore written in 1805 and arranged for piano accompaniment by Irish composer Sir John Andrew Stevenson. Not sure if this rose is ~the~ rose in question, but I appreciate a little cultural experience while looking at flowers.
All in all, the Dublin's National Botanic Gardens was a wonderful place to visit. It's amazing that's it's free, because having been, I would be willing to pay good money to go back. If you're a tourist, you'll probably need a rental car or cab ride to get here from the center of Dublin, but I think, if the weather is good, it's well worth the trip.
The grounds are well maintained, there were plenty of trails to get lost in (There's just over 48 acres!), and the greenhouses were super nice. We were there for at least an hour, and I'm not sure we saw everything. I enjoyed that there were a lot of nooks and crannies, and there was always something interesting around the next corner. Also, I mean, this geometric succulent garden is awesome.
