Tag Archives: National Botanic Gardens

Palmed Off



The Palm House at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin. Sixty-five feet high, 80 feet wide and 100 feet long, and originally costing £800, the building dates from 1884 when prefabricated from wood and wrought-iron in Paisley, Scotland by the firm of James Boyd & Son. Shipped to Ireland in pieces, the palm house was then assembled on site to replace an earlier structure which had been almost universally condemned for its ugliness. The new version met with a more positive response from the public and lasted until the mid-1990s when a high wind blew in large sections of glass: it was then discovered that much of the building was in a dangerous condition. Following extensive restoration, the Palm House reopened to the public in 2004.


On the Curve

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The east wing of the Curvilinear Range at the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin. This is the oldest section of the building, dating from 1843 at a time when the gardens were still under the supervision of the Royal Dublin Society (they passed into state care in 1877). Constructed by local contractor William Clancy who had submitted the lowest bid, the range was soon extended to the design of Dublin ironmaster Richard Turner who would go on to be responsible for many similar works elsewhere, not least the Great Palm House at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Note the incorporation of the RDS’s name over the entrance, and on a length of the gutter that of Mr Clancy, a small compensation for his labours since who effectively bankrupted himself when the estimate of costs proved hopelessly inadequate.

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