Front View
The landscape gardener Ninian Niven, who also re-designed the Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin, laid out more formal gardens around the house, including the grand parterre. Niven was a Scotsman who first came to Ireland as head gardener in the nearby Chief Secretary’s Lodge and then went to the Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin.
Presidents John F Kennedy and Eamon de Valera both planted wellingtonias between the west wing of the building and the arboretum when the US President visited on 27 June 1963. Sadly, the tree planted by President Kennedy, who was assassinated in Novermber 1963, died; it has now been replaced.
