St. Fiachra’s Garden, Ireland

St. Fiachra's Garden was created to celebrate the Millenium at the Irish National Stud. St Fiachra is the Patron Saint of Gardeners and the garden seeks to capture his love of nature. There is a strong focus on rock and water.
Rock and water are rulers in a garden rejoicing in the natural beauty of woodland, wetland, waterfalls, lakes and streams. Monastic cells of fissured limestone are surrounded by water while an inner subterranean garden is home to magnificent Waterford Crystal-shaped rocks, ferns and orchids. St. Fiachra’s Garden is the very essence of Ireland’s natural beauty.
The Irish National Stud’s Japanese Gardens, renowned throughout the world and the finest of their kind in Europe, are far more than simply a treat for the eye. Their aim was, through trees, plants, flowers, lawns, rocks and water, to symbolise the ‘Life of Man’.
Made by Japanese designers (1906-10) for a wealthy Scotsman, the gardens symbolise the progress of man from the Cave of Birth to the Gateway of Eternity. The gardens are interested as an example of the meeting of Eastern and Western cultures in a Western setting.