Designed for therapy and beauty, these gardens celebrate the history and folklore of the River Barrow.
The Barrow Experience is a wonderful and unique series of ten interconnecting gardens which bring to life the history, folklore and heritage of the beautiful Barrow Valley.
The garden is situated on the grounds of BEAM Services CLG, a training centre for people who require additional support needs, based at Regent Street, Bagenalstown Co. Carlow, on a picturesque and peaceful site that bounds the canal off the River Barrow.
Designed by John Murphy, the Barrow Experience was progressed to provide a healthy and therapeutic environment for people attending the services of BEAM and to develop a beautiful water-fronted site into a major tourism driven initiative for Bagenalstown.
Barrow Experience Gardens at BEAM
Unique Interconnected Gardens
Celtic Heritage Celebration – Druids Wood
Ireland’s wonderfully rich Celtic heritage is celebrated in this garden, focusing in particular on Druidic beliefs – the Druids were an ancient order of Celtic beliefs. The centrepiece of this garden is an interactive thirteen-month astrology calendar. There is also a limestone structure outlining the ancient Ogham alphabet, the Celtic festivals and the Celtic Tree of Life.
Tranquil Convent Garden
The design here is intended to represent the small but intimate gardens found in convents across the country, allowing nuns to spend some time reflecting in private. It features a large central flowerbed, with rose trees and is an important linkage with the history of the gardens, with the Presentation Order gifting the site to BEAM Services CLG in the year 2000. The garden is designed recognise their generosity and decades of service to Bagenalstown and its people.
French Garden Elegance – The French Garden
The typical style of French gardens involves a strong focus on symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. This very simply styled garden genuflects to the traditional form of French gardens, some of which – like the majestic gardens of Versailles – are built on a grand scale, but with simplicity at their heart.
Historic Monastic Setting – Monastic Courtyard
This garden is surrounded by a ruined stonewall, which harks back to the rich monastic heritage of the area. In the enclosed courtyard there is a scriptorium (a room set aside for writing) built from locally quarried stone. A beautiful scaled replica of a Clochán ( beehive hut) forms the centrepiece.
Co-operation Ireland Garden
This garden is in homage to Co-operation Ireland, an all-Ireland peace-building charity that promotes interaction, dialogue and practical collaboration between communities in the north and south. This theme commemorates that Bagenalstown was the 2012 winner of the Co-operation Ireland Pride of Place Award.
River Barrow Tribute – The Water Garden
A tribute to the River Barrow, which played such a huge role in the social and commercial development of the entire hinterland. The large pool includes three carved limestone sculptures depicting the mythology of how the River Barrow got its name.
Serenity in Nature – Reflective Garden
This garden with its limestone seating and water feature is intended to create an environment of reflectiveness, where visitors can sit and relax and remember loved ones.
Kitchen Garden Tradition – Potager Garden
A potager garden is a traditional kitchen garden, normally separated from the rest of the residential garden. Here members hone their gardening crafts, and develop a deep appreciation of the bounty of nature and our obligations to protect the natural environment. An organic approach underlies all gardening in BEAM, conscious of how fragile the ecosystem can be.
Symbolic Dinn Righ
This symbolic garden represents Dinn Righ in nearby Leighlinbridge. Dinn Righ was the seat of the High Kings of South Leinster for over 2,000 years.
Sli an Chroi (Pathway to the Heart)
The primary concept of this design acknowledges the unique riverside location of the gardens, reflected throughout by usage of the “ripple” motif. The idea of ripples in the water reflects the nearby river and its significance historically, it also reflects the impact that BEAM Services CLG has on its members lives and how one intervention can have a ripple effect. The outside area contains a number of distinctive zones: the ripples radiate from the main building and from an existing landscape structure (the water garden). The meditation pavilion (Seomra Comhra) relates to the external landscaping in a way that turns it introvertly, it cocoons the area and offers it protection.
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Opening Times
June, July, August – Sunday tours 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., other times by appointment only.
ADMISSION:
Admission fee applies.
DIRECTIONS:
In the town of Bagenalstown, along the River Barrow
