Derreen Garden
Garden in Ireland
Derreen Garden lies on a promontory in Kilmakilloge Harbour on the Beara Peninsula, in Tuosist parish, near Kenmare in County Kerry, Ireland. The 4th Marquess of Lansdowne (1816–1866) initiated the planting of the garden in 1863, but it was his son and heir, The 5th Marquess of Lansdowne (1845–1927), who in his time served as Governor General of Canada, Viceroy of India, and British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, who from 1870 onwards gave the garden its present shape. Today it covers more than 60 acres and includes nearly 12 km of paths.
History
The land around Derreen Garden was the seat of the Mac Finin Dubh Ó Súilleabháin family, a branch of the O'Sullivan Beare, from around 1320. After the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649–1653), the property at Lauragh was confiscated and was granted in 1657 to Sir William Petty, physician of Oliver Cromwell, as reward for his services. The Mac Finin Dubh Ó Súilleabháin became one of the major tenants of Petty. The estate came into the ownership of the Fitzmaurice family when, in 1692, Petty's daughter Anne married Thomas Fitzmaurice, 1st Earl of Kerry, whose grandson, The 2nd Earl of Shelburne, became Prime Minister of Great Britain and, in 1784, was created Marquess of Lansdowne.
After the last male member of the Mac Finin Dubh Ó Súilleabháin dynasty had died in 1809, the tenancy of the estate passed to Peter McSwiney, who was married to a niece of that family. In 1856, McSwiney was evicted from Derreen by William Steuart Trench (1808–1872), the land agent of The 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780–1863), for being some years in arrears in rent. From 1857 onwards, the house and its grounds were leased to different gentlemen.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Derreen Garden” is garden in Ireland. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Derreen, Garden and Ireland, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “garden in Ireland” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5262945. Authority coordinates are 51.769, -9.781. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1816, 1866, 1863 and 1845.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Derreen Garden”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Derreen Garden primary sources, Derreen Garden archive and Derreen research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Derreen Garden”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Derreen Garden” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.