Wicklow Historical Society Lecture on History of Kilmacurragh Demesne and Arboretum

Once the Acton demesne, Kilmacurragh Arboretum is a natural theatre with the remnants of a mansion, luxuriant vegetation and exotic tree collections wrested from the stranglehold of briar and laurel in the late 1990s and since painstakingly restored to Botanical Garden status. Every twisted branch, angled trunk and grassed-over pathway spoke of a dramatic and complex history to author Megan O’Beirne, whose book, Kilmacurragh – Sourced in the Wild, the Moulding of a Heritage Arboretumseeks to distinguish in text and photographs the different botanical and political strands of that history.

Her findings will be the subject of her illustrated talk to the Wicklow Historical Society on Tuesday 25 February 2014 in St. Patrick’s NationalSchool, WicklowTown, at 8.00pm

For those who have never visited this hidden gem on the doorstep of Wicklow Town, this illustrated talk promises to provide a stunning introduction to the arboretum and garden, and will provide an excellent starting point from which to plan a visit. For those who are regular visitors, the talk will enhance their own experiences and remind them of why Kilmacurragh is such a treasure.

 

Megan O’Beirne is a writer and visual artist who has lived in Co.Wexford for many years. As well as writing, her practice includes art- photography and painting. Themes which she has explored in her solo exhibitions in Ireland, Italy, Canada and Iceland include the ravages of the bark beetle in the lodge-pole pines of Canada in “Steel Trees- the Future?”(B.&W photographs), the erosion of the Wexford Coast in “The Bite of Time” (Paintings, prints and B.&W. photographs), the residences of James Joyce in Tre Citta (Three Cities) (photographs), The Jewish Holocast in a group exhibition in “Line”( paintings). She is a regular contributor to Crann, the publication of the Irish Tree Council and has read her poetry and writing on RTE’s very popular Sunday Miscellany.

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