UPSC » UPSC CSE Study Materials » General Awareness » Ireland’s Hidden Gems

Ireland’s Hidden Gems

William Armstrong, Bodnant Garden is a National Trust property in Conwy, Wales, near Tal-y-Cafn, with views of the Conwy Valley and the Carneddau mountains.

Ireland is a beautiful island full of minerals and the twentieth-largest in the globe. Rievaulx Terrace is a National Trust-owned property in the North York Moors National Park in Northumberland, England. It is a Victorian country home near Rothbury. William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, the founder of the Armstrong Whitworth armaments company, lived there. Bodnant Garden is a National Trust property in Conwy, Wales, near Tal-y-Cafn, with views of the Conwy Valley and the Carneddau mountains. It was entrusted to the National Trust in 1949 after being founded in 1874 and developed by five generations of one family.

Ireland’s Best Tourist Attractions

Rievaulx Terrace, North Yorkshire

The National Trust owns Rievaulx Terrace, which is located in the North York Moors National Park in North Yorkshire, England, and offers stunning views of Rievaulx Abbey. On the sloping slope of a forested hill, a grass-covered terrace offers a view of the abbey’s crumbling ruins. Two mid-eighteenth-century follies, miniature Palladian temples, sit at the ends of the terrace.

In 1758, ten years after receiving his father’s land and the adjacent Helmsley estate (now Duncombe Park) as an inheritance, Thomas Duncombe III established the estate. It was his goal to rival, if not surpass, his father’s more formal temples at Duncombe Park House, which were completed in 1730.

Several temples can be found on the land. A smaller replica of the Castle, the domed Doric Temple is located on the southeast end of the terrace. There is a tomb for Howard a few miles away. The choir of the Rievaulx Abbey laid the pavement.

Rievaulx’s rooftop terrace The Ionic Temple, a duplicate of Rome’s Temple of Fortuna Virilis, is located on the other side of the terrace. In keeping with its original use as a banqueting hall, the main table is still set for dinner. Designed in the style of the past, it features stunning ceiling murals. The basement, which was formerly the home’s kitchen and living quarters, is currently hosting an exhibition of 18th-century English landscape design.

Wales’ Bodnant Gardens

The property of the National Trust Located near Tal-y-Cafn in Conwy, Wales, the Bodnant Garden has a beautiful perspective of the Conwy Valley and the Carneddau mountains.

It was given to the National Trust in 1949 after five generations of the same family had worked to build it from its founding in 1874. The Dell, a canyon garden, and remnants of the park’s historic structures dot the park’s 80-acre hillside. There are also formal Italianate terraces and unstructured shrub borders brimming with plants from all over the world. Waterfall in the yard, as well as some significant trees in the woods. Many new areas of the park have opened in recent years. The Far End riverfront garden and Yew Dell on the south side of the park were all completed in 2012. 

Over 260,000 people visited Bodnant Garden in 2019, which is famous for its Laburnum arch, the UK’s longest, which blooms in May and June. The garden is also noted for its ties to early 1900s plant hunters, whose journeys laid the groundwork for the garden’s four National Plant Collections. New places like Heather Hill and Cae Poeth will open in the near future.

Crag side House, Northumberland.

Cragside is a Victorian country house near Rothbury in Northumberland, England. The founder of the Armstrong Whitworth armaments firm, William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, lived there. Armstrong, an industrialist, scientist, philanthropist, and the inventor of the hydraulic crane and the Armstrong gun, also demonstrated his inventiveness in the domestic sphere by building Cragside, the world’s first hydroelectric-powered mansion. The mansion was technologically advanced with “wonderful hydraulic equipment that does all sorts of stuff,” according to the house’s architect, Richard Norman Shaw. On the property, Armstrong built dams and lakes to power a sawmill, a water-powered laundry, early dishwashers and dumb waiters, a hydraulic lift, and other devices.

Conclusion

Ireland is a beautiful island full of minerals and a wonderful place to explore. Ireland is the second-largest island in the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest in the globe. The Republic of Ireland (formerly known as Ireland) covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, is geographically separated.

faq

Frequently asked questions

Get answers to the most common queries related to the UPSC Examination Preparation.

Why is Rievaulx Terrace closed?

Answer. After the first lockdown, the National Trust did not reopen Rievaulx to tourists, and as part of its Reset, ...Read full

What is Bodnant Garden famous for?

Answer. In 2019, over 260,000 visitors visited Bodnant Garden, known for its Laburnum arch, the UK’s longest, ...Read full

Can you see Rievaulx Abbey without paying?

Answer. There is free access from the main road through the village if you are not an English heritage member or don...Read full

Why is Cragside house famous?

Answer. Cragside is a 19th-century imitation Tudor mansion perched atop a steep hill, surrounded by rock gardens. It...Read full

Who built Bodnant gardens?

Answer. Henry Pochin purchased Bodnod, sometimes known as Bodnant, for £62,500 in 1874 and began having the gardens...Read full