Shanaglish, County Galway — since 2013
We are a volunteer-led charity bringing neglected walled gardens, estate woodlands and pollinator corridors across County Galway back into careful, public-spirited life.
Registered Charity in Ireland | RCN: 20141004
Our mission
Grand Gardens Restoration Group exists to rescue neglected historic gardens and designed landscapes in County Galway, to protect and propagate native Irish flora, and to pass traditional horticultural skills to young people in the communities that surround these places.
We work slowly and on the record. Every site begins with a documented condition survey, an ecological baseline and a written agreement with the landowner guaranteeing a minimum level of public access. Nothing we restore is closed to the parish that helped restore it.
Conservation-led repair of walled gardens, glasshouse ranges, gate lodges and path structures using traditional lime, timber and stone techniques.
Collection, propagation and reintroduction of Irish-provenance trees, hedgerow species and heirloom kitchen-garden cultivars.
Structured, free-of-charge training days and school programmes giving young people practical craft skills and a route into the green economy.
12+
Historic acreages preserved
4,500+
Native trees planted in Galway
150+
Community volunteers
31
Heirloom cultivars back in cultivation
Figures verified in our 2025 Annual Report, filed with the Charities Regulatory Authority.
Flagship sites
Shanaglish, Co. Galway
Two acres of eighteenth-century walled garden brought back from bramble. Lime-mortar repointing of 340 linear metres of rubble limestone wall, reinstatement of the original cruciform path grid, and the slow rebuilding of soil structure using on-site leaf mould and stable manure.
Beagh & Kiltartan townlands
A nine-kilometre planting corridor of native oak, hazel, blackthorn and guelder rose connecting three fragmented woodland remnants. Sown wildflower margins are surveyed each June under the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan methodology.
Gort & Loughrea schools
Seasonal masterclasses in seed saving, grafting, hot-bed propagation and dry-stone repair, delivered free to eleven primary schools and a Leaving Certificate Applied cohort in Gort.
Latest updates
12 August 2026
Working with a Teagasc-trained pomologist, our volunteers catalogued 47 surviving fruit trees, six of which appear to be local cultivars not recorded in the national collection. Grafting wood was taken in January and is now growing on at our Shanaglish nursery.
27 June 2026
Our annual free open day at Ardamullivan drew families from across south Galway and north Clare. Tours ran in English and Irish, and the Gort Men's Shed rebuilt the potting bench for the occasion.
4 March 2026
Bare-root oak, hazel, rowan and holly were planted across four sites by 84 volunteers over eleven field days, all stock sourced from Irish-provenance nurseries.
Volunteer stories
“I grew up walking past that gate and never once saw inside it. The first Saturday we cleared the east border there were nineteen of us and a flask of tea. Three winters on, the espaliered pears are fruiting again.”
“I gave the group the field corner nobody could ever cut. It's four hundred whitethorn and hazel now, and there are more bees in it than I've seen since I was a lad.”
“I did my work experience with the propagation team and ended up staying for the summer. I can now graft an apple tree, which is not something I expected from a Tuesday afternoon.”
Every euro we receive is spent on tools, Irish-provenance plant stock, lime mortar, insurance for our field days, and the training of young gardeners in south Galway. We have no paid fundraisers.
