Coole Park

Coole Park
Autograph Tree in the Walled Garden
Coole Park Location of Coole Park in Ireland
Type	National
Location	near Gort, County Galway
Coordinates	53°05′47″N 8°50′06″W / 53.0965°N 8.835°W / 53.0965; -8.835Coordinates: 53°05′47″N 8°50′06″W / 53.0965°N 8.835°W / 53.0965; -8.835
Area	1,000 acres (404.69 ha)
Created	late 18th century
Founder	Robert Gregory
Operated by	National Parks and Wildlife Service (Ireland)
Status	Open all year
Website	www.coolepark.ie

Coole Park is a nature reserve of approximately 1,000 acres (4 km²) located a few miles west of Gort, County Galway, Ireland. It is operated by the Irish National Parks & Wildlife Service, part of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The park is in a low–lying karstic limestone area characterised by seasonal lakes, known as turloughs, which are almost unique to Ireland. It has extensive woodlands. There are 6 kilometres of signposted nature trails plus a formal late 18th century walled garden.^[1]

History

Woodland path at Coole Park

The park was formerly the estate of the Gregory family. Coole House was built in the late 18th century for Robert Gregory.^[2] In 1880, Robert's great-grandson, William Henry Gregory married Isabella Augusta Persse, who became Lady Gregory. The walled garden contains an autograph tree, a copper beech that is engraved with initials of many of the leading figures of the Irish Literary Revival who were personal friends of Lady Gregory including William Butler Yeats, Edward Martyn, George Bernard Shaw, John Millington Synge and Sean O'Casey. The Yeats poem The Wild Swans at Coole was inspired by the beauty of the swans in the turlough at Coole Park. Yeats's home at Thoor Ballylee was just 3 miles away; he also wrote "Coole Park, 1929", a poem that describes the park as a symbol for the revival of Irish literature:

"Here traveller, scholar, poet, take your stand, / When all these rooms and passages are gone / When nettles wave upon a shapeless mound / And saplings root among the broken stone."

Coole House may have been damaged in the Irish Civil War (1922–23). Lady Gregory sold the estate to the Irish state in 1927, but retained life tenancy. She died in 1932 and the furnishings were soon auctioned off. By the 1960s the state had allowed the Gregorys' former house to fall into a ruin, a neglect deplored by Micheál Mac Liammóir in 1964.^[3] Indeed, according to the National Archives, the building was actively demolished by the state in 1941.^[4] Today, all that remains is the plinth on which it stood.^[5]

Today

The grounds are open to the public all year round (free admission). A visitor centre located in the former outbuildings^[6] (late 18th century) operates during high season (April to September inclusive). The centre offers a tea room, an audio/visual presentation on Lady Gregory and the literary history of Coole Park, and also a multi-media exhibition called "Coole Park through the eyes of 'Me and Nu', Granddaughters of Lady Gregory".

Ecology

The ephemeral nature of turlough hydrology gives rise to a characteristic ecology. Turloughs have been designated as a Priority Habitat in the EU Habitats Directive. Coole Park is part of the Coole-Garryland Complex, a candidate Special Area of Conservation (site code SAC 252).^[7]

Since 1990 Coole Lough & Garryland Wood has been protected as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention.^[8]

Protection for birds

The park is included in a Special Protection Area for birds under the EU Birds Directive: this site of 520 ha (site code SPA 107) was designated in 1996 because of its importance for wintering waterfowl, notably whooper swan.^[9]^[10] The SPA overlaps with a smaller Important Bird Area, Coole Park and Garryland complex. There is a wildfowl sanctuary where the shooting of game birds is not permitted.

Notes