Did you know that pineapples, lemons, and plants from far-off places once flourished in Roscommon at Strokestown Park?
Henry Pakenham (1787-1863), the aristocratic owner of Strokestown Park House, was an avid gardener, and he travelled far and wide to find unusual and rare plants and seeds. Many rare plants were brought to Strokestown from across the world to adorn his Roscommon garden.
There, Strokestown’s local gardeners cultivated them so that the Pakenham-Mahons could literally enjoy the fruits of the British Empire!
When you visit today, Strokestown’s gardens and woodlands are beautiful, natural spaces that offer a welcome to all. But they served, in centuries past, as powerful symbols of the family’s connections with colonial power.
- They linked the family’s authority with a sense of order, beauty, and fruitfulness.
- They hinted that the family’s rights over the less ordered lands beyond the Strokestown estate were natural and proper.
- The extensive gardens also helped to keep the messy reality of the family’s relationships with the communities beyond the Strokestown estate at what turned out to be a temporary distance.
Beyond Strokestown’s gardens
Beyond the estate’s borders, Strokestown’s owners wielded power as landlords over communities that were reliant on them for work and – at times – for survival.
These tensions between landlord and tenants escalated in 1847, when Major Denis Mahon, the owner of Strokestown Park House, was assassinated in nearby Dooherty as he made his way home from a meeting with the Board of Guardians in Roscommon town.
Mahon – a tyrannical figure – was the first and most high-profile Irish landlord to be murdered during the Irish Famine. His death became the subject of widespread international attention, and, for a time, the name ‘Strokestown’ was synonymous with the unfair evictions which had worsened the famine’s effects.
You can learn the story of this pivotal moment in Irish history in Ireland’s National Famine Museum, which is housed in the vaulted stables of the Strokestown estate.
But changes in Strokestown’s fortunes since then have shifted power over the gardens back to the people. And that reversal is what makes it possible for you to enjoy strolling through Strokestown’s gardens and woodlands!
Reclaiming a garden
When Strokestown Park House and its gardens were sold by Olive Pakenham-Mahon to Jim Calleary in XXX, they passed from aristocratic ownership into the hands of a man whose family had been tenants on the Strokestown Estate.
The gardens were no longer for the sole use of the aristocracy, and they were officially opened to the public in XXX. Since then, they have become a wonderful resource for the local community, as well as for visitors from across Ireland and beyond.
A huge amount of investment, expertise, and hard work has gone into restoring Strokestown’s gardens and making them accessible to all. The stories of the gardens – their design, their planting and their biodiversity – have been carefully researched and looked after too, and we share them with you through our tours and events.
Who owns Strokestown House now?
The Irish Heritage Trust now manages and cares for Strokestown, with the help of its staff, gardening experts, and the committed people who participate in our volunteer programme (key partnerships also support this vital work).
We continue to work tirelessly to restore the garden to its former beauty and to share its remarkable story in imaginative ways.
Your visit to Strokestown will help to support that work, which is focused on keeping Strokestown’s Gardens and Woodlands open in perpetuity for everyone to enjoy.