Shinrone snowdrops set to bloom once more!
The future of the breathtaking annual snowdrop display at Bellefield House and Gardens in Shinrone looks assured with news this week that the estate has been left to the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland (RHSI).
The owner of Bellefield House and Gardens, renowned architect and landscape designer, Angela Jupe, passed away on May 4 last, leaving behind a world-famous snowdrop collection featuring over 300 varieties, as well as a stunning collection of rare daffodils, Chinese peonies, old French roses and unusual old fruit trees.
The late gardening enthusiast, who was long-time supporter and a member of the Board of the RHSI, decided to bequeath Bellefield House and Gardens to the Horticultural Society with which she was so closely associated throughout her lifetime.
The RHSI said in a statement this week that Angela Jupe’s death is “a significant loss to gardening” but they also confirmed that they are “developing a plan” for the future of Bellefield, during which they will be “drawing on the assistance of appropriate experts and in liaision with the local community.”
“Snowdrops, dogs and interesting gardens” were the three passions of the late Angela Jupe, according to her friends in the Royal Horticultural Society. The Dublin-based architect made her home in Shinrone since 2004, when she bought Bellefield House and spent the next 17 years lovingly restoring both the house and the surrounding gardens.
Her passion for snowdrops from all over the world led to Angela Jupe amassing a collection of over 300 rare species. Her annual 'Snowdrop Walks' where she opened her garden to members of the public for snowdrop viewing for two weeks each year attracted gardening enthusiasts from all over Ireland to Shinrone.
The gardens at Bellefield House were held in such high regard by gardening enthusiasts that they were consistently voted among the Top Ten Gardens of Ireland, and it is the intention of the RHSI to continue and expand the legacy left by the late Angela Jupe.
The RHSI, in a statement on their website, said while Angela Jupe was an architect by training she was “a garden designer by choice” and her “energy and vision” was deeply appreciated by all her colleagues in the Garden and Landscaper Designers Association (GLDA) of which she was a founding member and first Chairperson, and also by her colleagues in the RHSI.
The RHSI described the owner of Bellefield House and Gardens as “ever a pioneer” and said she encouraged clients and collaborators to “take risks and imagine the impossible.”
They also said she was a recycling enthusiast “before sustainability and biodiversity became fashionable” and that the garden attached to her Georgian farmhouse in Shinrone was “her last personal project.”
“Angela left her house and garden to the RHSI in the hope that they would continue to be used to encourage and develop the skills of Irish gardeners and plant enthusiasts,“ they continued.
Bellefield House and Gardens are being maintained but are currently closed to the public. With the RHSI taking over the ownership of the landmark facility, it is hoped that it may open its doors to the public once again in the near future.