Inspired by the Palace of Versailles
A renowned Huguenot gardener named Bonet, who had served Sir William Petty, was employed as early as 1682. He was a disciple of the great landscape designer André le Notre, famous for the gardens of the Palace of Versailles near Paris.
He worked within the contours of the landscape and a record dating from 1711 reports that Killruddery was endowed with “a Pleasure Garden, Cherry Garden, Kitchen Garden, New Garden, Wilderness, Gravel Walks and Bowling Green, all Wall’d about, and well planted with Fruit Trees, with several Canals or Fish- ponds, well stor’d with Carp and Tench…’
The gardens have been enriched with noble trees that have been planted by successive generations of the Brabazon family since the estate came into their possession over 400 years ago, often to mark the birth of a new family member.