Derreen Garden

Derreen Garden lies on a promontory in Kilmakilloge Harbour on the Beara Peninsula, in Tuosist parish, near Kenmare in County Kerry, Republic of Ireland.

The land around Derreen Garden was the seat of the Mac Finin Dubh Ó Súilleabháin family, a branch of the O'Sullivan Beare, from around 1320.

After the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649–1653), the property at Lauragh was confiscated and was granted in 1657 to Sir William Petty, physician of Oliver Cromwell, as reward for his services.

After the last male member of the Mac Finin Dubh Ó Súilleabháin dynasty had died in 1809, the tenancy of the estate passed to Peter McSwiney, who was married to a niece of that family.

In the same year, Lord Lansdowne embarked on an ambitious plan to transform the bare rock and scrub oak around the house into a luxuriant woodland garden.

400 acres of land were planted to shelter a collection of shrubs and specimen trees, many of them brought back from the Marquess's sojourns as Governor General of Canada and Viceroy of India.

Derreen, not being entailed, was inherited by his sister, Lady Katherine Evelyn Constance Petty-Fitzmaurice (1912–1995), and is now owned and managed by her grandson, Charlie Bigham.

After the last male member of the Mac Finin Dubh Ó Súilleabháin dynasty had died in 1809, the house passed to Peter McSwiney who was married to a niece of that family.