A large number of people from different spheres of the community in Fermanagh and beyond gathered at the Florence Court Kitchen Garden for the official opening of the new glasshouses, as part of the restoration of the gardens to the way they were in the 1930s.

In a project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the newly built glasshouses will house exotic fruits just as in the 1930s, including peaches and nectarines in one glasshouse, and vines in the second building, which is also to be used as a community space.

Welcoming guests, Gemma Carson, General Manager, National Trust Fermanagh, recalled how in 2010, when she was volunteer development officer, her predecessor, Jim Chestnutt, mentioned a project he was keen to pursue – to restore the Kitchen Gardens.

She said it might have taken a little time to get there, but it had now come to fruition.

Gemma praised the dedication of all the volunteer gardeners who had been instrumental to make this happen, thanking them for their steadfastness and dedication.

However, she also referred to the passing of their former Head Gardener, David Corscadden, and volunteer, Irene Armstrong, referring to the huge contribution they had made to the project.

She said volunteers were able to keep the project going during the pandemic.

Gemma said the Kitchen Garden was about building relationships and community.

Heather McLachlan, regional director of the National Trust in Northern Ireland, said the Florence Court Kitchen Garden was an example of what the National Trust was about, especially welcoming everyone and empowering volunteers.

It was about being a cross-Border and cross-community project, as well as working with nature.

She said they were now celebrating the vision and implementation of that vision to restore the Kitchen Garden.

She thanked the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the National Lottery Community Fund and the Landfill Communities Fund for support for the project as well as some significant donors.

Ann Marie McCaffrey of Action Mental Health, based at Fermanagh New Horizons, thanked the National Trust for their partnership with the National Trust which enabled their clients work in the gardens.

The Walled Garden at Florence Court was created during the late-Eighteenth Century and remained unchanged for many decades.

From the late 1890s to the Second World War, the garden was at its most productive, with 12 full-time gardeners cultivating produce for the house and wider estate.

After the estate was gifted to the National Trust in 1995, parts of the garden were restored, including the Rose Garden and Orchard.

Now, the two-acre Kitchen Garden is being fully restored to its 1930s arrangement.