The Robinson Garden at Earlscliffe, Baily, Co. Dublin, Ireland

Welcome to the Robinson Garden at Earlscliffe where subtropical plants flourish at 53.3° North latitude

This website is dedicated to the memory of David Robinson (1928-2004).

The Robinson Garden at Earlscliffe is on the Howth peninsula just north of Dublin city at a latitude of 53.3º N. This means that it is further north than Newfoundland and on the same latitude as Manchester England, Hamburg Germany , the southern part of the Hudson Bay and Edmonton Canada and Minsk in Russia. Yet despite being much nearer to the north pole than to the equator, bananas, tree ferns, South African Erica and a range of palms flourish outside without any winter protection. 

This is not simply the result of skilled plantsmanship but owes a lot to the unusually favourable microclimate. The garden slopes to the south and benefits by being close to the sea and also from the 180 metre high Hill of Howth on its northern side. With the advantage of the warm current from the Gulf of Mexico almost encircling Howth, it seems that the peninsula can grow a wider range of plants than any other place of similar latitude. Advantage is taken of the auspicious situation to test the climatic hardiness of plants from all five continents. No plants are protected artificially even in the coldest weather so that realistic information on hardiness can be obtained. 

This site is continuously being updated to include both scientific data and information for the general enthusiast. If there is anything in particular that you would like to see in greater detail, please contact us.

Please note. The garden is not currently open to the public and there will be no formal garden tours around Earlscliffe in 2008. For further details, contact

What's New?

• Paddy Sammon is giving a lecture on Oscar Wilde and John Pentland Mahaffy (a former resident of Earlscliffe) and their visit and links with Greece to the Rathmines, Rathgar and Ranelagh Historical Society at the Rathmines Town Hall at 8pm on the 24th April 2008. See the news section for more details.
• Updated history of the Robinson Garden at Earlscliffe including previous residents of Earlscliffe House, how David Robinson transformed the gardens and how the garden has been reported in the media. This includes "Earlscliffe in the time of Sir John Lumsden" - a  fascinating insight into life at Earlscliffe in the 1930's, and some wonderful memories from one of Sir John Lumsden's grand daughters, Margery Stratton

Content on this site - please note

This is a non-commercial site and its contents (including images) are copyright of the site owners (unless otherwise stated) and cannot be reused (in any form) without permission. If you wish to reuse any of the content, please contact  who will be happy to discuss this with you. Any reuse, though, must be for non-commercial purposes.