Inside the new therapy garden at Cork ARC for cancer patients

A new therapy garden at Cork ARC opens tomorrow, offering a quiet oasis to soothe and uplift those recovering from cancer treatment

Cork ARC CEO Stephen Teap in the new therapy garden. Pictures: Noel Sweeney

The first thing you notice at the Cork ARC therapy garden is a sense of peace. Next come the colours, bursting from every corner — reds, yellows, oranges, purples — a rainbow of vivid colour.

The garden, an extension of the Cork ARC Cancer Support House, came to life almost a year ago. When the cancer support centre moved into its new headquarters at Sarsfield House in 2019, the garden space was a wasteland, but its potential was quickly realised, says Stephen Teap, the centre’s CEO. “When I arrived in 2024, planning permission had already been granted for the garden, and the initial ground works had been started.”