A fond farewell

I HAVE embarked upon the writing of my last article for the Irish Examiner.

It’s certainly been fun these past three decades and it has given me an opportunity to make many friends and thousands of admirers. Without their encouragement and support it would not have been possible.

And so, faced with all the articles I still want to write, the stories yet untold, the ideas still bursting to find form, it is almost impossible to know where to turn. We could wander into the fascinating world of botanic gardens and the origins of garden societies, or, for that matter, delve into the hidden and now forgotten estates of the last century. Sometimes these used to be where gentlemen set up their mistresses, and Munster could boast more than a fair share in times past!