Established in 1946, the Irish National Stud is one of the country's major tourist attractions and it with the spectacular well-known Japanese Garden is the only Stud farm in Ireland open to the public.
The lands around Tully have been associated with the breeding of horses since about 1300, when it is likely that war horses were bred here for the Knights of Malta.

However, the first record of the setting up of a stud farm is in 1900, when the lands were purchased from a local farmer James Fay, by Colonel William Hall-Walker, who later became Lord Wavertree.

As 'Willie' Walker approached middle age, he turned his attention to the owning and breeding of racehorses, quickly turning the farm at Tully into one of the best studs in Europe at the time.

He succeeded in building up a collection of foundation mares which had tremendous influence on racing. In the ten year period of 1904 - 1914 there were seven classic winners bred at Tully including Minoru (Derby and 2000 Guineas), Prince Palatine (St. Leger and Ascot Gold Cup ) and Cherry Lass (Oaks and 1,000 Guineas).

During this period Colonel Hall Walker also decided to have a Japanese Garden built on a boggy site near Tully House. The Garden was laid out by an eminent Japanese landscape gardener Tassa Eida, assisted by an army of local labourers.

In 1916, Colonel Hall Walker presented his Stud to the British Government for the purpose of founding a British National Stud. Under the guidance of its first director, Sir Henry Greer, the National Stud continued to maintain the high standard of bloodstock production set by its predecessor. Such great horses as Blandford, Big Game and Sun Chariot were bred here at this time.

In 1943, the newly formed Irish Government took over the land and buildings at an agreed valuation. In 1945 the Irish National Stud Company Ltd. was formed and it officially took over the running of the Stud on 31st August, 1946.

Since then it has continued to expand and develop and is now a source of national pride and an international tourist attraction.


The Patron Saint of Gardeners

In 1999 the Irish National Stud created a commemorative garden to St. Fiachra, Patron Saint of Gardeners, to celebrate the Millennium. It was designed by Professor Martin Hallinan, award winning landscape architect. He created a garden which presents visitors with a similar natural environment to that which inspired the spirituality of the monastic movement in Ireland during the 6th and 7th centuries.

Rock and Water

The garden seeks to capture the power of the Irish landscape in it's rawest state... that of rock and water. The garden is within a natural setting of woodlands, wetlands, lakes and islands. It features monastic cells of fissured limestone surrounded by water. The inner subterranean garden, which lies within the main monastic cell is of Waterford Crystal shaped rocks and plants such as ferns and orchids, is lit by fibre optics.

The entrance to the garden is via an underground stone passage, which takes the visitor beneath the earth into the inner garden, another world of woodland and lakes, which seeks to capture the power of the Irish landscape using rock and water.


A Brief History of the Japanese Gardens

The Japanese Gardens at Tully were created between the years 1906-1910. Devised by Colonel William Hall-Walker (later Lord Wavertree), a wealthy Scotsman of a famous brewery family and laid out by the Japanese Eida and his son Minoru.

The Gardens, planned to symbolise the 'Life of Man', are now of international renown and are acclaimed as the finest Japanese Gardens in Europe.

The gardens at Tully are a living monument to the meeting of Eastern and Western cultures in a Western setting. The symbolism of life the garden portrays traces the journey of a soul from Oblivion to Eternity and the human experience of its embodiment as it journeys by paths of its own choice through life. Typical ambitions toward education, marriage, or a contemplative or carefree life, achievement, happy old age and a gateway to Eternity are portrayed. Furthermore as an example of Japanese Gardening of its period, it is perfect - a Japanese Garden with a hint of Anglicisation about it, was precisely the type of garden being made in Japan at that time.

Eida remained at Tully until 1912. He and his wife and two sons, Minoru and Kaiji, lived at Curragh House, which is now the Racing Apprentice Centre of Education. The name Minoru which means 'light of my eye' or the 'favourite one' was chosen by Colonel Hall-Walker for his favourite Tully-bred colt.

When leased to King Edward VII for his racing career the colt Minoru carried the royal colours to victory in the Derby of 1909 to joyous cheers of "Good Old Teddy"! Eida died in 1912 on his intended return journey to Japan and no more was heard of him or his family until Brian Eida, a son of Minoru, turned up as a tourist in the late 1980's to admire the work of his grandfather Tassa.

In 1915, Colonel Hall-Walker departed to England, presenting his entire Tully property to 'The Nation'. His Stud Farm became the British National Stud and the Japanese Gardens entered a period of relative obscurity until 1945. In that year (Tully properties having returned to the Irish Government in 1943) the Irish National Stud Company was formed. In the following year, 1946, after a gap of 34 years, the Japanese Gardens got a horticultural supervisor.


Recent Times

The significance of the Japanese Gardens is not only artistic and horticultural but also philosophical, religious and historical. Now of international renown and acclaimed as the finest Japanese Gardens in Europe, they are a living monument to the meeting of Eastern and Western cultures in a Western setting.

There is no doubt that the Japanese Gardens at Tully are on a very short list of most loved gardens in Ireland and the tremendous appreciation from almost 150,000 or so visitors each year tells its own story.