This book is not only a celebration of the beauty and character of Irish gardens but also a paeon to the people who create and maintain them. The book is the consummation of a love affair with all things Irish and a two-year photographic project. Melanie Eclare's reputation for stunningly descriptive plant portraits and evocative landscapes goes before her and helped to open many gardens to her cameras, such as the cottage garden that nestles above Ballymaloe in Co Cork. which was opened for the first time here. But her privileged acces extended further than this, as her own extensive knowledge of gardening encouraged the garden's gardeners to reveal their own stories, recorded here with lively candour. Jim Reynold's Butterstream garden, Kilfane Waterfall and Helen Dillon are but a few great gardening names which feature in GLORIOUS GARDENS OF IRELAND