This year the AGM is being hosted by the Northern Committee over the weekend of 16th/17th May 2026 in County Down and based at the Burrendale Hotel in Newcastle. Delegates are asked to make their own accommodation arrangements.
The meeting will take place on Saturday morning at 10.00am. Preceded by registration from 9.00 am and tea/coffee, it is open to all members free of charge. Please let us know if you plan to attend the meeting, to assist with catering. An agenda will be circulated separately.
Garden Visits and Programme.
Following the AGM, members who have booked the programme of visits should go to Castlewellan where the plant sale and lunch will take place in St. Malachy’s School on the Main Street where there is ample car parking. The plant sale will take place in the foyer on the way in (please bring a bag or two for your purchases) and will be devoted to Irish Heritage Plants, many if not most of which are rarely available commercially. Lunch will be in an adjoining hall. After lunch, continue to Castlewellan Forest Park, follow the signs and park at The Grange, then walk up to the walled garden where the head gardener, Alwyn Sinnamon, and his team will lead a tour of the gardens, newly opened following the investment of £1.3m in their extensive restoration. We return to the Burrendale Hotel for dinner.
On Sunday members will progress to Seaforde, a distance of 7 miles, to visit the gardens cultivated over many generations by the Forde family and will include the private demesne surrounding the Mansion with far reaching views over the lake to the Mourne Mountains beyond. There will be an opportunity to visit the celebrated Butterfly House and its tropical planting and Lady Anthea Forde and her staff will conduct tours of the arboretum, collections and specific highlights . Tea/coffee is available to purchase at the facility in the walled garden.
Afterwards lunch will be provided in the nearby village of Clough. To conclude our weekend, following lunch we will visit Papervale Tree Nursery near Rathfriland. A distance of 18 miles from Clough it is enroute to Newry and the major road networks. A special place with a first class service and comprehensive collection, it is charmingly situated and kept in immaculate order. Before departure there will be complimentary refreshments. As with all the other venues there is ample, easy parking.
