In Books, TV & the Press

Over more than a century, Earlscliffe has appeared in an unusually wide range of places. It has been studied by scientists, celebrated by gardeners, filmed for television, described by journalists, and occasionally misunderstood by all of the above.

Some accounts focus on the garden and its plants. Others on the people who lived here, or on the wider story of Howth and Dublin Bay. A few repeat long-standing errors. Others challenge assumptions, provoke debate, or reveal how differently the same place can be seen through different eyes.

At times, those differences of perspective have played out very publicly. A television visit intended to celebrate the garden and the gardening process later sparked a newspaper critique that described it in strikingly negative terms, prompting an unpublished response, years of retelling, and, eventually, an unexpected exchange long after the original author’s death. That episode is just one example of how ideas about Earlscliffe have travelled, shifted, and collided once they left the garden gate.

This section brings those sources together. Not as a list of appearances, but as a record of how Earlscliffe has been written about, filmed, debated, and interpreted across time.

You will find books where Earlscliffe is treated as a serious site of horticultural and scientific interest. Television programmes that brought the garden to a wide audience. Newspaper and magazine articles that helped shape public perception. And, where necessary, clear explanations of where the record has gone astray and how it can be corrected.

Taken together, these materials tell a story not just about a house and garden, but about taste, expertise, authority, and what happens when strongly held views meet in public.