The Hidden Gem of Maynooth College
Written by Michael Yallop for Crann Magazine
Introduction
Most of us have passed through the town of Maynooth in Co. Kildare many many times. Known for its stately home of Carton, seat of Duke Leinster and of course the National University of Ireland.
Broken into two sections of St Patricks College and the newer campus of Maynooth University. The St. Patricks campus is steeped in history with the old Maynooth castle just on its boundary at the main entrance. A college was established here in 1518 and St. Patricks College being founded in 1795.
I went along to catch up with Stephen Seaman. Stephen has an honours degree in horticulture and is a current judge for the green flag award scheme with An Tasice. He has been working here for a number of years and has recently been appointed to the role of Grounds Supervisor for the Maynooth Campus , which encompasses the grounds of both the University and St. Patricks College. Stephen has a drive, passion and enthusiasm about the place which is clear from the minute you meet him. Stephan brought me around to show me some hidden gems that you just wouldn’t know is there. For the budding gardener, horticulturist or arboriculturist it’s a fascinating place to spend a day exploring.
The Campus Tour
We began on the Maynooth University campus, known as North Campus. The busier side you could say , with a more modern styling in architecture and layout. Construction works continue across the campus as the need is never greater for more teaching and student accommodation space grows. Trees on this side are of course still young to early mature. Compared to the older side of the campus of St Patricks college, the north campus trees have a smaller area to grow between the buildings and as Stephen pointed out to me, could cause issue in the future, and where choice of trees for around the new buildings are carefully planned out. For now the trees give body and life to stark surroundings of the towering buildings. The original part of the campus still contains many of the original trees that were planted such as horse chesnut, Lime, hawthorn, ornamental apple, ash, beech, mountain ash, birch, pinus . Many of the larger trees here grow on green spaces in groups which gives them space to grow.
Mirrored from the St. Patricks college side is one or two tree lined roads lined with acer and lime. The Maynooth University campus has expanded rapidly in recent years which has included several new academic buildings and new student accommodation that all developed the landscape of the campus, all new buildings landscape plans are carefully planned out, choice of trees plays a big part in the landscape plans with location, tree species mature tree size and growing habit are taking into consideration before the landscape plans are agreed upon. Stephen is keen to encompass a native first approach to tree choice with all new builds on campus and also choose more suitable species of trees that suit the urban setting of the modern campus.
As the North Campus is much busier with ongoing construction works, large student population frequenting the campus daily the trees here have a lot more to deal with. For a a start, the busier campus leads to more damage. Services go everywhere and of course close to trees. Some having been planted near street lights which may need to be removed going forward. Space is the key difference in these two campus’s which affects everything, buildings, people and trees. Space for construction is tight on the Maynooth Univeristy Campus which makes growing trees hard but not impossible, Stephen highlighted that the University has a tree management plan to protect existing trees on campus and also expand the tree population on the campus as the campus grows
Around me, I see horse chestnut, lime, hawthorn…….
The chestnut I show in the picture is one which in the future may come against problems as it grows up around the building.
When you come to the main Kilcock Maynooth road which divides the two sites you see an immediate change. The St. Patricks College Campus, known as South Campus begins at the new library building. More open spaces are clear and a difference in the trees and vegetation. Mature trees surround the whole campus. Stephen shows me a woodland area which he has been working on rejuvenating. Any old large dead timber has been kept and stored for wildlife, where appropriate Stephen and the campus grounds team will leave some large bows of fallen trees in the woodland for wildlife , a key part of maintaining a healthy ecosystem is to allow trees decompose naturally in the woodland. Stephen has begun planting new native trees to continue the wooded area. It also gives good screening to the campus. Wooded areas on the campus are for the most part left to nature to take its course and to cause as little disturbance as possible. If a tree is felled on campus, the policy of the college is to try and replace with up to 3 trees. The River Lyreen runs along the edge of the campus here and it is well shaded by the dense woodland.
It’s a joy to walk around the St. Patricks Campus to see the famous Silken Thomas tree reputed to be one of the oldest trees in Ireland going back to the time of the castle being occupied in Maynooth.
The buildings here open into large squares surrounded by the imposing buildings. When you look around here its hard not cast your eye onto an interesting tree.
The main entrance way near the castle has some imposing beech trees copper with a yew line dating back to the time the castle was occupied containing the silken Thomas tree.
Formal gardens greet you as you enter St. Patricks Square. The buildings are layed out to surround centre formal gardens called of trees and rose beds. A number of more formal trees like a dawn cypress are to be found here. As we passed away from St. Josephs Square we came to the bicentenary garden. It is a naturalised limestone garden built to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the creation of St. Patricks college. The garden creates quite the view as you walk the corridors that look right out onto this. Stephan then shows me the ‘’back lawn’’. A large area of grass surrounding by lime avenues. The pathways here bring you on a long walk around the edge of the grounds along the railway line , down towards the old farm yards, the old hand ball walls and back to the main buildings. The trees here are in abundance. Stephan shows me a number of horse chesnuts which has horse chesnut leaf minor issues, a real problem due to the amount of chesnut trees.Bleeding canker is also an issue for him on both campus’s. A number of tree blocks had been planted on both camous’s but this large area contains tree of them. They were part of a plantation program rolled out a number of years ago to plant 15,000 native trees on campus. These tree groups have been allowed to naturalised with out interference.
In the middle of this area hidden within the trees down a yew lined avenue is the old cemetery. Stephen has worked very hard to restore this area and it really has paid off. It’s a hidden gem of history within the area. The pathway covered with yews is like something from harry potter. The cemetery is used for clergy members from the college who have passed away and its history is vast. A celtic cross and a crypt building are key features.
A short walk away is the orchard and walled garden. Both originally supplying the kitchens of the college, the orchard is still bountiful with a large crop this year. The orchard contains around 35 trees.
The trees are in great condition and really well looked after by the grounds maintenance team. The apples from the tree go to a number of sources such for culinary use and waste or slightly unsuitable apples go to animal feed.
The walled garden or junior garden as it is called was to supply cut flowers and some vegetables to the college. With its giant redwood in middle it is a place to have a quiet walk and take time to relax.The formal lines of the borders are still there today and planted with herbaceous planting and wild flowers. a rockery containing alpine plants brought back by a clergy man who travelled the globe centres around the middle of it.
Tree works are on campus are confined to September to February. Unless the tree is in an ornamental or high use area, the truck or timber is left in situ. This creates great space for wildlife. Trees with in the high use areas are monitored closely for safety. Trees with in the wooded areas are allowed follow their natural processes more frequently. The native first policy has been adapted in the college to try and replace or plant new trees from native Irish selections. Specimen trees that fall fowl to storms or removal for health and safety are replaced.
Recently the college has won the green flag award from An Taisce which joins the green campus award it already holds. Of course a huge part of winning this award was the management that goes into the trees on campus and the large amount of veteran trees also.
Biodiversity and Maynooth Campus really go hand in hand. They have put huge work into it as a whole project. Wild flower meadows, don’t mow let it grow, bee boxes, bat boxes, bug and insect hotels, planters and planting specially for bees and areas fenced off for larger wildlife. As the development of the campus grows its very important to them that they try to create space for wildlife without removing it altogether from the campuses.
Stephen and his team are going above and beyond to keep Maynooth in tip top condition. The place itself is something special and it really deserves a visit. I’ve only covered a tiny portion of the vast information on this place. I wanted to give an overview of all to be seen. Stephan has great plans to continue his work in planting more trees around the campus, especially as the building takes place to nestle it into the landscape. His work on biodiversity will link into this with tree planting and encouragement of wildlife. So my advice is (as i’ve done myself) is to grab a coffee in Starbucks on campus and go a wandering and see where it will take you around the many paths and trails and maybe you might see Stephen and say hello he’ll give plenty of interesting informative information about a hidden gem.
Stephen and the grounds team are keen to make the campus are more vibrant, interactive campus for students, staff, general public whilst also promoting and maintaining areas for biodiversity.
The challenge of maintaining the trees of the campus, is that North and South campus are so different, and even though they are both maintained by Stephen and his team, the trees have to be considered differently for each side. For instance in the past on the Maynooth University Campus had chosen trees for it landscape that mirrored the St. Patricks College campus, a nice idea on paper, but in reality the trees chosen a couple of hundred years ago for the original landscape of St Patricks college doesn’t mean they would be suitable for the modern urban buildings of the 21st century, Stephan is developing pallet of trees that are more suitable for the urban setting of a modern campus
The Maynooth Campus takes great pride in maintaining its trees on both North and South Campus. The future plans is to maintain what is on campus currently , and also look at what can be done to plant new avenues of trees for the next generation to enjoy , and to create longevity of mature trees on the campus for the next hundred years.
