SANDRA O'CONNELLtalks to Sara Waldburg, visitor and events manager at Killruddery House and Gardens, Bray, Co Wicklow.
I LIVE BETWEEN Rathdrum and Laragh in Wicklow so the drive to Killruddery in Bray takes me about half an hour.
The house has been in the earl of Meath’s family for nearly 400 years but in many ways the 80-acre gardens are more interesting to visitors because they remain just as they were laid down in the 17th century. They are in wonderful condition and coming up to their best weeks of the year, when the roses start to bloom.
The gardens make a wonderful backdrop to all kinds of events and my job is to help organise them. We have about 8,000 visitors coming through the gates at Killruddery a year, nearly double what it was five years ago.
Traditionally we have always got a lot of corporate bookings, from product launches to wedding photography, both because the gardens look great and because people like a venue that is a little different and more private than a hotel. Things have changed as a result of the downturn. Corporate bookings have fallen off somewhat so we’re concentrating more on getting families through the gates.
At the moment, for example, we are just putting the finishing touches to our inaugural Father’s Day Treasure Hunt, which should be great fun. It’s going to give dads a chance to relive their youth with all kinds of fun and games and a school report at the end. We had an Easter Egg hunt earlier in the year and will be running a Teddy Bear’s Picnic later in the summer.
Most of my mornings are spent checking e-mails and coordinating events such as the Music in Great Irish Houses series.
Right now we are getting ready to welcome back the cast and crew from the TV series The Tudors, who will be arriving in July.
My day often involves working with film-production companies. The fact that we're five minutes away from Ardmore Studios is really handy for them and we've done all sorts, from Lassieto My Left Foot.
Right now I’m working on a photographic competition we are running this summer, which encourages people to come and take pictures of the gardens. It’s a busy time because we’re also organising the Enchanted Garden, a family arts festival, later this month.
Because there is such a variety of things going on here I don’t finish at a set time. All I know is that if there’s an event on, I’ll be the last one out.
www.killruddery.com