magnolias, rhododendrons and flowering herbaceous borders
are in bloom. There is an extensive kitchen garden of vegetables, fruits and herbs. Edmund Spencer is said to have written
The Faerie Queene in the stately yew avenue. There is an early
20th century bronze bust by Edwin Whitney Smith depicting
an Irishman who is reputed to have saved the third Duke���s life.
Remarkably, contemporary sculptures are placed throughout
the garden. To celebrate Lord and Lady Burllington���s marriage
in 2007, Franz West created Nachempfindung (Postexpression),
a pink lacquered epoxy resin sculpture. Set against ancient
walls, the contrast is vibrant and welcoming as elsewhere such
art is invariably displayed against bland institutional walls. Eilis O���Connell���s Over and Under Series IV (1999), cast uniquely
for Lismore, is dramatically set at the end of the lower garden.
Anthony Gormley���s Learning to be I (1992), comprises a human figure who peers out from between two of the giant yew
HYLAND
