Meet The Team- Liam Our Gardener (and everything in between)
How long have you worked at Barnabrow? I started here in February 2005, so I am working here 13 years!
What is your Job at Barnabrow House? I have many jobs here at Barnabrow, I take care of the Orchards, the walled garden and the greenhouse. I also organise the stock rooms, receive deliveries, maintain the bar pumps, and general maintenance on the grounds. I am responsible for the animals also, so it is a varied and busy job!
Animals at Barnabrow East Cork
Tell me about the grounds at Barnabrow? There are 30 acres in Barnabrow, spread out on sprawling hills. It is made up of the main house, Mor Chulna, the restaurant and other buildings. There are four paddocks, we move the donkeys around these paddocks to graze. To the left of reception is the hen house, here we have 18 hens, 2 cocks, 2 ducks, 1 goose and two goats. There is lots to do looking after the grounds and my furry friends!
What aspect of your job do you enjoy the most at Barnabrow? My favourite time of year is spring in Barnabrow. When February comes around, I start digging and preparing the soil for our new planting season to start. In our orchard we grow apples, pears and gooseberries, we also grow grapes and tomatoes in the greenhouse. I have a large herb garden growing sage, thyme, parsley both flat and curly, chives and mint and many more. This year some of the crops we have grown are beetroot, parsnip, courgette, onions, cauliflower, these are all then used by Stuart in the kitchen.
Barnabrow House East Cork
Barnabrow House Gardens
What is your favourite thing to do outside work? I love vintage tractors and I have four of them
Are you a local to East Cork? I’m a born and bred Ballymacoda man!
Describe a typical day’s work for you at Barnabrow House? Barnabrow is a very old house, and while beautiful can be vary hard work for a maintenance man! I arrive in the morning and open up getting ready for the staff to arrive or viewings to start. I then go and feed the hens and the goats, I always get a very vocal welcome from them, they are very happy to see me each morning! I then go the delivery entrance to receive whatever deliveries are due that morning, I check that all stock has been delivered correctly and stack them where they need to go. I then take a well-earned cup of tea! After my cup of tea, I go to the most urgent thing on my list (I always have a list) and will start working on that. I could be called away from whatever job I’m doing at any time of the day for something urgent, for example today a chicken escaped the fence, our new goat did the same last week.
What tool do you use the most at Barnabrow and why? Fork, Shovel or Screwdriver I could not pick one
If you could change anything at Barnabrow, what would it be and why?
I wish it was flatter, for guests the beauty of Barnabrow is the secret corners and pretty paths, for a maintenance man, the hills and nooks make my job much harder. I must do 30,000 steps a DAY! But everyday at Barnabrow is different and that makes it exciting too.
Be sure to give Liam a big wave the next time you are visiting 😉