Meet the Panel Women Shaping the Future of Historic Gardens
As part of Restoration, Resilience & Renewal, Kylemore Abbey is delighted to announce the speakers joining our panel discussion, Cultivating Heritage: Restoration, Stewardship & the Women Preserving Historic Gardens.
Bringing together expertise in horticulture, landscape architecture, heritage conservation and garden restoration, the panel will explore the challenges and opportunities involved in caring for historic gardens in the twenty-first century.
From the restoration of Kylemore's Victorian Walled Garden to the stewardship of some of Ireland's most significant heritage landscapes, each speaker brings a unique perspective shaped by decades of experience.
Anja Gohlke
Head Gardener, Garden and Grounds Manager
Anja Gohlke is the Head Gardener and Garden & Ground Manager at Kylemore Abbey's iconic Victorian Walled Garden. Originally from Berlin, she earned her Master's degree in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning before joining Kylemore Abbey as an intern. Drawn by the beauty of the Irish landscape and the opportunity to work in one of the West of Ireland's largest walled gardens, she returned to Kylemore and was soon appointed Head Gardener, a position she has held since 2004.
For more than two decades, Anja has overseen the care and development of the six-acre Victorian Walled Garden, maintaining its historic planting scheme and preserving its unique heritage character. Sustainability, biodiversity, and conservation are central to her work, with a strong focus on organic gardening practices and environmental stewardship.
Beyond the garden walls, Anja leads educational initiatives, supports community engagement programmes, and mentors the next generation of horticulturists. Her role combines hands-on horticulture, research, conservation, and public outreach, ensuring that the living legacy of Kylemore Abbey's gardens continues to thrive for future generations.
Sr Magdelena FitzGibbon OSB
Benedictine Community, Kylemore Abbey
Sr Magdelena FitzGibbon OSB, a native of Fermoy, County Cork, is one of the Benedictine Community's longest-serving members. Throughout her years at Kylemore Abbey, she has served in several leadership roles, including Abbess, Bursar and Business Manager, while playing a pivotal role in many of the Abbey's most significant restoration and development projects.
Following the restoration of the Neo-Gothic Church in the 1990s, Sr Magdelena, together with Sr Benedict OSB (RIP), spearheaded the ambitious revival of the long-neglected Victorian Walled Garden. Beginning in 1995, she led the restoration project, overseeing fundraising, archaeological investigation and heritage gardening, helping to restore the garden's authentic Victorian character. The restored garden reopened to the public in 2000 and received the prestigious Europa Nostra Conservation Award in 2001.
More recently, Sr. Magdelena was a driving force behind the development of Kylemore Abbey's Monastery, Education, and Retreat Centre, completed in 2024. Her vision, dedication, and leadership have left a lasting impact on both the landscape of Kylemore Abbey and the legacy of the Benedictine Community.
Ann Golden
Restoration Head Gardener, Victorian Walled Garden Restoration Project
Ann Golden qualified as a gardener after completing three years of study at the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin. Early in her career, she served as Head Gardener on a historic private estate in County Meath, where she helped develop gardens and landscapes surrounding a restored eighteenth-century house.
Following her time in Meath, Ann moved to Connemara to join the restoration of Kylemore Abbey's Victorian Walled Garden. As a key member of the restoration team, she played an important role in the revival of the historic garden, helping to transform it from an overgrown site into one of Ireland's most celebrated heritage garden destinations.
Ann later worked as a horticultural instructor with the Brothers of Charity in County Clare before spending sixteen years on a private estate in North Kerry. Her career has been defined by a dedication to horticulture, garden restoration, and the preservation of historic landscapes, leaving a lasting contribution to some of Ireland's most significant gardens.
Finola O'Kane Crimmins
Restoration Landscape Architect
Finola O'Kane Crimmins is a landscape historian, architect, and Professor at the School of Architecture, Planning, and Environmental Policy at University College Dublin. Her books include Landscape Design in Eighteenth-Century Ireland: Mixing Foreign Trees with the Natives (Cork, 2004), Ireland and the Picturesque: Design, Landscape Painting, and Tourism, 1700-1840 (PMC/Yale 2013) and the recent Landscape design and revolution in Ireland and the United States 1688-1815, (PMC/Yale, June 2023). She has also published widely on eighteenth-century Dublin, Irish urban and suburban history and plantation landscapes, with the co-edited volume Ireland, slavery and the Caribbean: Interdisciplinary perspectives published in 2023 by Manchester University Press.
Claire Woods
Head Gardener, Hillsborough Castle
Claire Woods leads the gardening team at Hillsborough Castle, caring for over 100 acres of historic gardens, woodland, waterways and ornamental grounds.
Since taking up the role, she has overseen the development of new planting schemes and the establishment of a spectacular walled garden following a major redevelopment project. Sustainability, biodiversity, staff development and the stewardship of historic landscapes are central to her work.
Previously, Claire worked with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and spent many years teaching horticulture at CAFRE. Throughout her career, she has championed the value of horticulture, from food production to the creation of beautiful and meaningful public spaces.
Join the Conversation
Cultivating Heritage: Restoration, Stewardship & the Women Preserving Historic Gardens forms part of Restoration, Resilience & Renewal, celebrating 25 years since the restoration of Kylemore Abbey's Victorian Walled Garden.
The symposium takes place on Saturday, 10 October, and includes a keynote presentation, panel discussion and a unique restoration walk through the Victorian Walled Garden with members of the original restoration team.
Spaces are limited and advance booking is essential.