Biodiversity Through
Apple Heritage

Walk into our orchard in autumn and you’ll be surrounded by hundreds of trees bearing fruit — some with names you’ll recognise, others you’ll only find here. This is the National Heritage Apple Tree Collection, a field genebank where over 200 unique Irish apple varieties are conserved. Each variety has a history. Some were once grown in abbey gardens, others kept alive in rural backfields. Some were forgotten entirely until reintroduced by our team through old agricultural records, garden discoveries, and community research. We don’t grow apples as a crop — we grow them as memory, as biodiversity, and as a resource for the next generation. 

Sorcha Fraiarella Peppers

Features of Our Orchard

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    Largest Apple Collection

    Ireland’s largest public collection preserves heritage apple varieties for future generations.

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    Organic Orchard Practices

    Trees are grown without synthetic fertilisers or pesticides, supporting healthy, sustainable orchards.

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    Heritage Grafting Tradition

    Each tree grafted from heritage scion wood, preserving authentic, true-to-type lineage.

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    Pollinator-Friendly Underplanting

    Orchards enriched with wildflowers and grasses, supporting pollinators and enhancing natural biodiversity.

What It’s Used For 

Why It Matters

Sorcha Fraiarella Peppers

Other Conservation Projects

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