John Crowley writes an interesting piece on West Cork in which he has the following to say about Garnsih Island:

West Cork, located favorably on the Gulf Stream, in the county of Cork, is itself a breeding ground for flora and fauna. There is even a small island in Bantry Bay entirely devoted to ornamental subtropical plants. Beloved by horticulturalists, the 15-hectare Garinish Island possesses a magnificent Italian garden that thrives in the area’s humid microclimate. It is reached by ferry from the nearby town of Glengarriff, whose beauty has captured the imagination of many over the years. “What sends picturesque tourists to the Rhine and Saxon Switzerland [as] within five miles round the pretty inn of Glengarriff there is a country of the magnificence of which no pen can give an idea,” Victorian author William Makepeace Thackeray wrote in 1842. “I would like to be a great prince, and bring a train of painters over to make…a set of pictures of the place.” Read More