Watch: New garden at Marymount in Cork is sanctuary for patients, staff and families

Having worked at Marymount in Cork for 25 years, Candice Murphy is like a ray of sunshine.

She helps bring sunshine into the lives of everyone’s in Marymount University Hospital and Hospice by planting seeds, nurturing the flowers and plants, and helping residents watch their garden grow.

She talks to the plants.

“I greet the garden with a cup of tea every morning and say ‘Good morning garden!” says Candice, who lives in Blackrock.

This summer, a new garden created at Marymount open to the public. Designed by Adam Hunt and Valerie Bond in collaboration with West Cork-based landscaper Colm Cronin, it is a joy to behold.

Candice, originally from Kolkata, India, along with her assistant Rachel Desmond, spread joy in their meditative, creative surroundings, which they help maintain and nourish every day.

“I work on the wards and help with activities here,” says Candice, who is a wise gardener, sowing seeds to channel the elements of the garden’s environment, soil, plants, critters, and climate, to produce a small community of beauty and abundance.

“This is a beautiful place,” adds Candice, who knows how powerful the resonance of plants can be.

“I love tending to the flowers and the plants. 

I love seeing the happiness of people who are surrounded by beautiful flowers on the balconies of their rooms; how they get such pleasure from setting a seed in a pot, feeling the soil, watching the seed grow into something beautiful.

“Here, in St. John’s ward, the staff and family members started the balcony gardens themselves. We bring the pots and soil to people in the wards who cannot get out of bed, and they enjoy the soothing, tactile therapy of planting.

“The tangible impact of that on patient care is wonderful. And it is a way to connect with the garden.”

Growing and nurturing flowers and plants is an essential part of palliative care. Drinking in the beauty and scale of the garden, a patchwork of colour, is both a tonic and therapy.

“Green spaces have been proven time and time again to enhance mental wellbeing, to enhance physical and social health,” says Dr Sarah McCloskey, CEO of Marymount University Hospital and Hospice.

The gardens help people feel at peace and are a welcome distraction from the clinical environment, which is vital for our patients, residents, and families who are typically navigating numerous challenges.

“People enjoying our gardens will benefit from them now and for many years to come.”

The new garden at Marymount Hospice, a result of an exceptionally generous donation by Friends of Leukaemia Cork, is designed to create a sanctuary for people to spend cherished moments with their loved ones while finding solace in nature during challenging times.

“The colours and variety of the new garden are so rewarding,” says Candice.

The project comprises of The Arrival Garden, The Remembrance Garden, and a wildflower spiral meadow situated on a land-protected fairy fort.

Two ponds provide a thriving habitat for wildlife and enrich the biodiversity of the landscape.

“Nature is so soothing, and we need it most in life-changing moments,” says garden designer Valerie Bond.

Her co-designer Adam Hunt says: “The most remarkable thing about a garden, particularly one such as Marymount, is seeing people in it.”

We see harmonious hues of purple, bright oranges, reds and blues in the wildflowers of the spiral meadow, as tadpoles jump and leap from the nearby pond.

“The chaffinch. with a dialect common to only this area, calls from the tree overhead. Sea hollies, easter lilies and Russian sage plants wave about in the summer breeze.

The garden frames Marymount Hospice like a beautiful painting.

“The people who come and visit the garden get great satisfaction from it,” says Rachel, who has worked in the activities department of Marymount for 10 years now.

“We take the residents out into the fresh air, and we walk by the grotto where many people say the rosary in the peace and quiet.

“Members of staff come out here during their break to chill out and de-stress. Some of our older male residents were farmers and they love looking at the lay of the land - it is of huge interest to them,” says Rachel.

She derives great satisfaction from her role at Marymount.

“I feel so privileged to work here,” Rachel says.

“Often, we take the residents out to visit other local gardens and garden centres. Being in green spaces is so rewarding.”

Rachel’s green fingers are in her genes.

“Both my grandmother and mother are avid gardeners. “It was always their hobby,” she says. “They love it.”

Will Rachel create a wonderful garden for her new house she is currently building?

“Definitely. Right now, it’s a building site!”

Where did Candice learn to grow, coax and talk to plants?

“Gardening was on the school timetable back in India,” she says.

Gardening came natural to me. Nurturing and seeing living things grow and thrive throughout the seasons provides joy and happiness for me.

This year, Candice travelled to eh Chelsea Flower Show in the UK. “It was amazing,” she says.

She made her way around the grounds, savouring and sharing common ground with like-minded people.

“I am slight, so I could dodge between the plants on exhibit in the various gardens and get to see them all!”

Two Cork-based artists have been invited to visit the garden to generate an artistic response which will be used for future creative endeavours.

“We filmed each visit and these videos can be viewed as part of our garden display in the foyer of Marymount,” says Enid Conway, Fundraising and Marketing Manager.