Our Story – Dangan House Garden Centre & Tearooms

OUR STORY

The history of Dangan House

spans back over 300 years.

History of Dangan House

For centuries, Dangan House has been part of Galway's story. From the Martin family of the seventeenth century to the Cunningham family today, the estate has evolved while remaining a place connected to gardens, community and the surrounding landscape.

The Martin family (1684–1830)

The original Dangan House was built in 1684 as the seat of the Martin family, one of the famous Tribes of Galway who helped shape the city's history from the Middle Ages through to the nineteenth century.

Situated closer to the River Corrib, opposite Menlo Castle, the original house overlooked the river and surrounding estate. Today, the charming tea house folly at Dangan is one of the few surviving reminders of the Martin family's home.

Among the estate's most notable residents was Richard Martin (1754–1834), affectionately known as Humanity Dick. Renowned for his compassion towards animals, he successfully introduced one of the world's first animal welfare laws and later became a founding figure of what would become the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

During the late eighteenth century, Theobald Wolfe Tone lived at Dangan House as tutor to Richard Martin's children. The connections between Wolfe Tone, Richard Martin and Martin's wife, Elizabeth Vessey, have become part of the rich history and folklore associated with the estate.

The Redington years (1830–1900)

In 1830, Anthony Martin sold the Dangan estate to John Redington of Clarinbridge, marking the end of the Martin family's long association with Dangan.

Recognising the condition of the original house, John Redington commissioned a new residence in a more central location on the estate, closer to the townland. Between 1841 and 1844, the three-storey house that stands today was completed. This is the present-day Dangan House.

The Redington family lived here for much of the nineteenth century, developing the estate and beginning the next chapter in Dangan's history.

The Ursuline Convent (1839–1844)

While the new Dangan House was under construction, the original Martin house entered a new phase of its own.

From 1839 to 1844, it became home to the Ursuline Sisters, who established a convent and school, providing education for young women in Galway.

After the sisters departed in 1844, the original house was used for a period as an Auxiliary Workhouse before eventually falling into ruin. Today, the tea house folly is one of the few surviving reminders of the original seventeenth-century Dangan House.

A new chapter (1900–1962)

During the twentieth century, Dangan House passed through several owners, including the Farrington and Moon families. It was also home for a period to Professor Tom Dillon and his wife Geraldine Plunkett before later being occupied by Professor Shea.

In 1962, the Cunningham family purchased Dangan House, beginning a new chapter in the estate's long history.

Our family history

Dangan House Garden Centre celebrates 50 years in business this year, 2026. This is the story of how a humble market stall in the Saturday market grew into the successful family business it is today.

When Granny Cunningham found a sixpenny piece while walking in the old garden of Dangan House in 1962, she felt it was a sign that maybe one of her children would earn a living within its walls. Her sons Paddy and Peter were drawn to market gardening from the age of 11 or 12 when they started to sell daffodils in the Saturday morning market and when they received scholarships to study horticulture they were determined to make the most of the opportunity.

Determination was needed as the brothers cycled the 140 mile journey to Piltown College Co. Kilkenny that first September, and home again that Christmas.

Upon graduation in 1977 they borrowed 100 pound to buy seeds and a small polythene growing tunnel, and began to grow fruit and vegetables for local restaurants and the Saturday market.

When the renowned gardener Lorna McMahon suggested they stock some trees for the upcoming National Tree Week, they took her advice, and the nursery began to take shape.

Growth was slow initially but gradually a regular clientele grew. As people’s tastes became more sophisticated the range of trees, shrubs and bedding increased until it outgrew the market stall outside St Nicholas’ Church.

The Saturday morning customers began to come to the nursery in the grounds of the old house. Bigger and better tunnels were added and in time a car park.

In 1987 Paddy and Peter bought the large glasshouse from Barna Gardens. Over a six month period they carefully dismantled it, transported and reassembled it in Dangan.

In 1997 the old coach house was renovated and given a new lease of life housing the garden shop.

The old Grain Store was renovated in 2011, becoming home to the Tearooms. What began with tea, coffee, scones and soup has grown into a much-loved gathering place, with a menu that has expanded over the years while keeping many of the original favourites.

Our homemade soup recipe has never changed, and you’ll still find freshly baked brown bread, homemade scones and cakes, toasties and the famous Bean Tree curry from the market on the menu. The Tearooms also host a selection of evening events throughout the year, from jazz nights to classic film screenings, bringing a little more to the space beyond the daytime café. The Tearooms are run by Peter’s wife and daughter, keeping the family tradition at the heart of everything we do.

Nowadays Paddy and Peter have a lot more help around the place, with their daughters and a team of full-time and seasonal staff. While Dangan House has continued to grow and evolve over the years, family, tradition and a simple belief in working hard and doing things well remain at the heart of everything we do. As the years go by, we continue to build on what has come before, bringing new ideas and new energy to Dangan House while keeping its character, history and values that have been passed down through the generations.