Kilsheelan’s Shane Cosgrave wins Gardener of Year title

A Tipperary boy has beaten off stiff competition from across the country to win the title of Best U-14 Gardener at Arboretum’s Annual Gardener of the Year competition.

Shane Cosgrave from Priorstown, Kilsheelan, is a First Year student at Clonmel High School and the son of Una and Ciaran Cosgrave.

Shane was presented with his award at an awards ceremony earlier this month.

Along with his title and trophy he received a €100 voucher to be spent in Arboretum’s Lifestyle and Garden Centre in Co. Carlow; a gift pack containing lots of gardening goodies from the centre and a meal at Arboretum’s award-winning on-site restaurant, Rachel’s Garden Café.

“Shane was really chuffed to win the competition”, his mother Una stated.

Competition entries were judged by Arboretum’s CEO Rachel Doyle, the newly-appointed president of the International Garden Centre Association, along with her team of expert horticulturists.

Hundreds of entries were received from all over the country.

“This is the first year we have included a category for under 14s and we were thrilled with the interest and response.

We expect Shane to do great things over the years”, said Rachel Doyle.

The overall Gardener of the Year title was awarded to two Carlow men, Eddie Quigley and Wesley Dawson, for their vegetable/allotment plot.

The Arboretum Lifestyle and Garden Centre is one of the country’s largest and became the first Five Star Garden Centre in Ireland in 2005.