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Irish Examiner

'Super Garden' recreated at local school to honour late gardener

The wife of a talented gardener who died shortly after winning RTÉ's Super Garden competition has said she is delighted to see his creation living on in a local school in their hometown. John Dooley and his wife Elizabeth from Castledermot, Co Kildare, won the top prize for their design "Past, Present, and Future" last year. Their feature garden, which was displayed at last year's Bloom festival, emphasised the importance of using land to produce food and protect the environment. John, a former farm manager and gardener who was self-taught, focused on pollinators, medicinal plants, and vegetables. Tragically, just one day after he began clearing away his design when Bloom ended last June, John suffered a heart attack at home and died. Now, his wife Elizabeth has marked the first anniversary of his death by opening "John's Garden" at Scoil Diarmada in Castledermot, where he donated the creation after his big win. 'The night before his anniversary, I thought: 'Oh no, I will have to go through this ordeal again, and I'd be crying and having red cheeks all the time,'' she told the Irish Examiner."I told myself: Get up and get ready. His garden and the school have really kept me going, this is what John wanted and that has helped me 'John and I were very close and had similar interests, so I talk to him every day. I talk to his photo, and I feel him all around. Liz Dooley, centre, cutting the ribbon at Scoil Diarmada to officially open the garden her late husband John Dooley donated to the school. Picture: Moya Nolan 'John wanted to pass the garden on, he was over the moon when he won, and he wanted the school to have the garden because he felt like the old way of growing your own vegetables was being lost.' Cutting the ribbon at the official opening at the front of the school, Elizabeth told locals: 'John would really love this, and you're all here now in his memory, and I wish everyone joy as they come into the garden.' John, who was 62 and originally from Killeen in Co Laois, was described as a 'laid-back man with a huge talent for gardening'. 'There was nothing he couldn't do,' said his wife. 'I entered him for the Super Garden." The couple, who celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary last July, were 19 and 22 when they got married. 'He came to the dances here in Castledermot and we met there. He was in good health, but suffered a heart attack around nine years ago. But he was going well. He tended to the garden in the local Church of the Assumption after he was made redundant as a farm manager. "That's where we got married there, and that is where his funeral Mass was too.' Elizabeth said she now finds some solace knowing the garden has been donated to the local children. 'His dreams and wishes will live on in that garden," she added. Principal Jennifer Murphy speaking to visitors at the opening of the garden Liz's late husband John Dooley donated to the school. Picture: Moya Nolan Scoil Diarmada principal Jennifer Murphy paid tribute to John and Elizabeth, saying: 'The most important thing we have learned is that gardening is not an instant thing." 'In a world where we don't always understand the promise of time and patience, the children are now learning to appreciate that if you plant a seed it takes a lot of time and care to grow. "This will be the legacy that John leaves us. May he rest in peace." Read More Colin Sheridan: Bloom is the crowning jewel of our capital city