A Derry solicitor and celebrated gardener who died on Monday has been described as a man of "compassion, integrity and courage".
David Gilliland cultivated one of Ireland’s finest arboretums at his family home at Culmore, Brook Hall.
It has been at the centre of significant events in Ireland's history and played a major role in the 1689 Siege of Derry.
The family's land was headquarters to the army of King James, while the original house was used by James’s commander, the Duke of Berwick.
Brook Hall also played a role in the story of the United Irishmen. Former owner Sir George Fitzgerald-Hill formally identified his old Trinity College classmate, Wolfe Tone, at Buncrana after Tone’s arrest on a ship in Lough Swilly in 1798.
Mr Gilliland maintained and developed the spectacular gardens around the family home which replaced the original house in 1780. He opened his home and grounds to the public for the first time in 2016.
One of Derry’s most respected solicitors, Mr Gilliland - who retired in 2012 - was married to award-winning writer Jennifer Johnston and his oldest son, John Gilliland, is a former president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union.
Commentator and Irish News columnist Denis Bradley said he was a man of many talents.
As well as his skills as a gardener, Mr Gilliland was an accomplished photographer.
"David was a very brave man. He was sent to school in England where he was known as a Paddy, while back home he had a slight English accent, yet he had a great love for Ireland and a great love for his native Derry. He was a man of compassion and integrity," Mr Bradley said.
In recent years Mr Gilliland opened part of his lands to Derry’s Foyle Search and Rescue, giving the life-saving charity quicker access to the river.
Mr Gilliland’s cremation takes place in Cavan later today.
A memorial celebration of his life will be held at Brook Hall on Saturday March 16.
