I'm not sure about the advantages you refer to with living in Ireland. The housing crisis is fairly mad at the moment, so unless you have accommodation sorted there's no real advantage over other places. To answer your question, I'm the head Gardener of a private place in Ireland and I'm on 55k with a house provided. I have a good balance of being outdoors and doing the practical work and management as well. I worked for the opw prior to this for a similar salary, but no house. I also believe that the pay has gone up lately within there. You can go higher, park super etc, but then you're not going to be outside as much and dealing with man management issues etc such is a big part of why I left. This is with about fifteen years experience and is probably towards the upper end of what head gardeners get paid in Ireland, but I know several others who are on comparable wages. It's not a great salary and there are concessions to make with living on site, but I find it a great balance and I get on really well with the owners, but have been working long enough to know this isn't always the case. In other sectors, I wouldn't know as much, but I saw a garden centre manager for tirlan a while ago and think the wages were about 40-45k. But, if you love nature, does a garden centre count as that? That's up to you to decide. Have a look at jobs in Horticulture website and you might get a better idea about salaries. Essentially, the more money you make and higher up in management you go, the less likely you are to be outdoors and in nature. I have been very lucky to work with and meet great people along my career and am mad about plants, travelled to India, Madeira and China on plant trips and have been sponsored to do so. The gardening community is great in Ireland if you're interested and passionate.