A Future for Irish Historic Houses - Irish Heritage Trust

emphasised by the fact that the World Monument Fund is presently
considering listing Headfort as one of its 100 most endangered sites
in the world.
o The oval room at Ballyhaise, designed by Richard Castle, is
possibly the earliest surviving room of its kind in the British Isles.
o The coved ceilings at Curraghmore are the work of the
internationally-renowned Francini brothers, while the delicate
plasterwork in the dining-room has been attributed to Antonio
Zucchi or his wife, Angelica Kauffman.
o The Francini brothers were also involved in the embellishment of
Tyrone House.
o The plasterwork on the ceilings at Dunsany and Ely House is
attributed to Michael Stapleton, possibly the most famous Irish
stuccodore of his time.
o A. W. N. Pugin designed the banqueting hall at Lismore.
o Malahide, described as the most distinguished of all Irish castles,
contains the only surviving great hall in Ireland to have retained its
original form.
o The ceilings at Belvedere are possibly the work of Barthelemij
Cramillion, a renowned French stuccodore, who designed the
ceilings of Mespil House in Dublin, which after its demolition in
1952, were removed to Aras an Uachtarain.
o The neo-Classical plasterwork, front hall and inter-locking
staircase at Glin are of major architectural importance.
Where contents are intact, they offer a remarkable insight to the evolution of a house
over succeeding generations dating back to the eighteenth century and sometimes
before. It should be emphasised that it is not the value of individual pieces that is
important but rather their cumulative significance:
o In houses such as Birr, Clonalis and Glin, the history of Irish
furniture, silver, glass and painting as well as craftsmanship is
elucidated.
o At Bantry, there is an extremely important collection of French,
Flemish and Irish furniture, Gobelin tapestries, and Savannerie
carpets.
o The collection of contents at Birr distinguishes it as one of the most
important houses in Ireland.
o Clonalis, one of the few houses to remain in the ownership of a
Gaelic landowning family, contains a veritable treasure trove of
Irish antiquaries dating back well over 500 years. It houses an
invaluable archive that contains over 100,000 letters from people
such as Napper Tandy, Daniel O’Connell, Charles Stewart Parnell,
William E. Gladstone and so on.
o Very important family archive collections are also housed in
Barmeath, Birr, Borris, Kilruddery and Stradbally. These archives
do not merely inform regarding the landed family; they tell us
much about the social, economic and political history of a whole
local area, and often of the country as a whole.
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