A Future for Irish Historic Houses - Irish Heritage Trust

able to accompany these finances with an endowment fund
necessary to maintain them into the future.
o Most perceive a trust to be a state organisation and they are
sceptical as to whether or not the state is genuinely committed to
the taking over of a relatively large number of houses and funding
their maintenance into the future.
o They feel that the best way to maintain these historic houses is to
give a commitment to provide funding to the families themselves to
maintain them. They are, they argue, already doing the preservation
work of a trust.
o There is a strong sense amongst the private owners of losing their
personal association with the house if it were to pass to a trust. One
owner said that the ‘trust does not appeal to me at all; I would
rather sell than lose control.’ Another owner pointed out that he
would rather live in ‘my own house … even if it’s on an acre of
ground than have to share it with a trust.’
Obviously the success of a national trust-type organisation in Ireland would depend
on the willingness of owners of historic houses in the future to transfer ownership to
trusts with endowments of income where appropriate. It would also depend upon the
calibre of the people involved in the trusts, their knowledge and understanding of the
historic importance of the houses, and their ability to organise a viable role for the
houses into the future. It may also depend upon educating those who presently own or
manage historic houses to appreciate the long-term benefits of a trust.
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