A Future for Irish Historic Houses - Irish Heritage Trust

Until 1984, the house continued to operate as a forestry college. Around 1989, a
restoration programme was undertaken by Coillte, the aim being to open the house to
the public as the historic home of C. S. Parnell. It is presently opened from March to
October each year attracting around 40,000 paying visitors per annum (based on 2002
figures.) Presently:
- The house and park is regarded as a major local tourist attraction, which is
of benefit to the local town of Rathdrum. The park is especially important
as a local amenity with its children’s playgrounds and so on.
- The house provides employment to around twelve people.
- The annual Parnell Summer School is held in the conference centre.
The house requires some restorative work:
- The windows need to be treated; the whole house needs to be rewired; the
original finish on the external walls has been coated over and this needs to
be removed; a number of missing fireplaces in the upstairs rooms need to
be replaced; some floors need to be replaced and the servants’ tunnel
requires attention where stones have become loose and dangerous.
- Outside, the management would like to convert some of the outbuildings
into a forestry museum, restore the stable yard area, restore the small
church built by the Parnell family and the walled garden.
However, the present management fear that rising costs, particularly in areas such as
insurance, may have repercussions for Coillte’s involvement with the house. There is
also a fear that in order to make it profitable, the house and park might be
compromised by the conversion of parts of the house or yards into commercial
enterprises such as shopping malls, restaurants and so on.
There is always the fear that a government body such as Coillte may be disbanded in
the future.
In the past, Avondale had the advantage of attracting large numbers of repeat visitors,
people who tended to bring relatives, friends and so on to visit it. In the last few years,
these numbers have declined. The events of September 2001 and the outbreak of Foot
and Mouth the same year were also other contributory factors. This decline is
worrying for any house dependent to a large extent upon tourist income.
58