Economic Value of Ireland's Historic Environment - The Heritage ...

3 Birr Castle Demesne
3.1 The Asset
This case study relates to Birr Castle Demesne 45 ,
situated in Birr in South West Offaly. 46 The Castle and
Demesne have been owned and inhabited by the
Parsons Family, Earls of Rosse, since 1620. The
present family head is the seventh Earl.
The visitor attraction is the lands of Birr Castle Demesne,
rather than Birr Castle. The Castle remains the Parsons‟
family home and is not open to the public except on
special occasions.
The Demesne consists of a large area of natural and landscaped parkland, with numerous natural and
manmade features. In addition to the Demesne grounds as a whole, it includes three distinct visitor
attractions:
(1) Formal gardens containing many rare plants and which is the recipient of many awards;
(2) The „Great Telescope‟ 47 which was the largest telescope in the world for 70 years 1845 - 1912, and is
now fully restored;
(3) The Science Centre which traces the extraordinary scientific and engineering contributions of the
Parsons family.
The Birr „Asset‟ is therefore a distinct combination of both „physical and intellectual‟ capital, i.e. it is not
just the physical parkland and buildings, but is the legacy of
scientific and engineering achievement of different members of
the Parsons family over many generations. This legacy spans
a wide range of disciplines including photography, engineering,
astronomy and botany. A historical listing of Ireland‟s leading
innovators contains four Parsons family members. 48 Apart from
the Great Telescope, the Demesne includes plants exclusive to
it, Ireland‟s (and possibly the world‟s) oldest wrought iron
suspension bridge dating from 1820, one of the world’s earliest
surviving darkrooms, and a turbine house where electricity was generated as early as 1879 for both the
demesne and the town. Not all are yet open to the public, but plans in this regard are at various stages of
development.
45 Demesne (pronounced „Demain‟) is an old French word, which historically refers to a manor house and
associated land, which feudal lord kept for his own use and support, and under his own management, i.e. it is
distinguished from land which was sub-let to tenants.
46 This means that it is located in the Shannon Tourism Region, rather than in the Midlands East.
47 The telescope is also known by other names including The Leviathan and The Rosse Telescope.
48 C. Mollan, W. Davis and B. Finucane, (eds), Irish Innovators in Science and Technology, Royal Irish Academy,
2002.
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