Irish Houses & Castles

Dust jacket notes: "Although many books on country-house architecture have been published recently, this is the first to appear on the great houses of Ireland for more than fifty years. It is often assumed that Irish houses and castles are no more than provincial expressions of English architecture, and at certain times that has been the case. But the cumulative effect of the architecture and of the long family traditions, the family portraits, the plasterwork, furniture, and silver, combine to give the great houses of Ireland a strongly individual character. The increased vulnerability of such houses in this century makes it particularly important that whatever information is available should be recorded and that all efforts should be made to ensure that such a magnificent part of the Irish heritage is not lost. In this book Desmond Guinness, President of the Irish Georgian Society, and William Ryan trace the development of Irish architecture from the castle stronghold to the Gothic revival. The principal houses and castles are fully described, ranging in time from Beaulieu (1660) to Glenveagh (1870), and including the masterpieces of the classic period (1725-50), such as Castletown, Powerscourt, Russborough, and Carton, as well as the striking castles of the Gothic revival. The photographs, many of which have been especially taken for this book by the authors, include fascinating illustrations of interiors, gardens, parks, and follies, together with reproductions of paintings and architectural drawings."