Abandoned Mansions of Ireland

Abandoned Mansions of Ireland #1

by Tarquin Blake

From the mid-eighteenth century Irish country houses flourished. But factors such as the Great Famine, land reforms, the increasing expense of maintenance and the IRA targeting the houses during the War of Independence took their toll. Gradually, the houses sank into decay. In 2008 Tarquin Blake found his first abandoned ‘Big House’ and so began exploring the lost architecture of Ireland. This period of stunning architecture and elegance is evoked in high-definition photography, providing a glimpse into what were once some of Ireland's most distinguished homes.

Genres: Nonfiction, Architecture

338 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2010

Reviews

[Suzanne Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Country houses, particularly the Great Houses flourished in England and Ireland in the mid-eighteenth century, however, many did not last. The Famine took its toll, tenants could not pay rents and estate owners suffered. When land reforms came into being, many landowners saw ownership transfer directly to their tenants and they were left without land or income. Still later, many of these houses became targets of the IRA during the War of Independence.

Photographer/historian Tarquin Blake explores fifty such abandoned houses around the island with stunning photography and brief histories of the houses. Details from the 1911 census offers a glimpse of the closing days of the aristocracy and makes this oversize coffee table book a treasured peek into a bygone era.

A few of the homes listed in the book include Bellegrove House in County Laois. Roofless, with ivy or creeper growing up its walls and out its glassless windows, the beauty of the 1835 architecture remains, standing in a cornfield. Castlemoyne House looms on the horizon like a skeleton, tall, square with glassless window openings, it, too, covered in creeper. The house, built in 1770, remained inhabited until 1911. By then the remaining family lived in a farmhouse to the rear of the great house. Today, even the farmhouse has been abandoned and only cattle graze the once busy estate.

Seafield House in Sligo sports a vine-encrusted roof jutting over skeletal remains. Originally built in 1759, Seafield House was reconstructed in 1853. In 1940, the house was sold, stripped of its furnishings and roof and abandoned.

Poring over the gorgeous, yet sad, photos is a reminder that splendor never lasts, and nature overtakes the buildings of man. I found Abandoned Mansions of Ireland both fascinating and emotional reading. The photography, black and white and color, profusely embellishes this wonderful volume. A small glossary in the back of the book details many of the periods and terms referred to in the text, also a one-page listing of architectural terms will familiarize the reader with many of the details of ornamentation used in these magnificent structures.

[Lesley Looper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both fascinating and sad to see the photographs of these old, abandoned mansions of Ireland.