BY EOIN BUTLER

TALK TIME : KEVIN CHELLAR,  Horologist and proprietor of Timepiece Antique Clocks in Dublin

How did you develop an interest in horology, was it a family tradition? No, not at all. My dad was an electronics engineer who worked with computers. So while computers were cutting edge for everybody else, they were old hat to me. I’d lived with them all my life. My father wanted me to go to university and study engineering. But I’m afraid what he wanted was never what I wanted. Luckily, I stumbled upon a course at the Irish Swiss Institute of Horology.

And at what point did you decide to concentrate on antique timepieces? Around the time I graduated in 1981, plastic was starting to predominate in watch-making and I was becoming a little disenchanted with things. But people started arriving at my door with antique clocks, looking to get them repaired. Aunts, uncles, the parish priest – everyone. We don’t have a history of clock-making in our family. But I had a quick look in the Golden Pages and there was only one other guy doing it in Ireland at the time. So I’ve been cracking away at it ever since.

Looking at the timepieces in your shop here, are these mostly things that people have sent in for repair? Or is this stuff for sale? Both. What you’re seeing here is about 50 per cent repairs and 50 per cent work I’m doing for myself. But even those repairs would include things I’d sold or repaired 20 years ago. If you look after these pieces, they’ll outlive you, they’ll outlive your kids and they’ll outlive their kids. That clock in the corner there was made in 1710. That’s just 20 years after the Battle of the Boyne.

Is it true that at that time, this area of Dublin would have been a hive of clock-making? That’s right. Between the end of the Jacobean Wars and the Act of Union, Dublin was the second city of the empire and very wealthy. Ireland had lots of émigrés – Huguenots and Dutch – and they brought with them a lot of continental technology. In this town, you have to understand, clocks were a little like computers. Even up to the turn of the 19th century, they were considered a form of black magic. Some of these clocks even had a little talisman, almost like a Sheela na Gig, above the face to ward off evil spirits.

It seems incredible that ideas so primitive could exist alongside technology so sophisticated. But, I suppose, you have creationist websites and an Iranian nuclear programme today. Well, the golden age of clock making lasted from about 1680 to 1750. Huge technological advances were made, but it was all very secretive. You couldn’t just tell people what you were up to, and how you were doing it. The church was keeping a very close eye. It was Galileo, for example, who came up with the idea of the pendulum. But for the rest of the world it was still earth, wind and fire.

What’s the antiques world like, is it all auctions and glamorous heiresses? To be honest, I do my best to steer away from auctions. I feel you need more time to look at something. I like to lie a clock down on its back, to get a feel of what’s going on there and who did what to it before me.

What’s the biggest killing you’ve ever made on an antique you’ve chanced upon? I did buy a clock in a major London house, a very old Irish grandfather clock. It wasn’t in a clock sale, it was a decorative sale. It was listed incorrectly – my wife found it in a catalogue. So I flew over, went to the auction and sweated, sweated, sweated. It was the very final lot. I was frantically looking around the room for anyone I knew and eventually spotted a guy I know well. So I hid behind a pillar to avoid him. I eventually bought the clock for €12,000 and sold it for €80,000.

Wow . Now, I put a lot of time and money into renovating it. But something like that is the find of the century for me. Those are the ones that keep your heart fluttering, that allow you to put an extension on your house or take a nice holiday. But you can’t make a living out of them. They come along too rarely.

Is there any contemporary technology that you think future generations will cherish the way you cherish these timepieces? To be honest, I don’t think so. When I was a boy, my father brought me to see the accounting software at Gallagher’s cigarette company and it was a massive roomful of computers. Nowadays, a netbook could probably do the same job. So no, I think it will all be forgotten in a hundred years.

Timepiece Antique Clocks, 58 Patrick Street, Dublin 8, 01-4540774, www.timepieceantiqueclocks.com

This article originally appeared in the Irish Times 19/9/09

Ireland, in the 19th century, had a thriving bog wood industry in Dublin, with representation also in other main cities and in the tourist towns such as Killarney. The wood was thought to be hallowed by its very nature, being the trunks and stumps of ancient trees that had lain in the bogs for thousands of years, including oak, fir and yew. Bog wood was highly desirable with pieces ranging from emblematic jewellery, book ends and candlesticks to intricately carved suites of furniture.

Following the wholesale destruction of the native forests in the 16th and 17th centuries with the employment of timber for building projects, ironworks and ship building yards, the inhabitants of Ireland were forced to turn to the bogs for turf and consequently timber.

For much of the rural population in Ireland, timber came from the cheapest imported softwood. However, for the most impoverished, there was a range of alternatives to buying new timber, and depending on the location it included such materials as bog oak, bog yew and bog fir. Bog wood, especially oak and fir, were utilised throughout the country in a variety of ways including house building, furniture making, small furnishings, ropes and even domestic lighting. However from the 1820’s onwards, bog wood took on a more decorative role.

In the 19th century Neo- Celtic style reflected the growing fascination with Ireland’s ancient, cultural and artistic past. This was a decorative style based on Celtic motifs and designs which were inspired by various archeological discoveries. It was characterised by the use of symbols such as the shamrock, Irish harp, round tower and wolfhound, with interlacing patterns incorporating Gaelic script from the Book of Kells. This was the only style based exclusively on a native Irish source. During this period carved bog wood, incorporating many of these designs, was used for a wide range of decorative pieces.

Bog yew was thought to resemble rosewood, but be superior to it in colour, texture and firmness. It was also very durable. Bog oak became black when exposed to the air and was valued for its great strength, hardness and for the high polish it was capable of receiving. Intricately carved furniture was produced from both bog yew and bog oak. Bog oak was predominantly employed in the manufacture of small articles such as personal or dress ornaments, house hold ornaments, and functional articles.

There is evidence from the 1820s onwards that the fashion for carved bog wood grew rapidly and by the middle of the century, what was once a cottage pastime had become a highly organised and lucrative industry.

By the time of the 1851 Great Exhibition in London and the 1853 Great Industrial Exhibition in Dublin, bog wood carving was a firmly and fashionably established feature of the Arts and Crafts scene in Ireland. Of the Irish bog wood manufacturers listed in the Catalogue of the Great Exhibition of 1853, certain basic information can be gleaned to identify the individual craftsmen and their work.

Killarney, by the middle of the century, had what was reputed to be a flourishing tourist trade especially after the railway reached it in 1854. The raw bog timber was plentiful in this area and accounts for the predominance of artefacts, depicting both Muckross House and Abbey.

Irish cabinetmakers utilised their native bog wood to great effect, however, it was in the field of jewellery and small ornaments that its greatest popularity was achieved. Personal account books show that by the late 1850s girls aspired to owning more than one piece of bog oak jewellery.

The popularity of jewellery in the 1860s was undoubtedly due to the widespread use of mourning jewellery after the death of Prince Consort in December 1861, when, following the example of the Queen, thousands plunged into mourning. In some circles, mourning jewellery was very fashionable. In England, jet was mostly used; in Ireland the more durable bog oak quickly became fashionable and it soon spread to Britain.

Bog oak remained the consistently favoured style of Irish jewellery throughout the rest of the century, although manufacturers were regularly criticised for indifferent standards. Bog oak bracelets, brooches, necklaces, earrings, tiaras, pins, studs, links, solitaires and chatelaines were made in Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Killarney. It was the predominant type of jewellery sold at the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876 and the Paris Exhibition of 1887, and remained popular at the Cork Exhibition of 1883.

Bog wood design in both furniture and jewellery can be divided into three main categories including Irish emblems (such as the harp and the shamrock), emulations of Irish antiquities and designs depicting the flora and fauna. There were also symbols iof the Union between Ireland and Britain depicted on many pieces which incorporated many of the designs, mentioned previously.

The most popular national emblem, the shamrock, is depicted in the majority of bog wood furniture and jewellery. The shamrock had become a universally recognised symbol of Ireland. In the 1850s the designs in bog wood ware increased with the addition of the Brian Boru harp. The harp was made sometime between the 13th and 16th centuries and was restored in the1850s and put on daily display in Trinity College. The Irish wolfhound, another national emblem, was said to be the product of the Celtic Revival. There are frequent references wolfhounds in the ancient stories of Fionn and Oisin. There was certainly great interest in the Irish wolfhound in the mid 19th century and it often appeared as an emblem, with accompanying a figure of Hibernia or Erin or in a group with a round tower and shamrock.

The discovery of the ‘Tara’ Brooch in 1850 gave added impetus to the fashion. It was found on Mornington beach, just outside Drogheda, who in turn sold it to Waterhouse jewellers in Dublin. The brooch became known as the ‘Royal Tara Brooch’ after Waterhouse had the honour of showing it to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1850. The Queen brought two copies and imitations became very popular, many in bog oak. Another popular symbol of antiquity was the round tower, chosen because it was specific to Ireland. Various abbeys and castles and high crosses were also depicted on furniture, bracelets, brooches and necklaces.

Flora and fauna were depicted on both jewellery and furniture. Many of these included fern, oak and sycamore leaves, flowers, ivy and general foliage. Ferns were a Victorian craze, not particularly Irish, except that they were plentiful around Killarney, where a local bog oak carving industry existed.

There was a tendency, up to the middle of the 19th century, to combine recognisably Irish emblems with symbols of the British Empire. These symbols included the lion and the wolfhound, the rose, thistle and the shamrock. From roughly 1860s on, however a reversal occurred, with a noticeable absence of the emblems of the Union.

Another theme, although at the lower end of the iconographical scale were Irish comic scenes. These included such subjects as ‘donnybrook fair’ (notorious for fights), ‘the tail of my coat’, and ‘Paddy and his pig’.

Within the bog wood industry the quality of workmanship varied from the simple brooch manufactured for the souvenier trade to the more elaborately carved piece of jewellery mounted with gold, silver and pearls. The workmanship of the furniture was generally to a high standard, however there was criticism of it being too ornate.

The bog oak industry in Ireland thrived for most of the 19th century. During this period there were many manufacturers of bog wood artefacts. The rarity of the pieces of carved bog wood with trade labels or signatures makes it difficult to attribute any particular piece. However, certain information can be found in the Dublin Directories and the catalogues of the Great Exhibitions regarding the bog wood carvers and their artefacts.

Patrick McGuirk is generally credited as being the first professional practitioner of the craft of bog oak carving. In 1821 he presented a carved oak walking stick to King George IV during the monarch’s visit to Dublin. However, it was reported  that McGuirk presented examples of his carvings in coconut shell to the Duchess of Richmond, who was so impressed that she suggested that he use his skill on his native bog oak. It must be concluded that this must have been some years earlier while the Duke of Richmond, was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, (1807-1813).

Patrick McGuirk first appears in 1833 Dublin Directory at 1 George’s Hill and continued at that address until replaced there by Mrs. Mary McGuirk in 1847 and 1848. However he reappears as Patrick McGuirk, goldsmith and jeweller, until 1854, after which date there is no further mention in the directories of a McGuirk connected with bog oak work or the jewellery trade.

John Neate (1796-1838) from Killarney, is mentioned in The Art Journal, 1865, as having ’so far back as 1820 manufactured articles from bog wood and was certainly among the first to profess it, if he did not actually  originate the trade’. His eldest daughter Anne married Cornelius Goggin who may have been trained by John Neate, and who, in turn, became a very successful manufacturer of bog oak artefacts.

Cornelius Goggin moved to Dublin where, from 1849, he appears in the directories as a bog carver, initially at the same business address, 10 Nassau Street, as Denis Connell another bog wood carver, also from Killarney. Goggin traded at that address until 1851. In the 1853 Dublin Exhibition, he showed a candelabrum in bog oak and Irish diamonds and Irish silver, also a pie case in bog oak, Irish diamonds and Irish silver designed by the Earl of Eglinton for H.M the Queen. He also exhibited bracelets, brooches, necklaces, bookstands, chess boards and other articles and in bog oak. By 1852 Cornelius Goggin had moved to 13 Nassau Street, where he ran a bog oak and Killarney wood warehouse until his death on 1st July 1865. He had also become purveyor ‘to her Majesty’. At the 1864 Great Exhibition of Dublin, Cornelius was able to display his royal warrant, along with a bog oak inkstand copied from the antique’, other ornamental items such as models of high crosses and round towers and personal jewellery, and the candelabra designed by the Duke of Devonshire. He also exhibited a piece entitled ‘Paddy driving his pigs to Donnybrook Fair’.

A bog oak inkstand, in the shape of an owl, by Cornelius Goggin, is on display in the National Museum of Ireland.

Jeremiah Goggin (1814-1898), elder brother of Cornelius, first appears in the Dublin Directories of 1855 as a bog oak manufacturer at 74 Grafton Street and where, by 1864, he was able to add ‘to Her Majesty’. In the same year at the Royal Dublin Society’s exhibition he displayed ‘a set of bog oak ornaments selected by the late Prince Consort… A set of antique ornaments made for the Princess Alice mounted in Wicklow gold and pearls’, as well as numerous other ornamental items in bog oak including ‘a time-piece representing the Minstrel boy with harp, resting on a base supported by an Irish wolfhound and richly carved with shamrocks and roses’.

Jeremiah continued in the bog oak business until his death on January 29th 1898. After his death the bog oak business was carried on at the same address by his widow until her own death in September 1918.

Ellen Mary Goggin the youngest daughter of Cornelius became a bog oak carver. She participated in the ‘Irish Industrial Village’ presided over by the former Vicerine, Lady Aberdeen , at the World’s Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893. Miss Goggin presided over the award winning, Darra-bochta store where the actual process of bog oak carving was shown as well as finished work. She carried on business for many years at 18 and 20A Nassau Street where in addition to her bog oak ornaments she also sold fine art jewellery, fancy drapery, hosiery and outfitting from about 1900, perhaps indicating a decline by that date for the demand for bog oak. Nevertheless in 1918 she was still trading in bog oak at 14 Nassau Street.

Arthur J Jones and Sons of St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin operated from 1820 to 1860. He exhibited a suite of furniture in Irish bog yew in London in 1851 and in Dublin in 1853, and a selection at the Royal Dublin Society;s show in 1861. He published an illustrated pamphlet, ‘Description of a Suite of Sculptured Decorative Furniture’, to publicise his ware in 1853. The bog yew, he said, ‘resembled the subject illustrated, Irish history and antiquities’.

The suite consisted of a cabriolet sofa (with shamrock pillows), an occasional table, a circular table, a teapoy, an omnium or what-not, a whist table, a stand for a timepiece, a pair of pole fire-screens, an armchair, a semi-circular side table, a sarchopagus or wine cooler and a ‘music temple’.

The armchair had arms in the shape of wolfhounds, one at ease, recumbent, with the motto ‘fierce when provoked’. Two of these armchairs can be found in the reception of Ballygally Castle Hotel, Co. Antrim.

Most spectacular of all was the Music Temple. On its summit sat Ollamh Fodhla, seated with lia fail, or Stone of Destiny, on a platform representing all Ireland mapped out under him, the coastline ‘exhibiting prominent scenery of the four provinces’. The four panels on the side of the piece showed (on the long sides) the opening of the Triennial Convention at Tara and the harpers in Tara’s Hall performing before the monarch and his queen, and (on the ends) portraits of Onaoi, ‘the first musician who accompanied the sons of Milesius to Ireland’, and Carolan, ‘who may be regarded as the last of the Irish bards’. The lower stretcher had the initials V and A ‘embosomed’ in the heart of a bunch of shamrocks, the date 1851, and ‘Erin’ inscribed in ornamental capitals from the Book of Kells.

The firm of James Curran and Sons, carver, was in business in Lisburn, Co. Antrim in the mid 19th century at premises in Castle Street and later in Piper’s Hill. The firm exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 with a catalogue entry describing ‘A sculptured and perforated armchair from the antique with fruit and foliage from nature but with grotesque figures of Irish Bog Oak found in Moytagh’s Moss, Ballinderry, Antrim. Made by three poor working men expressly for the Exhibition, it occupied the workmen for eight months of unlimited hours. The covering of the seat and back are of crimson silk manufactured by E. Jones 3, St. Andrew’s Street, Dublin; also… a piece of wood in its seasoned but unfinished state with original pencil designs by the carvers who are self-taught.’

A similar chair, by Curran and Sons, was commissioned by the Countess of Eglinton, wife of the Earl of Eglinton, Ireland’s Viceroy 1851-1852, who played a major part in the organisation of Ireland’s Industrial Exhibition held in Dublin in 1853. The chair was displayed in the Exhibition held in Dublin 1853. The chair was displayed in the Exhibition and was described in the official catalogue as ‘made from Irish Bog Oak, richly sculptured and perforated, the design from the antique’. The chair is now on display in Lisburn Linen Centre and Museum. The chair is ornamented with shamrocks, roses, thistles, vine leafs and berries, all symbols of the Union. The inscription on the back of the chair reads ‘Designed and made for her Excellency the Countess of Eglinton, from Irish bog oak, by Curran and Sons Ireland AD 1852.’ A similar chair, by James Curran and Sons, is on display in Holyrood House in Edinburgh.

The Ulster Museum has a carved bog oak chair by Dawson Bell of Belfast. It has a richly carved back, which shows a harp surmounted by a shield with the Red Hand of Ulster, and flanked by shamrock and wolfhound. Above the central group is a cap like object, an illustration which appeared in the Dublin Penny Journal of 25 August 1832, where it was described as an ancient Irish crown, made of gold, discovered in Co. Tipperary in 1692. The chair back also incorporates oak leaves and acorns, which in this context symbolize the Union. The plaque on the back of the chair reads ‘Dawson Bell, Cabinetmaker, Belfast’.

The bog wood industry in Ireland lasted for most of the 19th century. However, towards the end of the century fashion changed and with the beginning of the 20th century and the outbreak of the First World War, there was a decline in the craft of bog wood carving.

Bog wood carving in Ireland today is not on the same scale as that of the 19th century. However, it is still popular for artists and, who are, carrying on the culturally important tradition.

This article appears in the Irish Antique Dealer’s Yearbook 2006-2007

Dermot O'Neill's Killarneyware Trinket Box

Niall Mullen appeared on The Mooney Show on Radio 1 on Thursday 19th July. Listeners called and brought in antiques to the studio which Niall cast his critical eye over. Celebrity gardener and antique enthusiast Dermot O’Neill brought in a number of pieces including some bog oak items and a Killarneyware trinket box.

Listeners brought in a number of interesting items including a Swiss music box from around 1840, a German bracket clock and an early ‘karaoke machine’ originally housed in Castlefreak but which has been in O’Donovan’s hotel in Cork for the past hundred years. Derek Mooney was a big fan of this

Jack B. Yeats lithograph/sketch

piece though Niall was less impressed. Niall was very excited about Una from Newry’s item, a Jack B. Yeats lithograph or sketch. If it is an original sketch by the Yeats brother a conservative estimate would be €20,000!

Niall also let slip that Rod Stewart had recently been antique shopping in Dublin’s Francis Street and had spent approximately €12,500 on Irish antiques!

Niall Mullen on Mooney Show Part 1

Niall Mullen on the Mooney Show Part 2

Conservation & Restoration Workshop

Aim

To offer a Complete Conservation &  restoration service that provides a professional, sympathetic approach to your antique furniture by qualified restorers. Our emphasis is on conservation, using appropriate finishes and traditional restoration techniques of the 18^th & 19^th Century to restore Antique items to their appropriate condition.

Over the years we have worked with many important pieces of Irish & English furniture,  often made by the finest makers of the 18^th & 19^th Century. However this need not always be the case, we often restore items of great sentimental value to individuals, who wish to restore their much cherished articles to an appropriate condition irrespective of the item’s monetary value. We take great pride in advising our clients on the steps we believe necessary to revive or Conserve your item to its appropriate condition.

Skills

Our team of qualified restores are: Skilled in the following areas Woodcarving, turning, marquetry, veneer work, Horse hair Upholstery , Gilding,  French polishing, Traditional wax polishing, cabinet making. These are combined with modern conservation techniques to ensure that a period piece will continue looking its best for many years to come.

Service

Here in Straffan we will carry out an initial consultation free of charge.  We will then provide an estimation of the cost of restoring/conserving your piece and talk you through our processes.  We will also provide you with after care advice to help you maintain your piece in the years ahead.   If possible please attach a photo of the piece which requires restoration

Our workshop

Our workshop is located in the courtyard of the old stone farm buildings of Barberstown House Straffan.  On entering our workshop, you will notice that the vast majority of our tools are traditional hand tools, even our heating is provided by a late 19^th century cast iron stove. Our emphasis is on conservation, using appropriate finishes and traditional restoration techniques of the 18^th & 19^th Century to restore Antique items to their appropriate condition. We believe that methods used to make a piece originally such as traditional hide glues should be used in its conservation and restoration to ensure its integrity.

Commencing on September 29^th and 30^th September for 6 weeks

They will cover all aspects of restoration from cabinet making to wood finishing.

Wednesday evenings will be cabinet making and Thursdays will be wood finishing .

They will be individual courses and are limited to 15 per course.

Price is €120 per course and runs from 7 pm till 9pm.

The staff expertly undertakes a full restoration and conservation service on all types and age of furniture, French Polishing, Cabinet Making, Leather Tooling, Repairs, Brass Work, Gilding, Caning, Upholstery, Carving and Cabinet Making to design. If there is a field we don’t specialise in we have various experts  to call upon so that every area of restoration and conservation is covered.

As it is so important to ensure the restoration/conservation does not de-value the piece being worked on, we keep a stock of antique timber and fittings from furniture which is beyond restoration so that if a clients piece needs major repair, timber of the age of the piece can be used to ensure the piece keeps its authenticity.

From the initial meeting with the client Sean will give guidance and advice on what each item needs to bring it back into its original condition including the cost, this quotation is free.  If the client proceeds then the item(s) are collected, worked on and returned at no extra cost.  The quote is valid for three months.  Items are fully insured at all times

Insurance and Probate valuations and estimates are also offered by the Sean. Pieces can be brought by the owner to Ashgrove or Sean offers a service where he will call and give a written valuation for individual items or full house contents

Sean has always striven to offer clients the best service possible and has found over the years that his business has grown because of customer satisfaction and clients recommendations.

Example of Chaise Longue Restoration, Before

Chaise Longue, After Restoration

After World War II many Irish houses including their contents fell under the auctioneers hammer. These houses had in many cases been built by the ancestors of the sellers and in a matter of a few hours the family collection and history was dispersed to the four corners of the world. Ireland was a rich picking ground for dealers both here and abroad. The dealer would in fact be the controller of the prices realised unlike today where the private individual will pay what he thinks is the right price.

Four Irish houses with their original contents were sold between 1964-1984 and today none of them survive as private residences.

Kenure Park at Rush, Co. Dublin was the home of the Palmer family for 150 years until they sold the property and contents in a sale conducted by J.H. North & Co. Ltd. in September 1964. This perhaps was one of Ireland’s finest houses being an 18^th century house that which had been grandly refaced with an enormous portico in 1842 by George Papworth. Internally the house was elaborately decorated with fine plasterwork, a vast staircase hall, with reception rooms on the first floor all wonderfully decorated. The furnishings at the time of the sale were of the best with finest porcelain oriental, Chelsea, Dresden, Spode, Worcester, Mason Ironstone etc. The silver included a William III salver, London circa 1696, a Queen Anne plain cylindrical tankard and cover by James Gibbon, London, 1704, 50 pieces of table silver by John Pittar, Dublin, 1787. Paintings including works by or of the school of Romney, Kneller Cuyp, Guercino, Wouverman, B.V.D. Helst, A van de Velde etc.

The furniture was perhaps the most interesting section with many superb pieces. In particular: Lot 290 a fine pair of carved gilt torcheres comprising a pair of Chinese gilt figures supporting trays on carved tripod bases with paw feet and probably by Chippendale. The piece of furniture that was perhaps the sensation of the sale and indeed perhaps one of the most important pieces of furniture to be sold in Ireland in the 20^th century was a Chippendale cabinet, Lot 291. The description in the catalogue read ‘A very fine Chinese Display Cabinet in mahogany with carved gilt ornamentation and decoration, three gilt pagodas over three door cabinet with glazed doors enclosing shelves standing on a table with three pillared supports at each corner. The table has three drawers, the centre one being fitted as a writing drawer with green baize covered slide.’ This piece was based on a design from Thomas Chippendale Director of 1754 plates 105 to 111. The sensation of the sale making around £5000, it recently reappeared with an asking price of some millions of dollars. All that remains today of this outstanding house is its portico after demolition in 1974.

Castletown House, Celbridge, Co. Kildare is the largest and grandest Palladian country house in Ireland. It was built by William Conolly (1662-1729) the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. He became one of the wealthiest men in Ireland but did not complete the building of the house, this was left to his great nephew Tom Conolly who married Lady Louisa Lennox, daughter of the 2^nd Duke of Richmond, who was instrumental in much of the decoration of the house. In 1966 the Conolly family (who had become Conolly Carew) decided to sell the house and residue contents. The sale was held over two days and comprised of some 1000 lots. There were over 100 lots of paintings but few making over £1000 and yet many today if sold would make many thousands.

Paintings of horses by H. Barraud made between £140 and £620. A painting of Parnel Moore aged 112 in 1761 made £25. There were many portraits from 17^th century. A seascape by R.B. Beechey of the Mailboat Connaught in stormy seas made £95. A portrait of Frances Howard, Duchess of Richmond and Aubegny in France by Vandyck made £320. The furniture included such pieces as a set of 12 reproduction Irish Chippendale mahogany dining chairs by Hicks, circa 1920. Also an imposing pair of 18^th century carved giltwood sidetables. The friezes with symmetrical leaf, berry and gadrooning on angular fluted baluster support terminating in ball feet, with dove grey marble slabs they were seven feet long. A Christopher Columbus sea chest with fitted interior; this had been in the Conolly family since 1720 following Lady Anne Wentworth’s marriage to William Conolly nephew of the Speaker. It was exhibited in Dublin and had been on loan to the National Gallery in the 1920’s.

The property was sold in 1965 and houses were built on the estate. In 1967 Hon. Desmond Guinness bought the house with some of the land and so saved the house from certain dereliction. He immediately opened the house to the public and began restoring it. In 1979 the house was taken over by Castletown Foundation and in 1994 the State took over the property. It is only in recent years that the state has seen the importance in preserving some areas of our heritage. Ireland owes enormous depth of gratitude to people like Desmond Guinness for their determination and foresight in preserving its heritage.

Powerscourt at Enniskerry has a different story as to the fate of the buildings to the two previous houses. Powerscourt was associated with the Wingfierld family from 1609 when Sir Richard Wingfield was granted the property by James I. The house was redesigned between 1731-1740 for Richard Wingfield M.P. who was created 1^st Viscount Powerscourt from a design by Richard Castle who also must have laid out the bones of the garden, but it was not until the 19^th century that the layout came about as we know it today with Daniel Robertson designing the upper terrace. The 6^th Viscount bought the marbles, bronzes ornaments that adorn the garden having bought them on his travels to Italy, he was never to see them laid out because he died before they were unpacked. It was the 7^th Viscount with Daniel Robertson who was to complete the lay out and it was he who wrote that Daniel Robertson was ‘given to drink and suffered from gout and used to be driven about in a wheel barrow with a bottle of sherry’. The 7^th Viscount was the great recorder about everything and he was like his father an inveterate collector who became involved in the National Gallery of Ireland. In 1961 the estate was sold lock, stock and barrel to Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Slazenger. The marriage of their daughter in 1962 to the Viscount’s son maintained the family link. In 1974 there was a disastrous fire which gutted the house. In September 1984 there was a sale of what remained of the contents. Included in the sale was a well recorded view of the Powerscourt waterfall by George Barret RA, £21,600. View of The Lodge of Luggala, CO. Wicklow with Loch Tay beyond by William Ashford RHA, £4,104. A fine portrait of Richard Wingfield 1^st Viscount Powerscourt by Antony Lee, £6,480, this was purchased by the 7^th Viscount at the 1875 sale of Sir Charles Domville, Santry Court, Dublin and also a portrait of Mervyn Edards, 7^th Viscount Powerscourt by Walter Osborne RHA, RA, £2,160. There was much arms and armour on sale as there had been a huge display of this within the house e.g. ‘A fine Irish mid-Georgian mahogany serving table, £15,660. When Lord Powerscourt bought it he recounts in his book how he came to buy it from Mrs. Brady of Liffey Street: ‘I was looking at it and admiring it and I offered her less than the price she put upon it, and she said ‘Oh! Now you had better take it, you will never see another like it, and the General will be here directly and he will have it soon enough’ – the General being the late General Charles Crawford Frazer VC, at that time commanding the troop in Dublin.

Powerscourt today flourishes as a tourist centre, the gutted house now has a roof, the ground floor is a shopping area while upstairs the once elaborate ballroom is again an entertaining area but devoid of all it’s wonderful decoration.

Adare Manor is perhaps one of Ireland’s finest houses of its period. The present house was very much the creation of the 2^nd Earl of Dunraven and his wife Caroline daughter and sole heir of Thomas Wyndham of Dunraven Castle in Glamorganshire. Caroline was a remarkable lady of enormous talent and also came with money. She was a keen shot, sailed, played cricket, was a great tourist and also extremely interested in architecture as was her husband, so they rebuilt the house.

They asked James Pain of Limerick in 1825 along with his brother George Richard who trained with Nash, to b the architects. They had James Connolly as their remarkable mastermason, but by 1840 the Dunravens parted company with Pain. The Earl wrote to Pain ‘I did not cease to employ you professionally for the purpose of placing myself in any other professional’s hands. Building is my amusement and I am a dabbler in architecture and I have now for some years been carrying on the new work entirely from my own designs and without any assistance what so ever!’ The 3^rd Earl was to be in contact both with Pugin and PC Hardwick. The house was completed by 1862. The 2^nd Earl and his wife Caroline had the following inscription carved on the side of the house ‘This goodly house was erected y Windham Henry, Earl of Dunraven and Caroline his Countess without borrowing, selling or leaving a debt AD MDCCL’. Few houses today could have this sign put on them.

In 1982 the Dunraven family decided to dispose of the property and there was two-day sale held which contained many fine paintings including one attributed to John Boultbee of Charles Wyndham’s hound in a landscape, the collar of the dog inscribed with the owner’s initials.

There were many ancestral portraits which had all adorned the Long Gallery, including a massive portrait by Hugh Barron of Charles Edwin and his son Thomas Wyndham, Charles in the uniform of a Ranger of the Forest of Dean. One of the intriguing pictures of the sale and the bargain of the day was a small picture of an open row boat in mountainous seas signed AB. Unidentified by the auctioneers after much research, an American dealer flew in especially to buy it and got it for a modest sum. It was in fact by one of America’s greatest painters Albert Bierstadt – the auctioneers had overlooked in their research the Dunraven families connection with the painter. The furniture ranged from pieces that were in the original 18^th century house to pieces attributed to AWN Pugin and William IV oak throne chairs probably by LN Cottingham 1787-1847. Today the house is a luxury hotel sadly the furnishings etc. have little relationship to the 19^th century.

Gone are the days when there were regular house sales with their original contents. Many house sales with their original contents. Many houses are no longer in the ownership of the original families. Houses were demolished or converted into some other purpose as related in this article.

Castletown is the only one to be furnished again as it might have been during the ownership of the Conolly family. The Hon. Desmond Guinness and a few other dedicated people must be applauded for making the public aware of 18^th and 19^th century heritage at a time when government had little concern. Today there is concern and interest from all quarters.

This article originally appeared in the Irish Antique Dealers’ Yearbook 2001-2002

Stuart McGrath was awarded the IADA bursary in 2003. It allowed him to continue his studies and he has a BA in Fine Art from Dun Laoghaire Institute of Fine Art, a Diploma in Marble Carving from Art Space, Valdicastello, Pietra-Santa, Carrara, Italy and a Degree in Architectural Stone Carving from City & Guilds of London Art School.

One of Ireland’s leading stone cutters, Stuart works by hand using traditional methods. He has won many awards and accolades for his work, most recently winning first prize at the Royal Dublin Society Craft Competition stone & wood carving category in 2009. He has exhibited work at the Sculpture in Context exhibition at the National Botanic Gardens and has been commissioned to design and carve commemorative stones for the United Nations, The Dublin Docklands Development Authority and ATD Fourth World Charity, close to the Famine Memorial along the Dublin Quays, to commemorate World Poverty Day.

We recently caught up with Stuart to see what he has been up to since being awarded the bursary.
What did you use the bursary for? Was it to begin or continue studies?

What would be your advice to anyone thinking about applying for the 2010 bursary?
I would say it’s more than just a bursary of money, it’s a great opportunity to meet people who value and are in the trade of utilising a talent and skill that you are training for and will be great network of support in the future. In these times when the economy is uncertain, clients are looking for people with specialised skills to complete or restore furniture, collectables, objects de arte, sculptures or other curious. This bursary is a great help to the costs of a specialised course, tools and materials in restoration and conservation which will give you a unique set of skills.

More information on Stuart McGrath can be found on his website.

We are starting to get excited about the 2010 IADA Fair already!

Niall Mullen and Fergal Grogan on TV3’s Ireland AM