The Country House Library


Book Description

Beginning with new evidence that cites the presence of books in Roman villas and concluding with present day vicissitudes of collecting, this generously illustrated book presents a complete survey of British and Irish country house libraries. Replete with engaging anecdotes about owners and librarians, the book features fascinating information on acquisition bordering on obsession, the process of designing library architecture, and the care (and neglect) of collections. The author also disputes the notion that these libraries were merely for show, arguing that many of them were profoundly scholarly, assembled with meticulous care, and frequently used for intellectual pursuits. For those who love books and the libraries in which they are collected and stored, The Country House Library is an essential volume to own.




Period Houses


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Tyrone House and the St George Family


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Located on a prominent site overlooking Galway Bay in the west of Ireland, Tyrone House was once one of the country’s finest Georgian mansions. Dating from the 1770s, the building was home to generations of the French and St George families, a powerful symbol of their wealth and power. The interior of the house was lavishly decorated and furnished, beginning with the entrance hall, dominated by a life-size marble statue of Lord St George. But despite their advantages, over the course of the nineteenth century, the family went into irreversible decline and eventually forsook their great residence, which was destroyed by fire in 1920. This book tells the story of the rise and fall of the St Georges and their fate, embodied in what became of Tyrone House, which is today a little more than a gaunt ruin.




The Irish Aesthete: Ruins of Ireland


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Go on a journey with Robert O’Byrne as he brings fascinating Irish ruins to life. Fantastical, often whimsical, and frequently quirky, these atmospheric ruins are beautifully photographed and paired with fascinating text by Robert O’Byrne. Born out of Robert’s hugely popular blog, The Irish Aesthete, there are Medieval castles, Georgian mansions, Victorian lodges, and a myriad of other buildings, many never previously published. Robert focuses on a mixture of exteriors and interiors in varying stages of decay, on architectural details, and entire scenarios. Accompanying texts tell of the Regency siblings who squandered their entire fortune on gambling and carousing, of an Anglo-Norman heiress who pitched her husband out the window on their wedding night, and of the landlord who liked to walk around naked and whose wife made him carry a cowbell to warn housemaids of his approach. Arranged by the country’s four provinces, the diverse ruins featured offer a unique insight into Ireland and an exploration of her many styles of historic architecture.




The Irish Georgian Society


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Vain Transitory Splendours


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Cork


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"This authoritative guide to the architecture of County Cork covers all sites and buildings of merit, great and small. Comprehensive and easy to use, this guide covers the architectural riches of Ireland's largest county. The many atmospheric castles and tower houses include Carrigadrohid, Lohort, and Kanturk; among later country houses, Kilshannig and Fota represent Irish Georgian architecture at its best. Coastal towns such as Kinsale and Youghal are built on Viking and Norman foundations. Many of the architectural highlights are in the city of Cork, where the Georgian streets and quays are diversified by grand neoclassical public buildings, presided over by the Gothic Revival masterpiece of St. Fin Barre's Cathedral. The strategic importance of Cork harbor is reflected in its diverse fortifications, especially those of the Stuart, Hanoverian, and Victorian periods"--Publisher's website







Irish Houses & Castles


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