Month: November 2025

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Architects Architecture Art Design Developers People

New Town + Calton Hill Edinburgh

Ministerial Positions

Alexander John Youngson opens his seminal work The Making of Classical Edinburgh 1750 to 1840 with: “Europe is full of beautiful cities. Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful of all.” That was 59 years ago and still rings true, devoid of overstatement. “The New Town even now retains its late 18th and early 19th century public buildings, terraces, crescents, squares, palace fronts, churches and gardens almost as they were planned. They were all designed over 150 years ago, and the tour ensemble is without parallel in scale, uniformity of general style, and status of preservation.” Unlike Georgian Dublin which is so much given over to office use, most of the 12,000 properties in Georgian Edinburgh are still residential. The Robert Adam designed 6 Charlotte Street is the official residence of the Scottish First Minister, an address rather more impressive in architecture and setting than the British Prime Minister’s official residence in London of 10 Downing Street. Corner ground floor units are more likely to be commercial use such as Cairngorm Coffee Shop on the corner of Melville Street and Randolph Place or The Magnum Wine Bar at the junction of Albany Street and Dublin Street.

While the medieval Old Town of Edinburgh is surprisingly tall – many buildings are eight or more storeys – the New Town is mostly three or four visible storeys. There are lots of later dormer additions. Horizontality of neoclassical architecture versus high gradients of topography. Glimpses can be captured of the Firth of Forth at intervals – nature is never far away in Scotland. Even the built form often resembles rocky outcrops. Retained details hint at the social hierarchy and habits of times past. Rough stone for the servants’ basement; smooth stone for the masters’ piano nobile and accommodation above. Trumpet shaped openings in the cast iron railings would have once been used by ‘link boys’ to snuff out the flamed torches they carried to illuminate residents’ journeys home after dark. Very high double kerbs permitted easy access to carriages from raised pavements.

New Town is all the more remarkable as it was designed by a 27 year old. James Craig, the only surviving offspring of a family of six children, won the Edinburgh Town Council competition in 1766 to design the New Town. It would be a 15 year long project. “The principle reason for Craig’s success is the excellent use of the site,” Alexander reckons. “The two outer streets – Princes Street and Queen Street – have houses on one side only, and these look outwards across the street, in the one case over the low ground towards the Castle and High Street, in the other down the slope towards the Firth of Forth and the distant hills of Fife. The feeling of spaciousness combined with order is no doubt enhanced by the good proportions of the streets and buildings.”

Archibald Elliot’s Waterloo Place of 1819 provides a Greek Revival link between the earlier New Town and later Calton Hill. Regent Terrace is one of several rows of grand houses around the rise of Calton Hill, the city’s answer to the Parthenon in Athens. William Stark’s layout made use of natural contours and tree planting. It’s the ultimate architectural set piece – pure theatre in grey stone to celebrate Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar. Old Royal High School is almost Brutalist in its powerful massing. Thomas Hamilton’s 1820s Greek Revival tour de forcefulness is currently vacant. The façade looking down over the city (in theory only: it is almost windowless on this elevation) is Palladian in form with a Doric temple main block flanked by columned colonnades terminated by wings. Plans are afoot by the Royal High School Preservation Trust for Richard Murphy Architects to convert the building into a concert venue and Tom Stuart-Smith to create a new garden. The Political Martyrs Monument rises 27 metres high above Old Calton Burial Ground. Designed by Thomas Hamilton and erected in 1844, this obelisk is dedicated to five freedom fighters: Joseph Gerrald, Maurice Margarot, Thomas Muir, Thomas Palmer and William Skirving.

The Nelson Monument completed in 1816 to the design of Robert Burn is another tall slender structure: it is in the shape of a telescope pointing skyward. Alexander considers it to be “a somewhat Gothic design of dubious architectural merit”. The 1831 Burns Monument stands opposite the Royal High School, teetering on the hillside edge. Thomas Hamilton also designed this circular Corinthian temple standing on a high polygonal plinth. It was built in honour of Scotland’s national bard Robert Burns who had died 35 years previously. Another circular Corinthian temple is uphill from the Burns Monument. Designed by William Playfair, the 1831 Dugald Stewart Monument is dedicated to the Scottish philosopher. The City Observatory predates the other buildings and monuments of Calton Hill. This 1776 mock castle was designed by James Craig proving he was as good an architect as he was town planner.

The only remaining part of what was once Scotland’s largest gaol which stood to the south of Nelson Monument is the 1815 to 1817 Governor’s House designed by Archibald Elliot. Alexander clearly was not a fan of design that wandered too far from the classical fold: “Castellated and battlemented, it is rather absurd; yet it adds piquancy and variety to the scene.” Most modern viewers would surely consider it an architectural highlight of the Hill. Lawyer Henry Cockburn described Edinburgh in the opening decades of the 19th century as “the second city in the Empire.” Two centuries later, Edinburgh is the second city of the Kingdom.

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Architecture Art Design Developers Hotels Luxury People Restaurants Town Houses

The Secret Garden + The Witchery by the Castle Edinburgh

Know Your Stuff

March 2016. Getting stuffed. Maundy Thursday, quail’s eggs on a watercress stuffing nest at Mayfair regular Hush. Resurrection Sunday, fried duck eggs at Holborn favourite The Delaunay. And so a procession of lunisolar led lunches, moveable feasts, begins. An extended Easter Triduum. When a man is tired of London, there’s always Edinburgh. Easter Wednesday, squared hen’s eggs on board Virgin. York, Durham, Newcastle, Berwick-upon-Tweed … everywhere looks better when viewed from the 1st Class carriage. Rows of distant gambrel roofs punctuated by chamfered dormers announce to the visually aware the proximity of the Border.

“Oh yes I stayed in The Witchery by the Castle years ago,” a brave journalist whispered to us during the recent Making Africa press briefing in the Guggenheim Bilbao. Admittedly an unlikely moment for such a muted conversation. It was undoubtedly a memorable stay. “I woke up in the middle of the night in the most frightful sweat! It was like the bed was on fire! I was boiling alive!” She got an uninvited roasting, so to speak. The next day at breakfast the journalist voiced her concern to a waitress. “That’ll be the witches,” came the nonchalant reply. “They used to burn them at the stake on Castlehill right outside.” Presumably it wasn’t the effects of a wee dram nightcap.

Our Easter Thursday lunch in the restaurant turns out to be slightly less steamy but still hot stuff. Dr Samuel Johnson and his biographer James Boswell used to eat here. Well if it’s good enough for Sam and Jamie, both made of stern stuff … The schlep up the Royal 1.6 Kilometres past winding wynds and claustrophobic closes to the foot of Castle Rock is so worth it. We’ve arrived. Physically and metaphorically. Bewitchingly charming certainly; hauntingly beautiful definitely; ghoul free hopefully. Think Hunderby (Julia Davis’s pricelessly hysterical period comedy) without Dorothy. Or Northanger Abbey’s Catherine goes to town.

Owner James Thomson, Scotland’s best (known) hotelier and restaurateur, is evidently a follower of the Donatella Versace school of thought: “Less isn’t more. Less is just less.” An eclectic dose of ecclesiastical remnants, Gothic salvage and Jacobean antiques is healthily apropos for this 16th century building. Candlesticks galore flicker flattering light across The Secret Garden, a space even with its panelled walls and trio of fanlighted French doors and timber beamed ceiling would still induce the envy of Frances Hodgson Burnett.

The interior may flurry with wild abandon but thankfully the service and place setting don’t. Our Milanese waiter makes sure of the former. Tradition takes care of the latter. Linen tablecloths, phew. China plates (slates are for roofs), double phew. Unheated pudding (always a dish best served cold), triple phew. After a bubbly reception, the feast unfolds. Palate seducing grilled sardines followed by lemon sole with brown shrimp butter preceding chocolate orange marquise with espresso jelly raise spirits further. The huggermugger harum scarum of a prowlish ghoulish night owlish postprandial prance on the mansard tiles of Edinburgh’s Auld Toun awaits. The only way is down (hill).

November 2025. Still not sweating the small stuff. Random Friday, sôle poêlée aux graines de moutard in Mayfair’s La Petite Maison next to music producer Mark Ronson en famille. Remembrance Friday, baked Ragstone goat’s cheese gnocchi up the BT Tower in Soho. And so a procession of dinners towards the waxing crescent moon, moveable feasts, begins. An extended Advent. When a man isn’t tired of London but needs a weekend change of scenery, there’s always Edinburgh. Feast of Christ the King of the Universe Eve, double devilled hen’s egg on board LNER. Newark-on-Trent, Doncaster, Northallerton, Darlington … everywhere looks better when viewed from the 1st Class carriage. The snowcapped Cleveland Hills announce to the observant the proximity of the North York Moors.

Nine years ago the three course Table d’Hôte Lunch Menu at The Witchery was priced at £35. Today, we’re after the two course Light Lunch Menu, £34.50. Packed agenda: so little time, so many galleries. After a bubbly reception (déjà vu; déjà ivre; plus Bourgone Blanc Domaine Leflaive Burgundy 2017 – a good year), the feast unfolds. Appetite satisfying basket of bread rolls with smoked butter accompanying celeriac velouté then salmon, cod and smoked haddock fish pie. We’re stuffed. But as the great Scottish aristo actress Tilda Swindon (first seen in three dimensions dining at L’Ambroisie Paris; last seen in two dimensions in her ex partner John Byrne’s painting in the Edinburgh National Portrait Gallery) would say in her hushed dulcet tone, “This lunch is delicious!”

Our driver Eleftherios Galouzidis pulls up outside on Castlehill. The only way is downhill. We’re just in time for the brilliant recital of Moonlight Sonata by Candlelight in St Gile’s Cathedral. British impresario Ashley Fripp’s fingers dance across the grand piano. He opens with Johannes Brahms’ Intermezzo in A Major. “Next I will play a pair of Chopin Nocturnes – tone poems,” he states. “E Flat Major which was influenced by the Irish composer John Field followed by C Sharp Minor. The latter was fortunately discovered by one of Chopin’s students after he died.” There’s wild applause for Sergei Rachmanioff’s Prelude in D Sharp Minor, the Moscow Waltz. “And now for the one you’ve all been waiting for!” Ashley takes a bow after the dramatic third movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata climaxes to its conclusion. Nothing quite completes an evening of culture like prawn toast and chilli tofu at Jimmy’s Express Chinese Restaurant on South Bridge.

At last week’s St Martin in the Fields London Informal Eucharist the Right Reverend Oliva Graham preached, “Holy omnipresence is not a casual knowing. It is impartial and unconditional. We are called to live fully and love faithfully.” We’ll soon discover Chessel’s Court, a rare survival of 18th century tenements hidden behind Canongate on the slope from The Witchery by the Castle. The mansion blocks, to use a befitting but more southern term, were assertively restored in the 1960s. A heart shaped ivy enlivens the ground floor of one of the blocks. Always living more fully, loving more faithfully.

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Architects Architecture Design Hotels Luxury Restaurants

Festive Afternoon Tea + The Caledonian Hotel Edinburgh

Sword Fight

Fun and games at The Cally. Afternoon tea has never been this exciting. Or dangerous. Table for two vegetarians in The Court – a covered over former courtyard of this gargantuan temple of Edwardian hospitality interior designed by Fox Linton. Drawings by John More Dick Peddie and George Washington Browne, the original architects of the red sandstone building, line the bathroom walls in place of the usual cartoons. There are seasonal twists and tales to this festive version of the 7th Duchess of Bedford’s favourite meal from a Santa Claus’ belt to wish list letters all in icing.

The full works. Lapsang Souchong smoked Chinese Tea, Fujian Province. Curried chickpeas, mango chutney, carrot slaw, spinach. Nut roast sausage roll, spiced apple. Sweet potato fritter, roasted red cabbage, maple and mustard. Vegan cheese, pear and candied pecan quiche. Vegan chicken, chipotle mayo, pickled cucumber, avo. Vegan club sandwich. Plain and double chocolate and orange scones, three fruit marmalade. Chestnuts Roasting: chestnut, blackcurrant and whisky, pâté de fruit. Holly Jolly: winter spiced butterscotch, treacle travel cake. It’s Cold Outside: coffee, hazelnut financier and dark chocolate tart. Jingle Bell Rock: tonka bean, green apple confit, Speculoos cheesecake. Merry and Bright: yuzu ganache, black sesame, praline macaron. Mistletoe: kirsch mousse, sour cherry compôte, flourless chocolate sponge.

So far so genteel. Then the restaurant manager strides over to our table and declares, “You look game! Fancy taking part in our art of sabrage?” To mere mortals that’s slicing off the top of a chilled bottle of Laurent-Perrier La Cuvée Brut with a full length ceremonial sword. “We’re one of the very few establishments left in Scotland licenced to do this,” she comfortingly adds. Holding the bottle at a 35 degree angle as instructed: sliding the sword down the bottle towards the top first time round; sliding it a second time; then sliding it down a final time and keeping going. Hey presto … slice! The cork and glass rim ricochet across the floor. “Perfect!” admires the restaurant manager turned martial art instructor. A swashbuckingly useful addition to the arsenal of party tricks. Celebratory glasses of Laurent-Perrier are poured.

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Architects Architecture Country Houses People

Castle Stewart Papers + Irish Country Houses + Glebe Houses

Plantation Shudders

The Public Records Office Northern Ireland is an Aladdin’s Cave for those of an architectural heritage bent. It’s in a coolly contemporary commercial building conveniently close to Titanic Hotel in Belfast’s Laganside. Super helpful staff deliver bundles of archive material to designated desks. The Castle Stewart Papers form a significant collection. They comprise about 6,000 documents dating from 1587 to 1960 mainly relating to the County Tyrone estates of the Earls Castle Stuart, their genealogy, their military service, and the building and rebuilding of their houses. The Stewarts were originally a Scottish clan: the surname is derived from the role of steward.

An orthographic issue needs explaining. The family name of the Earls Castle Stewart is Stuart. Their other titles are the Barony of Castle Stewart, the Viscountcy of Castle Stewart and the Viscountcy of Stuart. Confused yet? The petition which the 1st Earl Castle Stewart, then Andrew Thomas Stuart, addressed to the Irish House of Lords in 1768 in substantiation of his claim to the Barony of Castle Stewart sheds light on family history from 1619:

“James I, by his letter of 1619 to the Lord Deputy and Chancellor of Ireland, authorised them to create Andrew Stewart, Lord Stewart, Baron of Castlestewart in the county of Tyrone, to hold the said honour to him and the heirs male of his body. Andrew, the 1st Lord, left issue Andrew, John, and Robert. No Parliament having sat from the year 1615 to the year 1634, Andrew, the 1st Lord, never voted in Parliament, but constantly enjoyed the title. He was succeeded by Sir Andrew, his eldest son and heir, and many entries in the Journals of the Lords in the year 1634 prove his enjoyment of the dignity, in consequence of letters patent issued agreeable to the letter of King James.”

“This Lord died in or about the year 1639, leaving issue Andrew, Robert and Josias, and was succeeded by Andrew, his eldest son and heir. This Lord married one of the daughters of Sir Arthur Blundell, by whom he had issue one child only, a daughter named Mary, who married Henry Howard, afterwards 5th Earl of Suffolk, and this lady carried away almost the whole family estate. Andrew, the 3rd Lord, died without issue male, and Robert his brother being dead without issue, he was succeeded in the honour by Josias, his youngest brother. Josias died in or about the year 1662, without issue, and was succeeded in the honour by John, his uncle.”

“John, the 5th Lord Castlestewart, died without issue in 1685, and after his death, the descendants of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Stewart were the rightful successors to the barony of Castlestewart, [which remained dormant and unclaimed until 1774]. Lieutenant Colonel Robert was the brother of John, the 5th Lord, and consequently a son of the 1st Lord. Robert Stewart of Irry, died 1686, son and heir to Colonel Robert, married Ann Moore, daughter of William Moore of Garvey in the County of Tyrone. To him succeeded Andrew Stewart [1672-1715], his eldest son and heir, then an infant, and to him Robert Stewart [1700-1742], whose son and heir the petitioner is.” Andrew Thomas Stuart was successful in his claim to the Barony of Castle Stewart in 1774.

Amongst the many papers is an exclusive find. Opening the green covered book Photographs of Armagh and Tyrone Scenery by John McGie reveals faded photographs mainly of country houses. It’s undated; the archivists estimate the book to date from between 1868 and 1874. Dame Rosalind Savill, la grande Directrice of The Wallace Collection in London, once commented how she disliked the phrase “hidden gems” but that’s what springs to mind looking at these photographs and, in some cases, lost gems. Stewart seats featured include Ballygawley Park and Stuart Hall. Other country houses photographed also had Plantation of Ulster connections such as Aughentain Castle, Augher Castle, Cecil Lodge, Roxborough Castle and Tynan Abbey.

The Irish Architectural Archive on Merrion Square has another great wealth of material. In contrast to the modern spaces of the Public Records Office Northern Ireland, drawings and documents are laid out in an 18th century double reception room with elaborate plasterwork ceilings. In among various folders are a coloured illustration of Reverend Beresford’s proposed glebe house, a photograph of Moynalty Glebe House and a photograph of Lismullen House, reproduced here for non commercial educational purposes.

Ballygawley Park is a landmark ruin on the Belfast to Omagh A5 road. The formal façade with its Ionic columned breakfront is a romantic distraction to drivers motoring up the hill from Ballygawley roundabout. Remnants of the entrance pillars, railings and gatelodge continue to crumble year on year. The severely elegant neo Grecian mansion was built in the 1820s to the design of John Hargrave. The photograph is of the side elevation which overlooked a sunken garden complete with pond. The Stewarts never returned to the house when it was seemingly accidentally burnt in the 1920s. A not uneventful decade for Irish country houses.

Stuart Hall was the vast country house built on the outskirts of Stewartstown by the abovementioned Andrew Thomas Stuart no doubt to celebrate his social rise from Viscount to Earl. A two storey dropping to three storey Georgian block was attached to a Plantation tower. In Victorian times the building was dressed up with a castellated parapet added to the Georgian block and mullioned windows inserted in the tower. There are two photographs of the house in the book: one of the mainly two storey entrance front and one of the mostly three storey side elevation. Stuart Hall was an architectural victim of The Troubles: it was destroyed by the IRA in 1972.

Usually spelt with an E at the end, the photograph of Aughentain Castle (as it is labelled) shows the house in all its Italianate glory. Why settle for one campanile when you can have two? Haystacks stand between trees on the sloping lawn. This sprawling mansion was demolished in 1955 by then owner Colonel John Hamilton-Stubber who replaced it with a Continental classical style house. The current Aughentaine Castle, while smaller than its predecessor, is still a substantial and stylish building.

Augher Castle on the outskirts of the village of the same name and, like Ballygawley Park, is a showstopper for motorists, visible beyond a lake. Unlike Ballygawley Park, it is in excellent condition. The photograph shows the two storey entrance front range which is attached to a three storey lakeside toy keep. Dating from the 17th century, the castle is now mainly a Victorian rebuild. The people posing next to the exterior are probably fin du siècle dernier owners John and Elizabeth Carmichael-Ferrall and their son.

Many of the Big Houses of Ireland were plain boxy houses. Elizabeth Bowen’s family home in County Cork is a famous example. Cecil Manor, a neighbouring estate to Augher Castle, is another house with strong perpendiculars. Parapet free, hipped roofs rest on a distinctive dentilled cornice. It was designed by the architect William Farrell who had a flourishing country house and church designing practice in the first half of the 19th century. The photograph shows the magnificent backdrop of Knockmany Mountain. It was demolished in the 1930s.

Last but very much not least is the incredibly dotty Roxborough Castle, a Château Chambord by the Bann. The scale is as barmy as the design. Located outside Moy in County Armagh, it was the seat of the Earls of Charlemont. The original 18th century house can be seen in the Georgian glazed recessed portion of the entrance front. Architects William Murray then William Barre transmogrified the house into an enormous hotel like building with chunky four storey towers topped by steeple gradient roofs. The IRA burned Roxborough Castle in 1922, not a good year or indeed decade when it comes to architectural conservation.

Tynan Abbey was situated 18 kilometres south of Roxborough Castle. It was a large Gothic country house belonging to the Stronge family. Church like architecture included a spire rising over one end of the long garden front. The photograph shows a formal terrace dotted with yew trees – which have long been associated with graveyards. In one of the most infamous cases of The Troubles, Sir Norman Stronge and his son James were shot dead in their library by the IRA in 1981 and the house set ablaze. Tynan Abbey stood as a ruin until 1998 when it was demolished in its entirety. The site is now a featureless field devoid of architectural marvels.

The last image in John McGie’s book Photographs of Armagh and Tyrone Scenery is a view of a lake. An archivist has scribbled on the side “Camlough?” In the foreground are two well dressed gentlemen getting ready to row a small boat. In the background, is a high gabled single storey with attic lodge. A porch projects towards the lake. Pure tranquillity. Camlough Lake is a popular tourist attraction, a picturesque narrow strip of water 2.7 kilometres long and only less than half a kilometre at its widest point.

The Church of Ireland Board of First Fruits funded a glebe house at Fenagh, County Leitrim, in 1829. This two storey over raised basement stone building is of a type that pops up all over Ireland in the ultimate years of the Georgian period. The elevational drawing shows a mid storey landing roundheaded window: the executed arrangement regularises it into a ground floor window and first floor window matching the rest of the rectangular openings on the rear elevation. Fenagh Glebe House is three bays wide; these ecclesiastical dwellings are almost always three or four bays wide. Reverend George de la Poer Beresford, to give him his full name, was a relative of the owner of Curraghmore in County Waterford.

A mid 20th century photograph of Moynalty Glebe House in County Meath shows it to be in a poor state of repair. The entrance door of this well proportioned two storey over raised basement house is set in a chamfered bay window. Similar to Fenagh Glebe House, it has a tall grouped chimneystack, but is an earlier version of the Board of First Fruits clerical house model, dating from 1792. Moynalty Glebe House has been restored in recent years, the render painted a deep grey, and was sold in 2014 for €550,000. It cost £847 to build. The sale included the 275 square metre house, nine hectares of pasture, a gatelodge and a courtyard of stables and outbuildings.

Lismullen House (as it is spelt on the photograph labelling although more commonly Lismullin) in County Meath was the seat of the Dillon family. Presumably it is the Dillons who are playing archery in the faded photograph. The main block had a five bay three storey entrance front. Intriguingly, two storey Ionic pilasters just about visible on this front presumably once formed part of a tetrastyle portico. The IRA burnt Lismullen House along with its furniture and art in 1923. A Sir Joshua Reynolds painting was one of the few belongings the elderly Sir John Dillon and his family were able to rescue, cutting the canvas out of its frame. There is a metaphor lurking there about not seeing the whole picture.

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Architects Architecture Art Country Houses Design Developers

Straffan House + The K Club Straffan Kildare

Riveting Pivoting

On 28 February 1990 the Irish Directors of Christie’s (Desmond FitzGerald the last Knight of Glin of Glin Castle in County Limerick and Danny Kinahan the last in the line to own Castle Upton in Templepatrick County Antrim) held a sale of contents of Straffan House which had been acquired by The Kildare Hotel and Country Club led by Michael Smurfit. It opened with Lot 1 “A plated cruet frame containing seven bottles and stoppers”, £50 to £80. Punts not pounds. It closed with Lot 515 “A mahogany crossbanded and ebony lined two tier occasional table, the moulded rectangular top on turned and fluted supports, the base fitted with a drawer to one side. 25 inches wide and a similar occasional table 15.5 inches wide”, £80 to £210.

Standout pieces included Lot 154: “A carved giltwood wall glass of early George III design, the shaped rectangular mirror plate in a rockwork acanthus caved and pierced foliate frame, the pierced surmount carved with rockwork and C scrolls, the base carved with C scrolls and foliage. 19th century. 46 inches high by 23 inches wide.” £3,000 to £5,000. Also Lot 160: “A kingwood burr walnut and floral marquetry commode of Louis XV style, the rounded rectangular pink veined marble top above a frieze mounted with circular floral painted porcelain panels enclosed in gilt metal laurel frames with ribbon tied surmounts and fitted with a drawer above a panelled cupboard door and flanked on either side by a bowed cupboard drawer inlaid in a trellis either side by a bowed cupboard drawer inlaid in a trellis parquetry with fleur de lys and divided by cast brass acanthus, mounts on cast brass paw feet. 55 inches wide by 22 inches deep.” £1,500 to £2,500.Unexecuted plans by Dubliner Benjamin Hallam dated 1808 (copyright of the Irish Architectural Archive: reproduced here for non commercial educational purposes) illustrate proposed two storey pavilion like wings in a refined neoclassicism to the original three storey Straffan House. The house would burn down a few years later. Under new owner Hugh Barton, the current Straffan House was constructed in 1832 to the design of Frederick Darley, another Dublin based architect. Its design was apparently based on the Château de Louveciennes near Paris. It’s not quite Waddesdon Manor (a Loire Valley château transplanted to Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire) but Straffan House does have its Franglais moments. Vintage photographs show there were once a set of five unusually ornate chimneystacks symmetrically arranged across the roof of the main block. A storey height chimney masquerading as an obelisk marks the spot where the house meets the 18th century heavily quoined stable block. Box hedged formal gardens fill the courtyard of the stable block which was converted to guest suites.

Modern art in the auction included Lot 299 Gerald Dillon’s The Escape Artist, £5,000 to £8,000; Lot 294 Paul Henry’s Mullary Beach, £15,000 to £20,000; and two pieces by Louis de Brocquy: Lot 288 Lemon II, £3,000 to £5,000; and Lot 286 Reconstructed Head, £15,000 to £25,000. There were no fewer than 13 paintings by Brummie artist Edgar Hunt ranging from £5,000 to £8,000 up to £12,000 to £18,000. That’s a lot of ducks, donkeys, goats, cows and chickens. Lot 349 was a George II white marble chimneypiece after a design by Inigo Jones and William Kent, £50,000 to £80,000. It was formerly in the collection of the Earls of Gosford, Gosford Castle, County Armagh. A salvaged piece that was retained is an early 18th century timber doorcase, now in a curved corridor of one of the later blocks.

This year, the estate celebrates 1,475 of recorded history. 550: After the Anglo Normal invasion of Ireland, Strongbow grants Straffan to Maurice FitzGerald. 1500: The lands are forfeited by the De Penkiston family, who are implicated in a rebellion, and disposed of to the Gaydon family. 1600: Straffan is forfeited again and granted to Thomas Bewley. 1650: The Gaydon family are granted back the 280 hectares they originally owned and then sell up to Richard Talbot in 1697 for £700. 1720: Dublin banker Hugh Henry purchases the lands and builds the original Straffan House. 1831: Hugh Barton, who owns French vineyards, acquires the estate. He demolishes the Henrys’ burnt out home and builds a new house beside the 18th century carriage yard. 1850: An Italianate campanile is added to the house. 1937: The Bartons reduce the size of the house.1949 The Bartons sell up and it changes hands several times. 1988: The Smurfit Group purchases Straffan House and double it in size recycling a Francis Johnston granite porch from the ruinous Ballynegall House in County Westmeath to link both blocks together. 1991: The K Club opens.

In 2001 the original building was doubled in size with a new block designed by Henry John Lyons architects. It more or less replicates the appearance of Straffan House. A new north elevation entrance was created through the Francis Johnston Ionic portico: the original Ionic portico now leads into a lounge. Walls awash with white painted stucco walls. First floor and attic pedimented window surrounds repeated. And repeated. And repeated. Strung out stringcourses. The impact is powerful, only to be felt again 14 years later. The 2015 block by Henry John Lyons is even bigger, dropping another two storeys and having its very own campanile – a stylised version of the tallest component of Straffan House. It’s the hotel that never stops growing.

Just when you think the contiguousness has sprouted full growth along comes another extension. The latest proposals are by Michael Fetherston who bought The K Club in 2020. He commissioned JNP Architects to design an extension to replace the single storey swimming pool wing with a double height flat roofed function suite. Michael has restored the 1910 weir originally built to provide power for Straffan House. It has become the first weir powered resort in Ireland by harnessing hydropower from the River Liffey which runs through the 220 hectare estate.

We know The K Club well. Very well. Those stone steps flowing from the central bow window on the south front of Straffan House through grass banks onto a path past rose and lemon coloured flowerbeds to a fountain and finally the River Liffey are familiar terrain. Our first visit to The Byerley Turk Dining Room was on a windswept winter’s evening 30 years ago. The restaurant was named after a large painting measuring over three metres wide by two and a half metres high of a famous early 18th century thoroughbred racehorse. It is attributed to the English equestrian painter Thomas Spencer. Crimson flock wallpaper provided the perfect backdrop to the dark horse. Michael Smurfit sold the painting along with art by Jack Yeats in 2020. The Chinoiserie wallpaper in the drawing room painted by Naomi McBride has survived numerous refurbishments. Our subsequent writeup formed a double page spread in Ulster Architect November 1995 and our photograph of the south front graced the Christmas edition of the same magazine.

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Architecture Country Houses People

Seskinore House + Forest Seskinore Tyrone

Negative Volume

The name Seskinore is derived from the Irish Gaelic seisceann mhór which means big marsh or bog. Tracing its roots back to the early 17th century, the population is still just a few hundred. To the north of the village is Seskinore Forest. Only remnants of an Ulster Plantation country estate can be traced: cast iron gates minus a gatelodge and outbuildings without a country house. Seskinore House was demolished in 1952 when the Ministry of Agriculture took over the 47 hectare estate. Up until 1941 it had been the seat of the Anglo Welsh Perry family and then through marriage the Anglo Scots McClintock family. Seskinore House was used by American soldiers during World War II.

An advertisement appeared in the Belfast Newsletter on 10 July 1940, “For sale by private treaty by the executor of Captain Wilfred Joynson-Wreford, deceased. Seskinore, County Tyrone. Beautiful country residence with about 120 acres land, portion of which is well wooded with valuable timber. The residence has modern conveniences and contains large entrance hall, inner hall, drawing room, dining room, library, smoke room, 11 bedrooms, servants’ apartments, kitchen, sculleries, pantries etc., six WCs, bathrooms. The out offices are most extensive, forming a large inner and outer yard. There are five cottages on the lands. The entire buildings are in splendid condition. The residence is situated in a good district, amidst beautiful surroundings, with nicely laid out grounds and gardens; and the entire property is held free of rent forever. Further cottages in the village of Seskinore can be included in sale, if so desired. Further particulars from McCoy Solicitors, Omagh, County Tyone.” There were no private takers.

A Garden of Remembrance lies deep in the forest. It marks the resting place of the last people to live in Seskinore House: Amelia “Leila” née Eccles-McClintock Joynson-Wreford (1898 to 1937) and Wilfred “Tony” Joynson-Wreford (1896 to 1940). Leila died of meningitis aged 38 and her husband Tony died three years later of tuberculosis aged 44. Their gravestones are surrounded by a colourful carpet of autumnal leaves. A third gravestone is of Tony’s son Patrick Anthony Joynson-Wreford (1928 to 2015). Tony was married three times – Patrick was the child with his second wife Olive née Trainor. Leila and Tony had one child: Xenia.

On 6 October 2005, Jonathan Rainey reported in the Tyrone Constitution, “The people of Seskinore recently welcomed back a long lost member of one of the village’s most respected families – over 65 years after she vanished from village life. Mrs Xenia Lewis, aged 70, from Townsville in Australia made an emotional return to Seskinore to try to answer some of the any questions that surround her childhood. Within the last year, Xenia has discovered that she is the granddaughter of Colonel John Knox McClintock, who contributed much to the life of Seskinore during his lifetime, including building the local primary school, before his death in 1936.”

“She has also discovered that she spent much of her early childhood in the village, even though today she has no memory of that time,” Jonathan records. “Both of Xenia’s parents died when she was still a young girl, leaving her in the care of an English guardian, who moved her to London, and then Sussex. As she got older, her guardian never revealed anything about her family or her life, in Seskinore. And in another twist to an already fascinating story Xenia has also met the half brother she never knew existed while she has been uncovering the truth about her past.” Xenia and Patrick restored the neglected Garden of Remembrance during her visit.

He concludes, “During a party organised in her honour at McClintock Primary School, Xenia told the assembled villagers, ‘It’s been a very emotional journey, but everyone has made me feel welcome, and I feel like I’ve come home. I think my father was really devastated when my mother died. According to an obituary published in the Tyrone Constitution, and from what numerous people have told me in Seskinore, my father used to go down to the Garden of Remembrance in the McClintock estate, where my mother is buried, at 6pm every single night with my mother’s dog, no matter what.’”

Seskinore House was rebuilt in 1862 to the design of the illustrious Sir Charles Lanyon. A formal symmetrical east facing façade had two bays on either side of a pedimented breakfront with three narrow roundhead windows above a balustraded Ionic portico – its outside columns coupled. Wide rustication in the form of stretched quoins terminated each end of the elevation. The side elevations had full height canted bay windows. The main block was two storeys with lower two storey ancillary wings to the west and north. Horizontal glazing bars creating four panelled windows were a popular fad of the second half of the 19th century and appeared in residences across Ulster including Seskinore House.

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Art Design People

The Italian Party + Madame Tussauds Marylebone London

Ciao London

To roughly quote Oscar Wilde, always give into temptation. So when an invite arrives mentioning the Italian Embassy and the art of hospitality there’s only one response possible. Dining, drinking and dancing in the company of celebs and royals too? A dancefloor rammed with Damiano David lookalikes and young Sophia Lorens? What’s not to love.

So that’s how we find ourselves at Madame Tussauds on a rainy Tuesday night. Forever in our hearts, Diana Princess of Wales is throwing dagger looks at Queen Camilla. Or maybe Di is just checking out that mountain of Sardinian pecorino cheese? The wrinkle free future Queen Catherine the Great is as polished as ever. Such a pro!

Lady Gaga and Nicole Kidman are vying for attention. We nearly fall over a fellow photographer. She refuses to budge. Lewis Hamilton poses for us. There are a few celebs who must’ve passed their 15 minutes of Andy Warhol fame as we’re not quite sure of their names. Freddie Mercury looks great. So realistic. Flashing backdrops of the natural and architectural beauty of Italy are a reminder The Italian Party is sponsored by ENIT SPA, the tourism promotion department.

Suddenly Freddie bursts into life! He throws off his yellow jacket and starts belting out “I’m gonna have myself a real good time”. The Italian elite of London turbo charge onto the dancefloor. Next DJ Sharky B ups the tempo even more and the crowd are singing and bopping along to “Tonight’s gonna be the night”. Neon lights flash everywhere. Let’s misbehave.

Amidst an endless round of spinach tortellini and pumpkin gnocchi not to mention lava like flow of Funtanaliras Cantina del Vermnentino, the Italian Ambassador to the United Kingdom His Excellency Inigo Lambertini declares, “Our Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni speaks English fluently, and that is not always the case for Italian politicians. There is strong cooperation and coordination between Rome and London, as well as numerous common interests. Italy is the second largest manufacturer in the European economy after Germany, so we are a natural partner for London.” Go Giorgio!

“You have to really be here to experience it” is the tagline of Sardegna Turismo. The same could be said for this party. It’s so easy to wax lyrical about all things Italian. Another sign flashes up. After party. To roughly quote Oscar Wilde again, don’t just exist get living.

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Architects Architecture Country Houses Hotels People Restaurants

Corick House Hotel Clogher Tyrone + Lanyon Lynn + Lanyon

A Distant Other Place

Alistair Rowan writes in Buildings of North West Ulster (1979), “The seat of the Story family since 1697, almost completely rebuilt in a plain minimal Italian style by Lanyon, Lynn and Lanyon in 1863. It is a large scale rendered villa L shaped. Three storey tower in the angle with an Italianate hipped slate roof. The old house had a five bay two storey front of which Lanyon kept two bays, building the tower and south wing before the rest. The yards behind the house have handsome barns of 1748 and 1858, one with a late 18th century brick vaulted end.”

The rebuilt house is sober, restrained, undemonstrative, far removed from Lanyon Senior’s palazzos. Befitting for a rural residence in the landlocked County of Tyrone. Dignity over decoration. Plainness over ostentation. Smaller versions of Corick House with chamfered bay windows, whether rendered or brick faced, would spring up in suburbs of Belfast and Ulster towns. To that effect it would become more influential than the practice’s grander designs. The towers and bay windows of Barden Towers in the fashionable east Belfast area of Ballyhackamore, three decades later, had their genesis in the early work of Lanyon, Lynn and Lanyon, who in turn drew on British taste for the Italianate. Cue the campanile. Enter the acanthus leafed cornice.

Drawings signed Lanyon, Lynn and Lanyon Architects dated 28 January 1863 illustrate that originally a gabled porch was proposed on the east elevation. The three storey tower containing the main entrance door must have been a later idea. The balanced but slightly asymmetrical south elevation (the two windows to the right of the bay window are wider spaced that the two windows to the left) was built in line with the drawings. The irregular north elevation is hidden behind trees now and the equally irregular west elevation is hidden behind recent extensions.

A Specification of Work for “making alterations and additions to Corick House, Clogher, for the Reverend William Story” accompanies the drawings. One clause states, “The works to be completed immediately on the signing of the contract, and to be completed on or before the 1st day of April 1864.” A further clause states, “The whole of the work is to be executed in the most substantial and workmanlike manner, with materials the best of their several kinds.”

Corick means a confluence of streams in Irish Gaelic: it was part of the lands granted to the Bishop of Clogher in the 1610 Plantation of Ulster. The townland is where Fury Rover rising in County Armagh joins the Blackwater River flowing through County Tyrone. John Story arrived in Corick in 1697 from Northumberland a the behest of the Bishop of Clogher to become his land agent. In 1994 Jean Beacom bought the house and immediate grounds of two hectares. The Story family gone, a new chapter began. Two years later she opened the house as bed and breakfast accommodation with nine bedrooms. Her grandchildren continue to run the property which is now a 43 bedroom hotel.

In a county lacking coastline and multiplicity of tourist attractions, Corick House Hotel is a welcome hospitality highlight. Nuptuals keep the wolfish debt collector from many a country house’s door and Corick is no exception. Banqueting rooms, a spa and wedding party accommodation fill new wings and converted outbuildings. The reception rooms and bedrooms of the original house are still enjoyed for their original purpose. Views from the well kept demesne are glorious. The ancient St McCartan’s Protestant Cathedral of Clogher can be seen across the valley from the sloping Victorian Walled Garden.

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Architecture Art Design Hotels Luxury People Restaurants Town Houses

East Walls Hotel Chichester West Sussex + Civilisation

No Inelegance

A Waitrose opening used to be the sign a place is going places. Now it’s The Ivy. Chains like The Ivy (Grade II Listed Building) are architecturally elevated in Chichester: the building housing Pizza Express has two Palladian windows and four blind parapet windows. Zizzi has three blind windows under a pediment dated 1791. New Look is in old architecture – a neo Grecian temple. The city has plenty of independent restaurants as well. Jorge Kloppenburg recommends fine dining at Purchases on North Street or Piccolino on South Street.

The Barn restaurant on the corner of East Street and Little London has a notice on its flank wall: “All Goodwood produce can be traced every step of the way from field to fork. They are totally committed to the care of their livestock and to the preservation of the countryside. They use no pesticides of fertilisers at Goodwood Home Farm, ensuring that the wildlife, hedgerows and centuries old natural ecosystem is protected. Goodwood Home Farm is four miles from here and therefore as local as you can get. The farm is set at the heart of the 12,000 acres Sussex estate.” You guessed it: Goodwood Farm Shop is its number one supplier. A plaque on the façade of The Barn is dedicated to fabulous clientele including Lawrence Olivier and Elizabeth Taylor. There’s still plenty of fabulosity in Chichester.

Jorge should know about good food: he’s been cooking since age 12. After a successful international sustainable business career, three years ago he bought East Walls Hotel which he runs with his wife Anywhere Thompson. “We don’t call it a hotel it’s a home from home,” Jorge relates. “In Germany I trained in Chinese, Indian and Thai cooking at night classes. We personalise breakfast here. One New Yorker guest likes her scrambled egg made with cheese. After spending 2,000 nights in 30 years staying in hotels across Europe I recognise what I like and dislike.”

He reckons, “A nice bathroom and excellent breakfast are crucial – that’s what you need to start the day.” The bathroom products are Elysl. Bedding of course is also important. All the beds are fitted with Mitre Linen’s Savoy Collection. “Fresh flowers on the dining tables are a must. I would describe our cooking as bespoke international food.” On cue, delicious halibut and salmon (with the subtlest hint of spice) is served alongside fresh greens and Finger Post wine. “Everything is freshly made. You need 35 minutes for potato dauphinoise. Air frying not deep frying is much heathier. Our breakfast homemade bread is 50 percent brown 50 percent white – fluffy, not too heavy.  We buy food at the market two to three times a week.” The tomatoes and herbs were picked two metres away two minutes ago. Forget farm to fork. This is patio to plate.

There are chillis in the garden. “We have a 37 acre chilli farm in Zimbabwe near where I was brought up,” shares Anywhere. “It provides employment for locals and supports 50 children in education. We are in the process of buying another 37 acres. We are both very committed to our philanthropic endeavours. Education is so important whether you end up as a doctor or truck driver. We want to give others a chance in life to do well.”

East Walls Hotel gets its name from the turn of last millennium Roman city walls. Its Grade II Listing dating from 1950 states, “Suffolk House, 3 East Row. 18th century. Three storeys. Four windows wide. Red brick. Eaves bracket cornice. Sash windows in reveals in flat arches; glazing bars intact on ground and first floors; rubbed brick voussoirs. Doorway with Doric columns, pediment and semicircular fanlight. Six panel moulded door with four panels cut away and glazed; door in panelled reveals. Stone coat of arms over the doorway.” A blocked Gothick arch on the first landing and a blind rounded arch on the landing above hint at structural alterations down the centuries.

Anywhere explains, “We can’t keep up with demand! So we’ve bought 1 East Row, the house next door, to expand our guest accommodation.” Its Grade II Listing, also dating from 1950, states, “18th century. Two storeys and attic. Three windows and extension of one window on ground floor. Red brick. Brick stringcourse. Wooden cornice. One dormer. Sash windows in frames, those on ground floor with slightly curved headings; glazing bars intact. Doorway with Doric pilasters, pediment and semicircular fanlight. Six panel moulded door set in panelled reveals.”

There’s no escaping the influence of Goodwood. The hotel was once the townhouse of the country house estate owners the Dukes of Richmond. A chubby Duke’s face cast in plaster protrudes over a French door on the rear elevation. “We always have guests staying for Goodwood Festival of Speed,” says Anywhere. “And businesspeople from Rolls Royce – their plant is only two miles away and employs 1,700 people. Our repeat guests book now for next year.”

A black and white photograph of Goodwood Tourist Trophy 1959 hangs in the bar next to pictures of Aston Martins and prints of Sophia Loren and Elizabeth Taylor. “This is a men’s space,” Jorge suggests. “We’ve 75 whiskeys and 15 gins to choose from.” Burgundy chesterfield armchairs bolster the masculine ambience. The adjoining Art Deco style restaurant is more feminine. “The collection of teapots on display – Twenties, Thirties, Seventies, Nineties and 2000s – shows how time goes on.” This year is the centenary of Art Deco: the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes was held in Paris in 1925.

One of the many cultural highlights of Chichester is Pallant House Gallery, a Grade I Listed early Georgian house famous for its modern art collection. Here’s a random sample of delights. Frank Auerbach’s Reclining Head of Gerda Boehm (1982), a lesson in portraiture. Jean Metzinger’s L’Echaffaudage (1915), a diagonally determined dynamic scaffolding. Tracey Emin’s Roman Standard (1949), her first public art project. Standing tall in the courtyard, this cast iron variation of a Roman standard is topped by a small songbird rather than a triumphant eagle. Lucien Freud’s Portrait of a Girl (1949), a study of skin surface. John Piper’s Redland Park Congregational Church (1940), a rich hued and black lined depiction of the collision of the pastoral past with the brutal bomb wrecked present.

Five minutes away from East Walls Hotel – everything is five minutes away actually – lies Priory Park. This open space is a layering of history from medieval walls on Roman foundations to a Norman mote to the 13th century Guildhall, formerly the Chapel of the Franciscan Friary. The spire of the 11th century Chichester Cathedral can be seen from the second floor bedrooms and garden cottage suite. The cathedral and its precincts are a beautiful pocket of civilisation.

“We really believe in living in the hotel and doing the cooking ourselves,” confirms Anywhere. “That way the quality becomes how it should be.” She has a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science and a Master’s in Medical Biotechnology both from the University of Portsmouth, now balancing a career as a clinical pathologist with co running a hotel. “All 12 of our rooms are different but they all have antique pieces and beautiful bathrooms. Work hard – it pays off.”

Chichester: England’s finest small city. East Walls Hotel: England’s finest small hotel.

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Architecture Design Town Houses

Lady Chapel + Chichester Cathedral West Sussex

A White Horse Whose Rider is Called Faithful and True

Marcel Proust’s invented writer Bergotte in The Way by Swann’s, 1913, refers to “moving effigies that forever ennoble the venerable and charming façades of our cathedrals”.

During the Family Service in the Lady Chapel on the 20th Sunday after Pentecost, being Proper 25, Canon Nigel Ashworth, Priest Vicar of Chichester Cathedral, spoke about what is important and what happens at the end of everything. He reminded the congregation that the Bible is not just a book but a library of books. There are no excuses for skipping worship at the cathedral: five services are held each Sunday.

The most famous monument in the cathedral, the early 14th century Arundel Tomb monument of Richard Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel, and his second wife Eleanor of Lancaster, is unusual as they are holding hands. This inspired Philip Larkin’s mid 20th century poem The Arundel Tomb. The poet observes “And that faint hint of the absurd – The little dogs under their feet.” The last line of the poem is “What will survive of us is love”.

One of the many memorials in the cloisters is to Oliver Whitby who died aged 39 on 19 February 1702. He was the son of the Archdeacon Reverend Oliver Whitby and his wife Ann. He achieved plenty in his short life: “Founded and endowed a school in this city, for the maintenance of a master and 12 poor boys to be carefully educated in the principles of religion as established in the Church of England. To be diligently instructed in reading, writing, arithmetick [sic], and so far in mathematical learning as may fit them for honest and useful employments with a particular regard to navigation.”

Two weeks after this visit, the funeral service of the brilliant comedic actress Patricia Routledge, forever known as Mrs Bucket, took place in Chichester Cathedral.

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Architecture Country Houses Design Hotels Luxury People Restaurants

Barberstown Castle Straffan Kildare + Lavender’s Blue

No Pale Comparison

An article appeared in The Irish Times on 23 November 1974: “Two Historic Castles Now on Property Market”. It states, “Two of the country’s most interesting castles are currently on the market – Barberstown, Straffan, County Kildare, which is being run as a hotel, and Portlick near Athlone, County Meath, which will be sold with its lakeside estate complete with planning permission for an extensive new holiday village. Barberstown’s lands were granted to Lord Fitzgerald in 1172, and it was about this time that the keep (which is still in use) and the halls (long gone) were built. Later, it was the home of the de Capella, Fanning, Perkinson, Sutton and Dillon families before the entire estate was confiscated under what is euphemistically known as the Cromwellian Settlement.”

There’s more, “It was during the Sutton family occupancy that the Elizabethan wing of the castle (still in use) was built. The castle, house and grounds were valued at £200 in 1640. In 1703, Bartholomew van Homrigh bought the property, and although he achieved considerable political and social stature in his own right, he is mainly remembered today as the father of Vanessa, the girl immortalised in Dean Swift’s writings.”

And more, “One of Barberstown’s legends concerns a man said to be interred between the top of the main staircase and the roof of the tower. His family held the castle by a lease which expired when he was ‘put underground’ and they sought this novel method of postponing that day. Barberstown, standing on five acres, is at present being run as a fully licensed hotel and restaurant. It is to be sold (by private treaty now, or auction later) by Keane Mahony Smith and the solicitors with carriage of sale are Kennedy and McGonagle of Molesworth Street. The accommodation at Barberstown includes 13 bedrooms, six bathrooms, two bars, lounges, two dining rooms, large kitchens, plus the Norman tower keep. Outside there are two furnished penthouses, stabling, garages and well kept grounds. Barberstown, only 15 miles from Dublin, is a property with great potential, Keane Mahony Smith’s Robin Palmer declared. It will be sold as a going concern, with full seven day licence.”

Five years later, the musician Eric Clapton would buy the castle. Then in an article “£500,000 for Eric’s Castle” the Evening Herald reported on 12 July 1984, “Big excitement in the international property market with the tale that popstar Eric Clapton has at last found a buyer for his restaurant. Three years ago Clapton bought Barberstown Castle after many stays and banquets there – commuting from his Surrey home. However, after spending just under £400,000 buying the stately home restaurant in County Kildare, Clapton lost all interest – as popstars do – and has not appeared at all in the Castle. Now Clapton, apparently, has a buyer for Barberstown. The buyer is said to be German, no less, and the price is said to be in excess of £500,000, no less. One way for a popstar to shake off the Irish connection.”

All the bedrooms in the 2015 wing (currently draped in a cloak of reddening leaves) are named after previous owners and the date they took over. On the first floor in clockwise order the bedrooms are Maurice Fitzgerald 1170, Eric Clapton 1979, Norah Devlin 1973, Mrs Todd 1971, Robert Middleston 1941, Sandham Symes 1908, Mr Littleboy 1881, Edward Smith 1842, Admiral Robinson 1836, Hugh Barton 1826, Hugh Cairncross 1780, Joseph Cairncross 1780, Hugh Henry 1716, James Young 1660, Bartholomew van Homrigh 1703, Nicholas Barby 1300, Richard de Penkinson 1289, Sir John Fanning 1288, Thomas Fanning 1275 and Robert de Copella 1250. Amanda Torrens 2021 can be the name of the next new bedroom. The Barton Rooms Restaurant is named after Hugh Barton who added a wing in the 1830s. Battlefield Car Park is a reminder of the strategic location of this castle within The Pale.

“Smurfit in Talks to Buy Barberstown” roared the headline in The Irish Independent on 19 January 1990. “Business tycoon Michael Smurfit is believed to be negotiating the purchase of Barberstown Castle,” exhales Cliodhna O’Donoghue, “the former Irish hideaway home in County Kildare of rockstar Eric Clapton. Just a mile away from the 17th century Straffan House, which was purchased by Smurfit in September 1988 for £4 million, it is understood that if the deal goes ahead Barberstown will become an exclusive annex to Straffan’s palatial Georgian mansion and grounds.”

There’s more, “Standing about 15 miles from Dublin, the 1172 built Barberstown has had a series of notable owners including Sir Richard Talbot, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and more recently rockstar Eric Clapton who purchased the property from the current owner of nearby Moyglare Manor, Mrs Devlin. Barberstown again changed hands for around £300,000 and its existing owner, Ken Healy has extensively refurbished and extended the premises. Barberstown is presently being run as a hotel and is extremely popular as a wedding venue. Smurfit is expected to spend about £4.5 million transforming Straffan into an exclusive gentlemen’s club and is converting the 40 stables in Straffan’s Queen Anne Yard into luxurious bedroom suites as well as building a golf course in the 300 acres of grounds.”

And more, “To encourage industrialists to take membership of the Straffan Club the property will also contain a conference centre to attract investors, particularly Japanese and Americans, who plan to take occupation in the Financial Services Centre. Straffan, which has also had a chequered history of owners over the years, was sold for £4 million in September 1988 by Scots born businessman Alan Ferguson who bought the property from the liquidator of Patrick Gallagher’s estate. Market authorities believe that Mr Smurfit is considering the purchase of Barberstown with a view to extending the Straffan Estate further and it is estimated that the historic castle will cost between £700,000 and £1 million.” Clodhna’s exclusive did not come to pass. There is no Michael Smurfit Room.

In fact the previous owner, businessman Ken Healy, had purchased Barberstown in 1987. He transformed it into a 58 bedroom hotel, more than doubling the size of the original building, adding extensions in a sympathetic neo Georgian style. Norah Devlin first converted the castle to a 10 bedroom hotel in the 1970s. It is worth more now than the £1,033 the Dutch merchant Bartholomew van Homrigh paid for it at the beginning of the 17th century. A two or three storey Georgian house attached to a taller castle is not uncommon in Ireland. Other examples are Ballymore Castle in Lawrencetown, County Galway; Blackwater Castle in Castletownroche, County Cork; and Sigginstown Castle in Tomhaggard, County Wexford. The 18th century portion of Barberstown Castle originally had a thatched roof. Later rendering has been removed from the keep exposing rubblestone which contrasts with the smooth rendering painted a lighter shade of pale on the rest of the building.

Barberstown Castle is now the setting for high society weddings (Champagne sorbet) and high energy getaways (Champagne). On a random Thursday night in October, dinner might be panfried halibut, scallop ravioli, grilled asparagus and lobster bisque preceded by Jerusalem artichoke velouté, crispy egg milk and wild mushrooms. An amuse bouche might be crab salad with lemon jam on a scalloped crisp. Fashionably flavoured butters, garlic and seaweed, are sure to make an appearance. Photogenic puddings might include The Apple (Velvet Cloud yoghurt and white chocolate mousse, Irish Black Butter apple preserve, chocolate soil) or Gianduja and Pear (chocolate and hazelnut sabayon with caramel pear, Champagne poached pear). Anyone up for a Pale Rider cocktail at 2am on the terrace?