Enfilade

From the Irish Georgian Society:

The Irish Country House: Its Past, Present and Future
 Lettsom House, London, 20 October 2011

ISBN: 9781846822346

Since the founding of the IGS over fifty years ago, considerable change has taken place in the fortunes of and attitudes to the Irish country house and these changes have been discussed each year at the Annual Historic Houses of Ireland Conference and now published in a book of essays titled The Irish Country House: Its Past, Present and Future, edited by Dr Terence Dooley and Dr Christopher Ridgway and published by Four Courts Press.

Launched earlier this year at the 9th Historic Houses of Ireland Conference, this marvelous collection of essays looks at dozens of houses across a range of time periods, covering a diversity of topics relating to the architecture of these buildings, the people who lived in them, and the position and perception of the Big House in Ireland. Essays include, Terence Dooley – “Social life at Castle Hyde, 1931–88”, Christopher Ridgway – “Making and meaning in the Historic House: new perspectives in England, Ireland and Scotland” and Allen Warren – “The Twilight of the Ascendancy and the Big House.” The London Chapter is delighted to welcome Drs Dooley and Ridgway to discuss these and other aspects of the Irish country house.

Dr Dooley, MA, Ph.D. (NUI), H. Dip. Ed. is senior lecturer at National University of Ireland at Maynooth and Director of the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates, of which one of its key functions is the organisation of the Annual Historic Houses of Ireland Conference with the aim of promoting focus and recognition for new scholarship and other developments in the field of built heritage studies. Dr Dooley is responsible for the MA in Historic House Studies at Maynooth and author of The Decline of the Big House in Ireland: A Study of Irish Landed Families, 1860-1960 (2001) and A Future For Irish Historic Houses: A Study of 50 Houses (2003) among others. Dr Ridgway, FSA, has been curator at Castle Howard since 1985 and has written and lectured widely on its architecture, gardens and collections. Dr Ridgway is a member of the Board of the National Trust for Scotland and Adjunct Professor in the History Department at the NUI.

The lecture is at Lettsom House, 11 Chandos Street, London W1G 9EB. The nearest tube station is Oxford Circus. Wine will be served from 6.30pm with the lecture commencing at 7pm and costs £12 per person. If you would like to attend, please send your completed application form and cheque to Colm Owens, Apartment 50, Kilner House, Clayton Street, London SE11 5SE. Please note that tickets will not be issued.