Enfilade

From the conference flyer:

Razored Hedgerows, Planted Trees, and Natural Delights: Country House Gardens and Landscapes
Online, Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates, Maynooth University, 11 May 2021

After the disappointing cancellation of the annual conference in 2020, the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates is pleased to announce the 19th annual Historic Houses Conference, which will be held online (via Zoom) at Maynooth University on 11 May 2021.

Country houses sit in the middle of designed landscapes. Their backdrop, large or small, might be a combination of parkland, pasture, woods, and waterways, as well as formal gardens blazoned with horticultural delights. These natural features complement the built heritage and often share similar stories about their creation, improvement, loss, or recovery. The acres surrounding a mansion house may have shrunk over the centuries, but the terrain itself remains even if in different ownership and used for other purposes today.

This one-day online conference will include papers on a number of houses and gardens, examining their history, survival, and changing fortunes, with papers on Emo Court, Annes Grove, Doneraile, Glin Castle, Brodsworth Hall, Vaux-le-Vicomte, Lambay Castle, Illnacullin, Johnstown Castle, Newbridge, and the Glebe Churchill; as well as presentations on glasshouses, plant collections, and the art of landscape design. The day will conclude with an online forum on the subject of gardens and well-being in the twenty-first century.

Speakers include Sarah Couch, Michael O’Sullivan, Catherine Fitzgerald, Neil Porteous, Hugh Carrigan, Anne O’Donoghue, Kim Wilkie, Alexandre de Vogue, Matthew Jebb, Chris O’Neill, Cathal Dowd Smith, Eleanor Matthews, and Adrian Kelly.

Attendance is free, but places are limited; for details on how to register please contact cshihe@mu.ie.

Doneraile Court (side of the house), near the town of Doneraile in County Cork, Ireland; most of the house dates to the early eighteenth century. After an extensive renovation by the Office of Public Works, the house opened to the public in 2019. The 400 acres of walled parkland are laid out in the style of Capability Brown (Office of Public Works).