In celebrating National Heritage Week 2022, the Irish Georgian Society is reflecting on projects it has assisted over the last 20 years through its Conservation Grants Programme. Funded through IGS London and IGS Inc (USA), over €1.6m has been awarded during this time.

Day 6: Curraghmore House, Co. Waterford

Originally a Norman keep, or tower house, Curraghmore was built by the la Poer family in the late twelfth century. Although greatly extended over the centuries, in terms of architecture, most of what can be seen today dates from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the list of architects involved in these extensions, remodellings and renovations includes James Wyatt and, probably, John Roberts and his descendant Samuel Usher Roberts, of Waterford. The quality of their architecture can be seen in every aspect of Curraghmore, not least the stables flanking the courtyard that forms a grand avenue to the house. However, Curraghmore still preserves within its structure the original Norman keep—accounting for deep window embrasures in the windows of the entrance hall and a slight asymmetry on the courtyard façade. Crowning the building on the courtyard side is the crest of the la Poer family, the emblem of St. Hubert, a stag with a cross between its antlers. On the garden front is a crest of a dragon, the emblem of the Beresford family. In the early eighteenth century, Catherine, daughter of James Power, married Marcus Beresford, and the house still owned and lived in by Henry de la Poer Beresford, present Marquess of Waterford and his family.

IGS Grants — 2007: stable-block roof repairs; 2014: repairs to Lafranchini ceilings; 2020: treatment of dry-rot outbreak

Pictures & text by Peter Murray from his exhibition ‘Saving Graces’ (2021)

The work of the Irish Georgian Society is supported through the Heritage Council’s ‘Heritage Capacity Fund 2022’.