20.10.2020, 18:30 P.M.
This talk is the third in the Irish Country House Architecture nine week on-line lecture series presented by the Irish Georgian Society, in association with the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates (CSHIHE), University of Maynooth.
Early Palladian Country House (Castletown, Castle Hume, Powerscourt, Bellamont Forest, Summerhill) by Dr Melanie Hayes.
The opening decades of the eighteen century brought a period of relative peace and prosperity across Ireland, and with it increased building activity in the domestic sphere. Just like their counterparts in Britain Irish peers and gentry turned their attention to their country estates, improving the surrounding landscape and constructing fine new houses in the latest Palladian taste. This talk examines some of the earliest enterprises in Palladian country house architecture, by leading proponents of this style, Edward Lovett Pearce and Richard Castle. From lost and near- lost examples like Castle Hume, Co. Fermanagh, Summerhill Co. Meath and Powerscourt, Co. Wicklow to tenacious survivors like Hazelwood, Co. Sligo, Bellamont Forest, Co. Cavan and Castletown Co. Kildare, it examines the architectural paradigms, practices and people involved, from patrons to architects to craftsmen, seeking to reconstruct a fuller picture of these houses, and the aims and ambitions of those who brought them into being.
Dr. Melanie Hayes is an architectural historian, specialising in Ireland’s eighteenth-century architectural and social history. She has written and spoken widely on these topics, seeking to bring historic research of national significance to a broader audience. Her book, The Best Address in Town: Henrietta Street, Dublin and Its First Residents, 1720 – 80 will be published by Four Courts Press this autumn. Melanie currently works as a post-doctoral research fellow, on an Irish Research Council advanced laureate project, CRAFTVALUE, at Trinity College Dublin, exploring a new skills-based perspective on the architecture of Britain and Ireland (1680-1780).
Book for Dr Melanie Hayes's individual on-line talk at a cost of 10 euro.
Those booking the on-line talks will receive an email containing a password protected link by 6pm on the evening of the lecture. The talks are pre-recorded on Zoom. It is possible to watch the talks for one week from the time of receiving the link.Book for the whole nine week on-line course for the discounted price of 80 euro.
Acknowledgements
Irish Country House Architecture lectures form part of the IGS's Conservation Education Programme, which is kindly supported by Merrion Properties and Heather and John Picerne.
The Society also wishes to acknowledge the sponsorship of the London Chapter of the Irish Georgian Society and Ecclesiastical Insurance in sponsoring the Irish Country House Architecture lecture series.
Attendance at the lectures is recognised as formal CPD by the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland.
Image: Powerscourt, County Wicklow c. 1761 by George Barret. Image reproduced courtesy of Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.
