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34-549: Killruddery House (also spelled "Kilruddery") is a large country house on the southern outskirts of Bray in County Wicklow , Ireland, approximately 20 km (12 mi) south of Dublin. The present structure is a south-facing multi-bay mansion, originally dating from the 17th century, but remodelled and extended in 1820 in the Elizabethan style. It is constructed as variously single, two, three and four storeys in

68-402: A bowling green , a walled garden with fruit trees, a ha-ha , avenues , ponds, formal hedges, and a deer park . In 1846, Daniel Robertson restored the gardens for the 11th Earl. A conservatory was built, designed by William Burn in the 1850s. In 1951, the 14th Earl and Countess of Meath returned to the property and were faced with dry rot on the buildings and overgrown gardens. Without

102-418: A drawing room ceiling by Simon Gilligan. A clock tower in the forecourt houses a water clock designed and constructed by Reginald Brabazon, 13th Earl of Meath , with a pendulum powered by a jet of water. From 1952 to 1962, the house underwent a reconstruction, due to severe dry rot. Builders carefully demolished the façade, numbering each brick, and rebuilt a new entrance. A few sections of the house, including

136-614: A filming location for a number of films and television mini-series including My Left Foot , Far and Away , Angela's Ashes , Camelot and The Tudors . Into the Badlands , The Turning , Fate: The Winx Saga , and Irish Wish were also partially filmed there. Killruddery's gardens have also been host to the Groove Festival, which launched in 2013. At the foot of the Little Sugar Loaf mountain,

170-408: A gardener for many years, they gradually worked to restore the gardens themselves. They opened the house and gardens to the public. As of 2002, there were over 90 acres of gardens with 3.5 miles of hedging . Anglo-Irish big house The term 'big house' came about due to the simple comparison by the tenants of estates of their dwellings with the comparatively large and luxurious residences of

204-415: A new house at Killruddery in 1651 to replace one burned down in the civil war six years earlier. Contemporary pictures show an East-facing building of five bays. John Brabazon, 10th Earl of Meath , carried out an extensive reconstruction of the house between 1820 and 1830. Architects Sir Richard Morrison and his son William Vitruvius Morrison were commissioned to build a Tudor Revival mansion incorporating

238-578: A small minority were rebuilt or restored. After Ambrose Congreve died in 2011 aged 104, Mount Congreve was described as the "last Big House", meaning the last in which a member of the ascendancy family was resident. Killegar House has been similarly described, and is home of the widow of John Godley, 3rd Baron Kilbracken , who died in 2006. The fate of the Big House still remains undecided today as new challenges are faced in order or preserve them. Terence Dooley's work on fifty such houses outlines

272-702: Is a 342 metres (1,122 ft) hill in the far northeastern sector of the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland. It does not have the elevation to rank on Arderin , Hewitt , or Vandeleur-Lynam scales, however, its prominence of 247 metres (810 ft) ranks it as a Marilyn . The Little Sugar Loaf is situated northeastwards from the Great Sugar Loaf , but separated by the N11 dual carriageway . The northern side of Little Sugar Loaf directly overlooks

306-455: Is in danger of being substantially lost forever to the Irish people." Since the mass scale decline and destruction of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, time now serves as the main perpetrator in the decline of these houses as surviving estates continue to fall into neglect and disrepair. Little Sugar Loaf Little Sugar Loaf ( Irish : Giolspar , meaning 'Giltspur')

340-483: The Anglo-Irish and local population they were governing was, for many, epitomised by the Big House. The Anglo-Irish elite went to great lengths in the process of designing their homes, as well as furnishing them. They almost exclusively looked to Great Britain and the continent for style and design, claiming to "bring culture back to the Irish homes" and emphasising their separation from the culture and tastes of

374-459: The Anglo-Irish aristocracy. They were termed 'big' both in reference to their size and in reference to their influence over the surrounding area. Elizabeth Bowen wrote of the big house: "Is it height—in this country of otherwise low buildings—that got these Anglo-Irish houses their 'big' name? Or have they been called 'big' with a slight inflection—that of hostility, irony? One may call a man 'big' with just that inflection because he seems to think

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408-435: The different categories of 'big' houses, their modern functions, and statuses of ownership whether private or public. The work speaks of the desire to preserve and the feasibility of such practices. Dooley argues that "the future of Irish historic houses is by no means secure. Unless concerted action is undertaken, a major component of the country’s architectural, historical and cultural heritage, at both local and national level,

442-415: The estate has over 800 acres. In 1684, Monsieur Bonet was hired to build the gardens inspired by the then-popular French Gardens of Versailles . The idea for the two 550-foot long reflecting pools came from the canals at Château de Courances , and stocked fish for the house. Also constructed during the 4th Earl's ownership was a summer house , pleasure garden , cherry garden, kitchen garden, gravel walks,

476-661: The hell of himself." The Anglo-Irish became the ruling class in Ireland due to the phenomenon of the Protestant Ascendancy , which saw one class controlling almost all political power in Ireland for several hundred years. Members of the Anglo-Irish class were granted huge areas of land by the British Crown and quickly became leaders in the economic, as well as political, life of Ireland. The Big Houses that this class built served to demonstrate their power and "were meant to inspire awe among equals and deference in

510-473: The high eviction rates experienced during the famine led to extreme rent arrears that gravely affected the landlords income. Coupled with agricultural depression , increased land agitation, and the Land Acts of 1885 and 1891, the 'late nineteenth century saw considerable deterioration of 'big' houses and grand estates in Ireland.' For the majority, these factors 'led to landlord indebtedness which resulted in

544-611: The house were also decidedly foreign and could range from collections of valuable Flemish paintings from the Northern Renaissance all the way to the installation of Lusterweiblen , Austrian light fixtures made of antlers and carved wood. The procuring of these items was often a considerable task and served to emphasise the purchasing power of the elite and their ability to live in decadence. The Big House had extensive parts of it devoted to leisure and entertainment, included ballrooms , drawing rooms and parlours, as well as

578-429: The house with their four children. The property is managed as a working farm with a variety of enterprises to earn the funds to maintain the estate and provide a living. They operate tours, events, sports, horse riding, festivals, concerts, filming location rentals, farmers market, cafe, and weddings. The working farm produces food for the events and café with the goal being 100% farm-to-fork . The estate has been used as

612-672: The houses remained an important symbol of a divided society and they were regarded with great hostility by the native Irish. This resulted in the targeting of Big Houses during the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War by the Irish Republican Army . The War of Independence saw the destruction of approximately 275 'big' houses, with an estimated 199 of the houses being burnt and destroyed from 1920 to 1923. While much republican sentiment argued that these houses had to be burned because they symbolised Irish oppression,

646-479: The levelling of the landed class was also meted out under socialist rhetoric. The Republican revolutionary Ernie O'Malley stated that "Under the Republic all industry will be controlled by the state for the workers' and farmers' benefit... all banks will be operated by the state... the lands of the aristocracy will be seized and divided". Many of the Big House were abandoned after they had been attacked, and only

680-419: The lower classes." As such, the houses were signifiers demonstrating the elitist social status of the landed class. The Big House was the nucleus of the larger estate, commonly referred to as the demesne , and served key functions within many Irish communities. The lord of the demesne not only controlled the lands of the community but also often exerted much political influence over it. From the 17th century, it

714-551: The native Irish. Many of the Big Houses are known today for their immense architectural value, with some acting as the only surviving work of famous Irish and European architects. Regency style became the fashionable mode of architecture for an elite home in the mid to late nineteenth century Ireland. Features of regency design include the renowned Scagliola columns of Italian influence, made of imported stone, as well as French style plaster and painted ceilings. The objects within

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748-531: The nineteenth century in Ireland, such as the abolishing of the Penal Laws and the 1801 Act of Union , and also the various land acts and reforms , served to level the privileges of the landed class with those of the previously disenfranchised and largely Roman Catholic Irish population. The Great Famine in Ireland in the mid-nineteenth century also served to impact many, though not all, Big houses and landed families. The inability of tenants to pay rents and

782-412: The original 17th century mansion. The result was a large building, featuring a North-facing entrance with a cupola, behind which clustered a number of wings forming an irregular quadrangle around a central courtyard. The interior of the house originally featured elaborate chimney-pieces by Giacinto Micali, crimson silk damask from Spitalfields, stained glass by John Milner, a domed ceiling by Henry Popje and

816-480: The original grand entrance and dome were lost, and the house was remodeled by Claud Phillimore (who succeeded, in 1990, as Baron Phillimore ). The estate is owned and occupied by the 15th Earl and Countess of Meath — John Anthony Brabazon and his wife Xenia. As of 2016, their son Anthony Brabazon ( heir apparent to the Earl of Meath title) and his wife Fionnuala manage the house, gardens and farm, and also live in

850-446: The outside grounds of the demesne that allowed for hunting or playing fashionable sports, like cricket . Much time was devoted to these spaces as the elite had the means to pursue leisure extensively. Photography became a major leisure activity among the Anglo-Irish in the late 19th century, and photographs today serve as one of the principle references for historians of the Anglo-Irish big house. The ability to read and write extensively

884-607: The selling off of household contents such as art and furniture and also the parcelling off and sale of demesne lands.' Attempts to end landlordism in Ireland with the Land Purchase (Ireland) Act 1903 saw financial incentives given to landlords to sell off their estates which resulted in "the sale of estates on a revolutionary scale." By the time of the Irish revolutionary period , the Big House had lost much of its historical control and influence over Irish society. Nonetheless,

918-435: The shape of an irregular quadrangle enclosing a courtyard. To the north an office wing incorporates the 17th-century portion, and to the south and west is a large domed conservatory, the orangery , designed by William Burn in about the 1850s. The house sits within a large landscaped demesne which features a pair of 550-foot long parallel reflecting pools on the south lawn. In 1534, Sir William Brabazon of Leicestershire

952-594: The town of Bray ; the eastern side (see photo) looks across the R761 between Bray and Greystones to the western slope of Bray Head . Little Sugar Loaf has a distinctive profile of a rocky double summit . Like the Great Sugar Loaf, it consists of Cambrian Period quartzite bedrock. Irish academic Paul Tempan notes that the Irish name Giolspar is likely a translation of the English "gilt spur", based on

986-467: Was Elizabeth Bowen . Bowen wrote extensively on the precarious position of the elite as the power, which they had held for generations, was retracted from them piece by piece over the period of great social and political change in which Catholics were no longer denied power and land agitation and nationalism were growing. Her writings chronicle the decline of the Big House as experienced from within. Successive social and political changes that took place in

1020-425: Was a sign of privilege. Maria Edgeworth is one of the earlier Anglo-Irish Big House writers who wrote often satirical stories about the demise of estates through the mishandling of the often absent family members. Much of her fiction is said to mirror that of her own life and family. The fact that she was a nineteenth century female writer emphasises her status as a woman of privilege. Another later Big House writer

1054-483: Was common for the sons of the Anglo-Irish landowners to enter politics through election to the Irish House of Commons , thus increasing the level of political control over Ireland by these elite families, many of whom had seats in the Irish House of Lords . Despite being so influential over the community in which they existed, Big Houses often had little invested in them apart from the collection of rents. The demesne

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1088-417: Was designed to provide enough food to sustain the Big House and its inhabitants, as well as provide a profit. This granted it a level of autonomy that made it increasingly independent and cut off from the community. From the mid-1700s, the Irish nationalist movement encouraged the native Roman Catholic Irish to view the Big House and its inhabitants as being isolated from the surrounding Irish landscape. This

1122-505: Was often the case, as the divide between the Anglo-Irish and their community was felt not only geographically but also socially. The gap between the landed families and the tenanted widened in the wake of little serious interaction between the two. The Anglo-Irish occupied a social space where they were in Ireland yet not fully Irish, and English in manner and origin yet far removed from life in England. The social and economic disparity between

1156-633: Was posted to Ireland to serve as Vice-Treasurer. Later, in 1539, after vigorously supporting King Henry VIII's efforts to break with Rome and the Dissolution of the Monasteries , Brabazon secured the ownership of the Abbey of St. Thomas, Dublin, whose lands included Killruddery. In 1618, the land was granted to his great-grandson, also William Brabazon (c.1580-1651) who was made the 1st Earl of Meath in 1627. The 2nd Earl of Meath (1610–1675) built

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