The Library

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Pictures

Left of Drawingroom door:
The 4th Earl of Dunraven - a copy, by Eva Hamilton, of the original picture by Sir Arthur Cope which used to hang at Adare Manor. Dunraven (father of Lady Rachel FitzGerald, wife of Desmond FitzJohn FitzGerald 27th Knight) was a well-known politician, yachtsman and sportsman who died in 1926.

Over the door
A view of Dublin Bay from Blackrock by the late 18th century naval artist John Thomas Serres.

Right of the door
Portrait of Evelyn, Countess Annesley, by Sir Oswald Birley, painted in 1911. She died in 1947.

Between the windows
A pair of silhouettes of two boys, one bears the trade label of 'McGauren No. 6 Drogheda Street, Dublin Profile Painter.'

Right of the chimney piece
A portrait of Judge Arthur Blennerhassett, Justice of the King's Bench in 1743, attributed to Philip Hussey. The Judge built Riddlestown Park, Co. Limerick, which was eventually inherited by the 27th Knight of Glin about 1904. He later sold it.

Left of the hidden door
Two silhouettes of the 1st Lord Wimborne (died 1914) and his wife, Cornelia Spencer-Churchill (daughter of the 7th Duke of Marlborough, she died in 1927). These were the grandparents of Veronica FitzGerald, wife of the 28th Knight of Glin, who died in 1998.

Below
A reproduction of a 1839 signed and dated watercolour of the children of Lady Charlotte Guest, mother of the 1st Lord Wimborne. She was the great collector of china and fans. She died in 1895.
On the little Irish tea table by the chimney piece is a striking photograph of Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough, daughter of William Vanderbilt of New York, and sister-in-law of Lady Wimborne.

Right of the hidden door
A case of miniatures, the most significant of which is on the top right-hand corner - Margaretta Maria Fraunceis, daughter of John Fraunceis Gwyn of Forde Abbey and Combe Florey, Somerset, by Abraham Daniel of Bath.

The portrait in the hall (right of the Drawingroom door) is copied from this miniature. The wife of Col. John Bateman FitzGerald, she died in 1801.

Above the hidden door
A landscape of Leixlip, Co. Kildare by William Jones, circa 1740.

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Furniture and other objects

The most important piece is the very fine mahogany built-in broken-pedimented bookcase with the concealed door made for the house, which is surmounted by a bust of Milton.

In the right corner, by the window, is a bureau-bookcase of about 1760 which was originally made for the St. George family of Woodsgift, Co. Kilkenny. The apron and legs pull forward and the top adjusts upwards to form a reading slope. This is a particularly fine example of Irish craftsmanship.

In front of it is an early Irish 18th century oak and walnut veneered chair with a splat back and shaped stretchers. Irish chairs like this have considerable relationship with American contemporary examples made in Philadelphia.

The two side tables are Irish mid-18th century, one walnut and one mahogany, carved with masks and shells with paw feet and the little acanthus decorated hock so commonly found in Irish furniture.

The adjustable reading desk came from Doneraile Court, Co. Cork, and is probably by Gillow of Lancaster. It dates from about 1830 and is contemporary with the drum table in the centre of the room.

The mirror over the chimney piece bears the label of Francis and John Booker of Essex Bridge, Dublin, and dates from about 1750-60. It is the first documented example from which many other were attributed.

The upholstered armchair and chair with shepherd's crook arms are notable examples of mid-18th century Irish seat furniture. They have club and paw feet and typically flat stretchers. Likewise the pair of splat-backed side chairs with scrolled feet that flank the drawingroom door also date from mid-18th century.

Between the windows is an oval mirror surmounted by an urn and eagle, dated about 1790. This bears the label of Jackson of Essex Bridge, Dublin.

The marble statue is of the painter Rubens. This is a copy by the Irish sculptor Lawrence Geoghegan after the original by Rysbrack. Geoghegan signed and dated it 1756 for exhibition at the Dublin Society where it won a premium of Ł4 in that year.

The china on the left hand sidetable and elsewhere is a set of Chamberlain Worchester oriental pattern. The pair of flasks on the brackets on either side of the over-mantle mirror bears the FitzGerald of Glin arms and are by Samson of Paris and date from about 1850. The carpet is French Aubusson and dates from the 1840's.

The bronze colza oil chandelier, now converted to electricity, dates from about 1830