7
Irish Arts Review Borris House, Co Carlow Author(s): Peter Pearson and John Mulcahy Source: Irish Arts Review (2002-), Vol. 26, No. 2 (SUMMER 2009), pp. 102-107 Published by: Irish Arts Review Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25654689 . Accessed: 16/06/2014 21:36 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Irish Arts Review is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Irish Arts Review (2002-). http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 188.72.126.88 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 21:36:26 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Borris House, Co Carlow

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Borris House, Co Carlow

Irish Arts Review

Borris House, Co CarlowAuthor(s): Peter Pearson and John MulcahySource: Irish Arts Review (2002-), Vol. 26, No. 2 (SUMMER 2009), pp. 102-107Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25654689 .

Accessed: 16/06/2014 21:36

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Irish Arts Review is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Irish Arts Review(2002-).

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.88 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 21:36:26 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: Borris House, Co Carlow

3^

ris

In the 1800s The MacMurrough Kavanaghs of Borris

embarked on a lavish building programme that

transformed their 18th century mansion into a Tudor

revival showpiece. views the more

recent restoration of Borris House

Hjouse, Co Carlow

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.88 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 21:36:26 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 3: Borris House, Co Carlow

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H HERITAGE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H BORRIS CO CARLOW

In k

1 Borris House, Co Carlow

2 A pair of giant classical gate piers survive though the formal avenue is no longer in use

3 The restored decorative hood mouldings, with their finial heads of kings and queens on the three principal facades were added as part of the Morrison Tudorising of the house

I he Blackstairs mountains roll

gently across South Leinster

separating the counties of

Wexford and Carlow. The land around

these granite hills is sweet and well

wooded and is watered on the Carlow

side by the river Barrow Here, the vil

lage of Borris stands above the river, on

high ground which offers clear views of

the Blackstairs mountain and Mount Leinster. Borris lies in

a quiet corner of Ireland and benefits from the fact that it

is not really on the way to anywhere, at least not to any

major town. Its old granite built houses and Victorian shop

fronts have remained largely intact and authentic. Most of

the town's buildings stand on the north side of a steeply

rising main street, overshadowed by the presence of the

very substantial desmesne wall of Borris house. Borris is

that rare thing - a genuine and unspoilt Irish village.

The present day Borris estate (Fig 1) is also remarkably intact with its desmesne wall enclosing a substantial farm

and about 250 acres of mature woodland. The former deer

park, which has been occupied by Borris Golf Club for

about fifty years, still retains the quality of parkland. At its

height, the estate consisted of 28,000 acres.Today, Andrew

and Tina Kavanagh, along with their family, concentrate on

Christmas trees, sheep and horses. They also make the

house available to interested groups of visitors including

special events such as weddings and have been engaged in

a continuing programme of maintenance and repair of the

historic buildings plus desmesne.

It is well known that the Act of Union of 1800 signalled the decline of Georgian Dublin and brought about the

demise of the city's elegant houses. But an interesting spin

off from this event was that former members of Parliament

were awarded ?15,000 each as an inducement to vote for

the Act of Union and by way of compensation for the loss

of the boroughs. This was a vast sum in the early 1800s,

and many of the landowners used it to either completely

rebuild or remodel their county seats. Dublin's loss became

the country houses gain. The MacMurrough Kavanaghs of

Borris (see page 105) embarked on a lavish building pro

gramme which was to transform their 18 th century man

sion into a Tudor revival showpiece, complete with

batdements and turrets, a new service wing and chapel,

new stables, garden folly tower and an impressive mock

medieval gatehouse as a grand entrance from the village's

main street. Internally, the house was substantially

rearranged with the provision of a spectacular entrance

hall, a grandiose new staircase which led to a large library

on the first floor, an elegandy remodelled drawing room, a

new study and dining room. All of these were decorated

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ll^^jj^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^l SUMMER 2009 IRISH ARTS REVIEW 103

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.88 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 21:36:26 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 4: Borris House, Co Carlow

Pi

Im

.. .... . ...

f Ptf q-'

mbml iB| ^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^

5

lj4

4 The dramatic pillared entrance hall

5 The stone staircase supports a heavy cast iron balastrade

6 Detail from the Tudor Gothic plasterwork in the chapel

7 Above the columns, the shallow dome ceiling is supported by plasterwork in the form of eagles

8 Harriet Kavanagh

with the most up-to-date neo-classical and gothic plasterwork which is still

today as crisp as the day the stucco workers left. The survival of two draw

ings for the Hbrary ceiling in the Stapleton collection in the National

Library, signed by the Morrisons, is strong evidence that they worked at

Borris. The house suffered considerable damage during the rebellion in

1798, which was no doubt another important reason for rebuilding. No

trace remains of the MacMurrough Kavanagh's ancient casde, which some

writers have suggested was embodied in the early 18th century house: 'the

substantial network of vaulted cellars beneath the present structure may

contain elements of medieval walls'. It is noteworthy that the house has no

basement, so that kitchens and other service rooms had to be accommo

dated in extensions to the rear. There are instead many fine brick vaulted

cellars, probably of 18th century date, all of which are windowless.

A sketch on a Georgian estate map shows the early 18th century house,

which may have been adapted from a late 17 th century structure, as a

three-story mansion with a steeply pitched roof and tall chimneys. Its two

main facades facing east and south are nine bays wide, having substantial

corner towers which are often likened to those at Buncrana casde in

Donegal. The original front door of the early house appears to have been

positioned in the south fa9ade, on axis with

a formal tree lined avenue which is shown

on 18th century estate maps. Evidence of a

pedimented doorcase can be seen in the

masonry above the central window of what

is now the drawing room. The formal

avenue has vanished, but an extraordinary

pair of classical gate piers survive (Fig 2)

along with the trees of another formal

driveway, off to the south near the walled

garden. These rectangular piers, con

structed in fluted granite, are some sixteen

feet in height, and are topped off by giant urns in the style of the Dogmersfield finial, and are at least five feet high. In the early

1800s Walter, and later his brother Thomas

Kavanagh, employed the noted architects 6

THE MORRISONS MAINTAINED THE BASIC GEORGIAN STRUCTURE, WHILE HAPPILY MARRYING TUDOR-GOTHIC DECORATIVE ELEMENTS OF THE EXTERIOR WITH NEO-CLASSICAL FEATURES INSIDE

Richard and William Morrison to remodel the house. The Morrisons

maintained the basic Georgian structure, while happily marrying Tudor

Gothic decorative elements of the exterior with some neo-classical fea

tures inside. Only the staircase, ceiling and chapel are distincdy

'Tudor-Gothic'. The rest of the rooms in the house are in the Morrisons'

own distinctive neo-classical idiom, the pillared entrance hall being the

most dramatic (Figs 4&9). Though the hall is square, the fabulously rich

cartwheel-shaped plaster ceiling creates the impression of a circular space.

A series of amber coloured scagiola columns support shallow pointed

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.88 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 21:36:26 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 5: Borris House, Co Carlow

HERITAGE BORRIS HOUSE, CO CARLOW

AS every schoolboy knows (or would

know if they viewed Daniel Maclise's

massive tableau of the event in the

National Gallery) Aoife, only daughter of

Diarmuid MacMurrough, King of Leinster, mar

ried Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke at Waterford in

1170. And their daughter, Isabel, married the

great Norman knight William Marshal

(1146-1219) thus legitimising, to some extent,

the latter 's claim to control most of Leinster.

However Diarmuid's illegitimate son, Donal

Cavenagh assumed the tide of sovereignty in

Leinster and it is from his line that the

MacMurrough Kavanaghs of Borris House in

Carlow are descended.

Art MacMurrough Cavenagh (1357-1417) was

the next most vigorous member of the family in

defending his rights and property and his success

brought Richard II to Ireland in 1394, and again in 1399, in attempts to bring this King of Leinster

to heel. However, it wasn't until the reign of

Henry VIII that Art 'Boy' Mac Murrough and his son Cahir Mac Art finally acknowledged the over

lordship of the English monarch and accepted the

title of Barons of Ballyann.The family seat at Borris dates from this period.

In the 17 th century, Bryan Kavanagh of Borris was a supporter of

Charles II and Borris House was bombarded by the Cromwellians, but

by 1654 Bryan Kavanagh is listed as a Protestant and his lands were thus

saved from forfeiture. However, some of the family continued to sup

port the Stuart cause up to the time of James II and in the List of

Attainders in 1691 (after the Boyne) appears the name Colonel Charles

Cavenagh of Carrickduff, Co Carlow and nineteen others of the same

name in Carlow and Wexford.

Fast forward one hundred years and we find another significant member of the family, Thomas Kavanagh (1767-1837) who was

involved in some of the fiercest fighting in Wexford in the rebellion of 1798. Having survived an assault by the rebels on Borris House it is not

surprising to find that this Kavanagh, who was the MP for Kilkenny in

the old Irish Parliament, supported the Union in 1799. Like all other

members, he received ?15,000 in compensation for his seat when the

Irish Parliament was closed down after the Union. He was afterwards a

member for Carlow in the imperial parliament.

Moving into the 19th century, Thomas' second wife was the remark

able Lady Harriet Le Poer Trench (Fig 8), daughter of Richard, Earl of

Clancarty - remarkable for being the mother of Arthur MacMorrough

Kavanagh (1831-1889) and for her own travels in the Middle East in the 1840s with this seriously disabled son. Arthur was born with only the

rudiments of arms and legs but, with the help of his mother and a cer

tain local Dr Boxwell, famously triumphed over his disabilities. As a

young man he learned to write and paint and then to ride a horse

strapped into a special chair in place of a saddle. He

also became a keen sailor and was an excellent shot.

Following the demise of her husband, Harriet

took to travelling on the continent and in 1846 set

out from Marseilles for a voyage of discovery to the

Middle East which was last for two years. She was

accompanied by her daughter Hoddy, two sons Tom

and Arthur and their tutor, the Rev David Wood. And

they travelled in style. Arriving in Cairo, Harriet

engaged two boats to sail up the Nile - one for the

boys which had a captain and a crew of seven and one for herself and her daughter which had a cap tain and a crew of ten Arabs.

Harriet Kavanagh is described as a formidable

Victorian lady, markedly low church and gready influenced by the Bible. But she was a good ama

teur artist and, rather surprisingly on this trip, vis

ited a Harem in the company of the wife of the

Greek Consul in Cairo. According to her diary,

One of the chief dancing girls, a notoriously bad

woman, came jumping into the room and in a

most familiar manner embraced the chief ladies

and began romping with the young slaves and, like the jesters of old, she seemed privileged to

make all sorts of impertinent remarks and many broad and not always

delicate jokes.' They visited Luxor, Karnak, Nubia and Thebes before

heading for the Holy Land, Tyre, Sidon and Akaba where 'one Bedouin

sheik offered to build me a large convent (a convent and a large fort are

the only buildings they know of) and always to guard me, if I would remain with him'. She declined.

In the spring of 1849 Harriet decided to send the same boys Tom (22), Arthur (18) and their tutor Rev Wood (26) on another Odyssey which

this time lasted four years. They sailed from Kingstown on 4 June to the

Scandinavian countries and across the Baltic to St Petersburg. Thence to

Moscow and down the Volga to Novrogod, then turning East to

Astrakhan and Baku on the Caspian Sea. Six months after leaving home

they were received in Teheran by the Shah and befriended by Prince

Malichus Mirza who extended the unique privilege to Arthur, who was

ill, of being lodged in the Harem. On then further east to Kurdistan, Mosul and Nineveh from where they voyaged by raft down the Tigris to

Bagdad. Finally they spent a year in India where Tom got tuberculosis and

died. Arthur returned to Ireland in 1853, and following the death of his

elder brother Charles, succeeded to the family estates.

Arthur was a member of the British House of Commons 1866-1880.

In 1855 he married his cousin, Frances Mary Forde and, final surprise,

they had six children. He died in 1889.

8

THE MacMURROUGH KAVANAGHS OF BORRIS HOUSE

John Mulcahy recounts the

remarkable life of Harriet

Kavanaghp Victorian

adventurer and mother of

Arthur MacMorrough

Kavanagh

References The Incredible Mr Kavanagh by Donald McCormick. Art MacMurrough Kavanagh by Sarah Steele, 1891.

History and Antiquities of County Carlow by John Ryan, 1833.

JOHN MULCAHY is Editor of the Irish Arts Review

SUMMER 2009 I IRISH ARTS REVIEW 105

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.88 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 21:36:26 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 6: Borris House, Co Carlow

HERITAGE BORRIS HOUSE, CO CARLOW

'Tudoresque' arches, on which the whole circular ceiling sits. The plaster

work is sensational; its features large and classical, its composition clever,

leaving enough voids to set off the ornament, and the whole ensemble is

both unusual and highly decorative. The capitals sport lion masks above

which giant eagles with outstretched wings occupy the spandrels while

the fringe is unified by an unending series of garlands or festoons (Fig 7). The effect is bold. In each corner of the hall, mahogany doors lead to the

four principal reception rooms - to the south, the compact study with its

beautiful shallow domed, oval ceiling and the drawing room with its dou

ble bow ends and delicately latticed plasterwork ceiling (Fig 10). On the

north side we find the dining room with its screen of ionic columns and

another smaller morning room ? now in use as a kitchen.

As the Morrisons' architecture is often associated with the grandeur of

public buildings, or if it sometimes has a cold formality about it, then

the study and drawing room at Borris show another side. Here there is

intimacy and delicacy. The detail in the joinery of the shutters (Fig 14) and the ceiling plasterwork is refined. The domed fan shaped oval of the

ceiling is fitted to a rectangular space with the flair of John Soane; a shal

low arched bookcase niche faces the chimney breast with its curved cor

ners and a white reeded chimney piece of the early 1800s. A discrete

doorway in the corner leads to a tiny square room or closet in one of the

10

towers, which is also decorated and equipped with its own chimney

piece. The fireplace tiles are an interesting contemporary commission

from Carlow artist Caroline Couchman, showing relief images of the

Borris estate. The sunny drawing room overlooks the parkland on the

south side of the house. The room has matching bow ends, and its

ceiling is ornamented in a pattern of delicate trellis work. Its Georgian

chimney piece was bought from Castleboro in Wexford, prior to the

burning of that house in 1921. A chair rail of acanthus leaf beaded pan

els, and reeded architraves complete the scheme. Across the hall lies the

9 The niches in the corners of the great entrance hall at Borris may once have held statuary

10 The drawing room exhibits delicate lattice work in its ceiling

11 The imposing formality of the dining room is enhanced by the use of scagiola columns

12 The gallery provides a link between the Georgian house and the Morrisons' new staircase

13 Bucrane and garland motifs feature in the plaster frieze of the dining room

lill^^ 11

-----------

111 ̂?^^ ^^^^ ^ ^

HHI^ifllillHIH 12

13

Shutter in the study: highly detailed decorative joinery is the hallmark of the Morrisons' style

106 IRISH ARTS REVIEW I SUMMER 2009

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.88 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 21:36:26 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 7: Borris House, Co Carlow

14

dining room, with its compartmented ceiling and stately ionic columns

(Fig 11). Both here and in the present kitchen the frieze is ornamented

with bucranes - the skulls of oxen, associated with the feasting of the

ancients in classical times (Fig 13).

The Morrisons also added a new staircase by building in the former

open courtyard at the back of the house. Here they created a 'Gothic'

statement, with a great traceried stained glass window of ecclesiastical

dimensions overlooking a broad staircase. The family motto Pax et Copia

(peace and plenty) is incorporated into the window. The Gothic style

fan vaulted plaster ceiling was restored in the 1990s with the help of the

Heritage Council. The stone staircase supporting a heavy cast iron

balustrade (Fig 5), leads to the first floor landing, above which there is a further gallery (Fig 12) on the second floor. To the rear, the house has

two more service stairs, also constructed of stone. Though the present

chapel now stands separated from the house (Fig 16), it was originally

linked by means of a service wing and corridor which led directly to

the gallery where the family sat during service. Like the staircase in the

house, the chapel displays similar 'Tudor-Gothic' rib vaulted plasterwork

THE FATE OF LARGE COUNTRY HOUSES AND THEIR DESMESNES HAS OFTEN BEEN DISCUSSED, BUT WITH NO CLEAR LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS RESULTING

HI iWffl HI

15 (Fig 6). A pair of canopied niches on either side of the altar provides space for a small organ and the pulpit (Fig 15).The chapel is still used

on a regular basis. A pair of striking stained glass windows, by Peter

Young, were added in recent times.

The library in Borris is perhaps the most unexpected room in the

house, being on the first floor and occupying a double height space.

The library is fitted with mahogany bookcases whose doors are glazed

with brass frames in the form of loops and circles. An important col

lection of books, archives and estate maps are housed in the library.

Much conservation work has been carried out on the exterior of Borris

house over the last ten years. For instance, on the south and east fa ades

all of the decorative hood mouldings with their fmial heads of kings and

queens have been painstakingly restored (Fig 3). These were made of a

reddish roman cement and were added as part of the Morrison

Tudorising of the house, but much detail had crumbled due to weather

ing and internal iron supports which had rusted. Much of this repair and

remodelling was carried out by Elinor Kavanagh and Paul Monaghan.

The will to maintain such houses as Borris reached a very low ebb in

the 1940s and 1950s, and many were de-roofed or demolished. At

Borris the wing was lost and the stone cupolas on the corner towers

were removed but the house struggled on until the present generation

started to carry out major repairs to the chimneys and roof in the

1990s. Much of the conservation work done at Borris, including the

reroofing of farm buildings has been carried out with financial support

from the Heritage Council, and more recently from Carlow County

Council. There is little doubt that the availability of such grants, however

small, from the 1980s onwards, encouraged owners to invest in repair

P I Iif 7PIraw

Z4 nv 4

lee R's of, -

Ai 46w

If

work. The fate of large country houses and their desmesnes has often

been discussed, but with no clear long-term solutions resulting. Grants

and tax incentives are important but so is dedication and enthusiasm.

The work is never done and what once occupied dozens

of employees is now attempted by two or three individ

uals. The present good order in which Borris House now

finds itself is a tribute to the Kavanagh family.

Photography by Chris Cray

PETER PEARSON is an artist and art historian.

15 Twin gothic niches house the pulpit and organ in the finely decorated chapel at Borris House

16 The now freestanding chapel at Borris was once connected to the main house by a link building

SUMMER 2009 I IRISH ARTS REVIEW 107

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.88 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 21:36:26 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions