One man's folly is another's work of art. Jane Powers on Ireland's weird and wonderful whimsies
It being April 1st, I can't think of a better day to celebrate the marvellous structures that have been described as "foolish monuments to greatness and great monuments to foolishness".
The description comes from Stuart Barton's out-of-print Monumental Follies and is quoted in James Howley's The Follies and Garden Buildings of Ireland (a fine book that should be required reading for every student of Irish garden architecture).
Ireland's best-known folly is probably the Jealous Wall at Belvedere in Co Westmeath, a 180-foot, three-storey sham ruin built in about 1760 by Robert Rochfort, Lord Belfield. The purpose of this colossal Gothic whimsy was to hide the magnificent new residence of a detested younger brother, which disrupted the vista from Lord Belfield's own recently constructed and rather swanky (but smaller) fishing lodge. Or so the story goes. It could be that he erected the wall simply to screen the stables.
The folly, which had fallen into a romantic and ivy-clad - but perilous - state of disrepair, was completely restored in 1999 by Westmeath County Council. The stables behind have been transformed into a lively visitor centre. The entrance to the demesne is now routed through the stable yard, which is practical, to be sure, but it does dilute the theatrically ominous effect of Ireland's largest sham ruin. To appreciate its drama fully, you must gallop through the stable yard (with your eyes and ears closed to the children's playground and other attractions) and rush around to the front of the ruin. Retreat some distance, if possible, so that the gloomy and jagged-toothed edifice is agreeably framed by trees. Then, you must propel yourself into the correct melancholic mood by heaving a heavy sigh and settling down for some sombre ponderings.
Belvedere offers more fodder for dark musings in the shadow of another striking folly, the Gothic Arch, which dates from the same time. The grotesque, lichen-encrusted structure is made of river-worn limestone and stands forlornly on a hill, gazing mournfully at the shores of Lough Ennell.
Ireland is particularly rich in follies: sham ruins and Gothic fantasies, curious arches and bridges, obelisks and columns, temples and shell houses, hermitages and grottoes, gateways and gate lodges. Some of these eccentric constructions were inspired by buildings seen by the aristocracy on their "grand tours" of Europe. Others came from designs supplied by professionals, such as the astronomer and philosopher Thomas Wright, who devised the Belvedere arch.
The architecture varies widely, from simple rustic to high Palladian to unrestrained Gothic. But the character is always exaggerated or distilled, so that each folly is like an exquisite poem of a building. Some served a purpose: as gate lodges or congenial places to take tea or read a book. Others were used as navigation aids or as "eye catchers", to enhance a view. Still more were built as monuments and mausoleums. And some were built just for the hell of it.
The famous Swiss Cottage in Cahir, for instance, is a fine example of a cottage orné, built in the early 19th century, where its owner, Richard Butler, the first earl of Glengall, could play at being a country bumpkin. In this case, bucolic simplicity included several large rooms with French windows, as well as the latest thing in Parisian wallpaper in the salon. To the modern eye, the long building, with its outsized and undulating thatched roof, bears an unfortunate resemblance to a couple of late-20th-century thatched superpubs near Dublin.
An earlier collection of follies for entertainment exists at the ferme ornée at Larchill, in Co Kildare, an ornamental farm set in a utopian landscape. Dating from the 18th century, a Gothic farmyard offered a picturesque alternative to the mud huts in which animals were usually housed during this period.
The rest of the estate was arranged so that livestock was artfully framed in views that could be admired from various points along a circular route. In the man-made lake, meanwhile, a Greek temple with a Chinoiserie bridge and a small fortress (called Gibraltar), with five turrets and Irish-style battlements and gun ports, was evidence of the wealth and sophistication of Larchill's then owners, newly-rich haberdashers from the Coombe.
Folly building carried on in Ireland over the centuries, with many projects - such as Conolly's spectacular obelisk and stacked arches at Castletown - being created to provide Famine relief.
To quote a definition on the Architectural Heritage Web Pages site (www.heritage.co.uk), "If a building makes you stop, and scratch your head, and ask yourself 'Why?', then unless it is a seat of government there is a good chance that it is a folly."
Today's garden owners continue in this fine tradition of erecting structures with no purpose other than that of delighting visitors. At Corke Lodge, in Bray, Co Wicklow, Alfred Cochrane has created atmospheric Italianate vistas in his two-acre garden, using stone doorcases and windows salvaged from Glendalough House. Jim Reynolds (whose garden is, alas, now closed to the public) furnished his Co Meath garden with a pair of classical pavilions and twin canals in the 1990s. At Ballymaloe cookery school, in Co Cork, a shell house crafted by Blott Kerr-Wilson with thousands of shells, including those of scallops and mussels eaten at the Ballymaloe restaurants, stands at the end of the herbaceous border.
These are just a few of Ireland's glorious monuments to foolishness, idiosyncratic structures guaranteed to put you in a good mood.
If you'd like to read more, try The Follies and Garden Buildings of Ireland by James Howley (Yale, £20)
DIARY DATES Today: Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland spring plant sale and floral art show, Taney Parish Hall, Dundrum (on the Luas green line). Doors 2.30pm. Admission to non-members €5. Today and tomorrow, 10am-5pm: Fifth annual Orchid Fair at the
National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin 9. Orchid displays, plant sales and talks each day, including Orchids for Beginners at 3.30pm on both days. Free