Serious financial and insurance woes are forcing some owners of Irish stately homes to sell up, writes Eileen Battersby.
Imagine being the proud owner of a historic castle surrounded by an impressive moat. And then your insurance company demands that you fill in the moat, lest a visitor drown or injure himself.
Such a demand was put to one Irish castle owner. He considered it bizarre, since across Europe, there are more than 80,000 castles boasting fine moats, all of which are considered tourist attractions.
Such insurance specifications and costs now present a far heavier burden than maintenance to anyone responsible for the preservation of a heritage home in Ireland.
Crippling premiums, as well as hefty death duties, present serious financial problems for owners.
The future of such properties, many of which contribute significantly towards the State's tourism revenue, is currently under review and is the subject of a conservation report commissioned by the Irish Georgian Society. The report will be presented to the Taoiseach on September 6th.
But most owners of big houses await the report with scant optimism, unless insurance is directly addressed. An increased insurance premium played its part in this season's closure of Bantry House in Co Cork, the first Irish great house to open to the public in 1946. This closure was viewed with dismay by other people who have opened their property to the public as a way of part-funding maintenance costs.
Although Bantry House's gardens remain open, the combination of insurance, staff salaries and maintenance, including the gardens, encouraged Egerton Shelswell-White to close the house and have a rethink.
Sale of the house he says, is not a consideration. "We will be open next year and are hoping for a greatly improved tourism season."
Lord Rosse of Birr Castle, Co Offaly, home of the remarkable Parsons family, sees tax exemptions or charitable status as possible solutions. "We are not holding out a paw looking for help. I don't want the State to buy Birr Castle, I want my family to stay here. We have been here since 1620. That's 14 generations. My family has contributed its share to Ireland. Now I'd like the State to recognise the value of that contribution, particularly as to the various collections - be it paintings, furniture, clothes, plants and archive material. Anytime we have been asked to loan anything for an exhibition, we always have."
Mixed opinions were expressed over this week's sale of Lissadell House in Co Sligo, with one lobby urging the State to purchase the house as a national obligation, while other voices suggested that the State purchase of it or other such properties, particularly in the current economic turndown, would be mere indulgence.
Opinion remains divided on the State purchase of Farmleigh, a late Victorian mansion dating from 1881, the attractions of which for the Government lay in its Phoenix Park location. The purchase of Farmleigh never compensated for its neglect of Carton, the family home of Lord Edward Fitzgerald. For others, however, the "Big House" tradition and all it symbolises remains a reminder of a history of oppression.
Exactly how important are the surviving great houses of Ireland, many of which testify to the former glories of Irish architecture? It is less about grandeur and far more about Irish social history. In the case of Lissadell, there was its significance as the childhood home of Constance Gore Booth, and her sister, the poet Eva. An obvious comparison was made with Avondale in Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, the family home and estate of Charles Stewart Parnell, which was placed in the care of the State Forestry in 1904. Restoration under Coillte began in late 1989, and the house re-opened to the public in May 1991.
Following much speculation, Lissadell was sold to a private purchaser. This raises questions of purchase restrictions; is there an ideal purchaser of any historical property? Should it be a national or non-national? Is public or private better? Should such houses be reserved for use as cultural centres or museums instead of the more common conversions to hotels, country guesthouses, function centres and golf courses or, as seen most blatantly this week in the case of Gandon's Abbeville, an extensive housing development?
Many of these properties are situated in parkland settings, the landscape and formal gardens adding a botanical value to their architectural claims.
But, according to Lord Rosse, immense appeal lies in the continuity of family ownership. "Birr Castle on the outside is very important, look at the gardens. We have 130 acres and probably the best plant collection in the world. I'm going to Mongolia to collect more. But it is what Birr Castle has inside that matters. The very things that were in all these houses, and were thrown out, we have kept."
The contents of Birr Castle, amounting to several national collections, have been valued at €30 million, and include furnishings, documents, maps, letters - including correspondence from Edmund Burke to Henry Flood - and books dating from 1620.
Scholars and researchers have access to the papers. But as Lord Rosse points out, much of it is at risk as relentless damp seeps through the walls. All of these houses require sound roofs, and roofs on this scale cost €1 million upwards. The roof of the tower that houses the darkroom of Mary Countess of Rosse is at risk.
Lord Rosse has spent more than 20 years carrying on the work of his parents at Birr. "It's a struggle. We have between 40 and 45,000 visitors - we need about 70,000. But it will all fall apart after my death when the estate is hit by taxes."
His reaction to the sale of Lissadell House is as expected. "It's sad, another house has left the hands of its original family." But is it better to see a great house preserved as a family home or as a museum? Some families have managed to combine the two. Houses such as Tullynally Castle in Co Westmeath have continued to be living homes.
In the event of a state purchase, such as Castletown House in Co Kildare, Ireland's largest and earliest Palladian home, success is possible. However it should be pointed out that Desmond Guinness bought the house on 120 acres in 1967 as the headquarters for the Irish Georgian Society.
Extensive restoration work was carried out throughout the 1970s and 1980s and furniture was also collected and donated. By the time the property was transferred to State care in 1994, it was already showing the signs of an enlightened conservation policy.
However, Castletown, for all its splendour, is now merely a monument. Emo Court in Co Laois is another example of a great house that had been put to other uses and was slowly brought back to its former self. But, as with Castletown, it is no longer a home. This explains the appeal of family homes such as Kilruddery, Co Wicklow, or the magnificent Dunsany Castle in Co Meath.
"The public, particularly the international visitors, like to see families still living in these houses. We can look after the houses, and we don't want handouts, but we do need help," says Lord Rosse. "There's the roof for example. The Heritage Council gave us half the costs, we came up with the other half. That's what the future should be - partnership."