The light of evening, Lissadell,Great windows open to the south,Two girls in silk kimonos, bothBeautiful, one a gazelle. So wrote W.B. Yeats in one of his best-known poems.
Now the family seat of the Gore-Booths, which he knew so well, is up for sale, with a guide price of €3 million-plus. Not only was Lissadell House in Co Sligo the childhood home of Countess Markievicz, it is also acknowledged as one of the major examples of early 19th century neo-classical architecture in Ireland. And though its limestone walls give the house a grim appearance on rainy days, Yeats captured its almost luminescent quality in the evening sunlight.
Lissadell has had a tortuous history. Though the Gore-Booths were benevolent landlords, most of the land that helped to maintain the house was taken over in the early 20th century and planted with conifers, almost right up to its front door. The family's problems were compounded by one of its heirs being made a ward of court and by reduced financial circumstances. As recently as last year, some €300,000 was raised from the sale of much of the bric-à-brac that gave character to the house, purely to bring in money to maintain it.
As An Taisce noted on Thursday, after the imminent sale of Lissadell was reported in the Property section of this newspaper, "this case once again highlights the need to establish a structure to ensure that nationally-important heritage sites and properties can be acquired or secured in the public interest".
Rightly, it urged the Government to join with local authorities, heritage bodies and private sector interests in an "imaginative partnership" to acquire Lissadell for the nation. After all, as An Taisce pointed out, the house is a heritage landmark as well as being as being a significant cultural tourism attraction in the north-west.
In the 1970s, exactly such an approach was taken to secure Malahide Castle and demesne, in north County Dublin, and it has since become a valuable public amenity. Not long afterwards, the State could have acquired Carton, in Co Kildare, for less than €4 million. But the Government pleaded penury at the time and now two exclusive golf courses have been laid out in its 18th century landscaped demesne and the entire setting will be severely compromised by the construction of a hotel block and numerous "golf villas".
If the Government does not move to acquire Lissadell, a similarly appalling fate may well lie in store for it too.