One of the aims of An Óige, the Irish Youth Hostel Association, is "to foster an appreciation of the Irish cultural and historic heritage". I was so pleased and fortunate therefore, as August came to an end, to be invited by Eddie McGrane, vice-president of An Óige, and Fionán de Barra, architect, to see Aughavanagh Barracks in the Wicklow Mountains.
The barracks was one of several formidable fortified buildings constructed across the mountains after the 1798 rebellion to protect the new military road. Initially occupied by soldiers of the British army, it later housed the Royal Irish Constabulary in various numbers until the middle of the 19th century, not only to guard the road but to keep an eye on the behaviour of the local populace. The original stone-shod military way has largely disappeared under a modern tarmacadam road winding its way through the mountains.
A weatherbeaten stone arch standing about a hundred yards off the road protects the entrance gate to the grounds of the barracks and when one enters, the façade of a somewhat grim building, its windows heavily framed in granite, immediately presents itself. The building is a rather plain, three-storey fortified house, connected at one end to a square tower of rough granite. There seems to have been another tower at the other end but only six feet of it remain.
The remaining tower is in poor shape, and seems to have been burned at some stage - ironically enough, as it was meant to be the strong point for the garrison to retreat to if things went bad in an all out attack. And the barracks was built very much with defence in mind, with jutting loopholes for guns everywhere, and what appears to have been a purpose-built ammunition
room in its centre.
Some time in the latter half of the 19th century the building was abandoned by the military and came into the hands of the Parnell family, who were the local landlords. Charles Stuart Parnell was a keen shooting man (it was suggested that he got on better with his setter, "Grouse", than with his colleagues) and loved to spend weekends at Aughavanagh, especially when the partridge season opened in September. Although a rare and declining game bird today, partridge were very plentiful in the 19th century, and walking up birds on the Wicklow Hills was Parnell's way of getting away from it all, even if he was "removed from post offices and suchlike consolations for broken-hearted politicians" (a reference to Katherine O'Shea).
Later, when the pair lived together, as Robert Kee records, Katherine would pack him hams and tongues and rugs to take with him, "and always a new spirit-kettle for tea". This does not say much for the material comforts of Aughavanagh, and indeed there is a certain Spartan atmosphere about the place.
During Parnell's ownership it remained a barracks, and his guests sat around the duty-room fire in their shooting clothes before moving to the big kitchen for a simple meal cooked on a massive cast-iron stove. Later, they retired to a dormitory on the top floor originally used by policemen. If the living standards became too harsh, guests could hike the nine miles or so to the comforts of Avondale.
After Parnell's death some of John Redmond's fellow MPs and colleagues got together
and purchased the lease on Aughavanagh for him - he too loved to shoot and had often been Parnell's guest. For Redmond, Aughavanagh became more than just a shooting lodge. He loved its utter remoteness, and, unlike Parnell, welcomed the fact that it was seven miles from the nearest post office or telegraph station.
During his tenure of over 25 years, some of the offices were converted into a dining-room, a billiard room, a study and a master bedroom. The dormitories were subdivided to provide bedrooms for male or female guests and Aughavanagh became "increasingly and exclusively" Redmond's home in Ireland.
When in 1918 he too departed this life, his son, Captain William Redmond, inherited the old barracks. Aughavanagh's period as a shooting lodge ended when the captain died in 1932.
Later in the 1930s a Mrs Warwick moved into Aughavanagh, but in 1939 lent the building to An Óige. In 1944 the association bought the place for £350, and for the next 54 years ran Aughavanagh as a youth hostel, for much of that time with the aid of Miss Mary Phelan. Thousands of visitors from all over the world have enjoyed a stay there. By 1998, however, the fabric of the building had deteriorated, and An Óige felt that it should close the building until funds could be obtained to renovate it.
Now, in this 75th anniversary year of the founding of An Óige, the association has ambitious plans to bring this historic building back to life. But of course it will need help.
An Óige can be contacted at 61 Mountjoy Street, Dublin 7. Tel: (01) 8304555. E-mail: mailbox@anoige.ie. WebSite: www.irelandyha.org