Almost two centuries ago, a park located some five miles from the centre of Dublin was described as being "truly magnificent". In his book A Tour in Ireland in 1813 and 1814, James Gough wrote of the spot that "Nature has thrown the ground into the most delightful and undulating variety of surfaces; the views of the River Liffey are caught in her most enchanting points; the foreground to which nature has been so lavish is broken in the most picturesque manner by the charming plantations...and the distant prospect closed in the happiest manner by the mountains of Wicklow."
This magical place, still almost unchanged from when Gough visited it, is today the last surviving example of 18th-century landscape close to the capital. It is the Luttrellstown demesne near Castleknock, more than 550 acres where, according to another observer in the 1830s, "Scenery, by nature most beautiful, is improved by art to the highest degree of its capacity, and, without destroying its free and wild character, a variety and richness of vegetation is produced which enchants the eye."
Mrs Delaney
The eye is still enchanted by Luttrelstown, thanks to the careful design of the grounds in which are found not just wonderful groves of mature trees and vegetation, but also such rarities as a mid-18th century man-made lake, a "cold bath" temple dating from the 1740s and a rustic arch constructed shortly afterwards. The ever-curious Mrs Delaney, confidante of Dean Swift and Dr Johnson, dined "very agreeably" in the former structure's antechamber in July 1745.
Were they to return now to Luttrellstown, both Mr Gough and Mrs Delaney would recognise the demesne without difficulty - but for how much longer? The present owners of the estate - a Swiss-based family concern called Primwest - have recently lodged a planning application with Fingal Co Council which, if granted, would fundamentally and irretrievably alter the appearance and character of the place. The £100-million scheme envisages two hotels to be built in the grounds, one accommodating 100 bedrooms and a health centre spa, the other running to 157 bedrooms, 21 conference rooms, plus banqueting, dining and fitness facilities; both these buildings would also require ancillary accommodation and car parking.
Then there are to be an equestrian centre, a 27-hole golf course and new clubhouse and elsewhere in the demesne, eight residential "clusters" featuring 112 units. Old farm buildings are also to be transformed into shops and homes.
Whether, in the present economic climate, the greater Dublin area either needs or can support any more hotels and golf courses is open to question. But this is merely a secondary issue when considering the future of Luttrellstown: of far greater concern is that the importance of this exceptional parkland be appreciated and preserved.
Almost no other 18th-century landscape of this size survives in the State, one of the very few comparable examples being Ballyfin in Co Laois. Carton, Co Kildare, probably the most famous of such demesnes in Ireland, has just been lost to just such a development as is now planned for Luttrellstown. Many of the others which once surrounded Dublin have long since been swept away, usually lost to creeping suburbanisation.
Offers to buy
Luttrellstown's merits have not gone unappreciated by those with the authority to save it from destruction. In the early 1980s, when Luttrellstown was owned by a member of the Guinness family, Dublin County Council - the predecessor of the present local authority - made two offers to buy the estate so it could be freely enjoyed by the local population. Unfortunately, those bids were unsuccessful and in 1983 the place was acquired by Primwest; for the first time, Luttrellstown passed out of Irish hands.
For some 600 years, it had been the home for successive Luttrells and then, at the close of the 18th century, the estate was bought by a Dubliner, Luke White, who began his career selling newspapers on the streets and ended it as a millionaire. His descendants lived there almost until it was bought by one of the Guinnesses.
From White's onwards very little was done to Luttrellstown, so that the park preserved the design it had been given in successive decades from 1740 onwards. Only in the past 18 years has violence been done to that design. An 18-hole golf course was constructed in the eastern section of the estate, although according to one garden historian this entailed no removal of trees or large-scale earthworks and is easily reversible. More worryingly, for the much-publicised David Beckham-Victoria Adams wedding at Luttrellstown in July 1999, the suite of 18th-century rooms attached to the rustic arch were altered to created a temporary "chapel".
Purposeful attention
But these changes are nothing compared with what the owners now have in mind. If the proposed scheme goes ahead, Luttrellstown as it has existed for two centuries and more will disappear, to be replaced by a large-scale commercial concern of the kind already responsible for the loss of so much of our heritage. Landscapes such as those at Luttrellstown are more easily destroyed than created. They are the product of centuries of purposeful attention. Each element in the demesne has been carefully considered and sited in relation to the others; to alter anything is, therefore, to damage irreparably the complete design.
It is only in the past few years that the importance of Ireland's historic gardens and parks has begun to be widely understood, long after most of these places fell into ruin or were deliberately cleared away. The response to the planning application for Luttrellstown presented earlier this month to Fingal County Council will show whether or not we have yet learnt to care for this aspect of our common history.