 |
Search the site:
 |
|
 Castle Coole, County FermanaghThe stone staircase rising from the hall between the library and drawing-room is an adoption of an effective double-fiight form used by Wyatt at Heaton. It leads up to a two-storey bedroom lobby - a distinctly Irish feature that is probably a legacy of Johnson's original plan; lit by an oval oculus it is surrounded at attic level by a colonnade inspired by the interior of the Parthenon and the temple of Poseidon at Paestum. Flanking the lobby is the boudoir which was used by the women of the house for sewing, reading, talking and playing the piano. This is an intimate and particularly attractive room whose original early nineteenth-century wall paper, curtains, draperies and valance have been faithfully reproduced by the National Trust in 1980. Opposite lies the sumptuous state bedroom with its magnificent canopied bed and flame silk hangings supplied by Preston in anticipation of a visit by King George IV in 1821. Closed for over four years, this room is happily once again on public view and is one of the wonders of Castle Coole.The National Trust acquired the house in 1951 and between 1980 and 1991 spent over four million pounds restoring the building and redecorating the interior. Though the present Earl of Belmore and his family still use Castle Coole, their principal residence is an elegant new house sited in the walled garden. It is said that the grey-lag geese, which have been at Castle Coole since 1700, will only go when the Belmores do. Except for some hardship during Hurricane Debbie in 1961, the flock has never shown any desire to leave, and the geese remain a wonderful sight on the lake.
Located just south east of Enniskillen on the main Belfast-Enniskillen Road (A4). < < < Back to the first part of this article From the Appletree Press title: Irish Country Houses.
|
All Material © 1999-2005 Irelandseye.com and contributors
