DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY 
 
 POWERSCOURT. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2014 
 
 https://archive.org/details/descriptionhistoOOpowe 
 
A 
 
 DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 POWERSCOURT. 
 
 BY 
 
 VISCOUNT POWERSCOURT, K.P., P.C. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 MITCHELL AND HUGHES, 140 WARDOUR STREET, W. 
 
 1903. 
 
[l| 1 4O.WARD0-VR. STREET. LONDON W : 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ♦■ 
 
 TO FACE PAGE 
 
 Portrait of the Author ..... Frontispiece. 
 
 Entrance Ball . . . . . . . . . . .11 
 
 „ „ (another view) . . . • . . . . . 12 
 
 Saloon ............. 44 
 
 „ (another view) .......... 45 
 
 Powerscourt House, with Terraces, and Fountain throwing water about 
 
 100 feet high . . . . . . . . . . -77 
 
 Powerscourt Terrace and Fountain. Viscount Powerscourt in fore- 
 ground ............ 78 
 
 Powerscourt, South Front ......... 79 
 
 Chorus Gate . . . . . . . . . .81 
 
 Gate prom Cathedral at Bamberg ....... 81 
 
 Old English Gate .......... 81 
 
 Venetiam Gate . . ' . . . . . . . . .81 
 
 Triton Fountain, with Prince Napoleon's Bronze Statues ... 83 
 
 Great Stag's Head . . . . . - . . . .96 
 
 John, Elector of Saxony's Stag Hunt at Torgau, near Dresden. 
 
 By Lucas Cranach, 1547 . . . • • ... . . 544 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Entrance Hall ............ 3 
 
 The Octagon Library 25 
 
 The Library 26 
 
 Morning Room 28 
 
 Dining Room ............ 32 
 
 Lord Powerscourt's Room or Study 37 
 
 The Principal Stairs .......... 40 
 
 Saloon ............. 44 
 
 Long Room . . • . . . . . . . . .50 
 
 Cedar Room . . 51 
 
 Drawing Room ........... 52 
 
 Small Drawing Room .......... 56 
 
 Lady Powerscourt's Sitting Room ....... 58 
 
 Lady Powerscourt's Bedroom ........ 60 
 
 Lord Powerscourt's Dressing Room ...... 60 
 
 Bed-room Passage 60 
 
 Lobby at foot of White Stairs ....... 62 
 
 Upper or Bed-room Floor . . .. . . . . - . 63 
 
 Alterations to the House, etc. ....... 66 
 
 Upper Floor, East Wing ......... 76 
 
 Front of House ........... 77 
 
 Terraces ............. 77 
 
 The Stag Horns on the Staircase ....... 96 
 
 Demesne, Deer-Park, and Plantations ...... 97 
 
 Public Affairs . . . . 109 
 
 Appendix ............. 131 
 
preface 
 
 BEGAN to compile this Book, giving the History of Powers- 
 court from early times as well as I could ascertain it, in 1900, 
 as I have taken a lifelong interest in the House and its 
 surroundings, having succeeded to it in 1844 at the death of my Father. 
 In consequence of my minority till 1857, and also of my Father's minority 
 and early death, the place had been somewhat neglected, and no steps had 
 been taken to keep it in good condition, — so that I found thrown upon 
 myself the work of restoring and adding to the various buildings, and also 
 of completing and ornamenting the terraces and gardens, which had been 
 commenced by my Father, and left unfinished at his death. The roads 
 also, especially the principal drive to the Deer Park and Waterfall, were in 
 a very unsatisfactory state, and it fell upon me to reconstruct and improve 
 the various avenues, to drain the land, construct bridges, make various 
 alterations, and especially to plant trees (which I have now lived to see 
 grown to a considerable size) through the woods and along the drives. 
 I had also to undertake the entire remodelling of the farm and other 
 buildings, and to re-arrange the house and offices, etc., according to modern 
 requirements. The details of the works which I carried out will be found 
 in the following pages. But as in the History of the Family, called 
 " Wingfield Memorials," which I compiled, there were no details given of 
 the early history of the House, I have now given this, as far as I have been 
 able to ascertain it, in the Preface. 
 
 For three centuries Power scour t has been in the possession of the 
 Wingfield family, the land comprising the estate — described in the ancient 
 deeds of grant as extending five miles in length by four in breadth — having 
 been granted to Sir Richard Wingfield by King James I. in 1609. 
 
 The Wingfields, an ancient Saxon family, celebrated, as Camden says, 
 for their knighthood and nobility, were established at Wingfield Castle in 
 
 b 
 
X 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Suffolk before the Conquest, and Sir Richard appears to have been one of 
 the first to visit Ireland, invited there, no doubt, by his uncle, Sir William 
 Fitzwilliam, ancestor of Earl Fitzwilliam, who was twice (1561, 1588) 
 Lord Deputy of the island. 
 
 Under his command Sir Richard began his distinguished military career, 
 which led to his being appointed Knight-Marshal of Ireland, and receiving 
 a grant of Powerscourt from Queen Elizabeth. This was confirmed to 
 him by James I., who, in addition, bestowed upon him the rank of Viscount, 
 and, besides the Powerscourt estate, granted to him the lands of the Manor 
 of Benburb, co. Tyrone, and the Manor of Wingfield, co. Wexford. 
 These two Manors have been sold by me under the Irish Land Acts of 
 1 88 1 and subsequent Acts. 
 
 Ac his death, leaving no direct heir, the title lapsed, and a cousin 
 inherited his property. Two generations later, in 1665, the title was 
 revived by Charles II., only to become again extinct for a like reason. 
 The Patents of both, as well as the deeds of grant of the lands at both 
 periods, are in the possession of the present owner at Powerscount. 
 
 The estates passed to Edward Wingfield, whose son Richard, M.P. 
 for Boyle, co. Roscommon, was elevated to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron 
 Wingfield of Wingfield, co. Wexford, and Viscount Powerscourt of 
 Powerscourt, co. Wicklow, in 1743, and these honours have descended 
 uninterruptedly to the present day. 
 
 I now revert to the earlier history of Powerscourt. The earliest 
 knowledge we have of the lands of Powerscourt is that they were Church 
 lands, attached to the Bishoprick of Glendalough, which was joined very 
 early to the Archbishoprick of Dublin. Head rent was paid till recently 
 to the Archbishop for a neighbouring estate. 
 
 In an account of the tenants of the See at the end of the reign of 
 Edward II. in Alan's " Blackbook," we read that " the heir of Eustace le 
 Powere holds one carucate of land at Stamelyn (Stagonil), and was 
 accustomed to render for it yearly 2cw. It is now among the Irish." 
 Alan notes that this was in his time commonly called Powerscourt. 
 
 This name points to the fact that the original castle was built by a 
 Power (or Poer), and in Lewis's " Topographical Dictionary " it is stated 
 that one of the invaders of that name married the daughter (niece ?) of 
 Milo de Cogan, a companion of Strongbow. How long the Poers of this 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xi 
 
 early time retained their castle is not known. Archbishop Alan found 
 the O'Tooles, probably the Bishop of Glendalough's early tenants (corbes), 
 back again in possession. But the fact that Eustace, afterwards Viscount 
 Baltinglass, is also called Power (or Pour), suggests that the Powers 
 migrated from Powerscourt, or were driven out to another part of the 
 country. But it is stated in the Calendar of State Papers for 1296, that 
 Eustace le Poer was allowed to have six stags and six hinds in the Royal 
 forest of Powerscourt,* so that the Crown must have asserted some rights 
 over the Bishop's land. The O'Tooles, however, certainly possessed the 
 place during the long period when the Wars of the Roses made the English 
 control of Ireland so weak and inefficient. 
 
 About 1520, Gerald, 9th Earl of Kildare, was encouraged by the King to 
 attack the wild tribes in the mountains (not yet known as the co. Wicklow). 
 He did so, and took the country reaching from the present Bray inland, 
 apparently fortifying Fassaroe and Powerscourt, which he held against them. 
 No doubt he rebuilt and strengthened Powerscourt, which it was the policy 
 of the Irish to destroy, for their warfare, since the introduction of cannon, 
 was not to hold forts, then easily reduced, but to carry on guerilla warfare 
 in the woody and difficult country which they knew so well. 
 
 Hence, when the Fitzgeralds fell into disgrace and were almost 
 extirpated by King Henry VIII., of course their Irish enemies took 
 advantage of their fall, and so we hear that the O'Tooles destroyed the 
 Castle in 1535, and that the Crown employed Mr. Treasurer Brabazon 
 (ancestor of the present Lord Meath) to rebuild it. 
 
 In 1538 King Henry VIII. granted it to Peter Talbot, probably with 
 condition of completing the structure and of keeping it, which that person 
 disliked, for he surrendered it in 1541, and shortly after it was granted to 
 its destroyers, viz., to Terence or Turlough O'Toole. 
 
 This grant of 1541 was part of the policy by which Henry got 
 himself accepted as King by the Irish chieftains. But of course the 
 acceptance of a Patent from the King by Turlough O'Toole also implied 
 that in case of rebellion or treason, his lands would be forfeited to the 
 Crown. 
 
 In the time that succeeded there was ample opportunity for the Crown 
 
 Royal Forest of Glencree. See " Wingfield Memorials." 
 
 b 2 
 
xii 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 to discover such crimes. There were constant raids from the mountains 
 into the County of Dublin ; there were constant wars among the Septs 
 themselves — Kavanaghs, Moores, Tooles — so much so that at one time the 
 O'Kavanagh took and held Powerscourt, from which he was ousted with 
 slaughter by Sir George Stanley. 
 
 There is no evidence that the O'Tooles made it a residence. For 
 when, after the rebellion of Shan O'Neill, in which more of the Irish had 
 sympathized, enquiries began to be made into the conduct of the O'Tooles, 
 Marshal Wingfield, an experienced and distinguished soldier in Ireland, 
 made application to Oueen Elizabeth to grant him Powerscourt on the 
 ground that it was forfeited by the O'Tooles for treasonable conduct. 
 
 The O'Tooles actively resisted this application, and urged that they 
 were lawful heirs of Turlough, and could prove his patent from Henry VIII., 
 though the actual document was lost. But there were two claimants, 
 Phelim, son, and Art, a grandson of Turlough, and their mutual recrimina- 
 tions weakened their case. Phelim was the direct heir, but Art charges 
 him with being a rebel, and rehearses his own services for the Queen 
 against his own countrymen. Here are extracts from his letter : — 
 
 " I do move of your honourable Lordship to be a means unto Her 
 Majesty and the Council that I may have a letter to call my adversaries 
 and them that plead for them before the Lord Deputy and Council Board, 
 and it shall be found that they have neither patents nor that office to shew 
 wherewith Winckfield doth allege that they were found right heirs, but 
 I have a patent to shew ; " and then he goes on to other things about his 
 loyal service to the Queen, his disclosing of the intended rebellion of 
 " FeofFern Acue " [Pheagh McHugh Byrne. See Calendar of State 
 Papers, Ireland, at dates 7 March 1581 and 31 July 1 5 8 1]. Then he 
 goes on : — " If it be an English gent or soldier, if he did sarve he did 
 it for hire. But I sarved simply without profit. He sarved against 
 strangers, but I sarved against my countrymen and kinsmen. If it were 
 an Irishman he sarved to defend his goods and lands from the enemy, but 
 I sarved when my land and all that I had was given from me to my 
 enemies." After further protestations he goes on : — " As for old Winck- 
 field, his servants and my adversaries' servants (I mean the rebels) have 
 [i.e. they have] been very conversant and very friendly together, both before 
 the rebellion and in the rebellion time, and it is to be doubted that Wing- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xui 
 
 field's servants, having the keeping of Her Majesty's store house, being 
 very friendly with Felim O'Toole and FeofFern Acue [Pheagh McHugh] 
 suffered them to have powder and munition, which is perilous. If 
 Winckfield will deny this (if it please your lordship) to grant that I 
 may have a commission to examine witnesses." He goes on to offer to 
 prove the charge. 
 
 In State Papers, Ireland, vol. xcii., No. 83, there is a draft of a 
 grant for giving " Poore's Court " to Arthur. It is not dated or signed. 
 The reason for the grant is in this draft alleged to be that Arthur has 
 proved to a jury that he is the legitimate descendant of Turlough O'Toole 
 to whom Poorscourte was granted by Henry VIII. 
 
 But this draft never was perfected. Other wars and disturbances 
 supervened, and at last Marshal Wingfield succeeded in his long and strong 
 suit for the property. 
 
 The original grant of Peerage was in the following form : — 
 [Pat. 1 6th James I., 4th part, No. lxxxii. P. 412 in Vol. of Patent Rolls.] 
 
 Grant to Rich. Wingfield, Knt., of the dignity of Viscount Powers- 
 court in Wicklow County, to hold of him and his heirs male, in consideration 
 of his services in Ireland while a youth, and afterwards as Capt. in Flanders 
 and as Lt.-Col. in France and Portugal under Sir John Norris, and as Col. 
 in the expedition against Cadiz; likewise afterwards under the same General 
 in Ireland, where he received many wounds, and afterwards as Marshal of 
 the Queen's army, under Ld. Mountjoy at Kinsale, and on the extinction 
 of Tyrone's rebellion, when O'Dogherty had excited an insurrection in 
 Ulster and burnt the new city of Derry, having routed him in a pitched 
 battle, and finally having been a Lord Justice together with the Archbishop 
 of Dublin, in the absence of Arthur Lord Chichester, Lord Deputy.* 
 
 In the Records of the Yeomen of the Guard, Friary Court, 
 St. James's Palace, London, Sir Anthony Wingfield, K.G., uncle of Marshal 
 Sir Richard Wingfield, is mentioned in the State Papers, 15 14, and in the 
 Statutes of Eltham, 1526, as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard. He 
 was again appointed Vice-Chamberlain and Captain of the Guard 9 March 
 1539, and was undoubtedly Captain of the Guard at the death of King 
 
 * Mervyn Edward, 7th Viscount Powerscourt, was appointed Lord Justice in the 
 Viceroyalty of the Earl of Cadogan, K.G., in conjunction with Lord Ashbourne, Lord 
 Chancellor of Ireland. 
 
xiv 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Henry VIII. in 1547. His son, Sir Robert Wingfield, seems to have 
 been also Captain of the Guard between 1547 and 1550. See Pegge's 
 " Curricula," 1 798. 
 
 There is also 19 Feb., 16th year, viz. : — "Grant (for 21 years) after- 
 wards was confirmed to hold for ever (p. 141) the manor of Powerscourt, 
 containing a ruinous castle, divers messuages and tenements, and all lands 
 in Powerscourt [14 townlands follow] and the whole country of Fercullen, 
 5 miles by 4, for the most part mountainy and stony, all which is now 
 waste by the occasion of war, and also of the natural unfertility of the 
 country, being late the estate of Brian and Phelim O'Toole of Powerscourt, 
 deceased, and now devolved upon the Crown, as well by escheat as by 
 forfeiture by them, at rent of £6 Ir., and a fine of 20 marks Ir." 
 
 The present House may have been built by Cassels, who also 
 designed several of the most important public buildings in Dublin, such as 
 the Four Courts, in the eighteenth century, but no evidence remains to 
 verify this conjecture. There are two fronts : one facing north, consisting 
 of a centre and two wings, the former adorned with a pediment supporting 
 the family arms on the tympanum, and on each flank is a circular sweep 
 ending in an obelisk, on which the crest, an eagle with wings displayed, 
 is mounted ; the second, or south front, has a round tower at either 
 end, surmounted by an ogee-shaped cupola in copper. The achievement 
 is that of Richard, first Viscount Powerscourt of the third creation, 
 1743, and of his second wife Dorothea, daughter of Hercules Rowley, 
 Esq., of Summerhill, co. Meath. He was born 1697, married his second 
 wife 1727, died 1 75 1 ; she died 1785. His portrait, by Hunter, at 
 Powerscourt, was purchased by Mervyn Edward, seventh Viscount, at 
 the sale of Sir Charles Compton Domvile's pictures at Santry House, 
 co. Dublin.* The large double portrait of Dorothea, Viscountess Powers- 
 court, and her daughter Isabella, wife of Sir Charles Style, is also at 
 Powerscourt. As there is no coronet over the arms, it is probable that 
 the House was rebuilt by him between the date of his second marriage 
 in 1727 and his being created a Peer in 1743. He was M.P. for Boyle, 
 co. Roscommon, in the Irish Parliament. 
 
 I feel sure that the old Castle was incorporated in the present House, 
 because in the two central rooms, both on the ground and first floors, 
 
 * See page 30. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xv 
 
 the walls are of great thickness, the embrasures of the windows in these 
 two rooms on the south front being some 8 feet deep, whereas those 
 in the other rooms at each end of the House are only of the ordinary 
 depth, some 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet. 
 
 The old Castle also appears to have been only two stories high, and 
 did not include the present round towers, which are of later date. On a 
 wet day, when the walls shew moisture, it is easy to see by the colour of 
 the stone (granite) that the upper or bedroom story is of a different date 
 from the lower portion ; the upper walls are also much lighter in construction. 
 I think also that the Saloon, which faces the north, and the Hall directly 
 under it, must have been originally an open courtyard, which was roofed 
 over when the House was rebuilt in the eighteenth century, and formed 
 into the Hall and over it this fine room, which runs up to the lead roof 
 of the central block. There is an old plan, now framed, with others, and 
 hung up in the East Wing passage, shewing the House in the shape 
 of half the letter H, which confirms my idea of the courtyard, afterwards 
 roofed over ; and the walls on each side of the Entrance .Hall are also of 
 great thickness, 7 or 8 feet thick, and must have been part of the ancient 
 structure. 
 
 I will not pursue this matter further, as all details are given in the 
 pages of this Book. 
 
 I find that the castle referred to on page 36, in the picture by Lucas 
 Cranach, is the Castle of Torgau on the Elbe, between Leipsic and Dresden. 
 It was the residence of John, Elector of Saxony, who is represented in the 
 picture. 
 
 The estates had been also very much extended beyond the original 
 Powerscourt estate by my purchases of the Beresford estate and Luggala, 
 which almost doubled the acreage of the property. (See Appendix.) 
 
 POWERSCOURT. 
 
 May, 1903. 
 
$otoerscourt House anU Bemesne. 
 
 B 
 
n 
 
ENTRANCE HALL. 
 
 HE Entrance Hall is a large apartment 60 ft. by 40, but only 14 ft. 
 high. It has double arcades on each side, decorated with stucco 
 work. The ceiling is divided into square compartments, each 
 division being enclosed in shell work of stucco, the same pattern 
 being continued round the heads of the arches on each side. 
 
 Formerly the ceiling was very much sagged, as the beams supporting 
 the Saloon floor were not strong enough. My father had a design planned 
 by Mallet, the old firm of plumbers in Capel Street, Dublin, for supporting 
 the ceiling, and making it strong and firm, but as he died young this was 
 never carried out. 
 
 In 1 8 7 1 , Mr. James Price, Civil Engineer of Dublin, was at Powers- 
 court, and I called his attention to the sagging of the ceiling, and the 
 depression of the floor of the room over the Hall — the Saloon. He said 
 that he could easily remedy this by placing trough girders under the existing 
 beams, and I arranged with him to do this. 
 
 The old wooden beams were left in situ, trough girders being placed 
 underneath, with cast-iron corbels at each end to support them. The 
 ceiling was then jacked up to make the floor above level. The girders 
 were placed underneath, the ends being inserted in the walls on each side 
 over the arches ; and, as he expressed it, the floor of the Saloon became as 
 stiff as a ship's deck, and capable of carrying any weight. 
 
 The Hall is decorated with a large collection of German and Austrian 
 stags' heads, collected by myself at Frankfort-on-the-Main, Munich, 
 Vienna, Buda-Pesth, and other places. The first heads which I purchased 
 
 b 2 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 came from the castle of Hildesheim, near Hanover. There are hardly 
 any of these now remaining, as I weeded them out to make room for better 
 heads. Some of those on the front of the pillars, and which have 
 papier-mache heads, imitating life, were purchased at Munich, with the 
 assistance of Count Arco Zinneberg, whose collection at his house in the 
 Wittelsbacher Platz, Munich, is one of the finest in the world. Some 
 of them I bought from him, and others he told me of in Munich, in 1863. 
 The two great heads on each side of cabinet at south end of Hall, with 
 turnips in their mouths, and coats of arms beneath, I bought at Munich 
 1 90 1. They have each sixteen points. On the first side pillars, the two 
 opposite each other on black carved heads I bought in 1863 from the 
 widow of an old " Jager " or keeper at Berlin. Baron von KorfF, who 
 married the daughter of Meyerbeer the composer, told me of them, also 
 another with drooping horns, which hangs near them. Two more, opposite 
 each other, on the third pillars, with ancient carved wooden heads and. 
 shields ornamented with carving, I bought 1901 at Munich. These two have 
 twenty points each, " uneven." There is another at north-west end of the 
 Hall, also with ancient carved wooden head, and the Hohenzollern arms 
 carved on the lower part of the shield. This has eighteen points, and 
 between the horns stands a beautifully carved ancient crucifix in wood of 
 sixteenth-century work; this I acquired also at Munich in 1901. One 
 very fine head with twenty points, on an oak shield in the arch on the west 
 side, came from Hungary, and was purchased for me at Vienna by the 
 Hon. Julian Fane, who was then Attache to the British Embassy at Vienna, 
 in 1862. This has the tray antlers forked, which is very uncommon. There 
 is also another head opposite this one, in the archway, which was purchased 
 at the same time. There is also a fine collection of German roebucks' heads 
 on the pillars ; some of these, which have papier-mache heads, were bought 
 by myself at Munich by the advice of Count Arco Zinneberg. There is 
 one red-deer head with ten points, which had been dug up out of a bog in 
 Germany, which I purchased at an exhibition of stags' heads at Cassel 
 in 1889. One very remarkable roebuck's head I got through Count 
 Arco Zinneberg, with a spongy formation of the horns — these are very 
 scarce ; I saw one, somewhat like it, at an exhibition of stags' heads at 
 Vienna, which was valued at £150. There are several heads of twenty 
 points each, and one of twenty-two, another with twenty-four points, and 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 5 
 
 they are remarkable for size, and can hardly be obtained now, because there 
 are so many collectors in Germany who buy them up. 
 
 There is, in one of the arches on the east side of Entrance Hall, a 
 very line specimen of palmation, very rare in a red-deer, with fourteen 
 points, bought at Frankfort in 1886. In the centre arch, east side, are two 
 very large Hungarian heads ; these, with several others which are marked as 
 being bought at Linz in 1899, were obtained for me by a gentleman 
 residing at Linz, a brewer named Steudel. He had a collection of his own 
 of roebuck heads, and when he saw that I was a collector, he kindly bought 
 these for me. There are eight of these altogether, and one of them is the 
 twenty-four pointer. He wrote to me afterwards to say that there were no 
 more of these great heads to be had, as far as he knew, for sale. 
 
 There are also fourteen very fine Irish stags' heads, dug up out of bogs 
 or found in dragging lakes in the West of Ireland. This collection could 
 hardly be matched anywhere. Two of them, very black, were given to me 
 by the late Mr. Edward Cane, of St. Wolstan's, Leixlip, co. Dublin ; one is 
 of twenty-two points, and the other eighteen. Another was found in 1895 
 in a lake near Ballina, co. Mayo, by a man who was dragging a net to 
 fish. This has twenty-two points, and was purchased from Williams, 
 2 Dame Street, Dublin. There I also obtained the rest of the collection, 
 including one of nineteen points, which he said he was going to sell to the 
 Duke of Westminster ; but I said, "No, you are going to sell it to me, 
 and I will not let it go out of the country." Another with nineteen points 
 I got in exchange for two Austrian heads, from Dr. Myles, of Merrion 
 Square, Dublin, in 1900. There is also a head of fourteen points, shot by 
 Roualeyn Gordon-Cumming, the celebrated African hunter, in the Caucasus, 
 and marked with his name. 
 
 From the ceiling of the Hall hang several pendants formed from stags' 
 heads which I collected in Germany. These are found in old German and 
 Bavarian castles and monasteries, and in Austria, and are called " Liister- 
 weibl " or " Hirschgeweih Weibl," which means " Stag-horn Ladies," as 
 they generally represent mermaids, or something similar, and were used as 
 chandeliers in halls of old castles, and even in churches. 
 
 One, perhaps, of the finest of them is a lady with gold head-dress, 
 holding two shields, on one of which is painted a man sowing corn, and a 
 hand out of Heaven holding a watering-pot, watering the crop, with the 
 
6 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 motto in German, Ohne mich kon't ihr nichts thu (" Without Me you can 
 do nothing") ; the other shield shews a bee-hive with the motto, Hoffnung 
 und Fleiss Opfer Go// den Sckweiss (" Hope and Industry devote their 
 Jabour to God"). Another large one has a female figure with black cap, gold 
 and scarlet sleeves, and green skirt, with the coat of arms, on the reverse, 
 of the family to which it belonged. Another has a crowned female figure 
 in red dress with a golden mantle, probably the Virgin Mary, and a coat of 
 arms with a tower. This I bought at Munich in 1900. It belonged to a 
 Baron ; I could not get his name, as he did not wish it to be known that 
 he had sold it. These are sixteenth-century work. There is also one with 
 a pair of elk's horns, probably killed in Germany, also with the arms of 
 some ancient German family. This I bought at Nuremberg. Another small 
 one has a figure of Neptune riding a sea-horse. The two first ones were 
 given to me by my step-father Frederick, fourth Marquis of Londonderry. 
 
 It was from him as an old deer-stalker that I first got the idea of 
 making a collection of stags' heads. He first initiated me into deer- 
 stalking in Scotland in 1856-7, and he had a friend in Switzerland who 
 lived at SchafFhausen, named Mr. Rausch, who assisted him to collect the 
 stags' heads which are now at Mount Stewart, co. Down. I had letters of 
 introduction from him to Mr. Rausch, and went and stayed with him at 
 SchafFhausen. His son purchased for me some other stags' heads. 
 
 Another pendant has a female figure, also with mermaid's tail, holding 
 a shield with a linden or lime-tree, being the arms of the town of Lindau 
 on the Lake of Constance. Another, also with a mermaid, with jewelled 
 crown on her head, the figure being nude, with a coat of arms on a black 
 shield and a sceptre in her right hand. Another, which hangs in the centre — 
 very fine — with a figure of the Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven, with gold 
 crown and red robe bordered with gold, and a dove in her hand, emblematic 
 of the Presentation in the Temple ; on the reverse is a coat of arms, a 
 crowned lion on a bend sable. These three were obtained for me by 
 Mr. Baillie Grohmann at Munich ; they came from some old castles or 
 monasteries in the Bavarian Tyrol. Another with a lady with white coif 
 and gold dress, holding a shield in both hands, with coat of arms. This I 
 bought at Nuremberg in 1899. The horns are small, with seven points, 
 but the carved figure is very fine. Also another, perhaps the most beautiful, 
 of a lady, supposed to be lsabeau or Isabelle of Bavaria, bought at Munich, 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 the arms on the shield being those of Bavaria. She was the daughter of 
 Stephen II., Duke of Bavaria, and married Charles VI., King of France, in 
 1385, died in Paris 1435, anc ^ was Dur i e d in the tombs of the Kings of 
 France at St. Denis. The arms are lozengy of twenty-one pieces in bend 
 argent and azure. The head has eleven points. Another, bought at 
 Partenkirchen in the Bavarian Tyrol in 1901, has a female figure with a 
 green hat and feather, green and red dress, and a ruff round her neck. Her 
 eyes are cast up to heaven, and she holds a golden beaker in her right hand ; 
 with her left hand she supports her white linen apron, which contains loaves 
 of bread. In the place of the usual mermaid's tail is a carved scroll as 
 a finial to the drapery. The horns have fourteen points. It represents a 
 saintly lady of the Bavarian Tyrol, St. Nothburga, who, after resisting the 
 importunities of a Count von Rottenburg, devoted her life to distributing 
 loaves of bread to the poor. There are several other similar pendent 
 chandeliers, some with coats of arms on the reverse, all with fine horns 
 attached, bought by me at Munich in 1900 and 1901. 
 
 These are all ancient, dating from the sixteenth century or earlier. 
 Similar ones are made in Germany in the present day, but the modern ones 
 are not nearly so fine — the carving is of a coarser type, and the horns to 
 which they are attached generally very small. There are several ancient 
 ones in the Germanic Museum at Nuremberg, notably a very fine one with 
 winged dragons, which came from Albert Diirer's house in that town. A 
 copy of this one now hangs in the Hall, carved for me at Nuremberg in 
 1899. Another, which hangs in the centre of the Hall, has a female figure 
 with mermaid's tail, holding a sceptre in each hand, and on the shield the 
 arms of Wurtemberg ; the whole hangs from a crown. This one is of a 
 later date than the others, perhaps of the eighteenth century, and not so 
 well carved. I bought it at Leipsic in 1898. 
 
 Behind the pillars on the east side of the Hall is, among other heads, 
 near the archway leading to the Armoury, a stag's head with twelve points, 
 on a carved wooden head. The history of it hangs in a frame by its side. 
 The stag was killed by Cardinal von Rodt, Prince- Archbishop of Konstanz, 
 7th October, 1765. This head was bought for me near Innspruck by 
 Mr. Baillie Grohmann of Schloss Matzen, Tyrol, in 1895. 
 
 The roebucks' heads between the pillars are quite as remarkable for 
 size as those of the red-deer, in fact no such roe-deer exist now ; they are- 
 
8 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 what they call in Germany " Urbocke " — that is, ancient roebucks — and are 
 very difficult to find now-a-days, as -the German collectors purchase them alb 
 Some of the roebuck heads are- mounted on ancient carved wooden- shields, 
 some with the arms of those who killed them, others with beautiful old 
 carved woodwork ; these are of the sixteenth century, and are marked on 
 the back where they were purchased. There are also several other 
 specimens of the curious spongy formation of the horns, very rare. There 
 is also one of similar spongy formation, of a red-deer, bought at Frankfort. 
 There is a similar one in Count Arco Zinneberg's collection at Munich. 
 One stag's head over the door into the Library is remarkable as having three 
 complete horns. These deformities sometimes occur from injuries, probably, 
 caused by fighting. In the lobbies round the Entrance Hall are many other, 
 heads, all remarkable specimens. In Germany the way they count the points; 
 on a stag's head is, they take the horn which has most points and double it ; 
 for instance, if the horn on one side has nine points and the other perhaps 
 onlv six or seven, thev call it an uneven eighteen. . . . - . . . 
 
 In the same lobby is one very large head with very- long double brow 
 antlers, but no tray antlers. It is mounted upon a papier-mache head, and is 
 perhaps one of the finest in the collection. This was purchased by me at 
 Vienna in 1863, and is, no doubt, a Hungarian head. 
 
 There is in that lobby, near the Morning Room, another head of what 
 they call a " Platte n Hirsch," i.e., a stag with stumpy horns, a malformation 
 which is sometimes found. Also a curious small stag's head with seventeen 
 points, remarkable for having so many points on such a small head ; it has 
 also the rare peculiarity of the brow antler on one side being forked. This 
 was bought for me in the Tyrol by Mr. Baillie Grohmann. Over the door 
 leading to the Morning Room, and opposite, leading to the principal stairs, 
 are two very large Hungarian heads, one with eighteen points, the other 
 with fourteen. These were purchased at Buda-Pesth in 1896 from a Hun- 
 garian gentleman called Czik Gyulai, through the agency of Mr. Greville, 
 the British Consul there. These two heads had been found in a marsh or 
 bog somewhere in Hungary, and are doubtless very ancient. They were in 
 the exhibition of stags' heads and other sporting trophies at Buda-Pesth in 
 1896. There was a large collection there of all the finest heads, both of 
 red-deer and roebucks, killed in Austria and Hungary in the last twenty 
 years. Very few of them were for sale, as- they mostly belonged to the 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 private collections of the great Hungarian magnates, the Szechenyis, 
 Esterhazys, and many others. These two heads were almost the only ones 
 for sale. They were so fine, especially the eighteen-point head, that I 
 asked Mr. Greville, the British Consul, to try and obtain them for me, 
 which, after some bargaining with the owner, he did. He became soon 
 after H.M.'s Consul at Bangkok, Siam. There were also in that exhibition 
 stags' heads from the Austrian Imperial shooting-grounds at Godollo, shot 
 by the Emperor and his guests. The Godollo heads are not so fine as 
 those from the higher parts of the Carpathian Mountains. 
 
 The exhibition was one to celebrate the Millenaire or thousand years' anni- 
 versary of Hungary. There were collected, besides the sporting trophies and 
 an industrial exhibition, the Crown Jewels of Hungary and a most interesting 
 permanent exhibition of antiquities of all kinds of the kingdom of Hungary. 
 
 In i860 I went with a brother officer of mine in the 1st Life Guards, 
 Captain Richard Bateson, on a sporting expedition to India. We started 
 with the object of shooting elephants and bison. Captain Bateson is now 
 (1900) Lieut. -General Bateson, one of the equerries to the Duke of 
 Cambridge, and Deputy-Ranger of Hyde Park, London. 
 
 We arrived in India in November i860, and returned to London in 
 June 1 86 1. We were assisted in our sporting expedition by the advice of 
 Colonel Michael, Conservator of Forests in Mysore, also by Colonel 
 Cuninghame, who was Resident at Bangalore. By him we were passed on 
 to the Resident at Mysore, Major Clerk, who took us about in search of sport, 
 and then left us in a bungalow on the Beelgharungum Hills,, where we stayed 
 for about three months. We shot elephants, bison, sambur deer, wild-boars, 
 bears, etc., besides any number of small game, ducks, snipe, etc. 
 
 In the Hall are the skulls of two elephants which I shot there : one a 
 small one, the other a very large tusker with a single tusk. This elephant 
 had been known in these hills for many years as a dangerous rogue, and was 
 the terror of the natives of that district. He used to come into their fields 
 and eat up all their crops, and nobody dared go near him. Some twelve 
 years before we went there a certain Major Montgomery, who was at the 
 time Resident at Mysore, had shot at this elephant and wounded him in the 
 top of his head. The hole where the bullet hit him may be seen. Major 
 Montgomery was in a " nullah " or hollow, and the elephant charged down 
 upon him and killed his horse and horse-keeper, but he escaped himself. 
 
 c 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 When Bateson and I went to these hills we were told of this great elephant, 
 and the " Shikarees " or native hunters kept saying that they would shew 
 him to us " some day." We used to give them rewards for shewing us the 
 game, it being our business to kill it. We used to give ten rupees when they 
 shewed us an elephant, five for a bison, and so on. Bateson had the good 
 fortune to kill a large tusker before we heard news of this one, so then he 
 said to me, " Now, if we find the big one, it is your turn to have the shot." 
 
 The shikarees told us one day that they thought he was not far off, in 
 fact no doubt they had been tracking him, and as we were sleeping in our 
 tents one night they suddenly woke us up and said, " The big elephant is 
 here." We jumped up and dressed as quickly as we could. When we came 
 out of the tent it was quite dark (about four o'clock in the morning), and 
 we followed them up the hill. We had not gone very far before we saw 
 evident signs of his presence, and then we heard a loud crash. The 
 shikarees turned back to us and pointed, whispering " There he is !" It was 
 the elephant tearing down the branches as he was feeding. I got the rifle 
 ready — a heavy one, carrying a two-and-a-half ounce ball, with six drachms 
 of powder behind it — and seeing the high grass moving where he was, 
 waited for a moment. Suddenly out came his head from the grass ; he 
 was standing broadside to me ; I aimed at the orifice of the ear and fired, 
 and the elephant fell on his head, but he was not dead. I rushed up in front 
 of him as quickly as I could, he trumpeting and trying to get his head off 
 the ground, and then I fired five or six shots into the front of his head — 
 which finished him — with my breech-loading 12-bore gun, with an ounce 
 bullet. Then we gave a great cheer and jumped upon his back, where 
 we sat in triumph ! He had fallen with his legs doubled under him, and 
 Bateson said, "What has become of his tusk?" When we looked we 
 found that in his fall he had buried it in the ground. As he lay in that 
 position, with his shoulder against a tree, by stretching on tip-toe I could 
 just with my hand touch the top of his back. After this we went back to 
 the tents, and sent our men to cut off" his head, as I determined to bring it 
 home. The natives there had nothing but small hatchets, and it took them 
 the whole day to cut his head off, which we then loaded upon an elephant 
 and brought back to the bungalow. We had to return to Mysore shortly 
 after this, but were well satisfied with the trophies which we had secured. 
 
 The elephant, as well as we could measure, stood 10 ft. 2 in. high at 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 the shoulder. Besides his head, I brought one of his fore-feet (which I had 
 preserved) and the end of his tail ; also all the bones that could be collected 
 afterwards were sent home to me. It was impossible to collect them all 
 because the tigers, jackals, and other wild animals dragged them away, but 
 the principal bones were collected — the enormous pelvis, the leg-bones, ribs, 
 and vertebras of the back — and I presented them to the Natural History- 
 Museum in Dublin, except the head and tusk, which I kept. There is a 
 cast of the skull and tusk in the Museum. I also shot several bull bison, 
 the largest of which measured 19 hands high at the shoulder (6 ft. 4 in.). 
 His head and skin are in the Hall. 
 
 In the Entrance Hall also are a good many weapons of various kinds, 
 and suits of armour. Four black demi-suits were brought from Nuremberg 
 by my grandfather, the third Earl of Roden. They were at Tullymore 
 Park, co. Down, and his successor, formerly Colonel Strange Jocelyn, who 
 became fifth Earl of Roden (his nephew, son of Viscount Jocelyn, having 
 been fourth Earl), had thrown them aside in a shed ; and I suggested to him 
 that they were worth preservation, upon which he gave them to me. There 
 are on the pillars a set of back-plates and breastplates, the history of which 
 I do not know, and also two shirts of chain mail ; these were here before my 
 time, as also a number of pikes and halberds, two or three steel maces, and a 
 curious mask called an Armet. There are also two ranseurs, which I bought 
 at Lord Stafford's sale in 1885, and other weapons — pikes, halberds, etc. 
 
 There is also in the Entrance Hall a demi-suit of engraved steel armour 
 which belonged to Alphonso, Duke of Ferrara, who imprisoned Tasso the 
 poet. His fine Milanese rapier or sword with engraved hilt is also with it. 
 These were purchased by Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt, in 1836 in 
 Italy. In one of the arches is a grotesque Japanese bronze figure of a 
 warrior with a prisoner on his back. I purchased this at a sale at Christie's 
 for ^15 — the metal alone is worth more than that. Mr. Cernuschi, a very 
 rich gentleman, who lived in Paris in the Pare Monceau, and had the finest 
 collection of Japanese and Chinese bronzes in the world, had a similar figure, 
 for which he told me he gave a thousand pounds. His was a mounted 
 figure, but of the same character as the one here, so mine was pretty cheap. 
 
 In the Lobby at the foot of the principal staircase is a very fine 
 specimen of the head of an Irish elk, Cervus Megaceros. I bought this 
 in 1859 from a man named Hinchy, who used to dig up these heads in the 
 
 c 2 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 county of Limerick and elsewhere. It is one of the best in existence, and 
 measures i i ft. 2 in. across, and is remarkable for the spoon-like brow 
 antlers. They are better developed than those of any Irish elk's head I 
 have seen, shewing that it probably was a very old animal. Hinchy 
 brought me at the same time the skull of a female of the Irish elk, a very 
 great rarity, because the people who found them did not know what they 
 were and so broke them up. He said that he went with a commission 
 from the Director of the Museum in Dublin specially to find heads of the 
 females or hinds of the Irish elk, and the people said they never found 
 any. An idea struck him, and he asked them " Whether they ever found 
 any horses' heads ?" "Oh yes ! plenty of them, and the 'quarest' horses 
 you ever saw, with no teeth in the lower jaw." These of course were the 
 female Irish elks' heads. This is in the Entrance Hall. Hinchy also brought 
 me the entire skeleton of the large elk whose head I have described, and I 
 had it set up, but it was so large that I had no room for it, so I kept the 
 head and sold the skeleton to Williams in Dame Street, Dublin, who sold it 
 to the Museum at Brussels, supplying another head instead of the one I had 
 kept. This head was found in Lough Gur, in the county of Limerick. It 
 is a curious thing that the heads of the Cervus Megaceros are almost 
 invariably found upside down. This is explained in the following manner : 
 Mr. Williams, the naturalist, of Dame Street, Dublin, says that the bogs 
 were formerly lakes, and the natives used to hunt and kill the elks with 
 bows and arrows — the stone arrow-heads are found also in these bogs. 
 The carcases of the dead elks floated about in the lakes, with the heads and 
 horns hanging down in the water, and in time rotted off and became 
 detached, and sank to the bottom. The lakes have in the course of 
 centuries become gradually filled up with sphagnum, and become bogs, and 
 the heads and horns remain embedded in the peat or marl in the position in 
 which they are now found. The vertebrae and other bones are generally 
 found scattered about in the bog, the carcase having become gradually broken 
 up by the action of the water. This seems to be a very natural explanation, 
 at all events of the heads being so often found in this reversed position. 
 
 In the Small Hall on the east side of the Entrance Hall, called the 
 Armoury, was another Irish elk's head, not so much remarkable for size as 
 for being deformed, the palm of one of the horns being split in an unusual 
 way. This I bought from Williams in Dame Street, Dublin. It is now 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 (1900) in the Servants' Hall. A third one hangs in the Glazed Court. 
 In the .Armoury are three old ancient German stags' heads with carved 
 wooden shields, with inscriptions shewing that they were killed in the years 
 1692, 1694, and 1695 by the Duke or Elector (Churfurst) of the Pfalz. 
 I bought these out of the Hotel Disch at Cologne ; there are some similar 
 ones there still. 
 
 There are several very fine heads also, one with sixteen or seventeen 
 points, killed by a farmer in Bukowina, at the eastern end of the Carpa- 
 thians ; the owner died, and the executors of his will placed seals on the 
 horns to mark it as his property. It was sold to an Austrian officer who 
 got into difficulties, when the gunmaker, Sackreuter, of Frankfort-on-Main, 
 who got me many other fine heads, bought this one for me ; also another 
 head of twenty points ; also a very fine old Austrian head, with " uneven " 
 twenty points, on a carved wooden shield, which I bought at Linz, Upper 
 Austria, from a Mr. Carl Moser, whose grandfather had shot the stag in 
 the eighteenth century. Above it hangs a splendid specimen of a modern 
 Hungarian head with eighteen points, bought at Munich in 1898. I got the 
 heads bought at Munich through a dealer named Plecher in the Isarthor 
 Platz, but he told me (1899) that he could not find any more very 
 fine stags' heads for sale. The fact is, that formerly there were much 
 fewer deer than there are now, and also the stags were allowed to attain 
 greater age than at present. Now, there are so many sportsmen, and the 
 rifles are so much better, that a stag has no chance of living to be old 
 enough to grow one of these great heads. A stag must live to be eighteen 
 or twenty years old, and perhaps longer, to grow a very large head, as has 
 been proved by Sir Douglas Brooke in his park at Colebrooke, co. Fermanagh, 
 and in other places. The same thing is going on in Scotland. Complaints 
 are made of the deterioration of heads, but the fact is, that in the modern 
 deer forests every guest goes out and expects to kill a stag, therefore no 
 stag has a chance of living more than at the most ten or twelve years, and 
 very seldom as long as that, so these great heads will never be seen again. 
 
 In the Armoury are also two demi-suits of armour of pikemen, and 
 several halberds and pikes of various forms from Lord Stafford's collection, 
 and from that of the champion Dymoke, whose family has always held the 
 Championship of England, and from the Londesborough collection. 
 
 There is one pike, marked Hyland, in the Hall, which is also a ranseur. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 These were pikes with curved side-blades for the purpose of cutting the 
 reins of mounted horsemen. This one was found somewhere in the 
 neighbourhood of Powerscourt in 1848, at the time when the Second 
 Rebellion was expected. It was evidently copied from an ancient pike, and 
 Hyland, the manufacturer of these pikes, was either hung or transported: 
 There are also in the Hall several trophies of the Crimean War : Two 
 Russian muskets picked up on the field of Alma by my late brother, the 
 Hon. Maurice Wingfield, who was a lieutenant in the Navy on board Her 
 Majesty's ship " Vengeance," he, with other officers of his ship, having 
 landed after the battle and brought away some trophies. There are also 
 three or four Russian swords, and one Russian infantry helmet, also brought 
 home by him. There is also on one of the pillars a basket-work helmet, 
 covered with black canvas, and with a cockade on the top. This was the 
 helmet of the Madras Sepoys, and I brought it home when I came from 
 India. There are also two helmets of the time of the Battle of Waterloo — 
 1st Life Guards' — one perfect, but of the other only the skull-cap remains, 
 with a bullet-hole through the top of it. There are also several Italian 
 morion helmets, some of which I bought at the sale of the effects of Prince 
 Jerome Napoleon, after the Franco-German War, at Christie and Manson's 
 in London, having been taken out of the Palais Royal in Paris, where he 
 had lived. When the Palace was burnt by the Commune his effects were 
 rescued and sold in London. I bought these and several rapiers, which 
 are in the glass cases in the Staircase Hall of the east wing, at that sale. 
 
 On the backs of the pillars are four German paintings of stags, copies 
 of the engravings by Ridinger, purchased at Munich in 1863. In another 
 of the arches is a bronze statue of a hunter, with a stag, blowing his horn, 
 by Holme Cardwell, signed by him and executed in 1857 for Frederick, 
 Marquis of Londonderry, who gave it to me. In another of the arches is a 
 glass case containing a miniature knight in armour, on horseback, by 
 Mr. Cotterill, the artist who executed models for Messrs. Garrard, silver- 
 smiths, Haymarket, for their silver racing cups. There is a cap-a-pie suit 
 of armour of the time of Henry VII., with a globose breastplate, which 
 I bought from the collection of Baron de Cosson at Christie's. On one of 
 the marble slabs is an ancient torture helmet of great weight, called "Chapeau 
 de fer," which came from the Londesborough collection. This used to be 
 put on the head of the unfortunate victim, who was made to stand in the hot 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 15 
 
 sun with it. There are also two large cases of stuffed birds, mostly British, 
 collected by me when I was a boy ; also a stuffed marten cat, shot in the 
 Deer Park in 1893, and a bee-eater — a rare bird — shot on Ballinastoe Bogs 
 by Mr. Gray don of Toomon, Delgany, in 1894. In the Armoury, on the 
 east side of the Hall, are two ancient German execution swords, also from 
 the Londesborough collection ; also three Swiss two-handed swords, two of 
 them flame-bladed, which are rare, from the same collection, July 1888. 
 
 There are also three ancient Irish blunderbusses, which were used 
 against highwaymen in old times, and were carried in the rumble of the 
 carriage ; one of them is remarkable as having a bayonet. 
 
 In the bookcase stands a complete set of Ordnance Survey Maps of 
 Ireland. There is also an ancient old German Map, in relief, of Central 
 Europe, in a glass case. 
 
 Against one of the pillars is the rammer or cleaning brush of a cannon. 
 My late brother, the Hon. Lewis Wingfield, was serving in Paris as a 
 surgeon during the siege in 1870. He was going through the outskirts 
 of Paris, at Chatillon, and saw an artillery-waggon going along the road ; a 
 German shell exploded close to the waggon, and the waggon, the horses, 
 and the men who were on it were blown to atoms, and nothing was left but 
 this rammer, which he picked up as a memento of the occurrence. 
 
 There are also two Russian rifles, one with bayonet, which were used 
 by the Russians at the siege of Plevna in the Russo-Turkish War in 1877, 
 under General SkobelefF ; these were given to me by Sir Reginald 
 Beauchamp, who brought them from there. 
 
 There is also a case of Indian birds, under a glass shade, shot by me 
 in Mysore in 1860-61. In the Armoury, on the east side of the Hall, and 
 in the small Hall beyond, are several more Hungarian stags' heads, collected 
 by me ; also in the passage leading to the east garden entrance ; also in 
 that passage is a large wooden panel on the wall with about 350 roebucks' 
 heads on it. These all came from the castle of Hildesheim, near Hanover, 
 purchased by me in 1863. 
 
 In the centre, on the south side of the Hall, is an ancient German 
 marquetry cabinet, beautifully inlaid with figures and other designs. The 
 two central panels of the upper part represent Abraham offering up Isaac, 
 and Daniel in the lions' den. This is ancient Nuremberg work, and was 
 brought here by Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt. One or two similar 
 
1 6 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 ones are in the Germanic Museum at Nuremberg. There are also on the 
 walls two ancient German sporting rifles, bought by me at Vienna in 1865 ; 
 they are similar to those which are seen in Ridinger's engravings, used by 
 sportsmen deer-shooting. 
 
 There is another cap-a-pie suit of steel armour between the arches, 
 which was here before my time, with steel greaves on the legs. 
 
 In the Entrance Hall is a large table made of a single plank of a tree 
 called the chumpa or sampage tree, given to me by Major F. Cunningham 
 at Bangalore, Madras, India, in 1861. This tree grows in the southern: 
 forests of India to an enormous size ; I measured one tree of this kind, 
 which was 57 ft. in girth, in the Beelgharungum Hills. The off fore-foot 
 of the big elephant is in the Hall, made into an umbrella-stand. 
 
 There is also an Italian table inlaid with ivory, and four chairs to 
 match, which I brought from St. Moritz, Engadine, Switzerland, made in 
 the north of Italy ; also a stuffed bird of Paradise, in a glass case, given to 
 me in i860 by Dr. Gray, Curator of the Natural History Department of: 
 the British Museum, the author of " Gray's Genera of Birds." 
 
 In the Armoury is an Italian sofa, called cassa-sedia or box-seat, which- 
 came out of some house in Italy. There is also a large brass Dutch wine- 
 cooler which is used for flowers, which I bought at Amsterdam ; also a model 
 of a Turkish caique or boat, such as is used in the Bosphorus. This was 
 brought from Constantinople in 1855 by my brother Maurice Wingfield on 
 his return from the bombardment of Sebastopol, in which he took part. 
 
 Entrance Hall. — The two large sofas covered in red and gilt came 
 from 6 Ely Place, Dublin, which was a Powerscourt dower-house. Isabella, 
 Lady Powerscourt, step-grandmother of Richard, sixth Viscount, lived there. 
 It is now the Valuation Office. All the family pictures which are now at 
 Powerscourt — those of Marshal Wingfield and his wife and others were in 
 that house — had been removed by Dowager Lady Powerscourt sometime in 
 my father's minority and before his marriage. He was determined to recover 
 the pictures, and on an occasion when Isabella, Lady Powerscourt, was absent 
 he went to the house in Ely Place with a van and carried off all the pictures 
 and brought them back to Powerscourt. At the Ely Place house were 
 also most of the family miniatures, but some were in the possession of 
 Mrs. Guise of St. Waleran's, Gorey, niece of Isabella, Viscountess Powers- 
 court. I bought them back from her, and they are now collected together 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 17 
 
 in a glass case which hangs in the large Drawing Room, and are described 
 in the account of the contents of that room further on. 
 
 Reverting to the age of stags, there used to be an idea in Scotland 
 and also in Germany, that stags lived to be a hundred years old, or even 
 more. In a book called " The Lays of the Deer Forest," written by 
 Sobieski Stuart, a descendant of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the 
 Pretender, are given graphic accounts of deer-stalking in Scotland. He 
 mentions an old hind, what he calls a great-grandmother of hinds (sug- 
 gesting that she was at least a hundred years old), watching him when 
 stalking a stag that was in her company. I have also heard sportsmen in 
 Germany speak of stags as having been a hundred years old. 
 
 There are certain well-known facts in natural history which prove this 
 to be impossible, and that no ruminant animal lives to anything like that age. 
 
 The life of a mammal is about three and a half to four times the 
 number of years it takes for the animal to attain maturity. For example : 
 a human being attains maturity at about twenty years, and lives to be 
 seventy to eighty years old. A horse is mature at about five years of 
 age, and lives rarely beyond twenty years. The same rule applies to 
 elephants, which are mature at twenty years or twenty-five, and live eighty 
 to a hundred years. A stag is mature in growth at from five to six years, 
 and lives about twenty years or so. I have had proof of this. The old 
 Wapiti stag, which was in the Zoological Gardens, London, till a few 
 years ago, became so decrepit from age that he could hardly rise up from a 
 lying position. His teeth were all gone, and he was in an evident state of 
 senile decay, and had to be destroyed. I have his last head on the skull 
 which I bought from Mr. Bartlett, the late Curator of the Gardens. The 
 horns are very thick, but at the tops the points are all stumpy and soft, and 
 rounded ; he had not strength to push out the top points. He was 
 eighteen years old, as was well known, as he was born in the Gardens. 
 
 I have several specimens of this among the heads of German or 
 Austrian heads in my collection, where the top points are stumpy and 
 rounded in the same manner, the animal being unable, from age, to push 
 out the vigorous horn which he had grown in his mature strength. 
 
 Malformations are also common in the case of these veterans. A 
 . young stag in his prime, and with good feeding, grows a rough, thick, strong 
 horn with white sharp points ; the veteran has thinner and smoother 
 
 D 
 
i8 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 horns with blunt points. His fighting days are over, and when the teeth 
 go, at about eighteen years or so, he gets thinner and smaller in the body 
 also, and weaker, like an old man, and the horns take curious twists and 
 turns, like those in the Cromarty head, which I possess, and which I am 
 sure was carried by a very old stag past his prime. Now-a-days, with the 
 improvement in rifles, and the greater number of sportsmen both in 
 Scotland and elsewhere, who are sent out by their hosts, and expect to kill 
 a stag nearly every day, it is impossible for deer to attain the age which 
 they used to do ; and of late years, in my searches for fine heads in 
 Germany and Austria, I have been told that the great heads which used 
 to be found and offered for sale can no longer be obtained. For the last 
 few years I have been unable to add to my collection any heads of any 
 considerable weight or size ; therefore I prize those that I have in a special 
 manner, as I could not by any means get together such a collection now. 
 The best collections in Germany, such as those of Count Arco at Munich, 
 and Count Erbach at Erbach, are all composed of heads killed a century 
 or more ago. I believe that in some cases stags have been known to live 
 to thirty or even to forty years — instances have been quoted of stags of 
 such ages — but I have my doubts, and, as a general rule, I am sure their 
 lives are not longer than some twenty to twenty-five years at the most. 
 I should like to see proof of their living more than the time I state. Stags 
 in a park can be brought forward as being quite decrepit at twenty years old. 
 
 In the small room off the Armoury, called the Gun Room, are six 
 Scotch deer heads, mostly shot by me, but there is one over the door of a 
 very curious formation with the brow antlers bent backwards. This head 
 was shot by a poacher in 1844 in Ross-shire, Scotland, in the Forest of 
 Rhidorroch, belonging to the late Hay McKenzie, Esq., of Cromarty, 
 father of the first wife of the third Duke of Sutherland. A shepherd 
 brought in this head because it was such a curiosity, and gave it to him, 
 saying " Hay (in the familiar way used in the Highlands between a chief 
 and his dependents), I bring you this head, killed on your ground." He was 
 a great friend of my step-father Frederick, fourth Marquis of Londonderry, 
 and Mr. Hay McKenzie gave it to him and he presented it to me. It is 
 well known in Scotland and goes by the name of the Cromarty Head. 
 There is a picture of it in the lodge at Rhidorroch, near Ullapool, N.B. 
 There is another head of eleven points, remarkable for its width, 41 in. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 i9 
 
 The stag that bore this head was killed in Lord Lovat's forest of 
 Glenstrathfarar, Inverness-shire, by the late Roualeyn Gordon-Cumming, 
 the celebrated African hunter. I was acquainted with him and also with 
 his brother, the late Sir Alexander Penrose Gordon-Cumming, and I often 
 had conversations with them both about Roualeyn's adventures in Africa 
 and in Scotland. 
 
 I saw this head in his collection at that time, about 1858-59, when he 
 used to exhibit his African and other sporting trophies by the Caledonian 
 Canal at Fort Augustus. 
 
 He was very poor, and used to support himself by this exhibition, 
 where he used to attend in his Highland dress ; and a magnificent figure he 
 was, some 6 ft. 4 in. in height, and a very powerful man, and he used to relate 
 his sporting adventures and explain his collections at a charge of one or 
 two shillings or thereabouts. The steamers plying on the Caledonian 
 Canal between Inverness and Banavie had to stop at Fort Augustus for an 
 hour or more, passing through the locks, and the passengers used to land 
 and visit his exhibition. Passing down the Canal on my way from the 
 Highlands in 1859, I landed with others and was talking to him, and I 
 remarked this fine head, which is 41 in. wide and has eleven points. 
 He said, " If every one had their rights, that head belongs to Lord Lovat, 
 for I shot the stag in his forest." Gordon-Cumming was known in Scotland 
 as a great poacher, and was often after deer where he had no business to be, 
 but few dared to interfere with him. He said that he wanted the head, as 
 it was the widest he had ever seen in Scotland. In those days deer forests 
 were not so strictly preserved as they are now, and on the hills, which were 
 grazed by sheep, stags were shot without any interference by any one ; that 
 was about the year 1845 or 1846. 
 
 Through the kindness of Mr. St. George Littledale, I got the following 
 story of how Gordon-Cumming killed this stag. He had it from a stalker 
 named Colin Campbell, who had it, I believe, from his father. I give it in 
 his own words : — 
 
 " The stag was spotted by the stalker in charge of the beat where the stag had 
 his home, and, as is very often the case when you are keen on a good head, that is 
 often when you do not get him. However, the stalker, after a day or two of 
 unsuccess, was told to keep his ears and eyes open in case Gordon-Cumming, 
 who was in the neighbourhood, might get hold of the head. Some gentleman near 
 
 D 2 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 by died, and the sportsman went to the funeral, giving instructions to his stalker 
 not to go unless he saw that Gordon-dimming went; if so, he might go. 
 Gordon-dimming put on his Highland dress and walked along the road, when 
 he met the stalker, who asked him what he was going to do with a rose he 
 happened to have in his button-hole, at a funeral ? Gordon-dimming replied 
 that when everything was over he would leave him the rose. The stalker got in, 
 shifted his clothes, and proceeded to the funeral. When Gordon-dimming got 
 round the comer he took a circuit route and made for the stag, and in three hours 
 had the head off the stag. The stalker having heard the shot, made for the 
 direction of the sound, where he found the carcass with the rose by its side. 
 
 (Signed) "Colin Campbell.'" 
 
 Roualeyn Gordon-Cumming died in 1866, and I bought the stag's 
 head at the sale of his collection in London, after his death. 
 
 While on the subject of deer-stalking I must relate an incident or two 
 which occurred in my own experience. In 1858 I had a share in Fannich 
 Forest in Ross-shire, which was let to Captain Walsh, afterwards second 
 Lord Ormathwaite, Captain Henry Wyndham, afterwards second Lord 
 Leconfield, and myself, all of the 1st Life Guards. 
 
 The forest had at that time not been long cleared of sheep, and there 
 was not a very heavy stock of deer on the ground. I was walking along 
 the ridge which runs from Corrie Rioch, over Corrie Beg, up to Scouramohr, 
 when I saw a blue hare sitting on the ground, and to my surprise she never 
 moved, and allowed me to take her up in my arms ! I let her go again, and 
 Donald Fraser, the stalker, who was equally astonished, said that there must 
 be an eagle somewhere that had so much frightened the hare. We looked 
 about with our glasses, and sure enough, in the glen below us, we saw a 
 pair of golden eagles sailing about. Donald said that there must be a 
 wounded deer that they were after, and on spying the ground we saw 
 a small stag limping down hill with a broken hind leg. We sat down to 
 watch him, and saw the two eagles swoop past him, one on each side of his 
 head, several times. I said, " What are they doing ?" Donald answered, 
 " They're just picking out his e'es." They were doing this so that when 
 his eyes were blinded they might the more easily despatch him. We saw 
 the two eagles pursue him all down the glen by the riverside till they became 
 lost to view. I have no doubt that they killed the little stag, after having 
 first made him defenceless by picking out his eyes. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 21 
 
 On another occasion, in 1858, I was stalking a stag in Lord 
 Breadalbane's Forest of the Black Mount, and as we were crawling in the 
 heather and getting near the stag, the stalker nudged me and said, " Look 
 at the aigle !■' and there, about fifty yards off, was a splendid golden eagle 
 stalking with long strides in the heather. It was beautiful to see him, as he 
 caught sight of us, simply spread his wings, without flapping them once, 
 rise off the ground and sail majestically away ! I had come down from 
 Fannich, having been invited by Lord Breadalbane (the old Marquis, who 
 was Lord Chamberlain to Her late Majesty) to go to Taymouth on my way 
 South, and he wrote to me to stop at the Forest and have a day's stalking. 
 So I came down by the Caledonian Canal, drove over from Ballachulish, 
 and got to Forest Lodge, Black Mount, late in the evening. Peter 
 Robertson, the head forester, well known to every visitor of that time as 
 one of the best men on the hill in Scotland, though he was a hunchback, 
 met me at the lodge when I arrived, and said, " The Marquis is gone South. 
 You must be up at 5 o'clock in the morning. I will take you to the best beat 
 in the forest." I was up in the dark, and before daylight rode up a path to 
 a ridge called Inverveich, nearly opposite the inn at Inveruran, and heard the 
 stags roaring all round us. I said to Peter, " I have got to be at Taymouth 
 to-night, so we have not much time." So I ordered my carriage to be on 
 the road, so that I might start without going back to the lodge. We stalked 
 down one side of the ridge and I killed two stags, then up to the ridge 
 again and stalked on the other side and got another stag ; up again, and 
 further on stalked again and got two more. Then we saw in a corrie below 
 us a " humble or hummel " stag, that is, a stag with no horns. These are 
 very rare, and we watched him for some time, trying to get near him, but 
 he was master of all the other stags round him, although they had horns, 
 and we saw him chase them all away and remain master of the hinds. But 
 there were so many eyes to see us that we failed in getting a shot, so we 
 went on further, and I got a shot at another stag and killed him, missing 
 however the best stag, and only killing one of the smaller ones. Peter said, 
 " The Marquis will never believe this ; you must take the six heads with you 
 to shew him." It was raining in torrents, but we got down to the carriage, 
 tied the six heads on the back of it, and I got to Taymouth in time for a 
 late dinner. Lord Breadalbane said, " Well ! what have you done ?" I said, 
 " I have had the grandest day's sport I ever had in my life ; I have got six 
 
22 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 stags !" He said, " That is impossible !" I said, " I thought you 
 would not believe it, so I have brought the six heads to shew you !" 
 He was very much surprised and pleased, and the consequence was that I 
 was invited to the Black Mount the following year, and had the satisfaction 
 of killing three stags one day in a big drive, besides several others by 
 stalking. As may be imagined, I shall never forget that as long as I live. 
 
 In this room is the head of my first stag, killed in 1856 — eleven points — 
 at Glenisla in Forfarshire, the property of Lord Airlie, now called Caen- 
 lochan, which forest was taken by my step-father Lord Castlereagh, as he 
 was then. There is a picture of this forest here, in the Library, with my 
 step-father, my mother, myself, and my brother Lewis Wingfield, and the 
 foresters, painted by Charles Grey, R.H.A., in 1855. 
 
 In the staircase hall, beyond the Armoury leading to the east wing, are 
 some more Hungarian stags' heads, also a very fine one with carved wooden 
 head, with ornamental shield ; between the horns is a small ancient crucifix. 
 I bought this head at Munich in August 1900 ; it has sixteen points. This 
 belonged to the same Baron who had the Liisterweibl or chandelier pendant, 
 with the crowned figure of the Virgin Mary and the coat of arms with 
 the tower on a shield. I bought the two together. In this little hall 
 are two glass cabinets containing rapiers, swords, and other curiosities, 
 collected by me and my father, and over the glass case two heads of 
 Ovis poli, the great sheep of the Pamirs of Thibet. These were given 
 to me by the Hon. Charles Ellis. Here are also more helmets, pikes, 
 and halberds, from the Londesborough collection and others. Some of 
 these rapiers are alluded to above as being from the collection of Prince 
 Jerome Napoleon ; the others were bought by me at various sales at 
 Christie's. On the walls are several quaint old inscriptions, one of which 
 I got from an old house near Hamburg in Germany :—Nord un Sud de 
 Welt ist Wiel, Ost un West to Huus ist Best (" North and South the world 
 is wide, East and West the House is best "). Another is a copy of the 
 writing of the Emperor Maximilian on the wall of his room at Schloss 
 Tratzberg, near Innsbruck : — 
 
 Ick leh IVaiss nit Wie Lang, 
 Unci Sturb IVaiss nit Wan, 
 Muess Fahren IVaiss nit JVohin, 
 Mich Wundert das Ich so Froelich Bin. 
 
 I live I know not how long, 
 I die I know not when, 
 Must go I know not whither ; 
 I wonder that I so joyful am." 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 2 3 
 
 Over the hot-water coil at east end is a very remarkable German 
 stag's head of eighteen points, mounted on an ancient carved wooden shield, 
 with figures of sylvan deities on each side, and surmounted with a globe, Azure, 
 semee with stars ; underneath the carved wooden head is the achievement of 
 the former owner, A fleur-de-lis or, quartered gules. This head was given 
 to Mervyn Edward, seventh Viscount Powerscourt, New Year's Day, 1898, 
 by Arthur Rausch, Esq., of Stokarberg, SchafFhausen, Switzerland, after a 
 visit paid him in December 1898. 
 
 Mr. Rausch was the son of an old friend of my step-father's, Lord 
 Londonderry, who brought together for him, in Germany, the ancient 
 stags' heads which still decorate the Hall at Mount Stewart, co. Down. 
 It was the formation of this collection which first imbued me with the idea 
 of doing something like it at Powerscourt when I was a young man. 
 Mr. Rausch, the father, knowing that I was the step-son of his friend, 
 asked me to stay with him at SchafFhausen, and I there made the acquaintance 
 of Mrs. Rausch, who was a great friend also of my grandmother Lady 
 Roden. He took me on a visit to Prince Fiirstenberg at Donaueschingen, 
 a most interesting place, notably because the source of the Danube is in the 
 garden of the Castle there. Old Mr. Rausch insisted on my staying with 
 him some three weeks, and a most agreeable visit it was. His son came 
 ofttimes to London, and we went about there together in 1 8 6 8 . I had not seen 
 young Mr. Rausch till I met him in 1896 at Homburg, where we renewed 
 acquaintance and began again discussions on stags' heads, as I was still 
 collecting these, and we found some at Frankfort together. He asked 
 me to pay him a visit at SchafFhausen, which I did in December 1897, and 
 after my visit he sent me this head as a New Year's present. The history 
 of it, as told me by Mr. Rausch, was that a member of the Guild or 
 Corporation of SchafFhausen of the name of Schalch, in the sixteenth century, 
 probably killed this stag and presented the head, decorated with his arms, 
 to the Guild. There are also in this east hall three other ancient stags' 
 heads, mounted on carved shields, of the sixteenth century. These were 
 purchased at a place called Hall, near Innsbruck, in 1895 by Mr. Baillie- 
 Grohmann for me. I was staying with him at his Castle, Schloss-Matzen, 
 in the valley of the Inn, and we found these three heads, which had come 
 out of some old castle or house in the neighbourhood. These things are 
 now very rare, as they are collected by fanciers in Germany and Austria. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 In the Passage in the East Wing are three coloured prints representing 
 the Chesterfield Hunt Races at Rome. In 1843 m 7 father and Lord 
 Chesterfield were at Rome together, and my father, who was very fond 
 of hunting, said to Lord Chesterfield, " We ought to establish a pack of 
 hounds here." Lord Chesterfield said, " We will ;" and he rang a bell for 
 his head groom, and said to him, " Go to England, and bring a pack of 
 hounds." That was the origin of the Roman hunt, which still exists. My 
 father's companions there were Lord Chesterfield, the Hon. Jack Villiers, 
 brother of Lord Jersey, and Mr. Hubert de Burgh, who used to go by the 
 name of " The Squire." In this Passage are various old plans of the House, 
 Demesne, etc., at Powerscourt, dated 1764, also a collection of deers' 
 heads shot by myself in the Deer Park at Powerscourt. There is also a 
 stuffed wild cat. My uncle, the late Lord Jocelyn, in 1847 was stalking 
 stags at Invercauld, when this wild cat jumped up out of the heather into 
 his face, and he and the keeper between them killed it. There is also a 
 print portrait of old Count Arco Zinneberg, representing him taking the 
 nest of an eagle in the mountains of the Tyrol, with a long description of 
 the whole affair. Also a portrait of the Earl of Cardigan, the hero of the 
 Balaclava Charge — familiarly called " Charge again " — when he was com- 
 manding the troops in Ireland, drawn by Colonel Hope Crealock. There 
 is a large case of stuffed birds, shot by my brother Maurice Wingfield in 
 Canada ; and a marble statue of a little girl with a dog, by Sir Thomas 
 Farrell, President Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts in 1899. 
 
 In the East Bedroom are a collection of water-colour drawings of 
 subjects in Syria ; these were painted for my step-father Frederick, fourth 
 Marquis of Londonderry, when he was Viscount Castlereagh. He went on a 
 tour in the East, taking with him a German painter of the name of Schranz, 
 also a surgeon named Mr. Tardrew. Portraits of the artist, the surgeon, 
 and himself, in Eastern dress, are in the room, painted by Lewis, R.A. ; 
 also a portrait of Prince Hassan of Egypt, and of two dragomen, also by 
 Lewis, R.A. The rest of the pictures are by Mr. Schranz. 
 
 While Lord Castlereagh was going up the Nile in his dahabeah, she 
 ran upon a sand-bank and the boat upset. He was down in the cabin, 
 and Mr. Tardrew, who was on deck, jumped through one of the windows 
 into the cabin, pulled him out, and saved his life. The picture of the 
 boat upset is in the East Dressing Room. Lord Castlereagh, in gratitude to 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 2 5 
 
 Mr. Tardrew, got him made Surgeon of the 2nd Life Guards, which regi- 
 ment at that time was commanded by his father, Field-Marshal the Marquis 
 of Londonderry, the friend and fellow-soldier of the Duke of Wellington. 
 
 In the Dressing Room are views of Invercauld Forest, which he had 
 hired from Mr. Farquharson ; a view of Castle Leod in Ross-shire, which he 
 also hired for deer-stalking purposes ; and a water-colour view of Mount 
 Stewart, his place in co. Down, by Charles Grey, R.H.A. The views of 
 Invercauld were painted by James Giles, R.S.A. There are also two 
 drawings of Mount Stewart House by the late Sir George Hodson, Baronet, 
 a blue water-colour sketch by Gudin, a French painter, and two other 
 water-colour Indian views by the Hon. Charles Hardinge. 
 
 In the Small Hall in the East Wing there are two more stag- 
 horn pendants, also from Bavaria. In the centre hangs a brass lamp, 
 out of an Indian temple in Mysore, brought by me from India. Between 
 the glass cases of arms stands a column, brought by my mother Lady 
 Londonderry from Rome, a Mosaic column such as is used for the paschal 
 candle in the churches there. It is surmounted by a portrait of Mary 
 Somerville, the poetess. Out of the Armoury is a small room, which is 
 used by my sons as their sitting-room. In this room are two broken Irish 
 elks' heads, found at Luggala when that place belonged to the Latouche 
 family. When I bought Luggala from Colonel David Latouche, I brought 
 these heads to Powerscourt in 1859. There are also in this room heads of 
 Indian blackbucks, etc., given to me by friends, also some stags' heads 
 killed in the park here by my sons, and other trophies, engravings, etc. 
 
 THE OCTAGON LIBRARY. 
 
 The Library is a small octagon room, filled with book-cases. On the door 
 leading to the passage are imitation books, one of which is called " The Rape 
 of the Lock ;" another, where the key is, is labelled "Key to Paradise," from a 
 convenience which used to be outside in the passage. In this room there is 
 a book in three volumes containing original water-colour drawings of the 
 King of Saxony's collection of stags' heads at Moritzburg, near Dresden. 
 These stags' heads were killed in the time of Augustus the Strong, Elector 
 of Saxony, in the seventeenth century. They are the largest stags' heads 
 
 E 
 
26 
 
 POWKRSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 known ; there are about three hundred of them altogether in the castle. 
 These drawings were executed for me in 1863 by a painter named Guido 
 Hammer of Dresden. The book comprises the whole collection and is 
 unique. These stags were killed, I believe, in Poland. Augustus " The 
 Strong " was King of Poland as well as Elector of Saxony (see the 
 " Biographie Universelle "). It was he who brought the famous " Madonna 
 del Sisto," by Raphael, to Dresden, and collected also most of the pictures 
 in the gallery there ; built the Zwinger ; and made Dresden one of the most 
 remarkable cities of Europe. He also employed Dinglinger and Jamnitzer, 
 the famous artists in silver and gold, to make the wonderful objects in the 
 collections in the " Green Vaults " at Dresden — cups, tankards, and other 
 plate, and various ornaments made of pearls and other precious stones. 
 
 THE LIBRARY. 
 
 The next room, which is also a Library, used to be the Dining Room, but 
 it was very inconvenient owing to its position at one end of the house, 
 while the Kitchen is at the other. The fire-place has a silver-plated front, 
 not uncommon in old Irish houses. This room and the Morning Room, 
 which is next to it, are supposed to have formed part of the ancient castle — 
 the thickness of the walls, especially at the windows, being very remarkable. 
 The thickness of the walls extends up into the two Drawing Rooms above, 
 and it is supposed that the rooms at each end were added at a later date, 
 after the Wingfields became possessors of Powerscourt (see Preface). 
 In this room are various pictures, some modern, some old : — 
 
 A Portrait of " Prince Maurice of Orange." By MireveLdt. (Bernal 
 Collection, lot 819,) 
 
 A Portrait which has the inscription, "The Beautiful Daughter of the 
 
 Duke of Sonzonio." By CoelLo. (Bernal Collection, lot 898.) 
 Half-length Portrait of a "Dutch General," with cuirass and buff leather robe; 
 
 attributed to Ferdinand Bui. (From the collection of the late Mr. Charles 
 
 Magniac, M.P. ; bought at Christie's.) 
 " First Wife of Philip V." (signed Mt. ft. 1709). By My tens. (From the 
 
 collection of Cte. Carderera ; bought at Christie's 1899.) 
 A beautiful little Picture of " A Guitar Player." By Korner of Munich ■ bought 
 
 there 1899. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 27 
 
 "A Tvro lese Feasant," by Kotschenreiter, and two small heads of an Old Man 
 and an Old Lady, by Kronberger. Bought at Munich 1900. These are 
 remarkable for their fine finish. 
 
 Small water-colour of " Fruit and Flowers." By Ian Van Huysum. 
 
 A small half-length Portrait, said to be of " R. Cosway, R.A.," or of some other 
 painter; beautifully painted. (I bought this from Mr. Toovey, bookseller, 
 Piccadilly.) It is signed very indistinctly, and dated 1738. It is said to 
 represent the painter Hay man when young. 
 
 A Portrait of the "Duchesse de Montpensier." (Bernal Collection, lot 867.) 
 
 Portrait of " Mervyn Edward, seventh Viscount Powerscourt," in Privy 
 Councillor's uniform. By Walter Osborne, 1901. 
 
 Small Portrait Head of my step-father, " Fredk., Viscount Castlereagh," after- 
 wards fourth Marquis of Londonderry, as a boy. By Sir Thomas Lawrence. 
 
 Water-colour Drawing of the "Old Irish House of Lords," which is now 
 the Bank Parlour in the Bank of Ireland. By Miss Carnegie. 
 
 "The Cock." By George Sharp, R.H.A 
 
 Portrait of two dogs belonging to my step-father, Lord Londonderry. 
 
 The large Picture of three horses, the property of my step-father when he was 
 Viscount Castlereagh.* Painted bv Hancock 1841. 
 
 Two water-colour Drawings, equestrian figures after Van&yck, copies of those in the 
 Brignole Palace at Genoa. 
 
 Two Pictures by Charles Grey, R.H.A., one a view in Braemar called "The Snowy 
 Corries of Ben-y-bourd," the other a large Picture called " Merry Days 
 in Glenisla, 1855;" painted for Lord Castlereagh. Containing Portraits of 
 himself lying on the ground, myself sitting on a stone, my mother and my 
 youngest brother Lewis Wingfield, and foresters and keepers belonging to the 
 place, also of Mr. Grey sketching. 
 
 In this room are various objects of art : four Jasper busts of the four 
 Italian poets, Tasso, Ariosto, Petrarch, and Dante ; a curious old ebony box, 
 inlaid with animals in ivory, brought from Nuremberg ; a model of the temple 
 at Paestum in rosso antico ; a sandal-wood box, brought by myself from India 
 in 1 861, beautifully carved with Indian allegorical figures, made at Mysore. 
 
 In this room is also a large table of Louis XlVth style, bought by me 
 from Wright and Mansfield, Bond Street, London, copied from a table in 
 the Palace of Versailles which belonged to Queen Marie Antoinette. The 
 table is made by the celebrated modern French artist Dasson of Paris. 
 
 * In those days he was a great dandy in London society, and went by the name of 
 Young Rapid 5" Lord Westmoreland of that day being "Old Rapid." 
 
28 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 Two bronze lion-dogs on marble bases, made in Paris ; another French 
 bronze group of a nymph and Satyr dancing ; a figure of a boy holding a 
 wine-cup, called " L'Ame de Vin," by a young Dublin sculptor named 
 Hughes ; also a second work of Mr. Hughes, called " Napoli ;" a French 
 bronze of a stag and hounds, which belonged to my step-father Lord 
 Londonderry. There is also a bronze statuette of a Russian hunter fighting 
 with a bear, by a Russian artist named Luberich. I bought it at an exhi- 
 bition of Russian bronzes in London, 1868. 
 
 In this Library (old dining room) a bookstand contains five volumes of 
 water-colour drawings, executed by Mr. Schranz in Syria for Viscount Castle- 
 reagh in 1 841 and 1 842, part of the same series as those in the East Bedroom. 
 
 There is a set of arm-chairs in the Library worked with coats of arms 
 and quarterings of the Wingfield family, by Elizabeth, Viscountess Powers- 
 court, my mother. She did a great deal of tapestry work. The chairs with 
 Londonderry arms in the drawing rooms were also worked by her, as also 
 a sofa in the East Hall, and another in the Morning Room, and the curtains 
 with the Wingfield quarterings in the lobby by the small Drawing Room, and 
 several other pieces of tapestry work, including the large sofa in the Saloon 
 with Egyptian designs. The cartouches worked in this spell the name 
 Powerscourt. This was worked by her on board the yacht " Antelope," my 
 fathers cutter, in 1 836-7. This yacht was the same in which he raced for the 
 Queen's Cup in 1 840, and won it for saving the crew of the yacht " Reindeer," 
 his competitor in the race. (See " Wingfield Memorials," compiled by 
 mvself.) This Cup is preserved and is among the collection of plate. 
 
 MORNING ROOM. 
 
 In the Morning Room are family portraits. Marshal Sir Richard Wingfield, 
 first Viscount Powerscourt — this portrait and that of his wife are by Cornelius 
 Jansen. 
 
 Sir Richard Wingfield, Viscount Powerscourt, Knight-Marshal of 
 Ireland, commenced his distinguished military career under his uncle, the 
 Lord Deputy Sir William Fitzwilliam, in the Civil Wars in Ireland. He 
 was afterwards engaged on the Continent, and returning to Ireland was 
 appointed by Queen Elizabeth, in 1600, Mareschal of that kingdom, which 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 was confirmed to him by James I., and he was at the same time called to 
 His Majesty's Privy Council. In 1 6 1 3 Sir Richard was joined in the 
 Government of Ireland, and again in 1626, having in the interim been 
 elevated to the peerage of that kingdom (19 February, 161 8) by the title of 
 Viscount Powerscourt of Powerscourt and Baron Wingfield. He died without 
 issue in 1634, when the dignity expired and the estates devolved upon his 
 cousin Sir Edward Wingfield, Knight, of Carnew, co. Wicklow, a 
 distinguished soldier under the Earl of Essex, and a person of great influence 
 and power in Ireland,* 
 
 The story goes that Marshal Wingfield returned to Queen Elizabeth 
 to pay his respects after his campaign. The Queen said to him, " Well, 
 Sir Richard, what is to be your reward ?" He bowed, and said, " The 
 scarf which Your Majesty wears will be sufficient reward for me." Upon 
 which the Queen placed the scarf over his shoulder, as may be seen in the 
 picture. Afterwards he was made Viscount Powerscourt by James I., as 
 mentioned above, and given a grant of the lands in the counties of Wicklow, 
 Dublin, Tyrone, and Wexford. 
 
 Between the portraits of the Marshal and his wife hangs that of his 
 uncle Sir Anthony Wingfield, Knight of the Garter, Privy Councillor to 
 King Henry VII., and Comptroller of the Household to King Henry VIII. 
 He was also one of the three executors of Henry the Eighth's will ; his 
 signature is attached to that document. His Garter plate, as well as that 
 of Sir Richard Wingfield, may be seen in the stalls of St. George's Chapel, 
 Windsor Castle. This picture was formerly at the Wingfield family place, 
 Letheringham in Suffolk. 
 
 Horace Walpole, in his letters to Richard Bentley, remarks upon this 
 picture in letter xxviii. The housekeeper at Letheringham, when he went to 
 see the house, shewed him the picture, and said that Sir Anthony had had his 
 fingers cut off for striking somebody in the presence of the King. But as 
 Horace Walpole describes it, he had his thumb tucked into his girdle, and, as 
 he remarks, Henry VIII. was not a man Pour sarreter a ces minuties la, 
 meaning that King Hal would have cut off his head if necessary, not his thumb. 
 Marshal Wingfield had no children, and the title became extinct. It was 
 created for the second time by Charles II. at the Restoration in favour of 
 
 * See Burke's " Peerage." 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 ffolliott Wingfield, but he also died without children, and the title became 
 extinct a second time. There is no portrait of ffblliott Wingfield. 
 Another portrait hanging in this room is that of the first Lord Powerscourt 
 of the third creation, the title having been revived by George I. in 1743 
 in favour of Richard Wingfield, M.P. for Boyle in co. Roscommon. This 
 picture, painted by Hunter, was formerly in the possession of the late Sir 
 Charles Domvile, Bart., at Santry House, co. Dublin. Sir Charles Domvile's 
 effects at Santry were sold, and I purchased this picture at the sale.* The 
 three pictures of Marshal Wingfield and his wife and Sir Anthony Wingfield 
 had frames which were not of the time when the pictures were painted. I 
 exhibited them at the Exhibition of the Royal House of Tudor at the New 
 Gallery, Regent Street, London, in 1890. While the pictures were there 
 I took the opportunity of having them re-framed by Messrs. Dolman, in. 
 frames of the period, designed by them after those in that exhibition. The 
 frame of Sir Anthony Wingfield's portrait is after that of a portrait of Sir 
 Thomas More. I also lent to that exhibition the portrait of Sir Henry 
 Hobart, Chief Justice of Common Pleas, by C. Jansen. and a small portrait 
 by Robert Cecil, first Earl of Salisbury. These two are in the Dining 
 Room. The picture of Sir Anthony Wingfield was purchased in London, 
 at the sale of Mr. Dawson Turner, and given to me by my step-father, 
 Lord Castlereagh, in 1855, before I came of age. 
 
 In this room are also portraits of the second and third Viscounts, and 
 Robert, third Earl of Roden, my grandfather, by Say. Over the door is a 
 portrait of the second Viscount in pastel, in a brown coat. He is said to 
 have planted the beech avenue. Two other pastel portraits over the doors 
 came from Powerscourt House in William Street, Dublin, but it is not known 
 who they represent. They are said to be by Cotes. A small marble 
 statuette, representing myself and my brother Maurice, and my father's 
 dog, was done in Rome in 1843. The bronze figure upon the bookcase 
 represents the Egyptian goddess Pasht, and is said to be as old as the time 
 of Joseph. In the Egyptian campaign my late brother Lewis Wingfield 
 was acting as Special Correspondent for the " Times," accompanying Lord 
 Wolseley and his Staff. After the Battle of Tel-el-Kebir, he said to one of 
 the Staff, " Now I am going to get that bronze cat which belongs to the 
 station-master at Zagazig," a station on the Egyptian Railway. He found 
 
 * See Preface. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 31 
 
 the cat among the ruins of the station, put it under his arm, and rode on 
 with the Staff to Cairo. They kept joking, saying, " That cat is very heavy, 
 you will never carry it to Cairo ;" but he said " I will carry it there, if 1 die 
 for it." When he got there, being very tired, he lay down on the platform 
 of the railway-station and fell fast asleep, with the cat under his head. He 
 wore round his waist a leather belt with a pouch, containing his month's 
 salary from the "Times" (.£60) and his revolver. When he awoke, the 
 revolver and the pouch and the money had disappeared, but the cat was 
 still there ! There are some Cloisonne enamels and vases on the bookcases 
 which I brought from India in 1861, and which had been looted from the 
 Summer Palace at Pekin. The carved oak bookcases in this room were 
 made from a large oak-tree, which stood at the foot of Powerscourt Water- 
 fall, which was blown down. The stump is still there. They were made 
 by Messrs. Fry of Dublin in 1865. In this room is a large casket, carved 
 with figures in ivory all round, and inlaid in green and white ivory, bought 
 at Nuremberg by Frederick, fourth Marquis of Londonderry. This was in 
 my mother's London house, and was brought here by me after her death. 
 
 Under the picture of Marshal Wingfield hangs a small sampler of 
 ancient tapestry, representing Charles II. and his Queen, Catherine of 
 Braganza, and an Esquire, with real hair, probably the hair of the King and 
 Queen, woven into the tapestry. This was given to me by my great-uncle, 
 the Hon. and Rev. William Wingfield, Vicar of Abbeyleix, Queen's County, 
 who supposed it to have been part of the scarf given to Marshal Wingfield, 
 but it could not be that, as it is not of that date. I took it to the British 
 Museum at the time of the Tudor Exhibition, and it was pronounced there 
 certainly to be Charles II. and his Queen. It probably was given to 
 ffblliott Wingfield,' who was created Viscount Powerscourt of the second 
 creation by Charles II. 
 
 The small bronze of the Barberini Fountain at Rome was brought 
 from there by me, and used as a model for the fountain in the lake. There 
 is a small statuette, " Farnese Hercules," at Rome, in verde antico. It was 
 given to me by Mr. John Hogan at his place called Fairy Land, Milltown, 
 co. Dublin. The name of the place has now been changed. The gate is 
 opposite the bridge at Milltown. 
 
 When the fountain was to be erected in the lake, I gave the model to 
 Sir Thomas Farrell, President of the Royal Hibernian Academy, and 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 commissioned him to make the fountain the same size as the original at 
 Rome. We found that the entire fountain, including two large scallop 
 shells under the figure of the Triton, and the dolphins under it, would be 
 too large, so I only had the Triton done, omitting the lower part of the 
 design. This original model in plaster, with the Wingfield arms substituted 
 for the Papal arms, is now in the Science and Art Museum in Dublin. 
 Colonel Plunkett, R.E., Director of the Museum, purchased it from Sir 
 Thomas Farrell in 1899 with my consent. It was made for me at Rome 
 by Mr. Laurence Macdonald, sculptor, whose studio was in the Piazza 
 Barberini, opposite this fountain. 
 
 There is also a small portrait of Sir William Paulet, Marquis of 
 Winchester, with his collar of the Order of the Garter, and wand of office. 
 I bought this in London in 1899, and placed the picture there, as he was 
 probably a friend of Sir Anthony Wingfield, K.G., as they were about 
 the Court at the same period, and must have been Knights of the Garter 
 at the same time. Their white staves of office shew also that they must 
 have been contemporaries as officials of the Court. The picture is attri- 
 buted to Sir Antonio More. 
 
 DINING ROOM. 
 
 The Dining Room was reconstructed by myself, after the plans of Mr. J. 
 Mac vicar Anderson, President of the Institute of Architects in London, 
 who also planned the other alterations to the house. The end of the room 
 where the bow-window is was formerly my mother's bedroom, and the wall 
 ran across between the bow-window and the rest of the room north and south. 
 There was also a cross wall running east and west on the inner side of the 
 space now occupied by the sideboard, which was a passage leading to the 
 servants' offices. The recess now occupied by the sideboard was my 
 mother's bath-room, and where the door is now leading to the serving- 
 room was a window looking into the yard. On the outside of that wall, in 
 the serving-room, I put up a brass plate recording that this wall was the 
 outside wall of the old house, shewing that all buildings west of that were 
 built by myself in 1881-82. Mr. Anderson proposed, when taking out the 
 walls to form the Dining Room, to shew pilasters in the room, and a girder 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 33 
 
 running across the ceiling from north to south, where the cross wall had been, 
 as the depth between the ceiling and the floor above is only 13 inches, and 
 a girder of that depth would not have been strong enough to carry the 
 superstructure. But I said to Mr. Anderson, my object would be to make 
 the room look as if it had always been part of the old house ; and if you put 
 pilasters and a girder, everybody will say, " Oh ! I see what you have done ; 
 you have thrown two rooms into one 1". So I said I would not have the 
 pilasters at all, or the girder across the ceiling. He said, then there is 
 another way of doing it, and that is to carry the weight higher up, and have 
 no apparent support in the Dining Room itself. So he put the girders, 
 which are of 3 or 4 ft. depth, into the wall, between the Boudoir and Lady 
 Powerscourt's Bedroom overhead, above the archways ; and the lower part 
 of the wall, between the rooms over the Dining Room, is hung from these 
 girders by iron bars. So that I got what I wanted in the Dining Room, which 
 was a ceiling that shewed no appearance of any alteration of the old house. 
 
 The chimney-piece is of red Verona marble. When I was constructing 
 this room I wanted a fine chimney-piece for it ; and the late Mr. George 
 Cavendish-Bentinck, M.P., the well-known connoisseur in Italian art, said, 
 "You had better go to Sinclair's in Wardour Street, and buy his fine 
 chimney-piece which came out of some palace at Venice," which I did. 
 The fire-place was designed by Messrs. Feetham and Co., of Soho Square, 
 London, for the great Exhibition in Paris in 1867, and being very large, was 
 almost unsaleable. I thought it would just suit this room, and I bought it for 
 about half its cost. The two very rare Oriental alabaster columns, on each 
 side of the sideboard recess, I bought at Christie's, they having come out 
 of a church in Italy. Over the sideboard is a most curious picture painted 
 on marble, with a frame in rococo style, representing the Israelites crossing the 
 Jordan to take Jericho. In it may be seen the priests carrying the Ark, 
 Joshua leading the Israelitish host, and curiously enough, the Pagan God 
 of the Jordan holding back the water with his hand. The face of the 
 priest in front, bearing the Ark, has some resemblance to the ordinary 
 representations of our Saviour, and it has been suggested that this may have 
 been painted so, designedly perhaps, to represent a type of Jesus Christ bearing 
 the sins of the whole world. The frame, which is most remarkable, is 
 composed of jasper silver-gilt, coral, and agates of various kinds. The arms 
 in silver-gilt. at the top are those of Pope Benedict XIV. (Lambertini), with 
 
 F 
 
34 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 the Papal Tiara. It was presented by Leopold, Emperor of Austria, 
 to the Pope. My father Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt, purchased 
 it at Rome about the year 1 840. It is enclosed in a glass case to prevent 
 it suffering damage. Archbishop Walsh was looking at it one day with 
 great interest, on the occasion when I entertained him and the Papal 
 Nuncio Monsignor Persico, at the time when he visited Ireland. I asked 
 him how such a work as that could have ever come out of the Vatican, 
 and he said that he supposed the Pope must have left it to one of his 
 relations, who probably sold it. The sideboard, elaborately carved with 
 rams' horns at the corners, and classical subjects, was carved by my great- 
 grandfather Richard, fourth Viscount Powerscourt. The marble wine- 
 cooler underneath came from the collection of the Dowager Lady 
 Carrington, when the effects were sold shortly before Carrington House, 
 Whitehall, London, was pulled down. The Italian clock, with porphyry 
 columns and pavement of squares of porphyry and verde antico marbles, 
 standing on the other sideboard, came also from the same collection. 
 The sideboard on which it stands came from Hamilton Palace. I bought 
 it at the Duke of Hamilton's sale at Christie's (lot 652). Three 
 ebony and ormolu stands, inlaid with Florentine pietra dura work, 
 also came from Hamilton Palace at the same time (lots 193, 194, 195).* 
 The two colossal busts of a Roman Emperor and Empress on these 
 stands came from the collection of Mr. Coleman of Stoke Park, Slough, 
 near Windsor ; also the two with coloured marble drapery, which stand on 
 the chimney-piece. The bust on the third pietra dura stand came from 
 the collection of the Dowager Lady Caledon. I bought all these at 
 Christie's. 
 
 The mahogany sideboard with the lion's head and carved oak-leaves I 
 bought from Mrs. Brady in Liffey Street. I was looking at it and admiring 
 it, and I offered her less than the price she put upon it, and she said " Oh ! 
 now you had better take it ; you will never see another like it, and the General 
 will be here directly and he will have it soon enough " — the General being 
 the late General Charles Crawford Frazer, V.C., at the time commanding 
 the troops in Dublin. The fine Oriental screen was here before my time, 
 and I do not know its history. 
 
 * See Catalogue of the Hamilton Palace Sale, June and July, 1882. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 Over the mantelpiece is a portrait of two Spanish or Dutch princesses, 
 painted by Duchatel. This belonged to Lord Castlereagh my step-father, 
 and was bought at the Bernal sale, 1855 (lot 869). The wall is hung with 
 historical portraits — •" Mary, Infanta of Spain, as Saint Catherine," by 
 Coello ; " Wriothesley, Lord Southampton," to whom Shakespeare dedicated 
 his sonnets. The latter was bought by my step-father Frederick, fourth 
 Marquis of Londonderry, from the Bernal Collection (lot 953). In the 
 centre " Queen Elizabeth," by Zuccaro. This picture I bought in 1895 at 
 the sale of pictures of Sir Hugh Hume Campbell, Bart., at Christie and 
 Manson's. The next picture is that of the " Earl of Essex, Lord Deputy 
 of Ireland," also by Zuccaro. He wears very tight stays, and the Order of 
 the Garter hung from his neck, and in his right hand his staff as Earl 
 Marshal. This picture I purchased in the Tudor Exhibition, 1890. 
 Next to the portrait of Essex hangs one of " Donna Juana de la Salinas, 
 Senora de la Revilla," by Sanchez Coello, bought at Christie's, 1899, 
 from the collection of Count Carderera. "Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter 
 of James I.," by Mytens (Bernal Collection, 1855, lot 831). Portrait 
 of " Sir Henry Hobart, Lord Chief Justice of England, 16 13," by Cornelius 
 Jansen. This picture belonged to Mr. Coleman, formerly owner of Stoke 
 Park, Slough, near Windsor. Mr. Coleman's things were sold after his 
 death, at Christie's, and this picture was put up there under the name of 
 " Lord Chief Justice Coke," my wife's ancestor. I naturally took an interest 
 in the picture, but I doubted if it was a portrait of Coke or not, as it did 
 not resemble other portraits of him. I asked Sir Charles Robinson what he 
 thought, and he said " Oh yes ! it certainly is Coke," and still I doubted. 
 (Sir Charles Robinson was Keeper of the Queen's pictures.) Mr. Woods 
 of Christie's said, " You should inquire of Mr. Graves of Pall Mall ; he is 
 the best authority upon old portraits that I know." I asked Mr. Graves 
 to go and look at the picture and tell me what he thought. He returned 
 saying " that it certainly was not Coke, but he could not at the moment 
 tell me who it was." The picture was to be sold in two days, so there was 
 not much time for inquiry. Therefore he looked up his extraordinary 
 collection of portrait engravings and brought out a small print, which now 
 hangs under the picture, proving without doubt that it represented Sir 
 Henry Hobart, Lord Chief Justice of England. Portrait of " Jane, Mar- 
 chioness of Winchester," by Mark Gheeraedts. Other small portraits are 
 
36 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 " Lord Darnley," " Antoine, King of Navarre," " Cecil, Earl of Salisbury " 
 of the time of Oueen Elizabeth, who was the subject of an epigram by Sir 
 Anthony Wingfield, who called him the Non-Contented Peer, a pun upon 
 the words as used by Peers voting. Another small portrait of Prince 
 Charles Edward Stuart, the young Pretender, and a portrait of a gentleman 
 named " Neukomm of Nuremberg." Portrait of Philip, son of Charles V., 
 1549, from Lord Stafford's Collection at Stafford Castle. A small head- 
 portrait of King James I. A small head-portrait of the Duke of Alva, 
 from Lord Cowley's sale. Next the fire-place is a large picture by Lucas 
 Cranach, dated 1547, representing Johann der Grossmiithige, Elector of 
 Saxony, who was Luther's friend and protector, entertaining his friends at a 
 stag-hunt. Some of the personages are unknown. The figure on the left 
 with two attendants represents the Emperor Charles V., and the ladies 
 shooting with cross-bows are the Empress Isabella, wife of Charles V., and 
 the Electress. The castle in the distance was said to be the Castle of Wit- 
 tenberg, but it is some castle on the Danube, as evidenced by the corn-mill 
 boats which are still in use on that river at the present day. This picture 
 belonged to Lord Breadalbane, and I bought it at Christie's 5 June, 
 1886. 
 
 In the Dining Room stands a large black jack which formerly 
 belonged to Oliver Cromwell. It bears the inscription, " Oliver Cromwell, 
 Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1653 on front, and 
 it has a silver-plate with the arms of the Commonwealth. 
 
 When General Lord de Ros was Constable of the Tower of London, 
 he was told that there were some things in the Tower which were rubbish, 
 and should be sold. It is to be supposed that he never looked at the things, 
 because among them were seven black jacks, of which this one was 
 the largest. The Hon. Leopold Agar Ellis told me that these things were 
 to be seen at a shop next to the Burlington Arcade — a silversmith's. 
 I went there and secured this one. The next day I thought I would go 
 and get another, but they were all sold. 
 
 The two mahogany consoles, with black and white marble slabs, were 
 formerly in the Saloon, and I moved them down into the Dining Room. 
 
 The old French clock was purchased by Frederick, fourth Marquis 
 of Londonderry, in Paris. On half columns are two rosso antico figures 
 of male and female Roman peasants with drapery in Oriental jasper, with a 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 coat of arms on the front of some Italian family. I bought these at 
 Christie's, from the collection of Sir William Drake, F.S.A., 30 June, 
 1891. 
 
 There are also two small portraits of Catherine Alexiewna, Empress 
 of Russia, and one, said to be the Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon I. 
 These came from the collection of Count de Carderera in Spain. 
 
 The ceiling was executed after an Adams' design by Messrs. Jackson 
 of Rathbone Place, London. 
 
 I had an amusing controversy with Mr. Anderson, the architect, when 
 planning the Dining Room. He said, " It is a large room, 42 ft. by 30, 
 and is not the proper height for a room of that size, being only 13 ft. high. 
 It should be 1 6 or 1 8 ft. high. I propose to lower the floor, and have four 
 steps down into the room at the door leading from the Serving Room, 
 and also at the door leading from the Morning Room." I said, " But just 
 imagine the servants coming in with the dinner, and tumbling headlong 
 down the steps and upsetting the soup, and also breaking all the crockery .; 
 and also imagine my guests, who may have had too much claret, tumbling 
 up the steps on leaving the room ! No !" I said, " give me a low room, 
 although it may not be artistically correct, and let us save the china, and 
 also the equilibrium of my friends !" 
 
 LORD POWERSCOURT'S ROOM OR STUDY. 
 
 Over the door an old picture of " Dublin Bay from Mount Merrion," 
 painted by Ashford, first President of the Royal Hibernian Academy. 
 Large picture by Daniel Roberts of " Tinnehinch," shewing the Powers- 
 court Mountains and the old inn that was there before Tinnehinch was, 
 granted to Mr. Grattan the Statesman. A lease was granted to Mr. Grattan 
 for ever by Richard, fourth Viscount Powerscourt. The inn has now been 
 pulled down, but the present house stands near its site. This picture 
 belonged to the Rev. James Healy, Parish Priest of Little Bray, the 
 celebrated wit, who was a great friend of mine. When Father Healy was 
 promoted from Little Bray to Ballybrack ■ I met him at Bray Station, and 
 
38 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 said to him, " Now that you are moving your things, what are you going 
 to do with that picture in your dining-room ? As you know, it has an 
 interest for me, as it represents Powerscourt Mountains." I said, "If ever 
 you wish to part with it, kindly let me know, and I will give you whatever 
 you think it is worth." I said no more at the time, but we went into 
 Dublin in the train ; arid as we went along he said, " Do you know how 
 much I gave for that picture ? " and I said " No, I have not any idea." 
 " Well, it was given to me as a present. I gave nothing for it, but if you 
 like to give me three dozen of champagne you shall have it." I sent him 
 the champagne ; and then I said, " My dear Father Healy, you have made a 
 bad bargain, because you or your friends will drink the champagne and you 
 will have nothing, whereas I shall have the picture." He said, " Oh ! it will 
 last my time." A month after that time, to our great regret, he was dead, 
 having shortly before returned from Carlsbad, and not having taken sufficient 
 care of himself after his return. 
 
 On each side of this picture hang two pictures of " Flemish Horses," 
 bought by me at Munich in 1863 from an artist who had them in his house 
 there. These were painted by John George de Hamilton about the end of 
 the seventeenth century. Copies of them exist in the Dresden Gallery. 
 The frames are old Irish ones which I bought in Dublin. A picture by 
 Joseph Wolf, the celebrated animal painter, representing " Wapiti Deer at 
 Powerscourt." This was painted for me in 1859. The deer were in an 
 enclosure in Powerscourt Demesne, in what is called " The Racecourse," 
 but they became so dangerous that I was obliged to get rid of them. I 
 sold them to Victor Emanuel, King of Italy. Over the chimney-piece 
 is a portrait of "Julia, Viscountess Powerscourt," my wife, by Weigall. 
 Another picture is by Mr. James Brenan, R.H.A., " A Committee of 
 Inspection in co. Cork," representing an old man and old woman examining 
 the stockings woven by an old weaver, who sits at the loom in the back- 
 ground. 
 
 Between the windows is the Patent of Peerage of Marshal Sir Richard 
 Wingfield, first Viscount Powerscourt, with the portrait of James I., and 
 the arms and quarterings of Sir Richard Wingfield on the back. Below 
 this is the scene where Sir Richard Wingfield is receiving the keys of a 
 fortress from those who surrendered it, probably the Castle of Benburb in 
 co. Tyrone. The Great Seal hangs below. Above hangs a picture of a 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 codfish and oyster, " Inseparables," by George Sharp. Over the green door 
 is a portrait of my brougham horse when I was in the ist Life Guards. I 
 called him " Nitre," because he was so much out at night. It was painted 
 by Alfred Corbould. A picture of " Saint Jerome with his Lion," brought 
 by Richard, sixth Viscount, from Italy, said to be a copy by Titian, after 
 Albert Durer. Under it hangs a sketch of my son, " Mervyn Richard 
 Wingfield," by H. J. Thaddeus. A picture of my old regiment, the 
 " ist Life Guards," painted by Alfred Corbould, 1859. The figure in the 
 left-hand corner is myself ; on a chestnut horse, in the background, Colonel 
 Hon. James Macdonald, Aide-de-camp to the Duke of Cambridge ; 
 behind, in the distance, Colonel Cotton, A.D.C. ; the Duke of Cambridge 
 inspecting the regiment ; Colonel Parker with his back to you. The three 
 officers in front of the regiment are — Right Troop, Captain de Winton ; 
 Squadron Leader, Captain Earl of Mount Charles ; Left Troop Leader, 
 R. Myddleton Biddulph. Mr. Corbould, when he was painting this picture, 
 said, " I mean to have a portrait of myself in the picture ;" and I said, " If 
 you do, where will you put your own portrait ?" He said, " Look in the 
 Colonel's cuirass and you will see me reflected." In it you can see the 
 painter with his palette and easel. Below this hang two more pictures by 
 him of my two chargers, " Buffalo " and " Lazybones." In the centre a 
 " Fruit Piece," by Van Os. Underneath, two small pictures by Charles 
 Grey, R.H.A., " The Stalker's Toil " and " The Stalker's Rest." In the 
 latter is seen the light of the house to which the stalker is returning. In 
 the corner by the window four sketches, made for the picture of the " ist 
 Life Guards," by Alfred Corbould, at Knightsbridge Barracks, London. 
 Underneath, a small picture by Charles Grey, called " Looking Out," 
 representing myself deer-stalking in Scotland. Picture by Wright of Derby 
 of the subject he was so fond of, " A boy holding a bladder with a candle 
 shining through it." 
 
 The escritoire was bought by me at a shop in the Waterloo Road — 
 Johnson's — about 1868. He had two of them, and he said he had sold the 
 other one to " Hearl Granville." 
 
 The tortoise-shell buhl mirror over the mantelpiece was bought by me 
 in London in 1853. By it hangs a small copy on glass of the monument 
 of Sir Anthony Wingfield in Letheringham Church, Suffolk. He was killed 
 at the Battle of Flodden Field. There is a small brass, now the property of 
 
4° 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 Mr. Wingfield of Tickencote, which came into the possession of General 
 Wingfield, bearing the following inscription : — 
 
 " At Flodden field did bravely fight and dye, 
 Of Wingfield's sonnes the famed Sir Anthony, 
 But dethe he counted mickle gain sith he 
 Over ye Scot did gain ye victorye." 
 
 (Killed at Flodden field 9 September, 15 13.) 
 
 On the escritoire are a pair of old French candlesticks, the stems of which 
 are vernis martin. 
 
 THE PRINCIPAL STAIRS. 
 
 Under the stairs is a large glass case containing Eastern arms and other 
 curiosities — scimitars, swords, battle-axes, and a suit of chain-mail armour 
 with steel gauntlets, breast-plates damascened in gold ; various daggers, 
 some of them set with turquoises and other precious stones ; several 
 Turkish pipes. These belonged to Frederick, fourth Marquis of London- 
 derry, who got them on his tour in the East in 1 841-2. There is also a 
 silver yataghan or Turkish sword, the hilt and scabbard of solid silver. He 
 used to keep this always in his bedroom, remembering the way in which 
 Lord William Russell was murdered by his valet Courvoisier as he slept 
 unarmed in his bedroom. Also a case containing a yataghan, pistok 
 cartridge-box, and ramrod of Turkish make, brought from Constantinople 
 by Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt. Also two beautiful Japanese 
 officers' swords, brought from Japan by my brother Lewis Wingfield. 
 A curious ivory walking-stick made of an African elephant's tusk, said to 
 have belonged to King Henry VIII., with his crown and cipher on it. 
 This, and also a black ebony cabinet which stands under the Irish elk's head, 
 belonged to the late John Lorraine Baldwin, the celebrated whist-player. 
 I bought it at his sale at Aucuba Lodge, Regent's Park, 1858. On the 
 top of this stand three small bronze statuettes by Mr. Cotterill, representing 
 each an officer of the Life Guards- — the first at the date when the regiment 
 -was formed in the time of Charles II. in 1661, after the Restoration ; an 
 officer of the time of George I., 1742 ; the third an officer in 1855. These 
 were models for the base of a silver candelabrum presented to General John 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 41 
 
 Hall on his leaving the 1st Life Guards, which he commanded in 1855, by 
 the officers of the regiment. I bought these models from Messrs. Garrard, 
 silversmiths, of the Haymarket. 
 
 At the base of the stairs hangs a standard of the 1st Life Guards, 
 bought by me from the Adjutant in 1859, when a set of them were cast 
 and replaced by new standards. 
 
 South Wall. — In the centre large picture, by Sir Francis Grant, R.A., 
 of Elizabeth, Viscountess Powerscourt, Frances, Countess Gainsborough, and 
 her sister, and myself as a boy, painted in 1838. On each side of this hang 
 portraits of Sir Henry King and Isabella, Lady King. Below, the portrait 
 of Earl of Orrery (father of Lady Elizabeth Boyle, wife of ffolliott, first 
 Viscount Powerscourt of second creation, 22 February, 1665). Robert, 
 Viscount Jocelyn,* Lord Chancellor of Ireland, by Slaughter, President of 
 the Hibernian Academy of Ireland. Oval portrait of Edward, second 
 Viscount Powerscourt, attributed to Sir Joshua Reynolds. I bought the 
 picture of Lord Chancellor Jocelyn in Dublin in 1859, and the picture of 
 Edward, second Viscount Powerscourt, at the sale of Lord Charlemont's 
 pictures at Roxborough Castle, Moy, co. Tyrone, 1893. 
 
 Next to this, nearest the window, hangs a portrait of Richard, fourth 
 Viscount Powerscourt. The picture has a label, " You are not going to 
 bribe me." In the Rebellion of 1798 he organized a corps known as 
 the Powerscourt Cavalry. He captured Holt, one of the rebel leaders, 
 in the Dargle, and held him prisoner at Powerscourt. When William Pitt 
 was negotiating for the Union, he sent a messenger to Lord Powerscourt 
 to say that if he voted for the Union he would recommend him to the 
 King to be made a Marquis. Indignant at the proposal as not approving 
 of the means by which the Union had been brought about, Lord Powerscourt 
 replied, " You are not going to bribe me," and kicked the messenger 
 
 * In a letter from James Wynne, 25 Eccles Street, Dublin, it is stated that the picture 
 of Lord Chancellor Jocelyn was painted by Ramsay, who was Court Painter of that day. 
 It belonged to Sir Simon Bradstreet, who was a lawyer and a great friend of the 
 Chancellor's, who sat for the picture at his friend's request. It was given to Mr. Wynne 
 in 1840 by Sir Simon Bradstreet, and remained in his house in Rutland Square until sold 
 at Bennett's Auction Rooms in Dublin. It is attributed to Slaughter by Mr. Tracey, 
 picture restorer, of Dublin, and it certainly is in Slaughter's manner. See other portraits 
 by him in the National Gallery of Ireland. 
 
 G 
 
4 2 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 out of the house, and was thus one of the five Irish Peers who refused to 
 vote for the Union between Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 Below it hangs the portrait of Lieutenant Wingfield Burton of the 
 Powerscourt Cavalry, and two badges of Powerscourt Cavalry, 1796, and 
 1 st Royal Dublin Light Dragoons, 1796 ; also the portrait of Holt, the 
 rebel leader, given to me by Mr. Cecil Betham of Dublin 1901. 
 
 North Wall. — Large picture of Dorothy, Viscountess Powerscourt, 
 and her daughter Isabella, wife of Sir Charles Style, Baronet. She was 
 a daughter of Hercules Rowley, Esq.. of Somerhill, co. Meath, and the 
 wife of Richard Wingfield of Powerscourt, Esq., who was created Viscount 
 Powerscourt and Baron Wingfield by Privy Seal, dated at St. James's 
 26 January, and by Patent 4 February, 1743, third creation. 
 
 Large picture of Mervyn Edward, seventh Viscount Powerscourt, and 
 Julia his wife, painted by Weigall in 1866, and presented to them by their 
 tenantry in co. Dublin, Wicklow, Tyrone, and Wexford. Portrait of the 
 Hon. Mervyn Richard Wingfield, in the uniform of the Irish Guards, by 
 Alexander Macdonald, presented by the tenants of the Powerscourt Estate 
 in the counties of Dublin and Wicklow on his attaining his majority, 
 16 July, 1 90 1. Portrait of Richard, fifth Viscount Powerscourt, who died 
 9 August, 1823. 
 
 In 1 821 King George IV. visited Ireland, landing at Dunleary, 
 which was in honour of His Majesty named Kingstown. Richard, fifth 
 Viscount Powerscourt, sent to His Majesty, on board the " Royal George," 
 a buck from the park at Powerscourt. The King after this paid Lord 
 Powerscourt a visit at Powerscourt, and was entertained at a banquet in 
 the Saloon. The large arm-chair covered in red cloth, made at the time 
 for the use of His Majesty, is still preserved. A good many of the neigh- 
 bours were invited to meet the King, among others Colonel Hon. Hugh 
 Howard, who resided at Bushy Park, opposite the windows of Powerscourt 
 House. The King, looking out of the window, saw the house at Bushy, 
 and turning to Lord Powerscourt, said, " Whose house is that opposite ? 
 it ought not to be there," meaning that it did not add to the beauty of the 
 landscape. Colonel Howard rejoined, " Oh ! but your Majesty, that is my 
 house." The King said, " I don't care whose house it is ; it ought not to 
 be there." 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 The King was invited to visit Powerscourt Waterfall, a dam having 
 been constructed above the fall, to confine the water, so that His Majesty 
 might see it in full flood. Time, however, did not permit of the King 
 going there, which was fortunate, for the wooden bridge, which had been 
 erected at the foot of the fall on which His Majesty was to have stood while 
 the dam was being blown up by a mine to let the water down, was carried 
 away by the force of the water, when the mine was afterwards exploded, 
 so that a fearful catastrophe was averted. 
 
 The King on leaving presented Lord Powerscourt with a gold snuff- 
 box, which is preserved, bearing the following inscription : — 
 
 "The Gift of His Majesty George the Fourth to Viscount 
 Powerscourt, on Monday, 3rd September 1821, on board the ' Royal 
 George/ in Royal Harbour, Kingstown, after his having had the high 
 honour and very great gratification of receiving His Majesty at Powers- 
 court, and of accompanying him in his carriage and in his boat to the 
 ' Royal George.' " 
 
 Richard Wingfield, sixth Viscount Powerscourt, was born January 1 8 1 5, 
 and married, 20 January, 1836, his cousin Lady Elizabeth Frances Charlotte 
 Jocelyn, daughter of the third Earl of Roden, and had issue Mervyn Edward, 
 seventh Viscount, born 14 October, 1836. His Lordship contested Bath 
 with Mr. Roebuck, and they fought a duel about the election, but both 
 fired in the air. Lord Powerscourt won the election, and sat as Member 
 of Parliament for Bath. The pistols with which they fought are preserved. 
 
 He owned a cutter yacht, named the " Antelope," and raced her 
 in the Queen's Cup at Cowes in 1840. The "Antelope" was last 
 when the leading yacht, the " Reindeer," got foul of the Nab Lightship, 
 and two of her crew were knocked overboard. The second yacht passed 
 her, but Lord Powerscourt hove to, and saved the drowning men. When 
 he passed the winning signal-boat at the end of the race, Mr. Moore, the 
 owner of the yacht which came in first, said to him, " You are the person 
 to have the cup," and presented it to him. He died at Rochester, on his 
 way back from Italy, 11 August, 1844. 
 
 The large piece of tapestry on the east wall of the staircase was given 
 to me by Frederick, fourth Marquis of Londonderry, he having bought it 
 in Paris ; it is signed J. Boucher. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 Over the three doors leading into the Saloon, White Room, and 
 Drawing Room, are three curtains of tapestry — old French work — of sporting 
 subjects. Between the stained-glass windows, decorated with the Powers- 
 court arms, is a fine old French clock ; and above it an enormous stag's 
 head, supposed to be the largest in the world. This was bought by me at 
 Vienna in 1863. It formerly hung over the entrance to the Wild-pret 
 Market at Vienna as a sign ; but it is not all genuine. It appears to 
 have been originally a very large head, but has been increased by the addition 
 of a great many more points, and a thickening of the horns with plaster of 
 Paris, to make it look in proportion. 
 
 There is a manufactory of artificial stags' heads at Vienna, and it is a 
 custom when a guest goes and stays with one of the owners of the deer- 
 forests in Austria or Hungary, if he happens to kill a very fine stag, the 
 owner of the forest has an imitation of it made in plaster, which he presents 
 to his guest, retaining the real head in his own castle. This head is 
 probably made in the same way. 
 
 SALOON. 
 
 On the first floor is the Saloon or Ball-room, of the same dimensions as the 
 Hall, 60 ft. by 40, and 40 ft. high. On each side a row of eight fluted 
 pillars supports a gallery ornamented with triple arches, with intervening 
 squares, and pilasters at intervals are placed corresponding. 
 
 The floor is of walnut-wood, disposed in squares and lozenges. It 
 was in this splendid and princely apartment that His Majesty King 
 George IV. was entertained at dinner by Richard, fifth Viscount Powers- 
 court, on the day of his embarkation at Kingstown, after his visit to this 
 country, August 1821. 
 
 The room is ornamented with statues in front of the pillars, and on 
 the walls are marble busts on consoles : — 
 
 1. Richard, fifth Viscount Powerscourt, by Tre.nta.nore. 
 
 2. Frances, Viscountess Powerscourt, by Trentanore. 
 
 3. Lady Anne Jocelyn, by Trentanore. 
 
 4. Homer. 5. iEsop. 6. Napoleon. 7. Cicero. 
 
 8. Demosthenes. 9. Seneca. 10. Pitt. ii. Wellington. 
 
 12. Perceval. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 On the east side is the fire-place ; the chimney-piece is of Verona 
 stone, and was brought by me from that place, and was executed by Signor 
 Pegrazzi, sculptor of Verona, in 1868. It is designed after one in the 
 Doge's Palace in Venice, in the same material as the original. The original 
 has in the centre the Doge's cap, and his arms on the jambs ; but Signor 
 Pegrazzi substituted in the centre for the Doge's cap a beautiful little 
 group of amorini, and the Wingfield arms on the jambs. My father had 
 intended to place a chimney-piece of a different character there, but died 
 before it was finished. There is a pair of very fine ancient bronze fire- 
 dogs, surmounted by figures of Apollo and Diana and ornamented with 
 masks and scrolls, standing about 3 ft. high. These, as well as the 
 four fire-irons, a shovel, a trident for putting wood on the fire, another 
 instrument for placing the logs, and a pair of tongs, which have handles 
 formed as female figures in bronze, are said to be the work of Giovanni da 
 Bologna. The iron fender, with a bat in bronze as a central ornament, as well 
 as the fire-dogs and fire-irons, were brought by my father from the Palazzo 
 Zambeccari at Venice in 1843. The chimney-piece was intended to have 
 been executed in marble by Mr. Laurence Macdonald, sculptor, at Rome. 
 The design was to have been of two statuettes, size of life, of Prometheus 
 and Pandora, with an eagle surmounting the rock, the rock-work rising 
 about 10 ft. from the floor. In consequence of his death this was never 
 executed. Over the chimney-piece is a very fine Italian mirror of bold 
 design, bought by Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt, from a palace at 
 Bologna. On erecting the chimney-piece it was necessary to get a fire-place 
 in character, and I employed Messrs. Feetham of Soho Square, London, 
 to design it. There are two splendid bronze knockers, which were brought 
 by my father, Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt, also from Venice, from 
 the same palace as the fire-dogs, and in order to keep them together 
 Messrs. Feetham attached the door-knockers to the front of the chimney- 
 piece, the idea being, as is seen in some old English houses, that a person 
 wishing to warm his feet at the fire might hold on to these while doing so. 
 
 On the chimney-piece stand two colossal marble busts, of Flemish work, 
 purchased by me at Christie's, and in the centre is an Algerian onyx vase 
 which I purchased in Paris at the Great Exhibition of 1889. The two 
 chandeliers, which are partly of carved wood, came from the same palace at 
 Bologna as the mirror over the chimney-piece. Four gilt gueridons, two 
 
4 6 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 of which stand on each side of the fire-place, and two opposite, came also 
 from a church at Bologna, purchased by Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt. 
 
 Two mirrors and marble console-tables at the south end of the Saloon 
 came from the Palazzo Zambeccari at Venice. Two marble busts, of 
 Raphael and Michael Angelo, with the verdantico bases, were bought at 
 the same time from Messrs. Pisani of Florence ; also copies of the Remonleur 
 and the wrestlers, after those in the Uffizi Palace at Florence. The wrestlers 
 are copies by Bartolini, from the antique in the same palace. 
 
 At north-east corner is a full-length statue of Elizabeth, Viscountess 
 Powerscourt, my mother, by Laurence Macdonald of Rome. Next, between 
 the pillars, is a bust of my wife, Julia, Viscountess Powerscourt, by Watkins 
 of Dublin. Another small statue, child and dog, by Kirk of Dublin. 
 Next to this a statue of Thetis bearing the arms of Achilles, by Alexander 
 Macdonald at Rome, son of Mr. L. Macdonald. This was purchased by 
 me at Rome in 1874, and completes the series of statues round the room. 
 
 A very fine copy of Venus de Medici ; Cupid playing on the Lyre, 
 -by Thorwaldsen ; recumbent goat-herd, by Hogan, which was designed 
 for my father ; recumbent Bacchante, by Bienaime, designed by the artist 
 for the first time for my father in 1836.* A second was executed, in 1837, 
 for the Emperor of Russia, and is now in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg. 
 The third was made, in 1839, for the King of Wiirtemberg, and is now in 
 the Palace at Stuttgart. This information is from a certificate given to 
 my father by the sculptor 2 March, 1844. Bust of my father, Richard, 
 sixth Viscount Powerscourt, by Laurence Macdonald ; statue of Eurydice, 
 by Laurence Macdonald. Between the windows are copies of Borghese 
 and Medici vases, by Cherubini ; between them stands a bust of my 
 mother, Elizabeth, Viscountess Castlereagh, as she was then, also by 
 Laurence Macdonald. 
 
 The white marble pedestals of the statues in the Saloon were bought 
 by me from Alexander Macdonald at Rome in 1877. The statues formerly 
 stood on wooden pedestals, which I did not think were safe, neither did 
 they look so well. 
 
 On the console-table, next the Drawing Room door, stands the bust of 
 Mervyn Edward, seventh Viscount Powerscourt, the bust of Frederick, 
 
 * See certificate by the sculptor in the book about the statues and pictures purchased 
 by him, in the safe in the Study. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 fourth Marquis of Londonderry, both by Laurence Macdonald of Rome, 
 and on the other side the Hon. Lewis Wingfield, by John Jones, sculptor, 
 of Dublin ; the Young Augustus, copy of bust in the Vatican ; also two 
 statuettes — Mercury, by Thorwaldsen, and Mars and Venus, by Canova. 
 
 The two gilt bronze candelabra on each side of the door leading to the 
 Drawing Room are French work, and were bought in Paris by Frederick, 
 fourth Marquis of Londonderry ; and all the things in the house which 
 belonged to Lord Londonderry came to me from my mother, to whom he 
 left: them at his death, she afterwards leaving them to me. On the consoles 
 are also the small draped bust of a nymph, the torso of Marsyas, and a 
 small Magdalen by Canova. Over the door to the Drawing Room is 
 a semi-circular lunette, representing Music, executed for me by Mr. Salviati 
 of Venice in 1872. 
 
 In the upper panels of the walls are a series of paintings on panels of 
 gilt canvas, representing scenes from the poems of Thomas Moore, the Irish 
 poet, and executed by my late brother, the Hon. Lewis Wingfield. 
 
 The green and gold cut velvet arm-chairs and two sofas came from 
 Coombe Abbey, the seat of Earl Craven. I bought them when sold by 
 him at Christie's. 
 
 Behind the pillars stands an ancient harpsichord, or clavecin, painted 
 inside and outside with views of the towns taken by Louis XIV. of France 
 in his wars. The town of Metz may be recognized amongst them. Inside 
 the lid is a painting of Louis XV. and his staff, with the representation of 
 some French castle in the background. It is dated inside on the key- 
 board 16 1 2, and also is written across the key-board, " Mis en ravallement 
 par Pascal Taskin a Paris 1774." 
 
 This instrument was purchased by my father, Richard, sixth Viscount 
 Powerscourt, at Rome from the Torlonia family. It formerly belonged to 
 Queen Marie Antoinette of France ; it had evidently been restored by 
 Pascal Taskin for that ill-fated Queen. 
 
 The history that my father got with it was that it represented Prince 
 Maurice of Nassau. The figure on the inside of the lid on a grey horse 
 was represented as being his portrait, but that is evidently wrong, as no doubt 
 it is Louis XIV., as may be seen by " L" on the holsters of his horse, and the 
 other figures are no doubt portraits of the Marshals of France at the time. 
 There are double sets of keys, and the whole instrument is in good order. 
 
4 8 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 Sir Robert Stewart writes about this instrument : — 
 
 University of Dublin, 
 
 Trinity College. 
 
 25 May, 1885. 
 
 Dear Lord Powerscourt, 
 
 Your letter interests me extremely. I have a few trifles exhibited at 
 " Inventories " in the Music section, amongst them a well-authenticated relic of 
 (1) Joseph Haydn, author of the " Creation" — a breast-pin and brooch, of polished 
 cutting; (2) Origin of Species, as shewn in Wheatstone's earliest efforts to 
 produce a concertina ; (3) Gilded baton set with precious stones, and presented 
 to him in 1848. Many framed photos, one of them framed being your Marie 
 Antoinette clavecin, and on the back, " Stephen Keene," spinet. Also a few 
 photos of Salzburg — Mozart relics. 
 
 I know Mr. Hipkins. A dinner was organized last autumn at a friend's 
 house in order that I might meet him. His notice of the piano you have, doubt- 
 less, and in the "English Illustrated Magazine" for 1884 i s a beatifully illustrated 
 article on pianoforte spinets, etc. It is very interesting to find that yours is a 
 Rucker's. It was probably restored or re-strung by Pascal Taskin. I thought the 
 wire so very fine and thin that I framed under its glass a piece of Taskin wire, and 
 also "less fine" of Stephen Keene' s spinet wire. You will perhaps see these 
 things. I framed a pencilled description of your and Keene's spinet under the 
 glass. They have reached their Kensington destination. I have been sent a bronze 
 badge to admit me, as it is not unlikely I go to London this summer. See what 
 an impulse your enlarged acquaintance with art of all sorts gives ! 
 
 I am, Dear Lord Powerscourt, 
 
 Yours most truly and obliged, 
 
 Robert Stewart. 
 
 P.S. The Royal Academy of Music, which has a charter from the Queen, did 
 me the honour to make me unasked an honorary member the other day. They are 
 located in Hanover Square. 
 
 It would be an easy task to restore the action, and requill the jacks of the 
 Powerscourt clavecin. An inspection of the bottom of the case of the instrument 
 would shew where the levers were screwed on. The wire, of which a little would 
 be needed, could be got in France. The man who restored Lord Northampton's 
 harpsichord, now in the College, is named Alexander Ferrier ; his address is 
 25 Aungier Street. He is most ingenious and careful. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 University of Dublin, 
 
 Trinity College. 
 
 31 July, 1885. 
 
 Dear Lord Powerscourt, 
 
 When recently in London I came on the annexed account of 
 Rucker's, the harpsichord maker. As it seems very interesting upon the point of 
 ancestry, I send it for your inspection. It may be quite new or perfectly stale 
 information to you, who are always so well instructed on questions of art. I shall 
 take chance for this ; if there be anything fresh in it, none will rejoice more than 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 Robert Stewart. 
 
 The enclosure was a cutting from the " Musical Standard "of 11 March, 
 1876. 
 
 Two circular pietra-dura tables were brought from Florence by 
 Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt. They stand upon carved wooden 
 stands, which formerly were globe stands belonging to the French Royal 
 Family ; the fleur-de-lis may be seen on the arms of the tables. Another 
 Florentine table of octagon shape, inlaid with coloured marbles, was brought 
 by him at the same time. These three were got from Pisani at Florence, 
 also a small circular porphyry table, with a small goldfinch in the centre. 
 The Algerian onyx circular table with mosaic in the centre, of the Roman 
 forum, was brought by me from Rome in 1874 ; the bronze leg or support 
 was made by Wertheimer in Bond Street, London. 
 
 The large . circular Chinese incense burner came from the Summer 
 Palace at Pekin, with others that are in the Morning Room. 
 
 The skin of the leopard on the floor is that of one shot by me in 
 Mysore, South India, in i860. The skins of her two cubs are there also. 
 
 The large ebony sofa near the windows, worked in scarlet from 
 Egyptian design, was worked by Elizabeth, Viscountess Powerscourt, on board 
 the yacht "Antelope," in the Mediterranean, in 1842. The work on the seat 
 makes the name Powerscourt, in Egyptian characters. Two large fauteuils, 
 of Chinese lacquer work, were said to have been brought from some palace 
 at Venice. I bought them at Tom's and Luscombe's, Bond Street, London, 
 in 1873. The grotesque bronze head of a faun was brought by my father 
 from Italy. There is also a bronze copy of the " Dancing Faun," from 
 Herculaneum, and the pendant to it, the " Narcissus," from the same place, 
 this latter given to me by Mr. James D'Arcy, 1901. 
 
 H 
 
So POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 LONG ROOM. 
 
 Next to the Saloon, on the east side, is the Long Room. This was 
 formerly divided into three rooms, called the Tapestry Rooms, because 
 hung with old tapestry. The tapestry became decayed and torn, thus all 
 was taken away. These three rooms were formerly the nurseries, where 
 I and my brothers were brought up. My father, Richard, sixth Viscount 
 Powerscourt, thought, as anybody else would think, that for nurseries to 
 open direct out of the Saloon was rather inappropriate, and he had a design 
 made by an architect to convert this room into a library, but before this 
 was effected he died. The room was left in an unfinished state, and was 
 used as a lumber room. During the time when we were making other 
 improvements in the house, we used to put furniture and other things into 
 it to get them out of the way. But when the other parts of the house were 
 finished, I thought the time had arrived to complete this room. My father, 
 in 1 840, had brought from Italy sixteen small marble columns of coloured 
 marbles, which he had intended for the decoration of this room, but it was 
 not until 1894 that I was able to undertake the completion of it. The 
 columns had been lying in boxes for rather more than fifty years. There 
 was a hollow wall between the Saloon and this room, of a depth of some 
 three or four feet, with an open space, which was perfectly useless, so 
 Mr. Bolton, builder, of Rathmines, Dublin, to whom I entrusted the work, 
 agreed with me that we should open this wall into the room as recesses. 
 Part of the wall was obliged to remain on account of the flues of the fire- 
 places, but we were able so to dispose of the columns, in these recesses and 
 round the windows, as to make a very complete decoration. 
 
 The central chimney-piece of white marble, ornamented with two 
 figures of Flora, was given to me by my step-father Frederick, fourth 
 Marquis of Londonderry. He had intended it for the decoration of his 
 London house, 37 Grosvenor Square, but having this one to spare, he made 
 me a present of it, and I used it for covering a hot-water coil, whicii 
 heats this room and also the Saloon, being inserted in the thickness of 
 the wall. 
 
 We decorated the ceiling with flock paper with a raised pattern. The 
 room being low, I thought this better than a plaster ceiling. The decoration 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 of the room, the walls, etc., was done from the design of Sir Thomas 
 Deane, architect, of Dublin. 
 
 The large mirror in the south end was formerly in the boudoir, or 
 Lady Powerscourt's sitting-room, but being too large for that room, was 
 removed here. The room is at present ornamented with heads of American 
 Wapiti deer, which were too large to put in juxtaposition with the red-deer 
 heads in the Entrance Hall. 
 
 The room was completed in 1895. The mirrors over the two fire- 
 places were bought in LifFey Street, Dublin. There are four ancient 
 pictures of English kings and queens, which came off a screen in Winchester 
 Cathedral. I bought them at Christie's in 1894. The two busts of Raphael 
 and Michael Angelo, mentioned before, have been placed in this room. 
 
 Two blue porcelain lions on the central chimney-piece are old French 
 work, and were made at Luneville. There are also two pictures over the 
 chimney-piece, of Moritzburg, the King of Saxony's hunting castle near 
 Dresden. On the side chimney-pieces stand two very curious old pieces of 
 iron-work, one forming a miniature chest of drawers in iron, surmounted by 
 an Irish harp, the other one representing two men drinking each other's 
 health. Their hands appear to have held glasses and bottles. I bought 
 these from Mrs. Brady, LifFey Street, Dublin. 
 
 At the north end, in the door-way into the Saloon, is a glass cupboard 
 of china, etc. In it are a mother-of-pearl and ebony crucifix, said to have 
 been blessed by Pope Pius IX. It belonged to my mother, Elizabeth, 
 Marchioness of Londonderry. There are also two fine old German glasses, 
 with covers, painted with shields of arms and heraldic devices, which came 
 from Nuremberg ; groups in Dresden china, and other curiosities. 
 
 CEDAR ROOM. 
 
 Over the chimney-piece a bas-relief, in terra-cotta, representing the Holy 
 Family, the Adoration of the Magi, attributed to Albert Diirer, with his well- 
 known cipher on it, and also two shields, with the arms of some confraternity 
 or monastery. It is mentioned in Albert Diirer's life that he had executed 
 some works in terra-cotta, and this may be one of them. It was bought 
 out of some church in Germany by Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt. 
 
 h 2 
 
52 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 The chandelier in the centre of the room is by Salviati of Venice. 
 The gilt mirror is Spanish work, and was given me by Sir J. Crampton, 
 K.C.B., who got it when he was Minister at Madrid. A beautiful ebony 
 cabinet, inlaid with lapis-lazuli and agates, was bought by me at Venice, 
 from Guggenheim, on the Grand Canal. 
 
 The carved sofas and three chairs are of black wood, and were brought 
 by me from Bombay. 
 
 My father decorated this room, lining the walls and forming the 
 columns of cedar wood. When I was rebuilding the flues in the house in 
 1886-87, the mason who was building, from the passage outside, called to 
 me when he had built up to the level of the mantelpiece in this room, and 
 I got into the wall at the back with him, and he tapped his hammer against 
 the back of the cedar-wood panelling. There was absolutely no flue at all ; 
 the wall was all hollow at the back. It had also been so badly constructed 
 that I had often observed that the lintel of the marble mantelpiece was 
 very much sagged. This sagging had been attributed to the heat of the 
 fire, but on examination I found that a light brick wall had been built there 
 to support the plaster work above, with its weight resting upon the lintel of 
 this mantelpiece. We, of course, removed this and reset the mantelpiece 
 independent of the wall. 
 
 DRAWING ROOM. 
 
 The chandelier in the centre of the room is of French design, of old 
 Waterford glass, purchased by Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt. The 
 two large Chippendale mirrors, one over the chimney-piece, the other 
 opposite, were formerly in the house of the Marquis of W T aterford, Tyrone 
 House, Marlborough Street, Dublin. It is now the seat of the Board of 
 National Education. The house was sold to the Board of Education about 
 the year 1836 or 1837, and the contents of the house were sold by auction 
 at the same time. My father Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt, bought 
 these two magnificent mirrors at the auction, and brought them to Powers- 
 court. Henry, Lord Waterford, afterwards wrote to him to say that these 
 mirrors had been sold by mistake, and that he must send them back, which 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 53 
 
 he of course refused to do. The chimney-piece in this room, of white 
 statuary and Sienna marble, was purchased by me from Messrs. Hodges, 
 Westmoreland Street, Dublin, as were many others in the house. This 
 one came out of a house in Aungier Street, Dublin ; the old steel grate 
 belonged to it, and came from the same house. At the east end of the 
 room are two large pictures by Hondekoeter, purchased by Richard, 
 sixth Viscount Powerscourt ; also a small picture of St. John in the Island 
 of Patmos, by Breughel, also purchased by him. The beautiful portrait 
 of a Dutch lady in black dress and ruff, marked " Aetatis Suae 24," was 
 bought by me at Christie's, and was attributed to Gerritz Cuyp, but 
 perhaps by Miereveldt or Van der Heist. 
 
 North Wall. — A large picture of St. Mark preaching at Venice, 
 by Tintoretto, painted for the house of the Marchese Sanudo of Venice. 
 This picture is specially interesting, as it contains the four portraits of the 
 great Venetian painters — Giorgione, Titian, Pordenone, and Tintoretto 
 himself. It was bought from Alexander Aducci at Rome in 1836 by my 
 father. At the same time was bought the picture over the doorway leading 
 to the Saloon, from the same person, painted by Bernardo Strozzi, called 
 ■"■II Prete Genovese." This picture is called " Primavera e Estate — Spring 
 and Summer," representing two ladies of the Borghese family. At the 
 same time were purchased two small pictures, a male and female head, 
 artist unknown, Italian School. Under this hangs a large picture, by 
 Solomon Ruysdael, purchased by me from Dr. Nugent, Rutland Square, 
 Dublin, representing a ferry, signed " S. Ruysdael, 1645." 
 
 Two sea-pieces, by Joseph Vernet. Two other sea-pieces, by Brooking. 
 A small picture, a view probably of Antwerp, or Dordrecht in Holland, by 
 De Vroom, 1566 — 1640. 
 
 Two small interiors, by Brakenburg. A small picture of Sheep, by 
 Ommeganck. Another small picture of a man having the plasters taken 
 off his leg, by Brouwer, or Jan Steen. Another picture of the tomb of 
 William the Taciturn in Delft Cathedral, by Emanuel de Witte. Another 
 picture, by Lucas Cranach, representing Christ's agony in the garden. 
 St. Peter is sheathing his sword after having cut off Malchus's ear. Our 
 Saviour is holding the ear in his hand, going to put it on again. The 
 soldiers are dressed in mediaeval armour of the time of Lucas Cranach. 
 
54 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 Full-length portrait of Alphonso, Duke d' Albuquerque, Viceroy of India, 
 who died at Goa 15 15, by Sanchez Coello. Another small picture by 
 Solomon Ruysdael. Another by Jan Van. Huysum — a fruit-piece. A small 
 equestrian portrait — Marshal Turenne, by Parocel. Small equestrian 
 portrait of Maurice of Orange, on a white charger — a Spanish barb, with a 
 very long mane. Sir John Crampton told me that this breed of horses with 
 long manes exists in Spain still. Picture, Oysters and Still Life, by J. D. de 
 Heem. Small picture from Hamilton Palace, by Breughel, a View of a 
 Dutch Town, 16 10. Small picture of great rarity, "The Adoration of the 
 Holy Child," by Fra Filippo Lippi, bought in Italy by Richard, sixth 
 Viscount Powerscourt, 1842. 
 
 West Wall. — Portrait of Anna Maria of Austria, by Coello, 1575, 
 bought by me at the sale of Sir Hugh Hume Campbell's pictures at 
 Christie's. Under this a glass case of family miniatures. Over the door 
 leading to the small Drawing Room, picture from Hamilton Palace, 
 Giovanni de Medicis, Captain of the Black Bands, attributed to Giulio 
 Romano, bought at the Hamilton Palace sale. Miniature of Elizabeth, 
 Viscountess Powerscourt, painted in 1837 by Sir William Ross, R.A. 
 Also another of her brother Robert, Viscount Jocelyn, by Sir W. Ross, R.A. 
 He died of cholera in London 12 August, 1854. 
 
 In the glass case are the following miniatures, beginning from the left. 
 On the top row : — 
 
 1. Richard, fourth Viscount Powerscourt, born 176a; died 1809. He 
 
 commanded the Powerscourt Cavalry against the Irish rebels in 1798, 
 and captured Holt, one of their chiefs, in the Dargle, and held him 
 prisoner at Powerscourt. When Mr. Pitt was negotiating for the Union, 
 in 1799-1 800, he sent a messenger to Lord Powerscourt, saying that if he 
 , would vote for the Union he would recommend him to be made a 
 Marquis. Lord Powerscourt said "You are not going to bribe me," and 
 kicked the messenger out of the house. The miniature represents him 
 with powdered hair, in black frame with gold palm-branches, and is by 
 Horace Hone. 
 
 2. Richard, fourth Viscount Powerscourt, in the red uniform of the Powers- 
 
 court Cavalry. By Engleheart. 
 
 3. Lady Catherine Meade, daughter of first Earl of Clanwilliam, wife of 
 
 Richard, fourth Viscount Powerscourt, died 1793. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 55 
 
 4. Lady Catherine Meade, Viscountess Powerscourt, in oval gold locket. 
 
 By P timer. 
 
 5. Hon. John Wingfield, second son of fourth Viscount Powerscourt, Cold- 
 
 stream Guards, born 1791; died of fever at Coimbra in Spain 1811. 
 He was Lord Byron's friend, alluded to in " Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" 
 as " Alonzo," canto i., stanza xci. By George Sanders. 
 
 On the bottom row are : — - 
 
 6. Hon. and Rev. Edward Wingfield, third son of Richard, fourth Viscount 
 
 Powerscourt, born 1792; married, 12 April. 1819, Louisa Joan, third' 
 daughter of the Hon. George Jocelyn, and was father of Richard Robert, 
 George John, and Edward ffolliot Wingfield, late Captain 2nd Life 
 Guards. She married secondly Robert Richard Tighe, and died 17 June, 
 1874. He died 6 September, 1825. 
 
 7. Lady Frances Theodosia Jocelyn, eldest daughter of Robert, second Earl 
 
 of Roden, K.P., first wife of Richard, fifth Viscount Powerscourt, born 
 1795; died 1820. Oval, in gold locket. 
 
 8. Lady Frances Theodosia Jocelyn, Viscountess Powerscourt. Half- 
 
 length miniature. 
 
 9. Lady Frances Theodosia Jocelyn, Viscountess Powerscourt. Oval, in 
 
 gilt frame. 
 
 10. Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt, son of the above, born 18 January, 
 1815; married, 20 January, 1836, his cousin, Lady Elizabeth Frances 
 Charlotte Jocelyn, eldest daughter of Robert, third Earl of Roden, K.P., 
 and died 11 August, 1844. He was M.P. for Bath, and fought a duel at 
 the election with Mr. Roebuck, the opposing candidate; both fired in the 
 air. The pistols (saw-handled) with which they fought are preserved at 
 Powerscourt. Was the father of Mervyn Edward, seventh Viscount 
 Powerscourt, and two other sons, Maurice Richard and Lewis Strange 
 Wingfield. 
 
 In the windows two Florentine pietra-dura tables brought from 
 Florence by Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt. The pictures by Amiconi, 
 " Prete Genovese," the large Tintoretto, the picture by Lucas Cranach, those 
 by Hondekoeter, and that of St. John by Breughel, were purchased by 
 Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt ; the rest were purchased by myself. 
 In the north-east corner stands a glass cabinet, containing a collection of 
 turquoise blue Sevres china, collected by Frederick, fourth Marquis of Lon- 
 donderry, in Paris. He left it to my mother, who left it to me. 
 
56 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 Large Japanese black screen, of modern work, representing the figure 
 of a man writing on a table with one hand, and holding a brasier in the 
 other, on one panel ; on the other, a ship formed like a cock, inlaid with 
 ivory and mother-of-pearl, the artist's name on each panel. The back in 
 brown lac, with leaves and pheasants, bought by' me in 1897 in Liverpool 
 from Agnew. 
 
 Between the windows, two pictures of heads of Saints, attributed to 
 Procaccini. 
 
 SMALL DRAWING ROOM. 
 
 The chimney-piece was bought from Hodges, Westmoreland Street, and 
 came out of an old house in Dublin. The looking-glass over it is a copy 
 of an old Chippendale glass bought .from .Wilson in the Strand, London, 
 representing the Fox and the Grapes. 
 
 East Wall. — Over the door, two portraits of Ferdinand the Second 
 de Medici, and his wife Victoria della Rovera, by Sustermans, bought 
 by me at Christie's. Portrait of Don Pedro de Medici, attributed to 
 Scipione Pulzone, called " II Gaetano." Portrait of Spanish princess in rufF, 
 the artist unknown. Portrait of the woman touching Christ's garment, in 
 monochrome, by Marcello Venusti, bought by Richard, sixth' Viscount 
 Powerscourt, in Italy. A very fine head of a man in ruff", attributed to 
 Rubens by Mr. Graves of Pall Mall, perhaps by Adriaan Kay or William 
 Key. Portrait of Dutch gentleman on horseback, probably by Victor, from 
 the Bernal collection ; there attributed to Cuyp. There is a small picture 
 of a street in a Dutch town, by Jan Van der Heyden, bought by me in 
 Dublin, as also two small still-life pictures by Kalf. A full-length picture 
 of Christina, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, from the Frescobaldi Palace, 
 Florence, by Sustermans, bought by me at the sale at Mr. Coleman's, Stoke 
 Park, Slough. 
 
 South Wall. — Oval view of Grand Canal of Venice, attributed to 
 Marieschi ; came from the Gallery Tiepolo at Venice. A portrait of a 
 young man by Titian, said to be Poliziano, the Italian poet. These two 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 were purchased by my father, as also a picture by Michael Angelo 
 Caravaggio, which represents Christ with the Doctors, bought from 
 the collection of paintings belonging to the late celebrated painter Wicar, 
 in April 1836, Two portraits of old lady and her daughter, by Cornelis 
 Van der Voort, bought at Christie's by me. Fine specimen of Dead 
 Game, by J. Weenix, bought at Frankfort by me in 1880 from 
 Mr. Milani. Over the door, . portrait of Simeone Farulli and Passig- 
 nano the painter, by Passignano, bought by Frederick, fourth Marquis 
 of Londonderry, at Florence. Half-length picture of Archimedes, by 
 Salvator Rosa, bought by Richard, sixth ViscOunt Powerscourt, in Italy; 
 Also large picture by Paul Brill, representing the story of Orpheus and 
 Midas ; the figures by Franck. Portrait of a man, by Giovanni Battista 
 Moroni, the rival and contemporary of Titian, signed and dated 1 56 1 , 
 which I purchased from the collection at Hamilton Palace, at the sale at 
 Christie's. Small picture of Pigs, purchased by me in Dublin, by Morland. 
 Still Life, by de Heem. Interior, by the very rare painter of Still Life 
 (Wyntrank), bought by me in Paris. Picture on panel of Louis Quatorze 
 of France investing his brother, the Duke of Anjou, with the Order of 
 St. Esprit, by Philippe de Champaigne — this came from the collection of 
 Mr. Vernon of Hatley Park, purchased by me at. Christie's. Small land- 
 scape, by Patrick Nasmyth, purchased by me in Dublin. The Broken 
 Eggs, by Jan Steen, with portraits of Jan Steen and his friend Van Goyen. 
 Portrait of a man, by Hans Baldung. Landscape, with mounted figure, by 
 • Jan Asselyn. Small flower-piece, by Van Aelst,.i676, purchased by me at 
 Christie's. Portrait of old woman (Flemish School), purchased by Richard, 
 sixth Viscount Powerscourt, in Italy. Portrait of Charles II., by Mrs. Beale ; 
 portrait of Louise de Querouailles, Duchess of Portsmouth, by Verelst — 
 these two purchased by^ me from. Messrs. Graves of Pall Mall. Picture of 
 St. Magdalen, with skull, by Schidone, purchased by Richard, sixth Viscount 
 Powerscourt, in Italy. Between the windows, dead-game piece (Flemish 
 School). The chairs, with Londonderry arms, were worked, by my 
 mother, Elizabeth, Viscountess Castlereagh. A small pencil sketch of a 
 stag, by Sir Edwin Landseer. Landscape, with a girl with a milk-can, by 
 Miss A. Squire (1877). " Hope of the Family," a water-colour drawing, 
 by Madame Bisschop. Pen and ink drawing, by Du Maurier, for " Punch" 
 -(Augustus hates Morning Calls),.. Water-colour drawing, by Richard 
 
 1 
 
5 8 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 Doyle — Ascinachus Gasker, on the banks of the River Scamander, perse- 
 cuted by cranes, with nothing to defend himself with but an old cotton 
 umbrella (from a magazine called " The Library of Useless Knowledge "). 
 This magazine only came out in one number, written by a semi-lunatic. 
 I have a copy of it. Mr. Richard Doyle (son of " H. B.") drew this water- 
 colour drawing, taking the idea from the magazine. Coloured photograph 
 of Elizabeth, Marchioness of Londonderry. Portrait of the Maharajah of 
 Mysore, given to Lord Powerscourt by him 3 April, 1861. Pen and ink 
 drawing of an interior, by E. J. Poynter, R.A , 1871. Large Chinese 
 yellow vase, painted with Chinese junks, figures, etc., brought from India 
 by me in 1861, having been looted from the Summer Palace at Pekin. 
 Two bronze statuettes on Sienna marble bases of Rousseau and Voltaire. 
 A small bronze group, Hercules throwing Hylas into the sea (after 
 Canova), bought by me at Venice. 
 
 LADY POWERSCOURT'S SITTING ROOM. 
 
 This room contains a varied collection of pictures and drawings collected 
 by myself. Over the left archway a portrait of Charles I., in oils, painted 
 when he was Prince of Wales, as may be seen by the motto on the frame, 
 by Luttrell, bought by me from Messrs. Graves, London. Over the other 
 archway, a portrait, from the Hamilton Palace collection, of a lady, marked. 
 " S. G." Portrait of myself in chalk, by J. R. Swinton. Pastel drawing, 
 copy of the famous " La Belle Chocolatiere," by Liotard, in the Dresden 
 Gallery, bought by me at Dresden 1863. Picture by Thorn, Girl with 
 Sheep. Another picture, " Douces Pensees," by Jules Goupil. " The First 
 Toy," another picture by P. Knarren. Elm-trees in Phcenix Park, Dublin, 
 by S. Catterson Smith. Over the door, " Sunset, with Cattle," by Voltz of 
 Munich. Water-colour drawing, Mont Blanc, by Elijah Walton. Flowers 
 and fruit, by Mrs. Duffield. Jerbourg Head, by John Brett, R.A. "A 
 Warning to Sleeping Shepherds," by Hofner of Munich, pupil of Piloty. 
 An oval portrait of Elizabeth, Marchioness of Londonderry, by Catterson 
 Smith, President of the Royal Hibernian Academy. Water-colour drawing, 
 Bird's Nest and Flowers, by H. Ward. Mother and Child, by Plassan. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 Two Old Women playing Cards, by Bakker Korff. Small figure of 
 St. Sebastian, after Correggio. Souvenir of Guernsey, by Artan. Poultry, 
 by Huggins. In doorway. Mosaic Archway, in lapis lazuli and avanturine 
 (Italian work). 
 
 Two water-colour drawings, models after Titian. Small water-colour 
 of Dante. A beggar, by Lord Northampton. Robert, Viscount Castle- 
 reagh (1822), Prime Minister. Miniature marble portrait of a Pope, in 
 rosso antico. Small portrait of a princess, in filigree frame. Miniature of 
 Lady Le Despencer (my great-grandmother), born in 1766, died 1848. 
 
 The chimney-piece in this room I bought from Hodges. It came 
 out of an old house in Dublin. Also the old brass grate. Over the 
 mantelpiece an oval mirror, with fine carved frame, bought from Annoot 
 in Bond Street, London, by me. On the mantelpiece two pairs of blue 
 Sevres china pug dogs, on gold cushions, bought in Paris by Frederick, fourth 
 Marquis of Londonderry. On an oval screen, portrait of myself, as a boy 
 five years old, by Watts. The inlaid wooden cabinet in the archway was 
 bought by me from the Bilton Hotel, Sackville Street, Dublin. It had 
 formerly belonged to Lord Belvedere, who is now represented by Mr. 
 Brinsley Marlay. In the archway are three ornaments of ormolu and coral 
 (Roman work) in glass cases, brought from there by my mother. 
 
 The round table in the centre of the room, of Empire design, belonged 
 to Viscountess Castlereagh, afterwards Emily, Marchioness of Londonderry, 
 wife of the Prime Minister, and was at his house in St. James's Square, 
 London, 1 8 1 5. There is an inscription to this effect inside one of the drawers, 
 written by Frederick, fourth Marquis of Londonderry. The oval-shaped 
 table, inlaid with Canadian woods, was given to Julia, Viscountess Powers- 
 court, at her marriage, by Charles, Viscount Monck, in 1864, he being at 
 that time Governor-General of Canada. The large branch of coral in the 
 glass shade was brought here by my mother from Malta in 1843. 
 
 1 2 
 
6o 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 LADY POWERSCOURT'S BEDROOM. 
 
 The chimney-piece and brass fire-grate were bought by me from Hodges, 
 and came from an old house in Dublin ; also the one in Dressing Room next 
 door. The overmantel and the columns of the bed recess were -designed 
 and made by Jackson, Rathbone Place, London. Marble medallion of 
 Elizabeth, Viscountess Castlereagh. Drawing over the door, in crayons, of 
 Hon. Maurice Wingfield, R.N., by George Richmond, R.A. Water- 
 colour drawing of black-necked swans at Powerscourt (1862), by J. Wolf. 
 Water-colour drawing, by James Giles, R.I. A., Scotch fir-trees at Achna- 
 carry, Scotland. Two little circular terra-cotta plaques, of a dog and a cart- 
 horse, by Lady Anne Coke. She did these as a pupil of Sir Edgar Boehm, 
 R.A., the celebrated sculptor. Various artist-proof engravings after Sir 
 Edwin Landseer. 
 
 LORD POWERSCOURT'S DRESSING ROOM. 
 
 Portrait in crayons of Robert, Viscount Jocelyn, with dog and gun, by 
 Edis. Oval portraits of Maria, Countess of Roden, and Elizabeth, Mar- 
 chioness of Londonderry, my mother, by Gigoux. The chimney-piece in 
 this room is also out of an old house in Dublin, and was bought from 
 Hodges, Westmoreland Street ; it is by Bossi, an artist who worked in 
 pietra-dura in Dublin at the end of the last century. Various portraits and 
 engravings of family interest. 
 
 The mirrors in this room, as well as most of those in the bed rooms 
 on the second floor and those in the Long Room, were bought by me in 
 LifFey Street, Dublin, and are work of the eighteenth century, or older. 
 I think they are much prettier than modern ones. 
 
 BED-ROOM PASSAGE. 
 
 Water-colour drawing, by Malton, of Powerscourt House, William 
 Street, Dublin. Pen and ink drawing of Charge of the 1st Life Guards at 
 Wimbledon, by Miss Elizabeth Thompson (afterwards Lady Butler), 1874. 
 A water-colour, by Rowlandson, Hazard Table, 1792. Engravings of two 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 61 
 
 pictures at Holkham : Le Due d'Arenberg, after Vandyck ; Charles James 
 Fox, after Sir Joshua Reynolds. Engravings, after John Philip, R.A., of 
 Lord Palmerston's Cabinet. Picture in three compartments, by James 
 Giles, R.S.A., of deer-stalking, called " Veni, Vidi, Via'" The scenery is 
 in Mar Forest, and the stalker is James Grant, head forester to the late 
 Earl of Fife. Over it portrait of Edward, second Viscount Powerscourt, a 
 small oval pastel. An oil painting, by James Giles, R.S.A., of Achnacarry, 
 Lochiel's Forest, with Ben Nevis in the background. Series of portraits in 
 frame of members of White's Club, London, with key. Another series of 
 portraits of my friends, both by Dighton. Water-colour drawing, by 
 Charles Grey, 1872, of the great ash-tree, blown down at Powerscourt. 
 This tree measured 37 ft. in girth at 4 ft. from the ground, and stood 
 nearly opposite the spiked gate opposite the old churchyard. Coloured 
 photograph portrait of Mervyn Edward, seventh Viscount Powerscourt, in 
 uniform of the 1st Life Guards, full length ; also my brother, the Hon. 
 Maurice Richard Wingfield, Lieutenant R.N., with Crimean and Baltic 
 medals, both by Lowes Dickinson. Portrait in oil of Mervyn, Viscount 
 Powerscourt (1854), by Catterson Smith. Two small pictures, by Lawless, 
 Off Guard, and a Cavalier in his Cups. Lawless has been called the 
 English Meissonier, but he was hardly of that calibre ! Four small water- 
 colour drawings, one the Villa Albano at Rome (1843), by Ladv Honoria 
 Cadogan. Two small drawings in one frame : one the Island of Capri, 
 the other a view in sepia, by the late Lord Northampton. Portrait of the 
 Hon. Mervyn Wingfield, afterwards seventh Viscount Powerscourt (water- 
 colour), sitting on the floor with a book (1842), by Frederick W. Burton. 
 Two small sepia drawings, by F. G. Loutherbourg (1772). Hon. Lewis 
 Wingfield on pony, by G. Grey, R.H.A. Small portrait of Frederick, 
 Viscount Castlereagh (1836). A small portrait of a deer, by Mervyn, 
 Viscount Powerscourt. 
 
 In the dark part of the passage various addresses from tenants, etc. 
 On a cabinet in the passage fine old ivory in gilt shrine (German work), 
 " The Dead Christ," and " The Risen Christ." Engraving of the Duke 
 of Dorset, who was killed when hunting with Lord Powerscourt's hounds, 
 when his uncle, Lord Whitworth, was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, given 
 to me by Lord Delawarr, who represents the Dukes of Dorset. A small 
 sepia drawing of Wingfield Castle, co. Suffolk. 
 
62 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 LOBBY AT FOOT OF WHITE STAIRS. 
 
 In the Lobby, near the Small Drawing Room, an old French clock, brought 
 from Paris by Frederick, fourth Marquis of Londonderry. Fine ivory 
 Crucifix, brought by Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt, from Italy in 
 1842. The martyrdom of St. Catherine, painted on alabaster, the veining 
 of the marble forming the clouds and sky. Mother-of-pearl shell, with the 
 Crucifixion. Ivory carving (old German), representing Abraham offering 
 up Isaac. A small double portrait, with arched tops, of the Emperor 
 Charles V. and Isabella his wife, from the Bernal collection. St. Barbara, 
 from the same collection ; cameo, with head of Christ, from the same 
 collection. Ivory tablet, with two leaves, representing subjects from our 
 Saviour's life. Limoges enamel of Virgin and Child, white on blue ground ; 
 another of St. Carlo Borromeo, by Jehan Limousin (signed " J. L.") ; 
 another Limoges enamel, the Flight into Egypt, and St. James and 
 St. Anne, by Pierre Raymond (each plaque signed "P. R., 1557 "). 
 
 Two small ivory triptychs (old German). Small oil portrait of French 
 lady ; another lady with a ruff (attributed to Miereveldt, or Gonzales 
 Coques). Two blue Sevres vases with ormolu bases. Ancient German 
 coffer or safe, of steel, with arabesques in relief ; the lock occupies the 
 whole of the lid, and opens in the centre by pushing a small stud back 
 and lifting a small flap, under which is the key-hole. I bought this from 
 Willson in the Strand, and he said to me, " Some of my things is ' hold,' 
 some is ' himitation this is real ' hold,' and you ought to buy it," and I 
 did. Two large Venetian fauteuils, similar to those in the Saloon, bought 
 by me from Toms, in Bond Street, London. 
 
 Over the door of Lady Powerscourt's Sitting Room, curious picture of 
 Louis XIV. on the Pont Neuf in Paris, interesting as shewing the buildings 
 of the Louvre quite different from what they are at present. Curtains with 
 quarterings of the Wingfield family, worked by my mother, Elizabeth, 
 Marchioness of Londonderry. Very curious picture, brought from Nurem- 
 berg by Frederick, fourth Marquis of Londonderry, representing successive 
 knights of the family of Ketzel of Nuremberg, with many shewing their 
 pilgrimages to the Holy Sepulchre, beginning 1389, successively down to 
 1503, with kneeling figures of the knights and their coats-of-arms. Also 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE, 
 
 63 
 
 a view of the Holy Land, with the Holy City, Mount Sinai, and various 
 other places, and incidents in their pilgrimages, martyrdoms, etc. Over 
 the door of the Small Drawing Room small head of the Virgin (a copy of 
 Correggio, or by Procaccini). Picture of a martyr, in a beautiful old Italian 
 frame, inlaid with jasper and agates. 
 
 Portrait of Sir Robert Wingfield, Knight, of Upton, who was sent by 
 Lord Burleigh, Queen Elizabeth's Minister, to witness and give an account 
 of the trial and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. The account written 
 by him was signed only with the initials " R. W.," and it was only of late 
 years that it was discovered to be by Sir Robert Wingfield. The account 
 is the property of W. More-Molyneux, Esq., and is preserved in the 
 archives at Losely, where it has been kept since the time of Elizabeth, with 
 many other State Papers, by the More family, descendants of Sir Thomas 
 More. The whole account has been lately published in the town of North- 
 ampton (see " Wingfield Memorials," published by myself). I bought this 
 picture at Christie's. Going in there one day I saw a portrait with Wing- 
 field arms on it, and with it the portrait of a lady — a Wingfield — which 
 hangs near it. There is a portrait of Chief Justice Coke, bought by me 
 from Graves in Pall Mali. A small picture of the Virgin and Child 
 (a copy of Leonardo da Vinci). 
 
 The White Stairs, leading to the Upper or Bed-Room Floor, are hung 
 with engravings after John Elias Ridinger, representing sporting subjects, 
 principally of deer-hunting in Germany in the eighteenth century, and 
 portraits of particular stags with wonderful heads, killed by the Dukes of 
 Wiirtemberg and Other German magnates. Many of the actual heads 
 represented belong now to the Duke (not King) of Wiirtemberg, and are 
 in his palace in the square near the Siegesthor at Berlin. 
 
 UPPER OR BED-ROOM FLOOR. 
 
 In the Passage is a series of cases of stuffed birds, etc., which were shot by 
 me in India in 1860-61 : jungle-fowl and spur-fowl, a pair of Malabar 
 squirrels and young hog-deer, a pair of cranes, and glossy ibis, large cock 
 bustard, hawks, owls/ ducks, and water-fowl, hornbills, kingfishers, etc. 
 A large original picture by Bassano of the Nativity. Another by the same 
 
64 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 artist, "An Interior by Candle Light." A portrait of a Peer in robes, 
 time of James II. (possibly an ancestor'?). Plans of Portsea estate, Wex- 
 ford estate, and Tyrone estate. ; Also large picture, called "Puzzled," 
 painted by my brother, the Hon. Lewis Wingfield. A series of Hou- 
 braken portraits. Large framed maps of Powerscourt mountains, which 
 were used during a lawsuit between Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt, 
 and other proprietors, about disputed boundaries, made by William 
 Armstrong in 1 8 1 6. These lawsuits were settled by my purchasing the 
 estates in question. ! 
 
 In the Tent Bedroom, Pink Bedroom, Pink Dressing Room, Ivy 
 Bedroom, Ivy Dressing Room, and Green Bedroom and Dressing Room 
 and Barrack Room, are chimney-pieces which I purchased from Hodges, 
 which came out of old houses in Dublin. Two carved cassones in the 
 galleries were bought at the sale of Mr. Ram's effects at Ramsfort, co. 
 Wexford, in i 870. 
 
 I had been told by architects that all the chimneys, and flues of the 
 house were in a very dangerous state, and I determined to put all to 
 rights. In November and December 1886, and January 1887, I em- 
 ployed Mr. Samuel H. Bolton, builder, of Rathmines, Dublin, and opened 
 the walls and rebuilt all the flues. The wall at the west end in the Green 
 Bedroom over the Dining Room was the first we opened, when we found 
 that there was absolutely no flue at all, the . wall being hollow, and the 
 smoke finding its way out the best way it could. Mr. Bolton and I got in 
 over the chimney-piece, and stood upright inside of the hollow wall. That 
 is the way in which houses were built in the last century. Almost all the 
 fires we hear of, when houses are burned down, are caused by what is 
 called an over-heated flue. In another wall we opened we found the walls 
 hollow, and the ends of the wooden joists of the floor projecting into the 
 flues, also in some cases the wooden beams in the flues, some of which 
 were charred, shewing that it was only a matter of time when the house 
 would be burned down. We cut away all the joists of the floors, and built 
 up the flues, beginning from the ground floor, up through the roof into 
 towers of brick-work, with at least 18 in. of solid work round each flue, 
 which we had lined with earthenware flue linings, carrying them up 
 into the stone chimney-stacks on the roof ; so they are now perfectly 
 secure. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 65 
 
 In these rooms are various old pictures, some of which were formerly 
 in the Drawing Room and down-stairs, and as I collected pictures of a 
 better class I removed them up into the bedrooms. 
 
 In the Barrack Room are four large pictures : two representing the 
 Waterfall and the Dargle, and the other two, landscapes with ruins, attri- 
 buted to Barrett. A view in the Pink Room, of Luggala, given to me by 
 Mr. William La Touche of Bellevue, after I purchased Luggala from his 
 cousin, Colonel David La Touche. He said, " As you have got the place, 
 you may as well have the picture too." 
 
 In the Pink Dressing Room are a framed series of portraits by Count 
 D'Orsay, of London celebrities of his time. I bought them at the sale 
 of Mr. John Loraine Baldwin at Aucuba Lodge, Regent's Park, London. 
 
 In the Passage are two pedigrees of the Wingfield family, drawn by 
 Mrs. Reilly, April 1838. 
 
 The various pictures in the bedrooms (Italian School) — Neptune, 
 attributed to Guercino, others to Correggio, Luini, etc. — were purchased by 
 Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt, and are mentioned in the papers in 
 the safe in the Study. These are of somewhat doubtful authenticity. In 
 the Green Bedroom, over the mantelpiece, is a mirror with a medallion 
 portrait, in pastel of the Hon. Maurice Richard Wingfield, by Madame 
 Mayendorf. Over one of the doors in the Passage hangs a portrait of 
 my brother, the Hon. Lewis Wingfield, painted by himself. On the 
 W T hite Stairs leading to the bedrooms from the first floor are a collection 
 of engravings — sporting subjects — by Elias Ridinger, collected by myself in 
 Germany. 
 
 An oval grisaille of a group of Cupids, by De Grez, was in the house 
 at Luggala when I bought the place, and I brought it from there. 
 
 In the West Gallery is a series of shed horns of a Wapiti stag which 
 I had in a small deer-park which I had made in the race-course, from his 
 first head as a yearling to his seventh year, and two other heads belonging 
 to another Wapiti stag. Mr. Joseph Wolf, the celebrated animal painter, 
 painted the picture of the little herd of these deer in that park, which hangs 
 in the Study. These deer became so very dangerous that I thought some 
 one might get injured by them, and removed them, and some red-deer 
 that were there with them, to the deer-park at the Waterfall. They did 
 not seem to thrive, and the largest stag died on account of a wound from 
 
 K 
 
66 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 a red-deer, and I sold them, and I believe they were purchased by Victor 
 Emanuel, King of Italy. I had other live animals in that small park — 
 elands, nylghaus, etc. — but the antelope tribe are not suited to the damp 
 climate of Ireland ; some died, and I sold the rest, and did away with the 
 park there, having the larger one at the Waterfall, better suited to the 
 purpose. 
 
 ALTERATIONS TO THE HOUSE, etc. 
 
 In 1859, being warned of the dangerous state of the house, I consulted 
 Messrs. Ross and Murray of Dublin with regard to protection against fire. 
 
 There were fire-mains and hydrants outside the house all round, 
 which had been laid by my father, Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt ; but 
 I thought that a fire would not begin outside the house, but inside, there- 
 fore Ross and Murray erected for me two upright mains, rising from the 
 basement through the house, up through the roof, with hydrants on each 
 floor, with full pressure from the reservoir at Annacrevy, which was also 
 made by my father, and which gives a pressure of 250 feet at the level of 
 the ground-floor of the house. These hydrants are provided with hoses 
 and hand-pipes, so that at any time water can be turned on in case of fire. 
 I also raised the dam of that reservoir, thus largely increasing its capacity. 
 
 In three large volumes, marked Plans of Powerscourt, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 
 are the plans for the alterations in the house contemplated by my father, 
 Richard, sixth Viscount Powerscourt, but never carried out owing, to his 
 death ; and also the plan made for me by Mr. J. McVicar Anderson, and 
 which I carried out in the years 1880-81. This included the construction 
 of the Dining Room, which was formerly divided into two rooms : one 
 where the bow-window is, which was my mother's bedroom ; the other 
 between that and the Morning Room, which was her sitting-room. At 
 the north side of these two rooms, in the space which is also now occupied 
 by the Dining Room, was a passage, and the recess now occupied by the 
 sideboard was a bathroom. The house did not extend further westward 
 than that, and where the door into the serving room now is was a window 
 looking into the yard. Beyond this, westward, was an archway, with a 
 door leading to the Terrace ; from the yard, and further west of this, 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 67 
 
 were coal and wood sheds, extending as far as the present bakehouse. 
 The old back-door of the house was at the archway near, the steward's 
 room, and the only other offices for the servants were the present house- 
 keeper's room, which was used also for the upper servants, and the present 
 store-rooms, which were the pantry. I placed a brass plate on the old 
 wall in the serving room, recording the date of the alterations and 
 additions to the house. 
 
 The present steward's room was the old servants' hall. 
 
 The present still-room was divided into two rooms, one being the 
 butler's room, with plate presses, the other half of it being the old still- 
 room. 
 
 The very cramped and insufficient accommodation thus afforded used 
 to make constant disputes in the house among the servants, and in 
 consequence I determined to build commodious and proper offices, which 
 were carried out according to Mr. Anderson's plans by Mr. S. H. Bolton 
 of Rathmines, Dublin. 
 
 These plans were only completed with a great many alterations, as 
 may be seen by the successive drawings contained in the books of plans, 
 therefore they were well considered before we began to carry them out. 
 All the buildings west of the Dining Room were included in the 
 re-arrangements. Serving room, pantry, and plate-room, the new garden 
 entrance, butler's room, servants' hall, glazed court, shoe-room, brushing- 
 room, larders, lamp-room, etc., give ample space, and are conveniently 
 situated for their different purposes. 
 
 Over the servants' hall are the nurseries, and over the brushing-room 
 and larders are apartments for the women servants. Beyond the servants' 
 hall, extending over the woodshed, bakehouse, and dairies, are rooms for 
 the men-servants, with bathroom, etc. 
 
 At the end is a large dormitory with accommodation for eight men- 
 servants. This was formerly the old laundry drying-room, I having 
 constructed a new laundry the other side of the yard in 1864, as stated 
 below. 
 
 The old still-room was in the East Wing in the space now occupied 
 by the staircase and hall leading to the upper rooms in that Wing. 
 
 The small room next the Armoury on the north side, now used as my 
 sons' sitting-room, was formerly the housekeeper's room, and the men- 
 
 k 2 
 
68 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 servants' rooms were on the upper floor of the East Wing. This defective 
 arrangement made constant traffic across the Entrance Hall from one side 
 of the house to the other, as everything that had to do with the housekeeper 
 and also the still-room had to cross the Entrance Hall to be brought to the 
 offices on the west side. 
 
 There was also a flight of steps, leading down into the basement from 
 the Armoury, to the old apparatus for heating the house. This was 
 removed, and the pavement of the floor of the Armoury made good. The 
 coals had to be carried across the Hall or brought in at the large window 
 from the stable-yard for this purpose and taken down these steps, which 
 were closed at the top by a wooden flap door, making constant dirt and 
 untidiness in the house. Ashes also had to be brought up the same way ; 
 the consequence was that there was no privacy in the Entrance Hall. It 
 was always kept in an untidy state from the constant traffic. Therefore, 
 when reconstructing the offices, I determined upon a plan to obviate this 
 traffic across the Hall. I built two large coal-cellars at the west end of the 
 house, one under the gravel to the north of the kitchen which holds eighty 
 tons, another smaller one holding thirty tons of coal. I also built a subway 
 under the house from the west side, to which access can be had from the 
 glazed court by a flight of steps, which communicates in the first place with 
 a new heating-chamber with boilers for heating the house, which I con- 
 structed under the still-room, and also with the new coal-cellars and a lift 
 to the top floor, with openings on each landing for bringing up coals or 
 luggage. This subway extends under the Entrance Hall to the East Wing, 
 where there are two flights of steps ascending from it — on one side to the 
 East Wing, on the other side to the passage under the small stairs near 
 the Library, with a coal-cellar attached, capable of holding some thirty tons 
 of coal for the supply of the East Wing, and the future billiard-room, which 
 was planned at the same time, but not yet erected. 
 
 This subway has also communication with the yard at its western end. 
 It was rather a difficult operation, as we had to go under the foundations of 
 the piers of the Entrance Hall which support the whole structure of the 
 house, but it was carried out with great care by Mr. Samuel Bolton. The 
 ground-floor of the East Wing was formerly the stables. On the north 
 side there was a six-stall stable in the space now occupied by the Passage, 
 housemaids' closet, etc., and on the south was a five-stall stable in the space 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 69 
 
 now occupied by the East Bedroom and Dressing Room. These were entered 
 from doors on the east face of the Wing, which are now built up. The 
 stable-yard was outside to the east of this, the north wall of which still 
 remains and is covered with ivy, and adds to the privacy of the pleasure- 
 grounds. The old stable archway forms a convenient entrance from the 
 Hall door or North Front for carts bringing coals or for other purposes. 
 
 Along that wall were the harness-rooms, etc. The wall then extended 
 south, and returning to the house, enclosing the old stable-yard running 
 westward, and joining on to the house at the wall of the Octagon Library. 
 The east side of the stable-yard and part of the south side was occupied by 
 coach-houses with grooms' rooms over them. The old plan of the house 
 and offices, which hangs in the East Wing passage, signed " Jacob Nevill, 
 1764," shews the former arrangement of the house. 
 
 In the centre of this yard was an old-fashioned horse-pond through 
 which the carriages used to be driven in old days to wash the wheels. All 
 this was pulled down when I moved the stables to the western side of the 
 house. But before beginning to make all these alterations in the house 
 I had to clear the ground of the old farm offices, etc. The site of the 
 present farm offices was a haggard where corn and hay were formerly 
 stacked. The old farm offices were on the site now occupied by the 
 stables. The present coachman's house was formerly that of the farm 
 steward, and that now occupied by the helpers was the old gamekeeper's 
 house. The estate agent's office was also in this building, where the 
 harness-room now is, and the present stables were farm offices and farm- 
 horse stables. The old ponds shewn in the plans of 1764 were all filled up. 
 
 The first building erected was the new laundry, built in 1864. The 
 space now occupied by that building and the laundry-green was a fowl-yard 
 with a pond for ducks, also sheds where the gamekeeper kept his traps, 
 dead rabbits, etc., and dogs. I moved the gamekeeper away to the Onagh 
 Gate Lodge, erecting there a proper house and accommodation for his traps, 
 rabbits, dogs, etc. The head gamekeeper now lives at the house in the 
 deer-park near the Waterfall. This house was formerly inhabited by the 
 agent's clerk — a very inconvenient arrangement, he being so far from his 
 work. The head gamekeeper is now in his proper place there, in charge 
 of the deer-park, and as near as possible to the mountains where most of 
 the grouse and other shooting is carried on. 
 
7 o 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 The woodman or forester used at one time also to live in the buildings 
 now occupied by the stables. He and his establishment have also been 
 removed to the saw-mill at the deer-park, being much nearer to the main 
 part of his work. 
 
 It was very inconvenient having the agent and tenants always about 
 the yard near the house. The opportunity occurred for the removal of the 
 agent's office to Enniskerry by my getting possession of the old fever 
 hospital which became useless, the patients now being treated at the work- 
 house. I converted this old fever hospital into a very convenient agent's 
 office, with a residence for the clerk in the upper floor, so that all the 
 business of the estate is carried on there. The laundry having been built 
 and these other arrangements made, I proceeded to build new farm offices, 
 with residence for the farm steward and other accommodation for farming, 
 on the site of the old haggard ; these buildings were constructed in 1872 
 by a loan from the Board of Public Works. 
 
 That gave me all the buildings in the yard vacant, and enabled me 
 to rearrange the stables and the offices of the house. The old farmyard 
 was converted into stables and coach-houses, as stated above. The doors 
 of these houses formerly opened on the north side into the yard, but 
 I reversed the doors and made them open to the south, which made the 
 stable-yard a private enclosure with only one entrance, by the iron gate, 
 which is locked at night. The old duck-pond was filled up and the 
 fowl-yard, etc., removed, and this unsanitary arrangement abolished and 
 replaced by the laundry green. 
 
 On the west side of the stable-yard was formerly a carpenter's shop, 
 which was converted into a yard and stable for the gardens, and this 
 was removed to the old barn, the lower part of which was converted into 
 a saw-mill, the upper floor being made the carpenter's shop, thus keeping 
 all the wood department to itself. At the western side of the wood-yard, 
 which was formerly occupied by corn-stack stands, was constructed a 
 new fowl-yard, with a house for the hen-wife. 
 
 The large square shed in the farmyard, supported by iron columns, 
 was originally intended to contain hay, but after building it I thought 
 it was too much in the middle of the other buildings in case of fire, and 
 therefore I constructed two large hay-sheds outside the farmyard, at 
 sufficient distance from the buildings, so that in case of fire no danger 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 7i 
 
 to the buildings would occur. The large shed is now used for carts and 
 implements. 
 
 The workmen's bell, which hangs on the north end of the building 
 formerly the barn, now converted into carpenter's shop on upper floor 
 and turbine house on the ground-floor, was formerly the bell of the old 
 Church at the end of the Terrace. It bears the following inscription : — 
 
 Edward Wingfield, Esa. 
 John Burton, Isaac Harrison 
 Churchwardens, 1723. 
 
 Edward Wingfield was the father of Richard Wingfield, who was 
 created Viscount Powerscourt in 1743. See the Preface. 
 
 On the keystone of the doorway leading into the old Church, now a 
 ruin, is the inscription : — 
 
 John Stanley, 
 Anthony Hicks, 
 Churchwardens, 
 1736. 
 
 which would appear to denote that the Church had been restored or 
 enlarged, as this is a later date than that on the bell. 
 
 A few years before the year 1857, when I came of age, in consequence 
 of the demesne being on Sundays filled with people attending Divine 
 Service, who used to tie their horses to the trees in the avenue, and whose 
 carriages filled the old stable-yard, destroying all privacy, my mother and 
 her husband Frederick, fourth Marquis of Londonderry, determined as my 
 guardians to build a new Parish Church outside the demesne, nearer to 
 Enniskerry and more conveniently situated for the parishioners, and also 
 to make the demesne more private. 
 
 Accordingly, plans were made by Mr. Norton, a London architect, 
 and I laid the first stone of the new Church on the day I came of age, 
 13 October, 1857, and it was consecrated by Dr. Whately, then Archbishop 
 of Dublin, when completed in 1859. 
 
 When the new Church came into use I purchased the fabric of the old 
 Church from the then Rector, the Rev. Joshua Lacy Bernard, for £50. It 
 was then unroofed, partly pulled down, and converted into a picturesque 
 ruin. There are two family monuments in marble in it, which I had reset 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 so as to stand the weather, one to my grandfather Richard, fifth Viscount, 
 and his two wives, with the " Recording Angel," by the sculptor Kirk 
 of Dublin. He is there recorded as seventh Viscount, but the inscription, 
 as well as that on the other monument to his daughter-in-law Amelia, 
 Viscountess Powerscourt, who is stated to be the widow of the eighth 
 Viscount, is incorrect. These inscriptions were written by Miss Martha 
 Wingfield, and she put in the numbers including the two former creations, 
 which of course are not recognized, the numbers dating, in reality, only 
 from the last creation in 1743. 
 
 The inscription on the monument to Amelia is of rather a fulsome 
 character, and it is related that when this monument was to be erected the 
 Rev. Robert Daly, Rector of Powerscourt, and afterwards Bishop of 
 Cashel, declined to allow it to be put up unless he was permitted to add a 
 text of Scripture, so that, after the inscription enumerating the many virtues 
 of the deceased and her descendants, he put underneath, " For all have 
 sinned, and come short of the glory of God." The Rev. Robert Daly was 
 a very powerful preacher of the Evangelical School, and Archbishop 
 Whately propounded the following riddle (he was very fond of putting 
 riddles to his clergy) : " Why is the Irish Church the poorest, and at the 
 same time the most contented Church in the world ? " " Because it has 
 only one Bob Daly and does not want any more ! " 
 
 At the time of the Disestablishment of the Irish Church in 1869, 
 there was a clause inserted in the Act that any Church which was situated 
 within a demesne (and there were many such) might be claimed by the 
 proprietor, with its churchyard, and become vested in him and his heirs. I 
 therefore claimed the Church and churchyard, and it has been vested in me 
 and my heirs from that time, subject to the rights of burial of those 
 parishioners and their families who were in residence at that time. I requested 
 Mr. William Buckley, the then innkeeper of the "Powerscourt Arms" Hotel, 
 Enniskerry, and who was Churchwarden, to furnish me with a list of the 
 parishioners, and the list was appended to the Vesting Order, which is kept 
 in the Privy Council Office or the office of the Church Commissioners under 
 the Act, now merged in the Irish Land Commission, Church Property 
 Department, 5 Ely Place, Dublin. A similar list is also kept in my Estate 
 Office, Enniskerry. So the burials in the old churchyard are restricted to 
 those families who had rights there prior to 1869. Any parishioners who 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 have become so since that date are buried in the new churchyard at Ennis- 
 kerry, and these are under. the control of the Vestry. But the Vestry has 
 no jurisdiction in the old churchyard, although the sexton keeps the key, 
 so that funerals of persons entitled to be buried there are carried on only 
 by my permission, and only of those who had rights there before. 
 
 The Roman Catholics had formerly a burial-ground inside the demesne 
 also, at Churchtown, where are the ruins of an ancient Chapel. This old 
 burial-ground was very full, and at every funeral the bones of those who 
 had been buried there before were turned up in digging new graves. There 
 were also terrible scenes . sometimes at funerals passing to it and coming 
 past Powerscourt House, etc. Very often those bearing coffins were 
 drunk, and I have myself seen a coffin dropped upon the road near the 
 farmyard, and bursting open, the remains being exposed to view. 
 
 This was a terrible scandal, and I applied to the Parish Priest, the 
 Rev. Thomas O'Dwyer, to see if something more civilized could not be. 
 done, and to assist in remedying the scandal. I said that if he would 
 consent to this old burial-ground being closed by an Order in Council, it 
 containing about a quarter of an acre, I would give two acres in another 
 place, adjoining the Chapel at Curtlestown, instead. He agreed to this, and 
 went before the Privy Council and stated on oath that the burial-ground 
 was within a hundred yards of Powerscourt House, and that the smell 
 from it was perfectly pestilential ! On this evidence an order was given 
 that it should be closed. There is a burial-ground near Powerscourt 
 House, but it is the Protestant one, and not this one, which is more than a 
 mile from the house. I said to Father O'Dwyer afterwards that I was 
 surprised at his giving that evidence. But he said, " Oh ! I thought you 
 would like it." I afterwards invited Cardinal Cullen to come and consecrate 
 the new cemetery, which he did, and now there is ample accommodation 
 for burials of both creeds in this parish, as there is also another ancient 
 burial-ground called Stagonil, the ancient name of the parish, in the 
 townland of Killegar, near the Scalp ; so that was settled to the satisfaction 
 of all parties. 
 
 With regard to the water arrangements, the reservoir at Annacrevy, 
 being at a level of 250 ft. above the house, the pressure was so great upon 
 the pipes in the house that they were constantly bursting, and therefore I 
 constructed a tank in the Lady's Meadow, at a lower level, commanding, 
 
 L 
 
74 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 the top of the house by only a few feet, and laid a main for the house supply 
 from this tank, which contains a filter-bed. 
 
 The old main is used for the supply of the farm, garden, and other 
 outbuildings. A new main was laid for the supply of the house separately ; 
 the high-pressure main from the upper reservoir was still retained, and a new 
 main laid and connected with the fire-mains in and about the house, and this 
 main was also continued down to Juggy's Pond or Lake, with stop-cocks near 
 gardener's house, and also at the top of slope over the Lake, and connected 
 with the fountain in its centre, which throws water in a jet nearly 100 ft. 
 high. This was carried out by Mr. Baird of Lower Abbey Street, Dublin. 
 
 The fire-mains and fountain in Juggy's Pond were completed in 1885. 
 The alteration of the East Wing from the stables to its present purpose was 
 carried out in 1886-7, and paid for by the sale of some valuable pictures. 
 
 The drainage of Powerscourt House was in a very defective condition, 
 and so I employed Mr. Samuel Bolton to reconstruct all the drains on the 
 newest sanitary system. 
 
 The old main drain of the house was an arched passage, large 
 enough to walk down for a short distance. It issued from the house 
 at the point where the garden-door is now, near the pantry, and ran 
 due south across the terrace, and drained into the pond or lake in an old 
 brick drain. 
 
 This was a very bad arrangement, and I laid an 1 8 in. pipe on the 
 floor of the old arched passage, as far as it went, to a point near the terrace- 
 wall by the statue of Victory, where is a ventilating manhole, and then 
 carried it diagonally across the terrace in a south-easterly direction, down 
 as far as the gate at the lower turning of the road, in the Tinnehinch 
 Avenue. Another drain was laid from the East Wing of the house, down 
 the hollow, joining the main drain near the gate, on to the Avenue, in a 
 cesspool. The hollow is called the Kennel Hollow, because formerly there 
 was an old dog-kennel at the back of the stables, now all pulled down. 
 These drains are all ventilated by gratings about every hundred yards, and 
 the pipes are laid on concrete bases with cemented joints, so that it is 
 impossible for them to shift or subside. This having been carried out as 
 far as the gate, it was found necessary to carry the drains, which join at this 
 point, down to the river, so that I laid a 9 in. pipe from the cesspool, which 
 was abolished as such, the water now only flowing through it, the pipe 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 IS 
 
 following the road, and then turning down the valley to the right, down 
 to the river. This can be traced by the ventilating gratings. 
 
 A little to the north of the farm is a saw-mill pond, which I constructed 
 to supply the turbine at the saw-mill in the yard, raising the dam of the 
 pond with a concrete wall so as to give sufficient pressure for the turbine in 
 the building formerly the barn, now the carpenter's shop, etc. 
 
 This pond is supplied from the overflow of the filter-tank in the 
 Lady's Meadow, and also from a mill-race with a sluice from the brook 
 in Jeffrey's Glen. 
 
 It occurred to me, when enlarging this pond and raising the wall, to 
 provide a self-acting flush for the house-drains, so I had a 9 in. earthen- 
 ware pipe laid from the head of the main drain of the house, under the 
 glazed court, to this pond, which terminates in a funnel, with a grating 
 over it, so that, when the pond fills up, the overflow goes down this funnel 
 and flushes the drain without any trouble. An iron screen round the funnel 
 prevents waves in the pond making the flush too strong in windy weather. 
 There is also a lever attached to this pipe under the funnel, so that in 
 case of necessity the pipe can be opened and a flush let down, though the 
 pond be not full. 
 
 The flood-water from this pond is carried away by an outfall on the 
 west side into the glen. The drainage was all completed in 1889, including 
 the extension down to the river. 
 
 The old barn, which used to contain, in the upper floor, a thrashing 
 machine driven by water from the saw-mill pond by a water-wheel, was 
 diverted from this purpose, and made into a carpenter's shop on the upper 
 floor, and the yard at the back, formerly the stack-yard, is now used for 
 timber, and a turbine was erected in place of the water-wheel, and circular 
 and other saws connected with it ; the corn and hay being now stacked in 
 the iron sheds, further away from the buildings, in case of fire, and the corn 
 is now thrashed by a moveable thrashing machine, hired for the few days 
 required for the purpose. 
 
 The supply of drinking water is by an iron pipe, which I laid from an 
 ancient holy well called St. Moling's Well, in the upper sheep-walk in the 
 demesne, to a spout in the yard by the door to the Laundry Green. The water 
 was analyzed, and pronounced to be as pure a water as could be obtained. 
 It comes out of the granite formation, and I enclosed the spring with a 
 
 L 2 
 
76 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 concrete tank, from which the pipe is laid direct to the spout, so that 
 no pollution can occur to it. 
 
 St. Moling's Well gives the name to the adjacent townland — 
 Kilmolin. 
 
 On the east side of the farm-buildings, between them and the back 
 of the Laundry, is a large open space, formerly occupied by a grove of 
 tall beech trees ; but as most of these were decaying at the roots I cut 
 them down in 1900, and cleared the ground, lest they should fall upon the 
 adjacent buildings, leaving the space for any additional buildings which 
 may be required. In one of these trees formerly hung the workmen's 
 bell, described above, and I removed it and hung it on the end of the old 
 barn in a more permanent manner. 
 
 UPPER FLOOR, EAST WING. 
 
 The Upper Floor, East Wing, was converted into a school-room and 
 a suite of three nice convenient bedrooms. The ceilings, which were 
 formerly flat, were made coved ceilings, so as to give more height to the 
 rooms. The semicircular chimney-piece in the school-room was formerly 
 in the small Drawing Room ; I removed it and replaced it in the Drawing 
 Room by a handsomer one. The chimney-pieces in the three bedrooms 
 •came from the Pink Bedroom and Dressing Room and Ivy Dressing 
 Room on the upper floor. The chimney-piece in the East Bedroom 
 was one of those bought from Hodges, and came out of an old house in 
 Dublin. That in the East Dressing Room was formerly in the Tent-room 
 upstairs, where it was replaced by a handsomer marble one ; and at the 
 same time that the mantelpieces were erected new modern fire-places were 
 put in, and all the spaces round them made good with fire-bricks, and all 
 joists cut away underneath the hearths and filled up with concrete. 
 
 The heating apparatus was also extended into the East Wing, and 
 the Saloon and Long Room, etc., and provision was left in the heating- 
 pipes in the subway for extending the heating apparatus to the new 
 Billiard Room, if that is constructed in the future. When the East Wing 
 drains were laid, a branch was also made from the iron plate on the east 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 77 
 
 side of the house, where there is a junction with the East Wing drain, 
 which can be connected with the Billiard Room whenever built. The 
 door of ground-floor w.c. in the East Wing, with mirrors in it, was 
 formerly the door of my mother's bathroom, where the Dining Room is now. 
 
 FRONT OF HOUSE. 
 
 The North Front of the house is of Italian style, ornamented with pilasters. 
 The pediment contains the arms of Richard Wingfield, created Viscount 
 Powerscourt (third creation) 1743, as described in the Preface. 
 
 On the front are five marble busts, four of them of the Caesars, formerly 
 ornamenting the front of an old house near Maidenhead, Buckinghamshire, 
 which belonged to the Duke of Sussex. I bought them in London. The 
 centre one, a female bust, I bought in Dublin. I call it the Empress Julia, 
 after my wife. 
 
 TERRACES. 
 
 The large books of plans contain drawings for the Terraces by Daniel 
 Robertson, architect, in 1841 — 1843, for Richard, sixth Viscount Powers- 
 court, my father. 
 
 It is related of Mr. Robertson that he was always in debt, and when 
 the sheriff's officers were after him, warning being given of their presence 
 to seize him, he was hidden in the dome on the top of the house. 
 
 He was given to drink, and always drew best when his brain was 
 excited with sherry. He suffered from gout, and used to be driven about 
 in a wheel-barrow with a bottle of sherry ; while that lasted he was always 
 ready to direct the workmen, but when it was finished he was incapable of 
 working any more. Nevertheless his drawings in the books of plans shew 
 what a clever artist he was. 
 
 The upper stone terrace nearest to the house was built after his 
 plans, and designed from the Villa Butera in Sicily, near Palermo, which 
 has been since destroyed. The first stone was laid by myself when a 
 
78 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 little boy, brought out from the school-room on a cold day, my seventh 
 birthday, 13 October, 1843. I little thought then that I should live 
 to complete the whole work ! There is a brass plate on the centre of the 
 perron designed by Mr. Penrose, which records the dates of the construc- 
 tion of the whole of the buildings and terraces. 
 
 The stone-work was carried out under Mr. Robertson's superintend- 
 ence by Mathew Noble, an old tenant and stone-cutter in Glencree. The 
 working drawings are all in the book of plans. All the granite was from 
 our own quarries in Glencree. 
 
 The three statues — Apollo Belvedere, Diana, and Laocoon — Richard, 
 sixth Viscount Powerscourt brought from Italy, but he died in 1844, and 
 they had not been placed in their positions. The work of the terrace 
 was thus discontinued, and was not resumed until 1858. At that time 
 there was a gardener here, named Alexander Robertson, who had been 
 gardener at Camperdown in Scotland. He was a very clever man, and had 
 more taste than any man of his class that I ever saw. 
 
 I consulted a landscape-gardener, named Mr. James Howe, who came 
 here and made designs for building the terraces ; but after considering 
 them for some time, my ideas reverted to the plans made for my father. 
 
 The long slope on the western side, running north and south, or 
 nearly so, gave us the scale on which the other slopes should be constructed. 
 
 Mr. Howe's plan, which is found in the book, shews a succession of 
 small slopes, which we did not consider were bold enough to go with the 
 original idea. The central ground was a plateau, or undulating field, and 
 there was a hillock in the centre of it, in front of the house, which used to 
 hide out half of the lake, looking down from the upper terrace. It was clear 
 that this hillock must be removed. I made excursions to Versailles, and 
 also to the great gardens of Schonbrunn, near Vienna ; also to Schwetzingen, 
 near Mannheim in Germany, and other places. We then consulted 
 Mr. Brodrick Thomas, the celebrated landscape-gardener. He came out 
 on the terrace with an opera-glass, and looked about, and I pointed out to 
 him the hillock in the centre. " Yes," he said, " you must take away that 
 stomach ;" and he also drew a plan of what he proposed. However, 
 Alexander Robertson and I thought that his plan, as well as Mr. Howe's, 
 was not quite what was wanted. At that time you could get labour very 
 cheap. There were a quantity of poor people on the estate up at Glencree 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 who were wanting employment, and we put them on the work at this 
 terrace, at about six shillings a week. I had upwards of one hundred men 
 on it at one time, with carts and horses, and they were very glad of the 
 employment. 
 
 We proceeded to lower the hillock, and after consideration we 
 thought that the only way to get rid of the superfluous earth was to put it 
 into the pond. 
 
 We made a roadway down the middle of the terrace, before the flights 
 of steps and boat-house were built, into the pond, which of course was 
 emptied of water, and we set to work with the carts and carted the gravel, 
 and laid it over the whole bottom of the pond, about 2^ acres, 8 to 10 ft. 
 thick ; the pond was 1 5 or 16 ft. deep before, and had been made by an 
 artificial bank at the south-east side. This bank, being made of gravel, 
 leaked a greal deal, and as the eastern side of the terrace, where we were 
 removing the earth, we found to be of a marly nature, we carted all the 
 marl into the eastern side of the pond, and this strengthened the weak 
 bank, filling it up, and at the same time making it water-tight. The pond 
 being now reduced to 6 ft., of course there is not now near so great a 
 pressure on the bank. A portion of the earth was also removed to the 
 east side to form the eastern terrace, which runs north and south, or nearly 
 so. By this means we got the central part down to the proper level, and 
 formed the slopes on each side of the centre in front of the house, and also 
 the east slope, somewhat on a similar scale as the old slope on the west side. 
 
 The level walk leading north and south, from the upper terrace to the 
 lower end, by the Moss House, where a large group of Scotch firs is, was 
 made at a certain incline, and we had to make the flats of the other terraces 
 at different levels at the same inclines to suit with this one. 
 
 When we first began to lay out the ground we naturally thought 
 that we would make the grass-flats level, but we then found that they 
 looked cocked up the wrong way. We then took the levels of the walk 
 at the top of the long slope, and found that, from the upper end at the 
 garden-gate to the lower end at the Moss House, there is a fall of 16 ft., 
 so that we had to make all the other levels corresponding with that. 
 
 We then formed the amphitheatre, as it may be called, round the lake 
 or pond, with four successive flats and slopes, which blend naturally into 
 the surrounding ground at each side. 
 
8o POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 When we were forming these terraces, we discovered that the surface of 
 the water came out on the face of the slopes and threatened to carry 
 them away and destroy our work. We found on examination that the 
 land we were working on had in ancient times been part of a glacier 
 moraine, and the ice, having carried down the gravel, had lain probably for 
 centuries at certain levels, which were marked by thin coats of marl, which 
 were impervious to water and did not correspond with our terraces. 
 
 Robertson suggested, as the only way of getting rid of this difficulty, 
 that before we formed the terraces we should tap these marly deposits 
 and dig holes through them, behind where our terraces were to be, so that 
 the water inside, on coming out on these marly levels, should fall down 
 through these holes into the next stratum of gravel and disappear. This 
 was done, and we had no more trouble with the water afterwards. 
 
 The work of moving the earth, etc., went on for nearly twelve years. 
 W r e did part of it, and then stopped on account of the expense and waited 
 until the following summer, and then began again. But it was at last 
 completed about the year 1867. Then the question was, what stone-work 
 to put in the centre ? 
 
 We built the boat-house with lime petrifaction, which we formed of a 
 kind of tufa or petrified sphagnum which came out of the bank on the 
 lower road leading from Enniskerry to the Dargle Bridge. 
 
 The four flights of granite steps were then built, and the whole was 
 complete, except the steps between the upper stone terrace and the four 
 lower flights. 
 
 In Mr. Daniel Robertson's plans of 1842-3 this was proposed to be 
 filled by another flight of steps similar to the upper one, but of larger 
 design, as may be seen by his plan ; but I thought that such a mass of 
 granite steps would be too large for the house, and also have a monotonous 
 appearance. 
 
 At the farther end of the terrace, beyond the gardens, at the end 
 of the terrace- walk, which is 800 yards long from east to west, stands 
 another statue, designed by Mr. Macdonald at the same time for my 
 father, representing Ajax with the body of Patroclus, not very successful 
 either. 
 
 At the east end of the terrace, at each side of the steps, are two bronze 
 copies of the well-known statues found at Herculaneum — the " Sitting 
 
( 
 
OLD 
 
 ENGLISH 
 
 GATE. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 81 
 
 Mercury" and the "Sleeping Faun." These I bought at Naples in 1883, 
 from Massulli, sculptor in bronze. Also two small bronze statues, which 
 stand in front of the conservatories, " The Ball-throwers," also copies of 
 those from Herculaneum. 
 
 The gate leading into the garden at the east side is a copy of an old 
 German gate called " The Chorus Gate " (I do not know where the original 
 is). It was made by Messrs. Feetham and Co., Soho Square, London. 
 I bought it from them. 
 
 The large gate at the western side of the garden, on the Long Walk, 
 is an original piece of old German work. I bought it from Mr. Pratt, the 
 curiosity dealer in Bond Street, London. He did not know much about 
 it, and said it was Italian work, and from the curious perspective arches, 
 flanked by columns in the central design, he said that it belonged to the 
 Colonna family at Rome, but this idea existed only in his own imagination. 
 The late Mr. George Anne, belonging to one of the old Catholic families 
 in Yorkshire, and who was a great connoisseur in iron-work, said to me that 
 that was all nonsense, and that he knew where the gates came from, 
 namely, from a church at Bamberg in Bavaria. 
 
 Some time after that, as I was going with my wife to a watering-place 
 called Franzensbad, we stopped at Bamberg for a day or two, and I looked 
 about, and in one of the churches found the iron railings, on each side of 
 the high altar, with the empty space where this gate had formerly stood. 
 How it got into Mr. Pratt's hands I do not know. But there is a similar 
 one in the Cathedral at Augsburg, with the same ingenious perspective 
 design, intended to make the church look longer than it really is. The 
 gate at the south end of the garden is an old English one, as may be seen 
 by the rose, thistle, and shamrock in the upper part of it. This I bought 
 in 1873 fr° m a man named Blake, in a street near Tottenham Court 
 Road, London. 
 
 The double gate in the centre, opposite the conservatories, is of Italian 
 design, made for me by Mo'ise dalla Torre at Venice. I was considering 
 what to put in the open space between the two granite piers at the entrance 
 to the kitchen-garden, so as to be able to lock up the kitchen-garden 
 when required. The Hon. Frederick Lawless, who had travelled much in 
 Italy, suggested to employ Messrs. Moise dalla Torre, who had great taste, 
 and wrote to a friend of his at Venice, who recommended him to have 
 
 M 
 
$2 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 the gate of " the grape-vine pattern," as being suitable to the entrance to 
 a garden. I accordingly commissioned them to make the gate, and it was 
 erected in 1900. The vases on the granite piers were also designed by 
 them, and are made of Capo d'Istria stone. This completed the series of 
 gates for the gardens. 
 
 There was an old sun-dial which formerly stood in the walk near the 
 round pond in the garden, which was removed, as it rather spoilt the 
 effect of the vista, and re-erected on the south side of the green pond, 
 beyond the kitchen-garden. 
 
 The two winged figures of Fame and Victory on the terrace were 
 executed for me in 1866 by Professor Hugo Hagen of Berlin, having been 
 from the design of the great German sculptor Rauch, Professor Hagen 
 having succeeded Rauch in the studio formerly occupied by him at Berlin. 
 I have a letter written by Professor Hagen to me at the time when he was 
 executing these statues, saying that while he was at work at one of them 
 the King of Prussia came in, and wished to have one of these Victories to 
 celebrate the battle of Sadowa. Professor Hagen told him that the figures 
 were ordered for me, but the King said, " Never mind, I will have 
 them," but afterwards changed his mind, and had the figures executed 
 in bronze. 
 
 I was so much pleased with these figures that as Professor Hagen had 
 asked me to allow him to execute something of his own work, I com- 
 missioned him to make me the two Pegasi, which represent the supporters 
 of the Wingfield arms, and which are now on the top of the boat-house at 
 the lake. These were executed in 1869 in zinc. Unfortunately Professor 
 Hagen died in 1871. They are painted to imitate bronze, as is also the 
 statue by Molin in the East Terrace. 
 
 The boat-house was built from a kind of lime petrifaction that was 
 found in a bank near Enniskerry, as was also the rockery in the wilderness 
 below, being all executed by Mr. Malcolm Dunn, the then gardener. 
 The Triton fountain in the centre of the lake was taken from a model 
 made for me by Mr. Laurence Macdonald at Rome, from the well-known 
 fountain in the Piazza Barberini. I gave this model to Sir Thomas Farrell 
 in Dublin, who executed the fountain in cement. The fountain has a 
 nozzle three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and throws the water about 
 100 ft. high. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 83. 
 
 On the main entrance gate at Enniskerry there is a stone eagle, which 
 surmounts the arch. This was executed for me by Mr. Kirk of Dublin 
 in 1873, 
 
 In the garden, at each side of the gate at the west end, are four busts 
 of the four great Italian masters, Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, 
 Benvenuto Cellini, and Raphael. These are copies of those in the Vatican,.; 
 executed for me by Mr. Alexander Macdonald at Rome in 1878. The 
 marble pedestals I bought from an old garden near London. 
 
 After the Franco-German War in 1870-71 the Palais Royal in Paris 
 was burnt by the Communists, in May 1871. 
 
 Prince Jerome Napoleon, " Plon Plon," had resided there during the 
 Empire, and had collected many fine works of art, among which were two 
 grand bronze figures of Eolus of colossal size, seventeenth-century Italian 
 work, which were formerly a portion of a group for a fountain in the Duke 
 of Litta's palace at Milan. 
 
 These had been used for a similar purpose in one of the state rooms, 
 or on the staircase, I believe, in the Palais Royal, and were saved from the 
 conflagration of that Palace, among other works of art, and the whole of 
 Prince Napoleon's collections were sent to London, and were sold at 
 Christie's on Thursday, May 9th, 1872, and following days (see their Sale 
 Catalogue of that date). The following letters referring to them, written at 
 the time, are preserved in the book of papers about the various works of art 
 at Powerscourt in the safe in the Study. Shortly after the sale, which 
 created a good deal of interest, both on account of the rarity of the objects 
 sold and of the circumstances of that exciting time, I met Mr. Delane, the 
 celebrated editor of " The Times," called in those days " Jupiter," at Lord 
 Vernon's at dinner, and the conversation turning on the sale and my 
 purchase of these statues through Mr. Agnew ; Mr. Delane at my request 
 wrote to a friend in Paris who knew M. Emile Ollivier, the late President 
 of the Chambre des Deputes under the Emperor Louis Napoleon Bona- 
 parte (Napoleon III.), who sent the copy of a letter from Prince Napoleon 
 giving the circumstances of his becoming the possessor of the statues, and 
 of how they had been placed in the Palais Royal. The letter being only a 
 copy is without the signature of Prince Napoleon, as, naturally, M. Ollivier 
 did not copy that, only sending the information required. 
 
 M 2 
 
8 4 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 Mr. Delane wrote from — 
 
 " Serjeant's Inn, 
 
 " July 7, 1874. 
 
 " Dear Lord Powerscourt, 
 
 "When I had the pleasure of meeting you at Lord Vernon's you were 
 anxious to ohtain some information respecting a pair of bronze Tritons you had 
 bought out of the Palais Royal, and I promised to inquire for you. I have just 
 received the enclosed letter, with the necessary information. The E. O. referred 
 to is Emile Ollivier. 
 
 " I hope the description will be satisfactory, and am, 
 
 " Ever faithfully yours, 
 
 "John J. Delane/" 
 
 "83 Avenue Josephine, Paris, 
 
 " 5 July, 1874. 
 
 "My dear Delane, 
 
 " E. O. has just sent me the letter from P. P., of which the enclosed 
 is an exact copy. I hope it will be satisfactory to your friend. 
 
 " In haste, ever yours, 
 
 "And. Hardman. 
 
 " I could not send you the original because 0., who is gone to St. Tropez, 
 requests me to return it him." 
 
 " E. O." is Emile Ollivier, late President of the Chambre des Deputes 
 under the Second Empire. 
 
 " P. P." = Plon Plon=Prince Jerome Napoleon. 
 
 " Prangins, 
 
 " 2 Juillet, '74. 
 
 " Voici les renseignements sur le placement des deux Tritons Eoles que j'ai en 
 effet vendu a Londres. Les deux statues viennent de chez le Due de Litta de 
 Milan, 011 ils etaient placees a sa campagne de Lainate. J' en ai achete quatre, 
 deux sont a un Mr. Lucas, auquel j'ai vendu mon chateau ici ; ils sont dans une 
 grande serre. Les figures doivent etre placees contre un mar, je ne puis faire un 
 dessin, n'ayant pas les dimensions. Au Palais Royal les Eoles jettaient du gaz 
 par les bouches et de Peau entre leur jambes, e'etait original et joli. Les statues 
 sont du i7 e siecle, un peu baroques, mais, bien placees dans un jardin, une serre ou 
 un escalier, elles font bon effete 
 
 I was anxious that works of art of such importance as these statues 
 should be placed in a prominent position, and made inquiries from various 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 85 
 
 friends, among others from Mr. Brinsley Marlay, well known as a con- 
 noisseur of Italian art, as to who should be consulted. He mentioned that 
 there was no better authority than Mr. Francis Cranmer Penrose, at that 
 time architect to the Chapter of St. Paul's Cathedral, London. I therefore 
 asked Mr. Penrose to come over and view the site, and suggested to him 
 the idea of a classical composition, such as may be seen in several country 
 places in England, and notably at Versailles, at La Granja, near Madrid, 
 and elsewhere, with a perron with a central recess or alcove, in which 
 the figures of Eolus should be the salient features. I had seen many 
 examples of a similar character at Rome and other places. Mr. Penrose 
 took up the idea with his characteristic zest, and the result was a design 
 which he carried out, placing these grand statues in the centre, spouting 
 water into a stone basin, with a pediment surmounting them, in the arch 
 of which is placed a head of Apollo, the God of the Sun, with a sun-dial 
 beneath it, between the two statues, the gnomon of which is constructed of 
 bronze, like the figures, with the well-known motto, " Horas non numero 
 nisi serenas." Mr. Penrose was so accurate in his work that when I 
 suggested that the sun-dial should mark Dublin time, he observed, " Oh, 
 no ! we will mark the time exactly on this spot," although Dublin is only 
 some fourteen miles distant. 
 
 My notion was that as all the decorations of the upper terrace, statues, 
 vases, etc., were marble, this second terrace should be all bronze, with these 
 statues as the main and leading feature, other works of art in that metal 
 being grouped round them. The design includes an upper central platform, 
 with descending approaches on either side ; and to avoid the monotony of 
 too many flights of steps, I suggested that there should be substituted 
 inclines of pebble or rough pavement, with breaks of granite, similar to 
 the paving of the steep streets of Genoa and other Italian towns, where the 
 ascent and descent is made by mules with burthens, as well as by foot 
 passengers. 
 
 At each side of the upper platform he placed two circular pedestals of 
 Ballyknockin granite, which is harder than the stone of this district, and 
 better for circular work, on which are placed two fine bronze groups of 
 children, of French design, similar to those on the terraces at Versailles. 
 
 I had obtained these two groups in the following manner. In one of 
 my tours on the Continent, on the look-out for works of art, I happened 
 
86 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 to be at Brussels, where, in the possession of Mr. Gauchez, the celebrated 
 art dealer, I found these two bronze groups of children, and on asking him 
 where they came from, he said, " Ces statues appartenaient a ce Marquis 
 Anglais qui a fait tant de folies !" I suggested- " Hastings," and he said, 
 " Oui, c'est cela, ils viennent de son chateau de Loudon en Ecosse." 
 
 An old friend of mine, the late Mr. John Savile Lumley, afterwards 
 created Lord Savile, was British Minister at Brussels at the time, and as I 
 was unable to stay there, he kindly negotiated the purchase of these bronzes 
 for me, and they now decorate the perron of this structure. They are the 
 work of Marin, a contemporary of Clodion. The two vases on each side, 
 with Cupids facing each other, I bought at St. Petersburg, they having 
 been the property of Montferrand, the architect of the Isaac Cathedral. 
 
 This gave me the idea of continuing the ornamentation of the side 
 flights with similar bronze vases, and the late Sir Richard Wallace, whose 
 marvellous treasures of art have since become the property of the British 
 nation, informed me that I could get copies of the Versailles vases of like 
 but different designs, as I had observed that he had some in the garden at 
 Hertford House, Manchester Square, London, and also at his villa of 
 " Bagatelle " in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris. The vases at Versailles had 
 never been allowed to be copied until the late Lord Hertford obtained 
 permission from King Louis Philippe to have them imitated for " Baga- 
 telle," and of course when once models had been made from the originals 
 they have since been reproduced in terre cuite and other materials. Sir 
 Richard Wallace told me that the models were with " Beurdeley," a dealer 
 in bronzes in the Rue Louis le Grand, Paris, and it was there that I had 
 these beautiful designs reproduced for the terrace. The work is as fine of 
 its kind as can be found anywhere, and I selected several of the designs, 
 and had four made of each pattern so as to have pairs of each for the two 
 sides of the perron. 
 
 The large basin into which water flows between the bronze statues 
 is made of Cornish granite, as is also the head of Apollo in the arch, which 
 is designed after one found in the excavations at Halicarnassus. When 
 the workmen were placing this in position, Mr. Penrose asked them what 
 they thought it was, and they said, " Shure it is the Saviour with the crown 
 of thorns !" They were not instructed in heathen mythology. 
 
 The whole structure was built by Mr. George Moyers, builder, of 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 87 
 
 Dublin, afterwards knighted, when Lord Mayor of Dublin, as Sir George 
 Moyers. He had many conferences on the subject with Mr. Penrose in 
 the Octagon Library, especially as to the sun-dial, and he told me after- 
 wards that he never met such a man as Mr. Penrose for figures and 
 calculations. Sir George Moyers was a man of fine figure, some six feet two 
 in height, and he had such a remarkable appearance that he went by the 
 name of " The Duke of Memel," and his son was called " Viscount 
 Scantling." All the stone except the basin and head of Apollo was quar- 
 ried on the estate, in Glencree. The iron railings which surmount the 
 perron are old German work. 
 
 Shortly after the Franco-German War I was at Homburg, and found 
 in a courtyard the remains of an old balcony, which had graced the central 
 windows of the old Castle, and had for some reason been taken down. 
 I saw that they were of fine wrought-iron work, and a common cast-iron 
 balcony had been put up at the Castle to replace them. I bought the old 
 railings, and, as I intended to place them on the perron, I gave them as 
 a design to Messrs. Brawn and Downing of Birmingham, who adapted the 
 straight part of- them to the purpose, and added the curved portions after 
 the same model, and also designed the central portion from a drawing by 
 Mr. Penrose. They also designed, at the same time, the railing on the 
 boat-house at the lake, and the four large iron seats on the terrace. In the 
 old balcony the gilt leaf-work was only on one side of the railings, so I had 
 it doubled, so that it looks equally well from whichever side it is looked at, 
 and Messrs Brawn and Downing completed the whole. 
 
 The building is hollow, and the taps for turning on the fountains for 
 the bronze statues are got at by lifting an iron flap in the floor on the top 
 of the perron. They are supplied from a lead pipe running along under 
 the walk past the cedar tree and the glass houses in the gardens, being a 
 branch from the old water-main near the gardener's house, but in case of 
 repairs being required the water is turned off by the taps under the perron. 
 The outfall from the basin flows down to the lake, and there is a manhole 
 on one of the semi-circular terraces, half-way down, the water eventually 
 going into the lake to the east of the boat-house. The upper part of the 
 structure has four steps leading down to the central floor, which is paved 
 with designs from a drawing by Mr. Penrose, in black and white pebbles, 
 brought from the sea-beach at Bray, imbedded in concrete. This was 
 
88 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 carried out by some workmen from Bray. On each side of the steps are 
 four couchant lions, designed after those at the foot of the steps of the 
 ascent to the Capitol at Rome, also designed by Mr. Penrose, of a smaller 
 size than the originals. On each side of the broad walk below are four 
 polished grey granite seats. It was intended to make these of Aberdeen 
 granite, but I thought it better to have Irish granite, and these were made 
 at the quarries at Goragh Wood, near Newry, co. Down. The larger pair 
 of the two were said to be the longest slabs which had been cut out of 
 those quarries. Flanking this walk are a pair of French bronze vases with 
 covers, ornamented with armorial bearings. These I bought from a 
 curiosity-dealer in Buckingham Palace Road, London, named Waters, 
 March 23rd, 1871. 
 
 The sunk flower-beds on the plateau on each side were designed by 
 Mr. Milner, who carried out the gardens at the Crystal Palace at Sydenham. 
 In the centre of each set of sunk panels is a large marble tazza, 9 ft. 
 in diameter, fitted to hold flowers. I got these from the Carrara Wharf, 
 near Vauxhall Bridge, London, as well as all the other marble vases on the 
 terraces. As these cost a good deal, I spread the purchases over several 
 years, buying one pair one year and another the next, and so on, and as 
 they were made they were shipped straight from Carrara to London, and 
 on to Dublin. 
 
 I have often felt since that if one had only known what a depression 
 of agriculture there was to be, I ought never to have embarked in all that 
 expense ! The statues of Apollo Belvedere and Diana on the upper 
 terrace were brought from Rome by my father, as was also the Laocoon, 
 placed now against the wall, opposite the long walk leading to the south. 
 The panels in the pedestals with the coats of arms were also made for him, 
 so when I erected these statues I used the panels as he had intended. He 
 died on his way home in 1 844, and these statues were in the old coach- 
 house in the former stable-yard on the east side of the house, all of which 
 I pulled down when I moved the stables to the west side, so when the 
 pedestals were built it was not far to bring the statues to them. The ivy- 
 covered wall makes a good background for the Laocoon. The pedestal of 
 this is a single block of granite quarried on the townland of Tonygarra, in 
 Glencree. We found a suitable block there close to the country road, out 
 of which this was cut in the rough, and was brought out on to the road on 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 89 
 
 rollers. It was such a weight that when it got on to the road, the subsoil 
 being soft and boggy, it sunk through the road and buried itself in the soft 
 earth. We had to dig it out again, and laid planks upon the road to 
 support it. Then, in order to get it down to the terrace, we had to make 
 a platform of planks, rolling it a few yards, and bringing the planks forward 
 again from behind, and so gradually rolling it all the way, some four miles, 
 to the gate of the demesne at Annacrevy, and then when we got it on the 
 sloping road inside it went rather faster, all the way on rollers and planks. 
 It took more than a week to bring it from its bed to the terrace, and when 
 we got it nearly to its position, and it was on the walk in front of the 
 conservatory, it again slipped off the planks, and buried itself in the soil ! 
 But when we had got it as far as that we were not going to be beat with it ! 
 It was placed in its position, and then the rough surface cut off it, and the 
 stone made into a smooth rectangular block. In placing it at first, we had 
 it on its side ; the marks of the lewis which held it hanging by a chain 
 may still be seen — but it was thought best afterwards to turn it up on its- 
 end, which was done. I had placed it first at the east end of the terrace, 
 where the semicircular bay is, with a walk going round it, but it was 
 thought that it blocked up the terrace too much ; so in after years, when 
 Mr. Bolton was constructing the new additions to the house, described 
 above, we moved it to its present much more suitable position. During 
 the process of moving this block all the way from Glencree, the late 
 Mr. Malcolm' Dunn, who was gardener here, and who afterwards became 
 gardener to the late Duke of Buccleugh at Dalkeith Palace, who was 
 superintending the men moving the stone, sat upon it, enthroned, and 
 gesticulated to the men from his elevated position, reminding me very 
 much of the pictures of the ancient Egyptians commanding their slaves, 
 probably the Israelites, moving obelisks and Nineveh bulls, etc., to their 
 temples. There is a picture by the late Mr. Long, R.A., of a scene of 
 this kind. 
 
 At this time Alexander Robertson, who had worked out the terraces, 
 was dead, and Malcolm Dunn was his successor. Robertson died just as 
 he had nearly completed the earthwork of the terraces, and so did not live 
 to see his work completed. I was much concerned at his loss, as he was 
 one of the most intelligent and energetic men of his class I have ever 
 come across. 
 
 N 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 When the earthwork on the central plateau was being carried out, we 
 had, as I have stated above, to cart away a great deal of the soil to get 
 down to the proper level, so as not to have the view of the entire lake 
 obstructed from the upper terrace, and most of this was put into the empty 
 lake ; but the terrace on the east side, which was irregular in form, never 
 having been finished by my father, required some work to bring it into 
 character with the rest of the design, and therefore some of the gravel from 
 the plateau was brought to that side, and the slope formed to correspond 
 with the rest. While doing this I erected a stone pedestal for a statue, as 
 I thought this terrace wanted a feature of some kind to account for its 
 existence. Mr. Macdonald, the sculptor at Rome, had designed two 
 colossal groups of heroic style for my father, which were sent over, in 
 plaster, and at his death had been placed in the Entrance Hall, where they 
 nearly touched the ceiling. These had been intended for the terraces, and 
 represented — one, a group of Hector and Andromache, the other Ajax 
 with the body of Patroclus. I had the plaster groups removed to the studio 
 of the late Mr. Kirk, sculptor, of Dublin, and suggested that he should 
 execute them in Portland stone, in what he called the " bravura style." 
 He did this, and I erected " Hector and Andromache " on the east terrace, 
 and " Ajax " at the western end of the long terrace walk, beyond the gar- 
 dens, extending the walk as far as the level ground permitted, to the edge 
 of the slope at the oak-wood called " The Dead Man's Bank." I do not 
 know why that bank has that name ; probably in the troubled times there 
 must have been some one killed there. This made the terrace-walk 800 
 yards long, from the steps near the old churchyard at • the east end to the 
 Ajax statue at the west end, and I planted an avenue of araucarias and abies 
 Douglasii from the part where the garden terminates to this statue. The 
 statue of Hector and Andromache was not approved of, being of rather 
 coarse design, and some years after I removed it and placed it on a slope 
 near the churchyard wall, in a less conspicuous position, and replaced it on 
 the east terrace with a much finer work, as follows. 
 
 There is a place called Stoke Park, near Slough, in Buckinghamshire, 
 in the village near which formerly lived the poet Gray, and which had come 
 into the possession of Mr. Labouchere, who was created Lord Taunton. 
 He purchased in the Great Exhibition in London in 1862 this fine group, 
 by a Swedish sculptor named Molin, representing (according to a Swedish 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE. AND DEMESNE. 
 
 9i 
 
 story) two men who had both won the affections of the same lady, and who 
 were fastened together by a strap round their two waists, to fight it out 
 with daggers. This was a copy of the original, which stands in the square 
 in front of the palace at Stockholm, and is made of zinc ; the original is, 
 I believe, in marble or bronze. 
 
 At Lord Taunton's death, Stoke Park was sold to Mr. Coleman, who 
 lived there, and had a fine collection of works of art, and was a great friend 
 of Sir Edwin Landseer, and possessed several of his pictures and many 
 others. Mr. Coleman got into difficulties, and then died, and everything 
 at Stoke was sold in London. 
 
 I went into Phillips's Auction Rooms in Bond Street, and among other 
 things saw this group standing in the passage. I enquired what was going 
 to be done with it, and was told that Lord Taunton had given five hundred 
 guineas for it in the Exhibition of 1862, but that it was so big that they 
 did not know what to do with it, as it was pretty nearly unsaleable. 
 I thought it was just what was wanted for the terrace, and the auctioneers 
 said, " If you will take it away, you shall have it for thirty-five pounds — it 
 is so large, we cannot get a bid for it." I closed with this, and brought it 
 over, and had it put on the pedestal on the east terrace. I think it is one of 
 the finest groups of statuary of modern times. 
 
 In the summer-house at the end of the long walk on the west side of 
 the terrace are placed two ancient Indian idols, made of soap-stone or some 
 other material, most elaborately carved. One represents Parvati, the wife 
 of Shiva the destroyer, and has eight arms, with one of which she disembowels 
 a victim whose foot is inserted in the back of a buffalo, and with another she 
 beheads a warrior, with another she draws an arrow from the quiver, holds 
 a lamp or fire-cresset in another, and the whole is emblematic of the 
 destructive forces of the god in the fantastic way which is seen so often in 
 these Indian figures. She wears an elaborate head-dress, and she is other- 
 wise nude — a wonderful piece of carving. The other figure appears to be 
 a Goddess of Plenty, perhaps the God or Goddess Rha, bearing in each 
 hand a plant with fruit, apparently a mango. 
 
 These two figures were in a temple in Mysore, probably the temple of 
 Hallibeed, which is full of similar statues. When travelling on my sporting 
 tour in Mysore, described in this book, seeing many similar temples with 
 wonderful carvings in stone, I asked one of my companions, Captain 
 
 N 2 
 
9 2 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 Johnston, who was then Commissioner of Irrigation in Mysore, to get me 
 a specimen or two of these beautiful works of art, and he sent me these 
 two, saying that he had persuaded the Brahmin in charge of the temple to 
 allow them to be taken away. The Brahmin would not take any money 
 for them, so I sent him an illustrated copy of the works of Shakespeare, 
 with which he was very much pleased. I believe the British Government will 
 not now permit any of these relics of ancient times to be removed, which is 
 quite right, as the shrines which they decorate would soon have been destroyed, 
 so that I do not suppose such statues as these could be obtained now. 
 
 There is a little cave on the west side of the pleasure-grounds, in a 
 sloping walk leading down to the lower part of the grounds, which was 
 made by a Miss Wingfield, who went by the name of " Aunt Martha," 
 an aunt of my father's. As the cave is in a secluded nook, it was called 
 the " Hermit's Cave," and to suggest its convenience for lovers, I placed 
 on the top of it an old lead figure of Cupid with his torch, which came 
 from an old garden near London. 
 
 The green pond, near this, at the southern end of the kitchen garden, 
 is planted with all the different coloured nympheas, or water-lilies, which 
 in the summer make it a blaze of colour round the central fountain, which 
 has a jet and dolphins spouting water, which I got from. Paris. The 
 pleasure-grounds are planted with many kinds of ornamental trees and 
 shrubs, which thrive in the moist climate of Ireland much better than they 
 do in England ; and the south wall outside the garden is planted with 
 various creeping plants, with herbaceous borders, adding to the beauty and 
 interest of the place ; these latter being arranged by the care of my wife, 
 as were also the herbaceous borders in the central walk of the garden itself. 
 The small fountain in the centre of the kitchen-garden has an old lead 
 female figure with a central jet of water, and several other old lead figures 
 are grouped round it. I collected these in London. They are very diffi- 
 cult to find now ; they are much prized for ornamental fountains. They 
 were probably made in the eighteenth century, and I am afraid that the 
 march of modern " improvement " has converted a good many of them 
 into lead pipe, in the same manner as has been the case in Italy with 
 bronze statues like those on the terrace, many of which were recast into 
 cannon in the various revolutions and wars. It becomes more and more 
 difficult for the lover of art to find genuine old things ; most of the things 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 now found are modern imitations. I remember years ago at Venice seeing 
 a ship at the Murano being laden with large wooden packing cases, and 
 on inquiring what these were, I was told, " They are full of antiquities ; 
 there is a large manufacture of them here ; they used all to go to England, 
 now they are mostly sent to America !" 
 
 I am afraid the days of collecting works of art by amateurs are nearly 
 over ; what comes into the market now is often of very doubtful origin, 
 and where genuine old curios are offered for sale the price has risen so as 
 to be within the reach only of the very wealthy, and bargains are seldom 
 to be met with ; so many works of art have been purchased for museums 
 and public collections. Also that the number of those which come to 
 auctions is now very much less than was formerly the case. The process 
 of cleaning and " restoring " pictures especially also has resulted in the ruin 
 of priceless works, even in public galleries on the Continent, as well as in 
 England ; and as Mr. Woods of Christie's used to say, " Buy a picture 
 now before it has been in the hands of the restorer, you will never see such 
 pictures again. Every one has their pictures cleaned, and all the beautiful 
 tone of age is taken off, and they are all becoming the mere ghosts of their 
 former selves." It is a melancholy thing often to contemplate the collec- 
 tions of the modern amateur, ancient works polished up quite new, and 
 all the old beauty gone for ever ; and in Museums on the Continent, for 
 instance, at Cassel, Berlin, and other towns, many beautiful old pictures are 
 now made to look brand new ! Let us hope that the sacrilegious hand will 
 not be laid upon the works of Rembrandt at Amsterdam ! The works of 
 Rubens in the Pinacothek have been utterly ruined, and those in Paris have 
 suffered very much. " Ruin seize thee, ruthless cleaner ! " 
 
 I often feel inclined to say, when I hear that the owner of a work of 
 art has the intention of having it " cleaned," as it is called, that is, to take 
 off the tone produced by age, and which to my mind is the great beauty ; 
 in the words of Lord Melbourne, " Can't you let it alone !" Oh ! to see the 
 pictures in a celebrated old house not far from Twickenham — a sad sight !■ — 
 beautiful works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Peter Lely, and others, now 
 shining bright with new varnish, and the delicate tones all rubbed off ! " No, 
 I will not spoil your picture ; I will only gently rub it with my finger ; 
 I always do it myself !" and then appears a bright new picture, with all the 
 tenderness of two centuries, and the golden effulgence which only time can 
 
94 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 produce, destroyed. The great picture by Rubens of " The Fall of the 
 Damned," in the Pinacothek at Munich, a most wonderful piece of painting 
 as it was, is now a mere wreck. The Rembrandt landscapes at Cassel, which 
 were so beautiful, in the same way all rubbed; and cleaned up and spoilt, 
 since the war 1870, when the picture-cleaners got at them. 
 
 Our National Galleries in Trafalgar Square and in Dublin have, I am 
 glad to say, not suffered in this way, and let us hope that future directors 
 will follow in the course pursued hitherto, namely, to let the pictures alone. 
 Of course there are some cases, such as in the works of artists who used 
 bitumen and similar materials to produce an immediate effect, where the 
 cracks caused by the expansion and contraction of such mediums must be 
 filled up, but this requires to be done with the greatest possible care, and 
 only by the most experienced hands, and even then the less the better, 
 only enough to prevent the whole picture falling into decay. The old 
 masters generally painted so solidly and with such trustworthy colours that 
 it is in their case seldom necessary, but to touch a RafFaelle or any of the 
 magnificent works of the ancient Flemish or Dutch schools is, in general, 
 only to destroy, and not to improve. But I have wandered from the 
 subject of this book, and must close this part of my work, although my 
 love for ancient art has led me to offer these final remarks upon the 
 tendency of the present time to restore everything, where in most cases it 
 would be much best to leave these old works as they were. 
 
 Outside the gate of the kitchen-gardens at the south end are, on each 
 side, a pair of old Roman sarcophagi of marble. When I was at Rome 
 many years ago I went with the late Mr. Laurence Macdonald in search of 
 any interesting relics we might find, and in a monastery-garden not far 
 from the Colosseum we came upon the monks, who were using these two 
 sarcophagi as troughs for feeding chickens, and for water-troughs for cattle, 
 as may be seen by the holes bored in the ends, used for emptying them of 
 the water, and stopped with wooden plugs — to such base uses had the coffins 
 of some ancient Romans come ! I bought them, and Mr. Macdonald 
 had them sent from Leghorn to Dublin by steamer. At all events now 
 they hold flowers, which is a more graceful use for them than that to which 
 the monks had put them. One of them with curved ornaments is said to 
 be of Parian marble. I placed them here, and thought it best not to have 
 them polished ; so they are in their original state. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 95 
 
 The pleasure-grounds are filled with many kinds of rare plants and 
 shrubs, many of which would not be hardy in England, but which thrive in 
 the temperate climate of the Green Isle. Rare conifers as well as de- 
 ciduous trees are scattered through the grounds, and those which I have 
 myself planted are now growing to a considerable size, Wellingtonias, 
 araucarias, and others having reached a height of fifty and sixty feet, and 
 even more, and choice shrubs are also fine specimens in their varied beauty. 
 One of the finest of these is Rhododendron Falconeri — a large plant some 
 eight feet high and ten feet across — which I transplanted from Penniclc's 
 nursery at Delgany some five or six years ago. This, like some of the 
 other specimens, is not hardy in England, and only survives and flourishes 
 here in very sheltered places. 
 
 The different varieties of the coloured lilies have been planted also in 
 the lake, together with the ordinary white and yellow water-lilies, where 
 they will have more room to spread than in the Green Pond, so that in the 
 course of years the effect ought to be very beautiful. 
 
 Both the ordinary variety as well as the variegated kinds of Phormium 
 tenax, New Zealand flax, have been propagated here from seed by my 
 direction. Lord Stair first sent me the flowering kind from Lochinch (it 
 seems to be a bisexual plant like the aucubas), and since that all the plants 
 in neighbouring gardens flowered, to the surprise of the gardeners and the 
 owners ! I had the seed collected and sown in flat boxes and started in a 
 mild heat, and afterwards planted out in a garden border, from whence 
 I transferred them to various moist places in the woods in the demesne, 
 where some thousands of plants impart a sort of exotic appearance to the 
 scene. The fibre is very tough, and at my suggestion it is used for tying up 
 fruit-trees on the garden walls instead of bass matting, a purpose which it 
 answers admirably. I am sure that the fibre, if soaked and treated like 
 ordinary flax, could be used for some purpose of commerce. 
 
 The planting of all the choice plants and shrubs, and seeing them 
 increase year by year in size and beauty, has been one of the greatest 
 pleasures of my life. 
 
96 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 THE STAG HORNS ON THE STAIRCASE. 
 
 ■ 
 
 These enormous horns, which I had mounted on a suitable head made at 
 Munich, were formerly in some old schloss near Kronstadt, in Transylvania. 
 They were bought for me at Vienna in 1862 by the Hon. Julian Fane, 
 Lord Westmoreland's brother, who was then Attache to the British Embassy 
 there under Lord Bloomfield. It appears to be a specimen, I may say a 
 masterpiece, of the work alluded to in this book, viz., the imitation or 
 trophies, where, when a guest of one of the great Hungarian magnates kills 
 a stag with an extra fine head, the owner keeps the real head in his own 
 collection, and a perfect model of it is given to the lucky sportsman. 
 There was an example of this in the Exhibition at Dresden a few years ago, 
 where was shewn what I at first thought was really a stag's head with 
 forty points, killed by His Majesty the Emperor Wilhelm II. of Germany ;* 
 but it was a model so well imitated that only a practised eye would detect 
 the difference. The original in this case is no doubt in one of the 
 Emperor's hunting castles. 
 
 The head which I possess must probably have been made as a specimen 
 of what could be done in this way, as no living stag ever carried such a 
 head. It seems to have been built up with portions of several fine heads, 
 arranged in the most natural way, as it is in all its parts a good representa- 
 tion of what a stag's head might become, if developed to this extent. The 
 structure of the head follows in every way the type of the true " Cervus 
 elaphus," and there is no sign of any imitation or adaptation of the horns ot 
 the Wapiti or any other species, if it were possible. It is a head, in all its 
 characteristics, of a true Austrian or Hungarian stag, and the antlers are all 
 real antlers, including the extraordinary deformed brow antlers. It has 
 been put together by those who know thoroughly the nature of the horns 
 of a great red-deer, and the beam of the horns has been thickened out with 
 iron wires and string and plaster-of-Paris, so as to be in proportion with the 
 immense crowns of the head. I remember seeing some years ago, at 
 Rowland Ward's in London, a similar head, made up with plaster-of-Paris, 
 etc., which had been sent there by Prince DemidofF for repairs. Some of 
 the plaster had broken away, and one could see the manner in which the 
 
The Great Stag's Head in the Illustration was purchased for me at Vienna in 
 1862 by the Hon. Julian Fane, Attache to the British Embassy there. It appears 
 from what he told me to have been formerly in some castle near Kronstadt in 
 Transylvania, whence, at the death of the owner, it was sold to a travelling 
 merchant or dealer, and was placed, as a sort of sign, in the archway at the 
 entrance to the Wildpret Maikt (Game Market) at Vienna, under shelter from 
 the weather. 
 
 It is one of those remarkable works of art referred to in this book, many of 
 which were made up by some clever artists in imitation of any extraordinary 
 stag's head. I have seen other specimens of this art, which is still practised in 
 cases where the owner of a shooting wishes to preserve the heads killed (if 
 especially fine) by his guests, keeping the real head himself and presenting his 
 guest with a copy or model of the head. In this case it would seem probable that 
 this head was made up as a specimen of what could be done in this way, as a sort 
 of masterpiece. I do not suppose that any living stag ever carried such a head as 
 this. I have seen other specimens of this art, one belonging to Prince Demidoff, 
 and also one killed by the present Emperor of Germany at his shooting-place near 
 Ruminten in East Prussia. The model of this latter head, with forty points, was 
 exhibited at Munich in an exhibition of sporting trophies in 1900, and I thought 
 it was the real head until I was told it was an imitation. 
 
 My head is probably the largest known ; at any rate I have never seen 
 another like it. It appears that the foundation of it must have been some real 
 stag's head with the extraordinary deformed brow antlers, which, as well as all the 
 points, are genuine horn, and it looks as if this had been taken and the tops of 
 other fine heads added to it, and grouped and placed together, so as to form the 
 great crown of the horns, the beams being thickened out with composition in 
 imitation of the texture and grain of a real horn, so as to bring the whole into 
 proportion, in the most ingenious manner. The whole forms a magnificent head, 
 but of course it is a work of art. Even so, I should say that there was no 
 specimen like it anywhere. I have seen most of the finest collections in Germany, 
 and I feel confident that it is probably the largest in existence, but I look upon it, 
 not as a sporting trophy, but as a work of the curious art which exists in Austria, 
 and was probably the chef d'eeuvre in that way. 
 
 It having been placed over the archway of the Game Market shews what was 
 thought of it as a specimen at Vienna. It is remarkable as being so cleverly 
 made, that it bears the stamp of the head of a red-deer in every particular, and 
 could not be taken for the head of a wapiti or any other stag. I had it mounted 
 on a plaster head, made at Munich, where they make these things better than 
 anywhere else, and as true to Nature as can be. 
 
 Dimensions of Horns. 
 
 5 ft. 8 in. following the curve. 
 
 4 ft. 3 in. from base to point in straight line. 
 
 5 ft. 5 in. greatest width. 
 
 43 points. Weight 74 lbs. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 97 
 
 horns had been built up with iron cores and modelled over the ironwork 
 in the most ingenious manner. I believe that at one time the head, which 
 I have at Powerscourt, was placed over the archway leading to the Wildpret 
 Market at Vienna, as a sort of sign, probably as being the largest specimen 
 of this kind of art in the world. 
 
 DEMESNE, DEER-PARK, AND PLANTATIONS. 
 
 In writing the description of works done in the Demesne, for the sake 
 of conciseness I include various works done by myself in the deer-park, 
 which is included in the lands in my own occupation. My father had 
 directed that a sort of ravine or valley at the upper end of the deer-park, 
 inside the paddock gate, should be dammed up at its lower end, so as to 
 form a lake, which would be more ornamental than the empty ravine, 
 which had a drive on each side of it ; the drive leading up to the 
 " Paddock Gate " having been formed on the south side from the plans 
 of Mr. Tom Parnell, who had been brought up as an engineer, and who was 
 uncle to the Mr. Parnell who afterwards led the Irish Parliamentary Party. 
 
 Old Tom Parnell was a very poor man, and my grandfather Lord 
 Roden employed him to lay out various roads and drives, etc., in the 
 demesne of Powerscourt. I remember Mr. Tom Parnell coming to 
 Powerscourt when I was a child ; very rough he was in exterior, but most 
 kindly in heart. He said one morning (having walked out from Dublin 
 to breakfast) to my mother, " What sort of pets have your boys got ? 
 Give them a pig ! that is the sort of pet for an Irishman !" 
 
 He was placed over a gang of labourers, who were to carry out his 
 directions, and as the time was the years 1846, 1847, and 1848, when 
 Ireland was in a very distressed state on account of the potato famine, 
 it was considered that the best manner to combat the distress was to 
 employ the poor people in useful works. My guardians accordingly — who 
 were Robert, third Earl of Roden, and the Hon. and Rev. William Wing- 
 field, Vicar of Abbeyleix — used their powers in giving employment to all 
 the poor tenants on the estate, and also improved the estate by the works 
 which they instituted, and which were carried out by them. 
 
 o 
 
98 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 The roads in the deer-park were made, the one on the south side, 
 from the entrance gate below up to the paddock gate, being called " The 
 Ladies' Drive," after my mother ; and the other, descending from the 
 paddock back to the waterfall with many turns and curves, " The Earl's 
 Drive," after my grandfather Lord Roden. Mr. Parnell used to say, 
 " It is the first duty of a Christian to make good roads," and he certainly 
 carried out many improvements. He laid out the Tinnehinch Avenue, 
 where there was formerly only a steep breakneck road down to the river 
 from the house. He laid out the roads in Jeffrey's Glen, which I completed 
 afterwards from his plans, and made other great improvements. He used 
 to say that he would make a road up or down any of the hills which 
 a horse could trot either up or down hill on. How much more useful a 
 work than that of his nephew the agitator ! 
 
 To return to the lake at the upper end of the deer-park, my father 
 directed him to form a lake in the ravine, which was done, a dam being 
 built at the lower end ; but, from my father's illness necessitating his living 
 in Italy, and from Mr. Parnell being occupied with religious meetings in 
 Dublin, the work was carelessly done. The dam was made only of friable 
 stone and gravel, and a very short time after its completion, when the 
 water accumulated and rose to the top of the dam, the whole thing collapsed, 
 and it is said that the water rushed down all at once and flooded the Bray 
 Commons, on which at that time there were fortunately no houses, or 
 anything that could be damaged. That was about the years 1841 or 1842. 
 
 I remember well my brother Maurice and I riding across the Bray 
 Commons and jumping little ditches, where now are streets of houses, and 
 once we came across a dead donkey. In one of Dickens's novels someone 
 says that there are two things that no one ever saw, a dead donkey or a 
 dead post-boy, and it was supposed that the post-boys when they got old 
 got upon the donkeys and rode off, and were never more seen. At that 
 time the only hotel was what was called " Quin's Hotel," now the "Royal 
 Hotel," at the corner of Quinsborough Road, named after the proprietor of 
 that hostelry. There was not a single house then between that hotel and 
 the sea — no railway, and no esplanade or anything — nothing but a gravel 
 walk with an avenue of small trees leading down to the sea-beach. We 
 used to lunch at the hotel and go and shoot sea-gulls on the beach. Mr. Quin 
 was a great friend of ours and of my step-father, Lord Londonderry. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 99 
 
 It was in 1858-9 that I undertook to restore the lake at the top of the 
 deer-park. I had got a contractor to undertake it under the supervision 
 of Alexander Robertson, the gardener, of whom I have spoken before, and 
 we proceeded to begin the raising of the dam again. The contractor 
 failed, and Robertson eventually carried it out. We made a section across 
 the valley, and went under the level of the surface, right across, and formed 
 the dam with a wall of marl, well tamped as it was carried up, 6 ft. thick, 
 and on the lower side carried up also 6 ft. of masonry to support the 
 marl, filling up as we went, so that the base of the dam is over 100 ft. 
 through from front to back, with the impervious marl wall and masonry 
 behind it in the centre. We found a spring of water in the site of the 
 bank, on the north side, so a drain was laid to carry the water out of the 
 bank on the lower side. There is an iron triangle with a plug to empty 
 the lake if required, on the inner or lake side, but this has never been used, 
 and probably need never be required, as we made, besides the regular out- 
 fall on the south side, where there is a fish pass, a second or flood 
 outfall on the north side of the dam, and these have been standing there 
 now for more than thirty years, and have been found sufficient to carry off 
 the flood-water. 
 
 The dam was not raised quite so high as the original one made by my 
 father, as may be seen by the banks on the roadway on each side, but I 
 thought the flood-pressure of the water would be less if the lake were 
 divided into two levels, so that there are two lakes, and the upper one has 
 a safety outlet for flood-water in the centre of its dam. This was all 
 completed in i860. The plans of it are in the books of plans, with those 
 of the buildings and terraces. 
 
 Another work which was done at the same period — I think in 1861 
 or 1862 — was the supply of water to the fields on the east side of the 
 demesne by a branch pipe from the water-main, which branches off from a 
 small tank a few yards inside the Annacrevy gate, and supplies a series 
 of water-troughs in the fields, across the sheep-walks and the racecourse, 
 down to the field next the main avenue. These are fitted with ball-cocks 
 in the troughs, and supply each field with water for the stock. These 
 require a little attention, just to see that the ball-cocks are in order, from 
 time to time, so that that side of the demesne is well furnished with water 
 supply where there was none before. 
 
 o 2 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 This water-supply crosses the back avenue and supplies a cattle 
 drinking-trough in the avenue field, and then goes on to another trough at 
 the back of the Lodge at the Main Gate, also supplying it by a tap in the 
 back yard. The pipe then goes on to a trough on the other side of the 
 public road in the field to the east of the road, and supplies that field with 
 water, and terminates there. 
 
 The east side of the demesne was formerly supplied with water by an 
 open channel, probably from a supply in Glencree, which can be traced on 
 the hillside by an embankment just beyond the grave-yard at Curtlestown. 
 The rest of the channel has been obliterated by cultivation and other causes, 
 but I was informed by old people in the glen that this was formerly the 
 supply for Powerscourt. The only other place where it can still be traced 
 is in what is marked in the old plans as the " Round Stable Paddock," near 
 the back avenue from Enniskerry. There is at this point to be seen a 
 circular depression in the grass field, which was the site of the " Round 
 Stable." In that eastern part is the " Race-course," a grass gallop of about 
 a mile in circumference, which can be seen, commencing at the back gate of 
 the main approach, running westward up to a point where there is an angle 
 in the sunk-fence wall separating this from the main avenue, then turning 
 northward and running up to the Kilmolin entrance-gate, and then round 
 to the east, along inside the demesne wall back to the main entrance. This 
 race-course is said to have been made by Richard, fourth Viscount, to employ 
 the people in one of the famines which used to desolate Ireland, which in 
 those days had a superabundant population and few communications by 
 which famine could be relieved, so that the inhabitants were dependent 
 entirely on local resources. Railways and telegraphs, as well as emigration, 
 have made such a thing as a famine impossible now. Even in my own life- 
 time I remember when there were perhaps fifteen to twenty families living 
 in poverty in Glencree, where there are now three or four comfortable 
 farmers who have each enough land to live upon, and whereas when I was 
 a boy I recollect there being a soup-kitchen in the farmyard and another in 
 Enniskerry, where I have seen a crowd coming for soup provided by my 
 family : now there is no distress, no soup-kitchen, and no necessity for it. 
 
 When my father laid out the terraces in 1840-42, he could get any 
 amount of labourers at six shillings a week, and he employed all these poor 
 people for many years at these works and at making roads, etc., under 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 101 
 
 Mr. Parnell, and I did the same after him under my steward Alexander 
 Robertson. But as these works came to a conclusion, and a tide of 
 emigration began after the last famine in 1848, the poor people took 
 advantage of the facilities given by Government and went to America and 
 Canada, where they received free grants of land, and left behind a smaller 
 number at home, so that at the time I write wages are fourteen and fifteen 
 shillings a week, and at harvest time a man commands half-a-crown a day, 
 and the savings banks are full of money belonging, not to the landlords, 
 but to the farmers and labourers. This applies, of course, to the rest of 
 Ireland, which in those days was indeed a " distressful country," but now, 
 notwithstanding the agitators, is a much more prosperous land than ever it 
 was before. None of these people went away on compulsion ; there never 
 was an eviction here, either in my father's time nor in mine. They left the 
 country entirely of their own free-will, and both those who went and those 
 who remained are better off" for the change. 
 
 But to return to the race-course. I have not been able to find any 
 record of the races held here, and they were probably discontinued because 
 the soil here is too poor to breed horses on — we are not on the limestone, 
 which is the secret of the Irish horse, but on granite, more suited to sheep 
 and small horned cattle. My conjecture is that the " Round Stable," which 
 must have been a very small building, was merely a sort of saddling-shed 
 for the race-horses, for them to stand in between the races. The course 
 itself must have been made at considerable expense, as it has been levelled 
 all round with a width of some 40 to 50 ft., and at one point, over 
 Enniskerry, it has been raised on an embankment some 30 to 40 ft. high. 
 This part of the demesne is marked on old maps as " Hampshire," and the 
 long ridge inside, over the village, was called "Hampshire Hill," perhaps in 
 allusion to the property formerly held by the family in that part of England. 
 
 The demesne was in those days divided into small fields or paddocks, 
 probably for the horses, and there was a herd's house with a large enclosed 
 garden, near where the line of old beech trees still stand, near the " moat," 
 which were evidently in an old hedgerow. The drive from the main 
 avenue, after leaving the spiked gate opposite the old churchyard, used to 
 go straight up the hill to the east corner of the " moat," an ancient rath 
 now planted with trees ; it then turned to the north-east, leading to the 
 Kilmolin Gate. This was a very indirect road, ascending the hill where 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 there was no necessity, so I obliterated all the old fences and hedgerows 
 and altered the road, leading it up the hollow straight to the gate on a line 
 nearly on level ground. There was also on this line, near the entrance-gate, 
 an enclosure with a stone wall round it and a stone shed with a slated roof, 
 which was called the " Bull Park." The herd's house was probably 
 inhabited by the labourer who looked after the stock in the " Bull Park." 
 
 I pulled all these buildings down, as I had erected more commodious 
 farm offices near the house, and there was no necessity for these scattered 
 offices, and threw the whole of these small enclosures, which can still be 
 traced by the hedgerow trees, into the " Ladies' Meadow," using the stones 
 for making the new road, and did away with the Bull Park and sheds 
 altogether ; continuous iron fences were substituted for the old hedges, and 
 this has made that part of the demesne look much more like a gentleman's 
 place than it did before. I did this also in other parts of the demesne, 
 especially on the portion on the west side of Jeffrey's Glen. There I also 
 took away all the hedges dividing the fields, which were only a harbour for 
 rats and rabbits, and threw the land all into one large enclosure with wire 
 and continuous iron fences, so that what was called the Eight Acres, and 
 other enclosures, are all thrown into one. Outside the Kilmolin Gate 
 I built eight blocks of labourers' cottages. The first were constructed after 
 a plan from the Board of Works, but they were rather large for labourers, 
 two stories high, and these are now inhabited by a mason, a carpenter, etc. 
 The next two blocks were also built two stories high, one half of each 
 cottage being a kitchen with an open roof ; the other half divided into two 
 bedrooms on ground-floor, and two over them, with an open wooden stair- 
 case in the kitchen leading to the two upper bedrooms. Some years after 
 these were built I went into one of them and remarked that the staircase; 
 had disappeared. On inquiring what had become of it, the occupants said : 
 " Ah ! sure we burnt it for firewood long ago ! " I said : " Then how do 
 you get to the upper rooms ? " " Ah ! sure, the fowls lives up there ! " 
 After that I did not build any more two-storied cottages. The County 
 Councils now require that certain sanitary accommodation should be 
 provided for each cottage, in a small separate building in the backyard : we 
 complied with the sanitary regulations, but I find that these structures are 
 generally used for hen-roosts, or more commonly for storing potatoes in, 
 instead of for the purpose intended. 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 The late Lord Dufferin used to say that Ireland was the country of 
 the raw material, and these manners and customs rather point out the 
 correctness of his view. 
 
 Soon after I came of age in 1857, I had a fancy to try to acclimatize 
 various kinds of deer and other animals, and enclosed a small park by a 
 6— ft. wire fence, embracing about 100 acres, the fence beginning at the back 
 entrance at the main gate, running along the side of the back avenue, much 
 on the line of the present sheep fence, then turning northward about 
 100 yards east of the spiked gate leading to the front avenue, going along 
 nearly where the present road leads to the Kilmolin entrance-gate to the 
 demesne wall, which formed in itself the remainder of the enclosure, back 
 to the back gate at the Enniskerry entrance. In this enclosure I turned 
 out Wapiti deer, Indian Sambur deer, red-deer, and also the South African 
 Eland, for which I built a small shelter-house, near the line of old beeches 
 which runs across, at the spot where there is a circle of oak trees, which 
 were planted round that house. I soon found, however, that the Elands 
 were too delicate for this damp Irish climate, and I sold them to Mr. Veke- 
 mans of the Antwerp Zoological Gardens. There were two Wapiti stags 
 and only one hind, which I bought from Jamrach, the London animal 
 dealer, and I could not get any more. These had come from the menagerie 
 of the late Earl of Derby at Knowsley, and there were no means of getting 
 any more, and importation was very expensive. The hind had two calves 
 while here, both unfortunately males, and I found that these deer, especially 
 the hind, were so very dangerous that I had them as well as the other deer 
 removed to the large deer-park at the waterfall, and abandoned this small 
 deer-park altogether, and sold the Wapiti to an agent of King Victor 
 Emmanuel of Italy. There is a picture of my Wapiti herd in the Study at 
 Powerscourt, painted by the celebrated animal painter, Joseph Wolf. The 
 shed horns of the stags are in the corridor by the Saloon upstairs. So my 
 acclimatization failed, except in the case of the Japanese deer, Cervus Sika ; 
 I bought one male and three females of this species from Jamrach, and my 
 herd increased so much that I sold and gave away some, in the first place 
 to the late Mr. Herbert of Muckross, Killarney, and afterwards to Sir Croker 
 Barrington at Glenstal, near Limerick ; Sir Victor Brooke at Colebrooke, 
 co. Fermanagh, from whence they have spread to the Duke of Abercorn's 
 Woods at Baronscourt, Lord Dartrey's place in co. Monaghan, and other 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 places in the north of Ireland. Lord Annesley has them also at Castle- 
 wellan, co. Down. I also sold them to Lord Ilchester at Melbury, Dorset ; 
 to Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild at Waddesdon ; Mr. Myddleton of 
 Chirk Castle, North Wales, and among other places they were introduced at 
 Tullyallan near Stirling, and by Mr. Bignold at Auchnasheen, Ross-shire, and 
 they have been introduced into other parks in the United Kingdom, all 
 originally from my herd here. They are nice little deer, very handsome, 
 and they get very fat and the venison is very good, and a handy size, rather 
 smaller than fallow deer. The late Frank Buckland, the naturalist, was a 
 great friend of mine, having been in the 2nd Life Guards as surgeon when 
 I was in the ist Life Guards, and we used often to go to Jamrach's 
 together. Buckland afterwards left the Life Guards and devoted himself 
 to pisciculture, and his collection of casts of fishes, all cast by himself, are 
 among the curiosities of the Natural History Museum in London. 
 
 The original Jamrach was a German, and came, I think, from Hamburg 
 and settled in Ratcliffe Highway, now called St. George Street, E., which 
 was convenient for his business as an animal dealer, as most of the importa- 
 tions were landed from ships in the docks close by. I remember talking 
 to him there one day, and in his yard were several tigers, bears, and other 
 savage animals. Looking at one of the tigers, he said : " I had a queer 
 sort of experience with that fellow a few days ago. One of my men had 
 left the door of the cage loosely fastened, and, lo ! I saw that the tiger had 
 got out of his cage and was standing in the street, just outside the gate of 
 my yard ! He seemed to be dazed at seeing so many people about, but 
 before he could recover himself I saw that there was no time to be lost, 
 otherwise there would be some fearful accident. I went up behind him and hit 
 him as hard as I could behind the ear with my fist, then caught him by the 
 loose skin of his neck and kicked him back into his cage ; it was a very near 
 thing I can tell you ! " Jamrach was a very powerful man, but it required a 
 good deal of presence of mind and courage to tackle a tiger single-handed. 
 He said : " I thought he would kill me, but I had to do it, and before he 
 recovered from his surprise he was back in the cage, and I shot the bolts 
 and had him safe ! " A few years after that I had a communication from 
 the Societe d'Acclimatation in Paris, saying that they proposed to present 
 me with their gold medal for acclimatizing the Cervus Sika, or Japanese 
 deer, which I have preserved here, having gone over to Paris to the Society 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 105 
 
 to have it presented. I also gave some of them to the Zoological Society 
 of London, and I believe they have bred and sold a good many from my 
 original stock, so that from here the whole United Kingdom is overspread, and 
 my having introduced them is recorded in the Transactions of the Society. 
 
 At the Tinnehinch entrance are the large gates called " The Golden 
 Gates." They were erected by me in 1869. I purchased them from 
 J. Roy, the manufacturer, Avenue de la Grande Armee, Paris. These gates 
 were exhibited in the Great Exhibition in Paris in 1867, and were so fine 
 that I thought they would suit this place. The stone pillars are from the 
 French design furnished to me by the makers of the gates, as I wished 
 to have the whole thing in character. The pillars, etc., were executed by 
 Noble in Glencree. There was considerable difficulty in getting the stones 
 sufficiently strongly fixed to support the gate and enable it to be opened 
 and closed without straining the pillars, therefore I placed inside each 
 a strong upright bar, and each course of stone-work was bored with a hole 
 in the centre and strung upon these iron bars, and filled up with lead 
 inside, so that each pillar is a homogeneous structure. 
 
 The Gate Lodge was built in 1854 from plans by the late Sir George 
 Hodson, Bart., who drew them for my step-father Frederick, fourth 
 Marquis of Londonderry, at whose cost it was erected, as may be seen by 
 the inscription over the door. The former entrance was at the bottom of 
 the hill, opposite the gate of Tinnehinch, and the old lodge was on the bank 
 above the road to the east, high up, near the sunk fence. I remember the 
 gatekeeper running down a steep walk from the top to open the gate. 
 It was thought that the new entrance should be near the bridge, especially 
 on account of the fine trees in that part of the demesne, which were not 
 seen when the gate was in the old position. A wooden gate was first 
 placed in the new position, but this became rotten and I replaced it by 
 these fine French gates. 
 
 When Alexander Robertson was gardener here I projected laying out 
 the road between Tinnehinch gate all up the river to the deer-park gate, 
 and taking in from the tenants the strip of land along the river, up the 
 valley. 
 
 The demesne before that time terminated at the bottom of Dudley's 
 Wood, where there was a wooden gate called the " Black Gate," without 
 any gate-lodge, and the arrangement was that a man named Byrne, who 
 
 p 
 
io6 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 had lost his arm by accident at the saw-mills when first established, having 
 cut it off with the circular-saw, was placed here at the time, with a kind of 
 sentry-box, to open and close the gate as required. This, of course, 
 was rather a primitive mode of doing things.. Also, as the labourers all 
 left their work at six o'clock, if we went to the waterfall and did not come 
 back until after six o'clock, we found the gate locked and could not get in, 
 so I built a gate-lodge and also the iron bridge, and Byrne was put there as 
 the gatekeeper. Beyond this, up to the deer-park gate, the whole valley 
 was in the hands of the tenants. There was a road, but it was more 
 a farm road than one worthy of a place like this, and never properly laid 
 out — all sharp turns and angles, which made it very inconvenient. There 
 were also at the divisions of every farm, on the way up and at every field, 
 ordinary wooden gates across the road, and also inside the demesne,^so 
 that to get to the waterfall it was necessary to open no less than thirteen 
 gates. There were also several old cottages, which were pulled down and 
 the inhabitants removed elsewhere. Robertson said there was only one 
 thing to be done, and that was to take in the land all the way up and 
 make a proper road and fence it, so that the gates should be dispensed 
 with, which was accordingly done by an arrangement with the tenants. The 
 idea I had was that all unnecessary gates, except where a public road was 
 crossed, should be removed, which was done, as in other parts of the 
 demesne, by fencing in each field with continuous iron fencing, leaving 
 the roads and woods all free. 
 
 There was also a ford across the Glencree Road at the point where 
 the iron bridge is now, halfway to the deer-park, so that when the river 
 was high we could not get to the deer-park that way at all, and had 
 to go round by Charleville and Coolakay, and down the steep hill at 
 Ballinagee. 
 
 Altogether, we had to reconstruct four bridges : one at the Tumbling 
 Bay, the next at the bottom of Dudley's Wood, then to make an entirely 
 new iron bridge at the place where the ford was, where the lodge is now, 
 which was built at the same time (in 1868), and then to rebuild the 
 county bridge alongside of this. We also, for the purpose of making the 
 road private the whole way, turned the county road, by permission of 
 the authorities, and took in part of the county road into the demesne, 
 moving the road some hundred yards further west, and making it a better 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 107 
 
 road than before for the county, and not so steep a hill, and gaining the 
 valley for the private demesne drive, thus making it continuous without a 
 break all the way, except where it crosses the public road at this point, and 
 again near the deer-park gate. 
 
 We also got two stone bridges substituted for the two wooden ones, 
 one at the point near the iron bridge leading up to Coolakay, the other the 
 county bridge just outside the deer-park gate. 
 
 Having taken in the land and fenced it, Alexander Robertson set to 
 work to alter the course of the road the whole way up the valley, laying 
 it out in proper curves and levels, taking off sharp angles and steep 
 inclines. 
 
 At one point at Bahana, not far from the deer-park gate, we had to 
 turn the course of the river to give room for the road. At that time we 
 only took in a narrow strip on each side of the road which is bounded by 
 the river ; but since that time (about 1892) I arranged with the tenants to 
 obtain possession of the woody bank on the Ballinagee side, which now 
 forms part of the demesne, and enables one to consider the whole valley as 
 a private ground. 
 
 These bottoms are very useful in winter for sheltering sheep, when 
 brought down from the mountains in severe weather. Having laid out the 
 road — which was done in the years 1867, 1868, and 1869, it taking three 
 years to do— I then planted it all the way from Dudley's Wood up to the 
 gate near the deer-park with various trees — Conifer ce and other ornamental 
 trees in avenues, and also in groves all along the road — Araucarias, Abies 
 Douglasii, Thuja Gigantea, Picea Nobilis, Cupressus Macrocarpa, Cedrus 
 Allantica, Picea Nordmanniana, and others. 
 
 At one point between Dudley's Wood and the iron bridge I planted 
 in one grove 100 araucarias, thinking that in future times this would make 
 a remarkable feature of the place. I planted every one of these with my 
 own hands, as well as most of the pines all along the road. With them we 
 planted also as nurses a number of larch and Scotch firs, which had been 
 gradually cut away, leaving now the araucarias standing by themselves. 
 
 At the Onagh Gate the demesne did not extend quite to the public 
 road. There was only a footpath outside, leading down to the road by a 
 steep bank and a stile at the bridge in the bottom. I therefore took in the 
 field outside this gate and made a road out to the country road with an iron 
 
 p 2 
 
io8 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 gate, halfway down the hill, between Annacrevy School-house and Onagh 
 Farm. But this is a very unsatisfactory entrance, and it would be very 
 much improved by altering the road from the present gate lodge, and 
 bringing it out on the level at the school-house, where the entrance gate 
 should be placed, and an entrance lodge built there. The present gate 
 lodge to remain as it is, as the gamekeeper's house, and the new lodge 
 occupied by a labourer. The field between the two would afford grazing 
 for the cows of these two employes, as it does now for the gamekeeper, and 
 there would be plenty of room for a garden for each house in that field, 
 besides grass for the cows. I took in the land for the purpose, and it only 
 requires the new gate and lodge to be erected and the gardens enclosed to 
 make a nice entrance to the demesne. 
 
 As I have mentioned before, I gave a site for the Roman Catholic 
 Burial-grounds at Curtlestown, and since that I also gave a site for a priest's 
 house in a field adjacent to the Chapel, and if that was erected I think the 
 requirements of the parish for the clergy would be pretty complete. In 
 the large plantation at Ballyreagh, which I planted, and which covers about 
 700 acres of the mountain, I planted, at the time when I was also laying 
 out the collections of conifers in the demesne, some thousands of the rarer 
 pines, which seem to thrive better, if possible, on the virgin soil of the hill- 
 side than in the woods inside the demesne. Nothing could be healthier 
 than the specimens of Abies Douglasii, Thuja Gigantea, and many other 
 varieties in the mountain plantation. I grew all these, as well as the larch, 
 Scots fir, and pinus Laricio, which form the bulk of the plantation, from 
 seed purchased at Stevens's Auction Rooms, King Street, Covent Garden, 
 and the plants were all reared in a nursery of some six acres, which I formed 
 in the square field above Kelly's Ground, just inside the Annacrevy entrance 
 gate. Charles France was the forester who carried this out, who came 
 from the School of Forestry at Scone Palace, near Perth. We planted in 
 Ballyreagh plantation alone upwards of 400,000 trees a year for about ten 
 or eleven years, so that there must have been more than four million trees 
 put in in that wood altogether. Besides this, I planted Lacken Wood on 
 the opposite side of the glen, but a great portion of that was burnt down, 
 and it ought to, and could very easily be, planted again. The principal 
 labour was, of course, the walls enclosing the sites for the plantations. 
 There are upwards of six miles of wall round Ballyreagh Wood alone, and 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 that was all done by me, under the supervision of an old man named Billy 
 McCabe, who I set over a gang of men with crowbars and blasting-powder, 
 and they split the granite boulders and built these walls, leaving an upright, 
 smooth face on the outer side, to prevent sheep getting in off the hills. 
 These walls were so well built, merely by putting the stones together, 
 without any mortar, that there has been comparatively very little repair 
 required on them, although they have now been built about thirty years or 
 more. Nobody can say that I have not left my mark on the country, as 
 I planted Ballinoulta Wood also, about 350 acres, which is on the mountains 
 above Annacrevy, and which is seen from the hall door. Lacken Wood is 
 about the same size, so that, besides all the coniferae and ornamental trees 
 in the demesne, I have added some 1,300 or 1,400 acres of plantation to 
 the estate. 
 
 PUBLIC AFFAIRS. 
 
 During the many years of my life at home I thought that the proximity of 
 this place to Dublin gave me special opportunities of taking part in the 
 management of some of the public institutions there. 
 
 I served on the Council of the Royal Dublin Society for many years, 
 until elected a Vice-President, and eventually, in 1892, was elected 
 President, an office held for five years, during which time the prosperity of 
 the Society increased to a large extent, especially in the growth every year 
 of the great Horse Shows, which have become probably the most important 
 gatherings of the kind in Europe, buyers coming from France, Germany, 
 Austria, and other countries, besides England, to purchase Irish hunters; 
 
 Before the years I speak of there had been two agricultural societies 
 in Ireland, the Royal Agricultural Society as well as the Royal Dublin 
 Society. The former held shows in the provincial towns, such as Cork, 
 Galway, Belfast, etc. But it was found impossible to obtain from these 
 towns any guarantee for the expenses of erecting the temporary show yards, 
 and besides, the Councils of the two Societies were composed of the same 
 members. 
 
 Some of us began to think that it was rather a waste of power, not to 
 say an absurdity, for the Council of the Agricultural Society to meet at 
 
no POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 their office in Sackville Street at one o'clock, and then meet again at the 
 Royal Dublin Society at three o'clock and discuss the same subjects. So 
 when this difficulty arose as to the guarantee by the provincial towns, I 
 suggested, and it was eventually decided unanimously, but after a good deal 
 of opposition at first, that the two Societies should amalgamate, and the 
 Royal Agricultural Society should cease to exist as a separate body. From 
 that time began the increase of the growth of the agricultural side of the 
 Royal Dublin Society, which took up all the functions of the other Society, 
 and we therefore formed one strong body connected with Irish farming 
 instead of two weak ones. The management of the Horse and Cattle Shows 
 has been entirely the work of the Council and its subordinate Committees, 
 which are composed of gentlemen who receive no salary or emolument of 
 any kind, the only paid officials being the Registrar and his clerks, and the 
 Agricultural Superintendent and his two or three subordinates. The real 
 management is carried on by such men as Lord Rathdonnell, Mr. Uniacke 
 Townshend (under whose supervision the entire of the show yards have 
 been planned and erected), Sir Thomas Butler, and many other Members 
 of Council, and myself, who have devoted our time and energies to the 
 work entirely gratuitously, and for the development of the resources of our 
 country. These matters being in such hands, the whole of the arrangements 
 have been made with a single eye to the success of the Society, without any 
 thought of private interest whatever, and entirely on public grounds. 
 
 Besides having had the honour of assisting for many years in this 
 beneficent work, I was appointed in 1871 Chairman of the Board of Dublin 
 Hospitals, which inspects those Hospitals which receive grants in aid from 
 the State, subject to the favourable Reports of this Board. In this year 
 1902, therefore, I have presided over the Board for thirty-one years. The 
 Hospitals which are under our supervision are the Westmoreland Lock 
 Hospital ; St. Mark's Ophthalmic Hospital, now, mainly at our suggestion, 
 amalgamated with the Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital ; the Rotunda 
 Lying-in Hospital, partially rebuilt, and very much improved ; the group 
 called the " House of Industry Hospitals," embracing the Whitworth 
 Medical, the Richmond Surgical, and the Hardwicke Fever Hospitals, 
 the Richmond Hospital having been entirely reconstructed during my 
 term of office on the most modern improved system ; Steevens's 
 Hospital (founded by Dame Steevens and Dean Swift), also very much 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 1 1 1 
 
 remodelled of late years ; Cork Street Fever Hospital, one of the most 
 admirable institutions of this kind in the kingdom, affording a large amount 
 of accommodation in case of any sudden epidemic ; the Coombe Lying-in 
 Hospital, also very much improved and partially rebuilt ; and lastly, the 
 Meath Hospital and County Dublin Infirmary, a large medical and surgical 
 hospital, kept up to date in all the most modern scientific appliances for the 
 treatment of all the ills to which flesh is heir, by the Surgeons and 
 Physicians, assisted by the Red Cross Sisters and others. 
 
 None of the Members of my Board receive any salary or emolument 
 whatever ; the only paid officer being the Secretary, Dr. Martin, who was 
 appointed in Lord Spencer's Viceroyalty at the same time as myself, in 1871. 
 
 In 1882 the Government called upon the Architects of the United 
 Kingdom to compete for designs for the erection of a Science and Art 
 Museum to form a flanking building to Leinster House, and a correspond- 
 ing structure opposite for a National Library. The Committee of five were 
 Sir William Gregory, K.C.M.G., Mr. Thos. McCurdy, President of the 
 Institute of Architects in Ireland, Mr. Charles Dawson, Lord Mayor of 
 Dublin, Sir Robert Kane, President of the Royal Irish Academy, with 
 myself as Chairman. We sat a good many times, as there were upwards of 
 one hundred competing designs, no names attached to any of them, so that 
 there could be no favouritism. Our duty was to select five designs, which 
 were then to be submitted to the Government. This was rather an arduous 
 task, but at last we weeded out plan after plan> till we had only five left. It 
 was not till we had done this that we were permitted to know the authors, 
 and it was with great satisfaction that we found that of the five selected three 
 were by Irish architects. There was one of the five which we considered 
 had special merit, not only in itself, but because it appeared to harmonize 
 with the central building, Leinster House. This was by Mr. Thomas 
 Deane of Dublin, and it was selected in the end for erection, and on the 
 completion of the work, in 1890, the architect was knighted by the then 
 Viceroy, the Earl of Zetland, as Sir Thomas Deane. 
 
 Besides these labours I was appointed one of the Governors of the 
 National Gallery of Ireland, when it was .first opened by Lord Carlisle, 
 Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, on the 1st of February 1864. Mr. George 
 Mulvany was the first Director, and I took a trip to Paris with him, where 
 we acquired the beautiful picture (two half-length figures) attributed to < 
 
ii2 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 Giorgione and Giovanni Bellini, also the fine half-length by J. B. Moroni, 
 the rival of Titian. Afterwards Mr. Mulvany was succeeded by 
 Mr. Henry Doyle, son of the celebrated " H.B.," and younger brother of 
 Richard Doyle, the author of Pips\s Diary • Brown, Jones, and Robinson, 
 etc. He was one of my greatest friends and a delightful companion, and 
 many a pleasant trip we had, visiting foreign galleries and hunting for 
 pictures, both on the Continent and at Christie's and elsewhere. Perhaps 
 one of our most exciting adventures was at Brussels. The British Minister 
 there was my friend Sir John Savile Lumley, afterwards created Lord 
 Savile, and as he was a great art connoisseur, when we arrived there, having 
 had a little tour through Holland and Belgium on art intent, I said to 
 Doyle, " We will go and call on John Lumley at the Embassy ; he is sure 
 to know if there is anything to be found here." John Lumley said, " Oh ! 
 I am so glad you have come ; I am dining out, but stop here and dine and 
 I will tell you something when I come back." When he returned he said, 
 " There is a prize here, belonging to a gentleman, and you may be able to 
 get hold of it, a beautiful portrait by Rembrandt ! I will give you a letter 
 of introduction to the owner, a Mr. Danseart, and you can go and see what 
 you can do." So the next morning we started in good time, and were 
 received by Mr. Danseart and asked him if he had a portrait by Rembrandt, 
 and if it was for sale. " Yes," he said, " but there has been an American 
 gentleman here this morning and he has offered me 800 guineas for it." 
 We were on tenterhooks, but asked him to let us see it, and he took us into 
 his bedroom, where was a lovely portrait of a young man in a high-crowned 
 hat, in the most perfect condition. We endeavoured to conceal our 
 excitement, and Doyle said, "I will give you 850 guineas for it." The 
 owner said, " I think I will accept that." Then Doyle said, "As you 
 know who we are, would you let me take the picture to my hotel and have a 
 quiet look at it ? " " Certainly," said Mr. Danseart, " but the American 
 is coming back to-morrow morning to see it again." We took the picture 
 away, and Doyle wrote a cheque for 850 guineas, handed it to Mr. Danseart, 
 packed up the picture in a case lest the American should come and secure it, 
 and sent it straight off to Dublin. So the American was sold, and we got the 
 picture for very much less than it was worth. John Lumley was delighted, 
 and said, " Well, you have got a bargain, and no mistake ! " At the same 
 time we saw at Brussels a lovely little set of pictures, " The Five Senses," 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 "3 
 
 by Gonzales Coques, but as Doyle had not the money to buy them for our 
 Gallery he telegraphed and wrote to Sir Frederick Burton, who bought 
 them, and they are now in the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, 
 London. 
 
 Besides this treasure there is a beautiful little picture, also by 
 Rembrandt, which I had a hand in acquiring for Dublin with Henry Doyle. 
 We were attending a sale at Christie's, and he was waiting for a portrait of 
 a Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Northington, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, but 
 before that came up there was put upon the easel a small landscape by 
 Rembrandt, " The Flight into Egypt." Mr. Agnew, as well as others, 
 was attending the sale, but his attention happened to be called off at that 
 moment, and the picture hung at something about 400 guineas. I said to 
 Doyle, " Never mind the Lord Lieutenant ; don't let that Rembrandt go at 
 that price ! " He made a bid, and the little gem was knocked down to us. 
 There was a piece of luck ! Agnew came back and said, " What has 
 become of the Rembrandt ? " I said, " We have got it for the National 
 Gallery of Ireland." "Oh ! " he said, " if it has gone to the nation I do not 
 mind." 
 
 The portrait of Lord Northington was bought by a dealer, from whom 
 we obtained it afterwards for our Gallery. We also bought at a sale at 
 Christie's the two portraits of Sir Walter Raleigh and his wife, and at Lord 
 Stafford's sale the portrait of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, three beautiful 
 costume pictures, besides being of course connected with Irish history. 
 These are in the Historical portion of our National Gallery. It was entirely 
 Henry Doyle's idea to form, as a separate section of the Gallery, a collection 
 of portraits of distinguished personages connected with the history of 
 Ireland, in a similar manner to the National Portrait Gallery of England. 
 Many pictures have been added to this since Mr. Doyle's death, but the 
 most important part of that collection was formed by him, and I may say, 
 " quorum pars magna fui," as we hunted in couples after these pictures. 
 
 On another occasion the National Gallery Trustees in London had 
 decided to distribute pictures by various British masters, of whose works 
 they had many duplicate examples, among the provincial galleries, such as 
 Manchester, Liverpool, Dublin, and other large cities in the United 
 Kingdom. Sir Frederick Burton, the then Director, being a native of 
 Dublin, I suggested to Henry Doyle that Dublin should have the first 
 
 Q 
 
ii + POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 choice. Accordingly we went by appointment to Trafalgar Square to 
 meet Sir Frederick Burton at the National Gallery, and I said that he 
 would probably consider that his native land and city should have the first 
 choice in the distribution, to which he agreed, and thereupon we selected 
 the large work of Sir Edwin Landseer, " The Duke of Wellington and 
 Lady Douro, his daughter-in-law, at Waterloo," specially also because 
 the Duke of Wellington was born in Dublin ; " The Peep of Day Boy," by 
 Wilkie, and five pictures by Turner, which we chose as illustrating the 
 different phases of his art at the various periods of his life. This is the 
 way in which we Irishmen do little jobs for ourselves, or rather for our 
 country. We are rather celebrated for doing jobs, but I think this was a 
 harmless one ! 
 
 As the late Sir Richard Wallace was connected with Ireland by having 
 become the owner of the Hertford estates, we suggested that he should be 
 made one of the Governors of the Gallery, upon which he presented to it 
 the great picture by Maclise of the marriage of Strongbow, which he 
 bought for us for ^2000. There are many other fine works bought by 
 Henry Doyle at various sales, such as that of the Duke of Hamilton's 
 collection from Hamilton Palace in 1882, and many others. Prices ran so 
 high at that sale that it was impossible for us with our very small annual 
 grant to secure any of the more important pictures, but I bought for 
 myself the portrait by J. B. Moroni, which is mentioned by Dr. Waagen. 
 There was another picture in the sale attributed to Moroni, bought by 
 Lord Revelstoke, but it was not a genuine example. My picture is signed 
 and dated, and, besides, anyone who knows the work of Moroni, thc^ 
 contemporary and rival of Titian, would recognize it at once as a genuine 
 picture by that master. 
 
 As the Hamilton sale was the most important probably which had ever 
 occurred in England or anywhere else, I went with Henry Doyle to the 
 Treasury, and we obtained a small special grant for the purchase of pictures 
 there, I think £500, and Henry Doyle secured for our Gallery several 
 interesting works : a large " Resurrection " by Bonifazio, a small " Holy 
 Family " by Pietro Perugino, and one or two others. After that we 
 acquired from Lord Ashburton the fine work by Giovanni Paolo Pannini, 
 " A Fete in the Piazza Navona at Rome in honour of the Stuart Princes," 
 Charles Edward and his brother, whose figures can be distinguished by their 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 115 
 
 wearing the Order of the Garter. This is a replica of the picture in the 
 Louvre. We also purchased at Prince Jerome Napoleon's sale in 1872 a 
 fine picture by Titian, " Christ and the Disciples at Emmaus." There is a 
 replica of this picture also in the Louvre. We got, on another occasion, 
 the large work of Sir David Wilkie, " Napoleon offering the Concordat 
 to Pope Pius VII.," as well as many other works of high merit, which are 
 now the property of the Irish nation. 
 
 I may say that I was the only one of the Governors who accompanied 
 Henry Doyle in search of pictures for the Gallery, and he used to say that 
 it strengthened his hands when he could go about accompanied by myself 
 as " one of the Board, to approve and share the responsibility of the 
 purchases. It was also an extreme pleasure to me, and a work which 
 was of the greatest possible interest, and when we secured some prize, such 
 as those mentioned above, I was as much overjoyed at our success as he was. 
 
 Sir Walter Armstrong, who succeeded him as Director, has often asked 
 me to go with him to see some work which he was anxious to obtain, and 
 among the expeditions in which we have joined was one to see the collec- 
 tions which Lady Milltown proposed to hand over to the Gallery from 
 Russborough, by the wish of her late husband. This proposal enabled 
 the Governors, through the Director, to apply to the Government for an 
 addition to the Gallery Buildings, as Lady Milltown specified that her 
 collections were to be housed in special rooms, and kept together separately 
 from the rest of the works of art under our roof. The Treasury acceded 
 to our request, as there was no room for the Milltown collection in the 
 Gallery as it then was. In Henry Doyle's time we had made a request for 
 extra space, but this collection, which was large enough to fill several 
 apartments, armed us with strong arguments, which were used, and in 
 which we were assisted by the Lord Lieutenant, Earl Cadogan, who took 
 up the question, and used his great influence in our favour, and I think we 
 may say that it was owing to him that we obtained what we wanted. The 
 plan was to erect a series of rooms along the back of the existing building, 
 which could be done without the necessity of an architectural facade, as this 
 part of the Gallery faces the backs of the houses in Clare Street, except at 
 the end opposite Merrion Square. Mr. Thomas Manly Deane, son of the 
 late Sir Thomas Deane, planned this addition, which makes an immense 
 improvement, and renders the Gallery somewhat like the Pinacothek at 
 
 Q 2 
 
1 16 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 Munich in plan, with the large halls for the larger pictures, and a series of 
 smaller apartments for works of less size, and also giving opportunity for 
 the classification of pictures according to different schools, and likewise to add 
 to the collections various other works of art, for which there was no space 
 in the original building. Sir Richard Wallace suggested that a National 
 Gallery should contain not only pictures on the walls, but might also be 
 furnished with handsome furniture, or might contain cabinets for plate, 
 porcelain, and sculpture, as is the case, for instance, in the Louvre in Paris, 
 where the picture galleries are entered through the magnificent " Galerie 
 d'Apollon," full of works of art of the greatest value and splendour. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Deane had planned the elevation towards Merrion Square 
 with an open loggia on the first or principal floor, over the entrance portico, 
 and I observed that the Board Room, which was placed over the entrance, 
 was of an awkward shape and not sufficiently large, so I suggested that the 
 space occupied by the open loggia should be thrown into the new Board 
 Room by bringing the windows forward flush with the front exterior wall, 
 making the room larger and more convenient and better lighted, omitting 
 altogether the useless loggia, unsuited in every way to our climate. 
 
 All these matters in which I have assisted in the public interest, as well 
 as the improvements to this House and place, have been a lifelong 
 occupation, and it has caused me the greatest satisfaction to have been able 
 to be of use in my generation ; and I look back upon them now with the 
 thought that I may perhaps have spent my life in these ways not altogether 
 uselessly to those who will come after me, both here at home and in my 
 native country. 
 
 Before closing my Work I must add the account of two events which 
 occurred — one at the time of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the circumstances 
 of which I had known to be a tradition among the people, but the full 
 details of which only came to my knowledge shortly before the completion 
 of this Book ; the other at the period of the abortive insurrection in 1867, 
 which 1 remember well. 
 
 At the time of the Rebellion of 1798 an attack was made upon 
 Powerscourt House one very dark night, which was not unexpected by 
 the inhabitants, who had had information of the intention of the rebels, and 
 were therefore prepared to defend' themselves, which they did by firing 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 117 
 
 from the windows. This could only be done at random, as the only light 
 was from a few torches carried by the enemy for the purpose of setting fire 
 to the House. In the meantime the Roman Catholic Priest of the parish 
 had heard what was going on, and hastened to the scene to try and pacify 
 the mob and induce them to retire. Unfortunately the presence of the 
 clergyman was unknown to those inside the House, and one of the shots 
 from the windows unintentionally killed him. This quelled the ferocity of 
 the rebels, who felt that they were the cause of his death, and they retired, 
 but it is a tradition that he, with his dying breath, cursed the Powerscourt 
 family, saying that no Lord Powerscourt should live to see his son come 
 of age ! There is a saying that the grass would not grow on the spot 
 where he fell, and that in consequence the roadway in front of the House 
 had been widened so that there should be no grass on the fatal spot ! 
 
 It is a curious thingr that on the second occasion when rebels were to 
 have attacked Powerscourt, the Parish Priest of that day should have again 
 interposed when the attack was imminent, as I will relate. 
 
 This was on the occasion of the culmination of the plots against the 
 Government of the Fenian or Irish Republican Brotherhood. Certain 
 desperate characters had come over to Ireland, adventurers who had taken 
 part in the Civil War between the North and South in the United States 
 in 1862 and following years. Fenianism and rebellion had been brewing 
 in Ireland for some time, and in 1 864 the Lord Lieutenant, Lord Wodehouse, 
 had suppressed and seized the Fenian newspaper " The Irish People," and 
 arrested various persons charged with being members of the Fenian 
 Brotherhood, the leader of whom was James Stephens. This man was 
 imprisoned in Richmond Bridewell, and after being there four or five days 
 he escaped by the collusion of some of the warders of the prison. A few 
 days after that the other Fenian leaders were tried by a special Commission 
 and sentenced to various terms of penal servitude. The Habeas Corpus 
 Act was suspended, and a large number of persons (120) were arrested in 
 Dublin. Lord Wodehouse was made Earl of Kimberley, and on 1 8 July 
 1866, Earl Russell's Government having resigned, he was succeeded by the 
 Marquis of Abercorn as Viceroy. The Fenian movement still went on, 
 and in 1867 came to a head. In the night before the 25th of March a 
 rising took place in Dublin, and on that morning we heard that a large 
 number of Fenians were marching on Enniskerry. My agent, Mr. Posnett, 
 
n8 POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 
 
 rode up and reported that an armed force, some with muskets, some with 
 pikes and other improvised weapons, had appeared there, and that they 
 were met on the road at the bridge near the chapel by the Parish Priest, 
 the Rev. Thomas O'Dwyer, who confronted them with a crucifix and 
 commanded them to go back. They obeyed and turned off to the road 
 near the Scalp leading to Glencullen, the only damage they had done being 
 to attack a baker's cart and seize all the bread. They retired on Glencullen 
 Village, where there was a constabulary barrack, where were quartered a 
 serjeant and three men. The rebels to the number of some hundreds were 
 led by a " Captain Burke," who was one of the American adventurers who 
 had come over to join the revolutionary party in Ireland. The serjeant of 
 constabulary called to the Fenians to surrender, upon which they opened 
 fire on the barrack. The constabulary returned the fire, but only over the 
 heads of the insurgents, whereupon " Captain " Burke, it is said, retreated 
 behind a neighbouring stone wall, saying, " This is your business and not 
 mine," and declined to take any further part in the attack. At this the 
 insurgents, seeing that the constabulary meant business, gave up the attack 
 and proceeded along the road up Glencullen, no one having been wounded 
 on either side, and crossing the mountains emerged upon the Dublin road 
 near a village called Tallaght. By this time they were in full retreat, and 
 General Lord Strathnairn, commanding' the forces in Dublin, met them 
 with a squadron of the Scots Greys on one side and a company of infantry 
 on the other, and the whole body of rebels surrendered. 
 
 Amid the laughter of the troops, who did not fire a shot, the rebels, 
 who were a collection of counter skippers and lads from the shops in 
 Dublin, were surrounded and disarmed, and Lord Strathnairn gave only 
 one order, "Cut all their braces ! " This compelled the motley crowd, who 
 had marched from Dublin in search of glory, to return holding up their 
 trousers, and the troops drove them all before them into the yard of Dublin 
 Castle, where, the Lord Lieutenant being absent, Lord Strathnairn 
 presented his prisoners to Lady Georgiana Hamilton, the Viceroy's 
 daughter, and they lay down and begged for water. 
 
 Lord Strathnairn, who had been the commander of the forces which 
 suppressed the Indian Mutiny in 1857, telegraphed to the Government in 
 London, " I have captured the forces of the enemy, may I decimate 
 them?" — that is, shoot every tenth man. The reply came, "Certainly 
 
POWERSCOURT HOUSE AND DEMESNE. 119 
 
 not, put them in prison." Upon which he told them sarcastically that he 
 was not permitted to treat them as they deserved, and they were all marched 
 off to Mountjoy Prison. 
 
 Next morning they were all released, except a few of the leaders, who 
 were tried by a Special Commission and sentenced to various terms of 
 penal servitude. So ended the Irish Rebellion of 1867, culminating in the 
 bloodless "Battle of Tallaght." 
 
 I had had some correspondence with the Government, in consequence 
 of which a distribution of forces was made, and two companies of Marines 
 were sent down from Kingstown, one company being billetted in Ennis- 
 kerry and one at Powerscourt. Lord Strathnairn invited my wife and her 
 mother, Lady Leicester, and two of her sisters, who happened to be staying 
 at Powerscourt, to go to stay with him at the Royal Hospital at 
 Kilmainham, and he gave a ball in their honour, and I stayed at 
 Powerscourt with the two officers commanding the Marines, but the 
 insurrection died out by the capture of the rebels in other parts of Ireland 
 and the trial of the leaders mentioned above. 
 
 I write this account because, both in the much more serious outbreak 
 in 1798 and in this latter attempt at insurrection in 1867, it is interesting 
 that the feeling among the people at Powerscourt was shewn by the Roman 
 Catholic Priest being the principal agent on the side of law and order, and 
 that the relations between our tenantry and ourselves had been always of a 
 friendly character, which in many parts of Ireland has not been the case. 
 
 Having now described everything connected with Powerscourt, both as 
 regards what has been done in the way of improvements and also events 
 which occurred there in my time and in earlier days as far as I have been 
 able to ascertain, I now close this Book, which may have some interest not 
 only to those with whom I am connected, but also to the general public. 
 
 POWERSCOURT. 
 
 Augitst, 1902. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 gfcstracte of betters patent anti finqutettionfii relating 
 to property granted to t&e QKSmgfftlti dTamtlE. 
 
 I.—POWERSCOURT AND OTHER PROPERTY IN THE COUNTY 
 
 OF WICKLOW. 
 
 In the year 1538 the manors and castles of Powerscourte, Fasaghe Roo, and 
 Rathdowne, co. Dublin, the lands of Powerscourte, Fasaghe Roo, Rathdowne, 
 Cookeston, Temple Cargye, Kyllegvre, Kylgarran, and Cowlneskeaghe, were in 
 the King's hands by the attainder of Richard Fitzgeralde, and were granted to 
 Peter Talbote of Kylmahioke, gent. (Fiant 30th October 30 Henry VIII.). 
 
 Talbot surrendered this grant to the Crown in 1542, in return for a grant of 
 other lands in co. Dublin (Fiant 6 April 33 Henry VIII.). Thereupon Tirlogh 
 (or Terence) and Arte (or Arthur) O'Toole petitioned the King for a grant of these 
 lands and lands in the territory of " Feartry," which they alleged had belonged to 
 their ancestors, and in the same year (1542) Patents were accordingly passed 
 to the two O'Tooles. The following grant to Terence O'Toole is amongst the 
 Fiants of Henry VIII. (No. 548), and it is also entered in the Auditor-General's 
 Patent Book. It bears no date, but from other evidence it was no doubt made 
 in 1543 :— — - 
 
 "Grant to Terence O'Toole, gent., of the Manor and Castle of Powers- 
 court, county Dublin, lands Powerscourte, Kylpeter, Kylcolin, Beanaghbege, 
 Beanaghmore, le Ouenaghe, Ballycortie, Templebegan, Killtagoran, Cookestown, 
 Anecrew, Kyllmolinge, Ballinebrowe, Killeger, and Manyster in Fercollyn, county 
 Dublin 
 
 "To hold in tail male, by the service of one knight's fee and a rent of 
 five marks 
 
 "Provided that he keep the castle of Powerscourte in good repair; that he 
 cause the inhabitants of all the lands to use the English habit and language as 
 much as they can and to till the tillage lands, he building houses for the husband- 
 men, that he shall not keep kern without permission of the deputy or levy any 
 black rent, coyn or livery ; that he shall clear the way through the woods and the 
 
 R 
 
122 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 mountains whenever directed by the deputy; that he shall answer the King's writs 
 and attend the deputy with his men on all hostings ; and that he shall not support 
 the King's enemies on pain of forfeiture." 
 
 (Signed by Antony Sentleger, Lord Deputy, and the Commissioners Walssh, 
 Mynne, and Cavendysh.) : 
 
 The O'Tooles were, however, unfaithful to their allegiance. They joined 
 "the King's enemies," and their estates were accordingly forfeited to the Crown in 
 the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The lands were subsequently granted on a lease to 
 Sir Richard Wingfield, as appears by the following grant on the Patent Rolls of 
 King James I. : — 
 
 27 Oct. 1603, 1 Jac. I. Lease for 21 years to Sir Richard IVingJield. 
 
 "To Rich. Wingfikld, knt., marshall of the kinges forces, were demised for 
 a fine of 20 markes, on the 27th of Oct., in the first yeare, , 
 
 " The man nor of Powerscourt, containinge one ruinous castle, divers messuages, 
 and all other lands and possessions in the townes and fieldes of Powerscourte, 
 Kilpeter, Kilcullen, Beanaghbegg, Beanaghmore, Onenagh, Ballicoolie, Temple- 
 beacan, Kiltagaran, Cookeston, Anacrew, Killmollinge, Ballinebrow, Killeger, the 
 Monaster, and all other landes in the whole countrie of Fercullen in co. Dublin,, 
 conteininge in itselfe 5 miles in leinth and 4 in bredth, for the most part mountaine 
 and stonie; all which is now, by the occasion of warre, wast, and the natural 
 inflrtilitie of the said countrie verie barren; (b) with courts leet, viewe of franck 
 plege, rentes, services,, water-courses, fishinges, weares, moores, customes, firres, 
 heath, etc. Woodes, underwoods, mines, mineralles, knights' fees, wardes, 
 manages, reliefs, escheats, and fines excepted; allowinge yerelie to the lessee, etc.; 
 sufficient hedgboote, etc. 
 
 "To hold for 21 yeres at a rent of 61. Ierishe, to keepe upp all houses,, 
 edifices, etc., to pay yerely all pensions, rentes, services, etc.,. and not to charge the 
 premises with conny and livery, or any like unlawful impositions." 
 
 This lease was followed by a grant in fee simple in 1609, under the Com- 
 mission of Remedy of Defective Titles : — , 
 
 c Patent Roll, 7 James I. 
 
 29 June 1609, 7 Jac. I. Grant in Fee Simple. 
 
 "\ "To Richard Wingefield, knt., was granted on the 29th: June, in the 
 seventh year, in consideration of a fine of ^12 Irish, with consent of the com- 
 missioners for remedy of defective titles, > 
 
 " One ruinous castle and divers other messuages and tenements in the town 
 of Powerscourt, and all other lands, tenements, and possessions in the towns and 
 fields of Kilpeter, Kilcolhn, Beanaghbegg, Beanaghmore, Oenagh, Ballicowlye, •■ 
 Templebeacan, Kiltagaran, Cookeston., Anacrew, Kilmolinge, Ballenbrowe, Killeger, . 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 123 
 
 and Monaster within the whole province of Fercullen, containing in itself 5 miles 
 in length and 5 in breadth, for the most part monntainv and stony, in co. Wick- 
 lowe; all which, as well on account of the waste, by reason of war, as from the 
 natural infertility of the country aforesaid, upon survey lately made thereof, and 
 now remaining of record, are only valued inter se above reprises at jt6 Irish. 
 
 " With all castles, messuages, mills, houses, tofts, edifices, structures, granaries, 
 stables, dovecotes, orchards, gardens, lands, tenements, meadows, pastures, feedings, 
 commons, demesne lands, wastes, furze, heath, bogs, marshes, woods, underwoods, 
 waters, water-courses, fishings, fishing-places, tithes great and small, oblations, 
 obventions, fruits, profits, alterages, rents, reversions, and services, farms, fee- 
 farms, annuities, cattle, waives, estrays, goods and cattle of felons and fugitives, 
 felons de se, and those placed in exigent, fairs, markets, tolls, customs, rights, etc., 
 within the premises. Saving all right, title, claim, and interest of all subjects 
 whatsoever to the premises, or any part thereof. 
 
 "To hold for ever, as of the castle of Dublin, in free and common soccage, bv 
 fealty only and not in capite, nor in soccage in capite, nor by military service, at 
 the annual rent of 3^6 Irish ; and this grant to be valid in law notwithstanding, 
 inter alia, the statute of 18th Hen. VI." 
 
 This was followed by a second grant of the same lands, which was probably 
 made, as the lawyers say, " by way of further assurance" : — 
 
 Patent Roll, 9 James I. 
 
 25 May 161 1, 9 Jac. L. 
 
 "37.— Grant from the King to Sir Richard Wingefield, knt., Wicklow Co. 
 The manor of Powerscourte, containing a ruinous castle, divers houses in Powers- 
 court, and the towns and lands of Powerscourt, Kilpeter, Kilcullen or Kilcolen, 
 Brenaghbegg otherwise Benaghbegg, Benaghmore, Onenagh, Ballicoolie or Bally- 
 cortell, Templebecan, Kiltagaran or Kilgarran, Cookeston, Anacrewe, Killmolling, 
 Ballinebrowe, Killeger, and the Manaster, with all the lands in the whole country 
 "of Fercullen, containing 5 miles in length and 4 in breadth, the greater part being 
 mountainous and rocky — total rent 61. Ir. To hold for ever as to the castle of 
 Dublin in common soccage for a fine of %l. Ir. 25 May, 9th year." 
 
 At this period some disputes had arisen as to lands comprised in the manor 
 of Powerscourt, and the proceedings in connection therewith are entered on the 
 same Patent Roll, and the following abstract is taken from the Calendar to the 
 Patent Rolls : — 
 
 18 July 16 10, 9 Jac. I. 
 
 Proceedings on a Commission of Enquiry at the suit of Sir Richard Wingefield, 
 Knt., to enquire what lands belonged to the manor of Powerscourt, and on the 
 exceptions taken thereto by Tirlagh McGilpatrick and other inhabitants of the 
 Manister, returned to be parcel of the said manor. These proceedings contain the 
 
 R 2 
 
1 24 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Commission directed to Robert Reade and Robert Caddell of Mooretown in Dublin 
 County, and dated 15 February 8 Jac. I. The Inquisition thereon, taken at 
 Newcastle- Magenagan in Wicklow County, 16 March 1610, by the Jurv finding 
 that the manor of Powerscourt extends in the plains and hamlets of Powerscourt, 
 Kilmullin, Kilpeter, Kilcolin,* Bennagbeg, Bennaghmore,f Owenagh, Ballycortell, 
 Templebegan,J Kilgarran,f Cookestown, Anytrewye, Ballynebrowie, Killeger, 
 le Manister,J Lackendarragh,* Barnemeare,* le Cronie,* Ballvnegewgh,* Bally- 
 necahill, and the Park.f That the lands above named marked thus * are in the 
 possession of divers persons, by agreement between them and Phelomy O'Toole, 
 lately lord of the manor of Powerscourt; that the lands thus marked f are in the 
 possession of Patrick McMorrogh, Cahir McHugh, Donogh McWilter, Philip 
 McShane, Dermot McMorrogh, Terence Voye, and Machowin Boy, bv agreement, 
 as aforesaid ; those marked thus J are in the possession of Donald Ballach, 
 Maurice Boye, Edward McShane, Gerald McShane, Terence McGilpatrick, Cahir 
 McGerald, Terence Bane, Terence Duffy, and Donell McGilpatricke, by agreement. 
 That as to the bounds of Fercolin, the Jury refers to letters of Henrv VITL, and 
 of the Privy Council of Ireland, dated 23 Jan. 32nd of his reign. Petition of 
 Tirlagh McGilpatricke and others against the preceding return. Answer of the 
 Commissioners to the foregoing petition. Depositions of witnesses examined on 
 interrogatories arising out of said Petition. Writ to secure Sir Richard Wingefield, 
 Knt., in the quiet possession of the Mannester. 
 
 Amongst the Chancery Inquisitions for the county of Wicklow 1 we find the 
 following in the 9th James I..:— 
 
 (8.) Nov' Castra' Magenegan %\ Aug' An' 9 Jac. I. 
 
 Inquisition 21 Aug. 1610. 
 
 "Caher' O'Toole, Edm' O'Toole, Mic' Archbold, Hug' O'Toole, Hubert 
 O'Toole, Ric' O'Toole, Jac' McPhelim O'Toole, & Terent' O'Toole possessionat' 
 sunt, ut de jure heredit', de oibj mes', ter', ten' & heredit' in vil', villat', campis & 
 hamlet' de Killmakenock, Cowlengey, Glancorna, Ballygawge al' Balledaie, Cowle- 
 keaght, Kilwogh, Ballyhome, Ballinbane, 8c Glancormicke in Glancapp, in co' 
 Wicklow, qu' valent p an' ultra repris', tos. & ea tenuer' de Ric' Wingfield mil', 
 ut de maner' suo de Powerscourt, p fidelitat' & sect' cur': quedapcell' in possession' 
 •pd' Caher O'Toole, virtute trar' nunc Regis patent', except', qu' tenent 1 " de diet' 
 p>e, p svic' in diet' Iris patent' express' ad quasquide Iras patent jur' se referunt — f?d 
 Jac' McPhelim O'Toole & Hubert O'Toole possessionat' sunt, ut de jure hereditar', 
 de oib$ mes', ter' & ten' in vil' de Killcrony, Ballenelostie, & Carrickevan in 
 Glancapp, necnon de 1 castr' ruinos' & 1 molendin' aquatic', cu ptin', in vil' de 
 Carrickevan p\P, qu' valent p an', ultra repris', 10s. & ea tenuer' de diet' Ric' Wing- 
 field mil', ut de maner' suo de Powerscourt p\l', p fidelitat' & sect' cur' — pd' 
 Jac' McPhelim O'Toole, Joh' Coluian & Brian' O'Toole possessionat' sunt, ut de 
 
 1 Inquisitionum in officio Rotolorum cancellariae Hibernise asservatarum, Repertorium. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 125 
 
 jure hereditar', de 5ib3 ter', ten' & heredit' in vil' de Ballynornan in Glaneapp, 
 qu' valent p an' ultra repris' 5s. & ea tenuer' de diet' Ric' Wingfield mil', ut 
 de rnaner' suo de Powerscourt jJd', ut supra. Wil' Goodman, Hen' Walshe, 
 Wil' McDavie O'Toole, Dermit' McPhelim O'Toole, CahirdufTe O'Toole, Arthur 
 O'Toole, Feagh O'Toole, Edm' O'Toole, Theobald' O'Toole, Barnard' O'Toole, 
 Gerald' McEdm' O'Toole, & Dermit' McTurlaugh O'Toole possessionat' sunt, ut de 
 jure hereditar', de 6ib3 mes', ter', ten' & heredit' in vil' de Kilmurrv & Temple- 
 glancapp in Glaneapp, qu' valent p an' ultra repris', 5s. & tenner' de diet' 
 Ric' Wingfield mil', ut supra. Patric' Archbould, Joh' Glasse al' O'Toole, Brian' 
 O'Toole, Wil' O'Toole oge O'Toole, Edm' O'Toole, & Laur' O'Toole, possessionat' 
 sunt, ut de jure hereditar' de 6ib3 mes', ter', ten' & heredit' in vil' de Glassekellie 
 in Glaneapp, qu' valent p an ultra repris' 5s. &. tenuer' de diet' Ric' Wingfield, 
 ut supra — oes p\i pson', patres & antecessor' s seis' fuer', ut de feod', de 6ib3 
 castr', mes', ter', ten', molendin' & al' heredit' qu^cuque, cu eoru ptin', in vil' & 
 ter' de Kilmokenock, Cowleng;ey, Glancornan, Ballygouge al' Ballendaye, Cowle- 
 keaght, Kilwooge, Ballyhome, Ballylenbane & Glancormick, Kilkrony, Ballenelost, 
 Carrickevan, Ballynornan, Killmurrye, & Glasskeelie p\l'; & sic seis' de jJmiss', 
 except' ^except', obier' — p\niss' de antiq' tenebat r ut de maner' de Powerscourt p\l." 
 
 The above lands, which are all in the territory of Glaneapp, are not mentioned 
 by name in the preceding grants, but it would appear that the owner of the manor 
 of Powerscourt was entitled to a "chiefry" over the lands which the inquisition 
 finds to be held of that manor. 
 
 In an Act of Settlement Patent (9 June 20 Car. II.) to Sir William Flower, 
 Knt., many of the lands described in this inquisition are included, but it contains 
 a saving to Folliott, Viscount Powerscourt, of such rights as his father Richard 
 Wingfield, Esq., had on 23 October 1641 in 60 acres of country measure in 
 Kilmackenoge by virtue of a deed, dated 14 August 1638, between him and Cahir 
 O'Toole, and also the chiefries and services due out of "ye territory of Glaneapp." 
 
 There is an interesting letter in the State Papers for 1631, which refers to 
 some transaction antecedent to the deed of 1638 just referred to : — 
 
 1631, Aug. 17 (2011). 
 
 Lord Esmond to Lord Dorchester. 
 
 . "I recommend a promising young man, Sir Edward Wingfield, who has married 
 Lord Cromwell's sister, and to whom Lord Powerscourt has given his Irish estate. 
 He is interested and employed by the freeholders of Glencapp, for whose estates, 
 as well as for those of the Byrnes, I procured letters of confirmation from King 
 James I. I paid 400Z. for them to Patrick Male of the bedchamber. The Byrnes 
 passed their lands in my patents under the great seal, but the Glencapp lands were 
 not passed. Please do what you think best for the King's service." (Calendar of 
 State Papers, Ireland, 1625 — 3 2 ? f°- ^ 2 7-) 
 
126 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The inquisition post-mortem of the first Lord Powerscourt is not on record, 
 but those taken on the death of his kinsman Sir Edward Wingfield and on the 
 death of Richard, his son and heir, are in existence, and are here given. 
 
 It will be noticed that the first inquisition finds Edward Wingfield was seised 
 of land in the territory of Glancapp, in addition to the lands described in the 
 patents of James I. 
 
 The inquisition taken on the death of Richard the son of Edward Wingfield 
 does not refer to the Powerscourt lands, but finds that he was seised of lands in 
 the baronies of Newcastle and Arklow : — 
 
 Tempore Car. I. Regis. 
 
 Brea, 18 Sept. 1638, 14 Car. I. 
 
 " (24.) Edw' Wingfield seis' fuit de castr', viP & ter' de Powerscourt & de viP 
 de Cookeston, Killgarran, Monastery, Killeger, Ballibrow r - [ ], Lackin- 
 
 darragh, Behanaghmore, Behanaghbegg, Ballinegymore, Ballinegybegg, Annagare, 
 Crone, Bwotereagh, Glan [ ], contin' 1 magn' dom' mansionaP, etc., 
 
 20 mes J , 3 molendin', etc. — p\l' Edw' Wingfield etiam seis' fuit, ut de feod', 
 de 3 mes' &c 60 acr' ter' in viP & ter' de Killmurry in territor' de Glancapp Ide 
 Edw' Wingfield condidit ult' voluntat' sua 16 April' 1638 — obiit 26 April' 1638 — 
 Ric' Wingfield, ejus fil' & her', fuit etat' 17 annor', 4 mens' & 10 dieru tempore 
 mortis p\P Edw' Wingfield — p\niss' tenent 1 ' de Re, sed p qd svic jur' ignor." 
 
 Tempore Car. II. Regis. 
 Bray, 3 June 1661. 
 
 " (1.) Ric' Wingfield nup de Powerscourt in co' Wicklow ar', defunct', seis 
 fuit' de 4 tenement' in viP de Wicklow, ac etiam seis fuit de viP 8c ter' de Bally- 
 cullin, Aghowle in baronia de Newcastle in co' p\P, & de viP & ter' de Ballygaghan, 
 Killguiny, Ballyscolly, Killcashell, Castle McAdams & Knockmoate, cu suis ptin', 
 in baronia de Arklow — p\l' Ric' Wingfield obiit in vel circa an' dni 1645 — f^niss' 
 valent p an' 40s., & tempore mortis p\P Ric, tenebant 1 ' de nup p.e, & modo 
 tenent 1 ' in libo & cornun' soccag'." 
 
 In 1 641 almost the whole of the half barony of Rathdown, co. Wicklow, was in 
 the hands of Protestant owners, and the forfeitures were therefore very insignificant. 
 The unforfeited lands were not surveyed, and, as a consequence, the Down Survey 
 Map is little else than an outline of the barony, and contains very few names. This 
 deficiency is largely made good by the Down Survey Book of Distributions, which 
 gives the names of the landowners and the several ancient denominations or town- 
 lands belonging to them. These particulars in the Book of Distributions are taken 
 from the Civil Survey made in 1653, but the Survey itself for Wicklow is either 
 lost or was destroyed in the fire at the. Record Tower in 171 1. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 127 
 
 The following extract sets out all Powerscourt lands in the ancient parish of 
 that name; and though many of the ancient names have changed and, owing 
 to sub-divisions, modern townlands with new names have come into existence, yet 
 little difficulty is found in identifying the ancient lands : — 
 
 DOWN SURVEY BOOK OF DISTRIBUTIONS. 
 Com. Wicklow, Powerscourt Parish. 
 Rathdowne Half Barony. 
 
 Proprietor in 
 1641. 
 
 Powerscourt ....... 
 
 3^ 
 
 ]• 
 
 D * 
 
 177 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Killeager . . . . 
 
 3°4 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Killgarran . 
 
 156 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Parknesilloge ....... 
 
 043 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Ballybrow ... . . . 
 
 3 6 7 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Killmaling . . . . . . . 
 
 167 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Ballycale and Aghnecrewy .... 
 
 390 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Curtellstovvne . . . ... 
 
 174 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Barnemoyre . . 
 
 180 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Ownagh ....... 
 
 209 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Classganny ....... 
 
 116 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Manister . . . r . 
 
 33 1 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Lackindarragh . . . 
 
 077 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Bolreagh ........ 
 
 205 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Croane . . . . . 
 
 3°4 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Ballynegee . . . . 
 
 265 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Beahanagh . . . . . '. 
 
 338 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Aghnegare and Corbollyes .... 
 
 458 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Churchtowne al's Templebrachan 
 
 
 0 
 
 OO 
 
 Ballynornan . . . 
 
 126 
 
 0 
 
 oo" 
 
 Glancree . 
 
 2101 
 
 0 
 
 00 
 
 Cookestowne . .. 
 
 35° 
 
 0 
 
 00 
 
 Controversie between ffartry and Powerscourt 
 
 127 
 
 0 
 
 06 
 
 v" The following is an abstract of a grant which is reproduced in facsimile in the 
 " Wingfield Memorials " :— 
 
 16 July 15 Car. II., 1664. 
 "Grant, release, and confirmation to Folliott Wingfield of Powerscourt 
 in the county of Wicklow, Esquire, of the town and lands of Ballycullin, 224 acres 
 profitable land, 469 acres unprofitable ; Aghowle, 130 a'. prof., 240 a. unprof. ; 
 Ballygaghan and Ballaghneskelly, 120 a. prof., 27 a. unprof. ; Killquinn al's Kill- 
 crone and Ballaghneskelly, 99 a. prof., 43 a. unprof. ; Castle McAdam and Knock- 
 mote, 117a. prof., 18 a. unprof.; Killcashett, 81 a. prof., 17a. unprof.; four 
 
 Irish plantation measure. 
 
128 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 tenements with certain parks and number of acres in the towne of Wickloc — 
 all situate in the Birne country, co. Wickloe. 
 
 " Killm'knock, Glancormack, Buolinteskin, Killnagh, Ecclemore, Glanmore, 
 Ecclekeaghta, Ballinavane, Ballyhorne, Ballyredmond, Stelbane, Balligaige, and 
 Ballingartagh, and two mills, 1345 a. prof., 398 a. unprof. ; Kilmurry, Glains- 
 poroge, Thytample, and Ballylosty, 328 a. prof., 395 a. unprof. ; Rathuragh, 
 300 a. prof., 371a. unprof.; Kilcreeny and A mitt, 145 a. prof., 145 a. unprof.; 
 Ballynorane, 126a. prof.; all which last-mentioned premises are situate in the 
 territory of Glancapp, co. Wickloe. Rent ^4 8s. 3fd." 
 
 What actually followed on this grant is wrapped in some obscurity. Some of 
 the lands in the Glancapp territory were apparently given up, since lands bearing 
 some of the same names were included in a subsequent patent to Sir Thomas 
 Flower, though lands in both the Birnes country and in Glancapp are, or recently 
 were, in my possession. 
 
 The Wicklow lands in the Arklow barony were confirmed to Folliott, 
 Viscount Powerscourt, in pursuance of the King's Sign Manual Warrant, by the 
 following deed : — 
 
 [M. 8 f.J Patent Roll, Chancery, Ireland, 32 Car. II., Part 2. 
 
 Deed S r Cha. Meredith to Lord Pourscourte. 
 
 This Indenture made the second day of July in the two & thirtieth yeare 
 of the Raigne of our Soveraigne lord Charles the Second of England, Scot', ffrance^ 
 & Ireland, king, defendor of the faith, etc. Betweene the honorable S r Charles 
 Meredith, kn*, Chancellor of his Maties Excheq3 of Ireland of the one pte And the 
 Right hon'able ffolliott lord viscount Pourscourte of the other pte Whereas the 
 s d ffolliott lord viscount Powerscourte by his humble peticon hath represented to 
 his Matie That his Grandfather S r Edward Winckfeild being seised of severall 
 lands, tenem ts , & hereditam ts in the County of Wicklow his Maties Royall ffathers 
 Title was found to some of the s d lands upon the plantacon intended to have beene 
 made in the s d County in time of the late Earle of Strafford's Governm' of the 
 s d kingdome That upon the s d plantacon a greate pte of the lands formerly 
 belonging to the English pprietors was entended to be restored to them and 
 Com 1 ' 3 were appointed for his late Matie for settling the s d lands of whome 
 S r Wirlm Parsons, Barront, then Surveyor genall of Ireland was one whoe cheifely 
 manadged that affaire That in order to the Destributeing the s d lands to such 
 psons whoe were to enjoy the same Ires Patents weare passed Dated the fourth day 
 of October in the ffifteenth yeare of his late Maties Raigne of the s d lands his title 
 thereunto being then found To S r Adam loftus, S r Phillip Percivall, &: S r Robert 
 Meredith and theire heires to the end the s d Patentees might thereby be enabled to 
 Convey the s d lands to such respective psons as were to hold & enjoy the same 
 And that accordingly the s d Patentees made severall Conveyances of the Greatest 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 129 
 
 pte of the s d lands soe passed unto them that the lands of Ballyculiin Aghole 
 neere Ballyculiin afores d And the Tounes & lands of killcoyne, Ballygoghan, 
 Ballaghnyscully, Castlem c adam, & knockmota were then Intended to be Conveyed 
 to his said Grandfather & his heires as appeares by a paper all of the handwriteing 
 of the s d S r W m Parsons but his Grandfather then expecting other lands likewise 
 to bee conveyed to him he did not take out the s d Conveyance from the 
 s d Patentees but afterwards enjoyed the s d lands dureing his lifetime untill the 
 breakeing out of the late Rebellion And that the s d ffolliott lord viscount 
 Powerscourte ever since the ending of the s d Rebellion as heire to his s d Grandfather 
 hath beene & still is in Possession thereof That the s d Patentees being all since 
 dead & S r Robert Meredith being the survivor of them The Estate in law of the 
 s d lands is descended to the s d S r Charles Meredith as Sonne & heire to the 
 s d S r Robert Meredith whome the Peticoner had requested to make A Conveyance 
 of the s d lands to him and his heires but he refused the same without his Maties 
 direccons in regard his father was only A Trustee in the s d Patent and therefore 
 prayed that in regard the said lands weare intended for his Grandfather & hath 
 ever since beene Enjoyed by him & the s d ffolliott lord vise* Powerscourte That 
 his Matie would be gratiously pleased to Signifle his pleasure to the s d S 1 ' Charles 
 Merredith that he should make a Conveyance of the s d lands to the s d ffolliott lord 
 Viscount Pourscourte & his heires according to the trust reposed in him by the 
 s d ires Pattents And whereas his Matie was gratiously pleased to referre the 
 Consideracon of the s d Peticon to his Grace James Duke of Ormond lord leiveten* 
 of Ireland who referred the same to his Maties Solicitor Gen'all upon whose reporte 
 as also upon A Reporte made to his Matie by y e Right hon'able his Maties 
 Com rS of the Treasury in England concerneing the said matter And Whereas his 
 Matie by his tres under his Privy Signett & Signe Manuall beareing date att 
 Whitehall the thirtieth day of Aprill in the yeare one thousand six hundred & 
 eighty hath signified his Will & Pleasure to the s a James Duke of Ormond lord 
 leiveten* of his Maties kingdome of Ireland to give such effectuall orders & 
 direccons to the s d S 1 ' Charles Meredith as may authorize & require him in 
 Dursuance of the trust devolved on him bv vertue of the said tres Pattents of the 
 
 1 J 
 
 fourth of October one thousand six hundred thirty nyne forthwith to make such 
 Conveyance or Conveyances of the s d lands of Ballycullen & other the lands above 
 menconed with theire severall Rights, Members, & Appurtences unto the 
 s d ffolliott lord visct. Pourescourte & his heires in as full & ample manner as by 
 his or theire Councell learned in the law shall be reasonably advised or desired as 
 by the s d tres mav appeare Whereupon the said Duke of Ormond bv his order 
 beareing date the Tenth dav of May One thousand six hundred & Eightv hath in 
 pursuance of his Maties s d tres required the s d S 1 ' Charles Meredith forthwith to 
 make such Conveyance or Conveyances to the s d ffolliott lord Viscount Powers- 
 courte &c his heires as his Maties s d tres doe require And whereas the s d S'' Charles 
 Meredith by his Deede beareing date the day before the date hereof bath for & in 
 Consideracon of the sume of five shillings to him in hand payed by the s d ffolliott 
 
 s 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 lord viscount Pourscourte Bargained & sould unto the s' 1 ffblliott lord Viscount 
 Poursecourtc All those the severall lands, Tencm ts , &c hereditam ts hereafter 
 menconed (that is to say) The lands of Ballycullen Aghole neere Ballvcullin 
 afores d The townes & lands of kilcovne, Ballygoughan, Ballagnescolly, Castle 
 M c Adam, & k nock iti ota alJ lying & being in the County of Wicklow Together 
 with all be singular Castles, Messuages, Mills, tofts, houses, Cottages, Bawnes, 
 buildings, barnes, stables, Orchards, Gardens, lands, tenem' 3 , woods, underwoods, 
 Meadows, Pastures, feedings, Turbary, ffurzes, heaths, boggs, loughs, Mountaines, 
 Moores, Marshes, waves, wasts, waters, watercourses, fishings, &r All & singuler 
 the pfltts, priviledges, & advantages to the pVnsses or any pte or pcell thereof 
 belonging or in any wise apperteyneing To have & to hould to the s d ffblliott lord 
 Viscount Powerscourte his Exec rs , Adm ls , & Assignes for & dureing the tearme of 
 one yeare from the first dav of A prill last past fully to be compleate & ended 
 yeilding ik paying therefore & thereout dureing the s d Tearme the yearly rent of 
 one Pepparcorne as bv the s d Deed (relacon thereunto had mav more at large 
 appeare bv vertue Whereof & of the Statute for transferring uses into possion of 
 the said ffblliott lord viscount Powrscourte now in the actuall possion of all &c 
 singuler y e pVnsses and thereby enabled to take A release to him and his 
 heires of the absolute Estate and Inheritance thereof. Now this Indenture 
 Wittnesseth that the s d S 1 ' Charles Merredith in pursuance of his Maties s a 
 ires & the afores d Orders & direccons of his Maties leiveten 1 of Ireland & in 
 pursuance of the trust devolved on him by the s d ires Pattents afores d & for 
 divers other good Consideracons him thereunto moveing hath Granted, remised, 
 released, Confirmed, & for ever quittclaymed & by these ^sents doth Grant, remise, 
 release, Confirme, & for ever quitt clayme unto the s d ffblliott lord viscount 
 Pourscourte his heires & Assignes All & singuler the above menconed lands &c 
 ^misses together with theire severall rights, members, & appurtences And all & 
 singuler Castles, messuages, Tofts, houses, Cottages, buildings, barnes, Orchards, 
 Gardens, lands, tenem ts , woods, underwoods, meadows, pastures, feedings, turbary, 
 & all & singular other pffitts, Comoditys, Rights, p\'iledges, Emolum ts , Advantages, 
 & hereditam 13 whatsoever to the same belonging or in any wise apperteyneing 
 To have & to hold all & singuler the jpmisses Together with theire Rights, 
 members, & Appurtences whatsoever to him the s d ffblliott lord viscount Powers- 
 courte his heires & Assignes for ever To the onely use, benefitt, & behoofe of him 
 the s d ffolliott lord Viscount Powerscourte his heires & Assignes for ever To be 
 held of his Matie his heires & Successors by the rents due & of Right accustomed 
 And the s d S r Charles Meredith for himselfe, his heires, Exec ls , & Adm rs doth 
 hereby Coven 1 , grant, & agree to & with the s d ffolliott lord vise* Pourscourte his 
 heires & Assignes that he the s d ffolliott lord vise* Pourscourt his heires & assignes 
 shall & may peceably & quietly have, hould, possesse, & enjoy the s d lands & 
 ^misses with the appurtences freed & cleerly accquitted, exonerated, & discharged 
 of & from all & all manner of former & other guifts, grants, bargaines, sales, 
 leases, Joyntures, Powers, Statuts, Recognizances, Judgm ls , execuccons, & all other 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Charges & Incumbrances whatsoever had, made, Comitted, suffered, or done by 
 the s d S 1 ' Charles Meredith or anv other pson or psons Clavmeing any Estate or 
 Interest bv from or under him And further the s d S r Charles Meredith for himselfe 
 his heires & Assignes doth Coven* & Agree to & with the s d ffolliott lord viscount 
 Pourscourte his heires &c Assignes that he the said S r Charles Meredith, his heires, 
 Exec rs , & Adm rs shall &c will att the Reasonable request of him the s a ffolliott lord 
 Viscount Powerscourt his heires or Assignes make, doe, acknowledge, leavy, pfect, 
 & Execute or Cause to be made, done, acknowledged, leavyed, pfected, and executed 
 such further & other lawfull & Reasonable Act & Acts, thing & things, Convey- 
 ances or Assurances in the law for the better, more pfect, & absolute Assureing, 
 securing, & sure makeing the p\nisses with the appurtences unto the s d ffolliott lord 
 Viscount Pourscourte his heires & Assignes as by Councell learned in the law of 
 the s a ffolliott lord viscounte Powerscourte his heires or Assignes, shall be reasonably 
 devised, advised, or required soe as y c same be att the pper Costs & Charges in the 
 law of the s d ffolliott lord Viscount Powerscourte his heires or Assignes, bee it by 
 ffine, ffeofm', Recovery, or otherwise soe as the s d S 1 ' Charles Meredith or his heires 
 bee not Compelled to travill above one mile from his usuall place of Aboade for the 
 makeing of such Assurances And that all ffines & Recoverys that shall be leavyed 
 or suffered of the pVnisses shall be & Enure and are hereby Construed to bee & 
 Enure to the only use & behoofe of the s d ffolliott lord Viscount Powerscourte his 
 heires & Assignes for ever & to noe other use, intent, or purpose whatsoever. 
 In Wittnesse whereof the ptys to these fJsents interchangeably have sett theire 
 hands & seales the day & yeare first above written. Char. Meredith. 
 
 Sealed, signed, & delivered in the psence of Jeremie hall, Tho. Parnell, R. Smith, 
 Rich. Winstanly. Cap? & Recognit coram me Decimo nono die November Anno 
 Dni mifimo sexcentesimo Octogessimo. Jo. Topham, Clarke othe Rolls, lett this 
 Deed bee inrolled. Jo. Topham. Irro vicesimo quarto die Novemb'r Anno RRs 
 Car' scdi Tricesimo scdo. 
 
 The lands of Glancapp, mentioned on page 125, include the Sugarloaf 
 mountain (ancient name " The Silver Spear," from the white rocks near the 
 summit) and adjacent lands. The owner of the manor of Powerscourt appears 
 to have been entitled to a " Chiefry " over the lands which the inquisition finds to 
 be held of that manor. In the letter from Lord Esmond to Lord Dorchester it is 
 stated that " Sir Edward Wingfield was interested and employed by the freeholders 
 of Glencapp," etc. The Byrnes passed their lands under the Great Seal, but the 
 Glencapp lands were not so passed. These lands therefore appear not to have 
 been taken up, but to have been held by the freeholders of that time, and they 
 are still so held as commons in 1903, embracing parts of the townlands of 
 Ballyremond, Glencormick, Killough, etc. 
 
 Sir William Flower appears to have held certain parts of the lands of 
 Killmacanoge "with the appurtenances," Glancormick, Ballyteskin, Stilebaun, 
 
 s 2 
 
132 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Kilmurry, Callcra, Kilcrony, Ballyornan, Tinnehinch, and others as mentioned in 
 the Down Survey, and there may have been an assignment from Sir William 
 Flower to the ancestor of a lady named Hitchcock, who appears to have brought 
 these lands into the family of Lord Monck, but of this I have no further knowledge 
 except that they were the property of Sir William Flower. In the Down Survey 
 a note is made that Tinnehinch was part of the townland of Ballvlorane, the old 
 name, now Ballyornan, and perhaps that townland included Lord Monck's present 
 demesne of Charleville; 126 acres of Ballylorane are returned in the Down Survey, 
 under Powerscourt parish, as belonging to Sir Edward Wingfield. The properties 
 of Sir Edward Wingfield and Sir William Flower appear to have been very much 
 mixed up, and it is still the case at the present day. These lands are partly 
 commons, and the freeholders are still there, or their descendants. They have 
 always gone by the name of " Undivided Commons between Lord Powerscourt and 
 Lord Monck," and are so described in the maps of the Powerscourt estate made by 
 William Armstrong in 1815, and in the maps of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland. 
 The freeholders, of course, pay no rent to me or to Lord Monck, but we have to 
 pay our proportion of the Poor-rate, so that it is not a very lucrative estate ! 
 
 COUNTY DUBLIN. 
 
 Ingiuisitiones Post-mortem, tempore Car. I. Regis. 
 
 (57.) Killmaineham, 17 Sept' 1638, 14 Car. I. 
 
 Edw' Wingfield, Mil', seis' fuit de feod' talliat', sibi & hered' mascuP § de 
 vil', etc., de Ballimany,* al' Hanymunder al' Ballemunder, &. Killronowe I castr, 
 6 mes' & 130 acr' ter' ; put p inquis capt' apud Killmaingham 8 April' 1635, 
 plenius apparet. Ide Edw' Wingfeild term' §ci Hillar' an' regni nunc Regis 13, 
 levavit fin' Edw' Blunt & Alex' Borrowes & hered' ipsius Edw' Blunt de fJmiss' cu 
 suis ptin' in Ballymany al' Ballemander, 1 castr', 60 mes', 60 cottag', 60 gardin', 
 & 55c acr' ter', virtute cujus p\i. Edw. & Alex, fuer' de p\niss' seis' de feod' ad us* 
 pVat' Edw. Wingfeild & hered' suor'. In term' sci Hillar' an' supradict' Erasm* 
 Burrowes p bre de ingress', etc., recupavit p\niss' vers' pfat' Edw' Blunt & Alexis* 
 put p recordu recupacon fJd cujus tenor sequit 1 ' in orig', plenius apparet ; virtute 
 cujus, p\l. Erasm' fuit' de jmiiss' seis' de feod', ad usu pYat' Edw' Wingfeild &. 
 hered' s. 16 April' [638 ide Edw. Wingfeild condidit ult' sua voluntat' cujus 
 tenor sequit 1 in orig', & 22 April' 1638 obiit. Ric. Wingfeild est ejus fil' & her', 
 & tunc fuit etat' 17 annor', 4 mens' & 10 dier', & non maritat' — p\niss' tenent 1 ' de 
 lie in soccag' in capite. 
 
 * The modern townland of Ballyman in the parish of Old Connaught. It was originally granted 
 to Peter Talbot (6 April 33 Henry VIII.) in return for his surrender of Powerscourt and other lands. 
 (See p. 121.) 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 133 
 
 Dublin, tempore Car. II. Regis. 
 
 (1.) Kilmainkam, 1 June 1666. 
 
 Ric' Wingfikld seis' fuit tie vil' & ter' de Ballymany al' Ganymunder 
 al' Ballymunder & Kilbronowe 1 eastr', 6 mes', & 120 acr'. Mense Sept' 1645 ide 
 Ric' obiit — pViiss' tent nt' de £>e in soccag' in capite, put p quanda inquis' capt' 
 apud Kilmaineham 17 Sept' an' regni Carol' nup Regis 14, plen' apparet, cujus 
 tenor in orig' sequit 1 '. Reddit oiu ^miss' p Joh. Ponsonby pcept' fuer. Folliard' 
 Wingfeild est fil' & her' p\l' Ric. & tempore mortis pris sui fuit etat' 2 annor' & 
 10 mens'. 
 
 II. — THE MANOR OF WINGFIELD AND LANDS IN THE 
 COUNTY OF WEXFORD. 
 
 Patent Roll, 16 James I., Quarta Pars. 
 27 May 1618. 
 
 " V. — 9. Grant to Rich. Wingfield, knt., marshal of the armv and a privv 
 councillor in Ireland — Wexford Co. The towns and lands of Ballyda and Kil- 
 cashell, 35 a., and Bealaskeneskorry and Barnedom, 40 a., both in or near the 
 territory of Kinshelagh; Annaghesand Raheneshioge, 32 a. ; Mongandallowe, 52 a.; 
 Monganimoregan, 40 a.; Bolyany and Bolinecatty, 89 a.; Bolinvard, t20 a.; 
 Curranebrocke, 250 a. ; Ballinebarne, 350 a. ; Loggan, 230 a. ; Commerduff, 100 a. ; 
 14/17 of the town and lands of Tomoch and Tomecoyle, 120 a., adjoining Annaghes ; 
 a moiety of Ballygullen and Loiran, noa., all in or near the territory of Kilcheele. 
 To hold, as of the Castle of Dublin, in free and common soccage, by fealty only ; 
 rent s£ 1 1 4s. 8d. Ir. The premises to be the manor of Wingfield with 800 a. of 
 demesne land, power to alienate to persons not mere Irish in blood or surname; 
 to hold, as of the manor of Wingfield, by free and common soccage and suit of 
 court. A court-leet and view of frank-pledge to be held by a seneschal appointed 
 by Wingfield; a court-baron once in the month, with jurisdiction to the amount of 
 40s., with the profits, fines, and forfeitures thereof ; free warren and park to the 
 extent of 50 a., an annual fair at Annaghes on 24 Aug. and the day following, 
 unless the 24 Aug. be on Saturday or Sunday, in which case the fair is to be held 
 on the Monday and Tuesday following, with a court of pie-powder and all rights 
 and customs to a fair or market pertaining ; to hold, as of the Castle of Dublin, in 
 free and common soccage, by fealty only ; no rent reserved. Grantee to erect a 
 stone or brick castle or mansion-house within three years, on pain of ^50 Irish. 
 Reservation of right to cut timber, and clause against demises to the mere Irish. 
 27 May, 1 6th year." 
 
*34 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Patknt Roll, 17 James I., Part I. 
 10 May 1 61 9. 
 
 "XIII. — 24. To Ric. Wingfield, knt., ^ of the lands of Coolaghan, 
 80 a., adjoining Comerduffe in the territory of Kilcheele. To hold, etc., as pre- 
 ceding; rent 7s. English. Reservation of a right to the Crown to cut timber and 
 raise stone, sand, and slate, and to sow hemp, etc., as in Art. 1 1 ; not to alienate 
 to mere Irish, or to persons not of English race and name, under penalty of for- 
 feiture. 10 May, 17th year/'' 
 
 Inciuisitions, Wexford, Tempore Car. I. Regis. 
 
 (140.) Wexford, 22 April 1639, 15 Car. I. 
 
 Edw' Wingfield nup de Powerscourte in co' Wickloe, mil', seis' fuit de 
 vil' 8c ter' de Ballyda & Killcashell in co' Wexford', contin' 35 acr', Bealaskones- 
 korny 8c Barnedome, contin' 40 acr', Annaghes 8c Raheneshioge 302 acr', Mongan- 
 dallowe 52 acr', Monganmore 40 acr', Cloyany & Ballynecarry 89 acr', Ballynward 
 T20 acr', Curranebrocke 250 acr', Ballynebarne 350 acr', Loggan 230 acr', 
 Commerduffe 100 acr', Tombek 8c Tomecoyle 120 acr', Ballvgullen 8c Loiran 
 T20 acr', Ballymorish 214 acr', J viP & ter' de la Ballygarratts, Ballyoweu 8r 
 Ballynecoole 133 acr' 8c vil' de Currane — j3fat' Edw', sic seis' existen', p indentur' 
 sua geren' dat' 8 April' 1616, dimisit p\P ter' de Bealaskoneskorny, cu ptin' p 
 term' 21 annor' sub anual' reddit' ^20 16s. 8d. — j)fat' Edw' condidit ult' voiuntat' 
 sua 16 April' 1638 — obiit 22 April' 1638 — Ric' Wingfield ejus fil' 8c. her', tunc fuit 
 etat' 17 annor', 4 mens' 8c 10 dierii — p^miss' tenent 1 ' de p>e, in Iibo 8c comuni 
 soccag'. 
 
 Co. Wexford, Tempore Car. II. Regis. 
 
 (2.) Eniscorty, 6 June 1664. 
 
 Ric' Wingfield seis' fuit de quada pporcon' ter' sive maner' vocat' " Wing- 
 feild's manor" ac etiam de vil' 8c ter' de Ballydaa, Killcashall, Belaskenescorny, 
 Bardedoone, Annaghes, Raheishioge, Mongandallon, Munganmore, Clogannv, 
 Ballynecarny, Ballinwarde, Curranbrocke, Ballynabarre, Logan, Comerduffe, Tom- 
 bech, Tomecogle, Ballvgullen, Loiran, Ballymorishquin, | de 2 Ballygarrolls, 
 Ballyowen 8c Ballynecoole 8c de vil' de Currane cu oib3 suis ptin' — obiit in mense 
 Sept' 1645 — pmiiss' tenent 1 ' de p,e, in libo 8c cofnun' soccag', reddend' anuatim 
 £l 17s. put p quanda inquis' capt' apud New-Rosse 6 Sept' 1639, cujus tenor 
 sequit 1 ' in orig', appet. Foliat Wingfeild, fil' 8c her' p\] Ric, fuit etat' 2 annor', 
 10 mens' 8c 6 dieru, tempore mortis pris sui. Exit' 8c pfic' ^miss', a tempore 
 mortis p\P Ric' usque ad tempus capcon' hujus inquis', pcept' fuer' p Joh' 
 Ponsonby mil'. 
 
 The manor of Wingfield, co. Wexford, was held by the Wing-fields until 
 I sold it in 1895-6 to the tenants under the Land Act of 1881. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 135 
 
 III. — MANOR OF BENBURBE AND LANDS IN COUNTY TYRONE. 
 
 Patent Roll, 8 Jamks I., Part II. 
 3 Dec. 1 6 10. 
 
 " VIII. — 24. Grant from the King to Sir Richard Wingfikld, knt., marshal 
 of the Army — Tyrone Co. In Dungannon Bar. The Castle and town of Benhurbe 
 and other lands adjacent; Benburbe otherwise Faiegh, Moyar, Tullydoney, Fedulla, 
 Dromcoose, each being ^ Balliboe; Lemneagh, | bal.; Sessioghmagerrill, ^ bal. ; 
 Kilfeddy, ^ bal.; Lismelgedan, t bal.; Lisduffe, Cormagh, Killnegrewe, Lisegatt, 
 Cooledorrough, Currinbeg, each being \ bal.; Lisnecroigh, | bal.; Garvaghie, 
 ^ bal. ; Drumflugh, Dirivanan, Lisbane, Dirripubble, each \ bal. ; Kilgobbane, \ bal. ; 
 Macemore, \ bal.; Dromy, | bal.; Garvaghie, \ bal.; Tirescolbe, Dirricreeny, 
 Carrowbegg, Quiggilie, Croobanagh, Sawnaghanroe, Carealman, each 1 bal. ; 
 Taunagh, \ bal. ; Taghcawsannagh, £ bal. ; Corr, Broghatoy, Dromonowtra, Crewe, 
 Sierly, each 1 bal.; Dromshraghad, 2 bal.; Millicarnan, Mnllidaly, Doonsirke, 
 Coolekerin, Dromgoole, Dromonyeghtra, each 1 bal. ; Shanmoigh, Roane, Colchill, 
 and Boallane, each \ bal. — in all 2000 a. The premises are erected into the manor 
 of Benburbe, with 600 a. of a demesne and a court-baron. Total rent £16 English. 
 To hold for ever, as of the Castle of Dublin, in common soccage, subject to the 
 condition of the plantation of Ulster. 3 Dec, 8th year." 
 
 Patent Roll, 13 James I., Part III. 
 17 May 1615. 
 
 "XXXII. — 39. To Sir Richard Wingfield, knt. — -Tyrone Co. In Dun- 
 gannon Bar. Fennelogh and Boy- Mc- Hugh- Duffe, 1 bal.; Molebane otherwise 
 Moleboy, Colrew otherwise Colcrew, Annagh, and Colecrannash, \ bal. Total 
 90 a.; rent 15s. 17 May, 13th year." 
 
 The manor of Benburb, co. Tyrone, was also held by the Wingfields until 
 I sold it to Sir James Bruce of Belfast. 
 
 IV.— ACT OF SETTLEMENT: GRANT OF LANDS IN COUNTY 
 
 CLARE. 
 Roll, 29 Car. II., First Part. 
 
 "No. 43. Folliott, Lord Visct. Powerscourt. Clare. Lissduffe, 1 qr. 
 101 a., s£i 10s. 8d. ; Carrownabartley, 1 qr. 84 a., £1 5s. 6d.; Carrowkeele, 
 I qr. 79 a., £1 4s. o^d. ; in Ballyalla, 1 qr. 47 a. 2 r., 14s. 5^d. ; in Pursion or 
 Purion, 1 cart 5 a. 1 r., js. 7^d. ; Coolepecan, \ cart 8 a., 2s. 5d. ; in Ballygells, 
 1 qr. 57 a. 2 r., 17s. 5^d ; Fannaghaghy, parcel], 4 a., is. 2^d. ; Came, parcell, 
 12 a., 3s. 7§d. ; Terrimilly, a parcell, 7 a., 2s. i^d.; Ballmeloy, parcel, 29 a., 
 
136 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 8s. 9^d.; Ballatrasnv, 86 a., j^i 6s. i^d. Total 520 a. 1 r. plant. (842 a. 3 r. 2 p. 
 stat.). Total rent ^7 18s. bar. Corcumroe, co. Clare. Dated rgth July, 
 29th year. Inrolled 10 Aug. 1677." 
 
 The lands in co. Clare must have been sold long ago. I have no record of their 
 sale, nor of those held by Jaques Wingfield in St. Mary's Abbey, Raheny, etc., in 
 the countv Dublin. 
 
 V.— ENTRIES IN THE CALENDARS RELATING TO OTHER 
 MEMBERS OF THE WINGFIELD FAMILY IN IRELAND. 
 
 Amongst the Fiants of Queen Elizabeth are the following documents : — 
 
 " 1559-60. Fiant No. 198. A commission which includes c Jaques Wyngfelde, 
 Master of the Ordnance.' " 
 
 " 1566. Fiant No. 909. Grant to Jaques Wingefelde, Esq., of the office of 
 Constable of Dublin Castle. To hold during pleasure" 
 
 " 1600. Fiant No. 6457. Commission to examine accounts of late Jaques 
 Wingefeilde as Master of the Ordnance. Petition of Thomas Wingefeilde his 
 son and executor." [Jaques Wingfield was third son of Sir Richard Wingfield of 
 Kimbolton Castle (see " Wingfield Memorials," p. 5). The above entry clears up 
 the doubt as to whether Jacques left issue.] 
 
 " 1602. Lease to Thomas Wingfielde, gent n , son and executor of Jaques 
 Wingfielde. Lands at Portmernock, co. Dublin, and the customs of the tenants, 
 and the moncks' meadow, and the Rectory of Rathennie." 
 
 In the Calendar to the Patent Rolls of James I. is the following entry : — 
 
 Patent Roll, 9 James I., Part I. (dorso). 
 
 "XLIX. — 19. King's letter to secure Tho. Wingfield in his estate in parcels 
 of the possessions of Mary's Abbey, near Dublin, notwithstanding any defect in 
 the letters patent under which he derives his title. 7 May, 9th year.'" 
 
 POWERSCOURT ESTATE, COUNTY WICKLOW. 
 
 In the first part of this Appendix are set out the denominations of the lands 
 granted to my ancestors, and on p. 127 the names of the denominations in Powers- 
 court parish, which are taken from the Down Survey made in the time of the 
 Commonwealth, and this survev, by Sir William Petty, has been taken as 
 irrefragable proof in all land cases in Ireland. 
 
 I inquired the meaning of the term "the Down Survey," thinking that it might 
 have some connection with the County Down in the north of Ireland, but I under- 
 stand that it was so named because it was <£ laid down by admeasurement on maps." 
 
 The names which I have here written with their modern equivalents refer only 
 to the Powerscourt Estate in the counties of Wicklow and Dublin, and which are 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 137 
 
 mentioned in the grants by King James I. and the regrants by King Charles II. 
 after the Restoration. Some small portions now belong to Viscount Monck, and 
 in those cases a portion of the townland is still in our possession and part forms a 
 portion of his estate. 
 
 The latter portion of this account refers to lands which I purchased under the 
 circumstances detailed hereafter, and were not included in the ancient grants. 
 
 Ancient Granted Lands and Modern Denominations. 
 
 Kil peter 
 Kilcollen . 
 
 Beanaghbegg (Little Beanagh) ."1 
 Beanaghmore (Great Beanagh) .J 
 Oenagh or Ownagh 
 Ballincowlie 
 
 Churchtown, also Templebracken 
 
 Kiltagaran . 
 Cookeston . 
 Annacrew and Ballycale 
 Ballycortell or Cortellstown 
 Barnemoyre or Barnameare 
 Ballybrowe . 
 Killeger 
 Classganny . 
 Manister 
 Lackindarragh 
 Bolreagh 
 
 Le Cronie or Croane . 
 
 Ballynegeeogh 
 
 Ballinacahill 
 
 The Park 
 
 Parknasilloge 
 
 Ballycale and Aghnacrevy 
 
 Aghnagare and Corbollyes 
 
 Ballynornan or Ballyornane 
 
 This includes Tinnehinch in the Down Survey, which is part 
 of the Powerscourt estate, but held in perpetuity by the 
 representatives of James Grattan the Irish statesman, bv a lease 
 granted to him by Richard, 4th Viscount Powerscourt. The 
 rest of the townland of Ballyornan, on the right bank of the 
 river Dargle, is the property of Viscount Monck. 
 
 Glancree ..... Glencree. 
 Controversie between Ffartry and Powerscourt. 
 
 Kilpeddar. [This does not now 
 
 belong to the Estate.] 
 Kilcullen. [This does not now 
 belong to the Estate.] 
 
 Bahana. 
 
 Onagh. 
 Coolakay ? 
 
 Churchtown. [Now part of 
 
 Powerscourt Demesne.] 
 Kilgarron. 
 Cookstown. 
 Annacrevy. 
 Curtlestown. 
 Barnamire. 
 Ballybrew. 
 Killegar. 
 Glaskenny. 
 Monastry. 
 Lackendarragh. 
 Ballyreagh. 
 Crone. 
 Ballinagee. 
 Ballvcoyle. 
 
 Deerpark or The Paddock. 
 
 Parknasilloge. 
 
 Annacrevy. 
 
 Aurora and Old Boleys. 
 Ballyornan. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Controversie between Ffartry and Powerscourt. — This evidently refers to a 
 dispute concerning the boundaries on the mountains of the parish or district known 
 as Powerscourt, and the owners on the south and west side of the hills known as 
 the War Hill and Djonce, which form the east side of the watershed of the river 
 Vartry. : 
 
 These boundaries appear never to have been defined, as is natural on an open 
 mountain side, the only definition being, as is often the case in Scotland, the run 
 of the surface water either into one valley or the other. 
 
 This " controversie " lasted from the days of the Down Survey apparently 
 down to my father's time, and there were never any "mearings" or boundary 
 trenches made on those mountains as there were in other parts, for instance as on 
 my boundary between Luggala and Lord Downshire's estate. The watershed in 
 question formed the boundarv between the ancient estate of Powerscourt, as 
 granted by King James I., and the estates of the Archbishops of Dublin, who 
 were and are still also Bishops of Glendalough, their property evidently running 
 from the " Seven Churches " to the boundary of the Powerscourt Estate. 
 
 All this was "Bishops' land" at the time of the Down Survey. The grant 
 to the Archbishop of Dublin has not been able to be traced, but it was no doubt a 
 very early one, prior to the time of Henry VIII. In the Report of the Irish 
 Church Commissioners 1868, when the Irish Church was disestablished and 
 disendowed, it is stated that Thomas Hugo held a lease in perpetuity from the 
 Archbishop of the lands of Glendalough, 33,754 acres, at a rent of ^237 gs. 3d. 
 These lands comprised, among others, the townlands of Glasnamullen, Ballinastoe, 
 Shraghmore, and Clohoge. Glasnamullen and Ballinastoe lie contiguous to the 
 original Powerscourt Estate, Shraghmore being beyond and to the south of 
 Ballinastoe, Clohoge being to the west, comprising the lake called Luggala, a 
 corruption of the ancient Irish name signifying "The Lake of the Shadows." 
 
 When I came of age in 1857 it was proposed to my guardians and to myself 
 that I should purchase the townlands of Glasnamullen and Ballinastoe, the latter 
 being the property of Major William Beresford, well known in Parliamentary 
 circles in those days as W. B., from letters which he used to write on political 
 subjects over that signature. Luggala also was to be purchased from Colonel 
 David Latouche, Colonel of the Dublin Militia, and one of the old Huguenot 
 banking firm in Dublin of " Latouche and Co.," one of the numerous families who 
 settled in Ireland after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. It was also 
 proposed to purchase Shraghmore and one or two townlands beyond, but that was 
 abandoned, and it was only the first two named and Luggala (Clohoge) which were 
 added to the Powerscourt Estate at that time. These had all been " Bishops' 
 land," but had with lapse of time got into the hands of several different proprietors. 
 In the case of the two townlands there were large mountain grazings attached to 
 the lowland farms, fed by sheep belonging to the tenants. 
 
 The townland of Glasnamullen has grazings attached to it running up to the 
 top of Djonce mountain next to those of the tenants on the Paddock (Park ?), 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 i39 
 
 which abuts on Powerscourt Deerpark. The grazings of Ballinastoe ran along the 
 east side of the Barrack or White Hill along the south side of Djonce and War 
 Hill, and were called " The Sheepbanks," reaching up nearly to Sally Gap or 
 Stranamuck, which was claimed as part of the ancient Powerscourt Estate, and on 
 which are still the ruins of an old stone building called " Lord Powerscourt's 
 Grouse House/' The land on the eastern side of the lake, Lough Tav, had been 
 incorporated by the Latouches into the demesne of Luggala, and a mansion or 
 lodge had been built. by them in the valley near the lake, and a high wall built from 
 the corner of the road at the end of the townland of Shraghmore, along the road 
 leading westward to Sally Gap, to a bridge across the stream descending from the 
 back of the White Hill, called Ballyhorrigan Bridge, and thence down to the brook 
 which supplies Lough Tay with water, enclosing the woods round the lodge at 
 Luggala, which were planted for shelter, and forming the demesne. This stream 
 forms the boundary between Ballinastoe and Clohoge. There is no doubt that 
 Clohoge formed part of the land leased in perpetuity to Thomas Hugo, for I continue 
 to pay a head rent as the present owner of Clohoge to Mr. Hugo. Ballinastoe 
 was the property of Luke Toole in 1641, and he being a Papist his lands were 
 forfeited, and were included in the Grant of the Manor of Castle Kevin to Sir 
 John Cooke. The lands included in this grant are now in the hands of several 
 owners. The brook, which feeds Lough Tay and eventually Lough Dan lower 
 down the valley, joined with several tributary streams from Djonce and the other 
 mountains, forms the river Vartry, which now supplies Dublin with water from 
 the Roundwood Reservoir. 
 
 There appears to have been a battle in remote times between the Rebels and 
 the King's Army, which is said to have given the name to the "War Hill" (?). 
 This is problematical. 
 
 All this I have written is introductive to the history of the "Controversies 
 mentioned in the Down Survey between Ffartry and Powerscourt. It appears 
 that my ancestors had for generations laid claim to the lands of Stranamuck at 
 Sally Gap, and on the old maps which were used in the endless lawsuits about the 
 boundaries it is written, no doubt for the instruction of counsel, "The land of 
 Stranamuck near Sally Gap was the soil and freehold of Lord Powerscourt from 
 the year 161 1 down to 1752." (Sally Gap is the point on the ridge where four 
 county roads meet, coming from Ballinastoe, from Glendalough, and from Glencree, 
 to cross over to Blessington and the portion of the County Wicklow which lies to 
 the west of the mountains. These passes were often called "Gaps.'' There is 
 another called Wicklow Gap where the mountain road crosses the ridge into 
 County Wexford.) 
 
 "His Lordship Edward, 2nd Viscount, in the name of Benjamin Buckley, 
 probably his agent, brought. an action against William Sheil, Esq., and others for 
 impounding the cattle belonging to his tenants on this land. The said William 
 Sheil declared that this land was part of the townland of Ballinastoe in the 
 Lordship of Ffartry, parish of Derralossary and Barony of Ballinacor. Through 
 
140 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 the negligence of the person who managed his Lordship's affairs at that time, he 
 being himself in France, the said William Sheil obtained a verdict at the Wicklow 
 Assizes 1753. In pursuance of such verdict William Sheil and his assigns were 
 suffered to hold possession since that time, but the Right Hon. Georoe Ponsonby, 
 who succeeded William Sheil, supposed that his land extended to the Cruckan 
 Pond ana Cruckan Brook, and claimed it as part of the townlands of Glasnamullen 
 and Ballinastoe in 1815." And so the rival claims went on. It is no use 
 pursuing the matter further. At the time of my coming of age in 1857, the lands, 
 as far at all events as Ballinastoe was concerned, were in the hands of Major 
 William JBeresford, who probably inherited from the Ponsonbvs, and Major 
 Beresford and Colonel Latouche sold their estates to me, and thereby obliterated 
 the disputed boundaries and the lawsuits in 1858-9. Thus all arguments by 
 gentlemen of the long robe over these mountains ceased, and the onlv voices now 
 heard upon them are those of the beaters driving the grouse, and the only money 
 now spent there goes into their pockets instead of into the denizens of the Four 
 Courts in Dublin — a much happier state of things — and now there is a lasting peace 
 on the former scenes of strife on the old Wicklow Hills ! 
 
 On the hill called Ballinvalla, over the road called the "Murdering Pass/' 
 is a large rock called " The Shaking Stone." This was formerly one of those 
 so-called " erratic blocks," probably carried on the ice from some distant part, and 
 deposited on the melting of the ancient glaciers, as is often the case, on the very 
 ridge of the mountain, and resting on another stone in such a position that in 
 former times it could be moved with the hand, in the same way as the " Rocking 
 Stone" near Tunbridge Wells. In this case, however, the stone is now immove- 
 able, and the tradition is that at some time, probably when during the wars of the 
 Tudors the whole of these hills were occupied by the military, the soldiers pushed 
 the stone from its equilibrium, and therefore it now lies on the hill like any of the 
 other surrounding rocks firmly fixed in its position, and cannot now be moved. 
 
 At Luggala, in the valley below, can be seen from a point not far up the little 
 stream a very distinct human profile, on the precipice over Lough Tay. The rock 
 in its outline shews the forehead, eyebrow, nose, and mouth of a gigantic human 
 face. This can be easily seen from the bend in the course of the brook, about 
 100 yards up stream from where the house stands. 
 
 In the grant from Charles II. it is mentioned that Ballycullin and Aghowle, 
 in the Barony of Arklow, county of Wicklow, were granted with the other lands. 
 These form now, in part, the demesne of Glanmore, held by Mr. Synge under a 
 lease from Lord Powerscourt, dated 17 February 1698, for 221 years, which 
 expires on 17 February 1919, at a rent of £\6 35. id. ; the acreage being 
 1266 acres 2 roods 15 perches Irish plantation measure, and the Government 
 valuation being ^'765. The original counterpart of this lease appears to be 
 missing, but there is a copy of the original lease, lent by Mrs. Editha Synge 
 20 July 1878, which copy is kept in the Powerscourt Estate Office, Enniskerry. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 141 
 
 OLD DUBLIN. 
 
 POWERSCOURT HOUSE. 
 
 One of the most interesting of the old pre-Union homes of the Irish nobility 
 is Powerscourt House, which still rears a proud front in South William Street, and 
 broods on its ancient fame. Few mansions within the confines of the city can vie 
 with it for solidity of construction, for architectural finish, or for beauty of internal 
 adornment. Its interior, indeed, is a masterpiece of decorative art, a fact to which 
 I am able to bear personal testimony, because, through the courtesy of a gentleman 
 connected with the firm of Messrs. Ferrier and Polloc k, who have been the tenants 
 for nearly eightv years, I was permitted to make a tour of the old house only a few 
 days ago. The mansion dates from 17 71, when it was erected by Richard, 
 Viscount Powerscourt, from the designs of Mr. Robert Mack ; vet, even to-day, 
 when it has contended with time for almost a century and a half, it is internally 
 and externally a splendid tribute to the marvellous taste and art which characterized 
 the architectural and decorative work of the eighteenth century Dublin. Every- 
 where in the old house there are the traces of its ancient grandeur; on all sides the 
 visitor can see the evidences of the wealth which was lavished upon it bv the 
 Wingfield to whose order it was built, and the fact that its carving and moulding 
 and plaster work are still in such an excellent state of preservation must be counted 
 for righteousness unto the firm whose emporium it has been since it was vacated 
 by the Commissioners of Stamps in 1835. The Powerscourt who built this lordly 
 mansion was not the first of the name to live in William Street. He was almost 
 the last, however, for on his death, in 1788, his son Richard succeeded to the 
 title and the property, and with the sale of the mansion to the Government shortly 
 after the enactment of the Legislative Union, the family of Wingfield vacated 
 South William Street, in which it had resided for at least a century. The first of 
 the name mentioned by Gilbert as living in this thoroughfare is Edward Wingfield, 
 " Councillor-at-Law/ ; who had his house here so early as 17 17. Upon his son 
 Richard the dormant Viscounty of Powerscourt was conferred, and on the death 
 of this nobleman, in 1751, he was succeeded in the title and estates by Edward, 
 the " French Lord Powerscourt," as he was called, because of his long residence in 
 France and his easy and polished manner. It was his brother Richard, 3rd 
 Viscount, who built Powerscourt mansion, which to-day houses the firm of 
 Messrs. Ferrier and Pollock. 
 
 The walls of the room of the old house, covered as they are with panels and 
 medallions and floreated plaster designs of exquisite finish and workmanship, exude 
 a positive inspiration. Entering these rooms one steps into the dazzling yesterdays 
 of life, with all their pomp and pride and ostentatious magnificence. Were it not 
 for the distracting rustle of the leaves of day-books and ledgers, the metallic click 
 of typewriters, and the ceaseless scratching of clerkly but very uninspired pens, the 
 imaginative visitor could with little difficulty conjure up the past within these walls, 
 refurnish the rooms, and fill them with the stately ghosts of the eighteenth century 
 
142 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Wingfields and their guests. What a brilliant party of beaux and beauties he 
 might not set around the mahogany in the finely embellished dining-hall ; with 
 what a fair and gallant throng he could crowd the magnificent mahoganv staircase, 
 whose steps and carved balustrade shine like polished marble — the stately dames 
 and cavaliers who led the town in the dead days, all of them preposterously 
 bewigged, bepowdered, and bepatched, and resplendent as Solomon in all the 
 dazzling sheen of many coloured silks and satins and brocades. Golden lads are 
 whispering courtly compliments into the ears of golden lasses, and Peers and 
 Commoners who have just come up from the Parliament House are discussing 
 some interesting episode of the Parliamentary day in this stormy political period. 
 Or it is possible to conjure up another scene, and pass with the crowd in front of 
 the coffin of Viscount Richard as he lies in solemn state in the black-draped 
 parlour of the house which he built. 
 
 The ghosts, however, are elusive; the brave scenes in which they play a part, 
 mere shadowy memories of material too delicate to endure for long in the corroding 
 atmosphere of twentieth-century commercial life. The squires and dames, the 
 golden lads and lasses, the Peers and Commoners, and all the rest of the glittering 
 crowd which thronged these rooms in the eighteenth century have long since 
 sought repose in the quiet of the under world. Their game for a century past has 
 been played out; the puppets have fallen to pieces; there only remains the stage 
 upon which they strutted their short hour. If ever in the silent watches, when 
 the pen and the typewriter are silent, they wander into the halls where once they 
 revelled and laughed and loved, they must surely gather their shrouds about their 
 ankles in dismay, and scurry back to the Shades in sublime disgust. Trade has 
 come between the wind and their nobility ; they bark their aristocratic and ghostly 
 shins against bales of merchandise. There is no place reserved for them in 
 twentieth-century William Street; modern men talk calicoes where they lisped 
 neatly-turned compliments ; the ribands to be found there are not those of the 
 " high, mighty, and puissant princes " of St. Patrick — the orders are commercial, 
 not knightly. How the ghostly visitants must pity the medallion of George Rex, 
 which keeps a silent watch above the highest landing of the grand staircase. 
 There he is, impassive as the Sphinx, contemplating, with a stolidity only possible 
 to plaster, these scenes of ancient gentility. The terms of trade have affronted his 
 roval ears these hundred summers; for a century his sacred nose has been offended 
 by the odour which comes from bales of cloth and furs and pyramids of felt hats ; 
 yet the hapless monarch cannot even curl a contumelious lip or frown imperiously 
 on the rushing clerk who passes him bv as irreverently as though his hands had 
 never held the sceptre, and his shoulders had never been graced by the inter-tissued 
 robe of gold and pearl. It is to be hoped, for the sake of his kingly comfort, that 
 a hundred years of plebeian company has made a Democrat of him. R. M. 
 
 The original water-colour drawing of Powerscourt House, Dublin, by Malton, 
 is at Powerscourt. I purchased it from Messrs. Colnaghi and Co., Pall Mall East, 
 London. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 H3 
 
 In a Book called " Les Chevaliers de la Jartiere," with the title-page as 
 follows : — 
 
 LES NOMS, SURNOMS, QUALITEZ, ARMES ET BLASONS DE TOUS LES 
 PRINCES, SEIGNEURS COMMANDEURS, CHEVALIERS & OFFICIERS 
 DE L'ORDRE & MILICES DE LA JARTIERE DEPUIS L'INSTITUTION 
 JUSQU A PRESENT. 
 
 CREEZ PAR LE ROY EDOUARD III., ROY D'ANGLETERRE, PREMIER 
 FONDATEUR ET CHEF SOUVERAIN D'ICELUY LE DERNIER 
 DECEMBRE 1347. 
 
 A PARIS CHEZ PIERRE LAMY EN LA GRAND' SALLE DU PALAIS AU 
 SECOND PILLIER AU GRAND CESAR M.D.C.XLVII. 
 
 Are found as follows : — 
 
 RICHARD II., Second Chef. 
 
 MICHEL DE LA POLE, 
 COMTE DE SUFFOLCK, 
 BARON DE WINGFIELD, 
 CHANCELIER DE L'ANGLETERRE, 
 N 1 ' Soixante Trois. 
 
 HENRI VII., Huitieme Chef. 
 
 EDOUARD DE LA POLE, 
 COMTE DE SUFFOLCK, 
 BARON DE WINGFIELD, 
 N 1 ' deux cents trente trois. 
 
 HENRI VIII., Neuvieme Chef. 
 
 RICHARD WINGFIELD, 
 CHANCELLIER DE LANCASTRE, 
 N r Trois cent Trois. 
 
 HENRI VIII., Neuvieme Chef. 
 
 ANTHOINE WINGFIELD, 
 VICE-CHANCELLIER DU ROYAUME, 
 N r Trois cent quatre. 
 
 This is an ancient record of the Knights of the Garter, with their arms, and 
 giving the names of the Monarchs, Chiefs of the Order, and the numbers of the 
 Knights themselves on the Roll, beginning with King Edward III. the Founder, 
 No. 1. I got this book through Mr. Quaritch; it is very rare. I found a copy 
 of it in the Holkham Library, and gave him a commission to get one for me, and 
 it took him three years to find it. He got my copy through a Librarian in Paris. 
 
i 4 4 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 In the picture at Hampton Court Palace of the Meeting of King 
 Henry VIII. and King Henry IV. of France, at the Field of the Cloth 
 of Gold, are depicted the Knights, and in some cases their Ladies, who 
 accompanied King Henry VIII. in the procession to meet the King of 
 France. It is impossible to identify the figures, but in the List of the 
 King's Suite are — 
 
 Sir Anthony Wingfield. 
 Sir Richard Wingfield. 
 Sir Robert Wingfield. 
 
 And at the end of the List are — 
 
 Lady of Sir Anthony Wingfield. 
 Lady of Sir Robert Wingfield. 
 
 The following is taken from the undated papers relating to Ireland of the 
 time of King Charles II., preserved in the Public Record Office in London. 
 The document has not yet been assigned a definite place, but will be 
 incorporated in the Calendar of State Papers of that reign, and will probably 
 be placed at the end of the year 1663. This shews that Ffolliot Wingfield 
 had not yet, at that date, been raised to the Peerage, but that the document 
 was written after he had married Lady Elizabeth Boyle, daughter of Roger, 
 Earl of Orrery. It was obtained for me by Mr. Mahaffy, son of the 
 Rev. J. P. MahafFy, Senior Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, in May 
 1903 :— 
 
 To His Sacred Majesty. 
 
 The humble narration and suit of Foliot Wingfield of Powerscorte, 
 co. Wicklow in Ireland, Esq. 
 
 1. That Sir Richard Wingfield the late Lord Viscount Powerscorte, deceased, 
 knight marshal of Ireland, being descended of a noble family and having a consider- 
 able estate unto him descended or come in England from his ancestors, "usefully 
 and successively served the late Queen Elizabeth of happy memory in her wars in 
 France, Spain, and the Netherlands from his youth in places of honour and 
 eminent command, and that upon the long designed and attempted invasion of 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 H5 
 
 England by the Spanish great armada" in 1588 Sir Richard [served] with the 
 command of a thousand valiant English musketeers that came from Holland to 
 the assisting and training of the late Queen's army; that he continued in the said 
 Queen's service abroad until in Tyrone's rebellion he was by the said late Queen 
 sent to Ireland in the quality of Knight Marshal of her said kingdom with a 
 regiment of experienced foot and a troop of horse. " That in all the services of 
 the said kingdom at Kinsale battle and otherwise during the said Queen's life 
 he discharged that duty incumbent upon a person of honour, trust, and command." 
 That he served as marshal to the armies of James I. and Charles J., and in their 
 Councils of State as Privy Councillor, as Commissioner for the settling of estates 
 and regulating the plantations in Ireland, as Lord Justice of the said kingdom 
 "with becoming resolution, wisdom, and circumspection, and died full of years and 
 honours " in 1632. 
 
 2. Having no issue of his own, the Knight Marshal constituted his near 
 kinsman Sir Edward Wing-field of Powerscorte his heir to succeed him in his 
 estates in England and Ireland. 
 
 3. Sir Edward died seized of the said estate, as may appear by sundry inquisitions 
 remaining of record in the High Court of Chancery and Court of Exchequer in 
 Ireland in the year 1638. He was succeeded by Richard Wingfield, then 17 years 
 old and a ward to [King Charles I.], whom Sir Edward served in sundry employ- 
 ments of trust, " as became a person of his rank and quality." 
 
 4. That before Richard Wingfield came of age, or could sue out his livery 
 or receive the rents of his estate, the rebellion in Ireland broke forth on the 
 23rd October 1641. 
 
 5. The said Sir Edward Wingfield soon after the decease of the said Knight 
 Marshal did for valuable and consideration purchase from the lawful proprietors 
 thereof the towns and lands of Killmackenock [Kilmacanogue], Glancormick [Glen- 
 cormick], Boullenteskin [Ballinteskin], Killough, Coolmore, Glanmore [Glanmore], 
 Coolkeaght [Coolakay], JBalynvane [ ? ], Bally hoome [ ? ], Bally- 
 redmond [Ballyremond], Stelbane [Stilebawn], Ballygage [ ? J, with two 
 mills in Ballymaeartagh (the eighth part of Glancormick and Boullynteskin only 
 excepted), Killmurrye [Kilmurry], Glastnespivoge [ ? ], Callaragh [Calary], 
 Kilcrony with a mill, Tyhytample [Tetample], Ballenlostye, and Ballynnorenave 
 [Ballvornan], with their rights, members, etc., situated in the territory of Glancape, 
 half barony of Rathdowne in co. Wicklow. These consisted of precisely 3361 
 acres, and of but [only] 1772 acres of profitable land, all parcels of the little 
 territory of Glancape contiguous to the manor of Powerscourt, " which territory 
 time whereof no memory of man was to the contrary before was held by the said 
 manor by suit of Court and other services." Sir Edward died seized thereof in 
 1638, and they descended to his son, as can be proved by sundry letters patents, 
 authentic surveys, inquisitions, etc. 
 
 6. In October and November 1641 all the manor-houses, castles, and consider- 
 able plantations, built, erected, and sett led upon the said estate, descended to Sir Richard 
 
 u 
 
146 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 in the cos. Wicklow, Wexford, Dublin, Tyrone, Limerick, and Clare, were burnt, 
 razed, and destroyed by the rebels. The whole estate was intruded upon and 
 wasted, and "all the plate, household stuff, stock, and other goods belonging to the 
 said Sir Richard Wingfield, and most of his writings and evidences were plundered 
 and taken away by the said rebels, whereby the said Sir Richard and his younger 
 brothers, then of tender age, were driven to insupportable hardships." 
 
 7. Notwithstanding all this, Sir Richard enlisted in October 1641, served 
 under the " Lord Duke" of Ormond, first as captain of a foot company and after 
 as lieut. -colonel of a regiment of foot. In this service he died in 1645, an< ^ the 
 premises came to [the petitioner] Foliot Wingfield, then of the age of 1 years and 
 odd months, and a ward to King Charles I. and afterwards to "your Royal self" 
 [Charles II.]. 
 
 8. Your Majesty by letters patents soon after the Restoration granted the 
 wardship of the petitioner to Roger, Earl of Orrery. The Earl married him to his 
 eldest daughter, with whom the petitioner received a considerable dowry, " and 
 afterwards sent the said Foliot to travel to foreign parts, where he doth as yet 
 remain, thereby to render him more capable to trace the ways of loyalty chalked 
 by his ancestors in the service of the Crown." The Earl of Orrery applied the 
 said portion and the rents of the estate towards freeing it from debts, portions for 
 younger children, etc., with which it was chargeable. 
 
 The petitioner now asks that the King will direct the Duke of Ormond, 
 Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and the other chief governor or governors, etc., to pass 
 letters patents under the Great Seal of Ireland of the said estate (except as aforesaid) 
 to the petitioner in free and common socage, and not in capite or by knight's 
 service, reserving to the Crown such a rent as was paid on 2% Oct. 1641, and that 
 the King will be pleased to incorporate the said lands by the said patents into the 
 manor of Powerscourt. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM THE CARTE MSS. IN THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY, 
 
 OXFORD. 
 
 Cha s R. 
 
 Right Trusty & Right well beloved Cousin & Councillor, Wee greet 
 you well. Whearas wee are gratiously pleased to take into our Princely consideration 
 the signall services done & performed unto our Royall Progenitors & Predecessors 
 by Sir Richard Wingfeild, Kn l , late Lord Viscount of Powers Court, Kn 4 , Marshall 
 of Ireland, in France, the Netherlands, in Spaine, & Portugall, & in that our 
 Kingdom in the overthrow of the Spaniards & the Rebell Tirone at Kingsale, & in 
 all other places where our late Deare Sister Queen Elizabeth of happie memory had 
 Warres, and after [wards] unto our late deare grandfather King James of happie 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 H7 
 
 memory in the killing &c defeating of the Rebell O'Daherty & constantly persevered 
 in his said services of warre & in the Civi.Il government, as twice Lord Justice & 
 alwayes Privy Councellour of that our Kingdom from his youth until] hee died full 
 of age, honour, & meritt ; and Whereas Wee conceive great hopes of our Trusty 
 and well beloved Folliott Wingfeild of Powers Court in the County of Wicklow in 
 that our Kingdom, Esquire, Cousin & Heire of the said Lord Viscount, that is to 
 say sonne & heir of Richard Wingfeild, Esq 1 ', deceased, in our late R ovall Father's 
 service, sonne & heir of Sir Edward Wingfield, K», deceased, whom the said Sir 
 Edw. Wingfield, Knight Marshall, being his neare kinsman in blood & of his 
 Sirname & Family, hath constituted Heire to succeed him in his Estates in England 
 & IrelanJ, which Estate the said Folliott Wingfeild doth enjoy accordingly by the 
 Settlement made by the said Knight Marshall in his life time. And whereas the 
 said Sir Richard Wingfeild Knight Marshall late Lord Viscount P owerscourt 
 aforesaid is dead without Heire male of his body, whereby the said Title & Honour 
 of Lord Viscount is extinct, Wee therefore to continue the memory of the said 
 Folliott his soe deserving ancestours, & to incourage the said Folliott to imitate their 
 noble services are gratiously pleased to will and require you & doe hereby require 
 and authorise you & every of you to cause one effectual grant by Letters Patent 
 under Our Great Seal of that our said Kingdom to be made, without Fyne, unto the 
 said Folliott Wingfeild & the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten of the Estate, 
 Degree, &cc, of Viscount of Powers Court aforesaid in the said County of Wicklow, 
 &c. And him, the said Folliott Wingfeild, to make, constitute, erect, & create 
 Lord Viscount of Powers Court aforesaid, & have place & vote in Parliament 
 Councells & Committees, &c. Title to be as full & large as the title granted to Sir 
 Richard Wingfeild by our late dear grandfather King James by Letters Patent, 
 I8" 1 year of his Reign as King of England, France, & Ireland & 52 of Scotland. 
 Dated from our Court at Oxford 11 th Jan y 17 th Year of our Reign, 1665-6. 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 Since writing the description, on page xv of the Preface, of the picture by 
 Lucas Cranach in the dining-room, I have received from a friend in Germany 
 the following information as to the castle represented in the background, and also 
 as to the identity of the personages. My friend, who is supported by the Director 
 of the Historical Museum at Dresden, informed me that the castle is that at 
 Torgau, on the Elbe, not far from Dresden. He also sent me two engravings of 
 Torgau Castle, which I have had framed and. hung under the picture, and which 
 place it beyond a doubt that he is right. One represents the Castle in its original 
 condition, as shewn in the picture, and the covered bridge and other surroundings 
 can be readily recognized. This engraving dates from about 1750, and is taken 
 
 u 2 
 
148 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 from a point a little lower down the river than the view in Cranach's picture. 
 The other, a lithograph, dating about 1840, shews the Castle after it had been 
 partially destroyed by fire, the upper part of it having disappeared, it having been 
 probably rebuilt at a period when art. in architecture, as in other matters., was at 
 a low ebb, and when there was neither taste nor money to restore it to its pristine 
 beauty. 
 
 The objects floating in the river — in the picture — are " ship mills," i.e., small 
 corn mills mounted on barges and anchored in the river, the stern wheels for 
 grinding the corn being driven by the stream. Similar mills are still in use on the 
 River Elbe, and also on the Danube, where many of them may be seen at the 
 present day between Vienna and Buda-Pesth. 
 
 The tower on the right of the Castle is called the " Flaschen-thurm," or 
 " Bottle-tower," because the Electors in the times when the picture was painted 
 used to have great banquets and carousals in its upper rooms, while the lower 
 chambers and cellars were filled with bottles and casks of the choicest vintages. 
 To the left of this tower is a wonderful Gothic staircase — "a jour," that is, open 
 to the air — -leading to the upper apartments. After a hunting party, such as 
 is depicted in Lucas Cranach's work, no doubt there was great feasting in this 
 ancient building. 
 
 Torgau since 1815 belongs to Prussia, and is about two hours by rail from 
 Dresden or Berlin and one hour from Leipsie. It is now rather a remote and 
 out-of-the-way place, since the splendour of royal residence and hunting parties 
 has disappeared long ago. 
 
 The picture is one of a pair. The companion painting, from the same hand 
 and similar in subject, is No. 1006 in the " Galeria de Pinturas del Real Museo" 
 at Madrid, which came direct from the collection of the Emperor Charles V. 
 
 The castle in the background is the same as in another picture at Madrid, 
 No. 1020, and in another picture at Vienna, No. 148 1 in the Museum, this latter 
 being a smaller work, but containing some of the same portraits. 
 
 As to the personages, the one on the third bush from the left is the host, 
 Johann Friedrich der Grossmiithige, Elector of Saxony, the friend of Luther, well 
 known from his numerous portraits by Cranach, Holbein, and other masters in 
 Germany. The lady in red with the feathered bonnet, on the right in the bush, 
 is his wife Sybilla von Cleve. 
 
 Taking the figures from the left, in the left corner is the Emperor Charles V. 
 with two attendants ; then the small stout man, Otto Heinrich, Pfalzgraf bei Rhein, 
 Elector, and Erztruchsess of the Holy Roman Empire. The office of Erztruchsess 
 was one of the great dignities of the Imperial Court of the German Empire, which 
 were hereditary with the different Electors. Thus, the Elector of Mayence was the 
 Kur-Erz-fCanzler. The word Erz is synonymous with "Arch" — one of the 
 Electors was Arch-Great Chamberlain. The Archdukes of Austria are Erz-Herzog. 
 The Erztruchsess was a sort of arch-chief butler, i.e., in very olden times he had 
 the office of putting the dishes before the newly-elected Emperor at the great 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 149 
 
 coronation banquets. The Erztruchsess was always the Pfalzgraf bei Rhein. 
 The King of Bohemia, in the same way, was always the Erzmundschenk, literally 
 the arch-giver to the mouth, and had to fill the Emperor's glass with wine. 
 
 In Schiller's ballad, " Der Graf von Habsburg," the coronation banquet at 
 Aachen (Aix la Chapelle) in 1373 ^ s described as follows : — 
 " Die speisen trug der Pfalzgraf bei Rhein, 
 Es schenkte der Bohme den perlenden wein." 
 
 The dishes were borne by the Pfalzgraf bei Rhein, 
 The Bohemian gave him the sparkling wine. 
 Der Bohme being of course the King of Bohemia. 
 
 Close to the Pfalzgraf, in the picture, is Joachim II. of Brandenburg, or it 
 may be his brother Markgraf Georg von Brandenburg, there being a great likeness 
 between the two brothers. Then comes" Johann Friedrich der Grossmiithige (the 
 Courageous), with his attendant, and the single sportsman in white appears to be 
 King Ferdinand I. of Bohemia, younger brother of the Kmperor Charles V. On 
 the right, the first lady in the bush is unknown, but from her dress she appears to 
 belong to King Ferdinand. Both he and she were painted for the Castle of Torgau, 
 and the lady is called " die Ferdinandise." Then comes Sybilla. The knight on 
 horseback, galloping up and drawing his sword to kill the stag, is Duke Heinrich 
 der Fromme (the Pious) of Saxony, evidenced by his portrait of the year 1537 in 
 the Dresden Museum. As he died in 1541, the picture seems to have been painted 
 not later than 1540. The twin picture at Madrid bears the date 1540. 
 
 The man rowing the boat is said to be Lucas Cranach himself, which seems 
 likely, as at his foot, on the boat, is his well-known monogram of the flying 
 dragon. The date appears to be 1547, but this may be owing to some injury and 
 consequent restoration. 
 
 I purchased the picture at Christie's on June 5th, 1886, at the sale of the 
 collection of the Marquis of Breadalbane, it having formerly belonged to the 
 Earl of Ashburnham. The picture is so very curious and so full of incident that 
 I thought it worth while to try and find out what and who it represented, and after 
 some research, and having the good fortune to meet a member of the German 
 Diplomatic Corps, who came here in January 1903, Mr. R. Scheller Steinwartz, 
 attached to the German Embassy in Roumania, I obtained this information through 
 his kindness in communicating for me with the Historical authorities at Dresden. 
 
 Since writing the description of the collection of Austrian and German stags' 
 heads in the Entrance Hall, a few more have come into my possession, remarkable, 
 as regards two or three of them, as having twenty-two points, and one an 
 " uneven " twenty-eight point head. This latter, of extreme rarity, appears to 
 have been killed onlv three or four vears ago in the Province of Posen, probably by 
 some poacher, by which means it got into the market, as if it had been killed 
 by the proprietor it would of course never have been sold. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Two very large heads, with twenty-two points each, came from the Balkan 
 Mountains, and are blackened with smoke, having probably hung in the huts of 
 some native sportsmen for many years. They eventually came to be sold near 
 Diisseldorf, and a friend there secured them for me, also another head with forty 
 points, from the widow of an old Jager — extremely rare. 
 
 In reference to an inscription written by the Emperor Maximilian on the wall 
 of his room at Schloss Tratzberg, in the Tyrol, there came on a visit to us at 
 Powerscourt the Most Rev. Dr. Alexander, Archbishop of Armagh, celebrated for 
 his preaching and for his poetical genius. On my shewing him the inscription, 
 referred to on page 22, he composed the following translation of it, which I placed 
 beside it on the wall : — 
 
 "Summary of the Emperor Maximilian's Philosophy. 
 " I know not whence my life to me did fall, 
 I know not what my life to me may bring; 
 What death may give me is an unknown thing, 
 Yet I am not unhappy after all." 
 
 By the Most Rev. William Alexander, D.D., 
 Archbishop of Armagh, 
 April 11th, 1902. Primate of all Ireland. 
 
 On page 26 it should be stated that the collection of stags' heads at Moritz- 
 burg, near Dresden, was made by, or in the time of Augustus the Strong. They 
 are said to have been killed mostly by him. One of the drawings represents 
 a single horn. This used to be detached from the head on the occasion of the 
 King of Saxony giving a banquet in the Castle, and the guests drank the King's 
 health out of the cup formed by the top of the horn, which is large enough to hold 
 a bottle of wine. Some of the pictures mentioned have been removed to other 
 rooms. 
 
 Page 28. The two bronze statuettes by John Hughes, sculptor, of Dublin, 
 were presented by me to the Museum in Dublin. He was the artist of the statue 
 of Queen Victoria, with its emblematic figures, erected in Dublin. 
 
 Page 38. The picture by James Brenan, called "A Committee of Inspection, 
 co. Cork," was sent by me to the Exhibition at Cork in 1902, on loan. The 
 students of the School of Art there asked me to present the picture to the School, 
 as he had for many years presided over them, as a memento of their former chief, 
 which I did, Mr. Brenan having been subsequently appointed Headmaster of the 
 Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin. 
 
 Page 91. There is a story connected with the Mr. Coleman who was the 
 possessor of Stoke Park, near Slough, and from whose collections I bought several 
 pictures, etc., as related in this, book, which is worth recording. I tell the story 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 when shewing the statues in the Saloon here, one of whieh is a copy of the Venus 
 dei Medici. Mr. Coleman was a very rich man, who had made a large fortune by 
 some speculations on the Stock Exchange, I believe, and was not of very aristo- 
 cratic appearance; nor was his wife, who afterwards married Lord Connemara. 
 Mr. Coleman was a great friend of Sir Edwin Landseer, and the possessor of 
 a good many works of that great artist, and a great many other fine pictures, 
 statues, etc., which he had placed at Stoke Park. One day he was shewing some 
 of his City friends round, and, passing the statue of the Venus, he remarked, 
 " Oh, you know what that is \" and passed on. One of his friends said, "Oh, yes; 
 that is Mrs. Coleman, and very like too \" 
 
 Page 101. There is a reference here to the long ridge running along by the 
 side of the race-course, over Enniskerry, and which is marked in old maps as 
 " Hampshire Hill." There was formerly a small estate belonging to the family 
 near Fareham in Hampshire, called the Bere Estate, which consisted of one large 
 farm, some labourers' allotments, and a plantation, also some fields at the back of 
 the town of Portsmouth, on the road to Hilsea. After I purchased the estates in 
 county Wicklow of Major Beresford and Colonel Latouche, I sold the Portsea 
 Estate, as it was called, to pay for the newly-purchased lands near home. I think 
 the lands near Portsmouth and in Hampshire must have been purchased by 
 Sir Richard Wingfield, K.G., who was Governor of Portsmouth. 
 
 If one could have foreseen what was to happen in Ireland with the land 
 question, I am afraid I should have been wiser to have kept that small English 
 estate and sold some of the Irish estates, in Tyrone perhaps, to pay for Luggala, 
 etc. But everyone was against selling Irish land in those days, and I thought 
 it best to consolidate as much as possible near one's own home at Powerscourt. 
 As things are now, and as the lands of Ireland are to be sold to the tenants, 
 it would have been better if I had held on to the English estate. But one cannot 
 always see before one, and it is now useless to regret what cannot be helped. 
 
 So my labours and this Book come to an end. 
 
 POWERSCOURT. 
 
 July, 1903. 
 
GETTY CENTER LIBRARY