Robert O\u2019Byrne has made a career out of wangling his way into incredible homes. \u201cMy life is going around visiting people, whether they want me there or not,\u201d jokes the author and lecturer, whose interest in Irish architectural heritage has generated numerous books\u2014including 2009\u2019s \u201cRomantic Irish Homes\u201d\u2014and a popular blog, \u201cThe Irish Aesthete.\u201d He says he knows most of Ireland\u2019s stately homeowners.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Byrne\u2019s little black book has now been mined for a handsome new tome.\u00a0\u201cThe Irish Country House: A New Vision\u201d<\/a>\u00a0(Rizzoli) documents 15 exceptional properties, ranging from castles to villas, across an array of periods and architectural styles.<\/p>\n There is the stately Summergrove in County Laois, in the heart of the country, with its elegant facade of Venetian and Diocletian windows and interior features such as pedimented doorcases and rococo plasterwork. In County Longford, the Georgian-era Castlecor House includes an octagonal hunting lodge, complete with Corinthian columns, a four-sided fireplace and 19th-century neo-Egyptian stencil work.<\/p>\n The history of Killua Castle, meanwhile\u2014situated one hour outside Dublin\u2014charts how a classical mansion was transformed into a neo-Gothic fortress, and later from wreck to renovation. The process was overseen by the banker Allen Sangin\u00e9s-Krause and his wife Lorena, who have also filled the home with their collection of medieval and early Renaissance art.<\/p>\n Killua highlights a unifying theme in the book: all the properties have been chosen to counter the image of Ireland\u2019s grand houses as in decay. \u201cIt\u2019s a narrative going back hundreds of years that the Irish country house is on the verge of collapse,\u201d says O\u2019Byrne. \u201cVery often one tends to overplay the decaying, the falling down, the lapsing into ruin.\u201d With this new book, however, he wants to \u201ctell a positive story,\u201d adding that there are \u201cwonderful properties all over Ireland that are being rescued and restored.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static-sir-corp-blog-production.gtsstatic.net\/blog-api\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/image1-1.jpg\")
<\/a>The music room at Killua Castle<\/em><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static-sir-corp-blog-production.gtsstatic.net\/blog-api\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/image3-1.jpg\")
<\/a>The living room at Killoughter<\/em><\/p>\n