A Gothic Revival Country Home In Ireland

1832 to 1862
James Pain
County Limerick, Ireland

Adare Manor
copyright © ArtToday

Rising from emerald green fields in County Limerick, Ireland, Adare Manor was not always so imposing. In the 1720s the building was a refined Georgian house, without turrets and other elaborate details. However, Lady Caroline Wyndham wanted to give her gout-stricken husband, the Second Earl of Dunraven, something to do. And, what could be a better diversion to build a grand estate? In addition to keeping the Earl busy, the construction of Adare Manor greatly benefited the nearby village of Adare, since it provided work for hundreds of villagers during the Irish potato famine. Lady Wyndham always insisted that her husband had designed the house, but the creative work was almost certainly done by local architect James Pain.

Adare Manor sits on 840 acres of parkland, including formal French gardens (laid out by P.C. Hardwick in the 1850's), cultivated gardens, mature trees, ancient ruins, and the meandering Maigue River. The gothic revival manor includes towers, turrets, woodwork, stonework, 52 chimneys, and 365 leaded glass windows. At first glance it looks like a French chateau, but includes a series of visual allusions to famous Irish and English homes that the Dunravans admired.

The floor plan of the entire manor is on a grand scale. For example, the Minstrel's Gallery, inspired by Versailles' Hall of Mirrors, is 132 feet long and 26½ feet high and is lined with 17th-century choir stalls.

In 1987, Adare Manor was acquired by an American family, who restored the entire building and added a swimming pool and two conference rooms. The golf course - one of the top courses in Ireland - was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and opened in 1995. Today, Adare Manor is a world class, 5-star hotel and golf resort.

Travel Information

Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort
View a video of the resort or make reservations to stay there on the Adare Manor Web site.

Further Reading

Great Irish Houses and Castles, by Jacqueline O'Brien and Desmond Guinness
Nearly 300 pages of detailed information about notable Irish buildings, with hundreds of photographs (Compare Prices)

Great Houses of Ireland, by Brian De Breffny.
Irish domestic architecture from 1100 to 1914. (Compare Prices)

Gothic Revival Architecture

Architecture in Ireland