LECTURE 1 Monday, 13 October 8.00 pm
Prof. Christine Casey (Trinity College Dublin)
The Lafranchini brothers and Carton House
The outstanding plasterwork of the Saloon or Eating Parlour at Carton in County Kildare was created by Paolo and Filippo Lafranchini in 1738. This lecture will consider the Carton interior in the context of the Lafranchini’s wider output and will consider its relationship to Luganese stuccowork in England and beyond. The role of the patrons and of their architect, Richard Castle, will also be examined. Just how good is this plasterwork scheme? Does it justify its description as one of the most elaborate baroque interiors in Britain and Ireland?
LECTURE 2 Monday, 24 November 8.00 pm
Paula Lalor (Maynooth University)
Queen Victoria’s visits to Irish Country Houses 1849-61 with particular reference to Carton House
Carton House the home of the FitzGeralds, premier Dukes of Ireland, was among the select few Irish Country Houses visited by Victoria on her first three visits to these shores. The extravagant preparations and renovations, the lavish spending and frenzied excitement surrounding these visits was unlike anything ever seen in Ireland before and would never again be repeated.
LECTURE 3 Thursday, 11 December 7.15 pm
Christmas lecture (please note earlier time) followed by optional dinner in The Gold Saloon and Drawing Room, see below for details.
Prof. Christopher Ridgway (Curator, Castle Howard)
The Making and Breaking of the Country House in Europe during World War One
In 1914 aristocratic families across England and Europe responded to the outbreak of war by enlisting, often mobilising their staff, tenants, and estates in the name of patriotism. The conflict witnessed sacrifice and loss on an unprecedented scale with the shattering effects of bereavement. Many houses and estates were requisitioned by the military, some experienced physical depredation at the hands of new occupiers, and others, if situated in conflict zones, were annihilated completely. The burden of physical loss (human and material) was exacerbated by additional economic, political, and social pressures that caused many houses to founder in the aftermath of war. However the experience was not the same for every family, region, or country, and the talk will conclude by examining how aristocratic families did or did not survive in the post-1918 world.
LECTURE 4 Monday, 16 February 8.00 pm
Edmund Joyce (Carlow IT)
Sir Richard and William Vitruvius Morrison and their remodeling of the Irish Country House
Many eighteenth century country houses were altered and enlarged by the Morrisons during the early nineteenth century. This talk by Edmund Joyce looks at how the eighteenth century internal spaces and exterior facades of houses such as Carton, Borris and Fota were transformed and reconfigured in order to reflect the fashions of regency life.
LECTURE 5 Monday, 23 March 8.00 pm
Dr Ida Milne (Maynooth University)
Fighting the world’s most deadly influenza pandemic in 1918-1919: the Kildare story.
When the register general’s office came to count the numbers of Irish dead from the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, they found that Co Kildare had the highest death rate per thousand living in the country in 1918. This paper looks at the pandemic in Ireland, and at the peculiar local factors that gave the county this dubious honour.
Light refreshments served each evening from 7.15pm
Admission fee per lecture: €10.00
Admission fee for Christmas lecture including dinner in The Gold Saloon & Drawing Room: €50.00
Please note:
As numbers for dinner are limited, places must be booked and paid for in advance. Seating in the Gold Saloon will be filled on a first come, first served basis.
Enquiries to Carton House only.
Telephone: (01) 6517708
Email: sales@cartonhouse.com
Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses & Estates,
Maynooth University Department of History,
Maynooth University, Maynooth, Co Kildare.
Telephone: +353 1 708 6706
E-mail: cshihe@nuim.ie
Website: www.historicirishhouses.ie