Tollymore Book Bundle

Get Tollymore: the Story of an Irish Demesne and Tollymore Park: The Gothick Revival of Thomas Wright & Lord Limerick for £7.50. All two books for the great value of £7.50 saving you £5!

Members get a further 25% OFF. Use voucher code Member25 at checkout. Membership will be verified on purchase. 

 

The bundle includes:

Tollymore: the Story of an Irish Demesne (Soft Back)

By The Earl of Roden, 2005. Soft Back, 193pp, 130 illustrations and photographs

Few Demesne landscapes can rival the magical beauty of Tollymore’s woody parkland or its incomparable setting in the foothills of the Mourne Mountains. For over two centuries, visitors have eulogised about its fine views and plantations, admired its tree collections, itr romantic streams and waterfalls, and marvelled at its distinctive buildings, many of which were designed by Thomas Wright, the famous 18th Century English astronomer and garden designer. Now a forest park, Tollymore is one of Ireland’s most visited beauty spots and a jewel in the heritage of Ulster.

Drawing from a wealth of previously unpublished material in the forms of letters, diaries, memoirs, estate documents and family reminisces, combined with a field analysis of its physical features, the author traces the story of this unique demesne in a pioneering and lucidly written study. He shows how Tollymore evolved from an early 18th Century deer park providing sport and much sought-after venison to a flourishing country estate and family home. As often in Ireland, political strife, famine and a near-disastrous fire form part of the narrative.

The book particularly highlights the architecture and landscaping of Tollymore, and a site gazetteer helps locate and describe features of the demesne. It also features a wealth of illustrations including paintings, engravings,  drawings, exquisite Bernard Scal maps and numerous photographs; which all contribute to this vivid portrayal of an integral and intriguing aspect of Irish history and culture.

 

Tollymore Park: The Gothick Revival of Thomas Wright & Lord Limerick

By Various Authors, 2010. Soft Back, 56pp, 50 photographs and illustrations.

Tollymore Park is one of the foremost eighteenth-century landscaped demesnes in the British Isles, and still lies within its original boundaries. Importantly, it contains the most extensive example of Thomas Wright designed, or Thomas Wright inspired architecture in the British Isles. Wright also designed a sporting lodge for Lord Limerick which was enlarged on several occasions, particularly in the Victorian Era following a serious fire. Unfortunately the house, which was sited on the present car park, was demolished in 1952 along with Wright’s central section that had remained more or less intact.

Like many Irish demesnes, Tollymore developed from the original deer parks and sporting estate created by Lord Limerick following his return from the Grand Tour in the early 1720s. His work was continued by his son, Lord Clanbrassill, who had been tutored by Thomas Wright when Lord Limerick brought Wright over from England to Dundalk where the family then lived. There were no children to continue the Clanbrassill line and Tollymore passed to Lord Clanbrassill’s sister who had married the first Earl of Roden. The Roden family made Tollymore their main residence until the beginning of the Second World War when it was sold to the Northern Irish government and subsequently became the first forest park in Northern Ireland.

This book gives a history of the main protagonists in the architectural life of Tollymore, Thomas Wright and Lord Limerick, and discusses the unique style of Wright’s Gothick architecture, with a look at the buildings of the Tollymore demesne.

 

 

*Offer excludes postage