2013 Press Releases
The Big House: Power & Privilege
A free photographic exhibition at UCC Library provides fresh insight into The Big House, also known as the once grandiose homes of landlords, a common feature of rural Ireland between 1858-1922.
Some of the homes continue to make headlines to this day. Clonmeen House, Banteer, is currently for sale, with an asking price of €1million. Bantry House, a huge tourist draw in West Cork and a venue for music and literary festivals, features in a newly published book, 'Voices from the Great Houses Cork and Kerry' (Jane O’Hea O’Keeffe; Mercier Press). Tourin House, Co. Waterford also featured in press recently. Home of the Jameson family, renowned for their whiskey, the house and gardens are now open to the public from May-September.
The free public exhibition 'Power & Privilege: Photographs of The Big House in Ireland, 1858-1922' is curated by UCC Library archivist, Emer Twomey, and comprises rare photographic prints from the National Library of Ireland’s photographic collections which capture aspects of The Big House on the island of Ireland from 1858-1922. Images include those of house and garden design, transport, estate work and recreational activities, offering fascinating insight into this period of Ireland’s history and the daily realities of work, family and ‘play’.
Complementing these images are a selection of original photographic prints taken from two of UCC’s finest collections, the Bantry Estate Collection, and the Grehan Estate Papers, which are both held in UCC Library Archives.
Images from Bantry Estate include a striking exterior of Bantry House showing the Italian gardens and conservatory. The gardens were modelled on gardens seen during the tours to Europe by the 2nd Earl of Bantry, Richard White, during the early-to-mid 19th century. The very large conservatory no longer exists in today’s Bantry House. There are also photographs of members of the Leigh-White family who inherited the Estate after the death of William White, 4th and last Earl of Bantry.
The images from the Grehan Estate show Clonmeen House and activities on the working farm – harvesting, ploughing – as well as the leisure pursuits of shooting and hunting by the Grehan family.
There are facsimiles of pages from visitor books from Clonmeen House and Glengarriff Lodge, with accompanying photographs of both houses. It was common for prominent country houses to have visitor books in their entrance halls recording who visited.
The exhibition will continue until the 26 June. An active collecting repository, UCC Library Archives Service collects and administers archival collections generated from outside of UCC which complement the research and teaching needs of the university.
The exhibition is free and open to the public during Boole Library opening hours:
May: Mon.-Thurs. 8:00-22:15 Fri. 8:00-21:45 Sat.– Sun. 10:00-18:45
June: Check www.booleweb.ucc.ie ‘Opening Hours’ nearer the time.