Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Amateur architect. The second earl of Dunraven and his wife, Caroline, had much to do with the early stages of the enlargement and remodelling of their Irish seat, Adare Manor, Co. Limerick, from 1832 onwards.(1) The initial plans for the house were provided by JAMES PAIN  JAMES PAIN and GEORGE RICHARD PAIN GEORGE RICHARD PAIN , but Lord Dunraven dispensed with their services in the mid-1830s when the house was only half finished. Writing to James Pain on 21 February 1840, he assured him that he had not employed another architect since then: 'Building is my amusement and I am a dabbler in architecture and I have now for some years been carrying on the new work entirely from my own designs and without any assistance whatsoever.'(2) Lady Dunraven and her son Edwin, in their Memorials of Adare Manor (1865) also asserted that 'the greater portion of the building, and that the boldest in conception and most picturesque in effect' had been designed by the 2nd Earl, 'not a single drawing having been furnished by an architect'.(3) It is believed, nevertheless, that, despite these assertions, Lord Dunraven may have used the English architect LEWIS NOCKALLS COTTINGHAM LEWIS NOCKALLS COTTINGHAM (4) as his 'ghost', and he was later to employ another English architect, AUGUSTUS WELBY NORTHMORE PUGIN. AUGUSTUS WELBY NORTHMORE PUGIN. (5)

See also JAMES CONOLLY. JAMES CONOLLY.



References



(1) Mark Girouard, The Victorian Country House (1979), 426.
(2) Letter from Lord Dunraven to Pain, 21 Feb 1840, quoted by The Knight of Glin in his introduction to Christie's sale catalogue for Adare Manor, 9-10 June 1982, 8-11, and by David Lee & Debbie Jacobs in James Pain, architect (Limerick Civic Trust, 2005), 214.
(3) pp. 147-8.
(4) The Knight of Glin, introduction to Christie's sale catalogue for Adare Manor, 9-10 June 1982, 8-11; Janet Myles, L.N. Cottingham 1787-1847 (1996). 147-148.
(5) For a full discussion of the rebuilding of Adare under the auspices of the 2nd and 3rd Earls of Dunraven, see John Cornforth, 'Adare Manor, Co. Limerick', Country Life 145, 15,22,29 May 1969, 1232, 1302-1306,1366-1369.


1 work entries listed in chronological order for DUNRAVEN, WINDHAM HENRY WYNDHAM-QUIN, 2ND EARL OF


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Building: CO. LIMERICK, ADARE MANOR
Date: 1832-1840
Nature: Responsible for much of the design.
Refs: John Cornforth, 'Adare Manor, Co. Limerick - I', Country Life 145, 15 May 1969, 1232; for a full discussion of the rebuilding of Adare under the auspices of the 2nd and 3rd Earls of Dunraven, see this article and its sequels in Country Life 145, 22 and 29 May 1969, 1302-1306,1366-1369