Robert Leech (b. 1912)

Robert Leech, former butler at Adare Manor, was interviewed by RTÉ presenter Gerry Ryan for his daily radio programme in 1990. The interview was conducted by telephone with Robert Leech who lived in retirement in Adare village at that time. He explained that he began his apprenticeship in domestic service at the age of 15 at historic Denham Place in Buckinghamshire in England. He later worked at Dunraven Castle near Southerndown in South Wales, where he remained until 1934 when he came to Adare to work for the Dunravens at Adare Manor. He described in fine detail his daily duties as butler, and explained that he had a half-day off once a fortnight. During the shooting season, life at the Manor became very busy indeed. Robert would serve shooting lunches at the forester’s cottage and at the hut in Deerpark. He also took care of the guns and the shooting apparel. His extensive travels around the world with Thady Wyndham-Quin, 7th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, were recalled. Robert remarked that he had very much enjoyed the 56 years he spent working for the Dunravens, and that he missed the life that he had lived during that time. In his retirement he lived in a house built for him in Adare by the Dunravens.