Edited by Jane O’Hea O’Keeffe
2022, Irish Life and Lore
328 pages
‘The Big House in Kerry: A Social History’, edited by Jane O’Hea O’Keeffe, draws together the latest research by twelve of Kerry’s finest historians into a wide-ranging and detailed account of the lives of a selection of the county’s gentry families and their contributions to Kerry’s social, political and physical landscapes.
Part of the impetus for this book was a desire to chart the origins, development and decline of Kerry’s network of big houses, and to reclaim from the ruins details of their elegant architecture and their elaborate interiors. It was equally important, however, to reinvest the ruins – and indeed the houses that endure – with the voices and experiences of the men and women who lived there, the people who sent sons to war, served on Grand Juries or at Westminster, managed or buckled under debt, and navigated the twilight of the Anglo-Irish ascendancy in Ireland. Some remarkable women lived in these houses, women whose strength, foresight and hard work left an enduring impression on their localities. Their experiences and the experiences of local people who worked in or supplied the big houses are also reclaimed in this volume, which seeks to provide an overview of life as it was lived in the Big House.
Already a collector’s item, the book is beautifully illustrated with rare images a wide selection of rare images, including, in many cases, previously unpublished photographs donated by the families themselves, and each chapter adds to our understanding of the origins of these grand structures, the fortunes and misfortunes of the families who lived and loved there, and the intricate connections between them.
Contents:
The Burning of Kerry’s Big Houses, 1919-23
Tarbert House | Leslie Family
Kilmorna House, Listowel | O’Mahony and Vicars Families
Crotta House, Kilflynn | Ponsonby Family
Ballyheigue Castle | Crosbie Family
Ardfert Abbey | Crosbie Family
Tralee Castle | Denny Family
Churchill House, Tralee | Denny Family
Oak Park, Collis Sandes House & Oakvilla, Tralee | Bateman & Sandes Families
Kilmurry House, Castleisland | Macintosh and Mahony Families
The Spring Journey: From Lavenham to Kerry
Kilcoleman Abbey, Milltown | Godfrey Family
Callinafercy, Milltown | Leeson Marshall Family
The Reeks, Killarney | MacGillycuddy Family
Beaufort House | Mullins/de Moleyns Family
Muckross House, Killarney | Herbert Family
Flesk Castle, Killarney | Coltsmann/Cronin/MacGillycuddy Families
Killarney House | Browne Family
Derryquin Castle and Askive, Sneem | Bland and Stokes Families
Creators and Custodians of the Kerry Landscape
Belleville House, Portmagee: A Conservation Story | Butler Family
The soft-cover edition of the Big House in Kerry: A Social History is now sold out online, but there are a few remaining copies of the limited edition hard-back available to purchase here
