THE ORMOND LEGACY
The Ormond Legacy
Reproduced courtesy of The Nationalist Newspaper. The summit of Slievenamon is probably the best vantage point from which to view Ormond Ireland; great sweeps of rich agricultural land, groves of deciduous trees, beautiful river valleys, the prosperous towns of Counties Kilkenny and Tipperary, all enclosed in a basin of mountains. If Cromwell said, what he is reported as saying when he first saw this part of Ireland that: “this is a land worth fighting for,” he was right. Nearly all of that magnificent sweep of landscape, and many of its most important buildings, are part of the old Ormond territory, the legacy of the powerful Butlers, at various times Earls and Dukes of Ormond.The most identifiable architectural features of that territory have now become a treasured part of our national heritage. Few other areas of Ireland have such a sustained and distinctive identification withvarious centuries history, all associated with one family, all accessible within a relatively small area of countryside. The complex known as Carrick Castle, containing as it does the only Elizabethan house in Ireland, is a unique part of that heritage. When I first visited it in the 1950s, there was a resident caretaker, the plaster-work was peeling, the timbers rotting. It had rained the previous night and pools of water stood in the long gallery. “I wouldn’t walk on that floor”; the caretaker warned, as we stood at the door and looked at what must be one of the most stunning rooms in any Irish building. And I didn’t.My last visit was in May, in response to an invitation to the launching of a new Visitor’s Guide by Dr. Martin ManserghTD, Minister of State, withspecial responsibility for the Office of Public Works. Over the decades, the OPW has been carrying out continuous and major conservation work on the Manor House. The restoration of the magnificent 16the century ceiling and fireplaces, not only gives us a retrospective glimpse at the talents of Irish artists and sculptors of the time, but also the talents of our modern Irish restorers and craftspeople.That quality of excellence, which we now automatically expect from the OPW, is evident again in this new guide. It is more than “a guide”, it is a beautifully produced, beautifully illustrated “glossy”, researched and written by Dr. Jane Fenlon. This is the second publication of this quality, devoted to heritage buildings in Tipperary, the first, on Athassel Abbey, was again launched by Dr. ManserghJust Before last Christmas.Several pages in the guide are devoted to the Butler family, the first of whom, Theobald Walter, arrived in Ireland in 1185. Already, well connected and successful, he was given the office of “botteillier” – ceremonial cup-bearer to Prince John – hence the family name of Butler. He was also given a grant of land in East Munster, or the Gaelic Oir Mhumhan – hence Ormond.The family had a genius for survival, having a capacity to adapt to the changing vicissitudes of Irish history. The senior branch in Kilkenny had a reputation for their “Englishness” while the Cahir branch – the Galdy Brothers – were renowned for their “Irishness.”They accommodated changing kings, religions and political circumstances. Some of them married their traditional enemies (their cousins), the Fitzgeralds.Thomas Butler – “Black Tom” – who built CarrickCastle cultivated friendship, and some would say the love, of Queen ElizabethI. Her mother, Anne Boleyn, was a Butler cousin.The Butlers were builders, and it is their legacy of building which we have inherited today. Every generation seems to have added a building, or two, to the existing corpus of properties. Those that have come into public ownership, and are managed by our OPW, include several in Kilkenny, Granagh, Carrick-on-Suir, Kilcash, Clonmel (The Main Guard) and Cahir.Architecturally, they range from late medieval tower houses to an orne (The Swiss Cottage). There are a number of Butler houses in Kilkenny and Tipperary which are still privately owned. They were still building into the 19th, even in to the early, 20th centuries: in South Tipperary, Shanbally Castle (shamefully demolished in the 1960s), Kilcoran Lodge, and the charming, small, elliptical shooting lodge in the Galtees which the Cahir branch of the family gifted to An Oige (The Irish Youth Hostel Association).Our recent period of affluence has enabled substantial restoration and conservation work to be carried out on our heritage buildings. In this, Tipperary, and especially the Ormond Buildings, have fared well. Work is being carried out on both Kilcash and Carrick castles at the present time. According to Dr. Jane Fenton, the Butler family held a final great family gathering and a banquet in the long gallery of the Manor House in 1870, which she describes as “the final flourish.” But thanks to foresight, and considerable expenditure, much of the Ormond legacy is in a good state of care and preservation, and is here for all of us to enjoy today, as well as being a significant resource in the modern tourism business.