The O'Grady family was headed by Standish O'Grady, 1st Viscount Guillamore (1766–1840) of Co. Limerick, an eminent barrister and Lord Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, known for his remarkable wit and learning. His daughter the Hon. Maria O'Grady (1791–1854) married John Prendergast Vereker, 3rd Viscount Gort (1790–1865), MP for Limerick. The collection comprises drawings by numerous members of the O'Grady and Vereker families of consistently high quality.
Interesting examples include a battle scene at Castlegarde Castle, Co. Limerick, by Waller O’Grady, who bought the castle in 1820; a portrait of Irish nationalist and leader of the Young Irelanders Thomas F. Meagher; and a view at Lough Cutra Castle, Co. Galway, the seat of Col Charles Vereker, 2nd Viscount Gort, painted by Harriet Elizabeth Stamer, Duchess de Rovigo. Lough Cutra was modelled by the architect John Nash on his East Cowes Castle. Charles Vereker had been so taken with the castle when he visited the Isle of Wight, that he instructed the architect to build him a similar home on the banks of Loch Cutra. There are some Isle of Wight drawings in the collection.
These pictures, by a family at the heart of Ireland's elite in the 19th century, were produced during a period of conflicting unionist and nationalist loyalties within the aristocracy. In 1803 Standish O'Grady led the prosecution of Robert Emmet's Irish republican rebellion, helping secure convictions for the Crown. Charles Vereker, 2nd Viscount Gort, however, had opposed the act of union in 1800, and thereby forfeited his militia command and lost his seat as MP for Limerick. Further family members, the author and historian Standish James O’Grady (1846–1928) and antiquarian Standish Hayes O'Grady (1832–1915), were key figures in the revival of Celtic literature and scholarship. The aristocracy may have been aligned with land, power and the Crown, but they nevertheless played their part in carving out a distinct Irish national identity.
