Gothic Revival in 19th-century Ireland

Pictures from our fascinating new collection of works connected with the aristocratic O'Grady and Vereker families of 19th-century Ireland.

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 (image 2). We loved reading that 'He took great delight in confusing the crown lawyers and was considered one of the least dignified men to have ever sat on the bench. With his strong Limerick accent, which he would exaggerate for comic effect, and his tavern-house humour, he was hugely popular.' The pictures in our collection are from a host of different hands from the family—his children, grandchildren and wider members.

His daughter the Hon. Maria O'Grady married John Prendergast Vereker, 3rd Viscount Gort (1790–1865), MP for Limerick, thereby connecting the two families. There is an interesting confection at Castlegard Castle, Co. Limerick, by Standish's son Waller O'Grady (image 1) who bought and extended the castle in 1820 (image 3). And a view at Lough Cutra Castle, Co. Galway, the seat of Charles Vereker, 2nd Viscount Gort (images 4-6). Vereker instructed the architect John Nash to design him a home on the banks of the loch after visiting Nash's East Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight (image 7) (By a strange turn of events, East Cowes Castle came into the ownership of the Gort family, when John Prendergast Vereker acquired it through his second marriage, to Elizabeth Tudor in 1861.

VIEW THE FULL COLLECTION.