Welcome to the BLOG of the Limerick Chapter
of the Irish Georgian Society
of the Irish Georgian Society
The aims of the Irish Georgian Society [IGS] are to encourage an interest in, and to promote the preservation of, distinguished examples of architecture and the allied arts in Ireland.
The
Society, based in Dublin, has local Chapters in Ireland, England and
the United States. In Ireland there are Chapters in Birr, Cork and
Limerick.
The
Limerick Chapter serves members of the IGS living in the Mid-West.
We organise lectures, outings and exhibitions throughout the year.
We organise lectures, outings and exhibitions throughout the year.
For more information about the Limerick Chapter please contact
Dr Ursula Callaghan
urscal@gmail.com
Dr Ursula Callaghan
urscal@gmail.com
Conolly Folly
Designed by architect Richard Castle, (1695-1751), this soaring obelisk supported by a series of arches beneath stands
140 feet tall. It was erected in 1740 by Katherine Conolly to provide
employment, during the severe winter and subsequent famine of 1739/40,
for the starving Castletown tenantry.
My
Sister is now building an obleix to answer a vistow from the bake of
Castletown house; it will cost her three or four hundred pounds at
least, but I believe more. I really wonder how she can dow so much and
live as she duse. [Mary Jones March 1740].
In 1960, then in a ruinous state, it was acquired by the recently reconstituted Irish Georgian Society and its restoration was their first major project. In 1989 Mariga Guinness, one of the Society’s co-founders was buried beneath one of the side arches. It is the emblem of the Society.
