The only suite of Robert Adam interiors to survive in Ireland
A conservation mystery WMF Britain is committed to unravelling.
Project overview
When it comes to investigating the work of an architect as well-researched as Robert Adam it is unusual for the results to be as exciting as those recently uncovered at Headfort. We have revealed a decorative scheme of highly unusual detail and colour variation – unlike that seen in any of Adam’s other works – beneath the cheerful debris of a busy boarding school. The results have stunned the heritage community, leading Eileen Harris, author of ‘The Genius of Robert Adam’ to describe the scheme as ‘unique, extremely interesting and very exciting’. Read more
History
In the early 1770s Thomas Taylor, the first Earl of Headfort, commissioned Irish architect George Semple to build Headfort House. It was designed in a severe unadorned neoclassical style with an impressive scale and position. The interior contains a magnificent suite of six state rooms designed by the renowned Scottish architect Robert Adam. Adam’s influence on domestic architecture in the UK and Ireland during the 18th century cannot be overestimated and history has given his name to the distinctive design style he created. Read more
She is grey and somewhat austere nowadays, as befits a lady of her years, and she exudes an aura of permanence and mystery.
M. D. C. Bolton
Location
Lat: 53.72523, Lon: -6.880381
Facts
Location: About an hour’s drive from Dublin in Kells, Co. Meath
Project dates: 2004 - present
WMF Britain project cost: £150,000
Key Funders: The Robert W. Wilson Challenge to Conserve Our Heritage, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation European Preservation Programme, The Headfort Trust, The Heritage Council
Watch List: Listed in 2004
The pale blue colour of the Eating Parlour is very different to Adam’s original dark green decoration
Project partners and conservators
The Headfort Trust
Architects – Una Ni Mhearain, CONSARC Design Group
Quantity Surveyor – David Allen, VB Evans & Co.
Structural Engineer – Lisa Edden
Contractors – J Rainey & Co. Ltd, Mc & Mc Construction Ltd; Richard Ireland, Plaster Conservator; Tony Blake & Sons, Painting and Decorating Contractors; George D O’Malley, Plastering Contractor; Elizabeth Mulvin, archival research