Cupids play at the top of a blind niche in the rotunda of Townley Hall, County Louth, one of the loveliest houses in Ireland which has been discussed here on several occasions in the past (mostly notably Là, tout n’est qu’ordre et beauté* on June 10th last year). Today marks the second anniversary of The Irish Aesthete, the first post being made on September 24th 2012. Two years later the site remains busy with at least three postings each week and, I am happy to report, an ever-increasing audience. In 2012 The Irish Aesthete received an average 23 views per day: the site now generates more than 610 views daily. Interest comes from across the world, the majority of visitors understandably resident in English-speaking countries but during the last quarter there have been substantial numbers from Brazil, the Russian Federation, Turkey and Vietnam, among many others.
Whoever you are and wherever you live, thank you to all my readers for engaging with this site and for encouraging me to continue writing about Ireland’s architectural heritage, a subject dear to my heart and evidently to yours also. Your comments are always appreciated, although some of those written in more intemperate language may not be published (this site appreciates good manners). Please keep sending me your thoughts and responses, and in addition if you have suggestions for future subjects, I should be delighted to know of these: like all authors, I relish feedback.
Thank you once again, and I look forward to retaining your interest over the next twelve months.
I love this blog! have I told you of my mother visiting Sybil Connolly at her atelier in Dublin in 1962 and purchasing an enormous Italian mirror? (a cast-off victim from her remodeling) and an entire wardrobe custom made for her?
And my meeting her in Los Angeles….40 or so years later dressed in my mother’s suit?
I told someone……maybe I need to post a blog about it!
What an amazing woman! Sybill, I mean! (that also applies to my mother!!)
Penelope
From South Africa, congratulations on your anniversary and thank you for your invariably interesting posts.
Frequent blog entries – not a big deal
Such detailed, thorough and interesting blogs – very much impressed
Your combination of the two does leave one amazed. Long may the oxymoron continue.
Congratulations Robert on the2nd anniversary.
The Irish Aesthete is addictive, warmest congratulations on the last two years.
Dear Robert,
Two whole years! Sincere congratulations on a compulsively readable post. What’s happening with /Russborough/?
Best, R
A wonderful site – keep going please!
Congratulations Robert,keep up the good work.
I enjoy your postings. Bravo on the first 2 years — looking forward to more!
Congrats, Robert, on the second anniversary! You made the “Georgia” bunch feel totally at home on our recent visit. Love the blog!!!! All the best, Linda
Congratulations on two of the most interesting two years. I have read with pleasure and learned much of value. Thank you and long may you continue. I come from a town that has its own Townley Hall – the home of Charles Townley. Now a sad museum but still a lovely house with a most beautiful chapel.
Congratulations, very dear Robert. Having something beautiful to look at and read about on an almost daily basis is better than money in the bank.
Penny my surname is perrick from westmeath
My name is patricia perrick geoghegan would love to hear from you we both have the same surname I am from westmeath please answer
I have only recently found your blog and I enjoy it immensely. Your articles are amazingly well researched and interesting and the photos are just lovely. It has been a wonderful experience for me to read about a place I will probably never get to go to.
Kelly in the U.S.
Congratulations! Your site is itself a pleasure and national treasure. Go raibh maith agat! Keep up the good work.
Congratulations!
Re: Future subjects, might I suggest Kenure House, Dublin (demolished in the 1970s) and Numbers 5 & 6 Henrietta St, originally built for the Earl of Thomond as one house (I think).
Whatever you decide to pursue however, I look forward to reading it.
Congrats Robert on the 2 year anniversary.
Only discovered the site in the last few months and am now checking daily for updates.
Always a pleasure reading, and a treat when my home county Westmeath is the subject.
Barry
Congratulations on your second year. And to think, I am only now discovering the joys of The Irish Aesthete. Here’s to the next two!
Happy anniversary and keep up the good work. You should take a look at Saunderscourt Gate Lodge in Co Wexford, which is supposedly under restoration by the Landmark Trust.
Congratulations Robert! It’s so great to have a modern resource on this crucial aspect of our heritage. I’m working on a thesis based on a small Carlow estate and its industrial architecture and I find a new tip, source or avenue of research in each of your posts. Come back to little old Carlow soon. There’s plenty of material! Best of luck.
Thanks to everyone who wrote such kind comments yesterday, they are all much appreciated. As are your various suggestions for future pieces: there’s plenty of ground to cover yet…
My name is patricia perrick geoghegan would love to hear from you we both have the same surname I am from westmeath please answer
Penny perrick I am from delvin westmeath my surname is perrick
Just want to add my congratulations on 2 years blogging. I enjoy your blog very much and have learned so much, while being entertained too. Thank you and please keep up the good work.
God bless. Carol
One always appreciates your postings ; just the thing for the better sort !
Me resulta evocador y un oasis entre tanta basura. Lo sigo desde el principio por su calidad y por la sensibilidad que desprende cada post. Gracias.
Congratulations Robert! I look forward to and read every one of your posts. With so many of the family stories, I think to myself “this would make a great book/movie/series” Thank you for your meticulous attention to detail and such beautiful photos.
I have a suggestion: one of my favorite books is Woodbrook, set in a big house in Roscommon. I believe the house is still standing, although the original owners, the Kirkwood family, are long gone. I would love to see what the house looks like but google searches only turn up a glimpse of a forlorn gatehouse. Maybe you would enjoy researching it? Thanks for sharing your Ireland with us, Robert!
Thank you for your comment. I have long wanted to write about Woodbrook (the inspiration and title of David Thomson’s magical 1974 memoir), and have tried to see what remains from the house (it stands, but is not in terrific condition, from what I could see when there). Just as importantly I have never been able to find a photograph of the house when it was owned by the Kirkwoods and still had its wings. If anyone can help or knows where such images might be found…
Sorry to hear Woodbrook is in bad condition, but at least it is still there and might someday be restored. I hope you will write about it for us. There are not many books that stay with you like Woodbrook: bittersweet and entertaining all at once.
You will be interested to hear that Lilliput Press is about to publish a biography of David Thomson (see: http://www.lilliputpress.ie/forthcoming.html). I have seen an advance copy and it contains a number of photographs of Woodbrook that I have never seen before.
Oh my gosh, such exciting news! I will look forward to reading it and learning more. Thank you, Robert!
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