After Monday’s post about Castlemartyr, readers might be interested in seeing some old photographs of the house’s interior when it was still owned and occupied by the Boyles, Earls of Shannon. The pictures date from the late 19th/early 20th century, and were taken by Nellie Thompson, wife of the sixth earl. The two above show the saloon as it was then decorated, filled with a vast quantity of furniture including a grand piano and a billiard table. The two below reflect the family’s travels overseas and what they had collected: prior to inheriting his title and estate in 1890, for example, the sixth earl had been living in Canada where he served as a Mountie. What most immediately strikes any viewer of these images is how dark and cluttered were the rooms, how filled with furnishings and fabrics, all competing and contrasting with each other. An insight into a different aesthetic sensibility from that of our own age.
I love that aesthetic!
Perhaps the taste reflects the era before the the clutter of television film internet and social media .
Thinking of the dusting!!!!
I love it, the third photograph is my perfect room.
As we swelter through this heat, let us remember that those high ceilings and heavy coverings on the windows had a VERY practical purpose before electricity for fans and air conditioning- still do in areas that don’t generally use the later.
Wonderful,( yes a nightmare to dust!) lovely to see occupied and loved rooms between forlorn ruins.