Clandeboye, County Down

Deel Castle, County Mayo

36 Westland Row, Dublin 

2024 has been a somewhat busy year for the Irish Aesthete with, among other projects, the publication of three books over the course of the past 12 months. The first of these, The Irish Aesthete: Buildings of Ireland, Lost and Found, published by Lilliput Press, is a collection of one’s own photographs, with accompanying explanatory texts, covering the entire island of Ireland and ranging from happily intact country houses to ruined castles, from entire interiors to decorative details; a distillation of more than a decade of near-ceaseless exploration of this country’s architectural heritage.
In September, The Irish Country House: A New Vision was published by Rizzoli. With photographs by Luke White, this is an opportunity to offer an alternative vision of a Ireland’s historic homes, so often portrayed (not least by the Irish Aesthete) as sadly blighted and almost beyond redemption. On the contrary, as the book shows across 15 different properties spread around the country, there is an alternative story to be told. Instead of decay and demolition, here are cheering tales of revival and restoration, of plucky individuals taking on the challenge of bringing new life to old houses, and so  ensuring their survival, to be enjoyed by future generations.

Ballysallagh, County Kilkenny

Moyglare House, County Kildare

Tullanisk, County Offaly

Most recently, A Vanishing World: The Irish Country House Photographs of Father Browne appeared, courtesy of Messenger Publications. A Jesuit priest, Francis Browne was also an ardent and extremely competent amateur photographer who in the years leading up to his death in 1960 at the age of 80, began to visit country houses and take pictures of their interiors. Today these are invaluable documents since a number of the places he photographed have since been destroyed while many others have changed hands or lost most of their original contents. Fr Browne’s images show these houses, avant le déluge, when still intact, their appearance little changed over the centuries.
For anyone seeking a something suitable this Christmas, the Irish Aesthete makes so bold as to propose that any – or indeed all – of these books would make an ideal gift…

Malahide Castle, County Dublin 

Rockingham, County Roscommon

Shelton Abbey, County Wicklow

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