Destruction of country houses in the Irish revolutionary period

The destruction of country houses in Ireland was a phenomenon of the Irish revolutionary period (1919 - 1923), which saw approximately 275 country houses deliberately burnt out, blown up or otherwise destroyed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).^[1] The vast majority of the houses, known in Ireland as Big Houses, belonged the Anglo-Irish aristocracy of the Protestant Ascendancy, although the houses of some Roman Catholics were also targeted. Although the practice by the IRA of destroying country houses began in the Irish War of Independence, most of the buildings were destroyed during the Irish Civil War.^[2] Today, most of the targeted buildings are in ruins or have been demolished, although some have been restored.

The Big House as a target

Ballynastragh House depicted in 1826, typical of the 'Big Houses' targeted by the IRA.

By the start of the Irish revolutionary period in 1919, the Big House had become symbolic of the perceived or actual dominance of the Anglo-Irish class in Ireland at the expense of the 'native' Roman Catholic population, particularly in Southern Ireland.^[3] The Anglo-Irish, as a class, were generally opposed to the notions of Irish independence and held key positions in the British administration of Ireland. The Irish nationalist narrative maintained that the land of Irishmen had been illegally stolen from them by the landowning aristocracy, who had mostly arrived in Ireland as Protestant settlers of the The Crown during the late 16th and 17th centuries. The Irish Big House was at the administrative centre of the estates of the landowners, as well as being the family seat from which the Anglo-Irish exerted their political control over the island.^[4] As such, for nationalists the Big House became a symbol of not only the Irish land issue (exacerbated by absentee landlords), but also the wider control of a specific social group on the social and political affairs of Ireland.

This perception was popularly held by nationalists, despite a considerable increase in Irish landownership in the previous decades due to the Irish Land Acts. Whereas in 1870, 97% of land was owned by landlords and 50% by just 750 families, by 1916, 70% of Irish farmers owned their own land.^[5] In addition, Roman Catholics had been emancipated in 1829 and the political dominance of the Anglo-Irish in Ireland had been restricted following the electoral success of Irish Parliamentary Party.^[6] Nevertheless, for the leadership of the IRA the continued presence of the Big House was an unwelcome reminder of the old order. In addition, there was a strong socialist discourse in Irish nationalism, which sought to destroy the presence of a privileged elite in any new Irish republic.

Irish War of Independence

In the destruction of the country houses of the aristocracy and landed gentry, the IRA hoped to overcome a culture of deference towards the landowning class.^[7] As early as 1918, IRA organiser Ernie O’Malley had his Volunteers train in demesne grounds in order to, "rid them of their inherent respect for the owners". During the Irish War of Independence, country houses were targeted in reprisal for the destruction of houses by the British Army, who took to burning or defacing the homes of nationalists engaged in actions against the British administration in Ireland. Usually the local Big House and landowner had no influence over British military policy in the area, and the reprisal attack by the IRA would be carried out on the assumption that all Anglo-Irish were Loyalists. A total of 30 Big Houses were burned in 1920 and another 46 in the first half of 1921, mostly in the conflict’s heartland of Munster, in counties Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Clare and Limerick.^[8] Relatively few houses were burnt in the period 1919-1921 and they were not made the subject of a concerted campaign as they were to be during the Irish Civil War.^[9]

Irish Civil War

The ruins of Woodstock House in County Kilkenny, which was attacked on 2 July 1922 during the Civil War.

It is believed that 199 country houses were destroyed during the Civil War.^[10] In this conflict, the leadership of the Anti-Treaty forces orchestrated a campaign of Big House destruction across Ireland. Most country houses were isolated and in rural areas, and targeting them forced the National Army to allocate their stretched resources to protecting landowners, while also creating an atmosphere of panic among the Anglo-Irish. As such, the country house was regarded by the IRA as a 'soft target'.^[11] Attacks were planned and organised, and generally focused on Irish peers who had sat in the House of Lords, members of the Senate of the Irish Free State and former Irish Unionist Party politicians.^[12] Members of the gentry, such as British Army officers, Church of Ireland clergymen and Justices of the Peace, were also targeted. The house of the President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State, W. T. Cosgrave, was burned down in January 1923.^[13] The County Dublin home of the Anglo-Irish politician Sir Horace Plunkett was burnt down in 1923, despite him being well known as a social reformer and nationalist sympathiser.^[14] Some houses were also attacked to prevent them being used as garrisons by Free State forces, such as Ballycarty House. The size of the buildings targeted ranged from small country houses to palatial stately homes. Most buildings were destroyed by being set on fire, their interiors having been doused in petrol, although in some instances houses were blown up using high explosives. The attempt to burn down Burton Hall, Stillorgan, the home of Henry Guinness, in March 1923 failed. The IRA attackers were usually in groups of between 10 and 20 men.

In the majority of cases, no one was injured during the destruction of the house. It is recorded that in several cases, members of the IRA helped the targeted family to remove their possessions from the house before it was destroyed. When the house of Dermot Bourke, 7th Earl of Mayo was attacked on 29 January 1923, he described the IRA guerillas as being "excessively polite" and apologetic. Nonetheless, there was sometimes violence and deaths in the attacks. The Church of Ireland Gazette recorded numerous instances of Unionists and Loyalists being shot, burnt or forced from their homes during the early 1920s. In County Cork between 1920 and 1923 the IRA shot over 200 civilians of whom over 70 (or 36%) were Protestants: five times the percentage of Protestants in the civilian population. Mrs Maria Lindsay was shot in an outbuilding while her house was burning. Senator John Philip Bagwell was kidnapped during the attack on his home. The country houses were usually looted during and following their destruction, and in most cases a family's possessions were entirely destroyed. The library of George Moore, containing ancient manuscripts relating to Irish and world history, was entirely destroyed in February 1923.^[15]

Not all Big Houses were regarded by the IRA as legitimate targets. Mount Trenchard House in County Kerry was the home of Mary Spring Rice, a nationalist activist, and the building was used by the IRA as a safe house.

Aftermath

The ruins of Moore Hall, County Mayo, which was abandoned after being burnt down by the IRA in 1923.

Most of the big houses targeted by the IRA were abandoned following the attack. The widespread use of petrol and other incendiaries ensured that the most of the buildings were completely gutted by fire and rendered uninhabitable. The state of the buildings, as well as fear of a repeat attack, meant that very few of the country houses were rebuilt. Many were demolished, while others were left in ruins and remain in that state. Most of their former owners sought compensation from the Irish Free State government. Ebenezer Pike claimed £62,000 for the destruction of Kilcronagh House, arguing that his loses were "enormous, for valuable furniture, paintings, and art treasures were all consumed in the flames."^[16] William Downes Webber sought compensation from the Irish Free State totalling £149,000 for the rebuilding and £18,000 for the contents of Mitchelstown Castle; £27,500 for the building and £18,000 for the contents was eventually awarded by the Irish state in 1926.

The period of the destruction of the Big House came to play an important part in Irish culture.^[17][18][19] For some nationalists, it represented the transformation of Ireland from a country with an hereditary, landed, Protestant class under the British Crown, to a more egalitarian republic. Others saw the burning of houses as an unnecessary excess of the revolutionary period, in which much of Ireland's architectural and cultural heritage was lost forever. W. B. Yeats decried the targeting of Big Houses in the poem Meditations in Time of Civil War (1924), and lamented the concurrent passing of Anglo-Irish culture in Ireland.^[20] In The Last September (1929) the Big House was mythologised by Elizabeth Bowen as an ideal of civilisation and order, yet one which had its origins in injustice and could not be expected to survive in the modern world.^[21]

Resurgence during The Troubles

During The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the practice of targeting 'The Big House' was revived by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. Most notoriously, Tynan Abbey was attacked on the night of 21 January 1981. The 86-year-old Sir Norman Stronge, Bt., and his only son, James, 48 (both former MPs), were killed by the PIRA attackers. The house was then burnt to the ground. The bodies of the father and son were later recovered from their blazing home.^[22][23]

List of houses destroyed

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

See also

• Anglo-Irish big house
• Destruction of country houses in 20th-century Britain

References

• Terence Dooley, The Decline of the Big House in Ireland: A Study of Irish Landed Families (Dublin: Wolfhound Press, 2001)
• James S. Donnelly, 'Big House Burnings in County Cork during the Irish Revolution, 1920–21', Éire-Ireland (47: 3 & 4 Fall/Win 12) http://www.nuigalway.ie/research/centre_irish_studies/documents/0647.34donnelly.pdf (Accessed 17 February 2015)
• John Dorney, 'The Big House and the Irish Revolution', The Irish Story (21 June 2011) http://www.theirishstory.com/2011/06/21/the-big-house-and-the-irish-revolution/#.VONKBfmsXg1 (Accessed 17 February 2015)