Coolcarrigan

Classification: Manor
Country: Ireland
Region: County Kildare
Address: Coolcarrigan, Coill Dubh, Naas
Period / style: Late Georgian (1830s)

Coolcarrigan is an attractive house of three bays and two stories in the late Georgian style, built in the 1830s by Robert Mackay Wilson on a large estate in County Kildare to the designs of an unknown architect. The facade has hooded mouldings over the upper windows and a simple parapet, while the central bay is emphasised by a pair of pilasters and a typical late Georgian door-case with a fanlight and sidelights. Curved screen walls, ending in tall piers, project outwards from the entrance front and disguise the considerable extensions at the rear. The tree-lined avenue has a splendid display of spring bulbs and the superb 20-acre garden has a wonderful collection of rare and unusual trees and shrubs inspired by Sir Harold Hillier, the great twentieth century plantsman and collector. The early plantings are now in full maturity and have been carefully augmented by the present owners, while the elaborate 1900s greenhouse in the walled garden has just been authentically restored. Within the demesne is an important small Church of Ireland church, consecrated in 1885 and built in the Hiberno-Romanesque Revival style, with a Round Tower and a High Cross. Its design derives from the 12th century Temple Finghin at Clonmacnoise on the River Shannon in County Offaly. The interior has frescoes in Gaelic script, specially chosen by Dr. Douglas Hyde, first President of Ireland and a close family friend, while the very good stained glass windows, dedicated to various members of the family, are also in the Celtic Revival style. This tiny complex, surrounded by trees and a dry moat, is the most complete example of the Celtic Revival style in Ireland and makes an attractive eye-catcher from the house and avenue. Robert Wilson's daughter Georgina inherited Coolcarrigan and married Sir Almroth Wright, an eminent physician and colleague of Alexander Fleming, who worked on vaccination development, discovered the typhoid cure, and cautioned about antibiotic resistance. Playwright George Bernard Shaw was his close friend, and the character Sir Colenso Ridgeon in 'The Doctor's Dilemma' draws inspiration from Sir Almroth. Their descendants, the Wilson-Wright family, still occupy Coolcarrigan as the fifth generation living in the house. Open to house and garden visitors on specified dates (groups by arrangement); available as a film location.

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