Kilshannig
- Classification
- Manoir
- Pays
- Irlande
- Région
- County Cork
- Adresse
- Rathcormack, Fermoy
- Époque / style
- Eighteenth-century Baroque, by Davis Ducart (1765-66)
On the summit of a gentle wooded hillside in County Cork, just east of the old main road from Dublin to Cork and between the villages of Rathcormack and Watergrasshill, stands Kilshannig, one of the finest eighteenth-century houses in Munster. The house was built between 1765 and 1766 for Abraham Devonsher, a wealthy Cork burgher and banker, in the valley of the River Bride, about six miles south of Fermoy. His architect was a Sardinian, Davisco d'Arcort, known in Ireland as Davis Ducart, whose Irish career began in the 1760s and continued until his death in about 1785. Ducart was arguably the most accomplished architect working in Ireland between the death of Richard Cassels and the arrival of James Gandon, balancing his career as a canal and mining engineer with the construction of some of Ireland's most innovative and original eighteenth-century houses. He remained loyal to the Baroque and never ventured into the new, fashionable, neo-Classical style. Kilshannig has four formal fronts. The facade is of rose-red brick while the other fronts are of cut sandstone, all with limestone dressings. This seven-bay block is attached to a pair of square pavilions by straight narrow links, single-storied and elaborately arcaded on the garden front. The house contains a splendid series of rich eighteenth-century rooms with perhaps Ireland's finest decorative plasterwork, executed by the Lafranchini brothers during their second visit to Ireland, along with a cantilevered stone spiral staircase, fine chimneypieces, a columnar hall and a double-height saloon. Mr Devonsher left no male heirs; his nephew inherited the estate, after which ownership changed hands with monotonous regularity, deteriorating continuously with each passing year. By 1960, when Commander Douglas Merry and his wife purchased the property, Kilshannig was in a sorry state: the cupolas had disappeared, one wing was ruinous and the whole house badly needed attention. But Commander Merry was a talented and enlightened owner, combining engineering expertise and aesthetic judgement with considerable practical ability, which proved essential to the house's survival into the twentieth century. His son Hugo, a successful bloodstock agent, now lives at Kilshannig. He has continued the good work and has recently given the whole house a new roof, reinstated the cupolas and clad them in copper, carrying out further work to the highest standards. Open to the public on selected September days (10am-2pm), with group visits by arrangement, and is available as a film location.
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