Russborough Through the Years

© The Publisher

Full title: The Story of Russborough House

Creator / Author: Valerie Ryan

Item Type / Page count: Booklet / 42p

When Published: 2013

Publisher / Place of Publication: Prince Publications / [Main Street, Naas, Co. Kildare]

About: This is a compact publication which packs a lot of information into its 42 pages. It chronicles the major events associated with the house from its foundation in the 18^th century up until 1974. In addition, a complete list is provided of the owners and heirs of Russborough House throughout the years. Overall, it is an easy to read introduction to West Wicklow’s finest house.

ID number(s): 9780992652708

Contents: Introduction – Before Russborough – [1741] The story of Russborough begins – Russellstown – [1744] Paintings and furniture from Europe – [1750] Art and portraits from the Second Grand Tour – Four new paintings – Grand Kildare friends pay a Spring visit to Russborough’s waterfall – [1763] Joseph Leeson becomes the Earl of Milltown – [1798] The Rebellion and Russborough House – [1814] Russborough House had never been seen in better condition – A grandson becomes the Fourth Earl of Milltown – [1765] Wedding in the Music Room – [1861] The Prince of Wales pays a visit – A wedding before Christmas – [1871] The winds of change at Russborough – [1906] – The National Gallery of Ireland extended to house the contents of Russborough House – [1914] An inquest at Russborough – Paintings returned on loan to Russborough House – [1930] A gift for the new Irish State? – [1931] A home from home for the Daly Family – [1934] A Hunt Ball at Russborough – [1946] Daily life at Russborough in the 1940’s – Who was going to buy Russborough House? – [1952] A proposal under the Portrait of a Woman in a Black Dress – [1957] A Christmas Party at Russborough – [1974] A second gift to the State – Acknowledgements – Sources – At a glance-the owners and heirs through the years.

Extra #1: includes several photographs and illustrations.

Extra #2: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #3: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Russborough : a Plea for its Future

© JSTOR

Full title: What Now for Russborough?

Creator / Author: Desmond Fitzgerald / Sir Alfred Beit / John Mulcahy

Item Type / Page count: Journal Article / 6p

Journal Information: Irish Arts Review, Vol. 22, Number 4, pp. 120-125

When Published: Winter, 2005

Publisher / Place of Publication: Irish Arts Review / Dublin

About: This feature is a composite article comprising a republishing of the text of a concise account of the history and heritage of the building and its contents originally written by Sir Alfred Beit in booklet form in 1978 together with a much shorter opinion piece on its future development by Desmond Fitzgerald, President of the Irish Georgian Society, plus a paragraph on the Alfred Beit Foundation. It would now seem that the concerns of Mr. Fitzgerald regarding the future of Russborough have been allayed by the continuing increase in its popularity as a cultural and tourism destination.

ID number(s): 1649-217x

Contents: Russborough, Blessington, County Wicklow / Sir Alfred Beit — The Alfred Beit Foundation / John Mulcahy — Some thoughts on Russborough / Desmond Fitzgerald.

Extra #1: includes several colour photographs

Extra #2: Read this article online via JSTOR. [Personal registration / conditions apply]. Alternatively, your local public library may provide free online access to this article.

Extra #3: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #4: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #5: Check our blog entry for the booklet containing the original article by Sir Alfred Beit.

A Bygone Christmas Gift From Hollywood

© The Publisher

Full title: Ballymore Eustace and Hollywood Chronicle

Creator / Author: Maurice Browne P.P (editor) & contributors.

Item Type / Page count: Journal (Complete issue) / 103p

When Published: Christmas 1972

Publisher / Place of Publication: [Parish of Ballymore Eustace and Hollywood] / [Ballymore Eustace, Co. Kildare].

About: This is the second issue of the parish magazine, produced some twenty years after the inaugural issue. The driving force behind both was Rev. Fr. Maurice Browne, P.P. of the parish. Fr. Browne also authored several books and other items under the pen name of ‘Joseph Brady’. This issue gathers together articles of contemporary and historical interest. It is not certain if any further issues were ever published.

ID number(s): None

Contents: Cover photograph: The bridge over the Liffey at Ballymore Eustace — Frontispiece: Adoration of the Magi [photograph of a painting from the Beit Collection] – Foreword / Maurice Browne P.P. — Fords and bridges over the River Liffey [extract] / Archdeacon Sherlock — Commentary on extract from ‘Fords and bridges over the River Liffey’  — Parish Priest comes of age / Maurice Browne P.P. – I remember Ballymore / Captain Spencer Freeman — The Beit Collection of pictures [extract from the Beit Collection] / F. J. B. Watson — Eight years hard in a Dublin Pawn-office / Tom Whittle — Six months for potheen [short story] / Paddy Wolfe , told to him by Capt. John Walshe –Through Bible lands / Mick McDonald — From Bluebell to Hollywood / Thomas Kearney C.C. — Hollywood [poem] / Bill Evans — The station in the mountain: Turlough Hill — The Liffey Water Supply / Gus Murphy — Pages from diary of a pilgrimage to The Holy Land / Joseph Brady — Ardenode Stud / Margaret Mullion — Footnote to ‘Ardenode Stud’/ Maurice Browne P.P. – Paroiste Bhailemor na nIustasach / P. Ó Brosnacháin – The new curriculum / Michael Conway – Work in progress in the infant school / Patricia Kennealy – Picnic abhi againn [duais aiste] / Bríd Ní Chuillin – The Ghost [prize poem] / George Murphy – Prize essays Ballymore School, Senior Class – Punchestown races [prize essay] /  Matthew Dooley – When I grow up [prize essay] / Martina Nolan – Through the eyes of a child: visit of the Archbishop to Ballymore school – Ballymore Eustace I.C.A. / Mary Connolly – St. Vincent de Paul Society Ballymore Eustace – Corpus Christi procession at Ballymore Eustace [photo essay] – Paddy Kerr’s beagles / Louise Kerr – The Poulaphooca hare [poem] / Sean Mackey – Ballymore Handball Club / Matt Purcell – Boxing in Ballymore Eustace / Bill Evans – The Badminton Club / Claire Doyle – “Fairway to success” / Pauline Daly – The judgment of Ballymore [poem extract] / Dick Hynes and Anon – The imaginary menagerie.

Extra #1: Contains several black & white photographs throughout the text.

Extra #2: Contains several period advertisements from local businesses.

Extra #3: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #4: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide

More than a Beit-sized Plan

© Heritage Council

Full title: Russborough County Wicklow Conservation Plan

Creator / Author: The integrated conservation group for The Heritage Council and The Alfred Beit Foundation

Item Type / Page count: Book / 93p

When Published: 2005

Publisher / Place of Publication: The Heritage Council / Áras na hOidhreachta, Church Lane, Kilkenny

About: A thorough and insightful report, which perhaps for the first time, puts the significance of the house and its grounds fully into the public record. It details the history, profiles the current state of the property and provides a roadmap for its future sustainability as one of the major tourist attractions not just of West Wicklow but of the wider South-East region.

ID number(s): 1393–6808 / 1901137457

Contents: FOREWORD — SUMMARY — the background — the conservation plan – participants — UNDERSTANDING RUSSBOROUGH — historical development — the house — the architect — Richard Castle — the families of Russborough — the collections and the collectors — landscape, built features and habitats — changes through the centuries — THE CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF RUSSBOROUGH — the estate — the house — the demesne — the Milltown and Beit collections — the architectural drawing collection — the statues — wildlife habitats — the visitors — ISSUES AFFECTING THE ESTATE TODAY — issues affecting the integrity and setting of the demesne — issues affecting the house — issues relating to services installations, safety and security — issues affecting the collections — issues affecting other estate features — visitor management issues — resource management issues – POLICIES – Policies relating to the integrity and setting of the demesne — Policies relating to maintenance and repair of the built fabric of the house — policies relating to services installations — Policies relating to the collections — Policies relating to other estate features — Policies relating to visitor management — Policies relating to resource management — RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION, MANAGEMENT AND REVIEW — implementation and management — business plan — visitor survey — review procedures – BIBLIOGRAPHY — LIST OF PLATES — LIST OF FIGURES – APPENDICES.

Extra #1: Contains many illustrations, photographs and maps.

Extra #2: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #3: Link to the full text of this publication online via the Heritage Council of Ireland website

Great Taste in Art!

© JSTOR

Full title: The Beit Collection

Creator / Author: Christopher Brown

Item Type / Page count: Journal Article / 10p

Journal Information: Irish Arts Review, Vol. 1, Number 4, pp. 14-23

When Published: Winter,1984

Publisher / Place of Publication: Irish Arts Review / Dublin

About: An article which appraises the international importance of the Beit Art Collection that was permanently displayed at Russborough House, near Blessington. This collection was subsequently ransacked in a raid on Russborough by the major criminal mastermind known as ‘The General’.

ID number(s): 1649-217X

Extra #1: includes several colour and black & white photographs

Extra #2: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #3: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #4: Read this article online via JSTOR. [Personal registration / conditions apply]. Alternatively, your local public library may provide free online access to this article.

Russborough Ransacked

© The Publisher

Full title: The Beit Paintings Robbery

Creator / Author: Paul Williams

Item Type / Page count: Book Chapter / 20p

When Published: 1995 with later editions

Publisher / Place of Publication: O’Brien Press / 20 Victoria Road, Dublin 6.

Parent Publication [book]: The General: Godfather of Crime / by Paul Williams / 221pp

About: This book tells of the exploits of Martin Cahill, aka ‘The General’, who was one of Ireland’s most notorious gangsters.

ID number(s): 0862784336 / 9780862784331

WW Connection #1: The Beit paintings were taken from Russborough House in West Wicklow

Extra #1: includes photographs.

Extra #2: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #3: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Russborough in Vogue

© The Publisher

Full title: Russborough: the celebrated eighteenth-century Palladian house of Sir Alfred and Lady Beit – set in a green fold of the Wicklow hills of Ireland.

Creator / Author: Jessica Daves (ed.)

Item Type / Page count: Journal Article / 6p

Journal Information: Vogue, Vol. 127, Issue 5, pp. 106-111

When Published: March 15th,1956

Publisher / Place of Publication: Condé Nast / New York

About: A well-illustrated article from a special International Fashions Issue of the renowned style magazine, Vogue. More space is devoted to pictures of the house than to the text of the article.

ID number(s): 0042-8000

Extra #1: includes several black/white photographs

Extra #2: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

A Guide to Russborough

© The Publisher

Full title: Russborough: Blessington, Co. Wicklow

Creator / Author: Sir Alfred Beit

Item Type / Page count: Booklet / 28p

When Published: 1978

Publisher / Place of Publication: Eason & Son Ltd. / Dublin.

About: Number 13 in the Eason’s Irish Heritage Series, this guide, written by the owner of this fine house gives a concise account of the history and heritage of the building and its contents. The booklet is well illustrated, although the glossy paper on which it is printed brings picture postcards to mind.

ID number(s): 0900346183 / 9780900346187

Contents: Russborough, Blessington, County Wicklow — The Beit Collection.

Extra #1: includes many colour and b/w photographs.

Extra #2: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #3: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #4: The text of the main chapter was republished as part of an article in Irish Arts Review in 2005. Read it online via JSTOR. [Personal registration / conditions apply]. Alternatively, your local public library may provide free online access to this article.

The Irish Game

© The Publisher

Full title: The Irish Game: ‘a true story of crime and art’

Creator / Author: Matthew Hart

Item Type / Page count: Book / 220p

When Published: 2004 with later editions

Publisher / Place of Publication: Chatto & Windus / London.

About: The book tells the story of the robbery, and subsequent recovery of old masters paintings from Russborough House, Blessington. The 1986 heist was the brainchild of Martin Cahill, aka ‘The General’.

ID number(s): 9780099474579 / 0701177551 / 0701177616 / 1846173078

WW Connection #1: The stolen paintings were taken from Russborough House, one of the architectural gems of West Wicklow

Extra #1: includes photographs and index.

Extra #2: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #3: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.