Wanted: Butler to serve marquis in historic home

RECESSIONS hit most professions pretty hard and Ireland’s population of butlers are no different.

However, there is a chink of light out there for the humble butler as Lord Waterford of Curraghmore House and Gardens in Waterford is looking for a butler or “house person” from February of next year.

The successful applicant will get a permanent position with accommodation in a job “suitable for a married couple or single person”. Even better news comes in the fact that no previous experience as a butler is necessary.

As to the duties that Lord Waterford requires in a butler, it remains unclear. The Irish Examiner was informed that the position was “not a publicity stunt” and that all duties would be explained to the applicants.

Given the scale and lavish surroundings of Curraghmore House, the job of butler would seem quite a daunting challenge.

Curraghmore House is the historic home of the 8th Marquis of Waterford. His ancestors — the de la Poers — came to Ireland from Normandy after a 100-year stopover in Wales around 1170.

Some 2,500 acres of formal gardens, woodland and grazing fields make this the largest private demesne in Ireland and certainly one of the most beautiful locations in Ireland to visit.

A Sitka spruce planted on the estate in the 1830s is among the tallest trees in Ireland and stands guard over King John’s Bridge. Built in 1205 this stone-arched structure, spanning the Clodagh River, is the oldest bridge in Ireland.

The formal gardens surrounding Curraghmore House are open for the public to visit on Thursday afternoons from 2pm to 5pm between Easter and October 15. The successful applicant can view all of this every day and get paid for the pleasure. For a butler, that’s hardly a chore.