Voices from the Great Houses are heard once more

The descendants of the great houses of the South-West, whose social life once revolved around each other, gathered for the first time in more than 100 years at Muckross House in Killarney over the weekend.

The gathering of the former gentry, whose ancestors arrived here in the 16th and 17th centuries under land grants from the crown, or who were allowed to keep their lands because of strategic alliances, came about due to a new book, arising from an oral history project.

Voices from the Great Houses records memories of living in houses such as Castle Townshend, Cahernane, The Reeks, Muckross, Cahernane, and The Lake Hotel.