Architectural gem will soon be lost forever

VERNON Mount House in Cork has been synonymous with motorcycle scrambling for more than 40 years. To most people, the house is just a building that stands in the middle of the circuit.

Very few are aware of the architectural qualities of this house, or indeed the treasures that lie within.

The house has been described by Maurice Craig in his book Classic Irish Houses as “a remarkable geometric house of the late 18th-century, built by an unknown architect for Sir Henry Hayes … with paintings by Nathaniel Grogan”.