A ‘big house’ put up for sale: Strong case for intervention

During the War of Independence, many of the ‘big houses’ dotting our coutryside were razed because they were symbols of the forces that regarded most Irish people as second-class citizens in their own coutry. Most of these houses represented privilege beyond the imagination, certainly beyond the reach, of the great majority of people living in Ireland.

In that context, it is possible to understand why so many were levelled but, at this remove, across almost a century of independence, it’s easier to argue that their destruction has taken forever a valuable layer of our heritage. Many of the big houses that were not destroyed fell into disrepair and eventually derelection because the land needed to sustain them had, through the Land Commission, changed hands.

Because of all of this flux, initiated by the 1916 Rising, very few great houses stand intact in Ireland and this makes them ever more precious.

One thing all of these houses have in common is the enormous costs involved in maintaining them, and the State has often supported owners who want to preserve buildings for the benefit of local communities — or simply because it is the right thing to do. Westport House, an important tourist attraction and an exemplary house of its kind, has been put on the market. It would be a tragedy if this estate was broken up or bought privately and removed from the public sphere. The case for State intervention seems strong.