Great Irish Interiors: Cork's Fota House gets a new lease of life

We go behind the scenes and back in time at the ancestral residence of the Smith-Barrys as it stars on the small screen

Sat, 14 Sep, 2024 - 09:03

Story: Carol O'Callaghan Pictures: Chani Anderson

Cork's Fota House was in the spotlight as RTÉ's Great Irish Interiors made it back to our screens this week for a third series.

The Cork period property was first up in a programme that charts the ups and downs of preserving our stately homes and castles for posterity.

Fota House, the ancestral residence of the Smith-Barrys, the last of whom to live there being Dorothy Bell, née Smith-Barry who died in 1975.

Now owned by the Irish Heritage Trust, it was a timely visit for the television cameras as two major maintenance projects were being rolled out, tackling dry rot in the McCarthy Library and replacing most of the roof.

For half an hour we play fly-on-the-wall, observing Martina Madden, museum standards and property coordinator, who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the house and its contents, meeting conservation architect Gareth O’Callaghan and building surveyor Barry O’Keefe to plan the roof project.

Implementing something of this scale impacts other parts of the house Martina tells me as we chat before the episode airs.

We are in the canteen which was once a maid’s bedroom back in the day when the house bustled with family life. “We’d known for a while the roof needed remedial work so we’ve done the 1750s hunting lodge block as well as the 1820s pair of pavilions which are the most historic parts of the house. Rooms had to be sealed off.

"It wasn’t just closing the doors, we had to do inventories which took three weeks and deep cleaning protocols.”

It’s an insight into what goes on in the background, unseen by visitors and tour groups who filter through the house, their entry ticket, and even the purchase of a cup of coffee, all making a financial contribution to Fota’s upkeep along with state funding.

It’s a house, however, that throws up all sorts of surprises including in the McCarthy Library where some blocked-up windows were revealed during dry rot treatment.

Martina Madden pictured in the McCarthy Library.

“We don’t know if the windows were blocked up because of the window tax or when the family changed the use to a library,” Martina explains on-screen as she reviews old photos of the room with her colleague Joanne Clarke, collections and interpretations manager for Irish Heritage Trust.

But what has to be the most charming and engaging part of the episode is Martina’s conversations with Valentine Villiers, grandson of Dorothy Bell who we’re told returns to visit regularly.

We see him reminisce about spending childhood summers at Fota House and learn of what has become a close relationship with the current staff, including donating family photos.

A selection is now on display in the newly opened North Bedroom along with two painted portraits, one of Valentine’s great-grandmother and another of a grandaunt, mitigating what can often be a sterile feel in stately homes which have become museums.

Fota House, although an accredited museum, has recreated the feeling of a house lived in by a family, although on a grand scale, supported by a cohort of dedicated volunteers, helped by the Smith-Barry descendants also being able to provide Fota with invaluable explanations of various events in the house and the provenance of particular items.

Interiors lovers, especially those with an eye for antique furniture, may well have spotted some unusual chairs in the hallway on-screen, a recent acquisition by Irish Heritage Trust. The backstory is a tale of opportunity, readiness and the inside scoop.

Ten out of an original set of twelve came up at auction with Sheppard’s at Durrow Castle last year which Martina quickly recognised as having a Fota connection thanks to intricate carvings on them of the Smith-Barry coat-of-arms and the motto, boutez en avant.

General manager Bryan Murphy n the grand hallway of Fota House.

Not only was the link confirmed by Valentine, but he was also able to offer more information about their provenance, as Martina relates: “Valentine was told by his grandmother Dorothy that there were 12 originally, commissioned in 1860 for the ornamental folly.

After her death, her daughter Rosemary, Valentine’s mother, had them in her London house where they were used just once a year for Christmas dinner. After Rosemary’s death, the chairs were sold at auction and didn’t reappear until they came up for auction here in Ireland.”

What became of them in the interim is unknown but maybe it can be added to what Martina tells me are 75 research projects concerning the house and contents currently on the go.