Family & House

Visitors enter Killruddery House through the new entrance which was constructed in the 1950s. Inside the door, on the right hand wall, is the Coat-of-Arms of Sir Edward Brabazon, dated 1586. The stairs lead to a small domed lobby. A large Irish Chippendale table fills the window alongside alabaster jars and urns.

Above the door is the Coat of Arms of the 4th Earl of Meath, who married Cecilia, a daughter of Sir William Brereton.

The domed ceiling above the staircase, hall and gallery was designed by the celebrated Welsh architect Jones and executed in 1830 by Henry Popje, a Bray craftsman. The Brabazon hawk's golden form takes flight in its centre.

The Killruddery wyverns stand tall on the staircase ends – holding the original Brabazon shield.

A large stained-glass window by Henry Victor Milner dates from 1853 and depicts William the Conqueror accepting the surrender of the Saxons after his victory at Hastings in 1066. Family portraits line the walls, including a large 19th Century portrait by the Italian Calpati of Harriot Brooke, the 11th Earl’s wife, and their two children.

In the heart of the house remains the only room still intact from the 17th-Century house. Decorated in the Carolean style, the Library has a beautiful plaster ceiling, Chippendale bookcases and a chimney piece and over-mantel that combine the Gibbonesque carving of the period with later elements.

The rich, teal-green walls frame family heirloom paintings including a portrait of Charles II and a 18th Century stylised painting on wood of the old house showing the established gardens and hunting figures – inspired by a poem written about a hunt at Killruddery in 1744.

The Drawing Room has a neoclassical interior with scagliola pillars, ceiling stucco plasterwork by Henry Popje, walls lined with gold brocade silk panels and a Savonnerie carpet with detailed family crests in each corner.

The pier tables with Connemara marble tops were supplied by James Delvechio of Dublin in 1828, as were the carved gilt cornices over the windows.

Connected to The Orangery, this room was converted to a Dining Room when the 19th-Century house was demolished in the 1950s. The room also boasts a vaulted stucco ceiling. Family portraits adorn the walls and the room has imposing elegance with a ‘campaign dining table’ centerpiece and a set of 19th-Century leather-back dining chairs supplied by Samuel Pratt of London.

Tall windows look out to a meditative vista across Killruddery’s Long Ponds to an ornate fountain.

The Orangery was designed and built in 1852 by William Burn, inspired by Crystal Palace in London. The original glass roof was the work of Richard Turner who designed the curvilinear range at the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin. The glass roof was replaced in 2000 with an ultra-violet-resistant polycarbonate, with further bars added to the original cast-iron spars.

Inspired by the Renaissance gardens of Italy, the 10th and 11th Earls collected sculptures during their European tours. These 19th century artworks lend a classical style to The Orangery, representing mythological heroes, famous historical figures and some family members.