Killruddery in Black and White
Photographs of Killruddery, Bray, County Wicklow - Click on the images for larger views
The Brabazon family, Earls of Meath, has lived at
Killruddery, near Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, since 1618. The
Brabazon pedigree commences with Jacques le Brabancon, said to have
lived about the eleventh century but almost certainly a legendary
figure. The first of the family to settle in Ireland was Sir William
Brabazon in the time of Henry VIII, who rose to the positions of
Vice-Treasurer and Lord Justice. Sir William died in 1552 and was
buried in
St Catherine's Church, Thomas Street, Dublin, but his monument does not
appear to have survived the rebuilding of that church in the 1760s. Sir
William's son Edward was created Baron Ardee in 1616, and
his grandson, also named William, was created first Earl of Meath
in 1627 (see the 107th Edition of Burke's Peerage).
In addition to extensive lands in County Wicklow,
the Brabazons were
granted the former St Thomas's Abbey in the area of
south-west Dublin City known as 'the Liberties', where the family's
influence is remembered in
street names such as Brabazon Street, Ardee Street and Meath Street.
In 1876 the Earl of Meath owned 14,700 acres of land in County Wicklow
and 28 acres in Dublin City. Bray Town Hall was built in 1882 by the
Brabazons and is now somewhat incongruously mainly given over to a McDonald's fast food
restaurant. The 12th Earl of Meath (1841-1929) and his Countess were
renowned for their philantropic work. The 15th Earl of Meath currently
resides in Killruddery with his family. The substantial 700-acre remnant of the
estate between the Little Sugarloaf Mountain and Bray Head is run as a
working farm, tourist attraction and centre for cultural activities,
including concerts and a film festival.
The present Killruddery House was constructed in
the 1820s to designs by father and son architects Richard and
William Morrison, being somewhat reduced in size in the 1950s.
While augmented in the nineteenth century, Killruddery's gardens retain
many elements of their original seventeenth-century layout, attractive
features including tree-lined avenues and walkways, ornamental
ponds, fountains, classical statuary, interesting plants and a walled garden. The
Brabazon coat of arms
features three martlets (swallows) on the shield, a falcon crest and
two wyvern (dragon) supporters, with the motto 'Vota vita mea' ('My
life is devoted'). There are many examples of armorial
decoration both on the exterior and in the interior of Killruddery House,
one of which can be viewed in detail in the above image gallery. Killruddery
has been used for location work on a number of films and television
programmes, including Excalibur, My Left Foot and The Tudors.
Killruddery Gardens are open to the public from April to October
each year (weekends only April and October), the House from July to
September and at other times the estate is the venue for specific
events and
functions (see official website).
The broad acres and political dominance of the landlord class in
Ireland are long gone, but the surviving big houses and demesnes are an
attractive feature of the landscape, an important part of the national
heritage well worth visiting and supporting.