The Brabazon family, Earls of Meath, has lived at Killruddery, near Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, since the early seventeenth century. 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. The 15th Earl of Meath currently resides in Killruddery with his family.
        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 and interesting plants. 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 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 My Left Foot and The Tudors. Killruddery House and Gardens are open to the public from May to September each year and at other times 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.