Avondale House, in Avondale,

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, is the birthplace and home of

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1875 to 1891, also acting as Leader of the Home Rule League from 1880 to 1882 and then Leader of t ...

. It is set in the Avondale Forest Park, spanning over 2 km² (500 acres) of land, approximately 1.5 km from the nearby town of Rathdrum. The river Avonmore flows through the park on its way towards the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the C ...

. The House is now a museum. The house is open to visitors, who are introduced to the house by an audio visual presentation. Other facilities include a restaurant, book shop, picnic areas, children's play area, two orienteering courses and large car/coach park. In the surrounding parkland are tree trails and walks ranging in duration from one to five hours.

History

Avondale House was built in 1777 for Samuel Hayes, a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

who wrote a book on Irish Forestry and was a pioneer of the re-afforestation of Ireland, planting many thousands of trees on the estate. He bequeathed it to his friend and fellow MP

Sir John Parnell, 2nd Baronet Sir John Parnell, 2nd Baronet (25 December 1744 – December 1801) was an Anglo-Irish Member of Parliament. Biography A Church of Ireland landowner, his family had originally migrated to Ireland from Congleton in Cheshire. Although not from ...

, in 1795 and the latter's great-grandson Charles Stewart Parnell was born there in 1846. After Parnell's death in 1891 the estate was sold to a Dublin butcher from Phibsboro who felled most of the trees to recoup his investment. The house is Georgian, probably designed by

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806. Early life W ...

and built in

1777 Events January–March * January 2 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of the Assunpink Creek: American general George Washington's army repulses a British attack by Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis, in a second ...

. It is notable for its fine plasterwork and still contains many original pieces of furniture. The American Room is dedicated to Admiral Charles Stewart (1778-1869), Parnell's American grandfather who commanded the USS ''Constitution'' (now moored in

Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeastern United States. History ...

) during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

. The woodlands were renewed in 1904 when the estate was sold to the government. The house was used as a forestry school and the grounds planted with a great variety of trees, the most successful being conifers from the Pacific coast of North America. The grounds now boast specimens of

giant redwood ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (giant sequoia; also known as giant redwood, Sierra redwood, Sierran redwood, California big tree, Wellingtonia or simply big treea nickname also used by John Muir) is the sole living species in the genus ''Sequoiade ...

s from California and

Sitka spruce ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to almost tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth-lar ...

from British Columbia. The ruins of Parnell's old sawmill and Parnell's well are located on the site. One of the site's attractions is a trackless Forest Train that runs through the park. The outside of the house is featured in a painting in the R. Barry O'Brien 1898 biography of Parnell. In 2019, Failte Ireland announced a major restoration project for Avondale House and Forest Park.

References

External links

Avondale House
{{coord, 52, 54, 48, N, 6, 13, 22, W, display=title, region:IE_type:landmark_source:nlwiki Buildings and structures in County Wicklow Houses in the Republic of Ireland Museums in County Wicklow Historic house museums in the Republic of Ireland Biographical museums in the Republic of Ireland Neoclassical architecture in Ireland 1777 establishments in Ireland