Bertie sings different tune on preservation of Republic's stately homes

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Archiseek / Ireland / News / 2005 / December 5

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern admitted two years ago that he has taken "a fair bit of personal hit" over his championship of Ireland's surviving great houses, and the plan to establish a national trust to secure their future. But that hasn't stopped him waxing almost lyrically about these impressive relics of a bygone age. For too long, many didn't see the Big House as "part of a shared Irish heritage. Nor indeed was it viewed as a heritage worth preserving. Fortunately, times and opinions have changed radically since then. The Irish Big House is increasingly valued today for its architectural significance; for the wealth of design created for the most part by Irish craftspeople; and for the valuable insight it offers us into an era that has had such an influence on shaping our history".

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