ABSTRACT
A communal architectural patrimony has always been somewhat anachronistic in Ireland. In the midst of such arbitrariness the Irish 'Big House' stands as a focal point for much debate and preservation effort, initially on the part of voluntary groups and increasingly an array of government initiatives and expenditure. Much that is written of the American big house and the house museum is applicable in Ireland, Carol Duncan has noted how house museums such as the Morgan Library and Frick Museum identified their owners with an elite social network. In The Village of Longing George O'Brien writes of the local pride felt by the people of Lismore, County Waterford, through the presence of its castle, the Irish seat of the Duke of Devonshire, linking the village to a larger context than its own. In The Story of Lucy Gault William Trevor allows for a Christian Brother to impart that the 'big house is the enemy'.
