Visitors to the Country House in Ireland and Britain: Welcome and Unwelcome - Hardcover

by Christopher Ridgway (Editor), Terence Dooley (Editor)

Country houses have always been a magnet for visitors. In early days individuals with the correct social credentials could gain entry, while visitors such as royalty were self-invited guests. With the rise of the railway and then the motor-car, houses became accustomed to mass visits, spawning the heritage industry of today. However, houses have also attracted less-welcome incomers: looters, arsonists, emigrés, revolutionaries, the politically undesirable, carpetbaggers, and even photographers whom one owner described as worse than burglars. This volume explores the many kinds of visitors who have crossed the thresholds of country houses, and how they have recorded their impressions--whether in sketches, journals, guest-books, works of fiction, or photographs.

Author Biography

Christopher Ridgway is adjunct Professor at Maynooth University and curator of Castle Howard in Yorkshire. Terence Dooley is Professor of History at Maynooth University and director of the Centre for Historic Irish Houses and Estates at Maynooth University.