Impoverished Ireland: The Muckross House

  Located in the stunning forests of county Kerry in Kilarney, the Muckross house was home to many throughout the years.  This Tudor style home was built in 1843 for Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife Mary Balfour Herbert. In the 1850s the house underwent reconstruction, in preparation for Queen Victoria’s visit to Ireland. Though the Queen would only stay at the Muckross house for two days, the owners of the house went to the effort of adding a fire escape, hiring fifty servants, as well as importing furniture, paintings and other supplies from all over the world. The Herberts lived in Muckross until 1899, and then it was later bought for William Bourne’s daughter Maud and her husband Arthur Rose Vincent. The house was then bought in 1899 by Arthur Guinness. Guinness never actually lived in the house, but simply wanted to preserve the dramatic landscape.  Finally, in 1964 the house was re-opened as a public museum for all to enjoy.

  The House itself is ornate both inside and out. It is located on the Muckross peninsula, which means “the Peninsula of the wild pigs”. There are sixty-five rooms, which have been left in the original state, which gives a glimpse of how life was back then.  The house is built of stone, and takes up only a portion of the eleven thousand acres that surrounds it. The shimmering Muckross lake, forests, and fields are some of the natural beauty that can be seen can be seen from many different windows of the mansion. In addition to the sixty-five rooms, there are also servants courters in the basement of the house. Here, thirty-two different sounding bells can be found. Those of which the servants had to memorize in order to better serve their masters.

Historically, the Muckross house is significant because it was a preserved example of a Tudor style home, which allows people today to catch a glimpse of what the lifestyle was like during that time.  The land that the house is located on became the first national park in Kilarney.  Queen Victoria’s visit was also a significant point in time for the Muckross house, mostly because it was a shock to everyone that Queen Victoria even visited Ireland at all. The Muckross house is a step in the staircase of Irish history, and yet again we see how intelligent, elegant, and creative the people were back in those times. In addition, we see the development of how Irish people and their way of life have changed over the years.
    As a group, we were in complete awe of the magnificence of the house and  the gardens, lake, and the surrounding area. We were amazed and appreciative for the fact that the house was left in its original state and was not modernized. We felt as though we were stepping back in time, which allowed us to more fully understand society back in that time period. We were blown away by the  extraordinary amount of money spent building this beautiful, intensely decorated home. It was also interesting to think about what the surrounding neighborhoods were like economically as well. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed experiencing all the magnificence that the Muckross house had to offer.