Peeking into the Abandoned Mansions of Ireland

It's been a while since my fabulous trip to Ireland came to an end & along with it, my Blog.  I did intend to leave it there, but six months on, I've not been able to get Ireland out of my head.

Recently, I came upon a wonderful website by Tarquin Blake, Abandoned Ireland which I wanted to share.  Tarquin is an "Architectural explorer, photographer & historian" with a passion for unlocking the mysteries of the many abandoned mansions which lie decaying, in fields all over Ireland.

As you take the virtual photographic tours found on his website, of the buildings he has explored over recent years, you get a remarkable glimpse of how the priviledged classes lived & how now, sadly, these once beautiful country mansions have crumbled. 

RTE Nationwide interviewed Tarquin Blake & this clip below of that documentary, gives us some insight into Tarquin's passion & the important task he has undertaken to preserve the history of these decaying structures.

Abandoned Mansions of Ireland

 

 

Many of the mansions Tarquin has photographed for his website are those that we stopped to admire during our road trip around Ireland in March of this year.  All of course, were on private property & too dangerous to enter.  The photos I have of these hauntingly majestic mansions. are of their exteriors, which left me wondering what lay on the inside.  Tarquin's virtual tours, which can be accessed on his website, give us the opportunity to walk through the interiors of these Abandoned Mansions as well.

 

One such mansion we visited, which I mentioned in my blog post "Galloping on to Galway", was the gloriously foreboding Tyrone House. 

 

Tyrone House, Co. Galway

Tarquin Blake's remarkable virtual tour of the interior of this once stately home, now allows me to venture inside & take a look.

Another mansion that had mesmorised me, was Menlo Castle in Galway City, not that far from the small settlement of Tyrone, which I blogged about in my post "The Call of the Claddagh".

 

Menlo Castle

And again, I was lucky to find that Tarquin had given us a look inside this beautiful ruin as well.

 

So a big thank you to Tarquin Blake, for opening our eyes to the grandeur of these once magnificient mansions of Ireland.