In 1979, upon the death of his father, the 6th Earl of Rosse, Brendan Rosse returned with his family to live at Birr Castle, in the town of that name situated in the center of Ireland. Most of his married life had been spent wandering around the world on the various United Nations assignments that had taken the family-wife Alison, son Patrick and daughter Alicia-from west Africa to Bangladesh and other places in between. So they were happy to return to Birr, to settle down in their new home.
The changing social and economic conditions in Europe that began with World War I saw, among other things, a considerable rise in the cost of running an estate such as Birr Castle. To a degree, the 6th Earl and his wife, Anne, chose to ignore the changes that were taking place and tended to live as they always had, traveling, entertaining large house parties, financing botanical expeditions; in fact, all the pastimes and pleasures of the aristocracy were indulged in and enjoyed.
Thus, when Brendan Rosse came to examine his inheritance, he realized that if he and his family were to continue living at Birr, his first task was to find ways and means to generate income from the estate and demesne. He set about explaining the situation to his wife and children (there were now three children; on their return to Ireland, a son had been born-their ”Irish”
child, they christened him Michael). So the saving of Birr-by opening the castle to the public for various and sundry exhibitions-has become a family affair.
Today, just as his ancestors in the 17th Century defended Birr Castle from its enemies, so does Brendan Rosse defend his heritage from the 20th Century enemies of inflation and social change. He has a sharp intelligence that makes him accept that change is inevitable, and his object is to keep one step ahead of those changes. Those ancestors who built so well-if sometimes extravagantly-could not have foreseen how the maintenance of so much beauty was to be overthrown by changes political and otherwise.
The history of the Parsons (the family name) and Birr begins in the early 17th Century, when in 1620 Laurence Parsons acquired 1,000 acres of arable land and 277 acres of wood and bog in the middle of Ireland. This acquisition centered on the town and castle of Birr. The town jostles straight up against the castle walls, making an intimate relationship between great house and town, found comparatively seldom in England and even less in Ireland.
Between 1620 and 1681, considerable alterations and additions were made to the castle, including the erection of a staircase made from yew. It was said to be ”the fairest staircase in Ireland.” It is of massive proportions, rising through three stories of the house, and is one of the earliest staircases to survive in the country.
During the same century, the castle entered into the most stormy episode of its history. In 1642, several of the old Gaelic tribes appeared in force together. They set the town on fire and burned almost every house in it to the ground. Eventually they were defeated, and the town of Birr was rebuilt. Peace and stability settled on the district.
Laurence Parsons, grandson of the man of the same name who had acquired Birr in 1620, was created a baronet in 1671. In 1792, the Sir Laurence Parsons of the day became Baron Oxmantown, then Viscount Oxmantown in 1795 and Earl of Rosse in 1806.
Intellectual is not the word that comes to mind in describing the Anglo-Irish gentry from the 17th through the 19th Centuries. Sometimes they were dashing and witty; other times they were drunken and illiterate. But, as with everything else, there were exceptions, and of these none is more interesting than the Parsons of Birr. To have produced in three generations a patriot statesman, two leading astronomers and an inventor is by any standard an impressive achievement.
The eldest son of the 2d Earl of Rosse grew up to become one of the most distinguished astronomers of the 19th Century. He is especially notable for his achievements in improving the reflecting telescope. Lord Oxmantown (as he was then) began his experiments in 1827. On his father`s death in 1841, he started construction of what was to remain until 1917 the biggest telescope in the world.
There is hardly a more romantic episode in the history of Birr than the story of the slow conception and birth of this great telescope in a remote corner of Ireland. Up to the present day, the contribution to astronomy made by the 3d and 4th Earls (the latter also being an astronomer of note) is acknowledged and appreciated. Astronomers, in fact, still visit the site for its historical perspective.
From the very start of the experiments at Birr Castle in 1827, all the machinery and implements and finally the telescope itself were made by workers employed on the estate.
Treasures from the shop
The talents of the workshops are also credited with the Gothic suite in the bedroom of Anne, Countess of Rosse, the present Earl`s mother. It was made for the wedding of the 3d Earl in 1836. From about the same period dates the massive Gothic sideboard in the dining room, supported by two sets of the family coat of arms.
Earlier, in about 1810, the magnificent Gothic salon was built onto the house by the 2d Earl of Rosse. Slim white and gold columns support a Gothic plaster vault, also of white and gold and resembling a light and elegant Gothic tent. The room looks out across the river through a fringe of leaves to the distant Knockshegowna-a Gaelic name that translated means ”The Hill of the Fairies.”
The men in the Parsons family seem to favor Yorkshire women. No less than three countesses, including Alison, the present countess, hail from that part of England. Mary, also a Yorkshire woman and the wife of the 3d Earl, seems to have been talented as well as rich; she is said to have designed and even helped to make in the estate forge the splendid Gothic cast-iron gates at the main entrance.
Anne, Countess of Rosse, is a sister of the late Oliver Messel, the distinguished designer of theater sets and interiors in the `50s and `60s. Her first husband was Ronald Armstrong-Jones. With him she had two children. Anthony, now Lord Snowden, the photographer, and a daughter, the late Lady de Vesci. She married the 6th Earl in 1935 and by him had two sons, William Brendan, now the 7th Earl, and his younger brother, the Hon. Martin Parsons, who lives in Yorkshire.
The tradition of the inventive countess continued with Anne, who is responsible for the Chinese Chippendale display cabinet in the yellow drawing room and the pretty chinoiserie bridges in the watergarden. Her flower arrangements were famous. Her daughter-in-law, Alison, a most accomplished flower arranger herself, tells how it was:
”I remember the tractor appearing early on Friday morning pulling a trailer filled with an avalanche of flowers. Two gardeners would lay them reverently onto the dust sheets laid over the Turkish carpets in the hall. The vases, waiting expectantly, were already filled with water. By lunch time the transformation would be complete, and the house blossomed with towering flower arrangements, filling the urns, the Sicilian vases and the jardinieres in the salon, flowing over onto tables and desks.”
Working for Birr
One of the things that impresses a guest most when visiting the Rosses is the enthusiasm for their inheritance, something that is felt strongly by all family members. The children are willing to work at whatever task their father designates for them, if the end product will be of advantage to Birr.
No less talented than her predecessors is Alison, the present countess. About her is an air of quiet dignity. Her gentle beauty, her low melodious voice, her quick intelligence that is never assertive add up to a picture of enviable and rare composure.
Perhaps more than any of the previous countesses, she has searched out and examined the archives at Birr. Fascinating discoveries have been her reward. A 300-year-old book belonging to Dorothy Parsons, who came to live at Birr on her marriage in 1636, contains recipes, medicinal hints, ways to polish mahogany tables and so on. Two well-known publishing houses have expressed interest in this book.
These household books continue right up to the time of Alison`s mother-in-law, Anne. On lined foolscap paper, Anne Rosse would write notes for the cook, including little sketches showing how she wished the dishes to look when they were being presented to the guests. The notes for the butler included the decision as to which room the meal was to be served in-preferred china, linen, glass and silver were all indicated. Laughingly, Alison remarked, ”Sometimes I feel I have about a dozen mothers-in-law, going back to the 17th Century.” During the perusal of the archives and the reorganizing of long unused rooms, Brendan and Alison Rosse began to realize that many facets of life were recorded at Birr-from gardening to astronomy, history to photography, plant hunting and recipes, so that the idea to have an annual exhibition at Birr to feature specifically one of those facets seemed irresistible. Now seven years on, they have had six such exhibitions. One was ”The Making of the Garden”; another was historical, about the castle and the town of Birr; another was a photographic exhibition describing the work of Mary Rosse, the wife of the 3d Earl.
Over the last few years, the life of the family has fallen into something of a pattern. In the spring they hold the annual exhibition on aspects of life at Birr; the international carriage-driving event takes place in September and the shoot and gundog trials in the winter.
As Alison observed, ”Much of my time seems to be spent in keeping house for `experts,` experts on early photography, on botany, on Irish history, tourism, astronomy, on farming and forestry and even carriage driving. As well as this, we entertain cultural groups of many interests-botanical, scientific, historical, etc. Often they are from the United States, but some come from other European countries. In fact, we tend to entertain people from all over the world.”
At Birr on a sunny evening, the light comes through the leaves and flashes off the water of the river below and half-fills the Gothic saloon with a rich green-gold glow. It is a moment of pure magic. At such a moment one can fully understand the enthusiasm and determination felt by the Rosses to preserve what is theirs to be enjoyed, not only by themselves but also by members of the public with whom they so generously share their heritage. –
