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JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 19, 1872, 



P. insignia, Picea Pinsapo, and Cupressus macrocarpa. Farther 

 to the right on the rising ground is a considerable plantation 

 of Deodars thriving well. 



We pass now to a nearer inspection of the giant Elms, of 

 which there are fourteen in a straight line. The walk runs 

 between the trees and the river, and their great limbs are sup- 

 ported on props, forming a very picturesque arcade — quite a 

 sight to be remembered. The trees rise to about 130 feet in 

 height, and at 4 feet from the ground the girth of five of them 

 is respectively, 19, 17, 16, 14, and 13 feet ; the smallest is 12 feet 

 in circumference. These monarchs stand just where we enter 

 the flower garden at the river side of the Manor. The strip of 

 river garden is laid out in scroll beds well filled with bedding 

 plants. On this, the east side of the house, the building is 

 plain. The kitchen buildings stand at the north end of the 

 mansion, and the walls are beautifully covered with climbers 



supported on trellises. On the square block of the kitchen 

 building a tablet shows that the structure was begun in 1832. 

 On a large buttress on the river side of the mansion is a tablet 

 to the memory of the master mason who conducted the building 

 from its commencement until his death in 1852. He was a 

 native of Adare, and on looking at this tablet we felt pleasure 

 at this recognition of plain industry. 



Leaving the river garden we ascend to the south front of the 

 mansion by a massive stone stair in two flights. This front 

 of the mansion is very rich in architectural beauties as well as 

 broad rich landscape. The flower garden in front is of a 

 pretty geometric design, and has on the river side a highly- 

 dressed architectural wall, some 15 feet high where it touches 

 the Manor, but falling at least half the height where it 

 returns on the south side. As seen from the drive on Mount 

 William, the wall is a very pretty picture ; but looking at it 





Adare Manor. 



standing on the upper terrace it is far too contracted for such 

 a breadth of ground, and for blending the grounds with the 

 large mansion. The terrace on the south front is 4 feet above 

 the flower garden, and is on a level with the walks on the 

 entrance side of the Manor. A green ramp divides the flower 

 garden from this upper terrace, but has a mean appearance 

 in supporting a narrow terrace at the base of such a grand 

 pile of buildings. It is worth noting, that of the steps leading 

 down to the flower garden, two whole steps are each 18 feet 

 in length by 14 inches wide ; they are limestone, and show what 

 a fine quarry there is near Adare. 



The front of the mansion has a very striking effect, and we 

 cannot leave it without giving a few particulars of the peculiar 

 style of building. The stone used is a limestone, of which the 

 blocks are of alight grey and a warm red, and the blending of 

 these colours has been studiously carried out. The work is 

 done in dressed ashlar, finished in the most perfect style, and 

 the effect is the lightest and most elegant we have ever seen. 

 The string courses are beautifully done, and the carving highly 

 finished, the subjects carved being varied. 



The colonnade in this front is a great feature, showing five 

 Gothic arches, and being a copy of one belonging to the old 

 Abbey in the ground; it illustrates that charming combi- 

 nation of comfort with open-air life which the learned men of 

 Adare studied ages ago. The inner walls of this colonnade are 

 of red limestone of dark and light hues ; the roof is groined in 

 the same stone with deep ogee ribs forming panels, and the 



bosses in the centres where the ribs meet bear the different 

 arms of the family on highly ornamented shields. This 

 colonnade is partly divided by an arch, also Gothic. The 

 second part is square, and a charming study, whence we see 

 the distant hills, and where we hear the murmur of the river ; 

 while the flutter of waterfowl, and the sheep on the broad 

 meadow, give animation to the scene, and complete a great pic- 

 ture. In this part of the colonnade the ribs of the roof are 

 bolder, and spring from corbels with beautifully worked faces. 

 In the centre where the ribs meet is a large raven with wings 

 expanded ; under each wing is a shield bearing the arms of the 

 family; around the raven is the motto "Quia sursum volo 

 videre," in mediaeval characters. On the front of the last 

 finished part of the buildings is a panel with the following 

 inscription : — 



"This goodly house was erected by Windham Henry, Earl of Dunraven, 

 and Caroline his Countess, without borrowing, selling, or leaving a debt. 

 A.D. 1850." 



The square tower seen in the illustration is 82 feet high to 

 the battlements, and to the top 103 feet. 



The north-west front, or main entrance side, shows a very 

 distinct style of building. The gable of the last finished part of 

 the Manor has a bay window of very peculiar construction, and 

 highly ornamented. Li recessed panels are ravens holding 

 in one claw banners, while on scrolls around them is the 

 family motto. This mode of ornamentation is followed up 

 over all the bay windows of the new wing, but instead of the 



