The Red House is an 18th-century

William and Mary style What later came to be known as the William and Mary style is a furniture design common from 1700 to 1725 in the Netherlands, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland, and later in England's American colonies. It was a transi ...

house located in

Youghal Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the Munster Blackwater, River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Location

The Red House is located on

's main street, about east of Myrtle Grove and St. Mary's Collegiate Church.

History

The Red House was built c. 1703–1710 and designed by the Dutch architect Claud Leuventhen for the wealthy Uniacke family. The name derives from the

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

bricks used, then a novelty in Ireland. Another unusual feature of the period is the lack of windowsills and the

pewter Pewter () is a malleable metal alloy consisting of tin (85–99%), antimony (approximately 5–10%), copper (2%), bismuth, and sometimes silver. In the past, it was an alloy of tin and lead, but most modern pewter, in order to prevent lead poi ...

pelmet A pelmet (also called a "cornice board") is a framework placed above a window, used to conceal curtain fixtures. These can be used decoratively (to hide the curtain rod) and help insulate the window by preventing convection currents. It is sim ...

s. It originally had two wings; one is now converted into the Imperial Hotel. Thomas Farrell, a Justice of the Peace, owned the Red House in the early 20th century; he bought a conservatory at the

1900 Paris Exposition The Exposition Universelle of 1900 (), better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate develop ...

, which blew away in the 1930s.

Claud Cockburn Francis Claud Cockburn ( ; 12 April 1904 – 15 December 1981) was a British journalist. His saying "believe nothing until it has been officially denied" is widely quoted in journalistic studies, but he did not claim credit for origina ...

and Patricia Cockburn were regular visitors. The house later was a

parochial house A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, par ...

and

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

was added. In 1980 it was bought by Eamonn Keane of

Fáilte Ireland Fáilte Ireland is the operating name of the National Tourism Development Authority of Ireland. This authority was established under the National Tourism Development Authority Act of 2003 to replace and build upon the functions of Bord Fáilte, i ...

; he and his wife renovated the house in the 1980s.

Description

The Red House is a four-storey, seven-bay

townhouse with seven bedrooms and a

terrazzo Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bind ...

, with original

Wainscoting Panelling (or paneling in the United States) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity t ...

in the walls. The

National Inventory of Architectural Heritage The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) maintains a central database of the architectural heritage of the Republic of Ireland covering the period since 1700 in complement to the Archaeological Survey of Ireland, which focuses on arc ...

says that "The design of the building is distinctly Dutch, considering features such as the gentle breakfront, central

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

, and steeply pitched roof with

dormer window A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable spac ...

s. The carved limestone dressings are particularly notable as fine examples of eighteenth-century skilled craftsmanship. This house is a rare and fine example of early eighteenth-century urban architecture to remain in its original form."

References

{{Commons category, Youghal Red House Buildings and structures in Youghal 1703 establishments in Ireland Queen Anne architecture in Ireland Reportedly haunted locations in Ireland Brick buildings and structures

Location

History

Description

See also

References