Muckross House

The Muckross House was built in 1843. If you break down the word, “muck” means pig, and “ross” means peninsula. Despite its inelegant meaning, Muckross is truly a beautiful estate. It consists of 26,000 acres of protected land. Much of this is now the Killarney National Park. Throughout the grounds there are trails, gardens, arboretums, and greenhouses. Muckross was given to Ireland in 1964, and it has been used as a museum ever since.

The house has been renovated many times for either special guests requiring improvements or to make it more appropriate for tourism. Queen Victoria’s visit in 1861 was expensive to say the very least. The family was given 6 years notice of Queen Victoria’s visit, and became nearly bankrupt due to the renovations. She arrived with an entourage of roughly 100 people. After all the money was spent and the house was ornately decorated for the royal visit, Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert only ended up staying two nights..

The house itself has many interesting features, such as the bells. Almost every room in the house was equipped with a bell that was used to alert the servants of a need. There are 34 bells in both the basement and the attic, and each one was a different size to specify which room was calling. Each servant was specified to certain quarters of the house, where they were responsible for any needs or favors. They were restricted from other rooms in the house, and often did not even know of what was happening elsewhere. Twenty-two servants in total worked at the Muckross House, and extra hands were hired in the event of a special occasion or visitor. There were many features of the house that were tailored to help hide the servants from the lives of the residents and their guests. For example, a decorative crystal window was installed above the staircase to hide the view of the stables and the workers. The servants also had their own staircase so as to avoid running into the owners of the home. The house was outfitted with electricity around 1911, and also had its first electric chandelier installed one of the main halls. Roughly seventy percent of the furniture that decorates the house today is from the residents that lived within its walls.

There seems to have been a divide between men and women that was much more present in everyday life. There were many rooms that were limited to either men only or women only. For example, the billiard room was for the men only. While the men were in the billiard room, the women would wait patiently in their boudoirs. The main reason that women avoided the billiard room was due to the fact that men often smoked inside. The women did not want their nice clothing being ruined. In fact, wealthy women of this time period were the first people to stop smoking.

The Muckross House is still significant in two main ways. One, it rests in the middle of one of Ireland’s biggest national parks, and the government works hard to preserve all the incredible animal and plant life that resides in the area. The second reason it is significant is because it holds a love/hate relationship for the Irish people in the area. It was built amidst the horrible potato famine as a way to display the lavish wealth of the English in comparison to the poverty and starvation of the native Irish. It lasts now as a symbol of British reign in Ireland, but the Irish people have warmed to the historical relevance of the house. It isn’t so much of a power-status anymore as it is a way for the Irish people to remember their past. Even if it unappreciated by many, at least it has a universal aesthetic appeal of the 19th century architecture.

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

Erin: Muckross House was beautiful, and both its architecture and history were stunning. The decorations were gorgeous, but I found it a bit disconcerting that the family would go bankrupt just to cater to the queen’s desires. Times were different then, though. My favorite part of the visit to Muckross House, however, was being able to walk through the gardens and arboretum. I love that there are over 26,000 acres of protected land around Muckross House that have been turned into Killarney National Park.

Grace: My favorite British monarch has always been Queen Victoria, and I have always seen her as a very influential and powerful female figure in history. It was fascinating for me to be in a country where that is not necessarily the public opinion on her reign. More than that, it was so wonderful for me to be able to step in a house that was richly decorated for her, and that she stayed in (even if for only two nights). For me it was the equivalent of buying a tissue of my favorite celebrity on Ebay-- just the thought that I was touching something that they touched was really cool. I loved how wonderfully preserved the house was, and I honestly felt sort of wealthy just standing amongst the lavishly decorated rooms. The national park around the estate really emanated God’s presence in nature. I felt so serene walking around the gardens, and I hope that someday I can come back and experience this lovely site again.

Isaac: Our visit to the Muckross House was beautiful. From the beginning of our arrival and time spent in the garden to the end of the tour through the house, I was amazed to see the design of the landscape and architecture from hundreds of years ago. When we first arrived at Muckross, I was able to walk around the property and the arboretum. The grounds were beautiful and I can only imagine what it must have been like during the prime era of this house when the residents and their guests were out and about enjoying the views. I thought it very interesting that the house was designed and decorated in the Victorian style, because Queen Victoria only stayed in the residence two nights. However, this applies even more emphasis on how important the queen’s visit was to the estate. I find it fascinating but also quite disturbing that her visit was planned for six years and nearly caused the family to go bankrupt. This took shows the significance of a visit from the queen. The decor of the house and was absolutely beautiful and gave visitors a taste of what life was like during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Rae: Being raised in a modern Victorian home, it was stunning to see a Victorian house of the age. The architecture was extravagant and detailed, so much so that I could spend at least an hour in each room looking at the designs and the furniture. The chandeliers were crystal, the walls were velvet, and the billiards table weighed three tons. It was truly a life of luxury. Not only was the house beautiful, but the grounds were as well. The arboretum was a place I could wander in for the entirety of a day. I loved the elegance and beauty of the Muckross house, and I think it speaks to the high society of Ireland 150 years ago. It was a wonderful experience that I wish I could share with my mom because she would love it even more so than I.