How 800 years of history ends: Howth Castle stands empty after it was sold for redevelopment and the auction of its contents and library concluded this week
The library is going out the door in boxes to buyers as far away as Canada and Hong Kong...
The upstairs rooms are desolate...
You can see where the carpets have been taken up and the pictures removed from the walls....
The gilded room that was once, incongruously, painted by IRA chief of staff Cathal Goulding is largely packed up.
He was of the opinion that such places were common heritage that should be preserved...
The gilded room that was once, incongruously, painted by IRA chief of staff Cathal Goulding is largely packed up.
He was of the opinion that such places were common heritage that should be preserved...
Some views remain frozen in time...
One-time visitor to the castle Irish satirist Jonathan Swift still looks down on the dining room...
And in observance of a curse made in the 16th century by pirate queen Granuaile, after she was refused hospitality, a place remains laid for the uninvited guest.
The local debate over how to feel about the sale of the castle and contents is fascinating.
Other old families who did pass their estates on to the state are quite disapproving of the affair...
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I had a fascinating chat with @PaoloGentiloni who is heading to Dublin today for talks with Paschal Donohoe and others on issues including the push for a global deal to set a minimum 15% corporation tax rate irishtimes.com/business/econo…
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