Adare Manor - Current Manor

Current Manor

Instead, with his wife, the 2nd Earl of Dunraven rebuilt his home, turning it into a colossal Tudor manor. Begun in 1832, the magnificent structure provided labor for the surrounding villagers during the terrible potato famine that devastated the country during the mid-19th century. Though Lady Caroline went to great lengths to establish the myth that Adare Manor was planned entirely by her husband without an architect, it is fairly certain today that much of the design work was done by James Pain who, along with Augustus Welby Pugin and Philip Charles Hardwick, had been commissioned to design numerous public buildings and country homes. The actual construction was supervised by James Connolly, a local mason. An inscription on the east front of Adare Manor commemorates 'James Conolly of Adare, mason, faithful friend and servant of the Earl of Dunraven, from AD 1831 till his death in 1852'. The new house was built around the existing one, which was then demolished when the work reached its final stages. Sadly, Lord Dunraven did not live to see his dream Manor finished in 1862. Valentine's son, Edwin, 3rd Earl of Dunraven, a prominent archæologist, designed the garden.