Lissadell: A Romantic History
Lissadell is famous as the childhood home of Constance Markievicz, her sister Eva Gore-Booth and her brother Josslyn Gore-Booth. Constance was one of the leaders of the 1916 Rising, and was the first woman to be elected to Dáil Eireann, where she served as Minister for Labour (thus becoming the first woman minister in a modern Western European democracy), and was also the first woman to be elected to the House of Commons at Westminster, London (where she declined to take her seat). Eva was a poet of distinction and an active suffragist, clashing with the young Winston Churchill over barmaids’ rights in 1908. Josslyn created at Lissadell one of the premier horticultural estates in Europe. This horticultural enterprise has now been recreated at Lissadell. The great poet W. B. Yeats was friendly with the Gore-Booth sisters and stayed at Lissadell in 1892 and 1893. He immortalised Lissadell and the Gore-Booth sisters in his poetry:
An insight into Lissadell
The Lissadell Estate is the home of husband + wife Edward Walsh, Constance Cassidy and our seven children. We welcome visitors, during the season, to the house and grounds. Lissadell is our home, and we ask our visitors to respect that.
Writing about Lissadell for the Sunday Times in 1970, the BBC’s Anne Robinson (‘The Weakest Link‘) observed that “the garden is overgrown, the greenhouses are shattered and empty, the stables beyond repair, the roof of the main block leaks badly and the paintings show patches of mildew“.
After 70 years of neglect an intensive programme of restoration – without any public funding – has taken place in the House, Gardens, Stable Block and grounds since 2004 and Lissadell is once again a place of beauty.
No grants of any kind were made in respect of any part of the restoration, either for the house, the gardens or any part of the grounds. Every penny spent was and is earned by us.
When we bought Lissadell in 2003 it was sad, neglected, declining; a sleeping beauty that we have carefully uncovered and restored.
Our Vision
Our vision, as the owners of this most remarkable part of Ireland's political history and culture, is the restoration of this national treasure as a family home, open to visitors. We aim to make the house and gardens a wonderful experience for visitors, not just with meticulous restoration but also with the superb historic, literary and art collections we have assembled for the House and Exhibition Galleries, including the historic military plans for the 1916 Rising; first and limited edition works by both the Yeats brothers, Oscar Wilde, Alfred Douglas, Synge, Lady Gregory, Eva Gore-Booth and AE (George William Russell).
We do not wish to exploit Lissadell commercially but to restore the house and gardens to their former glory, make Lissadell self-sustaining and protect this crucible of Ireland’s historic, literary and garden heritage.
Edward Walsh, Constance Cassidy and family
"In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz" (1933) : W.B. Yeats
The light of evening, Lissadell
Great windows open to the south
Two girls in silk kimonos, both
Beautiful, one a gazelle. …
Many a time I think to seek
One or the other out and speak
Of that old Georgian mansion, mix
pictures of the mind, recall
That table and the talk of youth,
Two girls in silk kimonos, both
Beautiful, one a gazelle.
But a raving autumn shears
Blossom from the summer’s wreath;
The older is condemned to death,
Pardoned, drags out lonely years
Conspiring among the ignorant.
I know not what the younger dreams –
Some vague Utopia – and she seems,
When withered old and skeleton-gaunt,
An image of such politics.
Many a time I think to seek
One or the other out and speak
Of that old Georgian mansion, mix
Pictures of the mind, recall
That table and the talk of youth,
Two girls in silk kimonos, both
Beautiful, one a gazelle.
Dear shadows, now you know it all,
All the folly of a fight
With a common wrong or right.
The innocent and the beautiful
Have no enemy but time;
Arise and bid me strike a match
And strike another till time catch;
Should the conflagration climb,
Run till all the sages know.
We the great gazebo built,
They convicted us of guilt;
Bid me strike a match and blow.
W. B. Yeats
