Adare Manor

Adare Manor, now the Adare Manor Hotel

Adare Manor is a 19th century manor house located on the banks of the River Maigue in the village of Adare, County Limerick, Ireland, the former seat of the Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, now a luxury resort hotel - the Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort.

Original Structure

The Quins, whose ancestors were Chiefs of the Clan Hy Ifearnan, gave their name to Inchiquin and also became Earls of Dunraven, and were one of the rare families of true Gaelic origin in the Irish peerage. Thady Quin (born 1645), who settled in Adare, was the ancestor of Valentine Quin who, between 1720 and 1730, built the first Quin manor at Adare by the River Maigue.

He was the grandfather of Valentine Richard Quin (1732–1824), 1st Earl of Dunraven. Windham Henry (1782–1850) married an heiress from Wales, Valentine Richard Quin, MP for Killmallock (1799–1800), who was created a Baronet of Great Britain in 1781 and was raised to the peerage in 1800 as Baron Adare. He was advanced to a Viscountcy in 1816 as Viscount Mount Earl and became Viscount Adare and the first Earl of Dunraven and Mount-earl on 5 February 1822. He had presumably chosen the title of ‘Dunraven’ in honour of his daughter-in-law, Caroline Wyndham, who had married his eldest son in 1810. His earldom lasted only two years and in 1824 his son, Windham Henry Quin, became the 2nd Earl of Dunraven and Mount-earl. The family name had officially become Wyndham-Quin in 1815. Gout prevented him from following the gentlemanly pursuits of fishing and shooting.

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. ^[1][2] 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'.^[3] 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.^[1] Valentine's son, Edwin, 3rd Earl of Dunraven, a prominent archæologist, designed the garden.

1984 Sale

Thady Wyndham-Quin, 7th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl (1939-2011), unable to bear the expense of maintaining Adare Manor, sold it and its contents in 1984 for a reputed 2 million. The house was purchased by Irish-American businessman Tom Kane and converted into the Adare Manor Hotel. Thady Quin, who was crippled by polio while a schoolboy, lived with his family in a nearby house called Kilgobbin House. The house and its grounds were used for the 1977 comedy film The Last Remake of Beau Geste, starring Marty Feldman, Ann-Margret and Michael York. ^[4]

The house is set on a 840-acre (3.4 km²) estate and now operates as a five star hotel, featuring the Adare Golf Club, Elemis Treatment Rooms, Townhouses and Villas on the rest of the resort. President Bill Clinton stayed in Adare Manor in September 1998. The Manor was voted Ireland's Leading Hotel in the World Travel Awards.^[5]

Golf

The Adare Golf Club, an 18-hole championship course designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr., was added to the resort in 1995, and was the venue for the Irish Open in 2007 and 2008.

The Adare Manor Golf Club, which was established in 1900, is not part of the Adare Manor Resort.

Cricket

A cricket ground has been added to the manor and became the home ground of Limerick Cricket Club, a club in the Munster Cricket Union in 2011, therefore ending the nomadic nature of the club. The club has been remarkably successful in its debut year playing in the ground.

References

External links

• Adare Manor Hotel - official site
• Adare Golf Club - official site

Coordinates: 52°33′50″N 8°46′43″W / 52.563886°N 8.778573°W / 52.563886; -8.778573