In 1801, Valentine Lawless, the 2nd Lord Cloncurry, was released from the Tower of London and started furnishing his new mansion in Kildare. Two hundred and one years later, as Peter Pearson recounts, Lyons House has been awarded the Europa Nostra Heritage Award in recognition of its glorious recreation by Dr Tony Ryan
The first impression of Lyons estate is formed by the great classical gateway which stands on the public road opposite a small gate lodge. The whole cut stone composition, which strikes such a majestic note at the entry to this demesne, was in fact brought here in the 1960s through the efforts of the Irish Georgian Society and University College Dublin, the former proprietor of Lyons House (Fig 1). The present owner who has recently restored the house and grounds in a lavish manner is Dr Tony Ryan, the founder of the highly successful Irish airline, Ryanair
The National Library of Ireland recently acquired an album of thirty-six watercolours and prints made by James Cavanah Murphy in Portugal between 1789 and 1790. Michael McCarthy recalls the career and travels of this unusual draughtsman
The Smurfit Art Collection spans three continents and contains some of the best 20th-century Irish art. Ciaran MacGonical reviews a new catalogue of the collection