In January 1739 (1740 new style) Katherine Conolly sat in her Dublin town house writing to her sister. Although close by the fire she complained she was still freezing, and she despaired of the severe weather. She wrote of her efforts to feed the poor which included sending ‘4 score loves of breed every wick’ (spelling was not her strong point) to the labourers and needy on her country estate at Castletown.  A few years later she commissioned this superlative silo to conserve grain for times of need, although cannily it doubled as a fanciful eye-catcher from the house at Castletown.

Although Mrs Conolly was benevolent, she disliked being ‘cheated’ by the poor. Building projects like the Wonderful Barn and the obelisk known as Conolly Folly, which she had built in 1740, enabled her to give employment, rather than charity, when few other opportunities were available.

In the first years of the 1740s the weather caused huge problems for farmers and smallholders, and the poor were in a ‘most miserable condition’. Extreme winters of frost and snow were followed by hot spring months without rain. Crops failed, and in drought conditions even those who had corn could not grind it as there was no water to power the mills. To ensure a secure supply was available in the future Mrs Conolly built a grain store – but her barn was far from the ordinary, and the elaborate design created many hours of work for those employed to build it.

The building was constructed with a spiral staircase on the exterior, which gives it the look of a huge fairground helter-skelter. From the viewing platform at the top Mrs Conolly and her guests could admire the Castletown demesne, including the recently-constructed obelisk. A plaque on the barn states that it was executed by John Glinn in 1743, but whether he was architect or builder is not known. Whichever is the case, he deserves credit for a unique design or a complicated build. Soon after completion it was noted as the ‘Mighty Barn’ but by the beginning of the nineteenth century it was famed as ‘The Wonderful Barn’.

A traveller in 1815 visited the ‘wonderful barn’, having heard reports that had ‘excited [his] curiosity’. Sadly he was weakened by illness and couldn’t face the climb to the viewing platform, but he was fascinated by the workings of the tiered structure of chambers inside the conical structure, and the system of pulleys and buckets that allowed the grain to be moved around the building.

Two smaller versions of the barn were built as pigeon houses, creating a most picturesque group with the adjoining Barnhall House.

Barnhall House is in need of restoration having been damaged by fire. The Wonderful Barn is structurally sound but remains at risk whilst empty. Discussions continue to find a viable use for the complex of buildings.

A new housing estate has recently been created in fields a little distance from the barn. It is called ‘Barnhall Meadows’ and the developers couldn’t resist marketing it as ‘The Chance to live in a Wonderful Place’.

Thanks for reading. Please scroll down to the foot of the page to share any thoughts or comments. 

In 1972 Mariga Guinness, or Mrs Desmond Guinness as she was known in more formal times, wrote an article on follies for Ireland of the Welcomes, a publication produced by the Irish Tourist Board to promote Ireland as a holiday destination. Launched in 1952, it is still published today and describes itself as ‘the largest and longest-running Irish interest magazine in the world’. Hermione Maria-Gabrielle von Urach (1932-1989), known as Mariga, married Desmond Guinness in 1954 and they moved to Ireland the following year. Mrs Guinness loved Ireland, and threw herself into preserving the architectural heritage – she and her husband co-founded the Irish Georgian Society in 1958. The couple first rented the Georgian mansion Carton House, and later bought Leixlip Castle, both home to garden ornaments, so Mrs Guinness was well-placed to write in praise of follies.

Accompanying the text is a delicious map which was drawn by Jan de Fouw (1929-2015), a Dutch-born graphic designer and illustrator who settled in Ireland in 1951. From 1952 to 1996 he was the freelance designer of Ireland of the Welcomes. As well as featuring in the magazine the map was published as a stand-alone guide to Irish follies, complete with a county-by-county list of what to see. Mrs Guinness didn’t give exact locations believing, as the Flâneuse does, that ‘Folly-hunting must be regarded as an exploratory adventure’.

Mrs Guinness opens her article with the assertion that ‘there are more follies to the acre in Ireland than anywhere else in the world’. The Flâneuse doubts that anyone has ever tried to prove or disprove this bold claim, but there is no denying that Ireland has both quantity and quality. Mrs Guinness thought that ‘folly-hunting appears to be a totally neglected facet of Irish travel’ and as Ireland of the Welcomes was mainly aimed at the U.S. market, one hopes that American tourists took up her challenge to explore Ireland’s arbours, grottoes, towers and shell-houses.

The first folly Mrs Guinness mentions in her text is the Conolly Folly in County Kildare. This unique structure was built by Katherine Conolly (1662-1752, born Conyngham) in 1740 to terminate a vista, and to provide work and food for the local population in a time of need.

It is attributed to the architect Richard Castle (d.1751) and stood on high ground in the Castletown demesne – or rather it stood near the Castletown estate. Apparently Mrs Conolly (widow of William, reputedly the richest commoner in Ireland) discovered too late that she didn’t own the plot on which the obelisk was built: it was just over the Castletown demesne boundary, and was actually on Carton estate land. Marked on a mid-eighteenth century map as ‘Obelisk’, it soon became known as the Conolly Folly or Conolly’s Folly.

Carton was Mariga Guinness’s first Irish home, and although she moved to other properties it would become her last: she was buried beneath the folly in 1989. Her memory lives on in the many properties and follies she actively campaigned to save, and in the ongoing work of the Irish Georgian Society. And 52 years after it was first published, her article recently guided the Folly Flâneuse on a fabulous flit around some of the follies of Ireland (watch this space).

The Conolly Folly is now a national monument in the care of the state. It was among the first buildings to be restored by the Irish Georgian Society in 1962, and was adopted as their logo. There is public access, but unlike the contented visitors in the early photograph above, you will not be able to get up close: ugly security fencing protects the monument from vandals.

The view to the Conolly Folly is now obstructed by mature trees, but the tip of the obelisk can be seen peeking above the verdure from some distance.

For a wonderful tribute to Mariga Guinness see https://theirishaesthete.com/2014/05/05/marvellous-mariga/

There’s more on Ireland of the Welcomes here https://irelandofthewelcomes.com

Regular readers might remember that the Flâneuse is a huge fan of artist Ed Kluz. If you are anywhere near Bath before the 22nd of June go and see his new sculptural pieces at Berdoulat at 8 St Margaret’s Buildings in the city centre. Here’s a taste of what you might see, and more works can be seen at https://www.edkluz.co.uk

Thank you for reading. As ever, your thoughts are very welcome. Please scroll down to the comments box to get in touch. Please note that only your name will appear – your email address remains private.