Survey Data
Reg No
30412204
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Cultural, Historical
Original Use
Country house
Date
1780 - 1790
Coordinates
143855, 205075
Date Recorded
21/09/2009
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Surviving plinth of Coole, country house built c.1785, comprising squared coursed rubble limestone walling having tooled quoins, remains of cut-stone plinth, and evidence for blocked-up openings. Interior backfilled with topsoil and lawned. House was regrettably demolished in 1941: plinth is only surviving remains of house that was key to Literary Revival.
Appraisal
Coole and its demesne are famous for having been an important centre for literary events in the early 1900s. As the home of Lady Augusta Gregory - poet, author, playwright and founder of the Abbey Theatre - the house welcomed visitors such as George Bernard Shaw, Synge, O'Casey, and of course W.B. Yeats, who memorialised the demesne in his poem 'The Wild Swans at Coole'. Now with only vestiges of the house remaining, the site's importance is due to its associations with the Irish Literary Revival. The plinth has various basement openings that give an indication of the layout of the house.