Study Day – 25th September

On Saturday September 25th there is a unique opportunity to learn about Russborough’s art ,architecture & parklands with a study day at Russborough organised by the Irish Georgian Society . Speakers will include Marcus Beresford ,Lord Decies (Chairman Alfred Beit Foundation); David McCarthy (Trinity College, Dublin) Fionnuala Croke & Adrian Le Harivel (National Gallery of Ireland) ; James Howley ( Howley Hayes architects); Richard Ireland (period restoration).

The fee for this study day is €75 to include coffee and lunch. Booking on the Irish Georgian Society website www.igs.ie or by contacting 01 6767053.

Craft courses at Russborough

Through the Autumn there will be various courses at Russborough by the resident craftspeople including;

Blacksmith short courses run by the artist blacksmith & his working forge.
Weaving & spinning courses run by the weaver with various handlooms.
Cookery courses run by the cafe franchisees in the Kitchen Garden Cafe.

Contact Marian at 045 865239 or e-mail Marian@russborough.ie or see www.russboroughcourses.ie.

School tours at Russborough

Russborough offers school tours to provide an experience of life before the industrial revolution . The tour introduces students to the elegance of an 18th century great Irish house where there was no electricity or machinery , only candlelit chandeliers & open fires; when all domestic & farm work was manual and horses were essential. On a visit to the hand weaving studio, students will experience the awkward and laborious task of using a small sized cottage industry floor loom with manually operated heddles and shuttle but also the excitement and sound of the ‘flying shuttle loom’. The tour of the blacksmith’s forge will focus on the shift when the blacksmith changed from being a utilitarian provider to the creator of components for the machines which powered the industrial revolution. This will include demonstrations of both traditional hand forging and also industrial forging using firstly hammer & anvil and then a hefty 2 cwt Massey power hammer. The tour will finish in the cafe and kitchen with a demonstration of how traditional soda bread was made in the 19th century when baking soda was first introduced as a leavening agent.