Temple on Black Island -designed by James Wyatt
Grants Awarded 2007
Dartrey Heritage Association has been awarded grants towards the restoration of the
Temple on Black Island (also refered to as the Lady Ann Dawson Temple
) from the following agencies this year.
NEWS STORIES
Drive to complete Dartry restoration15/11/07
A massive drive to complete (the first phase of) restoration on the Mausolem in Dartry Forest in County Monaghan is underway.
Coillte have just signed a lease to allow machinery to access to the Georgian Mausoleum.
However, due to conditions of funding, the work must be completed by November 30th, but Noel Carney of Dartry Heritage is confident that they have everything well planned.
Northern Sound News Update
Northern Sound News Update 11/05/07
Plans to restore Lady Dawson temple - by Tim O'Brien, Irish Times 2007
A Co Monaghan group(Dartrey Heritage Association) is to restore the James Wyatt-designed Lady Dawson temple near the Monaghan/Cavan border.
Dating from the late 1700s, the temple is set on a wooded island in a lake on the former estate of the Dawson family, Earls of Dartrey. It was built by Thomas Dawson MP to house an elaborate monument to the memory of his wife, Anne, who died at the age of 36 in 1769.
Noel Carney of the Dartrey Heritage Association said the MP had the temple built so he could see it as he worked in his first-floor office in the house across the lake.
Modelled on the pantheon in Rome, the red-brick and limestone temple was a grandiose project, even for the landlord classes. Its Carrera marble sculptures are by Joseph Wilton.
Romantic as the gesture seems, it appears the MP was able to recover from his loss as he married for a second time a year later. History does not record what his second wife thought of the temple.
Over the years the monument has been vandalised and the temple in which it is set has fallen into decay. Mr Carney said the cost of restoration was estimated at about €750,000, a figure he said could be reduced to €500,000 through voluntary work.
Funding is being provided by Monaghan and Cavan county councils and a grants scheme from the Department of the Environment.
(The top illustration shows the Temple with roof and door superimposed to show proposed finished look)
© 2007, Tim O'Brien, The Irish Times
Friends of the Irish Environment
Also on Irish blogs
€750k refit for border 'Coliseum'
by Lucie van der Berg, Daily Mail, Tuesday, May 22, 2007
An 18th century temple situated on the Monaghan-Cavan border is set to undergo a €750,000 restoration project.
Dartrey Heritage Association will transform the 30ft structure built on Black Island in 1770 in the Dartrey forest between Cootehill and Rockcorry, Co. Monaghan.
The temple, designed by renowned English architect James Wyatt, was influenced by ancient Roman architecture and was considered a grandiose project, even for the landlord classes.
Speaking of the historic structure, Noel Carney of the Dartrey Heritage Association said: "Wyatt designed the temple when he was a very young architect and he picked up ideas from his travels in Europe, particularly the Coliseum in Rome. He brought the design back and had sketches done, because at that stage there were no photographs.
'We are hoping to replace the dome roof and the entrance door, which would have been made from oak,' said Mr. Carney.
The temple sits on land owned by Coillte, the State-run forestry company. The association and the Irish Georgian Society have been battling for the past three years for permission to undertake restorative work. The company recently agreed and today the association will pick up a permit from Coillte.
© 2007, Lucie van der Berg, Daily Mail
FROM AROUND THE COUNTIES:
Monaghan: 18th century temple to be restored
The temple built by Thomas Dawson in the mid-eighteenth century in honour of his late wife Anne is to be restored with the aid of the Dartrey Heritage Association. The temple, modelled on the Pantheon in Rome, is constructed of red brick and limestone and is located on a wooded island in a lake on the former estate of the Earls of Dartrey. It was so positioned in order for Thomas Dawson to be able to see it from the office of his house.
Irish blogs
Spring 2006
Irish Geogeian Society: Day tour to Cootehill and Dartrey
On September 10th a group of 25 Georgians visited the Dartrey estate in Monaghan. Led by Noel Carney, chairman of the Dartrey Heritage Association, we started the day with a fascinating walking tour of Cootehill town given by local historian and chairman of the Cootehill Association, Patrick Cassidy. We were greeted at Bellamont Forest by John Coote who took the group on a tour of the house followed by a delicious lunch.
After lunch, we toured the Coillte-owned Dartrey estate. The group, while very impressed by the beauty of the Dawson Temple, was also shocked by its appalling condition. We saw many of the fine remnanents of the estate including the new stable-block, the old stables and the lovely gate lodges, passed over the metal bridge, visited St. John’s Church and were also welcomed by Stella Little and her son, Brian to Feamemount House. We finished the afternoon with generous refreshments in the Community Hall, provided by Emma Middleton, where we were entertained by a fine local tenor, Peter McCaul. We had a very worthwhile and enjoyable day and it is so encouraging for the future of our built heritage to witness the enthusiasm and drive of such concerned local groups.
Irish Georgian Society, Spring 2005 Newsletter (pdf)
2005
Georgian Society inspects The Temple
Cavan Live.com, Monday, 8th August 2005
The Temple in Cootehill, which was built in honour of the wife of Richard Dawson in the twelfth century, was the subject of a recent inspection by members of the Irish Georgian Society. They were accompanied by members of the Dartry Heritage Group and the Cootehill Heritage Association, who hope that the building can be re-roofed and saved from further deterioration. The Dawson Mausoleum on Black Island is part of the Dartry Estate which is now the responsibility of Coillte and it has become almost totally invisible due to the growth of pine trees in the immediate vicinity.
Story Provided Courtesy of Irish Emigrant Publications
Cavan Live.com, News August, 2005
Parks & Designations: Call for Coillte to hand over mausoleum (21/07/2005)
Dartrey funeral memorial, falling into disrepair
by Siobhan Maguire of the Sunday Times
THE Irish Georgian Society has launched a campaign to make Coillte, the state-owned forestry company, hand over a ruined mausoleum in a Co Monaghan pine forest. Decades of neglect and vandalism has resulted in the 18th-century Dartrey funeral memorial, designed by the British architect James Wyatt, falling into disrepair.
Coillte, which owns the protected structure, has been accused of failing to look after the monument and conservations have asked it to place the the site in the care of Monaghan County Council.
John Redmill, a British conservation architect, said: "Coillte is in the business of looking after trees, not historical monuments. It must be persuaded to hand over this land. The sculpture is one of the finest pieces ever produced in the British Isles, designed by one of Britain's most significant architects and it is time to repair this beautiful structure."
Built in 1770, the 30ft red-brick mausoleum was built on a hill on Black Island in the Dartrey forest between Cootehill and Rockcurry, Co Monaghan. Access to the building was by a cast-iron bridge, which has also fallen into disrepair.
Coillte has a duty to protect listed buildings in its care. But it denies that it has failed to do this and says it will talk with anybody interested in preserving the building.
"We protect these buildings as best we can, try to preserve the area around them, and avoid working near them." said PJ Fitzgerald, a Coillte district manager.
Known as "The Temple", the mausoleum was commissioned by Baron Dartrey, Thomas Dawson, a British lord and then owner of the Dartrey estate. A team of architects and historians estimate restoration will cost more than €0.5 million.
Siobhan Maguire
© Sunday Times
Posted on Thursday, July 21 05? at friends of the irish environment website
Friends of the Irish Environment