Connolly's Folly

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Connolly's Folly
The Obelisk at Celbridge and three visitors (ca.1900)

Conolly's Folly ( Irish Baois Uí Chongaile , originally The Conolly Folly , also known as The Obelisk ) is an obelisk structure near Celbridge and Maynooth in the north of Kildare County in Ireland .

history

The Folly was built on the site of Castletown House , which includes a total of two follies. Both of these were commissioned by Katherine Conolly, the philanthropic widow of the President of the Irish Parliament "Speaker" William Conolly , to provide jobs for hundreds of people in need from Celbridge during the Irish Famine (1740–1741) . The obelisk was built in 1740 after a particularly harsh winter. The second folly is The Wonderful Barn , a corkscrew-shaped tower building.

Connolly's Folly was about 2.5 miles from Castletown House and was perpendicular to the house and could be seen from the back. It was to mark the rear entrance to the property in conjunction with an avenue leading to the house. The Folly stood on land that was adjacent to the Connolly estate but actually belonged to Carton House, the seat of the FitzGerald family ( Dukes of Leinster ).

The 42 meter high structure was designed by the Irish architect Richard Cassels . It consists of several arches, is decorated with stone pineapple and eagle figures and has an obelisk on its uppermost arch. Inside there is a staircase that leads to a viewing platform.

In 1965, Connolly's Folly was restored by the Irish Georgian Society . 1989 here Mariga Guinness buried, the first wife of Desmond Guinness of Leixlip Castle and along with it a co-founder of the Irish Georgian Society .

reception

On December 6, 1978 an Irish 10 pence postage stamp depicting Conolly's Folly was issued.

literature

  • W. Nolan, T. McGrath: Kildare History and Society , Templeogue, Dublin 2006, ISBN 978-0-906602-57-7 , pp. 327-348
  • James Howley: The Follies and Garden Buildings of Ireland , with photographs by James Howley and Roberto D'Ussy, Yale University Press 2004, ISBN 978-0-300-10225-3 , p. 11 and p. 196ff.

Web links

Commons : Conolly's Folly  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ James Howley, Roberto D'Ussy: The Follies and Garden Buildings of Ireland. P. 14 shows a plan of the staircase
  2. ↑ See A Visual Catalog of Irish Commemorative Stamps 1929–2013 at www.stampboards.com

Coordinates: 53 ° 22 ′ 9.9 "  N , 6 ° 33 ′ 35.4"  W.