Victorian greenhouse escaped wrath of storm that uprooted over 30 trees at Mayo museum

By Tom Gillespie

A 150-year-old Victorian glasshouse at the Museum of Country Life at Turlough Park, outside Castlebar, had a miraculous escape from damage during the height of Storm Éowyn.

Over 30 mature trees on the 30-acre site were uprooted, one crashing to the ground close to the historic greenhouse.

A relieved Ms. Clodagh Doyle, Keeper of the Irish Folklife Collection at Turlough House, said: “It did not impact on the greenhouse, thank God, because that would have been a huge loss.

“We have lost over 30 trees on the site. There was one very close to the very beautiful Victorian greenhouse where the roadway was blocked. There was another one across the public car park which was blocking the route in.

“We were able to go to the staff car park by making a wide circle around it. It did take a long time to have them removed.

“Damage was really bad. When we came to work on the Monday there was no power. The next day there was no network, phones and no WiFi. The third day came and there was no heating.”

The original glasshouse was built between 1874 and 1875 and was heated by a saddleback boiler, still visible through the safety grill.

It was destroyed by a violent storm in the 1930s but rebuilt by Mayo County Council in 2000 using the original hand-fired floor tiles and iron roof cresting.

Turlough Park was the home of the Fitzgerald family, to whom the estate was granted under the Cromwellian land settlements of the mid-17th century.

At its largest, the estate consisted of almost 8,500 acres, requiring many indoor servants and outdoor estate workers to maintain the house and lands.

In 1915, the Congested Districts Board - established to initiate economic improvements along the western seaboard - purchased and redistributed the Fitzgerald estate.

Turlough Park House remained in the same family until 1991 when it was purchased by Mayo County Council.

The proposal to open the house as a museum was a local initiative which led eventually to a decision made in 1995 to locate part of the National Museum of Ireland to Turlough.

The museum’s Folklife Collection had been stored for a long time in Daingean, Co. Offaly, awaiting a suitable venue. As the house was not suitable as a major exhibition space, a new building was purpose-built alongside it.

Housing the museum galleries, this award-winning design was created by the architectural branch of the Office of Public Works (OPW).

As part of the project, the OPW also restored the original 'Big House'. The grounds and gardens were restored by Mayo County Council.