BOOK OF THE WEEK – Robert O'Byrne has travelled all of Ireland and uncovered historic houses, cosy cottages and chic town houses for his new book, illustrated with Simon Brown's photographs. A stone house in County Meath is sympathetically decorated while The Deeps, in County Wexford, has been lovingly restored by owners Peter and Phil Pearson. Evening Standard
This is a volume of fabulously eccentric Irish interiors, from neat farmhouses to decaying castles – an inspiration to anyone with a weakness for threadbare damask, ballrooms where chandeliers glitter above floors strewn with buckets to catch the drips from the leaking roof, and a stone-flagged farmhouse kitchen where chickens scratch beneath scrubbed pine tables. Daily Mail
In his latest Irish-themed tome O'Byrne captures the nation's distinctive taste for interior décor with a tour around 15 of the country's finest houses. One could argue that the shared aesthetic has emerged by dint of the environment rather than as a result of some great design plan. Ireland's notoriously wet and grey climate has driven the taste for bold and warming colours and the historically uncertain economy clearly equates with the sense of decay and the mix of old and new. Whether the property is grand or humble, elegant or quirky, romantic or whimsical, there is a clear lack of pretension at play here. Telegraph Magazine
Irish houses are damper than English ones, so paint presides over wallpaper, and stronger colours are more necessary under ubiquitous pale-grey skies. There are other distinctions; Irish homes tend to be bigger on eccentricity and charm than on classical beauty and historical accretion...eccentric boasts include the cattle that once grazed in the kitchen at Letterfrack, and the pipistrelle bat that shares a bed with Marina Guinness at Pickering Forest; at Castle Dodard...this is an atmospheric time capsule of well-off Ireland 2009, and a snooper's charter for Irishmen. House & Garden
Beautiful images evoke a sense of immutability and integrity while a fascinating text demonstrates how love and thought imbue style more than money or possession – upsizing or downsizing – ever could. Scotland On Sunday
What is it that gives the Irish house such a distinctive character, asks Robert O'Byrne in his new book, Romantic Irish Homes? In it he showcases 15 Irish homes which he believes have a character and personality quite different from that found anywhere else. Quixotic, often whimsical, and definitely quirky, they provide a sanctuary from the Irish climate which is frequently grey, cold and damp. City Country Property
A gorgeous book for house-lovers is Romantic Irish Homes by Robert O'Byrne, who takes us on a tour of 15 houses around country. Farmhouse or castle, these are genuinely well-loved homes, each one defined by the tastes of their owner and the integrity of the architecture, rather than the whims of fashion. Irish Examiner
The holey Axminster at Sladbally House, County Laois, and the peeling door frames of Mount Rivers, County Cork, are reminders that the Irish gentry has often been on its uppers. WoI, regulars will know, like its chic shabby and, mercifully, the stylist's magic wand is nowhere to be seen in Romantic Irish Homes. The often idiosyncratic interiors, ranging from modest farmhouses to grand Regency villas, radiate their owners' personalities, and to counteract the dour skies, vivid crimsons, greens and yellows are common backdrops. World Of Interiors Back to Home & Garden Press |
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