Making Majesty: The Throne Room at Dublin Castle, A Cultural History

Description

The Throne Room at Dublin Castle was the ultimate focus of viceregal ceremony, royal visits and many great state occasions both before and after Irish independence in 1922 – a touchstone of British authority and Irish autonomy that can be analysed through the details of its form and furnishing. Making Majesty is an elegant collection of essays, by leading Irish art and architectural historians, that covers a broad range of perspectives, which help to enhance our understanding of this lavish and highly significant historical space, shedding new light on the major and minor figures who created, ornamented, decorated and made use of it.

The first output of an ongoing programme of research into the cultural history of the State Apartments at Dublin Castle, Making Majesty presents original findings that offer a new reading of the nature and presence of the British monarchy and the viceregal court in Ireland. With insightful analysis that draws upon uniquely accessed archives, the contributors bring to light every aspect of how Dublin Castle’s authorities wished to be perceived and how that changed according to the whims of imperious viceroys, renowned craftsmen, and an Irish state wishing to secure an image of its newfound self-determination.

Table of Contents

Foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales
Preface by Mary Heffernan, OPW
Contributors and Editors
Editors’ Acknowledgements
Editors’ Note
Editors’ Introduction

The Presence Chamber at Dublin Castle in the Seventeenth Century ~ Jane Fenlon

‘Trophys and Festoons’: The Lost Presence Chamber, 1684–1788 ~ Patricia McCarthy

‘Sketches of their Boundless Mind’: The Marquess of Buckingham and the Presence Chamber at Dublin Castle, 1788–1838 ~ Myles Campbell

‘Quite Like a Palace’: The Presence Chamber at Dublin Castle, 1838–1911 ~ Graham Hickey

‘Admirably Calculated for the Object’: Gaetano Gandolfi’s Paintings in the Throne Room at Dublin Castle ~ Ludovica Neglie

Where Crown Met Town: The Presence of Lay Catholics and the Uncrowned Monarch of Ireland in the Chamber, c. 1795–1845 ~ Sylvie Kleinman

Royal Visits to Dublin, 1821–1911: Pier, Procession, Presence Chamber ~ Kathryn Milligan

(Ad)dressing Home Rule: Irish Home Industries, the Throne Room and Lady Aberdeen’s Modern Modes of Display ~ Éimear O’Connor

(Re)making Majesty: The Throne Room at Dublin Castle, 1911–2011 ~ William Derham

The Creation and Evolution of Hillsborough Castle’s Throne Room: What’s in a Name? ~ Christopher Warleigh-Lack

Index

About the Editors

Myles Campbell works for the Office of Public Works at Dublin Castle in the recently established Collections, Research and Interpretation Office. He is co-editor of The Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle: An Architectural History (2015) and has contributed peer-reviewed articles and chapters to books by various academic publishers. His work on Making Majesty has earned him the inaugural George B. Clarke Prize.

William Derham works for the Office of Public Works at Dublin Castle in the recently established Collections, Research and Interpretation Office. He is co-editor of The Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle: An Architectural History (2015) and is author of Lost Ireland: 1860–1960 (2016).

Praise for Making Majesty

‘This beautifully illustrated, thoroughly researched and well-written book is much more than its title suggests. A fresh perspective is provided on the British administration of Ireland through a series of scholarly articles exploring previously untapped archival material to trace the evolution of the fabric of the ‘presence chamber/throne room’ and the State Apartments in Dublin Castle.’
Irish Arts Review