Beautiful Georgian house to open to public during Birr Vintage Week
Owner says his house has features which are unique in Ireland
Many of us in Birr are very fortunate to live in elegant, beautiful buildings dating back to a period from the mid 18th to mid 19th Centuries. As we go about our daily lives in these magnificent buildings we feel a connection to our predecessors who once dwelt in these edifices, we sense their spirit pervading the hallways, the staircases, the rooms.
They lived in an age which in some ways was aesthetically appealing because, among other reasons, their clothing was pleasant to look at and their means of locomotion was dominated by that splendid creature the horse. Birr is one of the finest towns in the Midlands and many of us take pride in the fact that we are a designated Irish Heritage Town, renowned for its remarkably preserved 18th and 19th-century Georgian architecture.
Key features of our town include the 1740s Georgian-style buildings in Emmet Square and Street; the tree-lined Oxmantown Mall; John’s Mall with its neoclassical John's Hall. We are a planned town with a formal, and wide-street design.
We citizens of Birr can of course take these buildings for granted, which is little wonder because we are living amongst them all the time. However, they are treasures and it is always a special occasion for visitors when the buildings are open to the public for a period of time so they can appreciate and enjoy the interiors and gardens. Indeed, there are Birr people who also take great pleasure in these openings to the public.
During this year’s Vintage Week Festival people will have a special opportunity to visit one of these edifices, when Joe Shortt opens his house, Number 1, Cumberland Terrace, on Emmet Street to the general public.
Joe is a well known member of the local community and he takes great pride and interest in the town’s Georgian heritage. Joe recently invited The Midland Tribune to his house. He wanted to show us two unique features in the beautiful rear garden of the house, which he said were a Georgian Wash House and a Georgian Sun House. Georgian Wash Houses were common in the 18th and 19th centuries but Joe told the Tribune that this was the only remaining Wash House in Ireland.
Wash Houses were often detached from the main house and so is the Cumberland Terrace Wash House. Here took place the tough task of laundering the household’s clothes, where the clothes were boiled, washed, dried, and mangled. Doing the laundry was a labour-intensive chore which required water hauling, boiling cottons with caustic soap, and rigorous rinsing.
Joe showed us the wash basin and the heating system which would have been employed in the laundry process. “They would have used rainwater to wash the clothes.” He also showed us a letter from the Irish Georgian Society which stated they are not aware of any other extant examples of Wash Houses in Ireland. Joe told us that the house had once been lived in by members of the Sweeney family, during the mid 19th Century period onwards. He said the Sweeneys were once major builders in the town. He added that some had suggested he turn the Wash House area into apartments, “but I wouldn’t do that because I love history and heritage.”
Joe told us that he enjoys relaxing in the Georgian Sun House. He’s tastefully renovated the Sun House and put up a sign over its door, stating, “Contemplation Room.”