Mount Falcon today
The wonderful hand drawings of James Franklin Fuller
which now hang in the bar of Mount Falcon
One of the orginal drawings which date from the 1870's
The signature of James Franklin Fuller, the architect of Mount Falxon and his client Utred Knox
James Franklin Fuller was the favourite
architect of the gentry at this time and during his career he completed many
well known commissions such as Kylemore Abbey and extensions to Ashford Castle County
Mayo Mount
Falcon for Utred Knox and in 1872; he
also carried out work for the Knox’s of Belleek Castle
James Franklin Fuller was my great great grandfather and I am delighted to find these original drawings of his, which I never knew existed.
ReplyDeleteHi Teresa, Wonderful to hear from a decendant of this great architect. This was a chapter that was dropped from the book and its a decision I was disappointed by. However these drawings are hanging in the bar of Mount Falcon which is now a lovely hotel, Im not sure where you are based but it might be worth a visit. These are only a small selection as there are a number of others as well. The owner Alan Maloney found them in the attic when he purchased the house. James Franklin Fuller was extremely prolific in the Ballina Area in Mayo and designed a number of items for the then influencial Knox Family. He designed Errew Grange click on the link to see a pic http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000332599 . He also designed the entrance gates to Belleek Gate together with a monument over one the Knox Family members in Belleek wood, which I covered in the book.
DeleteDear David
ReplyDeleteThank you for the other links. I am London based but have friends with a summer home in Mayo on Clew Bay near Newport and we go and stay there every year. Next summer I am going to try and visit some of Fuller's works such as this one, Ashford Castle and so on. I have just finished reading his memoir, Omniana, which you may be familiar with. Our ancient copy has sat on my dad's bookshelf all my life but he didn't want it removed; fortunately the whole thing can be read online. This made me want to find out more. His entry in the dictionary of Irish Architects was useful
( http://www.dia.ie/architects/view/2043 - I expect you are familiar with this as well). I wanted to see pictures of what he built, which is how I found your blog. Shame Mount Falcon is not to be in your book but how lucky those drawings were found in the attic as he did not leave behind much in the way of papers. They are absolutely beautiful.
The picture in your link to the National Library of Ireland says "Loch Conn" published 1865. Is that the same building as Errew Grange? The dictionary of Irish Architects says Errew Grange was built 1872-77 i.e. later than 1865 so now I'm really confused! Whatever its name is, it is clearly a Fuller building, very much his style.
ReplyDeleteHi there, the dates of the pictures in the National Library arnt dated that accurately, that 1865 date pops up alot on a number of pictures and seems to be a default date.It usually means that the picture was taken between 1865 and 1914 which would have been the time that the particular photographer was active. The Errew Grange building overlookes Lough Conn and thats probably why they have called it after the lake in the image. The building was restored in the last 10 years however when you see the pictures of the interior it is questionable how successful it was. I will post some pictures of Errew Grange here in the next few minutes.
ReplyDeleteJust had a look at them, thanks, did you put them up especially for me? I put a comment there too. I did some googling yesterday re Belleek and Errew Grange, and was unable to find a modern picture of Errew Grange aka the Loch Conn Hotel, so it was interesting to see the picture of how it looks now. I love the little stained glass window of the house itself. James Franklin Fuller had a multitude of stained glass windows at his home in Sneem, Glashnacree, all made up of the coats of arms of his ancestors. They were removed by his grandson, my great uncle Adrian when he sold the house in the 1950s and have now been put up in the Herefordshire farmhouse of his son, my cousin Julian.
ReplyDeleteI did manage to find out a fair bit about the mausoleum and entrance gate at Belleek. The mausoleum seems to be a popular spot for people who indulge in the mysterious (to me) hobby of geocaching.
Watched you on Irish morning TV yesterday on my computer!