Moving towards the formal house: room usage in early modern Ireland

Abstract:From the mid-sixteenth century onwards fashions in building changed as Renaissance ideas were being introduced into Ireland, notwithstanding the consequences of various wars, rebellions and general upheaval of the period to the end of the seventeenth century. This meant that houses became more comfortable, more outwardly symmetrical in elevation and plan. Over the decades internal arrangements in houses and castles were transformed, with the great chamber taking precedence over the hall as the room of state. By the middle of the seventeenth century processional routes through the houses of the aristocracy gradually gave way to the flexible French arrangement of the appartement influenced by English court practice. This essay seeks to examine changes in building, plan, room usage and furnishings of the various types of high-status dwellings in Ireland during the period in question; ranging from the relatively small courtyard house, remodelling of earlier buildings and some few examples of newbuilds.