A total of 69 horse-drawn carriages, books and manuscripts belonging to the late Garech Browne of the Luggala estate in Co Wicklow will be put on display by the Office of Public Works.
The library consists of around 20,000 books and manuscripts on international literature, art, music, philosophy, religion, history and horticulture. Many of the items are precious and rare.
Mr Browne corresponded with a number of Ireland’s greatest writers of the twentieth century and the collection contains many signed and dedicated first editions of their works.
The sixty-nine horse-drawn carriages also form part of the collection. Mr Browne even obtained an official qualification to drive these historic carriages, a hackney licence, badge number 99 1972/1973. The carriages will be displayed in Farmleigh Estate, Doneraile and Annes Grove.
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Mr Browne died in 2018 at the age of 78. He used to live in Luggala, a vast estate in Co Wicklow that he inherited from his mother, Oonagh Guinness of the Guinness brewing family.
Mr Browne, along with his friend the composer Seán Ó Riada, was prominent in the revival of traditional Irish music from the 1950s onward.
In 1959 he established Claddagh Records with poet John Montague, psychiatrist Ivor Browne and musician Paddy Moloney. As chairman of the label, he oversaw recordings of poetry and music for almost sixty years.
At home in Luggala, he hosted gatherings for poets, artists, harpists, uilleann pipers, fiddlers, bodhrán and whistle players, seannachai tale tellers, sean-nós singers and like-minded friends.
His art collection included works by Jack B. Yeats, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Louis le Brocquy, Anne Madden, Hughie O’Donoghue, Edward McgGuire, Barrie Cooke and Anthony Palliser.
His collection will join the library of the late Lord Iveagh, Benjamin Guinness, whose bequest to Marsh’s Library in Dublin is housed at Farmleigh.
The Farmleigh Estate itself was established by the first Lord Iveagh, Edward Cecil Guinness, who is the great-grandfather of both Benjamin Guinness and Mr Browne, through his mother Oonagh.
Today, Farmleigh is the official guest house of the Irish State and accommodates visiting heads of state and high-ranking guests of the Irish Government. It also hosts cultural events and is open to visitors.
In accordance with his wishes, and on behalf of the Browne Family Trustees, the Garech Browne Library will be curated professionally by the OPW, with the financial support of the Trustees.
It will be displayed in the Oak Room, which will be renamed The Garech Browne Room. The public will be able to enjoy the artworks, personal and Guinness family memorabilia, photographic material, furniture and other objects belonging to Mr Browne.
A dedicated library space will also be available to Irish and international scholars.
For more information on Farmeleigh, visit the website.
