Histories of Ireland's big houses usually teach us about architecture and the lives of the gentry. But Fota House in Co Cork prefers to emphasise the goings-on below-stairs, writes BRIAN O'CONNELL
ACCORDING TO the census returns for that year, 73 people were on site at Fota House on Sunday, April 2nd, 1911. None of them were the Smith-Barry family who had lived in Fota House for generations, as records show they were away on holiday at the time. So those on site were mostly staff, some from local towns and villages.
Fota, like many large historic Irish houses, could not have functioned without the local community who serviced the needs of the building’s owners. There probably wasn’t a home in the local area that didn’t have a link to Fota House for much of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.
And yet, often when the story of Ireland’s big houses is told, the lord or lady of the manor receives most attention. From Castletown to Muckross House, visitors can tour the lavish drawing rooms of Ireland’s past aristocrats, inspect their writing desks or examine where they liked to take afternoon tea.
Now, perhaps thanks to a certain ITV drama, there is renewed interest in the lives of those who made these great houses great. The Downton Abbey effect has sparked a curiosity about the lives and the goings-on below-stairs.
The Irish Heritage Trust, which runs Fota House, has picked up on this and recently began a drive to capture some of the local stories about Fota, from those who worked there and their families.
“When we think about historic houses we sometimes present them too much as these temples to art and architecture. They are as much about the stories of people from the community,” says Jennifer McCrae, who is helping to focus the visitor experience at Fota.
In the process of collecting stories and artefacts, the trust recently received a donation of a parasol, which provided new insight into the lives of Fota’s workers.
“It belonged to the head gardener’s wife about 1901,” explains McCrea, “It was given to us by the grandson of the housekeeper of the head gardener and his wife. So all of a sudden we were saying, ‘gosh there was service to the service’ and it changed our preconception of how everything fitted together. Through one object, we can now tell a story of the different layers of society within the house and its staff.”
Though some have been reluctant to recall their parents’ or grandparents’ past occupations as servants, “something has started to happen and the hope is that it will happen more”, says Irish Heritage Trust chief executive Kevin Baird. “We’ve had people returning things they bought at the auction [following the death of the last Smith-Barry, Mrs Bell, in 1975]. A lot of folklore shows that people came to buy something simply because it belonged to here.
“The staff, it must be remembered, were hugely important. For example, the owner of house could not pick a peach from the garden. He would have to ask the gardener’s permission, as this was his domain.”
Some of the current volunteers and staff are sons or daughters of those who worked in the house in previous generations. The father of the maintenance officer, Paddy Meaney, was himself shepherd at Fota from 1950 to 1974.
“There is a deep sense of ownership over this property,” says Baird. Our job is to ensure visitors get that.”
fotahouse.com
'Jobs at Fota were very desirable . . . the food was fabulous, the accommodation was excellent'
Patty Butler, now 87, the last housekeeper to be employed at Fota House, recalls her time there.
"I began working in Fota House in 1947. I worked there for about 25 years. The Hon Mrs Dorothy Bell, daughter of Arthur Hugh Smith-Barry, Lord Barrymore of Fota, employed me.
"I was initially employed as an in-between maid but later I worked in almost every capacity, as a housemaid, cook and housekeeper. The cook, Mrs Jones, who came to Fota with Mrs Bell from England, left after 45 years so Peggy Butler, my cousin, and I managed the cooking for Dorothy, her husband, Major Bell, other members of the family and visitors.
"Mrs Bell had a secretary too, Miss Honor Betson. She had an estate agent and clerical staff who lived in the courtyard. Mr Russell, the butler from Yorkshire in England, supervised the household until he died on January25th, 1966. He died in Fota House.
When I first went to Fota, in the house there lived a butler, parlour maid, housemaid, in-between maid, lady maid, kitchen maid (called a scullery maid in Lord Barrymore's time), housekeeper and cook.
"We were taken to all the different shows in the Cork Opera House, twice a year at least. We were driven by a chauffeur. We had two weeks' holidays in the year. The English servants had a month's holiday.
"There was some distinction between the upper (mostly English and Protestant) servants, and the lower (mostly Irish and Catholic) servants. We dined in separate rooms, the upper servants in the housekeeper's room and the lower servants in the still room. But we were all the best of friends. There was no rivalry or no animosity.
"We also enjoyed food and board. The food was fabulous in Fota, of course, as fresh fruit and vegetables were produced there all the year round in the market garden and in the fruit garden and orchard. From the farm in Fota came milk, cheese, butter and cream.
"Rabbit and pigeon were eaten regularly in those days. The servants ate the same as the Anglo-Irish family, more or less.
"Accommodation, too, was excellent. We each had our own room with everything we needed. I had my own bedroom and it was very comfortable. Laundry was done on the premises. The laundress was the only female servant who didn't live in the house.
"Work was often very exciting as different visitors came to the house at different seasons such as fishing in the spring, boating and tennis in the summer, cubbing and fox-hunting in the autumn and shooting game in the winter.
"The jobs were very desirable. Six of the indoor staff were there 40 or 50 years, which signifies that it was a good life. The gardeners or farm labourers mainly lived at home or in labourers' cottages on the estate.
When Mr George Russell, the butler, died, that was a huge change because he managed the house so perfectly. No one could really follow in his footsteps; his death marked the end of an era for Fota.
"Mrs Bell employed another butler, Pat Shea from Carrigtwohill, but at that time the cook had retired and gone to England. The lady maid and the housemaid, Ellie Butler, had both retired. Ellie had worked in Fota with Arthur Hugh Smith-Barry. She was my auntie. So the staff dwindled to three of us. Then Major Bell died. Peggy Butler, my cousin, the parlour maid, left and went to a local factory. Pat Shea left Fota House and eventually I was there on my own to look after Mrs Bell.
"Women came on a daily basis to help with the household duties. I cooked for Mrs Bell. By then there was a Bendix washing machine in Fota House, which meant the end of the laundry in Fota and the position of laundry maid.
"Eventually, Mrs Bell took up residence in the gardener's house. I looked after her until she died in 1975. She was 80 years old when she died, I was glad to be by her side at that time. The curtains were drawn over the history of the Smith-Barry family in Fota."
In conversation with Brian O'Connell
