Annual Delaware Antiques Show 2019

KEYNOTE LECTURE ROBERT O’BYRNE The Irishness of the Irish Country House: A Private Tour Friday, November 8, 10:00 am Dravo Auditorium Many of Ireland’s great country houses are justly famous and have been much photographed and discussed over the years. Other historic properties are equally entrancing but are away from the spotlight. These remain private homes, sometimes still in the care of the original family but other times rescued and restored by a new generation of owners. Few of them are open to the public, but these buildings are well known to Robert O’Byrne, who has spent decades criss-crossing the country and exploring its architectural heritage. His talk will take the form of a journey around Ireland and into her secret country houses, along the way learning about the evolution of Irish architecture and what makes it so distinctive. Robert O’Byrne is a writer and lecturer specializing in the fine and decorative arts. He is the author of more than a dozen books, among them Luggala Days: The Story of a Guinness House; The Last Knight: A Tribute to Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin; Romantic Irish Homes; and Living in Dublin . The retired vice president of the Irish Georgian Society and trustee of the Alfred Beit Foundation, he is currently a trustee of the Apollo Foundation and the Artists Collecting Society. Among other work, he writes a monthly column for Apollo magazine and contributes to The Burlington Magazine and the Irish Arts Review. For the past seven years, Mr. O’Byrne has written an award-winning blog, www.theirishaesthete.com. A book of his photographs and texts— The Irish Aesthete: Ruins of Ireland —was published last spring . Lecture included with admission. Book signing to follow. — 10 —