BIRR CASTLE DEMESNE

This is a long one because it was such an interesting day!  My stories are coming a day behind the activity, which seemed like a good idea, but I admit I am finding it hard to keep things straight.  I may have to post another one to get myself back on track.  Not to mention my phone has a squillion photos on it. That’s my new word – squillion. Heard it on a British murder mystery show where one of the main characters says “Those people are squillionaires”.  In the context of the show, it means really a lot of money.  Who wants to be a squillionaire?!  ME!!  But I digress…

Only being a squillionaire-in-training means that I better get a wiggle on and write my stories because I may not get back to Ireland any time soon.  So today (yesterday, actually), we took our adventures a little further afield and drove to Birr Castle Demesne. I had to look that one up - Demesne.  It basically means “grounds” – Birr Castle Grounds – though I confess Demesne sounds much more romantic. The grounds cover something like 120 acres and consist of castle, extensive formal gardens and one of the first and only remaining suspension bridges of its kind in Europe.  My favourite parts of these gardens were the Meridian Oak – an oak tree that is almost 500 years old, and the Giant’s Grove – a grove of huge sequoia redwoods – the largest planting of redwoods outside of California. 

Aside from its cosmetic appeal, and even more importantly, Birr Castle was a hotbed of scientific discovery and ingenuity. William Parsons, the 3rd Earl of Rosse, was an avid astronomer, engineer and naturalist. He built several huge telescopes, and in 1845 achieved the “Leviathan of Parsonstown” – a 72" aperature telescope - the largest telescope in the world for more than 70 years. He pursued this goal in an effort to more accurately record stars and planets. He would observe these from the platform of the Leviathan and make detailed drawings of stars and nebulae. The platform moved with the telescope so he could remain at the eye piece as it was moved. Ladders on the structure allowed him to access the eyepiece from the very top when the telescope was at full height. William is credited with discovering the spiral nature of bodies of stars (nebulae), now known as galaxies. His invention and subsequent research and documentation helped astronomers to realize the universe was exponentially larger than anyone imagined.  In the Science Centre on site, there is an incredible drawing of the nebula in the sword belt of the constellation Orion.   

The Science Centre in part of the castle is a wonderful collection of technology discovered and used in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s including Mary Parsons’ darkroom. One of the fun things in it is a mirror like a telescope so when you stand in front of it you feel like Alice down the rabbit hole because you are upside down!

Overshadowed by her husband’s work, but no less brilliant, was Parsons’ wife, Mary. An amateur astronomer, architect, and designer, Mary was also an early pioneer of photography and making photographs from wax paper negatives. She was an accomplished blacksmith and was actively involved in William’s development of the Leviathan.  Displaying a rare social conscience in the upper classes of Irish society at the time, Mary kept 500 men employed in and around Birr Castle during The Great Famine. 

The Parsons’ family’s contributions did not end there. Despite having 11 children, only 4 sons survived to adulthood. One of these, Charles Parsons, became the 4th Earl of Ross and is known for the development of the steam turbine, which meant high scale electricity could be produced at low cost. Charles’ wife Katharine was also an engineer.  They schooled their children at home, encouraging mathematics and science.  Katherine and their daughter Rachel, along with 5 other women founded the Women’s Engineering Society with the aim of protecting women’s interests and giving them a platform to communicate and share knowledge.  Charles and Katharine’s son was killed in WW1. 

Rachel took over the running of the family company during the first world war and recruited and trained women to do the jobs of the men who had gone to war. Throughout her life, she advocated for women’s rights to access technical education and became a leader on the National Council of Women. She ran for parliament (unsuccessfully) twice, in the 1920s. Having inherited her family fortune, she was a society hostess and sat on many committees at high levels. It is rumoured she was “unpopular” for not leading a woman’s traditional role of wife and mother and for being intelligent and outspoken in her opinions. (Sometimes I think society has not come very far).  In 1956, at the age of 71, Rachel was murdered by a stable hand who claimed she had provoked him and owed him holiday pay. His charge was downgraded from murder to manslaughter “due to provocation” and he served 10 years for the deed. 

Before I forget, the technological and scientific investigation at Birr Castle has not stopped. It is the home of an I-LOFAR (low frequency array) station - the largest radio telescope in the world. It observes the sun, stars, planets and galaxies and shares data with other stations, including the UK, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Latvia and Italy.  Upon reading the story boards, Peter said “It’s just so hard to conceive. The universe is so vast, it's…..”  To which I supplied “...astronomical?”  He didn’t think it was nearly as funny as I did.  Personally, I think he should just get on board, because I’m pretty sure I could pay for this trip with a stand-up routine.  😊

Birr Castle has wrapped it all up with a bow by adding a coffee shop, ice cream shop, gift store and an amazing playground for kids! It's me. I'm the kid. How could I not play in the play castle?!

Well, that was one heck of a long story!  But it is a heck of an interesting stop and I’m so glad we made it.  Even if it did mean a couple of hours with me behind the wheel. Making a wrong turn, we ended up on a couple of “R” and “L” roads, dodged a tractor and a big truck, and were surprised by a couple of tight curves. Still, I thought I was doing pretty well, so I asked Peter if he was more or less tense as a passenger than when he was driving. “About the same”, he replied.  He’s lying, for the sake of amicable relations. If his hair wasn’t grey already, it would be sheet white. 
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Until tomorrow, my friends.