EM
View of Knockmaroon, Co. Dublin
6 October 1842
2011/71.2
This amateur watercolour, signed by the otherwise unknown ‘EM’, shows the entrance front and side elevation of a handsome, late-eighteenth century, small country house. Three bays wide and three deep, it stands three stories over basement. The centrally placed doorcase has a large fan and side lights and is reached by a short flight of steps and what is almost a bridge over the wide basement area. A fine set of railings prevents any mishaps. On the left, a second set of railings descends into the basement area, presumably marking the steps to the servants’ entrance. In front of the house is a large forecourt demarcated by stone posts which are linked with chains to form a barrier to the surrounding park which is filled with mature trees.
According to an inscription on the back of the frame, this is a view of ‘Bellevue Park/Knockmaroon Park’ which, the inscription continues, was built in 1798. It stood outside the walls of the Phoenix Park and near to the River Liffey in Chapelizod, Co. Dublin. The house is no longer extant, its appearance preserved now only in this painting.
