0:00:05 > 0:00:10Ireland's beauty has captivated artists and writers for centuries.
0:00:10 > 0:00:11It's easy to see why.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16I'm Martha Kearney, and I was born in Ireland
0:00:16 > 0:00:18but I left when I was a small child.
0:00:18 > 0:00:23So in the course of this series, I'm hoping to rediscover the land
0:00:23 > 0:00:25that I once called home.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29My guide is going to be a 19th-century Irishman.
0:00:29 > 0:00:34He was an artist and a surveyor and he made it his life's work
0:00:34 > 0:00:37to chronicle the country's landmarks and treasures.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40His name was George Victor Du Noyer.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51Du Noyer was part of a team which undertook a ground-breaking series
0:00:51 > 0:00:56of surveys in Ireland, mapping its landscape and its geology.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04But Du Noyer was also an accomplished artist,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07and he was inspired by all that he saw on his travels.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13His work is like a memory map of the country as it once was.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21Du Noyer made thousands of drawings. Aside from the landscape, he also
0:01:21 > 0:01:26drew the country's most striking churches, castles and stately homes.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31One legacy of this is that his sketches traced
0:01:31 > 0:01:33the rise and fall of power in Ireland.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Those buildings can still be seen today.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49This is Ireland's famous capital, Dublin.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53Founded by the Vikings, the city flourished during the Georgian era.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57Much of the most distinctive architecture dates from that period.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02James Joyce, who was famously ambivalent about his birthplace,
0:02:02 > 0:02:07did once say, "When I die, Dublin will be written on my heart."
0:02:07 > 0:02:11Now, I can't quite say the same thing, because I did leave here
0:02:11 > 0:02:14when I was four years old, but it's certainly true that Dublin
0:02:14 > 0:02:17has very powerful childhood memories for me.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25I'm very fond of St Stephen's Green, in the centre of Dublin.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28My mother lived here as a student.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31My parents were married in the university chapel on the square.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36And as a child I was often brought here with my brothers
0:02:36 > 0:02:37to feed the ducks.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41I'll always remember being here one afternoon
0:02:41 > 0:02:44with my dad and my little brother, Jamie.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48We were feeding the ducks and then a television crew came along
0:02:48 > 0:02:49and started filming us.
0:02:49 > 0:02:50The result of it was,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53I ended up on the very first night of Irish television -
0:02:53 > 0:02:55even before the President!
0:02:59 > 0:03:04Artist and geologist George Victor Du Noyer was born in Dublin.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09He spent his life documenting mostly rural landscapes all over Ireland
0:03:09 > 0:03:12for the great Ordnance and Geological Surveys of the age.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18But he spent time in the urban centres, too.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22This is Dublin Castle, once the centre of English rule in Ireland.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30In modern times, Dublin has its own seat of power,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34here at the Parliament or Dail Eireann, at Leinster House.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38But the city wasn't always at the heart of the country's political,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41economic or ecclesiastical power.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44In fact, it's fascinating, if you look back, just how many
0:03:44 > 0:03:48other places have played such a central role in Ireland's history.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Du Noyer captured many of these places, from Neolithic monuments
0:03:55 > 0:03:58to 18th-century grand estates.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03His images give us an insight into who ruled Ireland, and when.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11But they also tell the story of how man created power bases
0:04:11 > 0:04:13with the help of the landscape itself.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21There's many different ways
0:04:21 > 0:04:23of looking at landscapes of power in Ireland.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30In many ways, all you needed to do was step out into the landscape
0:04:30 > 0:04:32and just start reading it.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35What you need, in a way, is a toolkit.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37How do you decode it?
0:04:37 > 0:04:39How do you understand it and how do you actually log
0:04:39 > 0:04:41and register what this actually means?
0:04:45 > 0:04:49I suppose we can see places of power at different times
0:04:49 > 0:04:52but in all cases there are
0:04:52 > 0:04:55two components to this - one is site
0:04:55 > 0:04:56and the other is situation.
0:04:59 > 0:05:04If we take a site, we're looking at strategic sites
0:05:04 > 0:05:08that would have allowed for control of some particular feature
0:05:08 > 0:05:10like a river crossing point.
0:05:12 > 0:05:17But we're also looking at situation, where we look at the wider context
0:05:17 > 0:05:20for the success of a particular place.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33I think, myself, that you cannot really understand
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Irish history, and appreciate Irish history,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38without having these monuments
0:05:38 > 0:05:40as the backdrop to the whole scenery
0:05:40 > 0:05:42of Irish history.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50I mean if you look at, for instance, Newgrange, you can take Newgrange
0:05:50 > 0:05:56as the very beginnings of Irish art and architecture
0:05:56 > 0:05:59because there is nothing earlier than Newgrange and Knowth
0:05:59 > 0:06:02to go and show just precisely what power was all about.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06This is Newgrange, a passage tomb
0:06:06 > 0:06:10older than the Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge.
0:06:10 > 0:06:115,000 years ago,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15it was the epicentre of spiritual life in Ireland.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Du Noyer was very taken by the artwork of Neolithic monuments.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28He recorded several of the decorated stones at nearby Loughcrew,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31before coming to Newgrange to do the same.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Newgrange was sited here because it really is one of the most
0:06:34 > 0:06:37fertile parts in Ireland.
0:06:38 > 0:06:39We have a river down here
0:06:39 > 0:06:42which provides direct access to the Irish Sea.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44So people, communities, could travel
0:06:44 > 0:06:46freely up this river.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49And once they had that strong foundation, they could put their
0:06:49 > 0:06:52energies into building a monument of this prominence.
0:06:52 > 0:06:53And this is definitely
0:06:53 > 0:06:57one of the most IMPRESSIVE prehistoric tombs in Europe, OK?
0:06:57 > 0:07:00It's famous for the precision and magnificence
0:07:00 > 0:07:02of its winter solstice,
0:07:02 > 0:07:07and also for the perfection and quality of its stone carvings.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10And you'll see those carvings all around the kerbstones of the mound
0:07:10 > 0:07:13and in the burial chamber itself.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15And these are the carvings that Du Noyer himself...
0:07:15 > 0:07:17- Yes.- ..came here to sketch, didn't he?
0:07:17 > 0:07:21This is a fascinating drawing by Du Noyer in the 1860s
0:07:21 > 0:07:23because he was able to depict
0:07:23 > 0:07:26the complete artwork on this entrance stone
0:07:26 > 0:07:30which was a powerful barrier between the living and the dead.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34And really he's shown the triple spiral here, which is really
0:07:34 > 0:07:35the iconic symbol of Newgrange.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38What does the triple spiral indicate, do you think?
0:07:38 > 0:07:39GERALDINE LAUGHS
0:07:39 > 0:07:44Well, that is the key question. These, this is abstract art.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46Obviously, this symbol - the triple spiral -
0:07:46 > 0:07:49was very important to the communities who lived here
0:07:49 > 0:07:51in the same way that the cross today,
0:07:51 > 0:07:52we associate with Christianity.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56But because this art, it's just abstract,
0:07:56 > 0:07:58it's totally open to interpretation.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03The stones, though, aren't the whole story.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06The real power of Newgrange lies in an ingenious piece
0:08:06 > 0:08:08of Neolithic construction work.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16This box is perfectly placed to harness the sun
0:08:16 > 0:08:18in a spectacular show of light
0:08:18 > 0:08:22to mark the passing of the darkest days of winter.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26From day one, they wanted this monument
0:08:26 > 0:08:27to align to the winter solstice.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29From day one.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32From when they set the first backstone in the chamber there,
0:08:32 > 0:08:34they wanted this alignment, OK?
0:08:34 > 0:08:37And then, to make it more precise, they built the roof box here
0:08:37 > 0:08:39which narrows down the light.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42We know that that still works, 5,000 years on.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45You can come here and you can see the sun come over the hill there,
0:08:45 > 0:08:50and the first beams of light are captured in this roof box
0:08:50 > 0:08:54and light up the burial chamber. So it still works!
0:08:59 > 0:09:02This became a major focus of pilgrimage. They would never
0:09:02 > 0:09:06have seen anything like this monument, where they came from.
0:09:06 > 0:09:07So this became a Mecca
0:09:07 > 0:09:12and we can see that in this array of monuments within this sacred area.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14And it's still a Mecca, in a way.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16It still has a magnetism.
0:09:16 > 0:09:175,000 years on, people are still
0:09:17 > 0:09:20coming from all over the world to Newgrange.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23You've been studying this place since the 1970s
0:09:23 > 0:09:26and you're STILL full of enthusiasm.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28Because it always produces new things.
0:09:28 > 0:09:29If you look at the landscape...
0:09:29 > 0:09:32I've been trying to read the landscape for years,
0:09:32 > 0:09:35and I still find out new things.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37It was really nice to see these drawings.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41I hadn't really looked in detail at these drawings before.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44So when you learn something new about a place that you love,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46that makes it all worthwhile, doesn't it?
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Newgrange is a World Heritage Site and, as such,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56is so carefully preserved that our film cameras are forbidden.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01But I'm thrilled to follow Geraldine inside for a privileged glimpse.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Above our heads is an intricately carved stone -
0:10:08 > 0:10:12as impressive today as it was when Du Noyer sketched it.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30There's such a contrast between this enormous mound of earth
0:10:30 > 0:10:33and what you actually find inside Newgrange.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37You go through this tiny passageway which climbs steadily upwards
0:10:37 > 0:10:39so you can barely get through.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42It opens up into the most beautiful burial chamber -
0:10:42 > 0:10:45an incredible construction, looking up at the roof.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01And then you get a sense of what it must be like on the winter solstice
0:11:01 > 0:11:05when that shaft of light pierces through the darkness - for just
0:11:05 > 0:11:0920 minutes and illuminates the tomb. It's incredible!
0:11:09 > 0:11:12What it must have meant in prehistoric times
0:11:12 > 0:11:15and what it means for all the thousands of visitors
0:11:15 > 0:11:16who still come here today.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28While the sun is the source of Newgrange's power, the Irish people
0:11:28 > 0:11:31have also used other natural phenomena to their advantage.
0:11:36 > 0:11:41The Rock of Cashel is a geological oddity rising high in the landscape.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45On top of it is a range of impressive buildings,
0:11:45 > 0:11:48with so commanding an aspect that the early rulers of Ireland
0:11:48 > 0:11:51chose this place as their seat of power.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55The Rock fascinated Du Noyer.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58He made several drawings of it, including one
0:11:58 > 0:12:01from the ruins of Hore Abbey, which sits just below it.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08You know, the view today is remarkably unchanged
0:12:08 > 0:12:10from Du Noyer's time.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12You can even see some birds above the ruins of the abbey
0:12:12 > 0:12:15just as there are in his picture.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19And also, this drawing really shows his skill as a draughtsman.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Look at the detail of the stonework.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24Some of the masons who worked on Hore Abbey
0:12:24 > 0:12:28would also have been responsible for the cathedral up on the hill,
0:12:28 > 0:12:29up on the Rock of Cashel,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32which is in the background of Du Noyer's picture.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39The rock may seem to be in the background of this picture
0:12:39 > 0:12:42but actually, this was once one of the most powerful places
0:12:42 > 0:12:45in Ireland, a place where kings were made.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54SEAN DUFFY: Early medieval Ireland was a very hierarchical country.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00To such an extent that we had loads of kings. Each province
0:13:00 > 0:13:01had its own king.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04And below the level of the province,
0:13:04 > 0:13:05there were local kings again.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14Cashel was the traditional
0:13:14 > 0:13:18headquarters, as it were, of the ancient kingdom of Munster.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24They inaugurated their kings there,
0:13:24 > 0:13:26all to do with the fact that
0:13:26 > 0:13:29a king was a sacred figure.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32But there were certainly
0:13:32 > 0:13:35some very sacred and ancient activities
0:13:35 > 0:13:39that took place in connection with the inauguration.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43The most exotic of which is the account of Giraldus Cambrensis,
0:13:43 > 0:13:45in the late 12th century,
0:13:45 > 0:13:50who describes what he says is how the king up in the Donegal area
0:13:50 > 0:13:51would have been inaugurated.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57Which involved him
0:13:57 > 0:13:59mating with a white mare,
0:13:59 > 0:14:01and then they chopped up the white mare
0:14:01 > 0:14:04and boiled the mare in a huge broth,
0:14:04 > 0:14:08and then he bathed in the broth and they drank of the broth.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15Ultimately the objective being to show that this man
0:14:15 > 0:14:17was their rightful king.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24The power of Cashel hit its highest point
0:14:24 > 0:14:28when one of the most famous and iconic Irishmen was crowned
0:14:28 > 0:14:32High King of all Ireland over 1,000 years ago...
0:14:32 > 0:14:34Brian Boru.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38'Brian Boru is the first person to have claimed a kingship of Ireland
0:14:38 > 0:14:42'that had any semblance of actual authority throughout Ireland.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47'To be a king of Ireland, you had to have actual
0:14:47 > 0:14:51'authority over 200 or so kingdoms within Ireland, so really'
0:14:51 > 0:14:54when Brian's dynasty seized, or usurped,
0:14:54 > 0:14:55the kingship from Munster
0:14:55 > 0:14:57in the late 10th century,
0:14:57 > 0:14:58he was very much...
0:14:58 > 0:15:01Because he was King of Cashel
0:15:01 > 0:15:04and because he was King of Munster, he would have seen himself as
0:15:04 > 0:15:08rightfully a king of Ireland because of sort of this area,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11history and this image of Cashel as a seat of kingship of Ireland.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18For centuries, Cashel was the place of great royal power in Ireland -
0:15:18 > 0:15:20the home of kings.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23But it also became a seat of power for the Christian church.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27From its earliest inception,
0:15:27 > 0:15:29Cashel was a Christian seat of kingship,
0:15:29 > 0:15:32in the sense that its kings were almost certainly Christians.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42In around about 1100, Muirchertach Ua Briain, who was a descendant
0:15:42 > 0:15:46of Brian Boru, was able to grant the Rock of Cashel to the church.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50What he seems to actually have been doing was creating in Cashel
0:15:50 > 0:15:52a seat of secular power,
0:15:52 > 0:15:54a royal centre for a kingdom of Ireland
0:15:54 > 0:15:58and a structure of church and state
0:15:58 > 0:16:00entwined in one ceremonial complex.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06While kings were still crowned here,
0:16:06 > 0:16:10the Rock of Cashel evolved from a political centre of power
0:16:10 > 0:16:11to a religious one.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15And it is the surviving ecclesiastical buildings
0:16:15 > 0:16:19that give the rock its distinctive profile today.
0:16:28 > 0:16:33In medieval times the Rock of Cashel truly was a spiritual landmark.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35For miles around, people only had to look up here
0:16:35 > 0:16:40to be reminded of their faith and also of the dominance of the church,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43because religion has been an overwhelming force
0:16:43 > 0:16:46in Irish society and culture for centuries.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50In fact, it's only in the last 20 years or so
0:16:50 > 0:16:53that its power has really begun to diminish.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00Cashel stands as a monument to power.
0:17:00 > 0:17:05It speaks of a land dominated by the great early kings of Ireland.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08They used the landscape, the sheer size of the rock,
0:17:08 > 0:17:10as a means of taking control.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16Landscape has always been used in this way.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19As an island, Ireland is well used to invaders
0:17:19 > 0:17:22crossing the sea to take charge.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24In the 12th century, the Anglo-Normans landed,
0:17:24 > 0:17:26and they set up their power base
0:17:26 > 0:17:29in the port of Waterford on the east coast.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33When Du Noyer came here in the early 1850s,
0:17:33 > 0:17:37he decided to paint a watercolour of this view
0:17:37 > 0:17:38across Waterford Harbour.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40And it's a charming picture actually.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43You've got a mother and her young family...
0:17:43 > 0:17:46sailing boats, just as there are today.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49I think the coastal road is a bit busier, to be honest.
0:17:49 > 0:17:50But you still get
0:17:50 > 0:17:53a very good impression of what was going on here.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56But this is much, much more than a beautiful site.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00This place is strategically extremely important,
0:18:00 > 0:18:04which is why it led to the creation of Ireland's oldest city -
0:18:04 > 0:18:09Waterford - which in itself was fought over for centuries
0:18:09 > 0:18:12in a battle for power that reflects a great deal of Ireland's history.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22Those power struggles often took place around Ireland's ports,
0:18:22 > 0:18:26because whoever controlled them dominated trade.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33Waterford's deep harbours provided a gateway into Ireland.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37A great stream of merchant ships sailed back and forth from England
0:18:37 > 0:18:42and France and, as the city's fortunes grew, so did its power.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48This harbour has really been the key to Waterford's wealth
0:18:48 > 0:18:51right down through the ages.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55Now when Du Noyer came back here for a second time, that was in 1863,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58he went to visit one of the treasures of the medieval city
0:18:58 > 0:19:02and decided to paint it. This was a plea to the King of England
0:19:02 > 0:19:07to protect Waterford's prosperity from a new trading rival.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13This is Du Noyer's drawing of that treasure.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15The Waterford Charter Roll -
0:19:15 > 0:19:19a brightly coloured document dating back to the 14th century.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23The charter celebrates Waterford's
0:19:23 > 0:19:26historic links with the great kings of England.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29ADRIAN LE HARIVEL: Like other antiquarians,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Du Noyer was interested in the ephemera of the past,
0:19:32 > 0:19:33and it seems that when he went to
0:19:33 > 0:19:38Waterford, he saw the now famous Waterford Charter.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44His drawing has a sort of curved profile to it,
0:19:44 > 0:19:49as if he's just literally unrolled it, and the colours are very fresh.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51I think above all else,
0:19:51 > 0:19:53the Waterford Charter Roll
0:19:53 > 0:19:56is a declaration by the citizens
0:19:56 > 0:19:58of Waterford of their Englishness.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04The modern citizens of Waterford might be disappointed to know
0:20:04 > 0:20:07this but they were... Waterford
0:20:07 > 0:20:11and the other Irish towns were bastions of
0:20:11 > 0:20:13Englishness in late-medieval Ireland.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Basically it's like a medieval PowerPoint presentation,
0:20:21 > 0:20:23the documents here. It's not a work of art,
0:20:23 > 0:20:24it was never intended to be a work of art.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26The documents are legal documents.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28They were brought to show the King of England.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31They added all these wonderful illustrations to the legal documents
0:20:31 > 0:20:33to keep his attention while they
0:20:33 > 0:20:36- were explaining the case to him. - To win the rivalry
0:20:36 > 0:20:39- against the nearby town.- So that the King would come down on
0:20:39 > 0:20:41the side of his royal city of Waterford.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44OK. Tell me about these extraordinary illustrations.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47The top is really interesting because you've got the King,
0:20:47 > 0:20:48which is Edward III of England,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51and he's being presented, by a key,
0:20:51 > 0:20:52to the gates of the city.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55It was a walled city, so he's being presented.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57Therefore they were recognising that
0:20:57 > 0:20:59the King is the overlord of the city.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01And then we have portraits all down the side.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Yes, beginning with the first English king to come to Ireland.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08King Henry II came to Waterford, landed in Waterford in 1171.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12King John, who came here twice. And then of course,
0:21:12 > 0:21:16King Edward II's son, it was presented to him, King Edward III -
0:21:16 > 0:21:18a magnificent portrait of him here on horseback.
0:21:18 > 0:21:23So this was the king who was given the charter roll,
0:21:23 > 0:21:25so of course he has a very good portrait.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Yes, and it is even slightly bigger.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30And then this glorious image here of King Edward.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32You can see the gold on this one still survives,
0:21:32 > 0:21:34whereas it's gone black on the earlier ones.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38- And you can see he's wearing tights. - And fabulous shoes.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41- Yes.- They are kind of Vivienne Westwood style.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43And the real big, long, pointy shoes,
0:21:43 > 0:21:45like they were wearing in the 1950s, only longer.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47They had to walk backwards up the stairs
0:21:47 > 0:21:49in order to get up the stairs, because they could be...
0:21:49 > 0:21:54- two feet long, these shoes. - So this is quite a spectacular
0:21:54 > 0:21:57- document, isn't it?- Oh, it is very, very...important.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00How would they have presented it to the King?
0:22:00 > 0:22:03They obviously met the King and his ministers and counsellors,
0:22:03 > 0:22:06and they would've rolled this out in front of him and said,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09"Ever since England's involvement in Ireland,
0:22:09 > 0:22:11"you've always taken the side of Waterford,
0:22:11 > 0:22:14"so by diminishing the power and the scope of Waterford
0:22:14 > 0:22:17"you're diminishing the other royal cities
0:22:17 > 0:22:19"and your own powers in Ireland."
0:22:19 > 0:22:21- And so, did all their efforts pay off?- Yes.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24We got away with it, and really we didn't have any documents
0:22:24 > 0:22:27which said we had rights over the port of New Ross.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34The Waterford Charter offers a remarkable window
0:22:34 > 0:22:38into the politics of medieval Ireland. And, thanks to Du Noyer,
0:22:38 > 0:22:42we have a reminder of what the original would have looked like
0:22:42 > 0:22:43before time had faded it.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51Its story tells us about the power of English kings in Ireland,
0:22:51 > 0:22:55a power that would grow in the centuries to come.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04Generations of monarchs gave land to their supporters.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07Wave after wave of rich men arrived from England
0:23:07 > 0:23:10to set up large estates.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13They had made their fortunes in the service of the King,
0:23:13 > 0:23:18and their grand stately homes reflected their status.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20Du Noyer drew many of them.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23In the first part of the 18th century,
0:23:23 > 0:23:27the wealthiest man in Ireland decided to build a country house
0:23:27 > 0:23:30in the Liffey Valley, not too far from Dublin.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34But the house he designed, the very first Palladian one in Ireland,
0:23:34 > 0:23:38is a testament to extravagance and spending power on a scale
0:23:38 > 0:23:41you see very rarely, even today.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44This self-made man was called William Connolly,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47and he decided to name his house Castletown.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55William Connolly was the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons,
0:23:55 > 0:23:58the most powerful political position in 18th-century Ireland.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01He intended to make his home a showpiece,
0:24:01 > 0:24:04to reflect his fortune and status.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09Castletown House has such an imposing presence.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11Clearly it must have been quite extraordinary
0:24:11 > 0:24:13when it was first built in the 18th century.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16But in the 19th century, when Du Noyer came here,
0:24:16 > 0:24:17it clearly caught his eye.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20He did a rough pencil sketch in one of his notebooks,
0:24:20 > 0:24:24which does convey the scale of the place which, I have to say,
0:24:24 > 0:24:26is still pretty impressive today.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34One awestruck 18th-century visitor to Castletown said,
0:24:34 > 0:24:38"This I believe is the only house in Ireland to which the term
0:24:38 > 0:24:40"'palace' can be applied."
0:24:44 > 0:24:47'It was the first of a type of building which showed
0:24:47 > 0:24:50'that this was not a place that was at war.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57'And this was put up by Speaker William Connolly, who came into'
0:24:57 > 0:24:59a very considerable amount of money
0:24:59 > 0:25:01and was able to get the architect of
0:25:01 > 0:25:03the facade of St John Lateran, in Rome,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06in the shape of this man, Galileo,
0:25:06 > 0:25:09to go and design his grand mansion,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12which is said to have 365 rooms - one for every day in the year.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18He was showing that he was a master of power
0:25:18 > 0:25:20but not in any military way,
0:25:20 > 0:25:24but in doing the right thing...
0:25:24 > 0:25:29but also showing off his wealth in building such a mansion as this.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32And it, of course, led the way to so many other
0:25:32 > 0:25:33of the larger houses,
0:25:33 > 0:25:37some of which fortunately still survive in this country.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45We're sitting here in an absolutely magnificent gallery,
0:25:45 > 0:25:48and I suppose it's indicative of the kind of money
0:25:48 > 0:25:50that was spent on Castletown House.
0:25:50 > 0:25:56Yes, it was a showpiece in the whole Dublin area at the time.
0:25:56 > 0:26:01The beautiful Pompeiian style murals,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04as you can see. That was very much in line with
0:26:04 > 0:26:07what was being discovered in Pompeii at the time.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11So clearly Speaker Connolly had an immense amount of wealth.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14But he wasn't from a wealthy family himself?
0:26:14 > 0:26:17No, he was the son of an innkeeper in Donegal
0:26:17 > 0:26:19on the wild west coast.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22And he trained as a lawyer.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26And then was in the right place at the right time, in the 1690s,
0:26:26 > 0:26:28when a lot of land was confiscated
0:26:28 > 0:26:30and sold after the Battle of the Boyne.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34He built this house because he wanted to make a statement.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36It had to be near Dublin,
0:26:36 > 0:26:39and I think he was also making a statement
0:26:39 > 0:26:42that somebody from the Gaelic world
0:26:42 > 0:26:45could succeed and, in fact, do very well
0:26:45 > 0:26:51in the apparently unpleasant... conditions of a conquest.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57What part do you think that Castletown House
0:26:57 > 0:27:00played in the political life in Ireland in the 18th century?
0:27:00 > 0:27:04Well, I think quite a large part.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08First of all, it was an impressive backdrop if you were meeting
0:27:08 > 0:27:10the Connollys for the first time.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14And then beyond that, you have a lot of areas and rooms
0:27:14 > 0:27:19where you can do deals or pull people away for a quiet chat.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23And I think that again is quite an important fact. Also,
0:27:23 > 0:27:28from its sheer size, you can entertain several hundred people
0:27:28 > 0:27:32and park their carriages out the front without the slightest problem.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36So a lot of power broking would go on in this very room, probably?
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Very much so. Yes, I think so.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42In its heyday, Castletown was
0:27:42 > 0:27:45Ireland's 18th century equivalent to Chequers,
0:27:45 > 0:27:49the most charming and luxurious of environments
0:27:49 > 0:27:53for William Connolly to rally opponents to his causes.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56And today, it's a lasting reminder of a wealth so great
0:27:56 > 0:27:58that it had the power to conjure up
0:27:58 > 0:28:02an Italian style palace in the Irish countryside.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11The Irish poet John Montague once wrote of Ireland
0:28:11 > 0:28:12that the whole landscape was
0:28:12 > 0:28:15"a manuscript we've lost the skill to read."
0:28:15 > 0:28:20Du Noyer, however, could read the landscape
0:28:20 > 0:28:25and his drawings of ancient sacred places, of the seats of Irish kings,
0:28:25 > 0:28:30of political documents and of manor houses help us to do the same.