y3 dress history

8/7/2019 Y3 Dress History

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Dress for fashionable women changed dramatically between 1900 and 1925.

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Internationally, the first quarter of the Twentieth century saw dramatic change in the dress

of fashionable women. This essay aims to explore not the changes themselves, - the raisin

of a hemline or the foregoing of corset and bustle, nor even the international influences

that brought about these changes. What we shall look at in this essay are the social, politicaand economic influences on dress for fashionable women within and unique to the island

of Ireland. Of course the international fashion scene influenced local fashions. Ads in the

Irish Timesfor the latest Lyon silk and articles following the prevailing styles of of conti-

nental Europe, Britain and America attest to this, and we shall touch on the international

social, political and economic influences briefly. We shall, however, explore in depth the

rapid and intentional destruction of the old order of things within what had been Irelandand the concurrent fabrication of a new modern Twentieth century self-governing au-

tonomous nation. The enchanting personal memoirs of Elizabeth, Countess of Fingall,

the principle Roman Catholic peeress of the United Kingdom, and one of the leading so-

cialites of the day, serve as a backdrop to these changes, and we shall visit those memoir

as a reference point through the essay.

The opening of the new century saw the emergence of the United States of America as a

world power in terms of trade, political influence and cultural colonialization. This cul-

tural colonisation was the result of the cementing of Hollywood as the centre of the in-

ternational film industry. The cinema spread with it American fashions and values, - the

Gibson Girl personification of the feminine ideal for one, and secondly, the notion of a

society free of the class system in which any man can make it to the top by virtue alone

The colonized nations in Europe, such as Finland, Poland, Ireland and the Balkans began

to look inwards to their own culture and celebrate it with the same boldness with which

America celebrated hers. Another force of change was the rapid proliferation and democ-

ratization of new modes of transport and communications such as the motor car, railway

and electric tram, ocean liner, telephone, telegraph, camera and an improved postal system.

Shortly after these came the aeroplane. For the first time, the working classes and profes

sional classes had the ability to travel to and communicate with those of a like mind acros

the globe. This was to be much greatly capitalized on by the proponents of both answers

to the Irish Question in the following years, Unionists and Nationalists.page 1

list of illustrations

The list of illustrations isthis column

throughout theessay and thusthere is no an-cillary docu-

ment detailing illustrations ortheir sources.


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Although they would often spend time visiting at the mansions surrounding the city such

as St. Annes in Raheny (Illustration 5), Farmleigh in the Phoenix Park, The Chief Secre-

tarys Lodge and of course the Vice Regal Lodge (Illustration 6).

Life back home on the grand country estates was less glamorous than on the Dublin socia

circuit, as Katherine Everett (nee Herbert) recounts in her memoirs below:

The dress we see in the family photograph (Illustration 7) is almost like mourning dress i

its plainness. Unlike English fashionable ladies, however, the Anglo-Irish tended not tobother with mourning wear etiquette, much to the surprise of the English (Fingall, 1937)

Although the day-to-day wear of the fashionable women of 1900s Dublin was quite simplepage 4

illustration 5

St. Annes, Rahenyduring a 1912Garden Party

(Photo Source:Sharkey, 2002)

illu stration 6

Viceregal Lodge ,ca.1900

(Photo Sourc e: NationalLibra ry of Ir eland)

Our life in that great house was dull and may have been a little absurd, with its pompand formality, but there was a fine side to the tradition that was unbroken for gener-ations - a tradition of mutual obligations and service recognized by all, from the ownerdown to the humblest dependant. There existed a bond of pride and love of the placeamong them all, pride perhaps more actively felt by the employees in their variousdepartments than by the owner, and everyone was assured of comfort and security.(Everett, 1950, p.39)

The Shelbourne had become a townhouse for the Irish gentry who cameup to Dublin for the social season.This began in January and went onuntil March, taking in house partiesheld in the castles of the gentry in the vicinity of Dublin, and finishing withthe magnificent Viceregal Ball in

March at Dublin Castle. In theShelbourne tearoom before the FirstWorld War in the afternoons underthe exquisitely beautiful mantelpiecea massive fire burned where the

young girls would sit waiting for their invitations to the Vice regal Ball. A plumedmessenger in army dress could be seen through the windows dismounting from hishorse and coming in with an invitation to the ball. Girls would twitter and gossipamong themselves nervously as they watched who was getting the sealed envelopes(OConnor, 2007)

illustration 4The Shelbourne

Hotel, St.Stephens Green

(Photo Source:National Library

of Ireland)


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Illustrated here too, in a costume contrary her later radical military garb, is Constance

Gore-Booth (later Countess Markievicz) (Illustration 8), who came from an established

Anglo-Irish family with a Country seat at Lissadel in Co. Sligo and a Dublin mansion on

the beautiful Harcourt Terrace. For several years during the early 1900s she was the toast

of Society and every man wanted to dance with her (Fingall, 1937).

The late 19th Century had seen huge developments in the democratisation of Ireland and

the gradual change from a semi-feudal system of landlord and tenant to the more egal-

itarian system of freehold farmers. Much of this was due to the work of Daniel OConnel

and later, Charles Stewart Parnell and Michael Davitt in the Land League, although the

constructiveness and helpfulness of their policies of obstruction can be debated. Eitherway

it brought to the British House of Commons the very real Irish (Land) Question.The continued inactivity of the British government to help out both the Anglo-Irish land-

lords and their tenants caused a turning against the Westminster government and increased

calls for a return to Home Rule as had existed prior to the highly controversial 1801 Act

of Union. It wasnt until the Chief-Secretaryship of Arthur Balfour that the question really

started to be tackled. Balfour introduced a Local Government Bill in 1892 which set up

Local Authorities and gave them authority over local issues. Around the same time severagovernment departments such as the Ministry of Transport and the Boards of Education,

Science and Art were devolved to Dublin. The new local authorities, especially Dublin

Corporation very quickly came to carry an Irish Nationalistic Catholic agenda and very

very vocally anti-union.

After his tenure as Chief Secretary, Balfour went on to become Prime Minister of the

United Kingdom and he appointed George Wyndham as Chief Secretary. Wyndham

brought in a series of Land Acts which helped tenants purchaes the freehold on their prop-

erties. He also increased the power of the Local Authorities and started a wave of govern-

ment provided housing for the rural working classes. Some have regarded the Wyndham

Land Act as a gigantic bribe to both sections of Irish society. (Fingall, 1937, p.384)

To get funding for this from Chancellor for the Exchequer, Mr. Ritchie, was a challenge,

but as Lady Fingall recalls in her memoirs, it was one that Wyndham tackled with skill:

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illu stration 9

An Irish Cottage inthe early 1900s

(Photo Source:Private website,

2002)

Ritchie, bent on safeguarding the national purse, would not give George Wyndhamone million, much less twelve. Wyndham suggested that the chancellor visit Irelandand he agreed to do this. Then George Wyndham went to the Dudleys and said:"Ritchie is coming to Ireland. I shan't be here. You must arrange it all."

We were to be joined by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Ritchie, who wascoming to pay a visit to the Congested Districts, and Rachel Dudley had deter-mined to let him see the very worst aspect of Irish poverty. He arrived at

Kingstown by the afternoon boat and was asked: "Would you like to see a little of Dublin?" He said that he would, and he was driven slowly through he slums, thefashionable quarters being carefully avoided. This occupied the time until his trainleft for the West. He was put into the train in the dusk and when he arrived at theend of his journey, driven out through the dark country to Rockingham. The nextday Lady Dudley took him out motoring. Again the route was carefully chosen,through what George Wyndham called "the agricultural slums of Ireland." Thechauffeur had orders to drive slowly past the poorest cottages, where the parishpriest had seen to it that the most miserable looking children were on show. [per-haps as in Illustration 9] If, by chance, a fairly prosperous cottage had to be passed,

the car went at full speed and Lady Dudley, putting out all her charms, distractedthe Chancellor's attention.The programme was repeated daily during his visit. Sometimes he passed the sameplace a second time without recognizing it. At the end of that visit to Roscommon,Mr. Ritchie was taken back to the Vice regal Lodge and from there to the boat.Returning to London, he declared: "My God! I did not know that in Western Eu-rope such a country existed! The only two decent houses in it are the Vice regalLodge and Rockingham. All the others are slums and broken-down cottages."(Fingall, 1937. p.282)


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The commitment of the Anglo-Irish to the cause of the Irish national good was clearly

present and admirable, but the almost one hundred years of too little, too late meant that

Ireland was hungry for more autonomy to help themselves and not to have to plead for

the charity of the English. In a pamphlet pushing for such autonomy, Arthur Griffith, the

founder of the Sinn Fein movement puts forward a very strong argument.

And so the debate about the future government of Ireland began to rage in all circles of

the United Kingdom from about 1905 onwards, especially with the new nationalist voices

of the local authorities. In 1910, the Irish Parliamentary held the balance of power in the

British Parliament and as they sided with the Liberal Party, the Unionists cemented their

relationship with the Conservative

Party who controlled the House of Lords. The sudden very real possi-

bility of a Dublin government

pushed the Ulster Unionists to-

wards their Solemn League and

Convenant, the foundation of the

Ulster Volunteer Force, and the

dramatic importation of German

arms on the eve of the Great War.

Central to the debate were the

most fashionable women in Ire-

land, most of whom wanted to see

some form of devolution. The pre-

cise form of devolution varied but

there were three main strands of

thought about how Ireland wouldpage 8

The contrary policy consists in sending 103 men from Ireland to make laws for thiscountry in concert with 567 Englishmen and Scotchmen or in the proportion of one Irishman to five and a half foreigners. It involves the abrogation of the Treatyof 1783, the admission of the validity of the Act of Union, and it extends thecolour of consititutionalism to every action of the British Government in Ireland. Itis a political truism that no country can be governed constitutionally against its will,but Ireland admits, by sending members to the British Parliament, that she is a con-stitutionally governed country and that the laws made in Englan for her tax lawsand coercion laws are made by and with her authority and consent.(Griffith, 1905, p.2)

illustration 9

A British Unionistad vertisement to

raise awarenessin mai nland

Britain of th eIrish Questio n.

(Photo Source:Kendle,

1992)


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be run and what its new relationship would be to Britain. Most of the Unionists, both

British Unionists who did not want to see Ireland break away, and Irish Unionists, who

did not want to jeopardise their recent economic prosperity, supported a system of feder-

alism. The amazing thing is, that if that had been pushed through , who knows how history

would have changed, for almost certainly, the devolved Ireland would have been a united

one, united both in purpose and in national boundary.

Still ongoing was the Cultural Nationalism movement started by Lady Augusta Gregory,

William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, and others, all of whom had their own opin-

ions on the political direction of Ireland, but were more concerned with the immediate

need to reassert her National culture, for without that the politics were worthless.

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[The Irish Viceroyalty] lacking the authenticity of the institution it aped, the stateof the country during the last years of British rule made impossible any ritual rep-resentation of Ireland's membership of the United Kingdom.(Loughlin, 2007a, p.134)

Debates about monarchy among cultural nationalists in the period up to 1914,

however, were essentially subordinate disputes. John Redmond's Irish Parliamen-tary Party was still in control of nationalist Ireland, and the general elections of 1910, which left it holding the balance of power, allowed Redmond to force theHome Rule issue on to the parliamentary agenda, thereby providing an Irish focus -with an Ulster boiling point - for a much wider crisis of the British state that had

In fact, the increasing radicalization of nationalist opinion in a crisis that seemeddestined to settle Ireland's future, brought a focus and clarity to a debate over con-stitutional options that had not existed before. In this context, the monarchical di-mension re-emerged in two distinct strands: Ireland having the status of animperial dominion under the Crown; and a more influential proposal pushed byArthur Griffith, of the revival of the Irish kingdom as it had existed before the Actof Union, but with its independence more effectively secured - deemed to have anIrish historical authenticity which the more recently created dominions lacked. The

appeal of a monarchical constitution option for nationalists was the possibility of maintaining the unity of Ulster and the rest of Ireland. But Lloyd George put thisoption to Ulster Unionists in 1921 without success: British Identity framed in termsof allegiance to the King could only be authentically experienced within theboundaries of the state of which he was the hegemonic emblem.(Loughlin, 2007a, p.132)

[Federalism] was a system of government that could accommodate diversity whilepreserving unity, as it did in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Just beforewar broke out in 1914, Long had admitted that a solution to the problems bedev-illing the United Kingdom might lie in federalism and he had argued that the nextUnionist government should explore that option... He paid close attention to thearguments in favour of devolution; home rule all round, and federalism that werebeing debated with increasing intensity in private and public forums during thewinter of 1916-17. By the spring of 1917, he had decided that a federal solutionwas the only logical answer.

(Kendle, 1992, p.133)


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The tension and debate over the future of the Union was illustrated rather humorously

by an incident involving some students of Trinity College, who would essentially play game of Capture the Flag with the Mansion House, the Seat of the Lord Mayor of Dublin.

The struggle for power within the British Parliament between the Conservatives and the Lib-

erals hampered these genuine efforts as, typical of government and opposition, they opposed

the plans put forward by the allies of the opposing side. This meant that although essentiallysave for details and symantecs, the Unionists and Nationalists were in agreement as to the

future direction of Ireland (at least for the medium term), that agreement was to be ignored

and the British political parties set about to polarise the two groups for their own purposes,

especially with regard to the balance of power in the House of Commons, and in the case

of the Conservatives, who were allied with the Unionists, the house of Lords too. This po

larisation made the ideas of a federal nation or a dual-monarchy more difficult to achieve,

and even caused family ties to be severed and prominent people to be taken off gustlists.

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developed over the Liberal government's social reforms and budgetary policy, andits curtailment of the powers of the House of Lords by the Parliament act of 1911.Furious at their exclusion from power and with a party leader in Bonar Law withclose Ulster Unionist connections, the Unionist leadership proceeded to push thepolitical crisis to the point of civil war, including providing assistance in the acquisition of arms by the Ulster Volunteer Force. (OBeirne Ranelagh, p.183)

Initially, Theresa [Lady Londonderry] courted friends in all political camps, includ-ing George Wyndham, Horace Plunkett, Lewis Harcourt and the Countess of Fin-gall. The latter mused that the Londonderrys befriending such a self-proclaimedrebel and Papist - as she was - an attempt to prove their broadmindedness, butconcluded that their friendship was never failing and it made no difference to itthat we often fought on politics. Unionist turned home ruler, Plunkett was anotherrarely in agreement with Theresas political agenda, but he corresponded with her

from 1908 and enjoyed her hospitality, her company and her approach to life.From 1912, both parliament and high society became increasingly polarised. LordLondonderry went as far as to ask his sister, Lady Allendale, wife of a Liberal Whip,not to visit and, characteristically, Theresa made no attempt to hide the depth of her

Shortly after one o'clock a party of students rushed through the College gates, andpassed up Grafton Street. On arrival at Stephen's Green they removed from of thewreaths from the site of the Wolfe Tone Memorial, and passing along the northside of the green turned into Dawson street, and marched towards the MansionHouse, in the grounds of which a new green flag was floating from the flagstaff.Several of the students climbed the wall enclosing the grounds in order to takedown the flag, and were successful in accomplishing this, a small Union Jack being run up in its place. Buckley, the house steward, ran into the grounds and tried toprevent the capture of the flag, but was unable to do so. A porter named JosephRoe and another man came to Buckley's assistance, and a part of police appearing on the scene, a struggle ensued for the possession of that trophy, which in a dam-aged condition was eventually secured by the police. (Irish Times, 06.03.1906, p.6)


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This led to the hugely controversial, disappointing and damaging partition of Ireland in

1922. In a way the story is very similar to the story of Solomen and the two women in dis

pute over the baby (1 Kings 3:16-28), although the judgement exercised in Ireland was to

lead to a far murkier result. But all sides were impatient and a decision had to be made

with urgency for it was impossible for things to continue as they had done, although many

of those supporting the continuance of the Union in the North of Ireland wished for noth-

ing to change at all. The brutal violence of the 1916 rising was the final turning point

which made the continuation of the Union in its then form impossible. Initally the people

of Ireland were disgusted by the rebels and spat on them as they were paraded through

the streets of Dublin to prison, but after the trials and executions, the tides changed.

page 11

emotion, refusing a royal invite to spend Ascot week at Windsor because an Irishpro-home rule peer would be present. And, when feeling on Ireland was running very high: there were constant scenes in the house and out of it, and many formerfriedns in opposite political parties wouldnt sepak to each other. Lady London-derryshowed her feeligns very openlyon the Terrace of the House of Com-mons, Lady Pirrie, whose husband had rattled to the other side, rushed up to her,and after greeting her said What very changeable weather we are having; Lady L.sniffed loudly and replied, I dislike change of any sort, and turned her back on her.

Theresas invitation lists became more selective and increasingly the Countess of Fingall was the lone dissenter at her receptions. Esentailly this was an indirect, buteffective, means of exerting influence. Indeed, during the third home rule crisis in- vites to Mount Stewart provided an opportunity for english politicians and journal-ists to witness the popular enthusiasm that opposition to home rule roused at firsthand. The down estate was, tehrefore, a Unionist tool to counter the mainland apa-thy that so worried Theresa and Carson. The value of face to face meetings such asthese were inestimable. Conservative MP and founder of the Lady and Vanity Fair,Sir Thomas Gibson Bowles was one of the many who admitted to Theresa, When

we meet I will tell you things I dare not write Theresa was quick to adopt the Ob-servers J.L. Garvin as well as H.W. Gwynne, editor of the Morning Post and Geof-frey Robinson of The Times. The latter two were invited to Mount Stewart andsubsequently promised full coverage of the Unionist cause. (Urquhart, 2007, p.108)

The war provided the opportunity for Irish separatists to mount the coup de the-atre that was the 1916 rising, which, with the government's politically inept execu-tion of the leaders, served to revive the Irish physical force tradition... By the end of the first week in May, opinions were already changing. Redmonite National Volun-teers patrolled Sackville Street after the rising, helping troops and police keep order.Rebel prisoners were jeered and booed as they were marched to prison, but Red-mond himself was worried by Maxwells handling of the situation. He realized thatpublic opinion was slowly swaying towards the rebels as a result of the executionsas people like the socialite Lady Fingall began to report that they were watching astream of blood coming from beneath a closed door. George Bernard Shawwarned the government that they were canonising their prisoners. The prime min-ister, Asquith, heeded these warnings and sent two telegrams to Maxwell saying that he hiped there would be no more executions except in special cases. Maxwell


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On the day of the rising, life in the suburbs went on as normal, and even the Races and

parties continued oblivious to what was happening in Dublin city, but from 1916 until

1923, the old order of things went into complete remission and scenes such as these on

these of the leaders of English society coming to Ireland for the Horse Show and for the

Races were gone forever (Illustrations 12, 13, 14) and were replaced with sadder scene

like that of Mrs. Pearse putting a wreath on her sons grave (Illustration 15).

It was against the backdrop of the chaos of the 1910s and 20s in Ireland that the New

Free State started to take its first steps a nation in its own right.

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il lustration 12

The Countess of Arran and friends

(Photo Source:

MacCarthy Mor-rogh,1998)

illustration 13

Lord Kitchener of Khartaum and the

Countess of Iveaghat the RDS

Horse Show

(Photo S ource:

Hegart y & O -Toole, 20 06)

illustrati on 11

Dublin during the 1916

Easter uprising

(Photo Source:Hegarty & O-

Toole, 2006)


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Kenneth Clarke, in his book on Civilisation writes that:

The new Irish nation, however, chose not to write her own autobiography as she had started to

do at the opening of the century with the new Abbey Theatre and the Gaelic Revival, but chose

instead to burn and destroy the manuscripts of history - quite literally (in the case of the Custom

House and the Four Courts where the only copies of two centuries of Irish History were held) a

well as figuratively (The attempts to dissolve and remove the influence of all public Protestant istitutions and the Royal Dublin Society (see Appendix D & E).

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illustration 15

Patrick Pearses

mother lays awreath on his

grave in Arbo ur H ill


Toole, 2006)

illu stration 14

The King an dQueen during the

1911 Royal Visit


Toole, 2006)

Great Nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts, the book of theirdeeds, the book of their words, and the book of their art. Not one of these bookscan be understood unless we read the two others, but of the three the only trust-worthy one is the last. (Clarke, 1969, p.1)


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The outgoing Under Secretary, after witnissing the Rising and even being held captive for a

while, lamented that it had come to this. As he left Ireland, he wrote a letter to Lady Fingall

The most unfortunate thing was, as touched on previously. Those who had aimed to do just

that had been marginalised from the debate, which had essentially become about who could

make up the balance of power in the British Parliament and how could they be given what

they wanted without giving the allies of the other side whattheywanted. When Lady Gregory

and Yeats wanted to put on a play by Bernard Shaw that had already been banned in Britain,

they had much debate with the Chief Secretary and Lord Lieutenant.

When the Lord Lieutenant asked her quietly not to publicly advertise the play...

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For their part, however, the new state authorities, alive to its negative symbolism,marked their possession of the Castle by [signalling] their contemptuous attitudeto the site through sartorial and presentational disregard: a motley assemblage:some in tweed caps and unpolished boots; others with the beard of yester-eve stillfresh on their chins; others with long lanky hair, collars and ties au pientre.(Periscope, The last Days of Dublin Castle, Blackwoods Magazine, 212 (Aug.1922), p.188) (Loughlin, 2007b, p.321)

Sir Matthew Nathan, Under Secretary to the Chief Secretary of Ireland from1914-1916: Ought not the people who can influence thought in Ireland to initiatea movement for combining the two ideas of maintaing the British connection anddeveloping the national individuality of Ireland? It has been one of the govern-ments mistakes to treat the latter purpose as essentially antagonistic to the former,with the result that they have made it so (Fingall, 1937, p.377)

That is, the Abbey assumed as its terrain not the British empire, whose monarchhad granted the theatres patent, but an emergent Irish state, one that in 1909 hadno military power to define its authority or its boundaries; performance of the playin a space fortuitously free from British censorship grounded the Abbey in a tinypatch of Irish independence. (McDiarmid, 1994, p.26)

...her provocative, quasi-revolutionary rhetorical question "Are you going to cut off our heads?" received a rebuke from Sir James: "This is a very serious business." Atthe end of her fourth visit she flaunted a misquotation from Parnell: "Who shall setbounds to the march of a Nation?" (Laurence and Grene 15, 34). While quoting

the most famous Irish home-rule leader in the face of the undersecretary for Ire-land may not quite be so daring as citing Bernadette Devlin to Margaret Thatcher,the line had an insubordinate air about it. Yet both the undersecretary and the lordlieutenant, Lord Aberdeen, were home rulers and Liberals, who did not considerthemselves hostile to the more benign forms of Irish nationalism. That a titledProtestant would not be more sensitive to their predicament never ceased to puzzlethem. "You have put us in a most difficult and disagreeable position by putting on aplay which the English Censor objected to," complained Sir James. And later: "It is very hard on the Lord Lieutenant, you should have had more consideration forhim. "It is hard on him," answered Gregory, "for he can't please everybody." In

their second meeting Sir James "implored" Gregory and Yeats to "save the LordLieutenant from this delicate position." As if unaware that he was dealing with adeliberate act of resistance, albeit only cultural, he added, "You defy us, you adver-tise it under our very nose, at the time everyone is making a fight with the Censor."(McDiarmid, 1994, p.44)


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Shortly after independence, the intensity of attacks on the Anglo-Irish, including those

who had most vocally and courageuously fought for the national autonomy of Ireland,

was increased and every night scores of aincient mansions were burned down with all

their works of art and their memories, and all they represented. (See Appendix C)

The new Ireland was a place vastly different to, and almost a ghost of, the old one, nolonger were there going to be any grand balls or long winters in Dublin sititng by the fire

in the Shelbourne. The power had shifted into the hands of the elected representatives

of the people for the first time ever, and the people were fed up and angry. Some tried to

be optimistic:

Others still, tried to wake up to the reality that everything that had been before was now

gone. The wonderful gowns that had been worn to the Balls were redundant, and the

armies of servants were no more, reduced now to one or two housekeepers and nurses,

drivers and cooks. (See Appendix F, the 1911 Census returns for two households). The

return for the next census would have been vastly different. Baron Dunsany, a cousin by

marriage of Lady Fingall, wrote the following about the demise of the old:

So how did the events of 1900-1925 directly change dress for fashionable women?

Well as outlined through the essay, their old world of life on the social season was no

longer a possibility and they had to adapt to the new order of things. The new Freepage 1

Those who miss the splendours of the Vice-regal box and the entry of the LordLieutenant in his carriage, and all these things brought in their train to Dublin, saythat the Dublin Horse Show is a thing of the past, end even avoid the show ground,content with their memories of the days of Lord Dudley, and regretting that noth-ing like them will come again for a long while; but others say that the horses are asgood as ever they were and the jumping in the ring as good to watch as any thatever was; and they are right. And, after all, the principal object of going to a HorseShow should be to look at the horses; so why not do that and never mind what islost? (Plunkett, 1937, p.264)

The promenade before the grand stand and in the neighbourhood of the tea gar-dens revealed a striking display of fashionable apparel. The morning, though gen-erally fine, had not been altogether clear, but the majority of the ladies, apparently,had decided that the day was suitable for the wearing of bright attire, though wrapsand umbrellas were brought against the chances of showers such as those whichcame over so suddenly on Wednesday. ...The scene was near to recalling the dayswhen the Dublin Horse Show on a favourable day was accounted one of the sightsof Europe. The company, it might be said, was not so cosmopolitan as it has beenin the years of the show's pride, and English society had not been transported toDublin, as formerly it used to be for our August festival; but the home folk made agood showing, and perhaps, in a few years they may find themselves vying againwith the social leaders of other lands. (The Irish Times, 04.08.1924, p.7)


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State government hated everything that represented the old order, and the majority of

the people did too. It is hard to comprehend today a desire to destroy such Gandonian

delights as the Four Courts or the Customs House, or to burn down the glorious country

mansions that speak so loudly of our history and our heritage, but only recently, in 1981,

many people in Dublin jubilated over the burning of the British Embassy in Merrion

Square. Things were not all doom and gloom though, and eventually a new day beganto dawn, or to populate the propegate the popular misinterpretation which gave the

Park at the centre of Irish history its name, A phoenix was to rise from the ashes.

The late 1920s saw the emergence of a new kind of guest at the Shelbourne. Apart from

politicians of the Free State government, tourists and those Anglo-Irish who had man-

aged to maintain something of their old position in society, a new middle class started to

rise to fill the gaps. This was brought about by the building boom in Dublin in the earlypart of the 20th century. One of these new gap-fillers was the famed builder of much of

Glasnevin, Alexander Strain, a Presbyterian from Cremore in Armagh and later, to a

lesser extent, his Son-in-Law and occasional business partner, George Malcolm Linzell.

Linzell was a pioneering builder who was to erect as his own home, Irelands first mod-

ern house, and a new step forward in our visual culture.

The first individual modern house in Ireland was designed by the London Archi-tect Harold Greenwood and completed in 1930. Wendon was built for the Dublinhousebilder G.M. Linzell in Glasnevin, Dublin Concrete was considered the ide-ologicall correct material for modern domestic architecture but the first concretehouses in England did not appear until after 1928. (Rothery, 1991, p.199)See Also (McManus, 2002, p.414) (Irish Times, 21.01.1932, p.7)


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The building of houses like Wendon meant that we could leave behind not only the bit-ter first quarter of the Twentieth Century, but also the days when we needed scores of

servants simply to run a home. Wendon had central heating, a swimming pool, tennis

court, cocktail bar and drawing room, en-suite bedrooms, showers, a fridge, washing

machine and fitted kitchen, beautiful grounds and an apartment for just two servants, a

governess and a housekeeper. That might seem like a lot in our days when we have no

servants, but it was a radical departure from the households of old where entire wings

were required to accomodate servants, and to be honest, often even the occupiers of the

house thought they were unsustainable. Lady Ardilaun in her will had actually recom-

mended that St. Annes be pulled down and a more practical house erected in its place.

Similarly, Lady Katherine Everetts father, the head of a junior branch of the Herberts

of Muckross, had pulled down his own aincient and beautiful Queen Anne mansion and

built in its place a house of concrete, quite unlike the striking Wendon, but a strong de-

parture from what had been before. Irish designer, Eileen Grays family had done the

same thing as the Herberts at their Wexford estate. Irelands affair with modern archi-

tecture developed rapidly from the 1930s onwards with the new Dublin Airport, the

scores of cinemas, garages and public libraries in the style around the country, and also

from the 1930s this new modernism began to enter into the realm of fashionable dress.

Some wonder if we will ever regain what was lost in the changes of the first quarter of the twentieth century, and some accept that fashion has moved on, but eitherways, the

beautiful ballgowns and evenings in the castle are over and relegated to the museum.page 1

Conceived to prove thatthe last word in plan andexecution could be saidwith Irish materials, plusa preference for Com-monwealth productswere native resources

were unable to complywith the highest stan-dards of durability andamenity, concrete playsthe leading part in thestructure.(Irish Builder & Engi-neer, 1932),


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Appendix A: Fashion Pages from the Irish Times from August 1903 and August 1924

For long we have seen plainly that the full skirt was without doubt the admissible skirtthis summer. Many will be sorrowful over the disappearance of the plain skirt, for it wasbecoming to almost every figure. However, the present style of skirt, if cut with care, canbe arranged to suit diverse figures, even the too, too stout one. The short skirt, althoughso popular, is not intended for smart afternoon wear. Thetrottoir skirt is what its name in-

dicates, and is worn in the country and for morning wear or shopping. Themodiestesaremaking the afternoon gown still very long all round, although the long-trained effect isconsiderably modified as to the train. The newest made skirts show various, if somewhasubtle, differences in the cut. These differences should be noted by would-be purchasers.The underskirts are still fitted very carefully around the hips, but the overskirts flow ingraceful straight lines from the waistline. The underskirts, so far, are made quite separatefrom overskirts, and many of the lighter fabrics, such as linen, hop-sack &c, in the kiltedskirts are made with no lining, save that used for lining the hip-piece. The kiltings arestitched from hip-piece to knee, from that point falling loose, save that when necessarythey are held in place by tapes sewn beneath the pleats. For golf, and in fact any of the

present day energetic sports patronised by ladies, these are quite the most comfortableskirts which can possibly be worn. When cutting a foundation for a gown, great care isrequired to make it fit closely on the hips and to follow the figure to the knee, for thencethey flow our sharply and as I said, made with modified trains. The smart dressmakershave given up cutting skirts with godit flounces, and fashion them in sharply cut gores. Iis still quite easy to use up old silk or satin gowns for foundations, as all they require is tofit them well round the waist and hips, and then lengthen by means of a circularflounce. Where great economy must needs be practised batiste can be used for lining silkor foulard gowns, and if the colour is well matched and the skirt finished off inside witha kilted flounce of glace silk, the effect is often excellent. Sun-rayed skirts are still consiered the smartest wear and many of these will be worn by well-dressed women at thenear approaching Dublin Horse Show. In order to avoid a bulky appearance on the hips,these skirts are often set into a plain hip piece. Many of the big firms are disposing at extremely low prices of sun-rayed skirts in voile, crepe, muslin and grenadines, with suffi-cient material for the bodice. (The Irish times, 22.08.1903, p.6)

For the autumn there is no doubt that kasha, of which there are at least 150 varieties,will be the most fashionable material used in the making of costumes. It is found inevery conceivably pretty shade, and can be bought both plainly and with many patternsinterwoven. It can also be got in plaids, in brilliant tones of red and yellow, blue and yel-low, grey and black, and blue and green. Such plaids would doubtless scare the eye of abrawny Scot, but all the same. When made up by a clever dressmaker, combined withplain material can really be most effective.Even more attractive, because less conspicuous, is the kasha cloth with stripes andchecks, and these, when used as trimmings for dresses, costumes and cloaks, look exceedingly well. Woollen corduroys, the ribs being narrow or wide, will find many wearers, asboth materials wear well, and when trimmed with bands of fur and fur collar have a richeffect. Plain materials are all made with handsome borders and novelty is found by theclever manipulation of these borders. ...Even stockings show the tendency towards pat-terns and bright colours; but it is safe to say that in the best turned out women will avoid

over-elaboration in their foot gear, knowing, as they do, how apt it is to make their feetand ankles thick and clumsy.Red, having been seen so much throughout the summer, will give place to blue, which,in many charming shades, will be as popular as in the days of old, when every well-dressed woman had to number a navy-blue gown among her dresses.

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Scarves are still provided with the costumes, but as the season advances fur will taketheir place, for all women realise that there is nothing quite so becoming as fur near theface. (The Irish Times, 09.08.1924, p.14)

Appendix BMurtys Letter, The Irish Times, 1901

My Dear Denis, Its my own private opinion that we dont give the ladies a fair chance atthis big Horse Show of ours in Dublin. Some people may maintain that tis the horsesbringing the crowds to Balls Bridge form all parts of the world, including our own fourProvinces, but, as a close observer, I disagree in toto Horses, and especially Irishhorses, are good enough things in their way but what would the Horse Show be if therewasnt lovely Women in the Show Yard and in the Jumping Enclosure, arrayed in herbest, and adding to the exhibition that touch of grace and refinement without which thewhole thing would be only a kind of half-glorified horse fair. What the drop of crme isto a cup of tea; what the lump or two of sugar is to a glass of punch, so is the ladies to

the Horse Show, sweetening the decoction and removing all rawness of flavour. TheRoyal Dublin Society should be mighty obliged to the ladies, for its them that has trulymade Balls Bridge such a centre of attraction as it is for the civilised world at large inthe last week of August. They come in the crowds, and they come - in spite of what thewind and weather, always uncertain, may do - they come arrayed in their finest costumesand brightest colours, and with all thats persuasive and attractive in their appearancefrom the mans point of view. Isnt it a quare thing then, to see all the judging businessof the Show in the hands of them men? They dont seem to give the women a look in atall, in any judicial or other capacity and youll never see a lady on horseback in theShow, though theres Irish girls and Irish matrons who could give a good account of themselves in the jumping ground. Now, If the Dublin Horse Show was an AmericanInstitution, on American ground, so far as I can judge from what I hear of the positionof American Women, the fair sex would have a fair share in the management of some ofthe sections anyway, in return for their valuable patronage, and their hearty interest inthe whole business, but in Ireland we dont encourage them to come to the front, at all.Maybe the reason is because, as Irishmen, we are so bashful in the presence of the othersex. Or is it because we fancy that the ladies look better on the Grand Stand, or prome-nading about, discoursing to the men?

But enough of this philosophising, the question is, what clothes will I put on, for as soonas Ive this bit of a letter scribbled to you, Im off to Balls Bridge to meet their Excellencies and all the other fashionables. In past years the auld light blue silk waistcoat withthe flowered woodbine pattern on it was my Piece de Rsistance as my college friendwanst christened it; but with all these new Pan-Keltic notions, and the revived taste forthe auld ancient kilts, not to mention the passion for putting on riding breeches andleather leggings that seizes on so many innocent pedestrians in Horse Show week, Im ina regular quandary. Theres no such thing, as far as I can figure it out, as reconciling thecostume of Brian Boru with that of the modern paddock. You cant mix the classic kiltand shoulder scarf with a covert coat and riding breeches. What Im thinking of doing isto make a compromise as it wear, and array my figure in a Scotch mackintosh, which,while suggesting thoughts of the Gaelic will help to keep off the rain. I regard it as a

great victory when a man can mingle whats truly national and patriotic with whatstruly sensible and utilitarian.(Murty Irish Times, 31.08.1901, p.10)

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Appendix DThe Boycott of the RDS

By a resolution, which took effect, yesterday the Markets Committee [of the DublinCorporation] has decided to withdraw the use of the markets from all members of theSociety and from all persons who have any dealings with it. The object of this boycott isto force the Society to reform the personnel of its various committees, which is describeas being "overwhelmingly non-Catholic and anti-national." Of course, the charges of

bigotry and "anti-nationalism" are not true - as was proved conclusively by the society'sdecisions at its last general meeting. If then, then the Royal Dublin Society is governedby a body of "bigots and "die-hards", it is not likely to yield to the sort of pressure whichthe Committee seeks to put upon it. When it finds that it cannot hold its annual showswithout unpleasantness and loss it may cease to hold them at all. How does the MarketsCommittee propose to replace them? When it has killed the Royal Dublin Society howwill it compensate the country for a loss, which must impoverish every factor in the na-tional prosperity? ...It is exceptionally foolish and mischievous at the present time whenthe evil genius of destruction is at large in Ireland When the full bill for the last twelvemonths of civil strife is presented to the Irish people its dimensions will be appalling. In-

dustries have been ruined; enormous sums have been awarded as compensation for ma-licious injuries; hundreds of people whose labours swelled the national income have leftthe country; every day some fine house, which was, and might have been again, a centreof local employment goes up in flames. Argument about the authorship or motives of these calamities cannot effect the result, which is that Ireland is being devastated andthat, whether she finds piece in the end as a Kingdom, a Dominion, or a Republic,many years of hard work will not repair the ravages of the last few months. In such cir-cumstances, surely it is the duty of all good Irishmen, whatever they may call them-selves, to conserve at least those institutions which lie outside the domain of politics andhave given abundant proof of their value to the whole nation. The Royal Dublin Soci-ety is such an institution. (The Irish Times, 21.06.1921, p.4)

Appendix EThe Resentment of the RDS

The British reformers [Liberal party] and their Irish nationalist allies disliked the upper-class Anglo-Irish Royal Dublin Society. They regarded it as an exclusive private agency,hostile to Catholics, yet disbursing state grants. They were also critical of its cumber-some and inefficient organization.

A report was commissioned which made both criticisms of the society and recommen-dations for improvements, yet affirmed that the Society be considered as 'the great cul-tural association' for the spreading of knowledge of practical science, agriculture andthe arts. Most of the recommendations of the Report were adopted promptly by the So-ciety. (Turpin, 1989, p.248)

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Appendix FThe Census Returns of the Household of the Lord Lieutenant.

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Appendix FThe Census Returns of the Household of the Lord Lieutenant.

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page 1

Appendix GThe RDS, from the Irish Times, Tuesday, August 20th, 1901, p.3


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