Richard Croker, late of New York, lives on a beautiful farm of five
hundred acres overlooking the Irish Channel, about nine miles south of
Dublin, about two miles from the coast and four miles north of the
ancient town of Bray, which has been celebrated so many times in song
and story. It is an ideal country seat. He has shown the highest degree
of taste in selecting the site and improving the property. He calls it
Glencairn, and the name is chiseled upon the massive pillars that
support a pair of iron gates. These gates are usually open, for he
retains his democratic habits and is an excellent exemplar of Irish
hospitality. Following a short drive between masses of rhododendrons,
laburnums, and hawthorn trees, with friezes and wainscotings of glowing
flower beds, one soon reaches a handsome and well-proportioned miniature
castle of white granite of pleasing architectural design. And from a
flagpole that rises at the top of the tower Mr. Croker sometimes unfolds
the Stars and Stripes.
Several people told me that there is no finer place for its size, and
Mr. Croker's home is estimated among the first dozen of country seats in
Ireland. It was a rough tract of land when he bought it from one of the
judges of the Irish courts, and had been neglected for many years. At a
large expense and a great amount of labor he has turned it into a little
paradise. What was formerly a wild waste is now one of the loveliest
landscapes you can imagine. The house is surrounded by a lustrous lawn
and a garden of flowers and foliage plants, and behind it is a series of
large hothouses in which he is raising orchids and early fruits and
vegetables. About one hundred acres are in wheat, oats, potatoes, and
other crops, about ten acres in garden, and the remainder of the five
hundred acres is meadow and pasture.
The interior of the mansion is handsomely furnished according to the
conventional requirements of a wealthy country gentleman, and the walls
are hung with paintings representing racing incidents and famous race
horses of the present and the past. At one end of the portico at the
main entrance is a large screen of white canvas covered with cryptograms
of Egypt, cartouches of the Pharaohs and other designs which Mr. Croker
brought back with him from his visit to the Nile last winter. And in the
main hall are several other Egyptian souvenirs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account