Russborough was built by Joseph Leeson, the son of a wealthy Dublin brewer and property speculator who died in 1741, leaving his son, at the age of 30, sole heir to a vast fortune. Joseph bought the lands at Russborough just months after his inheritance and appointed architect Richard Castle, Ireland’s most sought-after architect and devotee of Palladian design, to build for him a great country seat.
While the house was being built Joseph embarked on two Grand Tours to acquire a suitably impressive collection of paintings, sculpture and furnishings to adorn his new home. Back at the Russborough, Ireland’s and Europe’s finest artisans and craftspeople were appointed by Castle to create a truly lavish interior. Leeson’s new home was completed about 1752.
Joseph Leeson achieved a lifelong ambition in 1763 when he became the 1st Earl of Milltown.
The Milltown title was not to last long. Four of the seven Earls of Milltown died without an heir, making the title dormant by the late 19th century. Their legacy survives however, due to the unprecedented actions of Lady Geraldine Evelyn Milltown, widow of Edward Nugent, the 6th Earl of Milltown.
In 1902, in memory of her husband, the dowager Countess donated most of the art, furniture, silver and other collections established by the 1st Earl, to the National Gallery of Ireland. The Milltown collection remains a core part of the national collection to this day, with many key pieces on display at Russborough.
Russborough was inherited by Edmund Russborough Turton, a grandson of the 4th Earl in 1891, and remained in the Turton family until 1931 when it was bought by Captain Denis Daly.
Russborough is unique – designed and built to an unrivalled standard, it has been adored by the three families that have lived here. Because of their extraordinary love for the house, it has survived, largely unaltered, since the 18th century.
Denis Daly OBE came from Dunsandle House, near Lough Rea in Co Galway, where the family were wealthy landlords. He and his wife, Maeb Lennon, from Enfield, Co Meath, whom he married in 1930, paid €9,000 for Russborough in 1931. Their first daughter, Anne, was born in 1933, and Anne's Garden at Russborough, named after her, survives to this day as a lovely private garden at the back of the West Wing. Avia, a second daughter, followed in 1936. These were the last children to call Russborough home. In 1952, the Dalys sold the house and estate to the Sir Alfred and Lady Clementine Beit, owners of a world-class European fine and decorative arts collection.
When his father Otto died in 1930, Alfred became heir to the Beit Collection, established by his uncle Alfred and developed further by his father. Extraordinary wealth generated in South African diamond mining in the late 19th century made German-born uncle Alfred, one of the richest men and most noted art collectors in the world, at the end of the 19th century. The collection installed by the Beits in their new home, featured world-renowned works by leading Dutch, British and Spanish artists including Jan Vermeer, Henry Raeburn, and Francisco de Goya.
The Beits immersed themselves in Irish life and Alfred served on the Board of the National Gallery and Wexford Opera for many years. While they continued to spend part of each year in London, and in South Africa working with the Beit Trust, Russborough was their home, used as a private retreat and a place to entertain new Irish friends along with their British social set. Their commitment to protect the house and collection for future generations led them to establish the Alfred Beit Foundation in 1976, the house opened to the public two years later. In 1987, in another remarkable act of philanthropy, Sir Alfred and Lady Clementine Beit donated seventeen masterpieces to the National Gallery of Ireland.
Russborough is unique – designed and built to an unrivalled standard, it has been adored by the three families that have lived here. Because of their extraordinary love for the house, it has survived, largely unaltered, since the 18th century.