The House & Grounds

The Big House

The eleven comfortable rooms in the Big House include a bed, writing desk and a chair. Each has its own unique charm and character with a selection of books, ornaments and paintings. Ten of the rooms have en-suite bathrooms. Bed linen and towels are provided.

House and Grounds

Since the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig first opened many of the innumerable visitors to the house have commented on the fairytale aspect of the house and lake with its surrounding woods. Enter the white iron gates and there hanging in the air is the promise that something special lies ahead. And rarely is the visitor disappointed. The driveway circles the house – which looks larger and more imposing than its friendly, homely reality - and leads the car driver to a discreet parking area hidden by trees and more railings. Nothing interferes with the view of the house and lake, and standing in front of the steps leading to the house there is the sense that in some strange way here time has stopped, or at the very least telescoped.

In the early weeks after the Tyrone Guthrie Centre opened its doors to the first groups of residents there was much talk and speculation of the possible presence of ghosts within its walls. Eventually it was concluded that if there were ghostly presences watching over the house then they were most certainly blithe spirits. The history of the house and land reveals a rich tapestry that is interwoven with the history of the townlands of Aghabog, Killeevan and the province of Ulster with its warp and weft of historical fact and mythology creating both pattern and colour telling the story of the people who over several centuries called this place home.

The history of the land stretches back to prehistoric times, and reads like a microcosmic version of the history of the island as a whole. We can trace its trajectory through the recorded presence of a crannóg on Annaghmakerrig Lake and the heyday of the ancient clans until the end of the old Gaelic order in the seventeenth century, with in between, legends and stories relating to St Patrick and the Christianisation of ancient Ireland. Details can be found in the records left by industrious archaeologists and cartographers in Irish libraries and archives of Annaghmakerrig’s owners and their families who gave this very special place its distinct resonance.

There we can trace the passage of the families and their descendants that peopled the land and eventually built the house, passing it on through the generations as a proud inheritance, until it came to be the property and home of Sir Tyrone Guthrie. He it was who had the vision, generosity and faith to bequeath it to the State to become Ireland’s first Artists’ Retreat.

Today the House and grounds regularly appear or are the inspiration for poems, novels, paintings and music. Irish composer Ciaran Farrell has written a suite – Around and About which was directly inspired by the House and Lands. In his program notes he comments:

“Around and About was written during a stay at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, in Co. Monaghan after I returned from what can only be described as a shaky stay in Istanbul. A magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook the region for just under a minute on the 17th of August, 1999 causing widespread destruction and the deaths of over 17 thousand people. Hundreds of thousands were left homeless. The prospects of another large scale quake occurring left everyone on tender hooks and many, often violent, aftershocks did occur during the months that followed leaving everyone on constant alert and readied for house evacuation.

Shortly after I returned to Ireland, Irish guitarist John Feeley and flautist William Dowdall commissioned a new work for flute and guitar. I wanted to do something light to counter what I’d experienced during my Turkish residency and I also wanted to somehow pay tribute to the late Sir Tyrone Guthrie. The resulting piece, Around and About, (The Garden, The Lake and The Woods) is a reflection on the grounds of Tyrone Guthrie’s estate at Annaghmakerrig, in County Monaghan, which he left to the state to facilitate artists in their creative endeavours.

The piece is dedicated to his memory and it has since been arranged for a number of different combinations including flute and vibraphone, flute and piano, and sax and piano.”

Ciaran Farrell