the house on the cover of the album...

      I'm not very interested in posting pictures of myself, and, so i suppose that you would not be either.. I am sure i will put some up at some point, if there is a request, but, i highly doubt that...So, for now, i will answer some questions that have been raised about the cover ......this is much more interesting...

                                           "The Illusion of Grandeur" cover artwork by
                                            Nicca Gade Christensen and Olav Resell.

  
    The stunning house in the picture is A house called Kenure House in Rush, Co Dublin. Originally built in 1703 by the Duke of Ormond and rebuilt after a fire in 1827 by Sir William Henry Roger Palmer, The 3rd Baronet, the architect was George Papworth, who was also responsible for designing King's Bridge, the bridge nearest the Dublin railway station Heuston Station(Formerly Kingsbridge Station).         

  The House had a fantastic history, but eventually the final Heir could not support the huge costs invovlved and everything was sold to the Irish Land Commission in !964 for 70,000 pounds. 

 To quote the website- "The contents of the house were auctioned in September 1964, the auction lasted four days and realised £250.000, which would be over £1,000,000 in present day values. As the people of Rush rambled round Kenure House during the auction, they were able to feast their eyes for the first time on its faded grandeur. Socially, Kenure had been a place apart from the ordinary life of the town, but it had been there for hundreds of years, an essential part of the Rush scene. The general feeling was one of regret and disbelief that it was disintegrating." 

And, so, after It's many years at the height of a high Society, It slowly became derelict...

   It was, after some years, deemed to be unsafe for the bums who were using it as their late night rendezvous and it was destroyed, save for the Portico. That was saved by outcry from the local community at the time.
  

 This is all that is left... like a bizarre monument to a fallen race plonked down from the heavens by an alien craft...

            Rush I.C.A., Rush by the Sea

 We grew up, picking tomatoes every summer on my Auntie Bridget's farm, right under the shadow of that strange monument, not knowing anything about it. Life is strange...Thanks to John Barrett for the link.

                        For the full incredible History from early Christian stone church to now, and all the accurate facts, (including the owners of the rights to the pictures etc, That i may fail to acknowledge here) please go to-    

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/history-heritage/big-houses-of-ireland/kenure-house/

 Stunning Stuff! It really is worth it! Even just to read the first page....  

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