A study of historic designed landscapes of County Kerry

Kerry’s natural landscape comprises sweeping vistas of mountains, dense patchworks of irregular fields bounded by ditches, hedgerows and stone walls, lakes, rivers and lush flora. Its cultural landscape speaks of long human agency where past generations have transformed natural landscape settings to their needs, some working the land for survival, others moulding the landscape into aesthetic sites of cultural symbolism. Landscape is a record of legacy, where numerous meanings and orders can be seen and read, a spatial reference to social and cultural values of communities across time. These spaces combine history, culture, climate, geology, topography, politics, economics, architecture, and human activity. They are dynamic and reflect the impact of human endeavour and culture on the wider environment. Their conscious design combines function and art to create aesthetic cultural landscapes. Designed landscapes have, for centuries, brought the tourist to Ireland, tempted by views of a picturesque landscape that rivalled the best in Europe. Its landscapes hold visualised echoes of military campaigns and conquests, particularly since the English crown secured control of the country from the 1530s onwards. In the case of Kerry, much of its land was confiscated during the Munster Plantation from the 1580s and again during Cromwellian forfeitures from the 1650s. This thesis interrogates how to measure landscape value where fractured and complex histories have led to multiple and layered assessments of significance. It seeks to examine the central importance and interpretative value of Kerry’s designed landscapes. The opening chapter explores Kerry in the post-plantation period from the sixteenth century up to the nineteenth century to contextualise the research. The main body of the thesis comprises five rich case studies of Kerry’s designed landscapes to understand their significance and how the landscapes were designed and created. The concluding chapter presents key findings and recommendations and employs an inventory, a sample of thirty-five of Kerry’s designed landscapes which is included in a second volume.