riverstown house

When the Italian stuccodores Paolo and Filippo La Francini came to Ireland in 1734 their first and most important early work was for Jemmett Browne, later Archbishop of Cork. In the 1730s Dr. Browne enlarged and remodelled the original 1602 Riverstown House. The La Francinis adorned the ceiling of the dining-room with allegorical figures representing 'Time rescuing Truth from the Assaults of Discord and Envy' and also its walls with classical figures and exuberant rococco flowers and foliage. The house remained in the Browne family until the present century but by the 1950s the house was empty and decaying. It was bought in 1965 by the present owners Mr and Mrs John Dooley and sympathetically restored with the help of the Georgian Society. The house has been attractively furnished with period furniture.