Bonus: An Irish Childhood in a Stately Mansion

Irish History Podcast

Fin Dwyer

Ireland, Irish History, Norman Invasion, Great Hunger, Vikings, Interviews, History, War Of Independence, Great Famine

4.7 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 19 September 2016

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

TV series like Downton Abbey offer a sensationalised view of life in Stately Homes but what was it really like? This podcast uses the never before published words of Florence Doreen Wandesforde who wrote a short account of her childhood in Castlecomer House before she died in 1999 at the age 95.

This is a fascinating insight to the world of upstairs-downstairs. Doreen and her family had their own butler, cook, servants and even gym instructor. Their house had a heated swimming pool in the early 20th century! She even met King George V and Queen Mary. However she also gives an insight into the simplicity of children's games and the tragedies inflicted on her family during World War I.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Attention at all passengers. You can now book your train tickets on Uber and get 10% back in Uber credits to spend on your next train journey.
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0:19.9	Imagine you, you in a nice comfy seat with your hands behind your head taking in the views instead of taking on the road, maybe even a nap.
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0:38.0	Book your train journey via avantuouscoast.coz.coco. UK and we'll take you there.
0:44.3	Avanti west coast feel good travel. Hello and this is this is Childhood in a stately home.
0:55.0	Hello and welcome to the Irish History Podcast.
1:00.0	My name is Finn Duwar and this is Childhood in Estately Home.
1:05.0	I had planned to have the final episode of Fatal Feudes out this week, but I ran out of time before heading off on holidays and I couldn't finish the episode. I have had this show on the
1:16.0	back burner for a while though and it's on a topic that has an enduring appeal from TV shows like
1:21.8	upstairs downstairs true to downtown Abbey, the modern
1:25.3	appetite for documentaries and series on the houses and lives of the aristocracy at the turn of
1:31.4	the 20th century seems insatiable. In this podcast I'm going to look at what
1:36.7	this world was really like. It's often sensationalised on TV, but when I was researching my series, Secret Societies, Communism and
1:45.8	Cole, life in the Castle Comer Coel fields, I stumbled across a unique firsthand account
1:51.5	of a childhood written by someone who grew up in one of these houses in the early 20th century.
1:58.0	Florence Doreen, prior Wandisford, spent most of her childhood at Castle Comer House, a large stately mansion in North Kekenny.
2:06.0	Not long before she passed away in 1999 at the age of 94, she wrote a brief recollection of her childhood in a world that had disappeared by the late
2:15.6	20th century.
2:16.6	Florence Storian's fascinating account reveals life in a house where she and her siblings were served by a large living staff, met the British royal
2:26.2	family but also experienced tragedy in World War I.
	...

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