WOOD CARVING REPRESENTING THE TALBOT COAT OF ARMS
WOOD CARVING REPRESENTING THE TALBOT COAT OF ARMS - AT MALAHIDE CASTLE
I had never visited Malahide Castle until the day I returned from working in California. A friend met me at the airport and as we both time to spare she suggested a visit to the castle before having a meal in Malahide. Today [1 June 2021] explored the grounds of the castle and saw this wood carving for the first time. Later when I searched for more information I came across a description which described this wood carving as the "Talbot & Forte" sculpture which is somewhat amusing.
The sculpture seen in my photographs represents the Talbot family crest. Unfortunately, I do not know the name or the artist or when it was carved.
The estate began in 1185, when Richard Talbot, a knight who accompanied Henry II to Ireland in 1174, was granted the "lands and harbour of Malahide." The oldest parts of the castle date back to the 12th century and it was home to the Talbot family for 791 years, from 1185 until 1976, the only exception being the period from 1649–60, when Oliver Cromwell granted it to Miles Corbet after the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland; Corbet was hanged following the demise of Cromwell, and the castle was restored to the Talbots. The building was notably enlarged in the reign of Edward IV, with towers added in 1765.
The estate survived such losses as the Battle of the Boyne, when fourteen members of the owner's family sat down to breakfast in the Great Hall, and all were dead by evening, and the Penal Laws, even though the family remained Roman Catholic until 1774.
Malahide Castle and its demesne was eventually inherited by the 7th Baron Talbot and on his death in 1973, passed to his sister, Rose. In 1975, Rose sold the castle to the Irish State, partly to fund inheritance taxes. Many of the contents, notably furnishings, had been sold in advance, leading to considerable public controversy, but private and governmental parties were able to retrieve some.
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