Kilfane Glen and Waterfall
A ROMANTIC LANDSCAPE within the demesne of Kilfane House was developed during the 1790's by a particularly cultured and sensitive landowner and his wife, Sir John and Lady Power. Sir Richard Power, twin brother of Sir John also joined in the development of the garden. The family were leaders of intellectual society within the southeast of Ireland during this period, founding the Kilkenny Theatre, a venture with far reaching influence within the area. They amassed a notable collection of books, one of the most important libraries within the country, and their estate and mansion were, at the turn of the 18th and during the 19th centuries, models of the most modern taste and advanced design.
Under the influence of Rousseau and the Romantic movement, a trend had begun in the final days of the 18th century for the improvement of parks, demesnes and gardens in a new style: more rugged and wild, expressionistic landscapes became the preferred mode, away from the earlier arcadian, pastoral, sublime fashions of the early 18th century. The use of water (cascades and waterfalls) for most dramatic effect, the exploitation of more savage and withdrawn places (ravines and valleys), and the introduction of architectural caprices (caves and grottoes), combined to create and heighten a series of picturesque scenes which might embody the perfect Romantic attitude and transport the soul in a sweet and tender melancholy.
In the Kilfane estate, a most apt and appropriate location for this exercise was presented by a ravine on the edge of the demesne. This piece of ground is shown on the 1795 estate map, immediately before the Powers commenced work, as a woodland of beech, sweet chestnut, oak, larch and Scots pine. The ground involved under ten acres in all (excluding the 1 mile long overland water canal), making the undertaking attractive and affordable for a minor landlord of limited resources. The dramatic and natural features of the place presented an unequalled opportunity for the creation of a secluded landscape: a tumbling and cascading stream winds through a narrow valley floor, surrounded by sheer rock faces and outcrops, 30 to 50 feet high, and slanting drops strewn with boulders. Continue