Irons defends his peachy castle
2001-05-31 11:29
Dublin - Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons has defended the peach-pink colour of a 15th century Irish castle he has spent three years restoring in picturesque West Cork in the south of the country.
The final colour of Kilcoe Castle has caused controversy but Irons, writing in the Irish Times on Wednesday, said Irish people "fight grey winter skies with a gaiety and a riot of colour".
Irons, who is married to Irish actress Sinead Cusack, is believed to have spent about a million punts ($1.17 million dollars) on the restoration.
He writes that only a fool "with more money than sense" would have tackled the restoration project without grants or tax breaks.
Irons, who received an Oscar for his performance in Reversal of Fortune in 1991, adds, "Maybe I'm the man."
He describes how he fell in love with the "beautiful ruin, dangerous and romantic".
Built in 1430, it had been ignored and vandalised for decades.
Irons had hoped to keep the original stonework on view but when the storms came, "the water poured through the walls by the bucketful".
Forced to waterproof the walls and cover up the stone, he travelled to see what people had done with castles in Scotland.
He ruled out a white finish to the rendering and decided on adding ferrous sulphate, or "copperass", to ten coats of limewash protection.
"It has turned the colour of fresh rust, or as those who have been so vociferous in print before coming to see for themselves would call it: peach."
Kilcoe Castle was the site of the last stand of the Irish McCarthy clan against the colonising English in 1603 when local clans were subdued. - DPA
- SAPA