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THE RIGHT MATERIALS

When Mitchell Henry and his architects were planning to build the castle and later the neo-Gothic Church,
they had to decide where to locate the buildings, what they were going to look like and, most importantly,
what they were going to be made of. The castle was built using granite (stone) from Dublin and on the inside
lots of white marble from Italy and other expensive materials that were fashionable at the time. How do you
think they got all of those materials to Kylemore; remember there were no cars or trucks like we have today?

Let’s take a closer look at the materials used to build and decorate the
Gothic Church some of the materials were local but some had to come from as
far away as France and Germany and they were all chosen for special reasons.

The Right Materials

Irish Limestone for the exterior, The marble columns are made Caen stone from the north of France,
chosen for its light grey colour of four types of Irish marble. chosen for its beautiful yellow
and because it can be chiselled to Green from Connemara, red from colour and its suitability for carving
make elegant windows, spires, and Cork, black from Kilkenny, and details like flowers, leaves and birds.
statues. Limestone is found in other grey from Armagh. They were
colours from dark grey to pink! chosen for their beauty and to
show the Henrys’ love of Ireland.

Look Closer
Take a look at this photo which peaks through the
door of the neo- Gothic Church. How many different
building materials can you name?

Look at: the door, the doorhandle and the decorative
hinge; the windowpanes and frames; the walls and
the floor.

Now look around your class room: See what
different materials you can find. How many can you
count? Name them. Why do you think each of these
materials was chosen?

Nowadays, lots of objects that were once made from
wood and metal are manufactured in plastic; for
example, chairs, desks, windows and whiteboards.
As well as the natural materials pictured here, list all
the things in your classroom made from plastic.
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