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heritage · Sunday 23 August 2026 · 12:00pm 
Library Talk with Peter Cox: Heritage At Risk
At The Library at Killruddery House · Southern Cross Road, Kilruddery Demense West, Co. Wicklow
At The Library at Killruddery House · Southern Cross Road, Kilruddery Demense West, Co. Wicklow
Peter Cox has spent more than 35 years working to keep Ireland’s historic buildings standing. As Managing Director of Carrig Conservation International - the firm behind projects at the National Gallery of Ireland, St. Mel’s Cathedral, and other landmark sites - he brings a level of expertise that is hard to match. This free talk, held during National Heritage Week 2026, puts that knowledge in front of anyone who cares about what Ireland’s built past faces right now. If you have an interest in old buildings, in conservation policy, or simply in what is quietly being lost, this is an hour and a half worth clearing your diary for.
The talk takes the official National Heritage Week 2026 theme - Heritage at Risk - and gives it real substance. Cox will examine the range of threats bearing down on Ireland’s built heritage today: climate change, chronic under-funding, gaps in legislation, and perhaps most urgently, the wave of inappropriate energy retrofitting that can cause serious long-term damage to historic fabric. His background spans chemical engineering and materials science, so the discussion goes beyond the abstract - he can explain precisely why certain interventions fail and what better approaches look like.
The setting adds to the occasion. The Library at Killruddery House is the only room that survives unchanged from the 17th-century original - the rest of that older structure was largely demolished in the early 1950s. The Brabazon family have lived here since 1618, and sitting in that room while someone talks about the fragility of the built past gives the subject an immediacy that a conference hall never could. Numbers are likely to be limited, so booking in advance is strongly recommended.
Killruddery House sits on the southern edge of Bray, just off the Southern Cross Road (R761). From Dublin, the DART runs to Bray station in roughly 30 minutes, and the estate is about a 20-minute walk from the station or a short taxi ride. By road, take the N11 south and follow signs for Bray South; the entrance to Killruddery is well signposted. Car parking is available on site.
Bray seafront is a short drive or walk from Killruddery, and the cliff walk to Greystones - one of the better coastal paths on the east coast - starts at the southern end of the promenade. There is more to see in Bray and across Co. Wicklow.
Heading to The Library at Killruddery House in Bray? Wicklow has plenty more to see. Read the Bray area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.