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heritage · Sunday 23 August 2026 · 3:00pm 
Three Exceptional Ladies of Killruddery
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
A library talk on three women who shaped Killruddery House and the town of Bray - held in the very house where they lived. This is a Heritage Week event for anyone drawn to social history, Irish country-house life, or the quietly influential women who rarely made it into the main histories. It suits adults with an interest in archival research, local history, or the Wicklow estate landscape.
Killruddery’s Head Guide Barbara Cafferky sits down with volunteer archivist Sarah Greene to examine three generations of Brabazon women. The starting point is Harriot Brabazon (1811-1898), whose taste and ambition left a lasting mark on the house - the light-filled conservatory at Killruddery was built for her in 1852, inspired by the Crystal Palace in London, and legend holds that the family tiara was sold to fund it. Her daughter Kathleen (1850-1930) never married and spent her life at Killruddery, building a notable china collection displayed in specially designed niches throughout the house. Her daughter-in-law Mary Jane Brabazon (1847-1918) took a different path outward: a dedicated philanthropist, she helped finance the Dublin Artisans’ Dwellings and left her mark on Bray’s own streetscape.
The talk draws on archival research, family correspondence, and the social history of the estate. Barbara and Sarah are well placed to bring this material to life - one knows every room in the house, the other has spent years in the archive. The setting is the Library at Killruddery, the only room that survives unchanged from the 17th century, with its Carolean plasterwork ceiling, Chippendale bookcases, and carved chimney piece. An hour and a half in that room, with this material, is time well spent.
Advance booking is required. Not recommended for children under 12.
Killruddery House sits on the southern edge of Bray, just off Southern Cross Road. By car from Dublin, take the N11 south and follow signs for Bray South / Killruddery - the estate is well signposted, and free car parking is available on site. By rail, Bray DART station is roughly 2 km from the house; taxis are easy to find at the rank outside the station. The Dublin Bus 84 also serves the Bray area from the city centre. From Wicklow town, the N11 north takes about 20 minutes.
The house and its 17th-century gardens are worth lingering in after the talk - they are among the oldest formal gardens in Ireland and survive largely in their original layout. The seafront promenade and Bray Head walk are a short drive or taxi away for anyone wanting to stretch their legs. 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.