30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Inside one of the world's biggest doll houses at The Little Museum of Dublin
Visitors from all over the globe are travelling to The Little Museum of Dublin to see one of the world's largest and most astonishing dollhouses.
After a year-long, €4.3 million makeover, the quirky and award-winning museum reopened last month. A new addition is Tara's Palace, a 2.5-metre by 4-metre miniature doll house modelled on three great 18th-century Irish mansions: Leinster House, Castletown House and Carton House.
No detail has been overlooked in the making of the not-so-miniature home. With little mice made from bone carvings and tiny plates meticulously handcrafted from porcelain, any adult would love to play with this masterpiece. The "Tara's Palace" dollhouse which is on display at the Little Museum of Dublin. It's a large, Georgian-style dollhouse, inspired by Irish houses, that took master craftsmen over 20 years to build and furnish (Image: SAM BOAL/COLLINS) The little mice in Tara's Palace dollhouse made from ivory (Image: SAM BOAL/COLLINS)
Of course, to preserve this delicate piece it can't be handled - but it is extraordinary to look at and admire the thousands of tiny details. The incredible structure took over a decade to create by Tommy Clancy, Paul Geoghegan, Con Lee and Michael Walton.
It came about after Titania's Palace - a dollhouse made in the early 1990s for the owner of Merrion House, Sir Nevile Wilkinson - was sold to England. President of the Irish Antique Dealers Association, Ronnie McDonnell, tried to buy it when it went up for auction in 1978.
However, he was the underbidder and Lego in Denmark bought it for £130,000. Mr McDonnell was so upset that he formed Tara's Palace Trust and set out to build a new magnificent dollhouse for Ireland.
Tara is a fairy inspired by Irish folklore and projections put in place for the house show a shadow-like creature frolicking around her massive mansion. The gorgeous structure now sits in the Little Museum of Dublin. Before last month, it had been in storage for years after its departure from Powerscourt House.
Deputy curator of the museum, Dr Daryl Hendley Rooney, said it's an incredible addition, as miniature enthusiasts travel from all over the world to see Tara's Palace. He said: 'I took a call last week from a lady in Memphis in America and she said: "I heard through the grapevine, do you know anything about Tara's Palace?" Deputy curator of the museum, Dr Daryl Hendley Rooney, showing off the gorgeous dollhouse (Image: SAM BOAL/COLLINS)
'And I said it's here so she is going to visit this summer. There are people around the world, miniature modelling enthusiasts, who have gone out of their way just to see Tara's Palace here in Ireland, so it is a draw.
'It's a museum in itself when you know the details and you have a sense of the history of the rooms and different elements. You could do an entire guided tour just on Tara's Palace.'
There are 25 rooms in the Georgian-inspired dollhouse that encapsulate every part of life in the 18th century. From the grand entrance hall to the men's sitting area and games room, it encompasses the high-flying life of the upper class.
The library is one of the most fascinating rooms, with cabinet-makers Lenehan Brothers of Drogheda making the bookshelves and the floor. Every miniature book is also readable with a magnifying glass, as the makers were adamant that all elements of the house were usable. Books in the "Tara's Palace" dollhouse, which is on display at the Little Museum of Dublin (Image: SAM BOAL/COLLINS)
There are over 1,500 individual pieces in the room, as Thomas Ryan painted an exquisite Georgian-inspired ceiling. The Ivory Room is one of the most exquisite and fascinating rooms in the house. It has miniature Ivory furniture from Goa in India - some of which was made by French prisoners of the Napoleonic period.
Prisoners made these pieces from small bones recovered from their food rations. At the back of the structure, visitors also get a sense of how the 'other half' lived.
The housekeeper's rooms and the servant's kitchen show quainter rooms with more modest furniture and decoration. Mr Hendley Rooney said: 'The great thing about Tara's Palace is it gives you not just a sense of the great and the good and how they live but how life was for the staff with the kitchens and the workshops and the garage.
'It is a great example of Irish craftsmanship. When you really think about the detail and the effort that went into this, that's when you really get the appreciation, it's not just cobbled together with plastic.'
The historian said visitors should take the time to look at all the tiny details in each room, because it's extraordinary. The "Tara's Palace" dollhouse (Image: SAM BOAL/COLLINS)
He continued: 'The games room really captures the imagination with the billiards table, it is really great and it gives you that idea of the gentleman, the good and great of Georgian society and the way they lived their life with such grandeur.
'I am fascinated by the tiny little forks, they are individual prongs and the crystal glasses are real crystal and the plates are porcelain.
'The level of detail is extraordinary, it's not just making something look like a chair or plate or candlesticks, they are actually working candles, you could light them, there are wicks in them and they are made of wax. And the little bottle of champagne actually has a drop of champagne in it.'
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