Family History
Rossnaree houses the well-kept family secrets and stories of both Aisling and Robert Law.
Rossnaree was purchased by the Law family in the early days of the Free State (1925). There are portraits of the Law ancestors, one of whom notably founded the Bank Of Ireland with the Finlays.
The front portion of Rossnaree was built by the previous owners, the Osborne family of Dardisdown Castle, who owned the property from about 1720. The Osborne family initially held Rossnaree from the Earl of Drogheda (the Moore family) who went bankrupt; locals believed that the renowned Moore family attracted ill fortune by successfully bidding for the lands and fisheries of the suppressed Mellifont Abbey. The Earl of Drogheda and the Osbornes originally kept hounds on the site of the present house. In 1855 an Osborne built the main building onto the huntsman‘s modest dwelling.
Robert‘s mother, Judy Law, lived at Rossnaree and kept the house until Robert and Aisling returned from Africa in 2000, with their son Emile and daughter Iseult. Sadly, Robert Law passed away in 2004. He was a barrister at the Middle Temple in London and the Kings Inns, Dublin, and spent eight years living with the family in Uganda - during which time he helped draft the Ugandan constitution. Robert had an encyclopaedic memory, particularly for apposite snatches of poetry, doggerel and song. He had an inexhaustible fund of anecdote, always told with gusto and earthy humour. He was a great historian and storyteller and is remembered for his huge generosity of spirit. Robert was involved with IWAI, An Taisce (who own the Boyne Navigation Canal) and with local heritage and amenity groups. The land of Rossnaree runs down the river and the canal and Robert was always passionately interested in the landscape, the fishery and the history of the area, on which he was a great authority.
Aisling comes from a family of artists. Her great grandmother, Maud Gonne, is one of the most famous romantic figures of Irish history. Gonne was renowned for her radical political beliefs and tireless effort to promote Irish independence. She founded the revolutionary group, the Daughters of Erin and, with William Butler Yeats, helped to establish the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Yeats fell in love with Maud Gonne and his feelings inspired the majority of his romantic poetry. Gonne later married John MacBride, a major of the Irish Brigade, who was one of the executed leaders of the 1916 rebellion in Dublin. She remained close friends with Yeats until his death in 1939.
Maud Gonne‘s daughter Iseult married Francis Stuart, a prolific Irish writer who died in 2000 after receiving Ireland‘s highest literary award, the Saoi of Aosdana, for his prodigious output of prose and poetry.
Aisling‘s mother, the German born Irish sculptor Imogen Stuart, is one of Ireland‘s most respected artists. Imogen, the elder daughter of Germany‘s leading art critic of the Thirties, and a pupil of Otto Hitzberger, moved to Ireland a few years after the war and has been a professional artist all her working life. (Left, picture 3, Imogen Stuart's sculpture 'Mother and Child' Bronze 1990, Fernhill Gardens). Imogen's biography 'Imogen Stuart: Sculptor' by Brian Fallon (Four Courts Press, 2002) is available to buy on Amazon.com. Aisling‘s father Ian Stuart, the son of Iseult Gonne and Francis Stuart, is also a sculptor who has work in The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Aisling and Robert worked together to preserve the wealth of family history at Rossnaree, whilst also refurbishing the interiors with rare art and textile collections from their extensive travels in Africa. Aisling has her own silvermark issued by Dublin Castle and has trained in Austria and Africa where she made unique jewellery from ‘Congo Gold‘ using the lost wax method. Aisling has worked in many mediums including film and sculpture. After living in Florence, where she trained in the classical techniques of drawing and oil painting in an atelier south of the Arno River, Aisling founded the Rossnaree School of Art and has opened three studios at Rossnaree running courses throughout the year.
