January 2009

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The generosity of the credit scheme is balanced by an element of risk on the donor’s part. The works in question must be purchased in full by the donor before the Revenue decides whether they comply with the definition of ‘pre-eminence’, and its own valuation – not necessarily the purchase price – is the amount that can be offset. Also, costs incurred by donors are not eligible for relief. Rarely, however, can this scheme have had such a happy outcome, and the Irish Heritage Trust and McCarthy family are to be congratulated for their determination to bring these pictures back to Fota. The government also deserves credit for having kept the tax credit open while the prolonged negotiations continued.

The Wood collection consists of more than 60 paintings, together with some 40 pieces of furniture. It was formed on strict academic principles to give an account of early Irish painting, and particularly the rise of the 18th-century landscape school. Wood was among the earliest collectors to focus on this field, and highlights include notable works by William Ashford, Robert Carver and Thomas Roberts (Fig. 8). The scarcity – and current market value – of these ‘Old Masters’ of Ireland makes this a donation of unparalleled significance. The Irish Heritage Trust now owns the third most significant public collection of Irish art in the state.

The severe neo-classicism of Morrison’s designs was a guiding spirit behind Wood’s acquisitions a generation ago; he wrote how the house was the ‘natural setting’ for his pictures.3 The landscape of Fota, set on a island in Cork harbour, with gardens and arboretum of international significance (Fig. 5), will provide a glorious backdrop to the arcadian vision of Irish 18th-century painting on show within.

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