Description:
The building of Killarney House was the most extensive project undertaken by the firm for a private client in the late nineteenth century. The Earl and Countess of Kenmare decided in 1872 to replace their existing family home in south Kerry with a much more impressive aristocratic residence on a nearby site.
The new house was originally designed by an English architect, George Devey, while William Henry Lynn of Belfast provided architectural expertise on the site. Joseph Collen (1856-1941), who began to work for the firm in his early twenties, took charge of the building project.