Lot 41: Santry by the Phoenix monument in Santry Court Park, Santry

William Brocas, R.H.A. (Irish c.1795-1868) Santry by the Phoenix monument in Santry Court Park, Santry inscribed ''SANTRY.'/by 'SULTAN' (Arab) out of/'ORWELL' (Suffolk Punch)' (lower centre) oil on canvas 28 x 36 in. (71 x 91.5 cm.)

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William Brocas was the third son of Henry Brocas. Together with his father and brothers, he was an exhibitor at the Dublin Society of Artists in 1809 and 1812, and at the Royal Hibernian Academy from 1828 to 1863. The present picture shows another facet of Brocas's work as he was also well known as a painter of horses and animals.

Santry Court, Co. Dublin, an important early 18th Century house had originally been built in 1703 by the 3rd Lord Barry of Santry, with curved sweeps and wings added circa 1740-50 by the 4th Lord Barry of Santry. The house was inherited by the Domvile family on the death of the 4th Lord Barry of Santry in 1751. Sir Compton Domvile, 1st Bt. (d.1857), of Santry, whose aptly named racehorse is shown here in the grounds of Santry Court, was a Member of Parliament for eighteen years and had been created a Baronet in 1815. Santry was to remain in the possession of the Domviles until the death of Sir Compton Domvile, 4th Bt., in 1935, when it passed to his nephew Sir Hugo Poe, 2nd Bt., who assumed the name Domvile. The house was later gutted by fire and demolished. The column in this picture is a smaller version of the monument in Phoenix Park. For further information on Santry Court see M. Bence Jones, Burke's Guide to Country Houses, I, Ireland, London, 1978, p.254)