Does anyone know any contact details for the owners/maintainers of Daramona House/Observatory in Westmeath, or if is it possible for the public to visit the grounds?
Dr Ian Elliot whom retired from Dunsink Observatory would probably know. DIAS may have his contect details or he could be in a Dublin telephone directory.
He orchestrated a petition awhile back to save the demolition of the house. I believe the petition worked and it may be listed as a heritage house.
Its a good while since I was there. The original house was derelect. The observatory is no longer there.
I did discover amongst the debris within the house old photographic plates of galaxies and nebulae. They were supurb images for 19 century photo technology.
Probably the Daramona images were some of the best images ever taken in the 19 century after A.A.Common's images, although one Orion nebula image by Wilson was superior to Common's image.
I also came across drawings of Jupiter in colour. They were buried amongst other debris. I had spent most of the day scouring the grounds for any
other artifacts of a historical nature. I was amazed to find all these artifacts from the observatory and with luck I understood much later that the house was to be demolished
I passed these historical artifacts onto Dunsink Observatory for preservation. At the time the house and grounds
were owned by a farmer. Thats about as much as I know.
  