Last of their line: the disappearing Anglo-Irish in 20th-century fictions and autobiographies

It is a truism that the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy class in twentieth-century Ireland declined in numbers, until they could more accurately be described as a Descendency. They were unusually fecund in the charting of their own demise, producing an impressive range of fiction and non-fiction. Here, I explore a selection of their writings which are suffused with gothically atmospheric depiction of decaying buildings and dwindling dynasties, surrounded by paradoxically flourishing horticulture.