The Lafranchini brothers, originally from Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, are famed today for their work in rococo

Rococo

Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

 style stucco

Stucco

Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...

, chiefly in the great palladian houses of Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

Paul Lafranchini (1695–1776) worked for James Gibbs

James Gibbs

James Gibbs was one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Scotland, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. In 1736 he went to Ireland where he worked for the architect Richard Cassels

Richard Cassels

Richard Cassels , who anglicised his name to Richard Castle, ranks with Edward Lovett Pearce as one of the greatest architects working in Ireland in the 18th century. Cassels was born in 1690 in Kassel, Germany. Although German, his family were of French origin, descended from the...

. In 1739 he was joined in Ireland by his brother Philip (1702–1779). Together they worked on their masterpiece, the saloon

Bar (establishment)

A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...

 at Carton House

Carton House

Carton House was one of Ireland's greatest stately homes and one time ancestral seat of the Earls of Kildare and Dukes of Leinster. Located west of Dublin, in Maynooth, County Kildare, the Carton demesne runs to 1,100 acres . For two hundred years it possessed the finest example in Ireland of a...

, Co. Kildare, designed by Cassels. Here they created an ornamental plaster-work ceiling depicting the Courtship of the Gods.

They worked on many major projects with Cassels, including Russborough and Tyrone House

Tyrone House

Tyrone House was built in 1779. It is situated on a promontory by the sea, about two miles from the village of Kilcolgan, County Galway, Ireland. It was a big solemn house, grandly planned, three stories high, built on a height, in order to dominate the surrounding land and sea...

 in Dublin. The decorative features they created, which included rosette

Rosette (design)

A rosette is a round, stylized flower design, used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity. Appearing in Mesopotamia and used to decorate the funeral stele in Ancient Greece...

s, swags, flora and fauna, decorated the ceilings and walls of many of Ireland's greatest 18th century houses, giving these mansion

Mansion

A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...

s the individualism which distinguishes them from other palladian revival houses in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.