Rokeby Park of Venus by Diego Velázquez, now known in English as The Rokeby Venus. The original now hangs in the National Gallery, London and a copy hangs in the saloon at Rokeby Park. Sir Walter Scott was a regular visitor to the house, and used it as the setting to his epic poem "Rokeby" in 1812. The building is also of interest in its own right. Completed in 1735 (and known at the time as Rokeby Hall) by Sir Thomas Robinson, it is considered a fine example of the italianate Palladian style. Robinson owned it until 1769, when he sold it
Thomas de Rokeby (died 1356) "one who paid well for his victuals, and did not rob the poor" (i.e. he did not abuse the much criticized system of purveyance). The citizens of Cork, protesting at his recall, referred to his "evident good work" in maintaining law and order. Otway-Ruthven contrasts his early successes with his disappointing later record and notes that the 1350s were later seen as the crucial decade in which the English Crown lost control of much of Ireland until the sixteenth century. Thomas de Rokeby (died 1356) Sir Thomas de Rokeby (died 1356 or 1357) was a soldier and senior Crown official