At his death 47 years later, the main building was still unfinished, and in the aftermath of the Great Famine (1845–1852), came near to being sold. By the 1860s, the third earl, Henry Dawson-Damer succeeded in bringing Emo Court to a state closely resembling that which stands today. Some elements of the basic structure are faithful to the original plans of James Gandon. However, while Gandon was involved in the first twenty years of its building, given how long the building was in development, little more than his name can be connected with the house which finally came into being.