Milford House, Milford, Co Carlow
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 206. “(Alexander/IFR). A dignified and well-proportioned two storey late-Georgian house, with a single-storey wing at one side. Five bay entrance front, with single-storey Ionic portico. Four bay garden front; two bay side. Parapeted roof. Chimneys all grouped into one long stack.”
Milford House, BALLYGOWAN, Milford, County Carlow
Detached five-bay two-storey over basement house, c. 1820, with granite Ionic portico and wing to side. Reroofed and partly remodelled internally, c. 1955. Interior retains original joinery, plasterwork and some replacement chimney pieces, c. 1955.
Record of Protected Structures:
Milford House, Milford. Townland: Ballygowan.
Detached five-bay two-storey over basement house, c. 1820, with granite Ionic portico and wing to side. Re-roofed and partly remodelled internally, c. 1955. Interior retains original joinery, plasterwork and some replacement chimney.
Importance: regional, architectural, interior, artistic
The Tower House, BALLYGOWAN, Milford, County Carlow
Detached three-bay two-storey estate farmhouse, c. 1840, with observation staircase tower on a circular plan.
Record of Protected Structures:
Tower House, Milford
Townland: Ballygowan
Detached three-bay two-storey estate farmhouse, c. 1840, with observation staircase tower on a circular plan.
Importance: regional, architectural, artistic.
Chapter 1: Alexander of Milford in Jimmy O’Toole, The Carlow Gentry: What will the neighbours say! Published by Jimmy O’Toole, Carlow, Ireland, 1993. Printed by Leinster Leader Ltd, Naas, Kildare.
“The Alexanders were one of the few entrepreneurial gentry families to settle in county Carlow, developing a hugely successful milling and malting business at Milford….In 1618, Reverend Andrew Alexander, a Scottish Presbyterian Minister, settled in Northern Ireland. Later generations of the family established a milling business in Belfast, before John Alexander travelled south in 1780s purchasing land in Milford, first from the Butlers of Garryhundon, and later from the La Touches. The first mill was built in 1790, and by the 1830s, turnover excluding malting was £195,000 a year. For the Alexanders, their business enterprises were of more importance thn their land ownership, which was little more than 2000 acres.
John Alexander’s son [p. 6], John Alexander II, was elected as MP for the Carlow borough in 1853 and again in 1857.
p. 7 Electric lights were installed in Carlow town in Nov 1890 and it was the first inland town in Britain or Ireland to be lit by electricity. From June 1890 the Milford mill supplied the electricity by their water wheel.”
When the first edition of Burke’s Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland (then known as ‘Burke’s Commoners’) appeared in 1833 it did not include an entry for the Alexanders of Milford, County Carlow. This must have been a matter of some disappointment to the family, as was their absence in subsequent editions until finally in 1871 when they were featured, albeit briefly. The history of the Alexanders is a tale of social ascendancy initially dependent on wealth, and the retention of the former even when the latter had gone. The founder of the dynasty, John Alexander, had modest origins but what he lacked in pedigree was amply compensated by entrepreneurial flair, and resulted in his acquisition of an estate sufficiently substantial for later generations to judge themselves members of the landed gentry. Late in life his heir, also called John Alexander (as remained the case with successive generations) wrote ‘There is not any subject so difficult to me as genealogy. I am very much behind in my knowledge of it as far as relates to my family. I have been endeavouring to grasp some particulars for your perusal, my object being to elicit the truth and to place my family in their right position.’ Likewise he had earlier insisted, ‘’I am not a “retired” merchant, never having served my time to any business, and during the years I was proprietor of the mills on this property, I took almost no part in the working of them’. All of which indicates a desire to distance himself from the mercantile activities which had formed the basis of the family fortune, and to ally himself with a class unsullied by sordid commercial transactions.
The first Alexanders arrived in Ireland as settlers from Scotland in the early 17th century, settling in the Limavady area. In the late 1750s John Alexander, a younger son, moved to Belfast where he became a successful merchant and land agent for the Earl of Donegall before also going into the milling business. His eldest son, likewise called John, moved to County Carlow in 1784 with the intention of becoming involved in the last profession and there joined forces with a wealthy Roman Catholic corn merchant and miller called James Conolly. Already Carlow had become one of the country’s principal area’s for corn production: between 1769 and 1784 the amount of corn sent there to Dublin grew from just 78 stone to 382,953 stone, an astonishing increase. This growth was driven by entrepreneurial businessmen like Conolly and young John Alexander. The former already owned a mill on the river Barrow a few miles from Carlow town, in a townland called Ballygowan, and this was the business John Alexander joined and expanded, notably after 1790 when at the age of 26 he took over direct responsibility for its management. The result was further rapid growth, not least thanks to the construction of additional and larger milling buildings on the site, by then given the name it has carried ever since, Milford. Within three years the mill had become County Carlow’s largest supplier of flour to the capital. In addition, Alexander embarked on a second enterprise on the same site: the production of malt. To the east of the flour mill, he constructed Ireland’s largest and most powerful malthouse, thereby establishing his predominance in a second field. During this period of expansion, Alexander lived in a modest single-storey, three-roomed thatched dwelling adjacent to the mills. However, in 1799 it was time for him to build a residence befitting his status as a wealthy man.
Now for sale for the first time since built, Milford House appears to have been designed by its first occupant, mill owner John Alexander who married not long after construction was complete and then gradually acquired an estate of more than 2,000 acres. Facing west, the core of the building is of five bays and two storeys over basement, with a single-storey extension to the north added around 1813. As testament to Alexander’s want of social pretensions, the facade is unadorned other than a granite portico with four Ionic columns. Inside there is a similar want of ostentation, a generous entrance hall leading to the library at the front and drawing and dining rooms to the rear, and accordingly facing east. A staircase opening to the north of the hall leads to a first-floor lobby from which can be accessed six bedrooms. Since its construction, the house has undergone relatively little modification, the most immediately obvious being the insertion of plate glass in the ground-floor windows: this dates from the mid-1890s when John Alexander III married. It was during the same period that Milford benefitted from electrification: the former oat mill was then reconfigured as a hydro-electricity generating station, which led to nearby Carlow town being the first urban centre in Ireland or Britain to enjoy electric street lighting. Meanwhile the entrance hall had been re-decorated in 1883 with the William Morris ‘Pomegranate’ wallpaper still in place. The only other major intervention was the replacement of the main reception rooms’ chimneypieces. The originals were of plain Kilkenny marble but in the mid-1940s they were removed by Olive Alexander (wife of John Alexander IV) who bought that in the library when the contents of nearby and now-ruinous Clogrennane were being auctioned. Those today in the drawing and dining rooms appear to have been acquired around the same period in Dublin. However, Milford essentially retains its original character and is thus a record of how a mercantile family thrived and used the construction of a country house to assist its transformation into landed gentry.
€1,375,000 SALE AGREED
Milford House, Milford, Carlow Town, Co. Carlow
Milford House is a charming Georgian residence (built c.1799) that has never been on the market having remained in family ownership since its original construction. The Alexanders were originally millers and Milford Mill was built in 1791. Although they built up an Estate of c. 2,000 acres, they remained active Mill owners and entrepreneurs over the generations. In the mid 19th century Milford Mills was the largest flour mill in Ireland and despite the abolition of the Corn Laws in 1846 which damaged the economics of the enterprise, the site remained the focus of industrial employment into the 20th century. One of the earliest hydro-electric dynamos was installed in Milford Mills which supplied the town of Carlow with electricity in the 1890s. The Hydro-Electric Plant was completely refurbished in the 1980s and currently produces 250 kilowatts into the National Grid.
Milford House is an attractive 5 by 2 bay two storey house built in 1799 with a granite ionic portico and single storey wing to the left side. The entrance hall is bright and gives access to the library which is one of the wonderfully proportioned reception rooms with a dual aspect benefiting from a magnificent fireplace, chimney piece and ceiling plasterwork. The drawing room interlinks with both the library and dining room making for ideal entertaining space; the drawing room having a dual aspect (S and E), whilst the impressive dining room has an easterly aspect. All the reception rooms are bright with views overlooking the parkland. Other rooms on the ground floor include the kitchen with Aga cooker, breakfast room, TV room, cloakroom with w.c, w.h.b and shower, 2 bedrooms.
There is a wonderful staircase leading to first return with bathroom and walk-in hot press. Upstairs there is a central landing with 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, all with superb parkland views. The lower ground floor (the original service quarters) includes the old kitchen, cellar, pantry, office, tack room, internal garage and boiler room (all of which are ideally suited for additional accommodation if required with good ceiling height (10 ft 6 inches). Away from the house is the original stud yard with 25 stables and grooms house (which has independent access).
Milford House is approached down a long avenue past the front gate lodge. The drive winds through the post and railed paddocks with beech hedging to the main residence which has a very pleasant aspect looking over the parkland and the lawn field. There is a separate drive off the main avenue to the original stud yard. There is a fabulous 2 acre walled garden with a charming brook flowing through it and Victorian (1903) 3 bay greenhouse. The front and rear of the property are laid out in lawn interspersed with mature trees and shrubs ensuring colour at various times of the year. Furthermore there is wonderful two storey stone cut gardeners cottage with its own independent access. The Land is top quality, laid out in 4 paddocks, all in complete privacy and the feeling of being in the middle of a far larger estate.
Milford sits alongside the banks of the river barrow and is approximately 8km south of Carlow Town just off the R448 which is the old Carlow/Kilkenny Road. Carlow is the county town of Co. Carlow in the south east c. 84 km from Dublin. It has a population of c. 24,272 (Census 2016) and nestles on the River Barrow. The M9 Motorway is 2 km (Junction 6) and the famous heritage city of Kilkenny is c. 35 km south with Waterford Airport 70km. The well known national hunt trainer Willie Mullins trains at Closutton nearby.
Accommodation
Directions
From Dublin take the N7 signed Limerick, Cork, Waterford. Continue past Naas, soon afterwards progress onto the M9 (Exit 11, signed to Waterford). Continue on this road and take Exit 6 for Carlow Town. After c. 1km take the left and continue down this road for approximately 1km over the Barrow Bridge past the Mill, turn right over the bridge and go around sharp stone bridge and it is the first entrance on the left. From the South take the M9 from Waterford go past Kilkenny until you come to Exit 6, take the Carlow Road R448 and after c. 1km take the left and continue down this road for approximately 1km over the Barrow Bridge past the Mill, turn right over the bridge and go around sharp stone bridge and it is the first entrance on the left.
- Carlow 8 km Kilkenny 35 km Dublin 84 km (approximate)
- For Sale Freehold as a whole
- Tremendous shelter & many specimen trees
- Original period features throughout
- 1 bed Gate Lodge 2 bed Yard House & 2 bed Gardeners Cottage
- A range of 25 stables & walled garden with greenhouse
- Picturesque private setting on c.50 acres of parkland in permanent pasture
- Principal Residence approx. 10 946 sq. ft. / 1 017 sq. m.
- Georgian residence in wonderful private setting
The Rev. Dr. Andrew Alexander (d. 1641) who inherited lands at Eridy (Donegal) from his father [see post on the Alexanders of Enagh and Caw House], was the father of Capt. Andrew Alexander (fl. 1689) of Ballyclose, Newtownlimavady (Derry), who was one of those attainted for treason by the Irish Parliament at the behest of King James II in 1689. He married twice and had a single son by each marriage. The elder, Jacob Alexander, was the ancestor of the Alexanders of Ahilly; the younger, John Alexander I (d. 1747), inherited the family property at Ballyclose, and had in turn three sons: John II (1689-1766), from whom the Alexanders of Milford House descend; Nathaniel (1689-1761), ancestor of the Earls of Caledon (q.v.); and William (d. 1778), ancestor of the Cable-Alexander baronets.
John Alexander II (1689-1766) had a son, John Alexander III (1736-1821) who lived at a house called Ardmoulin in Belfast (Down) adjacent to a flour mill which he also owned. His son, John Alexander IV (1764-1843) built a large flour mill (Milford Mill) at Ballygowan beside the River Barrow near Carlow in 1790, and sometime afterwards, the nearby Milford House. Although they built up an estate of around 2,000 acres, they remained active millowners and entrepreneurs over the generations.
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| An early photograph of the picturesque setting of Milford Mill |
In the mid 19th century Milford Mills was the largest flour mill in Ireland and despite the abolition of the Corn Laws in 1846 which damaged the economics of the enterprise, and a major fire in 1862 which burned out one of the main buildings of the mill, the site remained a focus of industrial employment into the 20th century. Part of the site was still in use as a tannery when a further major fire took place in 1965. Today only one of the three main mill buildings survives, a crenellated shell beside the river.
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| A section of the 1st edition Ordnance Survey of Ireland map showing the relative location of the house and mills |
John Alexander IV had several sons who joined him in the mill business, but his eldest son, John Alexander V (1802-85) inherited Milford House and became MP for Carlow Borough 1853-59. His son, Major John Alexander VI (1850-1944), was an officer in the 1st Dragoon Guards, and installed one of the earliest hydroelectric dynamos at Milford Mills, which supplied the town of Carlow with electricity in the 1890s. His son, Major John Alexander VII (1898-1961) was the father of John Alexander VIII (1927-2017), who died recently.
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| A 19th century watercolour of Milford House. Image: Major Calloway |
A dignified five by two bay, two-storey house of c. 1820, with a granite Ionic portico and single-storey wing to left side. The garden side has a four-bay front. The parapeted flat roof dates from c.1955 when the house was partly remodelled internally, but the interior preserves some original joinery and plasterwork, as well as family furniture and pictures. There are some replacement chimneypieces of c. 1955. The house was advertised for sale in 2018.
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| Milford House before the remodelling of 1955. |
Descent: John Alexander (1764-1843); to son, John Alexander (1802-85); to son, John Alexander (1850-1944); to son, John Alexander (1898-1961); to son, John Alexander (1927-2017).
The Alexanders of Milford
Alexander, John (d. 1747), of Gunsland. Only son of Capt. Alexander Alexander (b. c.1640) and his second wife. He married Anne, daughter of John White of Cady Hill (Derry) and had issue:
(1) John Alexander (1689-1766) (q.v.);
(2) Nathaniel Alexander (1689-1761), alderman of Londonderry; married Elizabeth, second daughter of William McClintock of Dunmore (Donegal) and had issue five sons and six daughters; from whom descended the Alexanders, Earls of Caledon;
(3) William Alexander (d. 1778); married Mary Porter of Vicardale (Monaghan) and had issue; ancestor of the Cable-Alexander baronets of Dublin (who will be treated in a future post);
(4) Martha Alexander; married Alexander Kellie.
He inherited his father’s estates in Donegal and Derry and in 1717 bought the Gunsland estate in Donegal.
He died 12 March 1747.
Alexander, John (1689-1766) of Ballyclose, Newtownlimavady (Derry). Eldest son of John Alexander (d. 1747) and his wife Anne, daughter of John White of Cady Hill (Derry), born 1689. He married Sarah, daughter of Alexander MacCauley of Co. Antrim and had issue including:
(1) John Alexander (1736-1821) (q.v.).
He died in 1766.
Alexander, John (1736-1821) of Ardmoulin (Down). Eldest son of John Alexander (1689-1766) and his wife Sarah, daughter of Alexander MacCauley of Co. Antrim, born 26 January 1736. Flour mill owner in Belfast. He married, 29 May 1760, Anne, daughter of George Portis, and had issue:
(1) John Alexander (1764-1843) (q.v.).
He died 23 December 1821, aged 85.
Alexander, John (27 Feb 1764-16 Aug 1843) of Milford House. Only son of John Alexander (1736-1821) and his wife Anne, daughter of George Portis, born 27 February 1764. Flour mill owner at Milford (Carlow). He married, 8 September 1801, Christian (d. 13 Dec 1864 aged 87 years), daughter of Lorenzo Nickson Izod of Wilton and Chapelizod, and had issue:
(1) John Alexander (1802-85) (q.v.);
(2) Lorenzo William Alexander (1810-67) of Straw Hill (Carlow), born 22 October 1810; married, 25 June 1857, Harriet, daughter of Col. Henry Bruen MP of Oak Park (Carlow) and had issue two sons (one of whom became a coffee planter in Kenya and died there) and one daughter; died 21 September 1867;
(3) George Alexander (1814-93) of Erindale (Carlow), born 17 February 1814; educated at Middle Temple, London; barrister; JP for Co. Carlow; married, 28 February 1861, Susan Henn (d. 1895), daughter of Stephen Collins QC of Dublin and had issue four sons and one daughter;
(4) James Alexander (1818-92), born 8 March 1818; married, 12 July 1855, Lucia Margaret (d. 1893), daughter of Sir William St. Lawrence Clarke-Travers, 2nd bt., but died without issue;
(5) Rev. Charles Leslie Alexander (1820-88), born 28 April 1820; rector of Stanton-by-Bridge (Derbys), married, 26 January 1882, Hon. Emily Caroline Fremantle (d. 1929), daughter of 1st Baron Cottesloe but died without issue; died 13 May 1888;
(6) General Henry Alexander (b. 1822); born 17 August 1822;
(7) Anne Alexander (d. 1862), married, 6 October 1828, John Cranstoun; died without issue, 10 April 1862;
(8) Lucia Alexander (d. 1877); died 7 October 1877;
(9) Fanny Alexander (d. 1894), married, 19 October 1847, Rev. Charles Henry Travers (d. 1884), rector of Englefield (Berks), son of Capt. Thomas Otho Travers of Leemount (Cork) but died without issue, 20 May 1894.
He purchased the Milford estate of about 2000 acres and built Milford Mills, 1790 and Milford House, c.1820.
He died 16 August 1843, aged 79. His widow died in 1864.
Alexander, John (1802-85) of Milford House. Eldest son of John Alexander (1764-1843) and his wife Christian, daughter of Lorenzo Nickson Izod of Wilton and Chapelizod, born 26 July 1802. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (MA). Flour mill owner at Milford (Carlow); MP for Carlow Borough 1853-59; High Sheriff of Carlow, 1824. He married, 18 October 1848, Esther, daughter of Matthew Brinckley of Parsonstown (Meath) and had issue:
(1) John Alexander (1850-1944) (q.v.);
(2) William Cranstoun Alexander (1851-1934), born 5 November 1851; married, 8 February 1879, his cousin, Edith Caroline, daughter of Col. William Henry Longfield of Ashgrove (Cork); died 26 November 1934;
(3) Lorenzo Alexander (1853-1942), born 28 August 1853; lived at New Denver and later Victoria, British Columbia (Canada); married, 28 December 1899, Charlotte Catherine Louisa, daughter of Arthur John Campbell Gwatkin and had issue one son and one daughter; died 27 June 1942;
(4) Brig-Gen. Charles Henry Alexander RA (1856-1946), born 2 June 1856; officer in Royal Artillery; married, 17 March 1891, Isabel Annie, daughter of Gen. Sir Campbell Claye Ross KCB of Lothian House, Ryde (IoW) and had issue one son;
(5) George Alexander (1858-1930), born 20 June 1858; educated at Trinity College, Dublin, Middle Temple, London (admitted 1880) and Kings Inn, Dublin; barrister; he acquired property in Alberta and British Columbia (Canada), installed the first water system in Calgary in 1891 and had other enterprises, which he visited in summer; before his death he disposed of most of his Canadian assets; married, 2 January 1891, Louisa (d. 1941) daughter of Kennett Bayley of Inchicove (Dublin) and had issue one daughter and adopted another daughter, Anne; died 2 November 1930;
(6) Harriet Lucia Alexander, married, 8 July 1875, Lt-Col. Edward George Moore Donnithorne DL JP (d. 1906) of Colne Lodge, Twickenham (Middx) and had issue.
He inherited the Milford House estate from his father in 1843.
He died in October 1885, aged 83.
Alexander, Maj. John (1850-1944) of Milford House. Eldest son of John Alexander (1802-85) and his wife Esther, daughter of Matthew Brinckley of Parsonstown (Meath), born 23 September 1850. Major, 1st Dragoon Guards; JP; High Sheriff of Carlow, 1891. He married, 22 April 1896, Ethel (d. 1916), daughter of Kennett Bayley of Sevenoaks (Kent) and Inchicove (Dublin) and had issue:
(1) Jane Alexander (b. 1897), married Archibald Hamilton Busteed Moeran (1901-34) and had issue one son;
(2) John Alexander (1898-1961) (q.v.);
(3) Kennett Alexander (b. 1900) of Fonthill House, Raheendoran (Carlow); born 23 March 1900
(4) William Alexander (1901-60), born 13 May 1901; married, October 1936, Josephine Henderson and had issue one daughter; died 22 May 1960, aged 59;
(5) George Alexander (b. 1907), educated at Uppingham School; racehorse breeder and trainer in Kenya, married, 1947, Anne [surname unknown] (d. 1955) and had issue one daughter;
He inherited the Milford House estate from his father in 1885.
He died 17 June 1944, aged 93.
Alexander, Maj. John (1898-1961) of Milford House. Eldest son of John Alexander (1850-1944) and his wife Ethel, daughter of Kennett Bayley of Sevenoaks (Kent) and Inchicove (Dublin), born 9 July 1898. Major in the Army. He married, 1926, Olive Mary (k/a Pug) (1902-80), daughter of Maj. William Charles Hall, and had issue:
(1) John Alexander (1927-2017), of Milford House; born 19 September 1927; married Chloe Verschoyle-Greene, daughter of Walter Islay Hamilton Verschoyle-Campbell of Tassagart, Saggart (Dublin) and former wife of John Denis Greene; died 19 July 2017 and was buried at Cloydagh;
(2) Brian Alexander of Brannockstown, Naas (Kildare), m. Sheila Lewis.
He inherited the Milford House estate from his father in 1944. Following the death of his son in 2017 the house was put up for sale in 2018.
He died 15 October 1961, aged 63.
Sources
Burke’s Irish Family Records, 1976; BBC, Great British Railway Journeys goes to Ireland, episode broadcast 6 February 2013; M. Bence-Jones, A guide to Irish country houses, 1988.
Location of archives
Believed to be in the possession of the family.
Coat of arms
None recorded.
Revision and acknowledgements
This post was first published 16 October 2013 and updated 13 September 2016, 31 October 2017 and 26 May 2018. I am grateful to Bill Yeo for information about the family’s Canadian connections and to Shay Kinsella for much information about the estate.
Irish Historic Houses 