Ballymaloe, Cloyne, Co Cork – accommodation
Bence-Jones, Mark. 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. 24. “[Boyle, Cork and Orrery, E/PB; Corker sub. Corcor/LGI1912] A castle built towards the end of C16 by the FitzGeralds of Imokilly, enlarged 1602 by Sir John FitzEdmund FitzGerald [b. 1555]; confiscated by Cromwell; occupied for a period after the Restoration by William Penn [1644-1718], of Pennsylvania, when he was managing his father’s estate at Shanagarry, nearby; subsequently occupied by 1st Earl of Orrery [Roger Boyle (1621-1679)], presumably while he was repairing and improving his nearby seat of Castle Martyr; acquired towards end of C17 by Lt-Col Edward Corker; sold by him ante his death 1734 to Hugh Lumley, who added some new buildings to the castle some time ante 1750. As a result of Lumley’s additions, Ballymaloe is now predominantly early C18 in character; consisting of a plain two storey six bay range with an old tower built into one end of it, and a three storey gable-ended range at right angles to the two storey range, and joined to it by a return; forming a house on a “L”- plan. Some of the windows have thick early C18 glazing-bars. A staircase with thin turned balusters rises from the inner end of the hall, which has a ceiling with simple Adamesque decoration. The large room to the right of the hall has simple Adamesque frieze. Ca 1800, Ballymaloe was the residence of the Penn Gaskell family, who were descended from William Penn. In 1814, it was the residence of William Abbott. In 1837, it was owned by a Mr Forster; in 1908, it was occupied by William Litchfield. Until ca 1947, it was the home of Mr and Mrs J.M. Simpson; since then, it has been the home of Mr and Mrs Ivan Allen.”
The website tells us:
“Ballymaloe House is a family run Country House Hotel and restaurant on 300 acres of farmland located in beautiful East Cork countryside. Internationally recognised as the birthplace of Modern Irish Cuisine, Ballymaloe House offers you the very best of Irish hospitality and seasonal locally sourced or homegrown food.
A unique Irish Country House experience.”
Mark Bence-Jones writes in A Guide to Irish Country Houses (1988):
The Ballymaloe website elaborates the history:
“Ballymaloe was a castle of the Imokilly Geraldines. Richard FitzMaurice FitzGerald was a son of the Knight of Kerry, who was appointed as Seneschal, or governor, of the area by the Earl of Desmond in 1440. The original castle was probably built by him shortly after that time. By the time of the Desmond rebellion, the occupant was John FitzEdmund FitzGerald who was known as ‘the Queen’s John FitzEdmond’ to distinguish him from the Seneschal of the same name who was a leader of the Insurrection and owned nearby Castlemartyr.“
“John FitzEdmund of Ballymaloe castle was an illegitimate son of Edmund by Honor Ni Donagh, ‘a woman of Muskerry’ and was well up in the list of efficient contrivers and gatherers of land of his time. John FitzEdmund appointed himself Sheriff of Cork in 1570 and during the Desmond rising he ‘dyd hang his (legitimate) brother James FitzEdmund’ in 1582. John refused to join O’Neill in 1599 and his lands were devastated, but he survived to be knighted by Mountjoy at Cloyne for his faithfulness in 1602.“
“Despite their differences, the close ties to the Geraldines were apparent when John FitzEdmund’s son, Edmund, was married to Honora, widow of his namesake, the late Seneschal. In 1611 this Edmund died and she was a widow again so old Sir John leased her the lands at a nominal rent before he died the following year aged 85.
“A daughter of her rebellious father, she housed the homeless friars at Ballymaloe. Her son John moved to Ballymaloe where he died in 1640.
“By the time of the Confederate War in 1641, the owner was her grandson, another Edmund and he lost the lands for taking the ‘rebel’ side. They passed to Broghill, (Roger Boyle, son of the Earl of Cork; newly-created Earl of Orrery, but living on a narrow edge of survival since he had escaped a charge of treason in London. Broghill lived at Ballymaloe after his enforced retirement as President of the court of Munster in 1672 before making his last home at Castlemartyr.“
“By the middle of the 18th Century, the occupier was Abraham Forster, and early in the 19th century, his grandson demolished parts of the old castle. It was he who largely build the house into its present form. Sometime later it passed to the Litchfield’s, and in 1924 Simpson, a nephew of the latter family came into possession. Mr. Simpson sold the house and farm to Myrtle and Ivan Allen in 1948 and it remains owned by the Allen family to this day.“
“Myrtle and Ivan Allen bought Ballymaloe in 1948 from the Simpson family. The Simpsons were known in the area for their parties and Myrtle and Ivan had, in fact, met at Ballycotton Lifeboat fundraising dinner at Ballymaloe a few years previously. Ivan had wide farming interests, growing tomatoes and cucumbers in glasshouses and mushrooms in dark wooden sheds at nearby Kinoith as well as managing the orchards there.
“However, Ivan longed for a mixed farm and when Ballymaloe came up for sale he decided to buy it. Myrtle and Ivan spent the next sixteen years farming and bringing up their children. The farm was a success producing milk, butter, cream, eggs, home raised pork and veal as well as fruit and vegetables. Myrtle became highly knowledgeable about cooking their produce and began writing a cookery column in the Irish Farmers Journal.“
“In 1964, Myrtle, encouraged by Ivan, decided to open Ballymaloe as a restaurant. The children were growing up and she could see a different future ahead of her:
“On a winter’s day I sat by the fire alone and wondered what I would do in this big house when they were all grown up – Then I thought about a restaurant.”
“Her aim was to emulate the best Irish Country House cookery. Myrtle and Ivan then placed an advert in the Cork Examiner: Dine in a Historic Country House. Open Tuesday to Saturday. Booking essential. Phone Cloyne 16.
“So Myrtle scrubbed down the kitchen table, and with the help of two local women she began. They cooked on an Aga at first and she was helped front of house by Ivan and their daughter Wendy. Their shepherd Joe Cronin ran the bar.
“The food was good and the restaurant flourished. They cooked using their own produce- unpasteurised milk and cream, veal, pork, homemade sausages and black puddings, herbs, fruit and vegetables. Ivan went to Ballycotton every day for the fresh catch. Local beef and lamb came from Mr.Cuddigan, the butcher in Cloyne. Myrtle also encouraged local farmers’ wives to bring in their surplus produce and blackberries, elderflowers and watercress were brought in by children for pocket money.
“Although times have changed at Ballymaloe, the essential spirit of the place is rooted in these improvised beginnings and in the relationship of the farm to the table which underlies the elegance of Irish Country House cooking.“
The National Inventory describes it: “Detached six-bay two-storey country house, built c. 1780, with four stories to rear (north) elevation, three bays to rear forming central projection and having single-storey additions to rear. Tower house, c.1450, incorporated into west elevation and taller L-plan three-storey house c. 1730 to east, five-bay two-storey hipped-roofed block with slightly projecting east bay to north-east corner…The fascinating multiphase construction is evident in the variety of styles and blocks which form the house. Formerly the seat of the FitzGeralds of Imokilly, it was enlarged by Sir John FitzEdmund FitzGerald. It was occupied at one time by William Penn of Pennsylvania and by First Earl of Ornery. Its impressive size is enhanced by fine proportions and by the retention of various timber sliding sash windows. The central doorcase and large petal fanlight form the main artistic focus and enhance the impressive and symmetrical façade. The other blocks add tremendous context. The tower house incorporated into the main house is a very notable archaeological feature. The house retains much early fabric and forms a group with related outbuildings and gate lodge.” (see [5])
[4] https://www.irelandscontentpool.com/en
Detached six-bay two-storey country house, built c. 1780, with four stories to rear (north) elevation, three bays to rear forming central projection and having single-storey additions to rear. Tower house, c.1450, incorporated into west elevation and taller L-plan three-storey house c. 1730 to east, five-bay two-storey hipped-roofed block with slightly projecting east bay to north-east corner. Main block comprising hipped slate roof with rendered and red brick chimneystacks, terracotta ridge tiles and render eaves course. Pitched slate roof with rendered chimneystacks and clay pots to L-plan section. Rendered walls. Square-headed openings with timber sliding sash windows, six-over-six pane to first floor and nine-over-nine pane to ground floor. Round-headed opening to west elevation with round-headed six-over-six pane timber sliding sash window. Camber-headed openings to rear with three-over-three and six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows. Lunette windows to east elevation with spoked fanlights. Square-headed openings to east elevation with six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows. Round-headed door opening to east elevation with spoked fanlight and timber door. Square-headed opening to ground floor, front (south) elevation with fixed pane glazed door. Round-headed opening to south elevation with square-headed timber panelled door with timber surround comprising pilasters and architrave, fixed pane glazed sidelights with petal fanlight above. North-east block comprising hipped slate roof with rendered chimneystacks and cast-iron rainwater goods. Rendered walls with render cornice dividing stories. Square-headed openings with six-over-nine pane timber sliding sash windows and square-headed openings with glazed timber doors. L-plan block comprising hipped and pitched slate roofs with rendered chimneystacks, render copings to gables, overhanging eaves, cast-iron rainwater goods and render and brick eaves course. Rendered walls with render and brick platbands. Square-headed and camber-headed openings, some infilled, some with timber sash windows, six-over-six pane, nine-over-nine pane and six-over-three pane. Rubble limestone walls with crenellations to tower house. Rubble limestone boundary walls with square-profile rubble stone piers to south-east with cut limestone caps and carved limestone ball finials.
Appraisal
The fascinating multiphase construction is evident in the variety of styles and blocks which form the house. Formerly the seat of the FitzGeralds of Imokilly, it was enlarged by Sir John FitzEdmund FitzGerald. It was occupied at one time by William Penn of Pennsylvania and by First Earl of Ornery. Its impressive size is enhanced by fine proportions and by the retention of various timber sliding sash windows. The central doorcase and large petal fanlight form the main artistic focus and enhance the impressive and symmetrical façade. The other blocks add tremendous context. The tower house incorporated into the main house is a very notable archaeological feature. The house retains much early fabric and forms a group with related outbuildings and gate lodge.
Complex of outbuildings, built c. 1790. Multiple-bay two-storey outbuilding to south with rubble stone bellcote to north gable and recent glazed conservatories to east. Pitched slate roof with render eaves course. Bellcote with cut stone coping and round-headed opening. Rubble stone walls to east and rendered walls to west. Square-headed openings with replacement windows. Six-bay single-storey block to east, adjoined by single-storey lean-to, with pitched artificial slate roof, rendered walls, rubble stone to gable. Square-headed openings with fixed timber windows. Camber-arched opening to north with red brick block-and-start surround and voussoirs and fixed window. Four-bay two-storey former outbuilding to south, now in use as shop, with projecting end bay to west and two-bay single-storey extension to east of front (south) elevation . Hipped slate roof, rubble stone walls. Square-headed openings with replacement windows and doors. Gable-fronted single-bay three-storey former gate house, with pitched slate roof, render copings and rendered chimneystack, rendered walls, square-headed openings with replacement windows and round-headed opening with replacement door. Pointed arch carriage-arch attached to south with rendered walls and carved limestone keystone, dated 1701, with inscribed lettering to soffit.
Appraisal
A fine group of outbuildings which form a group with Ballymaloe House to west and further outbuildings and walled garden to south-east. It retain much original form and fabric. The gable-fronted block is of unusual form and is a notable feature, especially in conjunction with attached arch, which retains notable keystone and inscription details including date of 1701, which add interest and context.
also in In an Irish House. edited by Sybil Connolly. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1988. Entry by Mrs. Ivan Allen.
http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie/LandedEstates/jsp/property-list.jsp?letter=B
William Abbot was resident at Ballymaloe in 1814. It was described by Lewis in 1837 as a “very curious old house, built by the Fitzgeralds and forfeited in the war of 1641, it is now the property of Mr Forster” . By the early 1850s John Litchfield [Lichfield] was resident holding the house valued at £48 from Mountifort Longfield. It was the seat of William Lichfield in 1894. It is now the home of the Allen family who run it as a guest house with adjacent shop. Their renowned cookery school is nearby.
https://theirishaesthete.com/2017/05/03/at-the-close-of-day/
Evening at Ballymaloe, County Cork. The oldest part of the building is a mid-fifteenth century tower house constructed by the FitzGeralds of Imokilly: this was enlarged in 1602 by Sir John FitzEdmund FitzGerald. The property was later briefly occupied by William Penn when he was sent to manage his father’s estates in the area, after which it was owned by the first Earl of Orrery. The house was much enlarged on two occasions in the 18th century to assume its present appearance. It also regularly changed hands over several hundred years until being bought by the Allen family who since 1964 have run the place as a restaurant and country house hotel.
The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Frank Keohane. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.
p. 239.
Irish Historic Houses 