Convamore, Ballyhooly, Co Cork – ‘lost’  

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. 89. “(Hare, Listowel, E/PB; Hirsch, sub Inchcape, E/PB) A large plain two storey early C19 house, partly by James Pain, standing above one of the most beautiful reaches of the river Blackwater. The entrance front has a single-storey Doric portico; the front facing the river is punctuated with Doric pilasters. The block which contained the principal rooms is faced with Victorian stucco and had plate glass windows; the long office range keeps its late Georgian character and had windows with astragals. Burnt 1921, now a ruin almost totally submerged in undergrowth. Down river from the house, close to the entrance to the demesne, is the old Roche castle of Ballyhooly, the upperrooms of which were restored in Baronial style ca 1860 and used by 3^rd Earl and Countess of Listowel for entertaining. The walls of the castle are still stained with tar from a beacon that was lit when Edward VII paid a visit as Prince of Wales. The castle was acquired by the Hirsch family, and a gabled fishing lodge was built adjoining it.”

Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.

“Very plain 19C classical house designed by James Pain for the Earl of Listowel. Burnt in 1921. Now a ruin.” 

In Blake, Tarquin. Abandoned Mansions of Ireland II: More Portraits of Forgotten Stately Homes. Collins Press, Cork, 2012. 

http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2014/03/convamore-house.html

THE EARLS OF LISTOWEL WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY KERRY, WITH 30,000 ACRES. 

 
 
This ancient family claims descent from the house of HARCOURT, in Lorraine, who were Counts in Normandy. 
 
In 1461, 
 
JOHN HARE, son of Thomas Hare, by Joyce, his wife, daughter of John Hyde, of Norbury, resided at Homersfield, in Suffolk and was father of 
 
NICHOLAS HARE, father of 
 
JOHN HARE, who, by Elizabeth Fortescue, his wife, had two sons, viz. 

NICHOLAS; 
JOHN.  

The younger son, 
 
JOHN HARE, having eventually inherited the estates of his brother, Sir Nicholas, became of Stow Bardolph. 
 
He had a numerous family, seven sons and three daughters. 
 
Of the former, 
 
RICHARD, the eldest, was ancestor of the HARES of Stow Bardolph, raised to the degree of Baronet in 1641; and 
 
JOHN HARE, the youngest, a bencher of the Middle Temple, wedded Margaret, daughter of John Crouch, of Cornbury, Hertfordshire, and had a son, 
 
HUGH HARE, a faithful adherent of CHARLES I, by whom he was created, in 1625, BARON COLERAINE,  of County Londonderry. 
 
His lordship married and was father of 

HENRY, descended the Lords Coleraine; and from a younger son, HUGH, sprang the HARES of Listowel, the representative of which branch,  
 
RICHARD HARE, of Ennismore (third son of John Hare, of Cork, a native of Norfolk), the immediate founder of this family, married Catherine Maylor, and had issue, 

WILLIAM, his successor; 
John, died unmarried, 1774; 
Mary; Margaret Anne. 

The elder son and successor, 
 
WILLIAM HARE (1751-1837), represented Cork and Athy in the Irish parliament from 1796 until the final dissolution of that assembly. 
 
Mr Hare was elevated to the peerage, in 1800, in the dignity of Baron Ennismore; and advanced to a viscounty, in 1816, as Viscount Ennismore and Listowel. 
 
His lordship was further advanced to the dignity of an earldom, in 1822, as EARL OF LISTOWEL. 
 

He married firstly, in 1772, Mary, only daughter of Henry Wrixon, of Ballygiblin, County Cork, and aunt of Sir William Wrixon-Becher Bt, and had issue, 

RICHARD, father of WILLIAM, 2ND EARL; 
William Henry; 
Margaret Anne; Mary; Louisa; Catharine. 

He espoused secondly, in 1812, Anne, second daughter of John Latham, of Meldrum, County Tipperary. 
 
His lordship was succeeded by his grandson, 

 
WILLIAM (1801-56), 2nd Earl. 

• William Hare, 2nd Earl (1801–56); 

• William Hare, 3rd Earl (1833–1924); 

• Richard Granville Hare, 4th Earl (1866–1931); 

• William Francis Hare, 5th Earl (1906–97); 

• Francis Michael Hare, 6th Earl (b 1964). 

The heir presumptive is the present holder’s brother, the Hon Timothy Patrick Hare (b 1966). 

***** 

 
THE PRINCIPAL family seat was Convamore, County Cork, though they were also seated at Ennismore Park, County Kerry, which was sold by the Bailey family to the Hares in the late 18th century. 
 
William, 1st Earl of Listowel, built a new house beside the River Blackwater in the early 19th century. 
 
He was residing at Convamore in 1814. 

 
It remained the family seat in 1894. 
 
The house was burned in 1921 and is now a ruin. 
 

The family’s town residence was Kingston House, Knightsbridge, London. The 3rd Earl, the then owner of the Kingston House estate, was admitted as copyholder and secured the ground’s enfranchisement from manorial control.   

In 1855, the substantial portion of the estate built up with houses and stables in the 1840s and early 1950s was sold by the 2nd Earl, but the greater part, including Kingston House itself, remained in the possession of the Hare family until shortly before the Second World War.  

 
 
With the death of the 4th Earl in 1931, the estate passed not to his eldest son, the socialist 5th Earl, but on trust to a younger son, the Hon John Hare, later 1st Viscount Blakenham.  
 
 
The 3rd Earl died at Kingston House in 1924, and the last occupant was his widow, who in turn died there in 1936. In March, 1937, the contents were sold and that autumn the house itself was demolished for the building of flats. 

 
CONVAMORE HOUSE was a large and plain two-storey early 19th century mansion, situated above a fine stretch of the River Blackwater in County Cork. 

The entrance front had a single storey Doric portico; while the block with the main rooms was faced with Victorian stucco and plate-glass windows. 

 
The walls of the old Roche castle are said to be stained with tar from a beacon that was lit when EDWARD VII paid a visit as Prince of Wales. 
 
The castle belonged lately to a Major Hirtch, whose father built a gabled fishing lodge beside it.  
 

 
These decorative cast-iron entrance gates and finely carved piers of solid limestone blocks exhibit high levels of craftsmanship. 
 
The gateway to Convamore House was erected for a visit by the Prince of Wales in 1886. 
 
Listowel arms courtesy of European Heraldry.   First published in February, 2012. 

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20903411/convamore-conva-co-cork

Detached three-bay two-storey former steward’s house, built c. 1880, now in use as private house. Formerly having entrance front to north elevation, south elevation now being front elevation. Central hipped roof projection to north, with flat-roofed extensions to each side. Hipped slate roof, front elevation end bays being half-hipped and central entrance bay having gablet, with central rendered chimneystack having six ceramic pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods. Rubble limestone walls with roughly dressed quoins. Round-headed window opening to first floor of entrance bay with dressed limestone jambs and voussoirs, square-headed elsewhere, having six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows to first floor of front and to side elevations, and replacement timber tripartite windows to ground floor front, latter with dressed limestone jambs and voussoirs, all windows having limestone sills. Segmental-headed door opening flanked by cut limestone Doric-style pilasters with moulded capitals, plinth and cornice, with timber panelled door, fanlight and moulded limestone step. Boundary to yard to front of house comprises dressed limestone piers with cut-stone caps and moulded plinths having ornate cast-iron railings on limestone plinths, and having flight of moulded limestone steps to lawned area. House set inside east side of gateway comprising dressed limestone piers with plinths and caps, now with sheet metal double-leaf gate, set in coursed rubble stone walls. Entrance gates to main road comprise pair of square-profile dressed limestone piers with plinths and caps, latter having decorative wrought-iron finials, with curving recent rubble stone walling having some decorative spearhead railings, with double-leaf decorative cast-iron gate. 

Appraisal 

This former steward’s house was built as a formal entrance to the farm buildings on the Convamore estate. The rear elevation became the present handsome front elevation, this being an unusual occurrence. It retains interesting historic fabric, such as the grouped chimneystack, slate roof and varied timber sliding sash windows. This building is an important historic component of the large Convamore estate. 

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20903412/convamore-conva-co-cork

Farmyard complex, built c. 1835, comprising south-east courtyard immediately to west of ruinous Convamore House, with second larger farmyard to north-west. Small courtyard enclosed by two-storey ranges, seven-bay to centre, east, range, six-bay flanking ranges, and detached five-bay west range. Hipped slate roof, pitched to west ends of lateral ranges, with cast-iron rainwater goods, and having square-plan cupola with metal clock to east range. Coursed ashlar limestone walls with plinth course to interior elevations, coursed rubble limestone and sandstone to exterior elevations with dressed limestone quoins. Two symmetrical pairs of segmental-arched vehicular entrances to east elevation, having raised surrounds. Segmental-arch carriage entrances to north-west and south-west corners of yard, connecting west range with lateral ranges, and having ashlar limestone walling with string course over arch, one with double-leaf wrought-iron gate. Square-headed window openings, some retaining six-over-six timber sliding sash windows and others timber louvers and battened fixings, and with pitching door to centre of lateral ranges, all with limestone sills. Square-headed door openings with chamfered raised limestone surrounds, some with timber panelled doors. North gable of west range has pitching door with slated gablet and timber battended door with lozenge vent holes. North-west farmyard enclosed by rubble stone walls, entered through segmental carriage arch set in south wall and having dressed limestone walling and cut-stone coping with finial. L-plan single-storey farm building to south-west corner having hipped slate roof and coursed rubble limestone and sandstone walls with dressed limestone quoins, segmental-arched vehicular and pedestrian entrances with dressed sandstone voussoirs, and having slit vents to front wall. Two-storey gable-fronted farm building to west side. Pitched slate roof, cut-stone copings and bellcote and bell to west gable, cut-stone eaves course to side walls, carried through to give open-bed pediment detail to gable-front. Coursed rubble limestone walls with dressed quoins and cut-stone dressings to openings. Date plaque and integral carriage arch to east gable. Timber king-post truss roof to interior. Access to yard via avenue from north. Walled garden to north. Detached four-bay two-storey former gardener’s house to north-west of farmyards, built c. 1860, having integral former vehicular entrance, and recent flat-roofed extension to rear. Now in use as private house. Hipped slate roof with cast-iron rainwater goods, recent ceramic ridge tiles and recent rendered chimneystack to rear. Rubble limestone walls with limestone eaves course, cut-stone quoins and cut-stone voussoirs and jambs to window and door openings. Square-headed window openings with replacement timber windows. Segmental-arched former vehicular entrance to south end of façade, with recent timber doors. Square-headed main door opening with recent timber door. 

Appraisal 

This fine farmyard complex retains superb limestone ashlar façades to inner elevations with details around doors, windows and integral arches exhibiting high levels of craftsmanship. The cupola with clock is a rare survival. The second yard to the north-west is also interesting with the handsome gable-fronted farm building dated 1838 with its timber king-post roof. Set to the west of the now ruined main house, these farm buildings are an integral part of Convamore estate and are an important remains of the social and economic history of the area. The attractive former gardener’s house stands on the west side of the walled garden and retains high quality stonework, as exhibited in the cut-stone sills, integral archway and quoins. 

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20903410/convamore-conva-co-cork

search/building/20903410/convamore-conva-co-cork 

Convamore, CONVA, County Cork 

Detached T-plan three-bay single-storey former gate lodge with gabled porch, built c. 1880, now in use as private house, having lower lean-to addition to north-west angle, and recent conservatory and other flat-roofed single-storey extension to north-west corner. Pitched slate roof with projecting bracketed eaves, rendered chimneystack and cast-iron rainwater goods. Rendered walls with render eaves course and cut limestone plinth. Render open-bed pediment detail to north gable. Shallow window projections to end bays of façade, containing square-headed window openings with chamfered surrounds, moulded cornices, limestone sills and replacement uPVC windows, having cast-iron spearhead railings to northern window. Square-headed entrance door opening with moulded cut limestone shouldered surround, timber panelled door, overlight, render pediment detail to gable, cut limestone plaque to gable with coronet above, and limestone step. Single-storey rubble-stone built outbuilding with pitched slate roof and brick chimneystack to rear. 

Appraisal 

This ornamental lodge set inside the robust entrance gates and piers form an impressive entrance to the now ruined Convamore House. It was built to provide a new entrance to the house for a royal visit by the Prince of Wales in 1885. The centrepiece of the lodge is the porch with the finely cut limestone shouldered door surround and Lord Listowel’s coronet on the plaque over. It retains its historic form and much of its historic fabric such as limestone sills, door surround, plinth, slate roof with bracketed eaves, and render detail around the windows. The lodge and entrance is an important landmark feature and successfully announces the presence of a grand country house beyond.