Ardsallagh, Navan, Co Meath
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. 11. [French/LGI1912] Tudor revival house of 1844; with steeply pointed gables and dormer-gables, oriels, mullions and tall chimneys.”
Not in National Inventory
Record of Protected Structures
Townland: Ardsallagh, tow: Navan
Neo-Tudor house of 1844, with steeply pointed gables and
dormer gables together with oriels, mullions and tall
chimneys. Incl. St. Brigid’s well and gate lodge.
The Landed Gentry and Aristocracy: County Meath. Volume 1. Art Kavanagh, 2005.
Preston of Ardsallagh & Bellinter.
http://www.navanhistory.ie/index.php?page=ardsallagh
The Nangles were granted the barony of Navan in the 1170s by Hugh de Lacy and they erected a castle at Ardsallagh. The Nangles lost their lands in the Cromwellian plantations. John Preston purchased much of the former Nangle properties and in this manner managed to acquire 7,859 acres in Co. Meath and Laois (Queens) Co. Preston placed 1,737 acres in trust for the keeping of two schools, one in Navan and another in Ballyroan, Queens Co. (Laois). Preston’s heir was his grandson, John of Ardsallagh. His daughter, Mary, inherited the property as her brother Phineas had died young.
Mary married Peter Ludlow, M.P. who in his old age became afflicted by gout and had to be carried in and out on men‟s shoulders. Their son, Peter, MP for Co Meath, was created Baron Ludlow of Ardsallagh in 1755 and in 1760 created Viscount Preston and 1st Earl of Ludlow. Peter, the first Earl died in 1750 and he was succeeded by his eldest son, Peter, 2nd Earl of Ludlow, MP for County Huntingdon. Ardsallagh House had well designed formal gardens and a carefully designed landscape. Dean Swift and the Delaneys were regular visitors and many descriptions of the eighteenth century house and gardens survive. The house was described as a good house with some good pictures. Mrs Delaney wrote had difficulty describing the gardens saying that nothing could be wilder or more romantic. There was a grotto in an old stone quarry with statues of Hercules, Atlas and other Greek and Roman characters. Clipped yew hedges were set out like the walls of Troy. Lord Ludlow and the Ardsallagh estate provided 5s worth of bread each week for the poor of the parish. The loaves were placed in St. Mary‟s church. The Duke of Bedford continued this charity until 1907.
In 1836 Ardsalla was the residence of Earl Ludlow. The south east portion of the townland was laid out to form a demesne and deer park. Ardsalla House with its outbuildings stood on the banks of the river. There are very good oak, ash and elm timber and some fir plantations in the demesne.
The third Earl Ludlow willed the property to the Earls of Bedford who took control in 1842. In the mid 1840s the Duke erected the present house, accounts and drawings of which survive in the Bedford Estate Office. Ardsallagh is a Tudor Revival house with steeply pointed gables and dormer gables, oriels, mullions and tall chimneys. This new mansion house for 7th Duke of Bedford, cost £40,000. Wilde writing in1849 said that house looked as if it was half in mourning due to the very black limestone used in its construction. The Duke of Bedford took an active interest in improving the estate and proposed the demolition of the slum houses at Brewshill.
In 1861 the Duke of Bedford died, and Lord John Russell, the British prime minister 1846-52 and 1865-66 inherited the Ardsalla estate. Lord John then asked for a peerage and became Earl Russell of Kingston Russell, and his eldest son became Viscount Amberley of Amberley and Ardsalla. In 1883 Earl Russell of Ardsalla held 3176 acres in Meath and 1017 acres in county Louth. He held no lands in England or elsewhere! His grandson, the third earl and last of the family to own Ardsallagh was the philosopher Bertrand Russell. The Russell Arms Hotel (where the Newgrange Hotel is now located) was erected by the agents of the Duke of Bedford to provide a suitable meeting place for the gentlemen of the county.
The French family lived at Ardsallagh in the latter half of the nineteenth century. William John French married Harriet Caufield of Dromcairne. William John of Ardsallagh died aged 63 in 1876. His son, Captain Caufield French was High Sheriff of Roscommon in 1887. Another son, Houston, an army officer, served in the Egyptian campaign of the 1880s. In 1895 he was appointed to the Yeomen of the Guard, achieving command of that body in 1925. He also served in the Boer War. William De Salis Filgate of Lissrenny, Co. Louth married Georgiana Harriett French, eldest daughter of William John French of Ardsallagh. A fire damaged the house in 1903.
Dr. Robert Collins, a distinguished physician lived in the house for a period. John McCann, M.P. lived at Ardsallagh House. A nationalist MP for Stephen‟s Green division in Dublin, McCann, published the newspaper, The Irish Peasant, in Navan. Ludlow Street, Bedford Row, Preston Place and the Russell Restuarant in Navan commemorate the Ardsallagh landowners.
Copied from meath-roots.com
The Nangles were granted the barony of Navan in the 1170s by Hugh de Lacy and they erected a castle at Ardsallagh. The Nangles lost their lands in the Cromwellian plantations. John Preston purchased much of the former Nangle properties and in this manner managed to acquire 7,859 acres in Co. Meath and Laois (Queens) Co.
Preston placed 1,737 acres in trust for the keeping of two schools, one in Navan and another in Ballyroan, Queens Co. (Laois). Preston’s heir was his grandson, John of Ardsallagh. His daughter, Mary, inherited the property as her brother Phineaas had died young. Mary married Peter Ludlow, M.P. who in his old age became afflicted by gout and had to be carried in and out on men’s shoulders. Their son, Peter, MP for Co Meath, was created Baron Ludlow of Ardsallagh in 1755 and in 1760 created Viscount Preston and 1st Earl of Ludlow. Peter, the first Earl died in 1750 and he was succeeded by his eldest son, Peter, 2nd Earl of Ludlow, MP for County Huntingdon. Ardsallagh House had well designed formal gardens and a carefully designed landscape. Dean Swift and the Delaneys were regular visitors and many descriptions of the eighteenth century house and gardens survive. The house was described as a good house with some good pictures. Mrs Delaney wrote had difficulty describing the gardens saying that nothing could be wilder or more romantic. There was a grotto in an old stone quarry with statues of Hercules, Atlas and other Greek and Roman characters. Clipped yew hedges were set out like the walls of Troy.
Lord Ludlow and the Ardsallagh estate provided 5s worth of bread each week for the poor of the parish. The loaves were placed in St. Mary’s church. The Duke of Bedford continued this charity until 1907.
In 1836 Ardsalla was the residence of Earl Ludlow. The south east portion of the townland was laid out to form a demesne and deer park. Ardsalla House with its outbuildings stood on the banks of the river. There are very good oak, ash and elm timber and some fir plantations in the demesne.
The third Earl Ludlow willed the property to the Earls of Bedford who took control in 1842. In the mid 1840s the Duke erected the present house, accounts and drawings of which survive in the Bedford Estate Office. Ardsallagh is a Tudor Revival house with steeply pointed gables and dormer gables, oriels, mullions and tall chimneys. This new mansion house for 7th Duke of Bedford, cost £40,000. Wilde writing in1849 said that house looked as if it was half in mourning due to the very black limestone used in its construction. The Duke of Bedford took an active interest in improving the estate and proposed the demolition of the slum houses at Brewshill.
In 1861 the Duke of Bedford died, and Lord John Russell, the British prime minister 1846-52 and 1865-66 inherited the Ardsalla estate. Lord John then asked for a peerage and became Earl Russell of Kingston Russell, and his eldest son became Viscount Amberley of Amberley and Ardsalla. In 1883 Earl Russell of Ardsalla held 3176 acres in Meath and 1017 acres in county Louth. He held no lands in England or elsewhere!
His grandson, the third earl and last of the family to own Ardsallagh was the philosopher Bertrand Russell. The Russell Arms Hotel (where the Newgrange Hotel is now located) was erected by the agents of the Duke of Bedford to provide a suitable meeting place for the gentlemen of the county.
The French family lived at Ardsallagh in the latter half of the nineteenth century. William John French married Harriet Caufield of Dromcairne. William John of Ardsallagh died aged 63 in 1876. His son, Captain Caufield French was High Sheriff of Roscommon in 1887. Another son, Houston, an army officer, served in the Egyptian campaign of the 1880s. In 1895 he was appointed to the Yeomen of the Guard, achieving command of that body in 1925. He also served in the Boer War. William De Salis Filgate of Lissrenny, Co. Louth married Georgiana Harriett French, eldest daughter of William John French of Ardsallagh. A fire damaged the house in 1903.
Dr. Robert Collins, a distinguished physician lived in the house for a period. John McCann, M.P. lived at Ardsallagh House. A nationalist MP for Stephen’s Green division in Dublin, McCann, published the newspaper, The Irish Peasant, in Navan.
Bernadette Murray has written a detailed account of Ardsallagh townland.
Ludlow Street and Bedford Row in Navan commemorate the Ardsallagh landowners.
Irish Historic Houses 