Crossdrum, Oldcastle, 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. 95. “(Harman/LGI1958) A house attributed by Dr Watkin to C.R. Cockerell, probably built 1825 for J.L. Naper of Loughcrew, to be occupied by a tenant. Two storey, three bays, fanlighted doorway with elegant sideligths. Shallow window surrounds with blocking.”
“(Rotheram/LGI1958) A late C18 house of two storeys over basement; five bay front with tripartite rounded doorcase; parapeted roof.”
https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/14305026/crossdrum-house-crossdrum-lower-millbrook-co-meath
Detached five-bay two-storey over basement house, built c.1800, now derelict. Tuscan porch to Venetian-style doorcase. Moulded architraves and tooled stone sills to window openings. Ashlar limestone walls with string course, dentil eaves course, and quoins. Hipped slate roof with ashlar chimneys. Servants tunnel to basement and cantilevered stone staircase to rear. Scar of demolished return to rear. Cast-iron railings to front.
Appraisal
Crossdrum House is an exceptional country residence. The architectural quality of the house is immediately apparent. The limestone ashlar façades with their limestone detailing and dressings are clearly the work of skilled craftsmen. The execution of the doorcase and the internal plasterwork are of artistic interest. Crossdrum House was the home Edward Rotheram, agent to the Naper estate at Loughcrew. Some of the plasterwork has been attributed to George Stapleton, son of Michael Stapleton.
Record of Protected Structures
Cross Drum, townland: Crossdrum Lower; town: Millbrook
Detached five-bay two-storey over basement house, built c.1800, now derelict. Tuscan porch to Venetian-style doorcase. Crossdrum House was the home Edward Rotheram, agent to the Naper estate at Loughcrew. Incl Outbuildings.
Crossdrum House is located near Millbrook, Oldcastle. The townland of Crossdrum was in the ownership of the Napers of Loughcrew and they leased the land to the Rotherams and Smith Harman families. Both families were involved in the hunt.
Crossdrum House has been described as an exceptional country residence while others have described it as a dull and ill proportioned Georgian house. Some of the plasterwork has been attributed to George Stapleton, son of Michael Stapleton. The house had a Tuscan porch with a Venetian-style doorcase. The house became derelict in the late twentieth century. There was a servants’ tunnel to the basement
The first recorded lease at Crossdrum dates to 1734 from the Napers of Loughcrew. Edward Rotheram born 1789, married Barbara Crofton from Leitrim. He acted as an agent for Lord Shelborne. The Rotherams of Triermore came into possession of Crossdrum. George Rotheram lived at Crossdrum in 1810.
In 1835 Crossdrum house, the residence of Edward Rotheram, was described as a neat and commodious house of modern style, having been erected in 1817. There were suitable offices and gardens attached to it. Mr. Rotheram was described as a comfortable farmer, and lived on the land. He employed constantly 40 labourers, cultivating a third of the land and grazing the remainder.
Edward Rotheram was born in 1810, married in 1835 and was a member of the Royal Dublin Yacht club. In 1883 Edward Rotheram of Crossdrum held 5,308 acres in Meath and 1,290 in Cavan making a total estate of 6,598 acres. Edward Rotheram held the lands on which the cairns on Loughcrew stand.
Percy French was a regular visitor to Crossdrum while he was inspector of drains in Cavan. He often kept the family up to the small hours with his singing and stories. Mr. Rotheram would say “Do you know Percy the early train leaves Oldcastle at 7.30 in the morning?” This worked sometimes and Percy went to bed but many times it did not. Source John Smith ‘The Oldcastle Centenary Book’
In 1911 Edward and Jane Rotheram and their family lived at Crossdrum. In 1906 Edward had served as High Sheriff of Meath. In January 1914 when Edward, his wife and a visitor were sitting at the fire a shot was fired through the window.
Soldiers occupied Crossdrum at the request of Mr. Rotheram during the War of Independence. Edward Rotheram died about 1925. The Rotherham family left Ireland in the 1920s. The Cadden family then lived there until the late 1960s. They built a new house nearby and moved out of the old house. A modern farmyard was built directly behind the house but the old farm buildings are also still in use.
Upper Crossdrum House
Nearby Upper Crossdrum House was the residence of W. Smith Harman in 1837. In 1835 Upper Crossdrum House was described as a neat three storey house with offices built in 1819. It is attributed to the architect C.R. Cockerell. William Smith Harman married Catherine Battersby of Newcastle in 1836. Their eldest son William succeeded at Crossdrum. William who was born in 1837 married Mary O’Rorke of Loughcrew. In 1911 William Harman and his wife were living at Crossdrum. William died in 1932 at the age of 95. He had been master of the Ballymacads from 1887 to 1900. Their son Charles Cecil Harman served in the South African War and then in World War I and was awarded the DSO in 1916 and a bar 1917. Born in 1877 Charles married Muriel Huth in 1914 and they had two sons, William and Charles, both of whom served in the Second World War. When Charles Cecil died in 1952 his widow remarried two years later to Major Kenneth Thompson of Triermore House.
Irish Historic Houses 