Dolly’s Grove, Dunboyne, 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. 104. “A two storey late-Georgian house; three bay front, with ground floor windows set in arched recesses; four bay side. Oval staircase. In 1814, the residence of James Hamilton.” 

Not in National Inventory 

Record of Protected Structures: 

Townland: Staffordstown 

Detached three-bay two-storey house, c.1820, with wide bracketed eaves, outbuildings and entrance gates. 

https://meathhistoryhub.ie/houses-a-d/

Dolly’s Grove stands about four miles from Dunboyne, on the Maynooth side of the village. Also known as Staffordstown, Dolly’s Grove, is a two storey late Georgian house and has an oval staircase. The house may be dated to the 1820s or slightly earlier. The house has a neo-classical gateway and in modern times its own private airstrip. 

The house is associated with the Hamilton and Gaisford families. In 1809 Dolly’s Grove was the residence of Christopher Robinson. In 1814 James Hamilton was living there. One of the Hamilton’s had the public roadway re-routed away from the house. In 1837 Dolly’s Grove was described as is a gentleman’s seat with an extensive demesne and some ornamental ground. The townland was in the ownership of Mr. Hamilton 

John William Gaisford settled at Dolly’s Grove in the 1850s. The Gaisford family originated at Bulkington, Wiltshire with the earliest record of the family being in 1302. The Gaisfords were the local squires and made their money from land and wool. 

John was the second son of Thomas Gaisford, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. Thomas Gaisford became professor of Greek at Oxford in 1811 and then became a clergyman there. He was Dean of Christ Church from 1831 until his death. Thomas was curator of the Bodleian Library and principle delegate of Oxford University Press. In 1843 his 21 year old son, William, drowned while swimming in the Thames. 

John William Gaisford purchased a commission in the 72^nd Highlanders and served with them for twenty four years. He commanded the regiment for a few months during the Crimean War before selling his commission in 1855 and retiring to Ireland. He married Mary Jane Vaughan, daughter of Dean Cotton, Dean of Lismore, a family associated with India. He had three sons, Cecil Henry who was killed in the Afghan War; Douglas, Colonel of the South Wales Borderers and Algernon, Lieut. Seaforth Highlanders and two daughters; Lady Sandeman, wife of the late Sir. R.G. Sandeman died 1912 and Mabel. There was also a step-daughter, Miss Montizambert. In 1876- Lieut.-Col. Gaisford of The Grove, Dunboyne held 113 acres in County Meath. In 1882 Helen Kate, daughter of Lieutenant Colonel John William Gaisford married as his second wife, Sir Robert Groves Sandeman, an officer in the Indian army and administrator. In 1878 he was appointed the governor-general in Baluchistan. John William Gaisford died in 1889 and was buried in Dunboyne churchyard. 

Colonel Douglas Gaisford married Esme, daughter of General Sir Archibald Alison. Their children were John William, Robert Sandeman and Jane Esme. Douglas retired from the Army as a major in 1901. John William Gaisford, joined the Royal Artillery in 1914, was wounded Gallipoli but survived the war. He served in World War II primarily in East Africa and the Middle East. After the end of the war he retired at the rank of brigadier and settled in America.  His brother, Robert Sandeman Gaisford, became a Captain in the Royal Flying Corps. He was killed over enemy lines, Italy, when engaged with four hostile machines in January 1918. The aeroplane was shot down in flames by Austro-Hungarian anti-aircraft fire over the Piave Sector of the Italian Front. A message was dropped from an Austro-Hungarian aeroplane to let his comrades know that the plane had been shot down and that the casualties had been buried with military honours. This act shows how in some case the First World War was treated as a war between gentlemen. Douglas Gaisford died about 1940. 

About 1990 Dolly’s Grove became home to Conor and Pat Crowley. They developed a stud farm at the property. Conor was a businessman and Pat a fashion designer. Pat Crowley studied fashion design with the Grafton Academy in Dublin. In 1968, she launched her own range of knitted and crocheted fashions. In the early seventies, Pat employed six hundred knitters, dotted around the country. Pat Crowley used Carrickmacross lace in her designs. She dressed many women in Irish society and counted the Kennedy women in America among her clients. In 2001 Dolly’s Grove was sold for £3.35 million by the Crowley family.