Castle Neynoe (Ballysumaghan House), Balintogher, Co Sligo
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.
supplement. p. 293. “A small symmetrical Gothic-Revival castle with a central bow carried upwards as a three storey tower. Seat of the Neynoes. Now a ruin.”
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.
p. 131. A late 18C Gothic castle with a crenellated tower. Now a romantic ruin.
Castle Neynoe is not a large house in comparison with other mansions but should be recorded for the curiosity of having all the features of a castle but on a much-reduced scale. The house is described as a three bay, two-storey over basement mansion with a central projecting tower. The house was built on the site of an earlier castle or fort in the 1790s and was designed with a Regency Gothic influence. The facades of the house are decorated with crenellations, arched windows and gothic crosses together with hood mouldings above regular sash windows. It was designed by Robert Robinson and his signed but undated architectural drawings still exist today. A flight of curved steps that wrapped around the base of the projecting curved tower led to the front door of the house. Once inside you would have found yourself in an elliptical hallway with niches on either side of an archway that lead to the inner hall. This area of the house contained the main staircase that was lit by a tall window on the half landing. The house was made up of four reception rooms which included two drawing rooms on the entry level and five modest bedrooms on the floor above. An adjoining single storey wing incorporated a cellar while the basement of the main block of the house contained the kitchen. It is said that there was once a glasshouse attached to Castle Neynoe which was located on the south side of the house overlooking the wooded landscaped grounds. The rear of the building overlooked a courtyard that was surrounded by the various outbuildings that served the needs of the household. The entrance gates and lodge to the demesne still exist but like the main building, they are clinging to some vestige of their former appearance. Three sets of gates are arranged among four pillars, the large central gates provided access for a horse and cart while the smaller gates on either side provided access for workers, servants and the occupants of the gate lodge. The lodge has a hipped roof and is a simple building bearing little resemblance to the main house found at the end of the long winding avenue. Here, Castle Neynoe faced the mountains and overlooked the landscaped grounds that for a time included a lake which was drained in later years.
Irish Historic Houses 