Ballinacor House, Rathdrum, County Wicklow
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. 16. “[Kemmis; Lomer, sub St. Albands] A 2 storey late C18 house, enlarged, refaced and reroofed in C19. 3 bay entrance front, Wyatt window in centre of upper storey, single storey Ionic portico below. End elevation of 6 bays, 3 being in a shallow curved bow. Entablatures on console brackets over windows in both storeys. C19 gabled office wing and conservatory at right angles to side elevatin, with Italianate campanile at junction of main bloc and wing. Clock as Big Ben, which keeps time for the whole contryside. Stone-flagged entrace hall with C19 plasterwork cornice. Large toplitgallery with ironwork balustrade. Magnificent demesne, with wooded hills crowned by high mountains. Mile-long oak walk; mile-long avenue from front gate to house, bordered by rhododendrons and firs. Deer park with red and Japanese deer; the River Avonbeg flows below the house with many cascades and gordes. Bequeathed by Captain W.D.O. Kemmis to his maternal cousin Major Richard Lomer, 1965. Subsequently sold to Lord Ardee (Meath).
Not in national inventory
http://ballinacorestate.ie/about-ballinacor.html
Situated about 5 kilometres from Rathdrum, Ballinacor House was built by the Kemmis family in the early 19th century. The present owners, Sir Robert & Lady Goff, bought BallinacorEstate in 2001 as a working farm and shoot. The two-storey house underwent an extensive renovation and modernisation project, which was completed in 2009. This renovation was sympathetic to the time in which the house was built and is furnished appropriately. The estate has a strong tradition of driven shooting. We have game records going back well over 100 years. Grouse were previously shot on the estate, and it is hoped to revive the moor in future years.
May 10, 2001
Sir Robert and Lady Goff, formerly big players in the Dublin property and art worlds, have emerged as the purchasers of Ballinacor, the sporting estate in the Wicklow mountains. The large Georgian house on 4,152 acres is to be vacated shortly by the Earl of Meath when he moves to the family seat, the 880-acre Kilruddery estate near Bray.
The Goffs (she is formerly Sheila Chadwick of the Dublin business family) will hardly be intimidated by the task of taking over the large, rambling Ballinacor House, with its numerousbedrooms and stately reception rooms near Rathdrum. Up to 1996, the couple and their two children lived in an equally splendid large Palladian villa, Seafield House, at Donabate, Co Dublin. Since selling it for around £1 million, they have been sharing their time between Lissen Hall, a Chadwick house in Donabate, and their home in the Isle of Man. With a new motorway and sewerage system about to intrude on the peace around Lissen Hall, it is hardly surprising that the wealthy couple have decided to take to the hills. They will have to spend a few million on bringing Ballinacor up to scratch but that should be no bother to them: they sold a number of valuable properties in Dublin over the past few years, notably a block of shops and apartments in Temple Bar, including the Elephant & Castle restaurant, for around £10 million.
Their decision to buy Ballinacor for somewhat less than the asking price of £10 million will be good news for their property advisers and keen sportsmen, Paul McDowell and Robert Ganlyof Ganly Walters, who will undoubtedly be invited to sample some of the best shooting in Ireland. Ganly Walters also handled the sale for the Earl of Meath.
https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2013/05/ballinacor-house.html
THE KEMMISES WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY WICKLOW, WITH 8,041 ACRES
The family of KEMMIS or KEMEYS came originally from Monmouthshire, and settled in Ireland in 1731.
THOMAS KEMMIS (1753-1823), a solicitor, son of Thomas Kemmis, of Killeen, Queen’s County, married Susanna, daughter of John Long, of Derrynaseera, Queen’s County, and had issue, four sons,
Thomas, of Roebuck, County Dublin;
Henry (1776-1857), MP for Tralee, 1798-1800;
WILLIAM, of whom we treat;
James.
The third son,
WILLIAM KEMMIS (1777-1864), of Ballinacor, County Wicklow, and Killeen, Queen’s County, Crown and Treasury Solicitor for Ireland (see KEMMIS of Shaen), espoused, in 1805, Ellen, second daughter of Nicholas Southcote Mansergh JP, of Greenane, County Tipperary, and had issue,
WILLIAM GILBERT;
Thomas;
George (Rev);
Richard;
James;
Elizabeth.
Mr Kemmis was succeeded by his son,
WILLIAM GILBERT KEMMIS JP DL (1806-81), of Ballinacor and Ballycarroll, High Sheriff of County Wicklow, 1835, who died unmarried, when he was succeeded by his nephew,
WILLIAM KEMMIS JP DL (1836-1900), of Ballinacor and Ballycarroll, Colonel, Royal Artillery, who wedded, in 1862, Ellen Gertrude de Horne Christy, eldest daughter of George Steinman Steinman, FSA, of Sundridge, Kent, and had issue,
WILLIAM HENRY OLPHERT, his heir;
Marcus Steinman (Rev);
Lewis George Nicholas;
Edward Bernhard;
Gilbert (Rev).
Colonel Kemmis was succeeded by his eldest son,
WILLIAM HENRY OLPHERT KEMMIS JP DL (1864-1939), of Ballinacor, High Sheriff of County Wicklow, 1904, Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding, Wicklow Royal Garrison Artillery, who espoused, in 1888, Francis Maude, second daughter of the Rev Charles Beauclerk, Chaplain of Holy Trinity Church, Boulogne, France, and had issue,
WILLIAM DARRYL OLPHERT;
Thomas Steinman;
Karolie Kathleen.
The eldest son,
WILLIAM DARRYL OLPHERT KEMMIS MC (1892-1965), Captain, Inniskilling Dragoons.
When Captain Kemmis died in 1965, Ballinacor was inherited by his maternal cousin, Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Lomer.
The Kemmises owned 4,706 acres of land in the Queen’s County.
BALLINACOR HOUSE, Rathdrum, County Wicklow, is a two-storey, late 18th century house, enlarged, re-faced and re-roofed in the 19th century.
It has a three-bay entrance front with an Ionic portico.
The end elevation has six bays, three of which are in a shallow, curved bow.
There is a gabled office wing with an adjacent conservatory; an Italianate campanile at the junction of the main block and wing.
The clock has been said to keep time for the surrounding countryside.
The entrance hall is stone-flagged, with a plasterwork Victorian cornice; a large, top-lit, two-storey hall with oval lantern; oval gallery with iron balustrade.
The demesne is said to be magnificent, with wooded hills topped by high mountains; a mile-long oak walk; and a mile-long avenue from the front gate to the house, bordered by rhododendrons and firs.
There is a deer-park and the River Avonbeg flows by with abundant cascades and gorges.
*****
THE PRESENT owners, Sir Robert and Lady Davis-Goff, bought Ballinacor Estate in 2001 as a working farm and shoot.
The house underwent an extensive renovation and modernisation project, which was completed in 2009.
This renovation was sympathetic to the time in which the house was built and is furnished appropriately.
The estate has a strong tradition of driven shooting and has game records going back well over a century.
Grouse were previously shot on the estate, and it is hoped to revive the moor in future years.
Lady Davis-Goff inherited Lissen Hall in County Dublin.
First published in May, 2013.
THE DAVIS-GOFFS OWNED 2,576 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY WEXFORD
THE REV STEPHEN GOFFE or GOUGH, Rector of Bramber, West Sussex, 1603-5, and St Botolph’s, 1605-6, married Deborah West, and had issue,
WILLIAM, his heir;
James;
Timothy;
Stephen (Rev);
John (Rev).
The eldest son,
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL WILLIAM GOFFE (c1605-c1679), wedded Frances, daughter of Major-General Edward Whalley, and had issue,
RICHARD, his heir;
Anne; Elizabeth; Frances.
The only son,
RICHARD GOFFE, of Waterford, County Waterford, espoused, in 1681, Hannah, daughter of Jonas Chamberlain, and had issue,
William;
Richard;
Jonas;
JACOB, of whom hereafter;
Mary; Hannah; Elizabeth.
The youngest son,
JACOB GOFF (1695-c1751), of Dublin, married, in 1721, Mary, daughter of John Fade, and had issue,
Joseph;
Fade;
JACOB, of whom we treat;
Hannah; Mary; Sarah; Elizabeth.
The third son,
JACOB GOFF (c1736-c1799), married Elizabeth, daughter of Benjamin Wilson, and had issue,
Joseph Fade;
WILLIAM;
Anne; Dinah; Elizabeth.
The younger son,
WILLIAM GOFF (1762-1840), of Horetown House, County Wexford, High Sheriff of County Wexford, 1807 and 1811, wedded, in 1784, Rebecca, daughter of Edward Deaves, and had issue,
Jacob William, dsp;
REBECCA, of whom hereafter;
Mary; Sally; Lucy Anne; Arabella; Elizabeth.
Mr Goff’s eldest daughter,
MISS REBECCA GOFF, espoused, in 1809, Francis Davis, of Waterford, and had issue,
STRANGMAN;
Henry (1825-63).
Mrs Davis died in 1859, and was succeeded by her elder son,
STRANGMAN DAVIS JP (1810-72), of Horetown House, County Wexford, who married, in 1835, Susan Maxwell, daughter of Arthur Ussher, and had issue,
WILLIAM, his heir;
Ussher;
Charles Edward;
Francis;
Margaretta Ussher; Julia Anna; Rebecca; Lucy Ussher.
Mr Davis added the additional name of GOFF in 1845, under the terms of his uncle’s will.
He was succeeded by his eldest son,
WILLIAM DAVIS-GOFF JP DL (1838-1918), of Glenville, County Waterford, High Sheriff of Waterford City, 1869, and of County Waterford, 1892, who wedded, in 1866, Anna Maria, daughter of Michael Dobbyn Hassard, and had issue,
HERBERT WILLIAM, his heir;
William Ernest.
Mr Davis-Goff was created a baronet in in 1905, denominated of Glenville, County Waterford.
He was succeeded by his elder son,
SIR HERBERT WILLIAM DAVIS-GOFF, 2nd Baronet (1870-1923), DL, High Sheriff of County Waterford, 1914, Captain, RASC, who espoused, in 1903, Margaret Aimée, daughter of the Rt Hon Sir Charles Stewart Scott GCB GCMG, and had issue,
ERNEST WILLIAM, his successor;
Charles Herbert;
Terence Richard;
Doreen Christian.
Sir Herbert was succeeded by his eldest son,
SIR ERNEST WILLIAM GOFF-DAVIS, 3rd Baronet (1904-80), who married, in 1941, Alice Cynthia Sainthill, daughter of Robert Woodhouse, and had issue,
ROBERT WILLIAM, his successor;
Annabel Claire; Julia Christian; Alice Maria.
Sir Ernest was succeeded by his only son,
SIR ROBERT WILLIAM DAVIS-GOFF (1955-), of Ballinacor, County Wicklow, and Lissen Hall, County Dublin, who wedded, in 1978, Nathalie Sheelagh, daughter of Terence Chadwick, of Lissen Hall, County Dublin, and has issue,
WILLIAM NATHANIEL (b 1980);
Henry Terence Chadwick;
James Sammy Chadwick;
Sarah Chadwick.
Residences ~ Ballinacor Estate, County Wicklow; Lissen Hall, Donabate, County Dublin; Eairy Moar Farm, Glen Helen, Isle of Man.
Irish Historic Houses 