Portlick Castle, Athlone, Co Westmeath
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. 233. “An old keep with a battlemented later wing. In C19, the seat of Robert Ralph Smyth, and then of his nephew, Robert Wolfe Smyth.”
€1,400,000
10 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms
Portlick Castle dates back to the 12th Century and the Norman invasion. For most of its history, Portlick has been inhabited by only two families. The story goes that a castle was built on the site by Sir Henry de Leon in the 12th century under the charter of King John. The four-storey tower house that stands there now is thought to have gone up later, in the 15th century, though incorporating the earlier structure.
De Leons (who later went by the more familiar name of Dillon) lived at Portlick until 1696, when they made the mistake of backing the losing side in the Williamite wars. The property was confiscated from Garrett Dillon, a Jacobite and one of the signatories of the Treaty of Limerick, and he was obliged to flee the country.
In 1703, it was sold to a Reverend Robert Smyth, and that family continued in residence until the mid-20th century. In 1844, Frideswide Maria Smyth of Portlick distinguished herself by marrying Richard Brydges Beechey, one of the most celebrated marine painters in the history of Irish art.
Most recently the Castle has been used as a guesthouse and private venue, Set in the woods of Portlick and the banks of Lough Ree it is a ideal venue for private functions or wedding events.
The property also has a four bedroom gate lodge and a stable block which previously was granted planning permission for 6 apartments
The castle has 10 bedrooms with ensuites, four of which are superbly oversized; a Minstrels gallery with 13 th century floor to ceiling fireplace; a Victorian style living/drawing room, an Edwardian styled dining room, and a 12th century dungeon room with high arched ceiling in original stone construction.
The commercial kitchen was installed to be spacious, modern and capable of providing food for from 6 to 300
people at a time.
Two additional wings were built in harmonious style with the later period; one wing for a meeting
place [and laundry facilities], one wing as a music/ concert room for events of an intimate nature. All
these areas had easy access to the kitchen.
A terrace tops the music room with views over Lough Ree from the battlements, with access
from the minstrel gallery upstairs.
Views from higher tower bedrooms extend over the lake and the green hinterland; nothing es-
capes the eye from the tower viewpoints.
Later a marquee was added to the north, facing the lake some fifty metres away from the water.
- 27 Acres surround the property
- Lakeside property in a sheltered bay ideal for mooring
- Built by Sir Henry de Leon in the 12th Century
- Close to Glasson Village and Athlone Town
Three-bay four-storey late medieval tower house, built c.1500, with later seven-bay two-storey extension added to the southwest, c.1800, and a two-bay two-storey castellated block added to the southwest corner of this extension, c.1865. Extension, c.1990, to the northeast end. Now in use as an hotel. Pitched natural slate roofs hidden behind raised parapets with Irish-style battlements. Machicolation chute to northwest face of tower house at third and fourth floor level, above original entrance. Rendered chimneystacks with terracotta chimneypots. Tower house constructed of rubble limestone and rendered finish to later Georgian wing, c.1800. Later castellated extension constructed using snecked limestone with cut limestone trim, including projecting string courses with corbels. Square-headed openings with cut stone mullions and loop hole openings to tower house, square-headed openings to later Georgian wing with replacement windows. Square-headed window openings with dressed stone surrounds, cut stone mullions and hoodmouldings to castellated wing having replacement timber casement windows. Round-headed doorcase with timber sheeted door to northwest face of tower house, square-headed doorcase with cut stone surround to north face of c.1865 extension with modern timber door. Extensive complex of single and two-storey rubble limestone outbuildings arranged around a central courtyard to the south (15402213). Detached multi-bay single-storey former coach house and stables to the south. Portlick Castle is located in extensive mature grounds on a peninsula jutting out into Lough Ree from the east shores. Main entrance gates to the east.
Appraisal
An imposing and impressive late-medieval tower house with a number of later nineteenth century castellated extensions, which retain their early form, character and a great deal of the original fabric. It representsan excellent example of the continued use of a large-scale structure from the medieval period, illustrating changing architectural tastes and styles over a four hundred year period. The c.1865 extension was added following a fire in 1861, which destroyed much of the interior of the existing castle. The tower house was originally constructed c.1500 by the Dillion Family who lived here until 1696, when it was taken over by the Crown and granted to Thomas Keightly, a member of King William’s privy council in Ireland. It was sold, c.1700, to William Palmer of Dublin, who promptly sold it on to the Smyth Family, of BarbavillaHouse (15400813) near Collinstown, who remained in ownership of Portlick Castle into the twentieth century. The good collection of outbuildings and the coach house to the south (15402213) complete the setting of this fine and impressive structure, which is beautifully sited in extensive mature grounds overlooking Lough Ree.
Irish Historic Houses 