Burntcourt Castle, or Burncourt, or Everard’s Castle, Clogheen, Co Tipperary

by jenjunebugSeptember 14, 2025

Burntcourt Castle, or Burncourt, or Everard’s Castle, Clogheen, Co Tipperary

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. 50. “(Chearnley/LGI1912) One of the largest and probably also the last of the gabled semi-fortified early C17 houses; consisting of a centre block of two storeys over a high basement with gabled attic and four gabled corner towers… Built from 1640 onwards by Sir Richard Everard, afterwards a member of the Supreme Council of the Confederation of Kilkenny, who was hanged by Ireton, Cromwell’s son-in-law, 1651. In the previous year, when the Cromwellian troops approached his still unfinished house, Lady Everard set it on fire in order to prevent it falling into their hands. It has remained a ruin ever since. In early C18, Anthony Chearnley, the painter, built a two storey five bay gable-ended house with a dormered attic in front of the ruin in the bawn, and laid out a formal garden inside the bawn wall. The remnants of this house are now used as farm buildings. It is said of Burntcourt “Seven years building, seven years lived in, seven days burning.”

http://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/tipperary/burncourt/burncourt.html

Map Reference: R953181 (1953, 1181)

Burncourt Castle is a large gabled mansion, with a central block four bays long and four storeys high including the basement and attic. 

It has four large square flanking towers each five storeys high including the basement and gabled attic. Along the front are the corbels for a machicolation which runs the full length of the central block.

There is a fine central doorway with a hood mould and decorated label stops. 

The castle has many mullioned and transomed windows with good square hood moulds. There are fireplaces in the east wall, the north wall and within the flanking towers. 

There is no indication of a stairway. There would have been twenty six gables in the house. The castle was built in 1641 by Sir Richard Everard and burned by Cromwell in 1650.

https://theirishaesthete.com/2016/07/04/burncourt/

Burnt Out

Jul4by theirishaesthete

*Burntcourt Castle, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne, Irish Aesthete.*

Although the Everard family is said to have come to Ireland around 1177, only from the fifteenth century onwards does it come to prominence as effective owner of the town of Fethard, County Tipperary, and of the surrounding territory. In 1578 John Everard entered the Inner Temple and twelve years later was called to the Bar, being appointed justice of the Court of King’s Bench (Ireland) in 1602 and subsequently knighted. As evidence of his authority in this part of the country, in 1608 he secured the new charter for Fethard from the English crown, according to the terms of which the town’s Corporation was renewed and enlarged, ‘and was endowed with such liberties and privileges as were needed to draw more people to the town and to increase its trade and commerce.’ The previous year Sir John had surrendered all his property to the English authorities, and then received it back again, evidence of the esteem in which he was held. What makes this notable is that the Everards were, and remained, adherents of the Roman Catholic faith. As a judge he was expected to take the Oath of Allegiance to the crown but, his conscience making this impossible, he resigned the position. Ultimately the Everards’ loyalty to the old religion would lead to tragedy, but first came farce. In 1613 the only Irish Parliament held during the reign of James I was called, to which Sir Jhn was returned as member of the House of Commons for Tipperary. He was the Catholic choice for the position of Speaker of the House of Commons, but they were iin a minority, the government’s choice being Sir John Davies, Attorney General for Ireland. When the vote was taken, Sir John Everard installed himself in the Speaker’s chair and refused to move. According to a contemporary source, ‘Sir Thomas Ridgway, Sir Richard Wingfield, Sir Oliver St John and others, brought Sir John Davies to the chair, and lifted him into Sir John Everard’s lap; the Knights perceiving Sir John Everard would not give place to their speaker, they lifted Sir John Everard out of the chair, and some of Sir John Everard’s part holding him by the collar of the gown to keep him in the chair…’ Ultimately this undignified incident ended in Everard’s defeat, not least because Sir John Davies was a much heavier man who literally crushed his opponent by sitting on top of him.

Despite his embarrassing setback over occupation of the Speaker’s chair in the House of Commons – after which he was temporarily imprisoned in the Tower of London – Sir John Everard continued to flourish, to remain in possession of his lands, and of a judicial pension, and to practice as a Roman Catholic until his death in 1624. He had three sons, the most prominent being the middle child Richard who even while his father was still alive was created a baronet. Like his father Sir Richard remained resolutely Roman Catholic, and as before this brought him into difficulties with the English authorities, especially after the Confederate War began in Ireland in 1641. It seems that initially Sir Richard ‘kept aloof from both parties; but for not joining with them, the “old” Irish took away from him “160 cows, 33 stud mares, and 2,000 sheep.” The tenants on his Estate were subject to similar treatment: the richest of whom with their flocks and goods Sir Richard conveyed to “safe quarters”.’ This account continues, ‘Later on, when the object of the Catholic Confederation was clearly known and defined, Sir Richard readily joined the popular movement, and in 1646 was one of the Confederate Catholics who sat in what might be designated the “Irish Parliament at Kilkenny”.’ Following Oliver Cromwell’s arrival in this country in 1649, Sir Richard was one of the leaders of the opposing Confederate army. He was involved in defending Limerick against the Cromwellian forces but following the city’s surrender was one of those hanged by Henry Ireton.

Before strife once again overwhelmed Ireland, Sir Richard embarked on building a new residence in the midst of a fertile plain lying between the Galtee Mountains and the small town of Clogheen, County Tipperary. Commonly called Everard’s Castle, this has at its centre a substantial four-bay, three-storey over basement rectangular block with square flanking towers of four storeys (again over basement) at each of the corners. This is the last of a group of such semi-fortified houses, beginning with Rathfarnham Castle, County Dublin built for Archbishop Adam Loftus in the late 1580s (see A Whiter Shade of Pale, August 26th 2013) and taking in others like Kanturk Castle, County Cork (see An Abandoned Project, December 7th 2015), Leamaneagh Castle, County Clare and Portumna Castle, County Galway. However, whereas many of these were castellated, Everard’s Castle is notable for its gables, all twenty six of them: it would also have had seven chimney stacks. It is, therefore, closer to the English model of manor house than the familiar Irish tower house, and suggests Sir Richard was expecting years of peace, not war, to follow. On the other hand, deep corbels above the first-floor windows were intended to carry a defensive wooden gallery, so he must have reckoned with the possibility that his new property would be subject to attack. The front has a low door placed asymmetrically which again suggests certain caution on the part of the original builder. However one of the other sides of the house features a finer and larger cut stone doorcase with hood mould and carved decoration. And there are many two- and three-mullioned windows throughout the structure, which would have made it much lighter and airier than was the norm in this country at the time.

A stone formerly over the entrance but now elsewhere on the site carries the date 1641, presumably the year in which work on Everard’s Castle was completed. The family was not to enjoy occupation for long. After a couple of years Sir Richard became embroiled in the Confederate Wars and, as has been mentioned, was hanged by Ireton in 1651. The year before, as Cromwell’s army advanced south Lady Everard set the house on fire, rather than allow it fall into enemy hands: it has stood a ruin ever since, and became known as Burncourt (or sometimes Burntcourt). Legend has it the building took seven years to build, was occupied for seven years and took seven days to burn. As for the family, following Sir Richard’s death they forfeited their lands but these were restored to his eldest son Sir Redmond Everard following the restoration of Charles II in 1660. In turn his son, Sir John Everard, was attainted for supporting James II, and although some of the family property was subsequently returned, their baronetcy and presence in this part of Ireland ended with the death of another Sir Redmond Everard around 1740. In 1751 the Fethard territories were sold to wealthy Bordeaux wine merchant Thomas Barton, while the area around Burncourt was acquired by a Dublin lawyer, Cornelius O’Callaghan. His great-grandson, another Cornelius O’Callaghan who was created first Viscount Lismore, was responsible for building another immense castle nearby: Shanbally designed by John Nash. Notoriously this was blown up by the Irish Land Commission in 1960. So while Shanbally is gone, Burncourt remains, thereby providing a partial memory of Tipperary’s architectural heritage.

Assolas, Kanturk, Co Cork

by jenjunebugDecember 19, 2024November 27, 2025

Assolas, Kanturk, Co Cork 

*Assolas House, County Cork photograph courtesy sales advertisement 2022.*

Bence-Jones, Mark. 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. 14. “(Wrixon-Becher, Bt/PB) A truncated tower-house, with a late C17 two storey three bay façade surmounted by a pediment-gable incorporating a chimneystack, to which a two storey bow-ended range was added in C18, to provide a new front at right angles to C17 facade. The side of the house incorporating the latter was made nearly symmetrical by the addition of a two storey wing with a curved bow, balancing the curved end bow of C18 front on the other side of the old tower. The house was re-roofed with exceptionally wide eaves, probably in the early C19. The interior contains some C17 and C18 panelling. Acquired ca. 1714 by Rev Francis Gore; subsequently owned by the Wrixon family. Now owned by Mrs. Bourke.”

*Assolas County Cork for sale Nov 2025 courtesy Sherry Fitzgerald and Helen Cassidy Auctioneer*.

Supplement:

“Owned, at beginning of C20, by Hon Alexis Burke Roche, whose lawsuit with Sir Timothy O’Brien (see Lohort Castle) is recounted by Mark Bence-Jones in Twilight of the Acendancy. Hon Alexis Burke Roche was a great-grand uncle of HRH The Princess of Wales.”

The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Frank Keohane. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.

p. 23. The first notable exponent of the Palladian style in Ireland was Sir Edward Lovett Pearce, but neither he nor his successor, Richard Castle, is known to have worked in Cork, and there are no great Palladian houses here to river Castletown, Co Kildare, or Russborough. In part this may be explained by Cork’s limited links with Dublin, so that its architecture instead held tight to a conservative Anglo-Dutch idiom well into the mid C18. The Palladian formula of a central corps de logis linked to pavilions by quadrants therefore found little favour in Cork during the early Palladian period. Exceptions include the demolished Hollyhill (near Kinsale). Garrretstown was to have had a central block but only the two-storey wings were completed. Crosshaven’s wings are free-standing.

Instead, architects, builders and patrons made do with a simple and often tentative assimilation of Palladian elements. What did find favour was the sort of compact and economical four-square block employed by Pearce at Cashel and by Castle at the central blocks of Bellinter and Hazelwood. External refinements at such houses are confined to combinations of window and door surrounds, platbands, occasionally a cornice, and in rare cases a parapet to conceal the hipped roof. Early Georgian examples include Doneraile Court and Maryborough at Douglas; Bessborough at Blackrock (Cork city), and Crosshaven date from the mid century. Late C18 examples of these high, four-square blocks such as Coolmore (Ringaskiddy), Hoddersfield (Crosshaven) and Altamira (Liscarrol) are particularly plain, with an almost complete paring back of embellishment.

A modest expression of Palladianism is occasionally encountered in which a simple unadorned Venetian window is placed over the doorway, as at Knockane (Castlemartyr), or on the staircase at Kilmoney Abbey (Carrigaline). At Lisnabrin (near Conna) a Diocletian window, Venetian window and Venetian doorway are stacked one above the other, although here again the openings are left unadorned in an otherwise plain façade. The centre could be given further emphasis by making it advanced and giving it a pediment, as at Carker (Doneraile), Coliney (Charleville) and Assolas (Castlemagner). A modest but charming example is Park House near Doneraile, a single-pile gable-ended house with an ashlar façade articulated by a cornice and platband, the advanced centre having moulded architraves to the pedimented doorcase, first-floor Venetian window and a Diocletian window in the pediment. At Bessborough this formula is developed further, the seven-bay three-storey façade having rusticated quoins and stepped keystones to the flanking windows.

The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Frank Keohane. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.

p. 27. Of mid-C18 Palladian interiors, good representative examples with panelled dados, lugged architraves, fielded panelling and chunky cornices are found at Coole Abbey House, Assolas, Cloghroe, Kilshannig, and Blackrock House. Curiously, the heavy Palladian lugged architrave remained in use in the county long after it fell out of fashion elsewhere. At Lisnabrin, Dunkathel, Burton, Rockforest and Muckridge, the form is encountered in late C18 Neoclassical interiors, suggesting an innate conservatism among local joiners. The finest joinery in most houses is reserved for the staircase, and in many cases these have survived. The best early C18 staircases, at the Red House and Annes Grove, have alternating barley-twist and columnar balusters, big Corinthian newel posts, ramped handrails and carved tread-end brackets. Mount Alvernia (Mallow), Carrigrohane and Cloghroe all have good mid-C18 staircases of a similar type; that at Lota is exceptional in its use of mahogany and for its imperial plan. Good Neoclassical staircases, geometrical in form with delicate ironwork balustrades, survive at Maryborough, Newmarket Court and Castle Hyde; the destruction of those at Vernon Mount is a particularly sad loss.

The best early plasterwork is that of the Swiss-Italian brothers Paolo and Filippo Lafranchini at Riverstown, where highly sculptural late Baroque figurative ornament is applied to the walls and ceilings of the Saloon… Filippo alone decorated two rooms at Kilshannig, blending late Baroque figures with lighter acanthus arabesques and putti. Rococo plasterwork featuring scrolling acanthus and birds comparable to the Dublin school of the 1760s is encountered in the Saloon at Castlemartyr, and at Maryborough. At Laurentium (Doneraile) and the Old College (Youghal), it is rather more hesitant. For the most part, stucco workers remain anonymous, so it is a happy circumstance that Patrick Osborne’s accomplished work at the former Mansion House at Cork is recorded. He also probably worked at Lota, as well as at Castle Hyde. Good Neoclassical plasterwork in low relief and employing small-scale classical motifs of the type made fashionable by Robert Adam and James Wyatt is found at Maryborough, at Old Court House (Rochestown), and at the Old College and Loreto College at Youghal.

p. 300. The canalized river which runs alongside the house and lawn here makes for a charming scene. The house is of several periods. The central three-bay gable-fronted range, visible around the side, is said to be a tower house or mid-C17 house now reduced in height. It has an early C18 limestone bolection-moulded doorcase and windows notable for their narrow proportions. The adjoining south range was reportedly built around 1714 by Rev Francis Gore, Rector of Castlemagner, but looks mid-C18. One room deep and two storeys high, it has curved bows to each end and an early C19 hipped roof with particularly deep eaves. Five bays with an advanced central bay with an eaves pediment, a doorway with side-lights and a fanlight of simple switch-track tracery. The rubble walls with brick dressing muust have been rendered originally. A further bow-ended range of similar date at the back housed the kitchen. The rooms in the ‘tower’ have deep window embrasures with C17 panelling. The panelled Georgian rooms have lugged window architraves set on pedestals, box cornices and chair rails enriched with dentils. Ionic pilasters flank a sideboard recess in the dining room.

http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie/LandedEstates/jsp/property-list.jsp?letter=A

Built by the Reverend Francis Gore (died 1748) in the early 18th century and occupied by Philip Oliver circa 1750. This house was the home of the Wrixon family from 1774. Occupied by William Harris in 1814 and by Sir William Wrixon Becher in 1837. Richard Smith was resident in the mid 19th century, holding the property then valued at £25+ from Sir William W. Beecher. Owned and run as a guest house by the Bourke family until 2005.

*Elizabeth née O’Neill, wife of William Wrixon-Becher, 1st Baronet, painting by John James Masquerier, photograph courtesy wikimedia commons.*

*Elizabeth née O’Neill, wife of William Wrixon-Becher, 1st Baronet, as Belvidera in Thomas Otway’s ‘Venice Preserved’*, *painting by Arthur William Devis, photograph courtesy wikimedia commons.*Wolverhampton Arts and Heritage; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/miss-eliza-oneill-as-belvidera-in-thomas-otways-venice-preserved-19502

Elizabeth née O’Neill, wife of William Wrixon-Becher, 1st Baronet, as Juliet, From Act II, Scene 2 of William Shakespeare’s *Romeo and Juliet*, *painting by George Dawe, photograph courtesy wikimedia commons*, Folger Shakespeare Library Digital Image Collection http://luna.folger.edu/luna/servlet/s/993opk

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20902315/assolas-house-assolas-county-cork

Detached multi-period two-storey country house, facing south-east and having two principal elevations. House now in use as guest house. North-east elevation comprises tower house, built c. 1640, modified to gable-fronted three-bay two-storey block with attic, c. 1780. Flanked to north-west by multiple-bay addition with bow to north-east end, and to south-east by single-bay two-storey addition in turn flanked by present five-bay entrance front facing south-east and having shallow pedimented single-bay breakfront and slightly recessed bowed end walls, latter matching that to north-west. Hipped slate roof, rounded to north-west, south-east and south-west corners, with carved limestone eaves course throughout except for north-west block which has moulded brick eaves, overhanging eaves wider to bowed ends, and rendered chimneystacks, one over tower house gable-front. Gabled dormer windows to north-west block. Rubble limestone walls to tower house. Coursed dressed limestone walls elsewhere, with tooled limestone quoins, cut limestone sill courses to ground floor of south-east elevation and to bows, and having carved limestone surround and slate cladding to pediment. Square-headed window openings with brick surrounds throughout, with limestone sills. Six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows to ground floor of 1780 additions, first floor of south-east elevation having tripartite three-over-six pane window to breakfront and two-pane timber casement windows with render sills to rest of this elevation and its bows, and three-over-three pane timber sliding sash windows to north-west. Dormer windows have casement windows and slate-hung sides. Tower house has timber sliding sash windows, square-headed six-over-six pane to ground floor, round-headed six-over-six pane to first floor and round-headed opening to attic with two-over-two pane window having traceried fanlight, with render sills. One-bay addition has nine-over-nine pane window to ground floor and three-over-six pane window to first floor. Round-headed entrance doorway to south-east elevation with brick surround, limestone plinths, traceried fanlight and timber panelled double-leaf door, limestone threshold and step, flanked by square-headed sidelights with brick surrounds, limestone sills and four-over-four pane timber sliding sash windows, sills being part of sill course to ground floor of this elevation. Windows to north-west elevation are one-over-one pane timber sliding sash and some replacement windows. Square-headed entrance doorway to north-east elevation, having carved moulded limestone surround, part-glazed timber battened door and limestone threshold. Ornate cast-iron gates to road entrance, piers being papyriform with moulded necks and acorn finials, having decorative double-leaf cast-iron vehicular and single-leaf pedestrian gates. Farmyard complex, built c. 1750, to north of house, with walled garden to east. Outbuildings have pitched slate roofs and coursed rubble limestone walls with square-headed door and window openings. Four-bay two-storey north outbuilding, having brick voussoirs to windows and corrugated-iron fixings to doors, and vehicular entrances, one segmental-arched vehicular entrance with dressed limestone voussoirs and timber battened half-door, second being flat-headed. Ashlar limestone pier to west having carved cap and double-leaf spear-headed cast-iron gates. Four-bay single-storey west outbuilding having replacement timber casement windows with alternate limestone and sandstone voussoirs, and half-glazed timber panelled door. Single-bay single-storey south-west outbuilding. Three-bay single-storey east outbuilding having timber battened doors. Walled garden to east having rubble limestone walls. Square-headed opening with single-leaf, spear-headed cast-iron gate. Square-profile ashlar limestone piers to south having carved rounded caps, with putti statuettes to caps.

Assolas House is a fine example of a multi-period house, having a seventeenth-century core and a later frontage at right angles. The earliest part appears to be a tower house, modified in the late eighteenth century, when the later blocks were added. The classically-inspired 1780s entrance façade is enlivened by the gabled breakfront and framed by bows. The slatework to the breakfront is unusual and adds colour and textural variation. The house retains many interesting features such as the slate roofs and varied sash windows, some containing hand-blown glass. The entrance door is surmounted by a traceried fanlight, which adds artistic interest to the façade. The door to the older elevation has a finely carved limestone surround. Assolas House retains its farmyard to the rear and a fish pond. The unusually ornate cast-iron piers considerably enhance the setting of the house. The outbuildings are solidly built with good quality materials. The south piers, which form the main entrance to the farmyard, are also finely sculpted with ornate caps. The outbuildings and the walled garden, with its spear-headed cast-iron gate, serve as reminders of the range of demesne-related activities once associated with country houses in Ireland.

*Assolas House, County Cork photograph courtesy National Inventory.*

https://www.airbnb.ie/rooms/20534251?source_impression_id=p3_1589548372_F%2BgMnw2IRJKwsyE3&guests=1&adults=1

Assolas dates back to 1630’s, but the guest rooms are in the Queen Ann part of the house Circa 1720. They look out over the extensive gardens and ancient trees. It is a much loved family home hosted by Joe and Hazel who have extensive high end hospitality experience. It is a peaceful, calm welcoming house, comfortable spacious bed rooms listed as King doubles that may also be made up as twins, well appointed bathrooms, and inviting public areas.

The space
A complimentary light breakfast, homemade granola, homemade breads and preserves etc are included. All day tea and coffee is available in the hall.

Guest access
Guests enjoy the exclusive us of the large hall and drawing room where there are often open wood fires. The gardens and riverside path are to be explored and walks further afield locally.

Other things to note
Assolas is an historic house that is well cared for and comfortable but not in modern way. The stairs up to the guest rooms are truly beautiful, but there is no elevator. While we have Wi-Fi, there is no TV anywhere in the house. There is a chess board and other games and lots and lots of books to curl up beside the fire with.

www.assolas.com

Assolas Country House, Kanturk, Co Cork
Phone: (+353) 029 50015 Fax: (+353) 029 50795
assolas@eircom.net
www.assolas.com

Six rooms, all with private bathroom

B&B: €89 – €130 pps

Single Supplement: €16

Dinner: €49, book by noon

Children welcome/separate High Tea

Credit Cards: Visa, Mastercard

Open: 1 April to 1 November

Group bookings welcome all year round

Directions:
Signposts from the N72 (Mallow-Killarney Road) 8 miles west of Mallow. Assolas is 3½ miles Northeast of Kanturk.

http://castlemagner-his-soc.com/assolas-house/

The original house is today the centre of the present residence. The shape of the windows, the exterior of rough stone and mortar, strengthened by the addition of horse hair and ox blood, the great thickness of the walls, and the wood-panelled first floor rooms, are all in keeping with these monastic origins. The east wing would appear to have been added about a hundred years after the original building. Perhaps its most interesting features are the beautifully rounded frontage, the deep cantilever roof with windows just below, and the large old flagstone kitchen on the ground floor (the White dining room – which incidentally was in use up to 1915).

Unfortunately, no records are available to tell us when precisely the front wing was built. One can only surmise that it was in the latter half of the 18th century. It is most certainly Queen Ann style with the added rounded gables giving a soft exterior and a beautifully proportioned interior. The windows, all the woodwork, in particular the fresco around the hall ceiling, and the carved doors are the work of skilled craftsmen, while most of the window panes throughout the house are the original hand blown glass with all its imperfections. For nearly seventy years after the Battle of Knocknanuss, the shrouded mists of time have veiled the secrets of Assolas in its four and a half foot thick walls until 1714 when Reverend Francis Gore took up residence. He was responsible for much of the present layout of the house and gardens. The residence and surrounds prospered under his management.

Reverend Gore seems to have been a man of means and influence. He was also a minister and a Protestant Rector of Castlemagner parish for 34 years. He died on May 10 1748 and is buried under the reading desk in the Church of Ireland Church, Castlemagner. During his life at Assolas, the road from Kanturk to Cecilstown had not been constructed. An old carriage way ran through Lisduggan and crossed the river at a ford, still visible today beside Assolas House, joining the present road at Lacken Leigh. Every night during his 34 years at Assolas, Reverend Gore hung a lantern high on the wall of the house shining its light on the waters of the ford to guide the travelers on their way. It is reported that, during this period, highwaymen often lurked at dangerous crossings for innocent victims. Assolas House was always open to receive the wounded should they fall prey to roaming bands. This warm friendly light became so well known that the house by the ford took its name in Gaelic, the spoken language of the time, as Atha Solas (the ford of the light, later adapted to its English version, Assolas). As a final tribute to Reverend Gore, the ruling Church of Ireland authorities granted the use of a private pew in Castlemagner Church of Ireland Church to the owner of Assolas.

The pages of history turn Assolas:

In 1749 Assolas passed from Mr Gore to Mr Phillip Oliver, J.P. for County Cork. Subsequent transfers were as follows:

Henry Wrixon, Sir William Beecher Bart 1794
William Harris J.P. 1814
William Beecher D.L. 1830 Hayden O’Brien 1850
Henry Smith Iron Founder, Cork 1880
Colonel O’Hare 1900
Sir John Beecher Bart 1902
Hon Alexis Roche 1904
Burke family (1915)

The Burkes are the first Catholic owners of Assolas since the far off days of the monks some 300 years earlier.

To the present day, Assolas has withstood the ravages of time, seen war, strife, prosperity, and famine. The grounds still have many ancient yew trees that were planted exclusively in the early days for a plentiful supply of good quality bows. What the future holds for Assolas no one knows but it will continue to stand as a silent monument to the skills and craftsmanship of the unknown people who built it many centuries ago.

Assolas House, Kanturk, County Cork, Castlemagner, Co. Cork, P51T954

€1,495,000

6 Bed6 Bath711 m²
for sale Nov 2025 courtesy Sherry Fitzgerald

THE RENOWNED ASSOLAS HOUSE, A FINE, BEAUTIFULLY PRESENTED PERIOD PROPERTY IN AN OUTSTANDING RURAL SETTING NOT FAR FROM KANTURK, IN THE COUNTY OF CORK, IRELAND. A TRUE HISTORIC IRISH COUNTRY RESIDENCE, WITH A WEALTH OF UNIQUE ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES. Offering approx. 7,651 sq. ft of living accommodation over three floors, including six en-suite Bedrooms and three Formal Reception rooms, on c. 17 acres of mature grounds, laid to lawn, grass tennis court, walled gardens, woodlands and paddocks.

Extensive Historic Coach Yard, Stable Yard, and Farmyard. The property dates back to the 17th Century, with the original Tower House built c. 1620 and the Queen Ann Wings of the House added c.1720.

Close access to Cork City, Cork International Airport, Kerry Airport and Shannon Airport. Assolas House is a Historic Irish Period Property located in rural splendour right in the heart of County Cork.

Built in the 17th & 18th Century, the house is of a dramatic, stately presence, yet reassuringly serene and private. With striking proportions, beautiful aspect, elegant layout and outstanding historic craftsmanship, the property has been well and sensitively cared for by the current owners. All elements of this fine historic property combined portray a Stand-Out Irish Country Property.

The Accommodation is set out as follows: Of three storey presentation, the property leads into an ornately decorated and classically symmetrical Formal Entrance Hall leading onto the Drawing room and Dining room. This Inner Hallway, with a gracious curving staircase features a typical Queen AnnE arched window. The Dining Room to the Front of the property offers dual aspect, looking out on the lawns and River Marybrook, while to the other side of the Hall, the Drawing Room has a matching set of five tall sash windows. To the rear of the entrance halls is the kitchen which holds an Aga, creating a very cosy family space. Beyond this is a study and extensive family room looking out on the gardens. The lower ground level offers huge opportunities for imaginative recreation.

The First Floor includes Six Bedrooms, all En-Suite; Three Grand Bedrooms in the Queen Ann section of the House and three Family bedrooms to the Rear Wing of the House. The six high ceilinged bedrooms are all of very generous, gracious proportions, and all ensuite, with enchanting views of the property grounds and the River Marybrook. Utility and Laundry Room also on this floor. The Second Floor Level Offers plenty of storage space along with a Lounge and Balcony. A peaceful, relaxing space with potential for a variety of uses.

HISTORY: Assolas House is rich in History, most likely the oldest existing dwelling in the barony of Dunhallow, though the Irish Yew trees near the residence dating from 1,000 years ago possibly denote a longer history. Of particular historic architectural note are the unusual shaped windows, thickness of the walls, exterior of rough stone and mortar, elegantly rounded frontage and unusually deep cantilever roof with windows just below. The original tower house was redeveloped in the 1720’s into the fine Residence of today.

GARDENS AND GROUNDS: A generous driveway leads through the fine grounds to the front of Assolas House. The walled gardens are to the north-eastern side of the house, with fine stands mature trees and a variety of shrubs along the west bank of the Marybrook river. A pretty walkway by the waterside leads to a waterfall and an old stone bridge over the river with cast iron garden gate to the road.

GATE LODGE AND STABLE YARD: Gate Lodge, Access to the Stable Yard via Cast Iron Gates, with a good array of stabling. Coach House, fully renovated with new heating system, two bedrooms, two bathrooms.

SERVICES | Bulk gas fired central Heating/Mains water/ Oiled fired Aga LOCATION: Assolas House is just 5km from the market town of Kanturk, Co Cork, recognized as the capital of the ancient barony of Duhallow. Kanturk Castle nearby is one of the largest structures built by a native Irish chieftain. A very beautiful setting with a wealth of country and sporting activities on the doorstep. Good local shopping available, post office, friendly pubs, colourful cafes and an array of restaurants, primary and secondary schools. Mallow town is just a 15 minute drive with plenty to see such as Mallow Castle, Cork Racecourse, and Bridgetown Priory. Trains available to Dublin and Cork, while the N20 and N72 national routes link with the motorway network at the M8 junction, just thirty minutes’ drive away. DISTANCES: 5.4 km / 7 minutes to Kanturk 17.3 km / 15 minutes to Mallow 25.4 km / 24 minutes to Millstreet 46.2 km / 50 minutes to Fermoy 48.9 km / 48 minutes to the M8 49.8 km / 51 minutes to Cork City Assolas House is also within easy driving distance of Adare Manor, Killarney, Blarney and Kinsale. Offered For Sale by Joint Agents Roseanne De Vere Hunt, Sherry FitzGerald Country Homes and Helen Cassidy Auctioneer.

For Sale 24/5/22: €690,000 eircode: P51 T954

ASSOLAS HOUSE IS A CLASSICALLY ELEGANT PERIOD COUNTRY HOUSE SET IN A PRIVATE HAVEN IN KANTURK, CO. CORK. THE SIX BEDROOMS AND GRACEFUL RECEPTION ROOMS PROVIDE IDEAL, AND FLEXIBLE ACCOMMODATION IN A TRANQUIL OASIS. SPECIAL FEATURES – Original Tower House built in the Circa 1620. – Queen Ann Wings of the house added circa 1720. – Tasteful period features, with elegant proportions. – Approx. 710.8 sq.m (7652 sq. ft) of living accommodation. – Six ensuite bedrooms. – Formal reception rooms including drawing, dining and sitting rooms. – Splendid stone coach yard, stable yard and farmyard. – c 6.89 ha (17.03 acres) of grounds. – Extensive grounds include lawns, grass tennis court, walled gardens, woodlands and paddocks. – Close access to Cork City, Cork International Airport, Kerry Airport and Shannon Airport Assolas House is a historic Irish country house set in the heart of County Cork. Built in the 17th & 18th Century, the house is grand and imposing yet enormously comfortable and truly private. With gorgeous proportions, beautiful aspect, generous spaces and marvellous craftsmanship, the house has been exquisitely maintained by the current owners. Set on some 6.89 ha (17.03 acres) of lands including lawn, paddocks, a walled garden and woodland, Assolas House is a divine residence bursting with potential. The property is complimented with outbuildings such as a coach house, stone clad storage and an old stable block. All elements of this ravishing property create an unforgettable setting.

ASSOLAS HOUSE Built at the turn of the 17th century and extended circa 1720, Assolas House is a stately like grand country house. It’s three storey design gives a bright and airy ground floor in which a stunning entrance hall introduces you to the drawing room and dining room. This ornately decorated and classically symmetrical entrance hall leads on to an inner hallway, with a gracious curving staircase featuring a quintessentially Queen Ann arched window. A front dining room to the right has dual aspect, looking out on the lawns and River Marybrook, while to the other side of the hall, the drawing room has a matching set of five tall sash windows and exudes elegance, comfortably accommodating large parties. To the rear of the entrance halls is the kitchen which holds an Aga, creating a very cosy family space. Beyond this is a study and extensive family room looking out on the gardens. The lower ground level offers huge opportunities for imaginative recreation is waiting for you to put your own stamp on it. Presently, the first floor includes six bedrooms; three grand bedrooms in the Queen Ann section of the house and three family bedrooms to the rear wing of the house. The six bedrooms are all exceptionally generous, with ensuites. With views of the gorgeous grounds, rolling fields, the River Marybrook, these are light-filled spaces, with gracious high ceilings and good proportions. A utility room and laundry room are also found on this floor. The second floor provides ample storage space along with a lounge and balcony which is archetypal of this style of house. This floor has the potential to be utilized as a hidden sanctuary for relaxation within the household.

LOCATION Assolas House sits in a rural location 5km from the town of Kanturk, in the historic parish of Castlemagner. Kanturk is a market town in Co Cork, known as the capital of the ancient barony of Duhallow. A deep sense of history and tradition has shaped Kanturk, and it is reflected in the town’s cultural and physical atmosphere. It’s hinterland straddles the Sliabh Luachra region to the west, and the region to the east around the Munster Blackwater. The magnificent Kanturk Castle nearby is one of the largest structures built by a native Irish chieftain and the town’s name, derived from Ceann Turic (Boar’s Head), reflects the legend that the last wild boar in Ireland was slain here. With its remarkable combination of mountain views, lush rolling hills, forest and river valleys, Kanturk offers nature lovers a plentiful feast as well as countless amenities for those keen on outdoor activities, be it sporting or recreational. It also has all day-to-day amenities: supermarkets including Lidl and Supervalu, a Post Office, pharmacies, public houses, restaurants, cafés as well as national, primary and secondary schools. A 15 minutes’ drive will take you to Mallow. This lively market town is home to a plethora of amenities along with notable points of interest such as Mallow Castle, Cork Racecourse, and Bridgetown Priory. The train station at Mallow is on the main line between Dublin and Cork, while the N20 and N72 national routes link with the motorway network at the M8 junction, just thirty minutes’ drive away. Assolas House is an oasis of tranquil quiet, and an ideal base in this thriving part of Ireland.

Assolas House is the oldest known and perhaps the most historic residence in Duhallow. There is evidence that this sylvan place was originally settled in the 11th century, with Irish Yews near the house which have been dated to over 1,000 years old. It was the focal point in the Battle of Knocknanuss in November 1647 The original house is today the centre of the present residence. The shape of the windows, the exterior of rough stone and mortar, the great thickness of the walls, and the wood-panelled first floor rooms, are all in keeping with it’s historic origins. Interesting features include the beautifully rounded frontage and the uniquely deep cantilever roof with windows just below. Reverend Francis Gore took up residence in Assolas House in 1600’s. Reverend Gore seems to have been a man of means and influence. He was also a minister and a Protestant Rector of Castlemagner parish for 34 years. His name is found on the old Ballyhass school as well as the bridge in Kanturk. Circa 1720 Assolas passed to Mr Phillip Oliver, J.P. for County Cork. It was at about this time that the original tower house was redeveloped into the landscaped manor that is there today. Subsequent notable transfers were as follows: Henry Wrixon, Sir William Beecher Bart (1794), William Beecher D.L. (1830), Henry Smith Iron Founder, Cork (1880), Colonel O’Hare (1900), Hon Alexis Roche (1904) and finally the Bourke Family (1915). Sir William Beecher notably was the first master of the Duhallow Foxhounds. The Duhallow pack existed before 1745, but there is no recorded history. The kennels were based at Assolas House for several years. Sir William had taken on his wife’s maiden name, Beecher, she from the same family for which the infamous obstacle on the Grand National Steeplechase course at Aintree, England, Becher’s Brook, is named. Honourable Alexis Roche, the last Beecher tenant before the present owners, died 18th December 1914 and is buried in a small grave in Castlemagner cemetery. He was a great uncle of the deceased Princess of Wales, Lady Diana Spencer.

A curving driveway sweeps through luscious paddocks to reach the front of Assolas House. This adds a welcoming privacy, and that perfect peace and quiet which is one of the wonderful bonuses of living in the countryside. The imposing front aspect the house looks out on a manicured lawn’s, which extends into the front paddock meeting the road. The 6.89 ha (17.03 acres) of grounds are laid out in lawns, paddocks, a walled garden, and an orchard. The walled gardens flank the north-eastern aspect of the house and compliment the abundance of mature trees and native shrubbery which line the west bank of the Marybrook. An enchanting, pebbled walkway along the waterside leads to a waterfall (with potential for hydro power), and an old stone bridge over the river which includes a private cast iron garden gate, giving access to the road. STABLE YARD Decorative cast iron gates open into an old stable yard, where there is potential accommodation for horses. The stables are roomy and are plenty with potential to meet all equestrian needs. TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICES | Bulk gas fired central Heating/Mains water/ Oiled fired Aga

Anketill Grove (or Ancketill’s Grove or Anketell Grove), Emyvale,  County Monaghan – gate lodge accommodation

by jenjunebugNovember 22, 2024March 22, 2026

Anketill Grove (or Ancketill’s Grove or Anketell Grove), Emyvale,  County Monaghan – gate lodge accommodation

*Anketell Grove, County Monaghan courtesy National Inventory.*

p. 4. “Captain Oliver Ancketill built first Ancketill’s Grove ca. 1640, on low ground. His grandson Oliver rebuilt the house on higher ground at the head of the copper beech avenue. This house was demolished in 1781, and a third dwelling was erected on another site: A two-storey, five-bay, gable-ended main block with a small pediment, joined by curved sweeps to single-storey, two-bay wings. There are Georgian-Gothic windows in the wings; a door with a good keystone between two round-headed windows in each of the sweeps.

“The house was extensively remodelled ca 1840; its most freakish feature, an Italianate campanile sprouting from the centre of the main block, would appear to date from this time; though there may always have been a central attic-tower, following the precedent at Gola, in the same county. The additions of 1840 included a porch and a new staircase; while at the same time the principal rooms were given ceilings of carved woodwork. Sold 1920.”

https://archiseek.com/20 09/1781-anketells-grove-emyvale-co-monaghan

1781 – Anketell’s Grove, Emyvale, Co. Monaghan

The third Anketell’s Grove (the other two being replaced by each subsequent house on different sites) was originally built in 1781. A five bayed house with curved sweeps to two small wings, the main block has a small fan-lighted pediment. The wings have Georgian Gothic windows while the remainder of the house including the sweeps have round headed windows. Remodelled in 1840, the house was given an unusual Italianate Campanile sprouting from the centre of the main block. Like Gola House (now demolished) also in Monaghan it may always have had a central tower but this is uncertain.

https://www.buildingsofirela nd .ie/buildings-search/building/41400610/anketell-grove-gortmoney-county-monaghan

Five-bay two-storey house, built c.1781 and remodelled c.1840, flanked by gable-fronted single-storey wings, adjoining house by screen walls in Palladian style. Pedimented full-height central bay with projecting single-storey porch to its front. Recent extensions and square-plan four-stage Italianate campanile to rear (north-west) elevation. Pitched slate roof to main block, with rendered chimneystacks and having replacement uPVC eaves course. Hipped slate roof with timber eaves supports and cast-iron weather vane to campanile. Hipped slate roof to porch to front. Mixed replacement and cast-iron rainwater goods. Pitched slate roofs having red brick chimneystacks and clay chimneypots to side-wings. Ruled-and-lined rendered walls to ground floor to front of house and side-wings. Render string course, squared tooled sandstone to first floor. Harl rendered walls to screen walls, pediments and internal elevations of gable-fronted wings, coursed rubble stone to external elevations of wings, and smooth render with render quoins and plinth courses to rear and side elevations of main block. Coursed rubble limestone to campanile having render string courses between stages. Render crest to north-east elevation of porch to front, with tooled limestone surround. Pointed openings to pediments of wings, tooled limestone surrounds and sills, blocked. Round-headed window openings to front having painted tooled limestone surrounds and sills, and replacement timber windows. Round-headed window openings to screen walls, one with replacement uPVC window, others blocked. Pointed-arch openings to front elevations of side wings and first floor to central bay, having painted tooled stone surrounds, sills and timber tracery to windows. Round-headed window opening to pediment of central bay, with timber tracery to window. Square-headed window openings to north-east and south-west elevations of hall connecting to front porch, with painted stone sills and replacement uPVC windows. Square-headed window openings to south-west elevation of porch having replacement uPVC window, painted sill and shouldered render hood-moulding. Square-headed window openings to rear elevations with render sills, reveals and replacement uPVC windows. Round-headed window openings to third and fourth stages of campanile having tooled limestone surrounds, sills and two-over-two pane timber sliding sash windows. Gauged-brick square-headed window openings to fourth stage to rear of tower, with render sills and one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows. Round-headed lancet windows to front of tower, tooled limestone surrounds and one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows. Gauged-brick square-headed window openings to second stage with red brick surrounds, masonry sills and replacement uPVC windows. Square-headed openings to side-wings, some blocked. Doorway to front comprising pair of render engaged Doric-style columns on square-plan plinths, supporting painted masonry lintel cornice over square-headed opening having timber panelled door. Square-headed door openings to screen walls with tooled limestone surrounds and keystones. Stepped screen wall to north-east of house, having coursed rubble walls with patches of render and render capping, and square-headed niches flanking central round-headed niche.

This house was built in the early eighteenth century for the Anketells, who became one of the primary landowning families in the area. Major Matthew John Anketell was listed in Thom’s Directory for 1862 as a Deputy Lieutenant and Magistrate for County Monaghan. The house was remodelled in the mid-nineteenth century, at which point the campanile was altered to match the Victorian stable block, and the wings were rebuilt in Gothic design. A strong sense of symmetry was created by the side wings and screen walls, central pedimented bay and projecting porch, a layout iconic of the Palladian style of architecture. Contextualised by the adjacent stable block and a gate lodge, this country house is of high quality architectural design and makes a strong contribution to the landscape.

Gate lodge is available for rented accommodation:

https://www.discoverireland.ie/Where-To-Stay/grove-lodge/74777

Grove Lodge is a cosy stone cottage set on the Anketell Grove Country Estate near Emyvale, County Monaghan. The cottage is refurbished and includes modern facilities, such as TV, DVD player, radio and CD player. For convenient cooking, there is an electric cooker, microwave and electric water heater. Additionally, guests will find a washing machine, tumble dryer, hot press, electric shower, oil-fired central heating and stove. 

The property includes private parking, outdoor picnic facilities, lovely farm walks and a dog kennel. It is conveniently located within 5km of Castle Leslie in Glaslough and 15km from the Slieve Beagh mountains, which offer wonderful walks. The nearby Emy Lough offers walking routes and outdoor swimming, while indoor swimming facilities can be found in Monaghan Town, just 6km away.

Ankatell Grove
Gortmoney
Emyvale
Monaghan
PO Code: H18 NY52
Republic of Ireland

 +353 87 2494854 

laurence.c@clerkinfinancial.com

Anketell Grove (Ancketill’s Grove), or indeed according to older ordnance survey maps, Trough Grove, is located near Emyvale, in the barony of Trough in Co. Monaghan. It is a curious mixture of styles and form to the eye. The property once belonged to the McKennas but it seems that in the 1630s Oliver Ancketill (son of William Ancketill from Shaftesbury in Dorset) acquired a grant of land and built a house here, possibly replacing a Mckenna one.
Oddly, a copy of Burke’s History of the landed gentry says it was a Matthew Ancketill who acquired the property in 1636.
Regardless, Oliver’s family were well regarded in Dorset, it seems an ancestor, Fitzameline Ansechetil was an MP in the parliament of Edward 1st. In the 17th century they were Royalists and this seemed to pertain to the newly established Irish branch of the family too. Oliver’s son Matthew had the estate “ rubber stamped” as to being his property by his monarch Charles 2nd, however he died in 1689 fighting in essence for King William, the enemy of the brother of Charles,James 2nd. 
According to a Samuel Lewis in his topographical dictionary of Ireland in 1837, “Mr.Anketell Esq., a gentleman of considerable property in the neighbourhood” took on an Irish force of 600, commanded by Major John McKenna, who were entrenched in an old Danish fort called Drumbanagher. It appears, according to Lewis, that despite “ a heavy fire on the Protestants” from a commanding position, “ Mr. Anketell, who was of undaunted courage, burst into the fort, at the head of his troops,routed and pursued the enemy with considerable slaughter, but was himself slain in the hour of victory. Major McKenna and his son were both taken prisoners, and the former was destroyed, in the moment of excitement in revenge of the death of the spirited leader of the Protestant force.”
Major McKenna was the great great grandson of Patrick McKenna, who some regard as the greatest ever McKenna chieftain(he possibly even fared reasonably well with Elizabeth 1st). It’s alleged that the McKenna fortune had been deposited into the lake at Minmurray near his home just before the battle, and that an odd piece occasionally still turns up. Apparently Major McKenna’s severed head was presented to his widow afterwards.
There is some controversy about this “ battle” in so far as both sides state a completely different version of events, indeed even the year is disputed 1688 or 1689. It seems likely that 1689 is correct because James 2nd had it’s reported, just prior to the incident,made Major McKenna High Sheriff of Monaghan in 1689. Indeed some say he was on his way to arrest Protestants disloyal to James when the whole fracas/battle kicked off as it were. Perhaps the fact that there were 5 separate Anketell subscribers (in the vicinity)to Lewis’s publication, his version of events may have been biased in one direction ?
I should point out that the family were Ancketill and the name morphed into Anketell probably in the time of William Anketell (1790-1851). Hence the name was written with 2 spellings depending on timeline and perhaps choice.
Matthew, who had married Matilda Moore, was succeeded by his son William ( High Sheriff 1707). William was only about 32 when he died childless. As a consequence of this, his brother Oliver (MP for Monaghan) inherited the property in 1709. He was a successful lawyer, MP for Monaghan and indeed had been High Sheriff in 1703. He it seems built another new house here but on higher ground at the top of a splendid copper beach avenue.Oliver and his wife Sarah ( née Campbell) had a son William but he died in 1756 predeceasing his father. As a result, Oliver’s eldest grandson Charles inherited the estate. Charles had 2 brothers that I’m aware off, Richard and Matthew. Richard it’s written, upon the death of his wife, on the same day,knelt down beside her and died too. Charles built the house again, a 5 bay, 2 story, gable ended Georgian main block with single storey 2 bay wings attached by curved sweeps. Charles, who never married, was succeeded by his brother Matthew’s son William. William as mentioned earlier seems to have preferred Anketell to Ancketill. It was William or indeed his son Matthew (suceeeded in 1851), or perhaps both of them, who added the campanile and various other embellishments between the 1840/1850s. It’s been observed that the campanile (roughly,from the Italian term “bell tower”) that was added is slightly reminiscent of that at Gola house, seat of the Wrights- burned in the 1920s-also in Co. Monaghan), however it’s scale does seem ill at ease with the dimensions and indeed style of the Georgian house at Anketell. This is more or less how the house stands today, with some probably common, 20th century alterations.
Overall the house has been built/rebuilt 4 times , and at slightly different locations.
Matthew was succeeded by his son Matthew David Anketell, who was an actor, diarist and Egyptian hieroglyphist. Sadly he only lived for 2 years after his father’s death, having a bad, indeed fatal fall from a horse. As he had not married, and the next oldest brother, Oliver Frederick Anketell had died before him, the property came into the hands of a 3rd brother, William Ancketill ( there had been 5 boys and 3 girls). I hope you noticed that the spelling of the name has reverted to Ancketill. It appears that this William( 1851-1931) decided to return the name to its former spelling and in 1874 he legally changed it. He was a keen violinist and held the office of DL for Monaghan. He married Jean (Laing Falkner) and they had a daughter named Olive. In the 1870s William is recorded as owning 7,504 acres in Co. Monaghan. It’s obvious however that the estate was in financial peril because he raised a mortgage on it in the early 1880s and by the late 1880s much of the land was no longer in William’s hands. By 1901 William was staying at Killyfaddy Manor, a fine classical house in Co. Tyrone, with his uncle Fitzameline Anketell (an unusual Christian name, but they had as mentioned earlier an ancestor with it too).
Fitzameline had married an heiress and indeed he himself inherited substantial wealth from his maternal uncle Robert Waring Maxwell.
In the 1901 census, Anketell Grove is occupied by Samuel Griffin, who states his occupation as a land steward, and his family (no servants). The census record states that the owner of the property is Clement K. Cordner. Clement Kennedy Cordner was a farmer, JP and land agent, from the Muckamore area in Co. Antrim. He was married to Frances (née Anketell) and in the 1901 census was resident in his house (in Co. Antrim) with his wife, 2 Anketell sisters-in-law and 3 servants,with 25 rooms being used in an obviously large home. I know William had sold off more land in 1901, perhaps the house as well, to at least somebody so well known to him ? Clement was William’s brother-in-law. William’s three sisters who were living/staying with Clement were Frances (1845-1916, Clement’s wife, she had previously been married to Captain Newton Haworth Wallace), Augusta (1854-1908) and Selina (1843-1921).
In the early 1920s the house was sold to a local man, Mr. Patrick Mckenna. I wonder if he was a descendant of Major John ?
In 1970 the property was bought by Mr. Laurence Clerkin, who still resides there. I thank him for permission to photograph his private home.

https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2015/04/anketell-grove.html

THE ANCKETILLS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY MONAGHAN, WITH 7,754 ACRES

This family was of high station in Dorset at a very remote period (its name appearing in the Domesday Book).

As early as the reign of EDWARD I, several of its members represented the borough of Shaftesbury in Parliament.

The pedigree and history, as anciently of Ancketill’s Place, near Shaftesbury, and east Aimer, near Sturminster Marshall, and more anciently of Lye, near Wimborne, and represented by Ancketill, of Ancketill’s Grove, are given in the 3rd edition of Hutchins’ History of Dorset, and there carried down to 1868; the pedigree extends to twenty-three generations, and shows intermarriages with the most distinguished of the old Dorset families.

The history shows the active part which this family took as Royalists in the time of CHARLES I in Dorset, and that its descendants and representatives in Ireland, when called upon, were not found wanting in devotion to what they considered the right cause.

The first ancestor of this line, 

CAPTAIN OLIVER ANCKETILL JP (1609-66), of County Monaghan, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1662, son of William Ancketill, of Shaftesbury, Dorset, married Rebecca, probably of the family of Bullingbrooke, of Galway, and and issue,

MATTHEW, his heir;
William;
Richard;
Sarah, m 1660, James Corry, ancestor of the Earls of Belmore;
Elizabeth.

Captain Ancketill was succeeded by his eldest son,

MATTHEW ANCKETILL (1651-88), of Ancketill’s Grove, County Monaghan, to whom that estate was confirmed, by patent, in the reign of CHARLES II.

He was High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1682, but was attainted by JAMES II.

Mr Ancketill wedded Matilda, daughter of Robert Moore, of Ravella and Garvey, County Tyrone, and had (with other issue),

WILLIAM, his heir;
OLIVER, succeeded his brother;
Robert;
Catherine.

Mr Ancketill was killed at the battle of Drumbanagher Hill, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

WILLIAM ANCKETILL (1677-1709), of Ancketill’s Grove, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1707, who dsp 1709, and was succeeded by his next brother,

OLIVER ANKETELL (1680-c1760), of Ancketill’s Grove, MP for Monaghan Borough, 1754-60, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1703, who married firstly, in 1716, Sarah Caulfeild, second daughter of William, 2nd Viscount Charlemont, by Anne Margetson, his wife, only daughter of the Most Rev James Margetson, Lord Archbishop of Armagh, and had issue (with three daughters),

WILLIAM (1724-56), father of CHARLES;

Mr Ancketill espoused secondly, when about 80 years of age, Anne Stephens (née Tuton), but died immediately thereafter, and was succeeded by his grandson,

CHARLES ANKETELL (1754-1828), of Anketell Grove, who died unmarried, and was succeeded by his nephew,

WILLIAM ANKETELL JP DL (1790-1851), of Anketell Grove, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1830, who married, in 1809, Sarah, second daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel John Charles Frederick Waring Maxwell, of Finnebrogue, County Down, and had issue,

MATTHEW JOHN, his heir;
William Robert, of Quintin Castle, Portaferry;
Oliver Charles;
Fitz Ameline Maxwell, of Killyfaddy, Clogher;
Maxwell;
Moutray;
Anne Dorothea; Maria; Matilda Jane.

Mr Anketell was succeeded by his eldest son,

MATTHEW JOHN ANKETELL JP DL (1812-70), of Anketell Grove, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1834, Major, Monaghan Militia, who married, in 1840, Catherine Frances Anne, eldest daughter of David Ker MP, of Portavo and Montalto, County Down, by the Lady Selina his wife, daughter of the 1st Marquess of Londonderry, and had issue,

MATTHEW DAVID, his heir;
Oliver Frederick (1850-72);
WILLIAM, succeeded his brother;
Henry;
Robert Waring Maxwell;
Selina Sarah; Ada; Frances Emmeline; Gertrude Madelina;
Bertha Grace Phœbe; Octavia Mary; Augusta.

Major Anketell was succeeded by his eldest son,

MATTHEW DAVID ANKETELL (1841-72), of Anketell Grove, who was killed by a fall from horseback, died unmarried, and was succeeded by his next surviving brother,

WILLIAM ANCKETILL DL (1851-1931), of Ancketill’s Grove, Lieutenant, Royal Tyrone Fusiliers, who married, in 1875, Jean Laing, daughter of Robert Falkner, of Broughton Park, Lancashire, and had issue, an only child,

OLIVE MAUD ANCKETILL (1876-1909), who wedded firstly, in 1901, Reginald George Petre Wymer, only son of Reginald Augustus Wymer, and grandson of Sir Henry George Petre Wymer KCB, and had issue, a daughter, Lovice Vivian Petre.

She espoused secondly, in 1907, Michael Linning Henry Melville, Egyptian Civil Service, and had issue, a daughter,

Monica Agnes Ancketill, born in 1908.

ANKETELL GROVE, near Emyvale, County Monaghan, was originally built by Captain Oliver Ancketill about 1640, on low ground.

His grandson Oliver rebuilt the house on higher ground at the head of the copper beech avenue.

This house was demolished in 1781, when a third dwelling was erected on another site: A two-storey, five-bay, gable-ended main block with a small pediment, joined by curved sweeps to single-storey, two-bay wings.

There are Georgian-Gothic windows in the wings.

The house was extensively remodelled about 1840, boasting an central Italianate attic tower at the centre, which rises from ground level.

The estate was mortgaged by William Anketell, early in 1884, to the Scottish Provident Insurance Association. Mr Anketell had been, by that stage, in financial difficulties.

Scottish Provident began evictions almost at once: The estate was put up for sale in the Encumbered Estates Court in 1886 and the Scottish Provident became absolute owners of the whole estate, with the exception of Anketell Grove House, demesne and three townlands.

In 1899, Scottish Provident received £4,800 in advances from the Government for sales to sixty two tenants.

In 1901, William Anketell received £3,820 for sales to thirty-three tenants (Dublin Gazette, 26th July, 1901, pps 1045-6).

Some time thereafter the Anketells removed to Killyfaddy, near Clogher, County Tyrone. 

Anketell Grove was purchased from the Irish Land Commission in 1922 by Patrick McKenna, of Derryhee, nearby.

In 1970, Anketell Grove and ninety acres of land were purchased by Mr Laurence Clerkin, the present owner.

 I AM GRATEFUL TO HENRY SKEATH FOR HIS INVALUABLE ASSISTANCE IN THE COMPOSITION OF THIS ARTICLE.

https://landedfamilies.blogspot.com/search/label/Monaghan

Ancketill of Ancketill’s Grove

The Ancketills of Ancketill’s Grove have trodden lightly on the earth, at least in archival terms, and no significant archive is known to survive to document their activities. E.P. Shirley, the historian of County Monaghan, corresponded with the family in the 19th century about their genealogy and family history, and the resulting letters are preserved among his papers in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. But it is hard to evaluate the stories which have been recorded by Shirley and others about the origins of the family and the early history of their estate in County Monaghan.

It seems probable, however, that Capt. Oliver Ancketill (1609-66) was the son of a minor gentry family from the Shaftesbury area of Dorset, who emigrated to Ireland about 1636 and built a house on what became the Ancketill’s Grove estate. His son, Matthew Ancketill (1651-89), who obtained a confirmatory grant of the estate from the Crown after the Restoration, is said to have built a new house on higher ground, and to have laid out an avenue of copper beeches leading to it. He was one of those included in James II’s Great Act of Attainder in 1689 but he was in fact already dead by the time it passed the Irish Parliament.  His son, William Ancketill (1677-1709) died without issue and was succeeded by his brother, another Oliver Ancketill (1680-1760), who was perhaps the most prominent member of the family. Expected to be a younger son, he was educated for a career in the law, and obtained a doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin.  It is not clear whether he continued a legal practice, but he served as MP for Monaghan and lived partly in Dublin, where he became a founder member of the Royal Dublin Society. His only son having predeceased him, he was succeeded by his grandson, Charles Ancketill (1754-1828) who built the present house at Ancketill’s Grove when he came of age. Charles in turn was succeeded by his nephew, William Anketell (1790-1851), whose son Matthew John Anketell (1812-70), made the Italianate additions and alterations to the house and left it largely as it now stands. His son, William Ancketill (1851-1931), resumed the ancient spelling of his family name but sold the estate at some point around 1890.

Two of the younger sons of William Anketell (1790-1851) also acquired country houses. William Robert Ancketill (1820-89) married into the Ker family, and both he and his son, Amyatt William Ancketill (1853-1915) rented Quintin Castle on the coast of County Down from the Kers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fitz Ameline Maxwell Ancketill (b. 1825) inherited Killyfaddy from his maternal uncle in 1877 and it remained the property of his descendants until the early 1950s.  William Ancketill (1851-1931) seems to have lived there after selling Ancketill’s Grove at the beginning of the 20th century, presumably as a tenant of his cousin, Reginald Ancketill (1861-1937).

Ancketill’s Grove, Emyvale, Monaghan

The Ancketill’s first house here is said to have been built about 1640 on low ground as the successor to a McKenna stronghold near the site. In the late 17th century it was rebuilt on higher ground at the head of a famous copper beech avenue.  

A vintage photo of an old building

Description automatically generated

This second house was in turn replaced by the present building in about 1781.  This began as a gable-ended house of five bays and two storeys with a projecting pedimented central bay, linked by single-storey quadrants to pedimented wings of two bays with Gothick sashes.  The ground floor and wings are rendered but the upper floor is of pale ashlar blocks.  The central bay is partly obscured by an exceptionally large early 19th century porch with a hipped roof and Tuscan doorcase, set well forward of the house and linked to the original entrance by a short passage. In about 1852 a bulky Italianate square tower with a low pyramid roof on wide eaves was added to the rear of the house, and the Gothick windows were given round heads, flat hoods and plate glass, robbing the house of much of the prettiness it once possessed; they have been replaced even more unsuccessfully since. Inside, several rooms were given ceilings of carved woodwork.

Descent: Granted c.1636 to Oliver Ancketill (1609-66); to son, Matthew Ancketill (1651-89); to son, William Ancketill (1677-1709); to brother, Oliver Ancketell (1680-1760); to grandson, Charles Ancketill (1754-1828); to nephew, William Anketell (1790-1851); to son, Matthew John Anketell (1812-70); to son, Matthew David Anketell (1841-72); to brother, William Ancketill (1851-1931), who sold c.1890 to Clement Kennedy Cordner; sold in 1920s to Patrick McKenna… sold 1970 to Laurence Clerkin (fl. 2019). 

Ancketill, Capt. Oliver (1609-66), of Ancketill’s Grove. Son of William Ancketill of Shaftesbury (Dorset), born 12 November 1609.  A Royalist, he settled in Ireland in 1636 and was a JP for Monaghan and High Sheriff of Monaghan in 1662. He married Rebecca (b. 1617), daughter of John Bullingbrooke, and had issue:
(1) Sarah Ancketill; married, December 1660 or February 1663, Col. James Corry MP (d. 1718) of Castle Coole (Fermanagh) and had issue;
(2) Elizabeth Ancketill (b. 1648);
(3) Matthew Ancketill (1651-88) (q.v.);
(4) William Ancketill (b. 1652), from whom the Anketells of Dernamuck (Monaghan) claim descent;
(5) Richard Ancketill (b. 1654).
He acquired the Ancketill’s Grove estate in 1636.
He died 8 June 1666.

Ancketill, Matthew (1651-89), of Ancketill’s Grove. Eldest son of Capt. Oliver Ancketill (1609-66) of Ancketill’s Grove, and his wife Rebecca, daughter of John Bullingbrooke, born 1651. High Sheriff of Monaghan, 1682; included on the list of those attainted by the Great Act of Attainder in the Irish Parliament in 1689, though he was dead by then. He married, 1672, Matilda, daughter of Robert Moore of Ravella and Garvey (Tyrone) and had issue:
(1) William Ancketill (1677-1709); High Sheriff of Monaghan, 1707; died without legitimate issue, 1709;
(2) Oliver Ancketill (1680-1760) (q.v.);
(3) Robert Ancketill; 
(4) Frederick Ancketill;
(5) Bullingbrook Ancketill (fl. 1750); married and had issue;
(6) Catherine Ancketill; married Thomas Singleton of Fort Singleton (Monaghan).
His ownership of the Ancketill’s Grove estate was confirmed by letters patent in 1668. At his death the estate passed in turn to his sons William (d. 1709) and Oliver.
He was killed at the Battle of Drumbanagher, 13 March 1688/9 and was buried at Donagh, but his body was later moved to Glaslough church.

Ancketill, Oliver (1680-1760), of Ancketill’s Grove. Second son of Matthew Ancketill (1651-88) and his wife Matilda, daughter of Robert Moore of Ravella and Garvey (Tyrone), born 1680. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1695; MA, LLD). High Sheriff of Monaghan, 1703; MP for Monaghan borough in the Irish Parliament, 1754-60; a founder member of the Royal Dublin Society.  He married 1st, 28 February 1716, the Hon. Sarah (d. 1742), daughter of William Caulfeild, 2nd Viscount Charlemont, and 2nd, c.1760, Mrs. Anne Stephens (né Tuton), and had issue:
(1.1) William Ancketill (1724-56) (q.v.).
He inherited the Ancketill’s Grove estate from his elder brother in 1709; at his death it passed to his grandson.
He died shortly after his second marriage, 27 May 1760. His first wife died in December 1742.

Ancketill, William (1724-56). Only son of Oliver Ancketill (1680-1760) and his first wife, the Hon. Sarah, daughter of William Caulfeild, 2nd Viscount Charlemont, born 18 March 1724. He married, 11 March 1748, Anne, eldest daughter of Charles Coote MP, of Coote Hill (Cavan) and sister of 1st Earl of Bellamont, and had issue:
(1) Oliver Anketell (b. 1749), born December 1749; died young;
(2) Charles Anketell (1754-1828) (q.v.);
(3) Richard Anketell (1755-1814), married Margaret Cochrane (d. 1814) of Omagh (Tyrone) and had issue two sons and one daughter, who all emigrated to Canada; died the same day as his wife;
(4) Matthew Anketell (1756-1828) (q.v.).
He died in 1756.

Anketell, Charles (1754-1828), of Anketill’s Grove.  Eldest surviving son of William Ancketill (1724-56) of Ancketill’s Grove and his wife Anne, daughter of Charles Coote MP of Coote Hill (Cavan), born 1754. He changed the spelling of his name from Ancketill to Anketell. He was unmarried and without issue.
He inherited Ancketill’s Grove from his grandfather in 1760; at his death it passed to his nephew, William Anketell (1790-1851).
He died 20 November 1828.

Anketell, Matthew (1756-1828), of Arlington Castle, Portarlington (Offaly). Youngest son of William Ancketill (1724-56) of Ancketill’s Grove and his wife Anne, daughter of Charles Coote MP of Coote Hill (Cavan), born 1756. Captain in 57th Regiment; High Sheriff of Monaghan, 1783; Lt-Col. of Monaghan Militia. Like his brother, he changed the spelling of his name from Ancketill to Anketell. He married 1st, Prudentia Martha (d. 1781), daughter of John Corry of Rockcorry, Cootehill (Monaghan) and 2nd, Mary (d. 1838), only child of Rev. Richard Norris DD and had issue:
(1.1) Prudentia Catherine Anketell; died aged 8;
(2.1) William Anketell (1790-1851) (q.v.);
(2.2) Maria Anketell (d. 1842); died unmarried, 28 April 1842;
(2.3) Matilda Anketell (d. 1819); died unmarried, 28 June 1819;
(2.4) Caroline Anketell (d. 1817); married, 1817, Lt. Augustus Woodville Amyatt (?d. 1857) of Royal Irish Dragoon Guards and died three weeks later.
He died 11 April 1828. His first wife died 7 October 1781. His widow died in August 1838. 

Anketell, William (1790-1851) of Ancketill’s Grove. Only son of Matthew Anketell (1756-1828) of Arlington Castle, Portarlington (Offaly) and his second wife, Mary, daughter of Rev. Richard Norris, born 10 October 1790. DL and JP for Monaghan; High Sheriff of Monaghan, 1830. He married, 23 June 1809, Sarah (1792-1874), daughter of Lt-Col. John Charles Frederick Waring Maxwell MP of Finnebrogue (Down) and had issue:
(1) Maj. Matthew John Anketell (1812-70) (q.v.);
(2) Anne Dorothea Anketell (c.1813-91); married, 10 December 1833, Rev. Robert Loftus Tottenham (d. 1893), chaplain to HM Legation to Florence, son of Rt. Rev. Lord Robert Ponsonby Tottenham, bishop of Clogher, and had issue five sons and five daughters; died 16 October 1891;
(3) Maria Anketell (c.1813-88); married, 5 December 1838, Rev. Sir John Richardson-Bunbury (1813-1909), 3rd bt. and had issue one son and two daughters; died March 1888;
(4) William Robert Ancketill (1820-89) (q.v.); 
(5) Oliver Charles Anketell (1821-41), born 18 August 1821; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1839); Lieutenant in 37th Madras Infantry of East India Co.; diarist; died unmarried at Hong Kong, 13 July 1841;
(6) Matilda Jane Anketell (1823-40), born 15 November 1823; died unmarried, 14 March 1840;
(7) Fitz Ameline Maxwell Ancketill (b. 1825) of Killyfaddy, Clogher (Tyrone), born 14 April 1825; JP for Tyrone; High Sheriff of Tyrone, 1881; married, 8 November 1859 at Alexandria (Egypt), Laura Valetta (c.1830-1907), eldest daughter and co-heiress of Henry Ranking of Eaglehurst, Bathford (Somerset), co-manager of Bank of Egypt, and had issue three sons and one daughter; inherited Killyfaddy from his uncle in 1877; died after 1901;
(8) Maxwell Ancketill (1826-88) of Leatherhead (Surrey), born 24 October 1826; married 1st, 29 September 1857, Julia Elizabeth (d. 1869), only surviving child of Gustavus Whitaker of St Petersburg (Russia) and had issue three sons and two daughters; and 2nd, 1879, Mary Louisa, third daughter of Henry Ranking of Eaglehurst, Bathford (Somerset), and died 22 February 1888; will proved 13 April 1888 (estate £243);
(9) Moutray Ancketill (1829-99), born 18 April 1829; served in Royal Artillery (Lieutenant, 1848; Captain, 1854; retired, 1881); died unmarried, 3 April 1899.
He inherited the Anketell’s Grove estate from his uncle in 1828. 
He died 23 April 1851. His widow died 2 April 1874.

Anketell, Maj. Matthew John (1812-70), of Ancketill’s Grove.  Eldest son of William Anketell (1790-1851) and his wife Sarah, daughter of Lt-Col. John Charles Frederick Waring Maxwell MP of Finnebrogue (Down), born 31 October 1812. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1830). JP and DL for Monaghan; High Sheriff of Monaghan, 1834; Major in Monaghan militia. William Scoular exhibited a bust of him at the Royal Academy in 1839. He married, 6 February 1840, Catherine Frances Anne (d. 1887), elder daughter of David Ker MP of Portavo and Montalto (Down) and had issue:
(1) Matthew David Anketell (1841-72), born at Douro (Portugal), 5 January 1841; actor, diarist and Egyptian hieroglyphist; died as a result of a fall from his horse, 17 July 1872;
(2) Selina Sarah Anketell (1843-1921), born 10 April 1843; died unmarried, 2 December 1921; will proved 14 February 1922 (estate £4,029);
(3) Ada Anketell (b. & d. 1844), born 8 and died 14 September 1844;
(4) Frances Emmeline Anketell (1845-1916), born 8 October 1845; married 1st, 22 January 1867, Capt. Newton Haworth Wallace (d. 1870) of Royal Bengal Fusiliers, and 2nd, Clement Kennedy Cordner (d. 1905) of Greenmount, Muckamore (Antrim), but died without issue, 11 September 1916; will proved 21 November 1916 (estate £7,711);
(5) Gertrude Madeline Anketell (1847-1915), born 20 May 1847; married, 1 July 1873, Anketell Moutray (d. 1927) of Favour Royal, Aughnacloy (Tyrone) and had issue; died 21 August 1915; administration of goods granted 27 November 1915 (estate £173);
(6) Bertha Grace Pheobe Anketell (1849-98), born 25 February 1849; died unmarried, 10 January 1898; will proved 6 August 1900 (estate £2,739);
(7) Oliver Frederick Anketell (1850-72), born 27 February 1850; died unmarried, 10 February 1872; administration of goods granted 5 March 1872 (estate under £1,000);
(8) William Ancketill (1851-1931) (q.v.);
(9) Octavia Mary Anketell (1852-1928), born 5 June 1852; married, 19 February 1879, Frederic Augustus Morse-Boycott (d. 1926) of Sennowe Park (Norfolk), son of John Hall Morse-Boycott of Sennowe Park and had issue; died 1 April 1928; will proved 7 June 1928 (estate £225);
(10) Augusta Anketell (1854-1908), born 12 March 1854; died unmarried, 8 May 1908; will proved 17 February 1909 (estate £3,836);
(11) Henry Ancketill (1855-1930) (q.v.);
(12) Robert Waring Maxwell Anketell (1856-68), born 29 November 1856; died young, 15 May 1868.
He inherited the Ancketill’s Grove estate from his father in 1851. At his death it passed in turn to his eldest son Matthew (d. 1872) and third son William.
He died 8 May 1870. His widow died 28 February 1887; her will was proved 19 May 1887 (estate in England £7,431).

Ancketell, William (1851-1931), of Ancketill’s Grove. Third son of Matthew John Anketell (1812-70) and his wife Catherine Frances Anne, daughter of David Ker of Portavo and Montalto (Down), born 16 March 1851. Lieutenant in Royal Tyrone Fusiliers; a prominent freemason and a violinist. He married, 15 July 1875, Jean Laing (1852-1929), only daughter and co-heiress of Robert Falkner of Broughton Park (Lancs) and had issue:
(1) Olive Maud Stannus Ancketell (1876-1909), born 29 October 1876; married 1st, 24 October 1901 (div.), Lt. Reginald George Petre Wymer, son of Capt. Reginald Augustus Wymer and had issue a daughter; married 2nd, 1 November 1907, Michael Linning Henry Melville, son of His Honour Robert Melville of Hartfield Grove (Sussex) and had issue a daughter; died 6 March 1909; her will was proved 26 June 1909 (estate £255).
He inherited the Ancketill’s Grove estate from his elder brother in 1872, but mortgaged much of the land in the 1880s and sold the house c.1890. He and his wife lived latterly at Killyfaddy and Clatford House, Epsom (Surrey).
He died 3 July 1931; his will was proved 21 November 1931 (estate £3,157). His wife died 9 November 1929; her will was proved 9 December 1929 (estate £96).

Ancketell, Henry (1855-1930). Fourth son of Matthew John Anketell (1812-70) and his wife Catherine Frances Anne, daughter of David Ker of Portavo and Montalto (Down), 
born 4 May 1855.  Educated at Royal Naval College, Dartmouth; served in Royal Navy, 1868-75; then studied for the church but joined the Irish Land League; emigrated to USA and was a journalist on New York Standard, 1884-96; emigrated to South Africa, 1896; Member of Legislative Assembly of Natal, 1901-07, and (with Gandhi) promoted the cause of indentured Indian labour in Africa; poet and lecturer; married, 7 December 1900, Oona (d. 1955), daughter of Joseph Reeson of Durban, Natal (South Africa), artist and founder of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in South Africa, and had issue:
(1) Matthew David Ancketell (b. 1907), born 27 December 1907; educated at South African Collegiate School, Cape Town; served in WW2 with South African Coastal Defence Force; manager of Life Assurance Co. in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, 1924-63; hon. Treasurer of South African Red Cross, 1945-70; Chairman of Sheltered Employment Factory, 1946-70; hon. Treasurer of South African Council of Churches, Port Elizabeth, 1958-70; Fellow of Institute of Commence and Administration of South Africa; married 1st, 30 May 1933 (div. 1957), Brenda, daughter of Capt. George Calcutt of Glasgow and Melbourne (Australia) and had issue one son and one daughter; married 2nd, 12 December 1958, Anne Bell, daughter of Patrick Arnot Anderson of Port Elizabeth (South Africa) and formerly of Coupar Angus (Perths);
(2) Henry George Ancketell (1911-81) of Croydon (Surrey), born 5 January 1911; educated at South African Collegiate School, Cape Town; after a varied career in the theatre, films, insurance and the motor trade, he served in WW2 and was later a practitioner in metaphysics and spiritual healing; married 1st, November 1936 (div. 1944), Doreen Gunstone (d. 1971), author (as Dorothy Burnham), and had issue one son; married 2nd, 16 September 1944 (div. 1960), Barbara Mary, daughter of John Edwin Andrews of Manor House Farm, Foxton (Leics) and had issue one son and two daughters; died 1981.
He died 22 June 1930. His widow died 8 May 1955.

Ancketill, William Robert (1820-89) of Quintin Castle, Portaferry (Down). Younger son of William Anketell (1790-1851) and his wife Sarah, daughter of Lt-Col. John Charles Frederick Waring Maxwell MP, born 31 March 1820. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1838). JP for Monaghan and Capt. in Monaghan militia; author of novels of Irish life. John Edward Jones exhibited a bust of him at the Royal Academy in 1852. He married, 8 October 1844, Madelina Selina (d. 1878), daughter of David Ker MP of Portavo, Donaghadee and Montalto (Down), and had issue:
(1) Edith Matilda Ancketill (1845-1928), born 5 November 1845; married 1st, 8 August 1871, Thomas John Knox (d. 1875), second son of Most Rev. Robert Knox DD, Archbishop of Armagh and had issue a daughter; married 2nd, 20 February 1880, Capt. John Lewis Vaughan Henry, 2nd Dragoon Guards, eldest son of Mitchell Henry of Kylemore Castle (Galway) and had further issue; died 9 July 1928;
(2) Constance Ancketill (1847-1914), born 10 October 1847; died unmarried, 11 June 1914; administration granted 25 September 1914 (estate £1,668);
(3) Ada Ancketill (1850-1937), born 27 February 1850; died unmarried, 22 January 1937; will proved 24 May 1937 (estate £2,945);
(4) Amyatt William Ancketill (1853-1915), born 1 August 1853; Lieutenant in 83rd Foot; died unmarried, 20 August 1915; will proved, 3 December 1915 (estate £742)
(5) David Fitz Ameline Robert Ancketill (1855-85), born 27 May 1855; served in Army as Lieutenant in 1st Royal Scots and took part in Afghan War of 1880 and Egyptian War of 1882; later served in 3rd Belooch Regiment of Native Infantry in India and died unmarried at Karachi, 26 August 1885;
(6) Celia Selina Ancketill (1857-83), born 2 September 1857; died unmarried, 18 October 1883;
(7) William Frederick Ancketill (b. & d. 1858), born 28 February and died 14 December 1858. 
He leased Quintin Castle from the Ker family.
He died in London, 9 March 1889. His wife died on 8 April 1878.

Sources

Burke’s Irish Family Records, 1976, pp. 18-20; M. Bence-Jones, Country Houses of Ireland, 1988; E.P. Shirley, History of the County of Monaghan, 1879

Location of archives

No significant archive is known to survive.

Coat of arms

Argent, a saltire raguly vert.

Irish Historic Houses

Properties open to the public, on Irish Revenue Section 482

1640s

Burntcourt Castle, or Burncourt, or Everard’s Castle, Clogheen, Co Tipperary

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Assolas, Kanturk, Co Cork

Assolas House, Kanturk, County Cork, Castlemagner, Co. Cork, P51T954

€1,495,000

Anketill Grove (or Ancketill’s Grove or Anketell Grove), Emyvale,  County Monaghan – gate lodge accommodation

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Assolas House, Kanturk, County Cork, Castlemagner, Co. Cork, P51T954

€1,495,000

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