1720s

Lisnamallard House, Omagh, County Tyrone 

by jenjunebug

Lisnamallard House, Omagh, County Tyrone

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. 187. “(Buchanan, sub Hammond-Smith/IFR; Scott/IFR) A Georgian house believed to have been built in front of an earlier house in 1724, which subsequently became part of the stable yeard. Two storey; three bay front with canted ends. Formerly belonged to the Buchanan family, of which James Buchanan, 15th president of the U.S. was a cadet. Bought by Charles Scott ca 1880, after which various alterations were carried out; notably the addition of a glass porch, and overhanging windows with side elevations.”

www.nihgt.org/resources/pdf/Register_of_Parks_Gardens_Demesnes-NOV20.pdf 

LISNAMALLARD (MILLBANK) HOUSE, County Tyrone (AP OMAGH AND FERMANAGH O7) T/012 
REGISTERED GRADE A 
Once on the outskirts of Omagh the house and grounds (32.5 acres/13.2ha) are now part of the 
town, located 0.6 miles (0.9km) north-east of the Court House on High-street, south of the Old 
Mountfield Road on the north bank of the Camowen River. The south-facing house (Listed HB 
11/12/002) is a relatively small three-bay two-storey over basement late Georgian residence with 
additions of c.1900 including a large rear return making it effectively a double-pile house, with a 
large glazed entrance porch and, to the sides, several oriel windows of Edwardian date. A 
datestone inscribed ‘E.P. 1724’ is preserved in a wall to the north of the house, but no house is 
shown here on Taylor’s & Skinners 1777 map, nor recorded in Ambose Leet’s Directory of 1814, so 
if there was a house here it must have been modest. The house, originally called Millbank, is 
essentially a Regency building, probably built between 1815-20 for Joseph Orr who lived here 
until his death in 1847. In 1881 the property, by then called Lisnamallard after the townland, was 
acquired from the Orr family by Charles Scott, owner of the nearby Excelsior Mills. There has 
been continuous planting on the site since it was built, both along the avenue from the north and 
around the park to the west and south of the house. Today, mature trees surround the house and 
gardens and there is an avenue of mostly beech. The original kitchen garden (1.1 acres/0.42ha), 
formerly an orchard, lay immediately to the east of the house, but was removed in the 1890s and 
replaced with ornamental gardens. At about the same time (1896) a large long (86ft) greenhouse 
was erected into the garden extending from the east side of the house; this backed onto an 
existing wall which still stands and contains the above mentioned stone, plus beeboles. The 
glasshouse was demolished around 1980 and the space created made into a planted terrace. The 

Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest (NI) – November 2020 
rockery was made from stones removed from the workhouse in Omagh in the 1960s. Borders, an 
orchard and arboretum are maintained amidst lawns, including newly cultivated areas begun 
since 1892. A Victorian summer house has been restored. The house was requisitioned for 
military use during the Second World War, during which time it fell into disrepair; as a result the 
post-war years witnessed extensive refurbishment works. In 1964 the property was divided in 
two to be re-united in 1981, refurbished 1982-85 and sold to Omagh District Council in 1994, who 
had already (1965-67) acquired the southern part for a Leisure Centre and land to the west for 
leisure purposes. The house now functions as offices for the Council’s Environmental Health Unit. 
Public access.  

Mount Falcon, Borrisokane, Co Tipperary 

by jenjunebug

Mount Falcon, Borrisokane, 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. 213. “(Falkiner/LGI1912) An early C18 house of two storeys over a basement, built 1720 by Richard Falkiner. Five bay front, small floating pediment with ball-finial on peak, round-headed window in tympanum. Partly balustraded roof parapet. Pedimented doorcase with blocking.” 

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/22401013/mount-falcon-mountfalcon-tipperary-north

Detached T-plan five-bay two-storey over basement house, built in 1720, having dormer attic and three-bay three-storey with attic return, and single- and two-storey additions. Pitched slate main roof and monopitch additions, having cut stone chimneystacks. Ornamented limestone ashlar pediment with marigold paterae and incised date and initials of builder. Partly balustraded parapet having cut stone cornices and ball finials. Front façade rendered in nineteenth century with quoins and hood moulding to windows added. Remainder of walls have lime render. Six-over-six pane timber sash windows with limestone sills, having three-over-three pane round-headed window to pediment, some four-over-eight timber sash windows to return, small-pane casements to gables and to lower floors of return and additions, with some pivoted round windows and some uPVC windows also to return. Cut stone Gibbsian door surround to front entrance with limestone steps over basement, timber panelled door and margined overlight. Partly rendered limestone wall attached to north gable of house, screening farmyard and has castellations, turret, decorative gable to outbuilding and pointed doorway. Farmyard has single- and two-storey stone outbuildings, one having slate roof, and rear screen wall with castellated round-arched gateway. Ruined gate lodge located to main road south-west of house. 

Appraisal 

A large example of an early eighteenth-century T-plan house which, although the appearance of the front façade was altered in the nineteenth century, retains most of its original fabric, form and character. Built by Richard Faulkner, the initials and date ‘RFM 1720’ are carved in the stonework of the pediment to the front façade. Many important features are retained including small-pane timber sash windows, fine cut stone details, and a large rear yard with outbuildings and high stone wall. Significant interior elements survive also. 

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

Bence Jones writes that this house was built in 1720 by Richard Falkiner. It was the seat of the Falkiner family in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Ordnance Survey Name Books refer to it as the seat of Richard Fitzpatrick Falkiner (a minor) in 1840 and that it was occupied by Obediah Holan. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation the house was valued at £15. It is still extant.   

Paddy Rossmore. Photographs. Edited by Robert O’Byrne. The Lilliput Press, Dublin 7, 2019. 

“Relatively few early eighteenth-century houses have survived and remain occupied in Ireland, which makes Mount Falcon all the more precious. It appears to have been built for one Richard Falkiner (b. 1691) whose Yorkshire born father had moved to Ireland. In the pediment of the house’s facade are carved the initials RFM and the date 1720: the latter is the year Richard Falkiner married Maria Rogers whose parents were settled nearby in Ballynavin, County Tipperary. Thus Mount Falcon is presumed to have been built at the time of the Falkiner marraige, although Richard would died just thirteen years later leaving the estate to his twelve-year old heir, also called Richard. Mount Falcon is relatively unsophisticaed in design while showing awareness of contemporary trends in architecture. Of two storeys over semiraised basement and with five bays, it is a relatively shallow house (there is an extension to the rear in a T shape) with broad gables carrying chimneys at either end. The facade is distinguished by a Gibbsian door reached by a flight of limestone steps and at the top of the building a pediment wiht an arched attic window flanked by a shallow paterae, the whole topped by a ball finial (with two more at either frontage). The balustrade and window ornamentation look to be later additions but othersie Mount Falcon is an excellent example of the kind of residence built by members of the Irish gentry once peace settled over the country in the eighteenth century.” 

Mooresfort House, Lattin, County Tipperary 

by jenjunebug

Mooresfort House, Lattin, County 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. 211. “(Moore/IFR) Originally a three storey C18 house, seat of the Moores, which was sold ca 1850 to Charles Moore, MP, a member of a different branch of the family, who completely remodelled it; making it two storeys instead of three, in order to have higher rooms, and giving it a predominantly Victorian character. Five bay entrance front with pediment and porte-cochere; five bay adjoining garden front with single-storey bow. Hall with floor of encaustic tiles open to Victorian staircase of wood. Drawing room with elaborate and graceful plasterwork on flat of ceiling and on frieze; which stylistically seems to belong more to 1820s or 1830s than 1850s. Library with very large architectural bookcase which was probably in the house before it was remodelled, having on it the arms of the branch of the Moores who formerly owned the house. Charming little Victorian chapel, with altar supported by four Archangels. The house stands on one corner of a large and handsome office courtyard. The son of Charles Moore who remodelled the house was Count Arthur Moore, MP, who founded Mount St Joseph Cistercian Abby at Mount Heaton.” 

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/22206609/mooresfort-house-mooresfort-tipperary-south

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Detached country house, built 1725, having five-bay two-storey front and south-east elevations, five-bay three-storey rear elevation and multiple-bay three-storey north-east elevation. Pedimented breakfront and porte-cochere, canted-bays added c.1855 to south-east elevation and one-, two- and three-storey flat roof extensions added to rear. Hipped slate roof with red brick chimneystacks having carved limestone detailing, cast-iron rainwater goods, overhanging eaves with carved limestone brackets and moulded render band to eaves. Ruled-and-lined rendered walls with decorative render string courses. Front and south-east elevations have square-headed windows to ground and segmental-headed to first floor, all with decorative render surrounds with pilasters and replacement uPVC windows. North-east, yard, elevation has one traceried pointed arch window to centre of second floor with margined lights and square-headed elsewhere with two-over-two pane timber sliding sash windows and one six-over-three pane window to second floor, replacement uPVC elsewhere. with decorative render surrounds. Round-headed window to south-west elevation and pointed arch stained glass window to north-west elevation, all having tooled limestone sills. Doric render pilasters to canted-bays. Segmental-headed door opening with double-leaf timber and glazed door flanked by side lights and timber pilasters, having a fanlight and limestone steps set in a cut and carved limestone portico to entrance. Square-headed door opening with render surround and cornice to south-west elevation with timber panelled door. Ranges of outbuildings adjoining house to north-west, having pitched artificial slate roofs with rendered chimneystacks, cast-iron rainwater goods with bell and weathervane to south-west range. Painted roughcast rendered walls. Square-headed door and window openings with mixed timber sash, replacement metal and battened fittings to openings. Segmental-arched openings to north-west range with battened fittings. Round-headed entrance arch to south-west range, entrance gates to north-east of yard with dressed limestone gate piers. Freestanding cast-iron water pump to yard. 

Appraisal 

Built in 1725 as a three-storey structure the house was remodelled in the 1850s by Charles Moore M.P converting the house to a two-storey building in order to have higher rooms. The Italianate remodelling of the house included the addition of an ornate portico and pediment to the front elevation and canted-bay windows flanked by classically influenced pilasters giving the building an overall Victorian character. The decorative stained glass window is due to the addition of a chapel designed by George Ashlin also added about this time. The house retains notable interior features including timber shutters and graceful plasterwork to the drawing room depicting musical instruments. The extensive ranges of outbuildings adjoining the house are still used to serve a working farm, and contribute positively to the over all setting of the house. 

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/22206610/mooresfort-house-mooresfort-tipperary-south

Detached two-pile three-bay single-storey gate lodge, built c. 1855, rear pile being addition, with pedimented breakfront and having single-storey lean-to extension to rear. Pitched slate roof with cut limestone chimneystack to front block and rendered chimneystack to rear, with cast-iron rainwater goods. Ashlar limestone walls with plinth and having carved decorative detail set in recessed panels over windows. Roughcast rendered to gables and painted rubble limestone to rear wall. Square-headed window openings with tooled limestone surrounds and sills and replacement aluminium windows. Round-headed door opening with timber battened door and plain fanlight, set into ashlar walling flanked by Doric columns, all supporting entablature and portico. Dressed limestone gate piers and flanking walls with carved limestone capping stones to piers and walls. 

Appraisal 

The Doric columns and pediment creates an imposing entrance to this well-executed gate lodge. This fine gate lodge and gate piers form part of an interesting group of structures on Mooresfort Demesne. 

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

The home of the Crosbie Moore family in the 18th and early 19th century, Wilson refers to Moore’s-fort as “the handsome seat of Edward Moore” in 1786. Lewis records Maurice Crosbie Moore as resident in 1837. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation Edward C. Moore was still in possession of Mooresfort. However it was advertised for sale in 1852 and sold to Charles Moore of county Antrim, who altered and remodelled the house, reducing it from a 3 storey to a 2 storey house. The house remained in the possession of this family into the 20th century. It is now the main residence on a working farm.

http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2013/08/mooresfort-house.html

THE MOORES, OF MOORESFORT, WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY TIPPERARY, WITH 10,199 ACRES
CHARLES MOORE JP (1804-69), MP for Tipperary, 1865-9, son of Arthur Moore, of Crookedstone, County Antrim, by Mary O’Hara his wife, purchased Mooresfort, County Tipperary.

He married, in 1835, Marian Elizabeth, daughter of John Story, and had issue,

Charles Henry O’Hara, deceased; 
ARTHUR JOHN, of Mooresfort; 
Marian Edith;
Helena Blanche, a nun;
Laura Mary, m  G A Vaughan, nephew of 3rd Earl of Lisburne.

Mr Moore’s younger son,

COUNT ARTHUR JOHN MOORE JP DL (1849-1904), of Mooresfort, MP for Clonmel, 1874-85, Londonderry, 1899-1900, High Sheriff of County Tipperary, 1877, wedded, in 1877, Mary Lucy, daughter of Sir Charles Clifford, 1st Baronet, of Hatherton Hall, Staffordshire, and had issue,

Arthur Joseph Clifford, 1878-1900;
CHARLES JOSEPH HENRY O’HARA, his heir;
Edith Mary.

Mr Moore, Commander of the Order of St Gregory, Chamberlain to Pope LEO XIII, was created a Count by His Holiness in 1879.

His younger son,

CHARLES JOSEPH HENRY O’HARA MOORE MC JP (1880-1965), of Mooresfort, and Aherlow Castle, Captain, Irish Guards, married, in 1917, the Lady Dorothie Mary Evelyn Feilding MM, daughter of 9th Earl of Denbigh.

MOORESFORT HOUSE, near Lattin, County Tipperary, was built in 1725 as a three-storey block.

The house was remodelled in the 1850s by Charles Moore MP, converting the house to a two-storey building in order to have higher rooms.

The Italianate remodelling of the house included the addition of an ornate portico and pediment to the front elevation and canted-bay windows flanked by classically influenced pilasters giving the building an overall Victorian character.

The decorative stained glass window is due to the addition of a chapel designed by George Ashlin also added about this time.

The house retains notable interior features including timber shutters and graceful plasterwork to the drawing room depicting musical instruments.

The extensive ranges of outbuildings adjoining the house are still used to serve a working farm, and contribute positively to the over all setting of the house.

AHERLOW CASTLE, near Bansha, County Tipperary, was also a seat of Arthur Moore MP.

This small castle stands in the Glen of Aherlow.

It has a polygonal tower with loops at one end; a square tower at the other.

Former town residences ~ 64 Prince’s Gate, London; 10 Grafton Street, Dublin.

First published in August, 2013.

Mountainstown, Navan, Co Meath 

by jenjunebug

Mountainstown, Navan, Co Meath 

Mountainstown House, County Meath, courtesy Raymond Potterton, for sale May 2025.

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.  

“(Pollock/LGI1958) An early C18 house of two storyes over high plinth, with a charming air of bucolic Baroque. The six bay front is adorned with giant Ionic pilasters, two supporting the pediment and one at either side; but they have neither architrave nor frieze. The Venetian entrance doorway is enriched with Ionic pilasters, urns on entablatures, a keystone and a finial which breaks through the string-course above. In front it is is a great if somewhat rustic perron with a central balustrade and ironwork railings to the flights of steps. In the centre of the four bay side elevation is a little floating pediment. This side of the house is prolonged by a three sided projection, with timber-mullioned windows in C17 style.  There is a dormered attic in the high roof, which is also lit by a lunette window in the main pediment.” 

Section 482 in 2000. Atlanta Pollock 

Record of Protected Structures: 

Mountainstown House; townland: Mountainstown. Town: Wilkinstown. 

Six-bay, two-storey over basement house, with two-bay breakfront and pediment, c.1720 by Richard Gibbons, sold to John Pollock in 1780, sw wing added 1813 and single storey kitchen wing. Stableyards. 

https://www.geni.com/projects/Historic-Buildings-of-County-Meath/29729

Mountainstown (House) - located outside Navan in the townland of Castletown Kilpatrick, built around 1720 for Richard Gibbons whose father Samuel acquired the estate in the late 17th century: in the same year he made a visitation of his dioceses, Bishop Anthony Dopping of Meath recorded ‘Mr Gibbons and his wife came here in xmas 1693.’ Mr Gibbons’ son Richard is likewise recorded as being at Mountainstown in Faulkiner’s Dublin Journal in 1745, by which time the house would have been well finished. Over the door is a stone cartouche featuring the arms of the Pollocks, the family that followed the Gibbonses at Mountainstown. The latter remained in possession of the estate until 1796 when it was sold to the John Pollock by a daughter of Samuel Gibbons. He had already been renting for some time. The first John Pollock moved from Scotland to Ireland in 1732 and settled in Newry where he became involved in the linen trade. His son continued in the same business and was commemorated by a tombstone in St Mary’s, Newry declaring he and his wife Elizabeth had been ‘parents of eleven children all of whom they lived to see established in the world.’ One of those children, another John, became a successful solicitor in Dublin and was appointed Transscriptor of the Court of the Exchequer. He first rented and then bought Mountainstown although he retained a townhouse in Dublin’s Mountjoy Square so that his business could continue. Married to the daughter of a London banker, around 1811 he extended Mountainstown by adding a two-storey wing to the south-west of the older building. The ground floor of this new section contains a large drawing room with canted bay window and beyond it an equally substantial dining room. A substantial stable yard was added by the next generation. In the mid-1820s Mountainstown was inherited by Arthur Hill Cornwallis Pollock, named after his father’s patron, Arthur Hill, second Marquess of Downshire. The present generation has decided to put the property on the market (March 2015) for €4.15 million. 

○ The irish Aesthete 

○ The Pollocks – Mountainstown House 

○ Press Reader – Ireland 

Change is Constant

It has long been commented that Mountainstown, County Meath is mis-named since its location in the midst of flat countryside is near neither a mountain nor a town. One ill-tempered Englishwoman in the 1840s wrote ‘At the beginning of this month we came to a place called Mountainstown, which name it must have been received from the inveterately stupid and perverse disposition of the Natives, because the place is situated in a low and flat Country, and there is not a Mountain to be seen within the Horizon.’ In fact the denomination most likely derives from an Anglicisation of the Irish for ‘Beside a Bog.’ It has borne the name for hundreds of years since the house here, soon due to celebrate the tercentenary of its construction, has always been known as Mountainstown. It is believed to have erected around 1720 for Richard Gibbons whose father Samuel acquired the estate in the late 17th century: in the same year he made a visitation of his diocses, Bishop Anthony Dopping of Meath recorded ‘Mr Gibbons and his wife came here in xmas 1693.’ Mr Gibbons’ son Richard is likewise recorded as being at Mountainstown in Faulkiner’s Dublin Journal in 1745, by which time the house would have been well finished. 

The oldest part of Mountainstown is a stocky rectangular block with six bay front, of two main storeys with dormer attic above and basement below. Kevin Mulligan has described the building as occupying ‘the middle ground between farmhouse and mansion’ and like others employed the terms bucolic and naive when speaking of its design. Mountainstown’s facade is its most immediately striking feature, a determined effort on the part of Richard Gibbons to display awareness of current architectural trends even if these were employed in a somewhat unsophisticated manner. Four slender Ionic pilasters ascend to the top of the building but without the intervention of an entablature and frieze; instead they meet the roofline via a narrow moulded cornice. The two central pilasters support a pediment but again appear too slight for the task. The raised entrance is reached by flights of stone steps with iron work railings on either side, the Venetian doorcase once more being flanked by pairs of pilasters with sidelights above which sit half-urns while over the door itself is a stone cartouche featuring the arms of the Pollocks, the family that followed the Gibbonses at Mountainstown. The latter remained in possession of the estate until 1796 when it was sold to the John Pollock who had already been renting for some time. 

The history of Mountainstown’s next owners represents a familiar trajectory from merchant class to gentry, a route to which many families formerly aspired. The first John Pollock moved from Scotland to Ireland in 1732 and settled in Newry where he became involved in the burgeoning linen trade. His son continued in the same business and was commemorated by a tombstone in St Mary’s, Newry declaring he and his wife Elizabeth had been ‘parents of eleven children all of whom they lived to see established in the world.’ One of those children, another John, became a successful solicitor in Dublin and was appointed Transscriptor of the Court of the Exchequer. He also acted as agent for the Hills, Marquesses of Downshire, among the country’s largest landowners: at one time they had 115,000 acres, mostly but not exclusively in County Down. Hence being their agent was a profitable occupation and allowed John Pollock first to rent and then to buy Mountainstown although he retained a townhouse in Dublin’s Mountjoy Square so that his business could continue. Married to the daughter of a London banker, around 1811 he extended Mountainstown by adding a two-storey wing to the south-west of the older building. The ground floor of this new section contains a large drawing room with canted bay window and beyond it an equally substantial dining room. To the immediate right of the facade is a long kitchen wing and behind this lies a very substantial stable yard added by the next generation. 

Mountainstown is thus of two periods and two parts, each complementing the other. While the later portion of the house is relatively plain and very much in the Regency taste with deep tripartite windows, high ceilings and understated plasterwork, the earlier reflects the more ostentatious taste of the period in which it was built. The entrance hall, stairs and first floor landing retain their original decoration, moulded plaster panels with lugged heads forming tabernacle frames beneath a dentil cornice. The handsome stairs are wide and shallow, Doric balusters supporting the handrail and the side of each tread adorned with carved curls of foliage. As with the facade, this decoration represents the original builder’s interest in showing he was au courant with the latest fashions. The most unexpected feature can be found almost immediately inside the front door: what looks to be a death mask set into the ceiling. It is commonly believed that the man shown is Samuel Gibbons, perhaps placed here as an act of filial piety on the part of his son Richard. The rooms in the front portion of the house are noticeably smaller than those added in the 19th century, and some have angled corner chimneypieces: a marble panel on that in the former morning room featuring a knight in armour. 

In the mid-1820s Mountainstown was inherited by Arthur Hill Cornwallis Pollock, named after his father’s patron, Arthur Hill, second Marquess of Downshire. Almost twenty years before he had been sent on a tour of Europe by his parents, presumably keen that their heir have the upbringing of a gentleman. Having visited France and Italy, he travelled as far as Russia, spending time at the Imperial court in St Petersburg with his friends Lords Royston and Somerton, before finally returning home in the second half of 1807. Four years later he married a cousin and devoted the rest of his life to agriculture and country pursuits. It was Arthur who created the spacious yard immediately to the north of the main house as he often won medals for his animals at agricultural shows. The Pollocks were always keen on hunting and Arthur had his own pack of hounds at Mountainstown as did many of his neighbours: eventually these were amalgamated into the Clonghill Hunt which later became the Meath. And so it has gone on until now, when the present generation has decided the moment is right to pass Mountainstown on to another family, perhaps one that will remain in the house for as long as have the Pollocks. It is always sad to see an historic property come on the market, especially in Ireland where relatively few families have stayed in the same place for so long. However, one should remember the words of Disraeli who in 1867 observed, ‘Change is inevitable in a progressive country. Change is constant.’ Whatever one’s personal feelings, the proposed departure of the Pollocks from Mountainstown, like that of the Gibbonses before them, is a reflection of that necessary change. 

For sale 4/11/2019 

courtesy Savills (Country) 

Tel: 01 663 4350 

PSRA Licence No. 002223 

Mountainstown Estate, Navan, Co. Meath, C15 C938 

9 bed, 1103.9sq m 

€2,750,000 

A most impressive 18th Century Georgian mansion, of immense charm and character, nestled in the heart of rural Meath and surrounded by 120 acres of parkland, paddocks and mature woodland. Mountainstown comprises a most impressive, but charming Georgian House surrounded by 120 acres of parkland, paddocks, mature woodland and newly planted hardwood. Nestled in the heart of unspoilt rural Meath, a county renowned for its rich heritage and excellent lands. 

The house is approached by two sweeping avenues both of which travel through the parkland before the first glimpse of the house and eventually arriving at the broad gravel forecourt. While the house does impress by its grandeur and scale, it exudes character and style, which has made it a fabulous family home. In all, Mountainstown encompasses all the attributes one seeks when acquiring a fine country residence; from the sizable, well maintained house, extraordinary stable yard, gardens and auxiliary courtyards, walled garden and mature parkland. The residence stands three floors over basement with a good layout and an easy flow due to the two separate staircases. It is approached by a double set of balustraded stone steps into the main hall which has a fine staircase with turned Doric bannisters and walls decorated with handsome plaster panels. 

This hall ceiling features the mould of Samuel Gibbon`s face, set within a graceful cartouche. To the left of the hall there are four interconnecting reception rooms, namely the library, small dining room (or breakfast room) drawing room and dining room. This enfilade of south -facing spaces blend and flow beautifully to make for superb entertaining. 

The library features gilded carvings of the Pollock family crest; the boar pierced by an arrow, atop the pelmets, which also support the original tassel fringes. This fascinating library also has its original leather wall covering, in a wonderful ox-blood colour. 

The drawing room and the dining room stand out as exceptionally graceful rooms due to their light-filled proportions and decorative features.   The drawing room boasts a large 3 bay window which leads directly into the garden via a flight of wide stone steps. To the right of the hall are found the study, play room and the fantastic modern Scavolini kitchen which is bright and spacious, with 4 windows facing due West and East with cushioned window seats. 

Upstairs there are generous bedroom suites all with fine views either overlooking the gardens or with panoramic vistas over the surrounding countryside. The whole basement houses useful rooms such as the party room (formerly the Servant`s Hall), gym, billiard room, a garden sitting room which leads onto the sunken garden, a music room and a kitchen. 

When the current Arthur Pollock took over the property himself and his wife Atalanta meticulously continued the restoration of the house and planted two gardens, whilst always being mindful to maintain the integrity of all the original features. Their main object has been to use all of the house and make it family orientated and up-dated to reflect a modern family`s needs. Over recent years the house has been re-wired, re-plumbed and re-roofed. 

Their efforts also extended to the garden where they have laid out a mix of formal and informal gardens and cleverly created a sunken patio garden which is to the rear of the house and accessed via the garden room and from the formal garden.

Ground Floor The interior is approached up a gracious flight of stone steps to the grand reception hall which is a beautiful space with ornate plaster cornicing. The entrance hall and the fine staircase are two of Mountainstown’s most impressive and distinguishing features. The wide staircase, with twisted balusters and carved brackets, leads up to a classic Georgian galleried landing. There are panoramic views over the rolling Meath countryside from every window .

Leading off the main hall is the Library, which has large East and South-facing windows, original mid 18 th C leather wall-covering and a grey carved marble fireplace with brass inserts and a carpeted floor.

The small Dining room boasts a white marble fireplace with brass inserts,large South-facing window and a timber floor.

The Drawing Room has carpeted floors, magnificent gilded decorative plasterwork on the ceiling,a marble fireplace and a spectacular 3 bay window with double French doors out to steps leading down to the formal garden.

The Dining Room features an impressive corniced ceiling, two large South-facing Wyatt windows,a black Kilkenny marble fireplace,a recessed arch and magnificent mahogany carved doors.

To the right of the main hall is the study with corniced ceiling, carpeted floor and a marble fireplace. The back hall has hardwood timber floors and a back staircase to first floor level. Off this hall is the laundry room, linen room and butler`s pantry with built in shelving. Off the main Hall is the play room, which has timber floors, a marble fireplace and a large West -facing window and the large, bright, modern kitchen.Truly ergonomic and stylish,it is fully fitted with Scavolini units, a central island and polished granite worktops. A vintage 4 door Aga, integrated Neff appliances, window seats in the four kitchen windows and a large skylight. Off the Kitchen is the Pantry with storage and shelving and a cloakroom. First Floor Return The first floor return has 3 spacious bedrooms off a large, elegant landing with two windows facing the rolling parkland to the front of the house. Bedroom 1 has a grey marble fireplace and two South-facing windows over-looking the formal garden. Bedroom 2 has a grey marble fireplace and two windows facing East and South.Bedroom 3 has a large West -facing window and has an en-suite bathroom that can also be accessed from the hall. The large family bathroom has an elevated roll-top bath of huge proportions,a marble fire place and large East -facing window. First Floor wing At first floor level there are 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, which are all en-suite.The Master bedroom is above the drawing room and has huge South-facing bay windows over-looking the formal garden and large fitted cupboards.The en-suite bathroom houses a Siena marble surrounded jacuzzi bath. Attic – 2nd floor The 2nd floor houses three further bedrooms,a large sitting room , a panelled bathroom with roll-top bath and another separate wc.   Each bedroom has grated fireplaces and the entire attic has carpeted floors. Basement level At basement level there are a number of large and useful rooms. These include a full-size billiard room,which was the original kitchen with Georgian cooking range and bread oven, a vaulted Servant`s hall complete with original servant`s bells, a music room, a West -facing Sitting room which leads through a French window onto the Sunken garden,a fully fitted kitchen,cloakroom, 2 wine cellars, two store rooms, a mirrored gym, boot room and cloakroom. The gardens Mountainstown has a wonderfully laid out formal garden with box hedging and gravel paths,centred by a sundial commissioned by John Pollock. To the rear of the house is a sunken patio garden with four raised beds and a rectangular pool.With the expanse of lawns dotted with mature trees,the whole effect is graceful and restrained,with low maintenance in mind.There is a vegetable bed and a glass-house.    A Georgian Gothic cottage sits at the end of the lawn and was lived in by the Head Gardener and his family for a number of generations.This charming two storey house has recently been re -roofed and re-windowed and would be ideal for a number of uses. Formally the Pleasure gardens extended beyond the garden house and encompassed the area surrounding a huge walled garden. Today this section and the walled garden are overgrown but it is clear that there remain magnificent specimen trees and shrubs and the makings of a rewarding garden project. 

The Estate Farm and Yards The estates boasts three separate yards, namely the stunning stable yard, the 19th century farm buildings and the farm yard. The stable yard has a range of 25 stables,an almost unique ,cobbled Carriage wash for cleaning horses legs and the wheels of carriages after a journey, coach houses,forge, tack rooms, large open span stone built barn and further potential for additional accommodation.The water source for the entire property is Spring -fed, with strikingly pure water which was until quite recently, successfully bottled commercially .and there remain,in working order,a Georgian double hexagonal stone well,with three steps down from which to draw the water in days gone by. Beyond the stable yard is an old stone yard with a cobbled barn,also the original kennels which housed the Clongill,then the Meath Fox Hounds. Beyond this is the farm yard with slatted sheds and barns. There is a traditional L-shaped stone farm yard which is a mix of two storey and single storey buildings all in need of restoration. The Lands The lands are a mix of mature woodland,young woodland and pasture,some of which is used to house the family`s horses in paddocks, it is high quality old permanent pasture. Services Private spring fed well; phone line; ESB; alarm system; security lights; broadband and a private sewage system Mountainstown House is located in the heart of ‘Royal Meath’, near the charming village of Castletown-Kilpatrick and just ten minutes from the bustling market town of Navan. Castletown-Kilpatrick is set in lush, green countryside and surrounded by rich farmland. County Meath is home to attractions such as Killeen Castle and the Hill of Tara which is the ancient home of the High kings of Ireland, and the world-famous megalithic burial tombs of Newgrange. For sporting and recreational enthusiasts the opportunities are marvellous. County Meath has a proud sporting history and can offer a huge array of quality sporting and recreational activities for even the most active of lifestyles. Golf The golf enthusiast is well catered for in the surrounding area with quality golf courses within the surrounding areas. The nearby golf courses are Royal Tara Golf Club, The famous Jack Nicklaus designed golf course at Killeen Castle, Headford Golf Club, Black Bush Golf Club near Fairyhouse and Carton House, home to the 2013 Irish Open. Racing Race-goers are well catered for with Navan Racecourse and Fairyhouse Race Course nearby. Both of these courses are very well renowned and host a multitude of events and point-to-points throughout the year. There is also the all-weather track at Dundalk which hosts a packed calendar of races all year round. Hunting There is excellent hunting in the area with a number of local packs including The Tara Harriers, The Meath Foxhounds, The Ward Union, The Louth Foxhounds and The Ballymacad Hunt. Shooting Meath plays host to many excellent high bird shoots and there are a number of private syndicates in the surrounding area. The adjoining lands to Mountainstown host a well renowned private shoot. Fishing The River Boyne and its tributaries hold extensive stocks of wild brown and rainbow trout, eel and salmon. There is also well managed trout fishing available on the lakes near Collinstown and Fore. Schools There are a variety of exceptional private and public schools in the area including Headfort Prep School, Castleknock College and Mount Sackville. Shopping Navan is only 13km from Mountainstown House and provides an extensive range of shops, restaurants and supermarkets. Dublin city is only 58 km away. Travel As well as offering all the joys of true country living, Mountainstown House is just 13 km from Navan, 58 km from Dublin City Centre and 55 km from Dublin Airport. 

Features 

Historic estate in the heart of Co. Meath 

6 reception rooms, 9 bedrooms, 6 bath 

Superb courtyard and stable yard, farm buildings 

Presented in wonderful condition 

Further leisure rooms including playroom, music room, billiards room 

All surrounded by parkland, paddocks, mature woodland, formal gardens 

Garden cottage, keepers cottage 

Navan 13 km, Dublin city 55 km, Dublin Airport 58 km 

http://meathhistoryhub.ie/houses-k-p/ 

Mountainstown House, located north of Navan at Castletown is a wonderful Queen Anne house with a well maintained courtyard and estate. Home to the Pollock family,   

Mountainstown House is not near any mountain or town and probably derives its name from a mounting post or halt, according to Rowan and Casey.  Maurice Craig described Mountainstown as a somewhat naïve but charming building. 

Samuel Gibbons lived at Mountainstown in the early eighteenth century. It appears that the house was originally built for Richard Gibbons about 1720. In the late eighteenth century his only surviving child, Anne Gibbons, sold it to John Pollock, whose family had been renting the estate for some time. 

John Pollock was the third son of John Pollock, a Newry linen merchant. Pollock became a solicitor in Dublin and agent for the Duke of Devonshire, one of the largest landowners in Ireland and was a Dublin based solicitor. In 1813 the main block of the house was extended by a long two-storey gabled wing built on to the southwest corner and converting the house to an L-shaped plan. The Venetian doorcase bears the Pollock coat of arms. 

Today the derelict remains of Kilshine church is situated opposite the main gates of Mountainstown House. John Pollock rebuilt the church in 1815 and presented the parish with a silver chalice. Kilshine Church was closed in 1958 and was de-consecrated and the furnishings removed. The Pollock memorial tablets were erected in Donaghpatrick Church. 

The 1798 rebels passed through the Mountainstown and Georges Cross area. There are a great number of Croppie graves in Mountianstown estate. In 1998 a multi-denominational service was held to commemorate the hundreds of United Irishmen from Wexford who fought at the battle of Knightstown Bog on 14th July 1798. A stone plaque was erected to commemorate those who died. The Pollocks of Mountainstown took an active part in the commemoration ceremonies. 

John Pollock died in December 1826 leaving an only son, Arthur, born 1785. Arthur Hill Cornwallis Pollock spent much of his early years travelling Europe. Arthur was High Sheriff of Meath in 1809 and died in 1846. 

In 1835 Mountainstown House, the seat of Mr. A.H.C. Pollock was described as being surrounded by beautiful planting and ornament ground. North of the house was a small  fishpond for ornament. In the farmyard there was a small pond and two fine spring wells. Situated in the northwest of the townland was a beautiful decoy, in which ducks, teel and widgeon were caught. 

Arthur was succeeded by his son, John Osborne George Pollock, who was born in 1812. He was a justice of the peace and a deputy lieutenant of the county. He served as High Sheriff for the county in 1854. John died in 1871 and was succeeded by his sons, Arthur Henry Taylor and John Naper George. In 1876 Arthur Pollock held 848 acres in county Meath and Maria Pollock of Mountainstown held  1174 acres in county Meath.  

John Naper George married Anna Josephine Barrington of Limerick. Dying in 1905 John was succeeded by his eldest son, also named John, born 1896. Anna Josephine lived on until 1947, surviving her husband by forty years. John Pollock served during World War I in the North Irish Horse and died in 1966. 

There was also a large amount of material on the Irish Pollock families showing their descent from the main family, including written histories on the Pollocks of Newry, Balleyedmond, Balleymagregrechan and Mountainstown, and showing the descent of James Knox Polk, the 11th President of the United States of America from the Irish Pollocks. A house in Scotland, called Mountainstown, is home of a Pollock family but there is no clear relationship with the Meath Pollocks. President Polk may be related to the Pollocks of Scotland according to one source. 

Ballyconra House, Ballyragget, County Kilkenny 

by jenjunebug

Ballyconra House, Ballyragget, Co. Kilkenny 

Ballyconra House, County Kilkenny, courtesy National Inventory.

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. 20. “[Butler, Mountgarrett; Cahill] An early C18 gable-ended house with a high, parapeted roof; the seat of the Butlers, Viscount Mountgarret, after they abandoned their earlier seat of Ballyragget Castle. 2 storey, with an attic lit by windows in the gable ends; 7 bay front, doorway with pilasters and entablature, above which is a stone panel with a coat of arms, brought from another old Butler castle in the neighbourhood. Low ceilinged rooms. Large hall, with a ceiling of somewhat bucolic rococo plasterwork; doorcases of good C18 joinery. Wooden staircase going up round inner hall, with additional flight to attic. Drawing room to left of hall had plasterwork ceiling which fell earlier this century and was replaced with a plain ceiling; more plasterwork in a small study to the right of hall. Dining room behind study, divided in the middle by a thick arch pierced through the main wall of the house, the other half of the room being an addition. This room is said to be haunted by the ghost of Edmund, 12th Viscount Mountgarret and 1st and last Earl of Kilkenny, who died 1846 and was the last Mountgarret to live here; a benign spectre in a high collar and stove pipe hat who has been seen going up the stairs. After the death of the Earl of Kilkenny, the house was occupied by Michael Cahill, agent to the subsequent Viscount Mountgarret, by whose descendents it was afterwards acquired.” 

Edmond Butler (1745-1793), 11th Viscount Mountgarret in the style of Hugh Douglas Hamilton, Adams auction 19 Oct 2021.
Henrietta Butler née Hamilton Butler, Viscountess Mountgarret (1750-1785) in the style of Hugh Douglas Hamilton, Adams auction 19 Oct 2021. She was the daughter of Somerset Hamilton Butler , 1st Earl of Carrick, 6th Viscount of Ikerrin.
Juliana Butler (1727/8-1804) Countess of Carrick, with her younger daughters Lady Henrietta Butler (1750-1785), later Viscountess Mountgarret, and Lady Margaret Butler/Lowry-Corry (1748-1775), by Richard Cosway, courtesy of National Trust, Castle Coole, County Fermanagh.
Mildred Butler née Fowler (c. 1770-1830) Countess of Kilkenny, wife of Edmond 12th Viscount Mountgarret and 1st Earl of Kilkenny and daughter of Robert, Archbishop of Dublin (1724-1801) by Thomas Hickey, courtesy of Sheppards auction Nov 26 2013.
Ballyconra House, County Kilkenny, courtesy National Inventory.

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/12400402/ballyconra-house-ballyconra-co-kilkenny

Detached seven-bay two-storey over basement house with dormer attic, dated 1724, on an L-shaped plan possibly originally mill owner’s house with two-bay two-storey side elevations, and single-bay two-storey double-pile return to north-west. Mostly refenestrated, c.1900, with canted bay window added to return. Part refenestrated, c.1925. Part refenestrated. Now in use as offices. Pitched slate roof behind parapet (pitched double-pile (M-profile) slate roof to return) with clay ridge tiles, yellow brick Running bond chimney stacks having profiled cornices, rooflights, and cast-iron rainwater goods on rendered stepped eaves. Unpainted roughcast walls (unpainted rendered walls to basement) with cut-limestone stringcourse supporting parapet having cut-limestone coping. Square-headed window openings (including to canted bay window on painted rendered tapered jetty) with cut-limestone sills, remains of carved cut-limestone hood mouldings over to front (south-east) elevation, and replacement one-over-one timber sash windows, c.1900, retaining some six-over-six timber sash windows to rear (north-west) elevation (one in tripartite arrangement having two-over-two sidelights) having some replacement four-over-four timber sash windows, c.1925, with some replacement timber casement windows throughout. Round-headed door opening with two cut-limestone steps over basement, cut-limestone doorcase having engaged pilasters on panelled pedestals supporting cornice, glazed timber panelled double doors, decorative overlight, and heraldic panel over (dated 1724) having cut-limestone surround. Square-headed door opening to return with four cut-limestone steps, cut-limestone surround having keystone, replacement timber panelled door having overlight, and heraldic panel over (dated 1880). Interior with entrance hall having carved timber architraves to door openings (one carved timber shouldered architrave with dentilated moulded cornice) with timber panelled reveals leading to timber panelled doors, moulded plasterwork cornice leading to decorative plasterwork ceiling having foliate motif, stairhall with carved timber staircase, and timber panelled shutters to window openings. Set back from road in own grounds on a slightly elevated site. 

Appraisal 

A well-appointed substantial house representing an important element of the early eighteenth-century architectural heritage of County Kilkenny possibly originally having associations with the nearby Ballyconra Mills indicated on archival editions of the Ordnance Survey but of primary significance for the connections with the Butler Family, Viscounts Mountgarret late of Ballyragget Castle (1495) together with the Cahill family. Elegantly composed with Classically-proportioned openings centred on a doorcase displaying high quality stone masonry the house has historically been well maintained to present an early aspect: of particular importance are the internal details exhibiting expert craftsmanship including plasterwork accents of artistic design significance together with ornamental timber joinery. Positioned on a slightly elevated site the house makes an important impression in a landscape dominated by late twentieth-century industrial ranges. 

Ballyconra House, County Kilkenny, courtesy National Inventory.
Ballyconra House, County Kilkenny, courtesy National Inventory.
Ballyconra House, County Kilkenny, courtesy National Inventory.
Ballyconra House, County Kilkenny, courtesy National Inventory.
Ballyconra House, County Kilkenny, courtesy National Inventory.
Ballyconra House, County Kilkenny, courtesy National Inventory.
Ballyconra House, County Kilkenny, courtesy National Inventory.
Ballyconra House, County Kilkenny, courtesy National Inventory.
Ballyconra House, County Kilkenny, courtesy National Inventory.

http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2014/03/ballyconra-house.html

THE VISCOUNTS MOUNTGARRET WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY KILKENNY, WITH 14,073 ACRES 

This is a branch of the noble house of BUTLER, Earls and Marquesses of Ormonde, springing from 

THE HON RICHARD BUTLER (1500-71), second son of Piers, 8th Earl of Ormonde, who was elevated to the peerage, in 1550, in the dignity of VISCOUNT MOUNTGARRET, County Wexford. 

His lordship married firstly, Eleanor, daughter of Theobald Butler, of Nechum, County Kilkenny, and had one son, Edmund; and secondly, Catherine, daughter and heir of Peter Barnewall, of Stackallan, County Meath, and had issue, Barnewall, who died unmarried, Pierce, and other issue. 

 
He espoused thirdly, in 1541, Anne, daughter of John, Lord Killeen, from whom he was divorced in the first year of his marriage. 

[The Landed Gentry and Aristocracy of Kilkenny by Art Kavanagh, p. 61: 

“In 1541 Richard Butler was given leases of lands in Wexford and Kilkenny, noteably in Inistioge, Thomastown and Shankill. Two years later, in 1543 he got a grant of all the Augustinian lands in and near New Ross. He was created Viscount Mountgarret and Baron of Kells in 1550 in direct response to his plea to be given a title that would outshine that of the McMurrough.  

…The forays of his father Piers into the territories of the Fitzpatricks of Upper [p. 62] Ossory trained him in the exercise and knowledge of those military operations, which he afterwards turned to good account in defending the King’s lands against the “Irish enemy,” especially in Wexford, against the Kavanaghs. It was in recompense for such services to his Sovereign that King Edward VI gave directions to have him created a Viscount. He had already been installed in Mountgarret Manor and caslte, on the outskirts of New Ross, and it was from this that the name Mountgarret derived. The Manor was formerly Church lands and the Castle was the home of the famous Bishop Barret in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, after he had removed from Ferns, the traditional residence. 

In addition to the Augustinian lands of New Ross, Mountgarret bought the lands of Kayer (Davidstown to Glynn) from Foulks Denn in 1556. They Kayer lands were later demised to Piers Butler his son. The Butler family of Kayer was subsequently dispossessed by the Cromwellians. 

p. 63. During the reigns of Edward and Queen Mary, prioer to being created Viscount Mountgarret, Richard was made keeper of the Castle of Ferns. He was also in two commissions for the preservation of the peace, in the Counties of Tipperary , Kilkenny and Wexford. He was present in the Parliament of 1560 which met in Dublin and which ended in passing the Statute of Uniformity, which made Queen Elizabeth head of the church, in Ireland, and re-established the reformed worship, as it had existed under Edward VI. Richard was buried in St. Canice’s cathedral, Kilkenny, in 1571. 

By his first wife, Eleanor, daughter of Theobald Butler of Neigham, he had a daughter Margaret, and a son, Edmund, who became 2nd Viscount.] 

 
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son, 

 
EDMUND, 2nd Viscount (c1562-1602), who married Grizzel, daughter of Barnaby, 1st Baron Upper Ossory,  

[Kavanagh, p. 63. He followed in his father’s footsteps of persecuting and hunting down the “mere Irishry.” He was ever ready to spill blood, in quarrels and in defence. He renewed the old animosities with the Fitzpatricks, the Princes of Upper Ossory. Edmond later married Grainne, the daughter of Lord Ossory, Sir Barnaby Fitzpatrick. Marriage alliances in those days were often used in an attempt to patch up old enmities. 

The second Viscount was a significant political player in his time, siding ith the Earl of Ormond and Lord Justice Pelham against the Earl fo Desmond. He played a prominent role in the Plantation of Munster. He accompanied the Lord Deputy in his Munster Expedition in 1579 against the Spaniards and James Fitzmaurice, who was leader of the Desmond insurgents. He sat in Perrott’s Parliament in Dublin (1585-6) which attainted the late Earl of Desmond. …p. 64. Piers and James, two brothers of Edmund the future Mountgarret also sided with the Desmond faction, then led by James Fitzmaurice the son of Sir Morish Fitzgibbon, the White Knight. 

The rebel Butlers all took an active part in the battle of Kilkenny in 1568. The Butler participation in the rebellions of the period stemmed from two grievances – the loss of land suffered by the Butlers of Cloghgrennan, County Carlow, and the pressure being put on them to renounce Catholicism. 

The battle of Kilkenny was a serious affair involving the Butlers allied to the Gaelic clans of the region, the Kavanaghs, O’Byrnes and O’Nolans. The rebel Butlers and their allies took over the city and defended it against the Crown forces led by Peter Carew and probably the Mountgarret forces. Carew defeated them with great slaughter, killign over 400. 

Following this defeat the Butlers were arrested but were released on the orders of Black Tom, 10th Earl…They wre in rebellion again the next year, 1569 and together with their old allies sacked the town of Enniscorthy. After this the rebellion seems to have fizzled out and the Butlers were again arrested but once more due to the influence of their brother (who claimed they were mad) they were released. Edmund 2nd Viscount Mountgarret died in 1602.] 

and was father of 

 
RICHARD, 3rd Viscount (1578-1651), who wedded firstly, Margaret, eldest daughter of Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, by whom alone he had issue, and was succeeded by his eldest son, 

[Kavanagh, p. 65: Richard 3rd Viscount along with his father sided with the O’Neills of Tyrone in the Nine Years War…In a bewildering change of allegiance the Butlers, father and son, sided with the Earl of Essex, who arrived in 1599 to put down the rebellion. This was probably done because of the urgings of the Earl of Ormond. When the Nine Years War was finally brought to a conclusion by the defeat at Kinsale the Mountgarret Butlers had their lands intact. 

Richard sat in the Parliament of 1615 in his capacity of Viscount. He continued as a solid citizen and loyal to the Crown and was again in Parliament in 1634 when Wentworth was Lord Deputy. However in 1641-2 he resurrected his ancient armour, mounted his old war steed, and joined the Confederacy in support of the Catholic cause. At the time he was the owner of a huge amount of land in Kilkenny, Wexford and Carlow, said to have been in excess of 20,000 acres. 

This move by Mountgarret was a staggering blow to the government side and his second cousin James 12th Earl of Ormond. The old man now in his early 60s [p. 66] commanded such huge respect that all of the Catholic gentlemen of the county with their cohorts flocked to his standard. He swept into Kilkenny city and seized it for the Confederacy. One of his first acts was to extend his protection to all the Protestant citizens and their property. Of course the wife of the 12th Earl was Protestant and she made every effort to help her co-religionists by giving them sanctuary in the castle. … 

p. 67. It is not clear what subsequent role Lord Mountgarret played in the Confederacy or in the campaign against Cromwell, but he died a natural death in 1652. [fn: After the Cromwellian campaign he fled to Galway where he took refuge and died there. His castle at Ballyragget was taken over by Major Abel Warren. Warren’s father, Rev. Edward Warren, the rector of the parish was ousted from his living by MOuntgarret’s soldiers in 1641. Reve Edward had three sons, two of whom were officers in Cromwell’s army.] Edward one of Mountgarret’s younger sons who had been living in Urlingford Castle was arrested in 1652 and taken to Dublin. He was tried or the murder of people in the Freshford area ten years earlier. He was believed to be innocent but on the testimony of Major Warren he was found guilty and executed.] 

[p/ 68. Edmund 4th Viscount was a key player in the Confederate Army and saw action in Kilrush and Ballinvegga and in C. Wexford, where he was for a time Governor of Enniscorthy and then of the entire county of Wexford. He was also Governor of Kilkenny in 1646. He was taken prisoner when Wexford was captured by the Cromwellian army. …In the subsequent land grab his lands were declared forfeit, but the arrangement was declared null and void in 1660 when Charles II was restored.  the Duke of Ormond was Charles II’s most trusted advisor and probably the most powerful man in Ireland. One of his first acts was to restore their lands, almost in total to his relatives. In this way Edmund Butler 4th Viscount Mountgarret was reinstated in most of his Kilkenny lands. In addition he received further lands in 1667 in an Act of Settlement grant. Those lands were in the barony of Knocktopher.  

Sir Edmund was married twice and by his first wife, Dorothy Touchet, he had two sons and two daughters. 

p. 69. The 5th Viscount was lucky in that his relation, the 2nd Duke of Ormonde, was a committed Williamite, who entertained that monarch in his castle of Kilkenny after the defeat of King James at the Battle of the Boyne. In the Jacobite confiscations that followed, the Mountgarret Butlers emerged unscathed. They still remained Catholic and produced children too numerous to mention… 

p. 70. The 6th Viscount was educated at the Jesuit colleges of Flamstead, St. Omer and La Fleche. He was a Lt Col of Horse in the Army of King James II at the Siege of Derry but was captured and outlawed. The outlawry was reversed in 1721 but while he took the oath of allegiance he would not take the oath of supremacy and withdrew from the House of Parliament. 

…The 11th Viscount took the expedient step of becoming a Protestant. He was MP for County of Kilkenny from 1776-1779.  

p. 71. 12th Viscount had no children and was succeeded by his nephew, Henry Edmund as 13th Viscount. The Earldom became extict on the death of the 12th Viscount who according to Lord Dunboyne was insane for most of his adult life. 

 
EDMUND, 4th Viscount (1595-1679),  

  • Richard Butler, 7th Viscount (1685–1736); 
  • James Butler, 8th Viscount (1686–1749); 
  • Edmund Butler, 9th Viscount (1687–1751); 
  • Edmund Butler, 10th Viscount (d 1779); 

Earls of Kilkenny (1793) 

Viscounts Mountgarret (continued) 

  • Henry Edmund Butler, 13th Viscount (1816–1900) 
  • Edmund Somerset Butler, 15th Viscount (1875–1918) 
  • Piers Henry Augustine Butler, 16th Viscount (1903–66) 
  • Piers James Richard Butler, 18th Viscount (b 1961) 

The current heir presumptive is the present holder’s brother, Edmund Henry Richard Butler (b 1962).  

Piers James Richard [Butler], 18th and present Viscount,  is de jure 27th Earl of Ormonde and 21st Earl of Upper Ossory following the death of the 7th Marquess of Ormonde in 1997. Shape 

BALLYCONRA HOUSE is a seven-bay, two-storey over basement house with dormer attic, dated 1724, on an L-shaped plan, possibly originally a mill owner’s house with two-bay two-storey side elevations, and single-bay two-storey double-pile return to north-west. Now in use as offices. 

This is a well-appointed substantial house representing an important element of the early 18th century architectural heritage of County Kilkenny. 

It may originally have had associations with the nearby Ballyconra Mills, though its primary significance was for the connections with the Butler Family, Viscounts Mountgarret, late of Ballyragget Castle (1495) together with the Cahill family. 

 
Ballyconra is located on a slightly elevated site. 

 
This house makes an important impression in a landscape dominated by late 20th-century industrial ranges.   

The house is said to be haunted by the ghost of Edmund, 12th Viscount Mountgarret and first and last Earl of Kilkenny, who died in 1846 and was the last Mountgarret to live there.  

Following Lord Kilkenny’s death, the house was occupied by Michael Cahill, agent to the 13th Viscount, by whose descendants it was afterwards acquired. 

The Mountgarrets’ other seat was Nidd Hall, near Ripley, Yorkshire; sold in 1968. 

Oakley Park, Celbridge, Co Kildare (now St. Raphael’s) 

by jenjunebug

Oakley Park, Celbridge, Co Kildare (now St. Raphael’s) 

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. 227. “(Napier, sub Napier and Ettrick, B/PB; Maunsell/IFR) A fine three storey ashlar-faced house of 1724, built for Arthur Price, Vicar of Celbridge – who proposed to Swift’s “Vanessa” and who later became Bishop of Meath and Archbishop of Cashel – possibly to the design of Thomas Burgh, MP, Engineer and Surveyor-General for Ireland. Seven bay front, three bay central breakfront; doorway with segmental pediment, solid roof parapet, bold string courses. Various subsequent alterations. Later in C18, it was the home of Lady Sarah Napier, sister of Lady Louisa Conolly, of Castletown, and of Emily, Duchess of Leinster, mother of the United Irish leader, Lord Edward Fitzgerald. Lady Sarah, born Lady Sarah Lennox, daughter of 2nd Duke of Richmod, was the love of the young George III, who, according to a legend, wrote the song The Lass of Richmond Hill, about her. Oakley afterwards became the seat of a branch of the Maunsell family; it now belongs to a religious order.” 

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/11805044/saint-raphaels-church-road-oakleypark-celbridge-co-kildare

Detached seven-bay three-storey over basement Classical-style house, built 1724, retaining early aspect with three-bay three-storey breakfront, three-bay three-storey side elevation to south-west, single-bay three-storey recessed end bay to north-east and seven-bay three-storey rear elevation to north-west having single-bay single-storey bowed projecting bay to north. Refenestrated, c.1950. Now in use as hospital. Hipped roof behind parapet with slate. Rolled lead ridge tiles. Cut-stone chimney stacks. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Coursed limestone walls. Cut-stone dressings including stringcourses to each floor and moulded cornice having cut-stone parapet walls with cut-stone coping. Square-headed openings (segmental-headed window openings to basement). Stone sills. Cut-stone surrounds. Replacement 9/9, 9/6 and 6/6 timber sash windows, c.1950. Original 6/6 timber sash windows to basement. 1/1 timber sash windows to bowed projecting bay. Cut-stone doorcase to front (south-east) elevation approached by flight of steps with segmental pediment over on consoles. Cut-stone surround to door opening to rear (north-west) elevation. Replacement timber panelled and glazed timber panelled doors, c.1950. Overlights. Interior with timber panelled shutters to window openings. Set back from road in own grounds. Landscaped grounds to site.

Appraisal

Oakley Park, now known as Saint Raphael’s, is a fine and imposing Classical-style mansion that was built contemporaneously with Castletown House as the residence of Sarah Napier, sister of Lady Louisa Connolly. Of social and historical interest, the house represents the origins of Celbridge as an estate town with sophisticated private buildings flanking both ends of what would become the Main Street. The house retains much of its original character and is a valuable component of the architectural heritage of Celbridge. Composed of graceful Classical proportions on a symmetrical plan centred about a breakfront to both primary elevations (to south-east and to north-west), the house is finely detailed, without unnecessary ornamentation, to include features such as decorative doorcases and a heavy cornice to the roof – the presence of a bowed projecting bay also adds incident to the regular design. The construction of the house in coursed cut-limestone is a good example of the high quality of stone masonry practiced in the locality. Replacement fenestration was inserted in the mid twentieth century, but this has been carried out in keeping with the original integrity of the house – original fenestration remains in situ to the basement, having wide glazing bars, while the interior retains features such as timber panelled shutters to the window openings. Set back from the line of the road in its own grounds, the house retains attractive landscaped lawns to the front (south-east).

https://archiseek.com/2016/1724-oakley-park-celbridge-co-kildare

1724 – Oakley Park, Celbridge, Co. Kildare

Architect: Thomas Burgh

Oakley Park, formerly Celbridge House, was built in 1724 by Arthur Price when he was vicar of Celbridge, later Bishop of Meath, and Archbishop of Cashel. Dr. Price’s steward at Oakley Park was one Richard Guinness, known for his brewing talents. His son, Arthur went on to establish the Guinness Brewery in Dublin. 

In the early 20th century, the house changed ownership many times and fell into disrepair. In the 1930s, Oakley Park was sold to the Christian Brothers, who planned to open a school there. They never managed to get the school up and running and it was sold again. The house was purchased in 1952 by its present owners, the Brothers of St. John of God. Today Oakley Park forms part of the St. Raphael complex training centre for mentally handicapped children and young adults.

From Here to Beer

by theirishaesthete

Formerly the entrance but now the garden front of Oakley Park in Celbridge, County Kildare. The house is believed to have been built c.1724 for the Rev. Arthur Price*, who was then the local rector (he later rose through the ranks, eventually becoming Archbishop of Cashel). Tall and somewhat austere, Oakley Park’s design is attributed to Thomas Burgh, also responsible for the Old Library at Trinity College, of which it is somewhat reminiscent. In the late 18th century, the house was acquired by Lady Sarah Napier, sister of Lady Louisa Conolly who lived nearby at Castletown, and Emily, Duchess of Leinster who lived at Carton. It appears thereafter to have changed hands regularly and at some date in the 19th century, the entrance was moved to the other side of the building (see below). Since 1953 the house and surrounding grounds have been used by the St John of God religious order who run a training centre here for disabled children and young adults.

*Arthur Price’s land steward in Celbridge was one Richard Guinness. On his death in 1752 he left £100 to Guinness and his son, Arthur – Price’s godson – who a few years later established a certain well-known and still flourishing brewery.

http://www.turtlebunbury.com/history/history_family/hist_family_maunsell.html

Maunsell of Oakley Park

The following story is an updated version of that contained in Turtle Bunbury’s 2004 book, ‘The Landed Gentry & Aristocracy of Co. Kildare‘. If you should spot any errors or ommissions, or have further information or photographs of relevance, please let us know. 

A heroic defense of a Waterford Castle against Cromwell’s army earned the Maunsell family considerable respect from their Irish peers when they first settled in Ireland in the mid 17th century. During the Georgian Age, they rose to prominence in Limerick, as bankers, politicians and Mayors. When not in Limerick, they were invariably leading an army from one international battlefield to the next. In the early 18th century, they moved to Oakley Park, Celbridge, Co. Kildare, formerly home to the Napier family, scions of three mighty Generals. In the early 20th century they married into the Orpen family. The connection to Ireland dwindled after the sale of Oakley Park in 1924. Today the house is run by the St John of Gods. 

OrIgin of the Maunsell Family 

p. 153. The name Maunsel is said to be derived either from the Norman French word mancel (an inhabitant of Le Mans) or from le mansel (a feudal tenant occupying a manse farm). The Maunsell family claim descent from Philip de Mancel, Cup Bearer to William the Conqueror. He came to England in 1066, settled in Buckinghamshire, acquired a substantial estate in Leicestershire and built a fine mansion house at Oswick in Glamorgan. His descendents prospered greatly under the Plantagenet kings. In 1163, Sir Robert Maunsell served with the Knights Templar while his eldest son Walter was Napkin Bearer to the King. William’s son Sir John was raised in the Royal Court of Edward Longshanks, received numerous lands and manors in southern England and rose to become one of the most prominent statesmen of his age. During the War of the Roses, Sir Philip Maunsell was captured by the Yorkists at the battle of Tewkesbury and beheaded along with his two elder sons. 

Rhys Maunsell & the Irish Rebellions

p. 154 In 1535, Sir Philip’s grandson and eventual heir, Sir Rhys Maunsell of Oxwich Castle, Glamorgan was dispatched with a body of troops to assist Lord Deputy Grey in suppressing the rebellion of Silken Thomas FitzGerald. (2) For his efforts, he was given a grant for life for the site of the Cistercian abbey of Margam in Glamorgan, as well as the Office of Chamberlain of the County Palatine of Chester, and the royalty of Avon Waters to him and his heirs. After the dissolution of the monasteries, he got a lease of Margam and in 1540 purchased the entire Margam property where he built a mansion house partly on the site of the abbey. (3) One of his grandsons, Captain Rhys Maunsell served for the English against the O’Neills in the Nine Years War. He was captured along with Sir John Chichester at the Battle of Carrickfergus in 1596 and beheaded. Their heads were sent to Tyrone and their bodies buried at Carrickfergus. (4) 

Thomas & APHRA Maunsell (1577 – 1661)

The principal branch of the family continued to live at Chicheley in Buckinghamshire, marrying into some of the greatest dynasties of Tudor and Stuart England. In the early 17th century, the head of the family was Thomas Maunsell (1577 – 1661), a prominent London solicitor and land speculator. In the 1630s he purchased an estate in Waterford from the Earl of Cork where he relocated with his wife Aphra Crayford who bore him a commendable 23 children. Following her death in 1666, Aphra Maunsell was interred in Caherconlish, Co Limerick. A stone tablet in Basso relievo is still within the precincts of the graveyard, though displaced by an overgrowth of trees on the wall of the church.

Thomas and Alphra’s eldest son Colonel Thomas Maunsell, one of the ’49 Officers’, distinguished himself during the Confederate Wars by his defence of Mocollop Castle, Co. Waterford, against Cromwellian forces in 1649. After the siege he converted the ruined castle into his own mansion, which was inherited by his son Thomas. (5) 

p. 155. Following the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, Thomas the Younger was awarded land in Galway, Waterford and the Liberties of Limerick. His sons became merchants and magistrates in Limerick and Cork over the ensuing decades but, upon his death in 1692, the inheritance devolved upon his grandson, Richard. 

NB: Edward Mansell was chaplain to King Charles I during the civil war. His father, Robert Mansell was born circa 1580 and operated as a miller in Great Bourton, Oxon. 

The bankers of limerick

Richard Maunsell (d. 1773) unexpectedly inherited the Maunsell family estates when his three elder brothers predeceased him. He served as Mayor of Limerick in 1734 and was MP for Limerick City in the Irish Parliament from 1740 to 1761, during which time the city developed as a centre of Atlantic trade, particularly in upmarket fashion and woollen manufacture. By his first marriage to Margaret, younger daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Twigg of Donnybrook Castle, Co. Dublin, he had a son, Thomas, and a daughter, Anne. (6) 

Although contemporaries recalled him as ‘an honest but a very dull man’, Thomas Maunsell proved himself a very capable lawyer and married one of the Waller girls from Castle Waller. His oldest son Richard Maunsell emigrated to the USA after he graduated from Trinity and no more if known of him. In 1789, his sons Robert and Thomas co-founded Maunsell’s Bank in Limerick City. Maunsell’s Bank later became the Bank of Limerick, which was one of Irelands’ leading private banks before its collapse in the economic depression that overtook Europe at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. (7) The younger Thomas became MP for Johnstown while Robert later settled in India where he was elected to the Supreme Council of Madras. Another son became Dean of Leighlin while another became Rector of Oranmore, respectively marrying daughters from Macroom Castle and Bunratty Castle. 

Thomas Snr’s eldest three daughters all married well – barristers and landowners from Tipperary and Limerick – but his youngest daughter Dorothea Maunsell caused a tremendous scandal when, aged 15, she eloped with the famous Italian castrato opera singer Giusto Ferdinando Tenducci during the 1760s. (Burke’s Irish Family Records claimed Dorothea was married in 1762 to William Long Kingsman, barrister-at-law. He did indeed become her second husband but not until late in the decade). For more on their extraordinary affair, click here.

Thomas Mausell Snr. later became King’s Counsellor in the Court of Exchequer and and MP for Kilmallock. He finished up as Counsel to the Revenue by Lord Harcourt, an office worth £800 a year. When he died in 1783, his legacy was secured through the survival of his aforementioned namesake son and heir, Thomas Maunsell, MP for Johnstown.

The Norbury Connection

Richard’s second wife Jane was the eldest daughter of William Waller of Castle Waller, Co. Tipperary. By this marriage he had a further five sons. Among these were General John Maunsell who commanded the 56th regiment at the Siege of Havana in 1762, Eaton Maunsell who served as Mayor of Limerick in 1779 and, the eldest, Richard Maunsell who settled at Ballywilliam in County Limerick and married Helena Toler, a half-sister of the 1st Earl of Norbury. As Chief Justice of Ireland during the early 19th century, Lord Norbury was infamous for the number of men he condemned to the gallows. An anecdote survives of how the judge was addressing the jury in one such case when his voice was drowned out by the sound of an irate ass. “What noise is that?” he inquired angrily. “Merely an echo of the Court, my lord“, was the defending barristers risqué reply. But Norbury could be quick too. At dinner one day, his host told him he had shot 31 hares that morning. “I don’t doubt it“, replied his lordship, “but you must have fired at a wig.” (8) 

The Maori Bible

p. 156. Richard and Helena had four sons. The eldest, Daniel, succeeded to Ballywilliam on Richard’s death in 1790. He was grandfather to General Sir Thomas Maunsell, KCB (1906), a prominent soldier in the Punjabi Campaign, the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny. (*) The second son Richard Maunsell lived at Queensboro in Limerick. The fourth son George Maunsell also lived in Limerick and was sometime Collector of the Irish Customs, a post he secured when he married the daughter of the previous Collector, James Smyth. George’s youngest son Robert emigrated to New Zealand in 1834 and became the first person to translate the Bible and Prayer Book into Maori. Richard and Helena’s third son John Maunsell was born in 1752 and became a barrister at the Middle Temple in 1774. Six years later, he married Anne Webster, only daughter and heiress of Edward Webster of Whitehall, Dublin. Anne died in August 1788, giving birth to her only child, Richard. Her widowed husband remained at Carrickoreely, Co. Limerick. 

* In March 2008, I was contacted by Lois Adam’s, granddaughter of Daniel Toler Thomas Maunsell’s eldest son George Edward Maunsell. George was born in Dublin around 1858 and emigrated to Jamaica in 1882 where he died in 1911. Lois would very much like to find some trace of descendants of his family in Ireland or elsewhere. She has been to Dublin and found the graves of Helen, Daniel and and some of his siblings in Mount Jerome cemetery but so far have been unable to locate any living descendants. Please contact me if you have further information.

The Napiers of Oakley Park

p. 156 In 1787, Oakley Park became the home of Colonel George Napier and his wife, the formerLady Sarah Bunbury. Located between the Conolly estate at Castletown and Lord Cloncurry’s estate at Lyons, the Georgian house was originally built in 1724, most likely by Thomas de Burgh (qv). Its first owner was Dr. Arthur Price, the Vicar of Celbridge who proposed to Jonathan Swift’s “Vanessa“. Price later became Bishop of Meath and Archbishop of Cashel. 

p. 157. Dr. Price’s steward at Oakley Park was Richard Guinness, whose son, Arthur went on to establish the Guinness Brewery. Lady Sarah was one of the beautiful Lennox girls, popularised in the book and TV series “Aristocrats” by Stella Tillyard. Her sisters included Lady Louisa Conolly of Castletown and Emily, Duchess of Leinster. (10) 

The Napiers raised eight children in this home. They clearly did something right because the sons grew to be remarkable men. Indeed, for many years afterwards, the house was known by country people as “The Eagle’s Nest,” on account of the high spirit of the Napier boys. During the 1798 Rebellion, for instance, Colonel Napier armed his five sons and instructed them all in the strategy of defence. The boys were educated at the grammar school in Celbridge. Here the eldest boy Charles organised his fellow pupils into a volunteer force and made them parade. However, his younger brother William showed such little respect for these military drills that he was tried by “a drum-head court martial” and sentenced to some sadly unknown punishment. William refused to accept the penalty and so Charles reluctantly gave the go-ahead for the other volunteers to teach the young rebel a lesson. However, “William, his fiery nature revolting against the insult, whirling a large bag of marbles like a sling discharged them amid the crowd, and then, charging, broke the obnoxious drum, and forced his most prominent assailant, greatly his superior in age and size, to single combat. Although getting far the worst of it, and badly hurt in the fight, William, still refusing to give in, was restored to the ranks by his brother for the pluck he had shown.” (11) The long term impact of these schoolyard scraps becomes somewhat more formidable when one considers that Charles, William and a third brother George went on to become three of the greatest British heroes of the Peninsula War. Indeed all three were knighted and promoted to the rank of General. After the death of Colonel George Napier the house and lands were sold to Theobold Donnelly. He changed the name from Celbridge House to Oakley Park.

An image of General Sir William Napier can be found here. He also wrote a series of volumes on the Peninsula War, I believe.

Richard Maunsell of Celbridge

On 1st June 1807, the younger Richard married Maria Woods, only daughter of John Woods of Winter Lodge, co. Dublin, and sister of George Woods, JP, of Milverton Hall, Skerries, Co. Dublin. (9) In 1813 the estate was purchased by John Maunsell for his son Richard Mark Synnot Maunsell, whose son Richard John Caswell Maunsell sold the estate in 1924 and moved to London. So only 3 generations of the family lived there for altogether 111 years. 

9. From 1831, George Woods maintained a pack of hounds to hunt both hares and foxes. In 1849, he was granted the right to hunt foxes in the area by the Louth Foxhounds.

Six Maunsells Brothers

In 1840, the Lord Chancellor was “pleased to appoint” Richard Maunsell a magistrate for County Dublin. He served as High Sheriff for Kildare in 1841 and died on 25th November 1866, leaving six sons. (12) 

John Maunsell, the 46-year-old firstborn, succeeded to Oakley Park. He also inherited an estate of some 1200 acres at Carrickoreely in Co. Limerick from his grandfather. Little is recorded of John save that he studied at Trinity College Dublin, became a barrister at Gray’s Inn in 1834, served as High Sheriff for Co. Kildare in 1868 and never married. 

p. 158 Upon his death in 1882, the property passed to his brother, George Woods Maunsell (1815-1887), previously resident of Ashford, Co. Limerick. George owned several thousand acres in Counties Dublin and Westmeath and was a barrister of prominence in Dublin, with offices at 10 Merrion Square South. He served as JP and Deputy Lieutenant for Kildare and as High Sheriff for Dublin City in 1876 and County Kildare in 1885. On 4th August 1842, he married Maria Synott (d. 1883), eldest surviving daughter and co-heiress of Mark Synnot of Monasterois House, Edenderry, Co. Offaly. (13) Two boys – Mark and George – and two girls Anne and Maria – followed. (14)

p. 159. The third of Richard and Maria’s six sons, the Rev. Richard Dixie Maunsell, succeeded to his maternal grandmothers’ home at Whitehall in Co. Dublin and was Rector of Innistonnagh, Co Tipperary. On 10th February 1859 he married Alicia Laing, daughter of Malcolm Laing, a Scotsman from the Orkney Islands who settled in Jamaica’s Spanish Town at about this time. They had nine childrenincluding Richard Maunsell, BA, MA, (1862-1929), a well-known land agent and secretary of the Irish Landowner’s Convention during a time of much anxiety to Irish landowners. Educated at St Columba’s College and Trinity College Dublin, Richard joined the Dublin firm, Stewart & Kincaird. He subsequently became agent for a number of leading Irish estates and lived at Shielmartin, Portmarnock, which was later home to William ‘The Boss’ McMullan, co-founder of Maxol. On 20 March 1929, Richard and his wife Lucie Eleanor (nee Waters) were on their way to London to meet their only son who had just returned from Egypt where he had been serving for several years with the Sudan Government Railways. Richard had a heart attack and died on the way.

p. 160. The fourth son Edward Maunsell was killed in the muddy trenches at Sebastopol on 10th July 1855 while serving as a captain with the 30th Regiment. 

The fifth son Warren Maunsell lived at Hodgestown, Co. Kildare, and was Rector of Thomastown, Co. Kildare. 

The sixth son Frances Maunsell was also a clergyman, lived at Shrule in the Queen’s County, was Rector of Symondsbury in Dorset and married Emily, another daughter of Malcolm Laing of Jamaica.

Captain Mark Maunsell

George Woods Maunsell passed away on 26th April 1887 and was succeeded by his only surviving son,Mark Maunsell. Mark was born on 22nd October 1843. At the age of 20, he married Lucy Copeland, eldest daughter of Alexander Copeland of Wingfield, Berkshire. He subsequently served as a captain with the 1st Royal Dragoons. Lucy died without issue in the winter of 1875. Two years later, Captain Maunsell married again. His new bride was Mary Caswell, only daughter and heiress of a wealthy Limerick businessman Samuel Caswell, JP, of Blackwater, co. Clare, who had died a few years previously. The Caswell and Maunsell families had been acquainted for years; Mark may have attended Samuel’s funeral. The marriage took place at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick, on 26th February 1877. “Two processional marches signalled the arrival of the bridal party. Before the ceremony the hymn “The Voice that Breathed o’er Eden” was sung. After the ceremony came Mendelssohn’s Wedding March. The newly married pair, after having received congratulations without number, and ‘wishes for happiness’ of equal extent, left for Dublin by the four o’clock train, whence they proceed on an extended Continental tour.” 

p. 161. Mary seems to have been rather a frightening woman, preferring the hunting field to life as a mother. For the next ten years, she and Mark lived at Strand House in Limerick, with occasional visits to see Mary’s mother at Blackwater. Mark retired from the army and was a JP for County Clare. In 1887 they relocated to Oakley Park. Mark was quickly appointed JP for Kildare and, from 1890 to 1892, served as High Sheriff for the county. After Mary’s death in August 1893, he was married a third time to Georgina Middleton. 

Dick Maunsell & the Orpen Connection

Captain Mark Maunsell left a daughter Norah and a son, Richard (‘Dick’) John Caswell Maunsell. The latter was born at 80 George Street, Limerick, on 2nd May 1878 and educated at Hailebury College in England and Trinity College Dublin. 

In 1905, he left Trinity and entered at the King’s Inn as a barrister. He was subsequently JP for Co. Kildare. On 24th September 1913 he married Mary Winifred (‘Molly’) Orpen, fifth daughter of Richard Orpen of Ardtully, Kilgarvan, Co. Kerry. The Orpens were a family of rising influence. Molly’s first cousin Sir William Orpen (1878 – 1931) was regarded as the most influential Irish artist of his generation. 

p. 162. His experiences of the Great War inspired him to paint to some of the most powerful images of that horrific conflict. He was knighted in 1918 and the following year was resident artist at the Paris Peace Conference. (16) Sir William’s brother Richard Orpen (1863 – 1939) was Cathedral architect for both St Patrick’s Cahedral in Dublin and St Canice’s in Kilkenny. He also served as President of the Incorporated Law Society from 1915 – 1916. Molly’s brother Dr. Raymond Orpen (1875 – 1952) spent much of his life advancing knowledge of public health in Sierra Leone, Gambia and Nigeria. Her elder sister Amy married Major John Henry Kennedy, TD, eldest son of Robert Kennedy, JP, of Baronrath, Co. Kildare. 

In January 1915, Dick secured a commission as a lieutenant in Kitchener’s army and set off for France with the Inniskilling Fusiliers. He remained with the regiment until 1919, witnessing some of the bloodiest battles of the war. In 1917 he was awarded the OBE, after which he became part of the General Staff. 

The Ireland to which Dick returned after the war was a rapidly changing society. In 1919 Irish Republicans initiated a guerrilla war against the occupying British army that culminated in the birth of the Irish Free State. Mollly Maunsell’s family home at Ardtully in Kerry was one of perhaps two hundred country homes in Ireland burned down during the Troubles. In 1924 Dick sold Oakley Park and moved with his wife and two sons to England. He died on 27th September 1955. Molly survived him until 2nd May 1974.They left two sons, Richard and John, and a daughter Aphra Maunsell who rose to a position of some prominence in the Bank of England. Aphra retired in 1974 and passed away on 21st May 2002 aged 85.

Richard Maunsell & the Phosphoric Revolution

The eldest son, Richard Mark Orpen Maunsell, was born on 15th September 1914 and, like his father, went to school at Haileybury. He later graduated from London University and went to Australia for 13 years where he worked with the chemical firm Albright & Wilson. He was subsequently transferred to Toronto, became a Canadian citizen and was sometime Director of Research for the Electric Reduction Company of Canada. In partnership with Richard Courtney Edquist, another Albright & Wilson scientist, he developed a process for the burning of phosphorus in the manufacture of phosphoric acid that has since been the basis of the manufacture of thermal phosphoric acid worldwide. He died on 2 January 2007. He married Gwendolin Minchin of Australia and had three daughters, Catherine, Elizabeth and Helena Claire Maunsell. 
The eldest daughter Catherine lives in Toronto, Ontario, and was formerly married to Alex Himelfarb, Clerk of the Privy Council, Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Public Service. Returning to Ontario in 1980, Catherine began working with the Ministry of Correctional Services and for the last 7 years has served as Manager of Female Offender Programs. She lives in Toronto with her life partner Helen McIlroy. She is grandmother to twin girls – Jesse Grace and Sam Alison Heichert. 
The second daughter Elizabeth lives in Quebec City where she is a professor of epidemiology at Universite Laval and a researcher in the area of psychosocial aspects of breast cancer. She is married to Guy Dumas, now retired but formerly the deputy minister responsible for language policy in the Quebec government. 
The younger daughter Claire had a very successful career as a glass blower as ‘H. Claire Maunsell’. married Paul Ostic and has two children, Rachel Sarah Maunsell Ostic, born 1997, and Maxwell Richard Maunsell Ostic, born 1999. 

p. 163. Richard’s younger brother John Maunsell was born on 30 April 1920 and educated at Haileybury and London University. He served as a Bomber Commander with the Royal Air Force during World War Two and later worked with Unilever. His memoirs of the war were entitled ‘No Such Thing as an Easy Ride‘ and a precy of them is online here. By his marriage to Eileen Conolly he had a daughter Susan born in 1961. In 2009, he was living in Reading. 

Nonie Maunsell

Dick Maunsell’s sister Norah – known as “Nonie”- was the last of the family to live in Ireland. Her niece Aphra Maunsell recalled her as ‘a Dublin character’ such as you will find nowhere else. She was extremely handsome with a beautiful complexion and (as I remember her best) with pretty, softly waving grey hair. She had the wit of the Irish and was a great conversationalist. She dressed in an entirely individual style which had absolutely no reference to any prevailing fashions–usually wearing large picture hats. She was invariably draped in long strings of pearls, and wore diamond rings and a cloak. She lived in Dublin at 8 Wilton Place, in a house which, to the day of her death, had only gas light. There she was surrounded by beautiful furniture, china, and Irish silver. From the time of my father’s marriage in 1913 (she had previously kept house for him at Oakley Park) she shared this flat with her great friend Miss Kathleen Hamilton, who was, in fact my godmother’. Nonie died in Dublin on August 30th 1960 and was buried in the Maunsell plot in the village of Celbridge, Co. Kildare.

St. Raphael’s

Oakley Park was purchased by the Guiney family in 1935 and then sold to the Christian Brothers. Their plans to open a school did not come to fruition and, in the 1950s, the property passed to the St John of Gods. The house now forms part of the St Raphael’s complex training centre for mentally handicapped children and young adults.

Further Reading

The Maunsell family with its numerous branches has not only found extensive coverage in various of Burke’s and other publications, but has also been in depth investigated in Robert George Maunsell’s ‘History of Maunsell or Mansel (And of Some Related Families” (1903) and in Commr Edward Phillips Statham’s and Col Charles Albert Maunsell’s 3 volume work ‘History of the Family of Maunsell (Mansell, Mansel)‘ (1917-1920).

With thanks to Josef Muether, Lois Adams, Paul Ostic, Elizabeth Maunsell, Catherine Maunsell, Anne Armstrong, Wendy Artiss, Patrick Hourigan and others.

Castle Martin, Co Kildare 

by jenjunebug

Castle Martin, Co Kildare 

Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie
Castlemartin House, County Kildare, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.

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. 72. “(Shaen Carter/IFR; Blacker, sub Blacker Douglass/LGI 1912; Pollock?LGI1958; Ruthven, Gowrie, E/PB) An early C18 U shaped house, built ca 1720 by a Dublin banker named Harrison using materials from an old Eustace castle here. Of two storeys over basement; dormered attic in roof; 9 bay breakfront front and side elevations. Doorcase in entrance front of exceptional beauty, with a scrolled pediment on console brackets, and a bolection moulding. Triangular pediment over central window in side elevation. Hall with large plaster panels, pilasters and some carvings in wood.  Sold 1730 to Capt Henry Boyle-Carter.  Used by Lt-Gen Sir Ralph Dundas as headquarters during 1798 rebellion. Sold to T.S. Blacker 1854. At some period the house was re-roofed, and lost its dormers; the interior was much altered in the 1st half of the 19C, having suffered damage 1798. The house faces along a straight lime avenue at the end of which are magnificent C18 wrought iron gates. On the death of Mrs Blacker (nee Pollok), widow of Lt-Col Frederick Blacker, of Castlemartin,  1967, Castlemartin was inherited by Mrs Blacker’s great-nephew, 2nd and present Earl of Gowrie, the politician, who sings of teh house in his poem, Easter 1969, published in A Postcard from Don Giovanni. He sold Castlemartin, which is now the home of rugby player and businessman A.J. F. O’Reilly.” 

See chapter on Thomas Carter (1694-1763), who lived in 9 Henrietta Street in Dublin as well as in Castlemartin, in The Best Address in Town, Henrietta Street, Dublin and its first Residents 1720-80 by Melanie Hayes. 

Thomas Carter (1694-1763) by Charles Jervas courtesy Adams’s Irish Old Masters November 2024
Mary Carter née Claxton by Charles Jervas courtesy Adam’s Irish Old Masters Nov 2024

Only gate lodge in national inventory. 

Sold October 2022 

Castlemartin Stud Farm, Kilcullen, Kildare  

10 beds  

10 baths  

2428m 2 

Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie
Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie
Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie

One of Ireland’s greatest estates… Situated less than thirty-five miles from Dublin, Castlemartin Stud Farm is a rare and fine example of Georgian architectural excellence with a stunning back-drop of the River Liffey and surrounding parkland. Located in County Kildare, known as the thoroughbred county, the landscape is dominated and characterised by the quality of its agricultural land, which is made up of carboniferous limestone, sand and gravel. This not only provides good drainage but the limestone helps to grow strong bone in young thoroughbreds. Castlemartin House, built in c.1720, is an early Georgian mansion.  

Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie
Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie
Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie
Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie
Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie

Consisting of some wonderful reception and entertaining rooms on the ground floor, as well as a library and several family rooms. Upstairs, there is the wonderfully appointed master suite consisting of his and hers bathrooms and a large dressing room. In addition to the master suite, there are a further 9 principal bedrooms in the main house. There is ample guest and staff accommodation on-site, with the large pool house, two cottages in the courtyard, three further staff apartments, a caretaker’s house, Brownstown Cottage and the front lodge. With two large stable yards and two farm yards; there are some 89 loose boxes, a horse walker, a lunge ring, numerous haysheds, barns and outbuildings, wintering facilities for 400 cattle, and many additional facilities that are to be expected of a stud farm of this calibre. The stud has bred and raced classic, group and listed including: Chinese White Gr.1 Pretty Polly Stakes; Gr.2 Blanford Stakes. Ectot. Gr.1 Criterium Int. Stakes. (in partnership) Helissio. Gr.1 Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe Joshua Tree. Gr1. Canadian International (twice) Lawman. Gr.1 Prix du Jockey Club; Gr.1 Prix Jean Prat Latice Gr.1 Prix de Diane; Gr.3 Prix de Conde. Lightning Pearl Gr.1 Chevely Park Stakes. Gr.3 Go & Go Round Tower Stakes Most Improved Gr.1 St. James palace Stakes. Chiquita Gr.1 Irish Oaks Silver Frost Gr.1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains.   Location information Kilcullen – Walking Distance Curragh Racecourse – 4 miles Punchestown Racecourse – 7 miles Goffs Bloodstock – 12 miles Weston Airport – 27 miles Dublin City Centre – 34 miles Dublin Airport – 38 miles Tattersalls Ireland – 40 miles 

BER Details 

BER: N/A BER No. XXX Energy Performance Indicator: XXX kWh/m²/yr 

Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie
Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie
Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie
Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie
Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie
Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie
Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie
Castlemartin, County Kildare, courtesy of myhome.ie

Bert, or De Burgh Manor, Athy, Co Kildare

by jenjunebug

Bert, Athy, Co Kildare

Bert House, or de Burgh Manor, County Kildare, courtesy Sherry FitzGerald O’Reilly.

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. 41. (Be Burgh/IFR) A gable-ended house of 1725-30, enlarged early in C19 by the addition of two storey Classical overlapping wings, of the same height as the centre block; which is of three storeys over basement with two seven bay fronts. On one front, the top storey is treated as an attic above the cornice and has blank windows. On this front, the wings are of three bays with, on the ground floor, a Wyatt window between two niches. On the other front, the wings project further and are joined by a Doric colonnade. Plasterwork ceiling in drawingroom; screen of columns in dining room. In recent years, the home of Misses Geoghegan.”

Bert House, or de Burgh Manor, County Kildare, courtesy Sherry FitzGerald O’Reilly.

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/11903403/bert-house-bert-demesne-co-kildare

Detached eleven-bay three-storey Classical-style house, c.1780, on a H-shaped plan possibly over basement comprising seven-bay three-storey recessed central block with seven-bay single-storey flat-roofed open loggia to ground floor, three-bay three-storey projecting flanking end bays, three-bay three-storey side elevation to east and seven-bay three-storey Garden Front to south having single-bay single-storey projecting glazed porch to centre and three-bay projecting flanking end bays. Hipped roofs on a H-shaped plan with slate behind parapet wall. Clay ridge tiles. Rendered chimney stacks. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Flat-roof to open loggia behind parapet with iron railings over. Materials not discerned. Nap rendered walls. Ruled and lined. Painted. Rendered dressings including channelled piers to ground floor to end bays, motifs to loggia and decorative panels to upper floors to end bays. Moulded cornice with blocking course parapet wall over. Square-headed window openings (tripartite in round-headed recessed niches to ground floor end bays). Stone sills (balustraded panels to first floor end bays). Moulded architraves (with keystones to first floor; moulded consoles and entablatures to first floor end bays). 2/2 and 6/6 timber sash windows. Square-headed door openings. Moulded keystone with coat of arms over. Replacement timber panelled double doors, c.1995. Square-headed loggia along front (north) elevation with cut-stone columns. Projecting glazed porch to centre Garden Front (south) with ogee-headed domed roof. Fixed-pane windows. Glazed double doors with overlight. Set back from road in own extensive landscaped grounds. Tarmacadam forecourt to front. Lawns to rear. 

Bert House, County Kildare, courtesy National Inventory.

Appraisal 

Bert House is a fine and large country residence that has been well-maintained to retain an early or original appearance. The front (north) and rear (south) elevations of the house are composed of long, imposing ranges of Classical proportions and Classical motifs and are a prominent landmark from the surrounding landscape. Although regular in the dispersion of openings, the front (north) elevation is much ornamented and the use of decorative render of plasterwork is especially noteworthy, being of artistic interest. This is used to add incident to the house through its application on the round-headed recessed panels to the end bays, decorative panels to the upper floors, architraves, stringcourses, and so on. The long, low, flat-roofed loggia is also a feature that is not entirely common to Ireland and is more associated with Italian architecture – at Bert it is used to enhance the entrance front and is gracefully composed of tall, slender columns. The railings over are also a pleasant feature. While the side elevation to east is similarly decorative in its treatment, the elevation to west is comparatively more utilitarian and does not boast any ornate plasterwork. The house retains most of its original external features, including the rendered decorations, multi-pane timber sash fenestration and a slate roof, and this suggests that early features of interest may also survive in the interior. The house is of social and historic significance for having provided much employment in the locality – a role it continues to fulfill at present, where the attendant stables are used for the rearing and training of horses. The house is attractively set in its own extensive landscaped grounds on a hillside overlooking the River Barrow and the Grand Canal and is a picturesque and imposing landmark in the region. 

Bert House, County Kildare, courtesy National Inventory.
Bert House, County Kildare, courtesy National Inventory.

www.deburghmanor.com 

Inside this classical Kildare mansion with two bars and 17 bedrooms 

A Kildare mansion that’s seen many romantic moments 

Classical mansion: Bert House  

Eithne Tynan  

September 15 2017 02:30 AM  

‘I know, let’s call it Bert,” one of the brothers must have said. “This house…” – sweeping his eyes over the seven-bay, three-storey edifice with its Italian-style first-floor loggia and its magnificent ornamental plasterwork – “…looks like a Bert.” 

Consider the possible conversation 300 years ago between William Burgh and his brother Thomas when they were deciding what to name William’s classical mansion which had finally been completed near Athy, Co Kildare. 

The Sitting Room, Bert House, or de Burgh Manor, County Kildare, courtesy Sherry FitzGerald O’Reilly.

Once you’ve finished building your colossal stately home, all that remains is to choose a name for it. 

You might spend months musing on the matter, or else the name might come to you in a single moment of dizzying inspiration. 

A cherub gazes down from its vantage point.  Bert House, or de Burgh Manor, County Kildare, courtesy Sherry FitzGerald O’Reilly.

The year was around 1720 (though some sources say 1709); William was the owner of the house and his brother Thomas was the architect. Thomas was also responsible for various important Dublin buildings such as the Trinity Library, Dr Steevens’ Hospital, the Royal Barracks (now Collins Barracks), and the Old Custom House, which was replaced by a Gandon-designed building later in the century. It is perhaps just as well Burgh wasn’t given responsibility for naming any of those, or we may have ended up with Trinity Library being called something like Ernie or Cedric. 

Bert House has been going by the same unassuming name since then, and in the intervening three centuries has gained even more stature and become even less unassuming itself. 

Bert House, or de Burgh Manor, County Kildare, courtesy Sherry FitzGerald O’Reilly.

One of the 17 bedrooms  

It was extended in the early 19th century to add the two side wings, and, at 24,000 sq ft, it’s the largest mansion in south Kildare. 

Much of the Bert Demesne has been hived off though. The former coaching yard has been turned into Bert House Stud, also on the market recently, and the Bert House estate itself has been reduced to six acres. Six resplendent acres they are though, hugging the banks of the River Barrow and with a stately, tree-lined avenue a kilometre long. 

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Bert House, or de Burgh Manor, County Kildare, courtesy Sherry FitzGerald O’Reilly.

It has been bought and sold many times as a family home, and in more recent years has been obliged to pay for itself as a country house hotel specialising in wedding parties. 

For that purpose, it has gone by the more grandiose name of De Burgh Manor, Bert sounding perhaps not quite chic enough for a couple bent on spending all their savings on their big day. 

Ornate plasterwork adorns the ceiling of a reception room  

It’s now on the market again for €1.5m, and is a lot of house for the money. 

The selling agents point out that it would make “an idyllic property for a large country residence”, and for a buyer who does intend to convert it back to its intended use as a family home, the biggest difficulty is likely to be shooing away prospective brides from the grounds. 

The grounds lead down to the River Barrow  

The 24,000 sq ft is spread out over three floors and a basement, and consequently the hoovering will be a Sisyphean job. Like painting the Forth Bridge, you will no sooner be finished than you’ll have to start again. 

Some reconfiguration of the layout will also be necessary. The basement, for example, has a bar, a sauna, a snooker room and a dance studio, together with various storerooms and ladies’ and gents’ changing rooms and toilets. 

There’s another bar on the ground floor, which is probably at least one bar too many for a private house. 

The ground floor is also where the best of the reception rooms are, complete with beautiful plasterwork ceilings with overseeing cherubs, original sash windows, and fine old fireplaces. These include a drawing room, a dining room, a breakfast room and kitchen, as well as a TV room and a living room. 

Then there are 17 bedrooms, all en suite, and one of them – positioned for marketing purposes as the Bridal Suite – has a bathroom with a free-standing claw-foot bath. 

The back of the property faces southwest towards the River Barrow. There’s a formal garden out here with a fountain, together with a patio and rose garden. Beyond this, there’s a lawn culminating in a flight of steps down to the riverbank. Directly in front of the house and at the end of the avenue is a forecourt for parking. 

The nearest village is Kilberry, almost at the end of the old avenue that now leads to the Bert House Stud and hence less than a kilometre away. There’s a quaint, early 19th-century church there, in the graveyard of which all the old Burghs (later known as de Burghs and distant ancestors of the singer Chris) of Bert House are buried. 

The town of Athy is about six kilometres to the south, along the course of the Barrow. There are nine or ten trains a day from Athy to Dublin, and the journey takes about an hour. Alternatively, you can get to the capital by car by joining the M7 outside Monasterevin, some 17 kilometres away. 

Bert House is for sale with Sherry FitzGerald O’Reilly in Naas, (045) 866 466, and has an asking price of €1,500,000. 

Maria De Burgh, Lady Downes (1788-1842) of Bert House, County Kildare, attributed to Adam Buck, only child and heiress of Walter Bagenal of Duckleckney and Mount Leinster Lodge, Co Carlow, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy auction.
Maria de Burgh, Lady Downes (1788-1842), only child and heiress of Walter Bagenal of Dunleckney Manor, and Mount Leinster Lodge, Killedmond, County Carlow, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy auction

Bert House 

Kilberry, Athy, Co Kildare 

Asking price: €1,500,000 

Agent: Sherry FitzGerald O’Reilly, Naas, (045) 866 466 

Used to have whole house accommodation

https://www.deburghmanor.ie

“Beautiful self catering, Georgian Manor centrally located in the hearth of Kildare in a very private setting. De Burgh Manor comprises of 15 bedrooms all ensuite. The ground floor consists of a double reception room, drawing room, dining room, bar, library , breakfast room and kitchen. Situated on c. 6 acres of grounds overlooking the River Barrow.“

The website also tells us about the history:

“De Burgh Manor was built circa 1709 [the National Inventory says it was built around 1780] by Thomas Burgh [1670-1730] of Oldtown [built ca 1709 by Thomas Burgh (1670-1730), MP, Engineer and Surveyor-General for Ireland, to his own design. The centre block was burned 1950s. A house has now been made out of one of the wings. He also designed Kildrought house, a Section 482 property] for his brother William Burgh later known as Captain William De Burgh and who became Comptroller and Auditor General for Ireland. Thomas Burgh was Barracks Overseer for Ireland from 1701 and was also responsible for [building] – the Library at Trinity College Dublin, Collins Barracks Dublin – now a museum – and Dr Steeven Hospital Dublin.

“William De Burgh was born in 1667 and had a son, Thomas, and a daughter, Elisabeth. Thomas, born in 1696, eventually became a Member of Parliament for Lanesboro, Co. Longford. Freeman of Athy Borough and Sovereign of Athy, in 1755 he married Lady Ann Downes, daughter of the Bishop of Cork & Ross. Her mother was a sister to Robert Earl of Kildare. Her brother, Robert Downes, was the last MP for Kildare in 1749 and was Sovereign of Athy.

“Thomas had two sons, William and Ulysses [Ulysses was actually the grandson of Thomas, son of another Thomas]. William born in 1741 went on to represent Athy as an MP in Parliament between 1768 and 1776. A monument to his memory by Sculptor Sir Richard Westmacott, a statue of faith, which depicts him with a book in one hand and a scroll in the other and stands in York Minster. He wrote two books on religion and faith.

“Ulysses, born in 1788 succeeded to the title of Lord Downes [2nd Baron Downes of Aghanville] on the death of his cousin William Downes who was made Lord Chief Justice in 1803 and created Lord Downes on his retirement in 1822. It was Ulysses De Burgh who presented the Town Hall Clock to Athy in 1846 and it was he who had the wings added to Bert House. [Mark Bence-Jones writes of Bert: “enlarged early in C19 by the addition of two storey Classical overlapping wings, of the same height as the centre block; which is of three storeys over basement with two seven bay fronts.”]

“Ulysses’ daughter Charlotte was the last of the De Burgh’s to call Bert House home with her husband Lt. General James Colbourne [2nd Baron Seaton of Seaton, co. Devon]. Charlotte and James came to Bert House in 1863 as Lord and Lady Seaton after the death of Lord Downes. It was sold by them in 1909 to Lady Geoghegan who then sold it onto her cousin, Major Quirke.“

Linsfort Castle (also known as Mount Paul), Inishowen, Co Donegal  

by jenjunebug

Linsfort Castle (also known as Mount Paul), Inishowen, Co Donegal  

Linsfort Castle, County Donegal, courtesy Oakland Estate Agents, UK.

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. 184. “A two storey house on an H plan built 1720 by Capt Arthur Benson. Front of five bays, recessed between one bay projections; round-headed doorway.” 

Linsfort Castle, County Donegal, courtesy Oakland Estate Agents, UK.
Linsfort Castle, County Donegal, courtesy Oakland Estate Agents, UK.

Oakland Estate Agents tell us, when it was for sale, that it is of 7 bedrooms, 4 reception rooms and 4 bathrooms:

“A delightful castle residence standing on wonderful mature gardens with patios and lawns in all extending to circa 1 acres. The property dating back to 1720 has lovely views of Lough Swilly and offers many of its original features and charm throughout.  This seven bedroom home offers a rare opportunity for those looking to acquire their very own castle. The property is located within easy striking distance of Buncrana, and the superb natural amenities of Inishowen Peninsula. There are numerous quality golf courses around the peninsula together with sailing and horse riding facilities and many golden beaches.“

Linsfort Castle, County Donegal, courtesy Oakland Estate Agents, UK.
Linsfort Castle, County Donegal, courtesy Oakland Estate Agents, UK.
Linsfort Castle, County Donegal, courtesy Oakland Estate Agents, UK.
Linsfort Castle, County Donegal, courtesy Oakland Estate Agents, UK.
Linsfort Castle, County Donegal, courtesy Oakland Estate Agents, UK.
Linsfort Castle, County Donegal, courtesy Oakland Estate Agents, UK.
Linsfort Castle, County Donegal, courtesy Oakland Estate Agents, UK.
Linsfort Castle, County Donegal, courtesy Oakland Estate Agents, UK.
Linsfort Castle, County Donegal, courtesy Oakland Estate Agents, UK.
Linsfort Castle, County Donegal, courtesy Oakland Estate Agents, UK.
Linsfort Castle, County Donegal, courtesy Oakland Estate Agents, UK.
Linsfort Castle, County Donegal, courtesy Oakland Estate Agents, UK.
Linsfort Castle, County Donegal, courtesy Oakland Estate Agents, UK.

Boomhall, County Derry 

by jenjunebug

Boomhall, County Derry 

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. 45. “(Alexander/IFR; and Caledon, E/PB; Maturin-Baird/LG1952; Cooke/IFR) The original Boom Hall belonged to Robert Alexander, elder brother of the wealthy “Nabob” James Alexander, 1st Earl of Caledon. The house was so named because of being near where the boom of Derry was placed during the Siege. James Alexander built a new house here ca 1772 to the design of Michael Priestly, soon after returning from India, and before buying the estate of Caledon, Co Tyrone, which was to become his principal seat and from which he was to take his title. 
 
The house was built with cut stone; two storeys over a basement. 
 
It has a seven-bay entrance front, with a three-bay breakfront centre. 
 
A projecting porch was added later. 
 
The garden front has a three-sided bow and side elevation of five bays. 
 
The window surrounds have blocking, even in basement;  and blocked quoins. Moderately high roof, on cornice. Large cubical central hall. Sold 1840 to Daniel Baird, through whose daughter it passed to the Maturin-Bairds. Afterwards the seat of the Cooke family.” 

http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2014/08/boom-hall.html