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. 287. “(Mannix, Bt/EDB; Cummins/IFR) A Georgian house, originally the seat of the Mannix family; leased from 1803 by the Cummins family, who were connected to the Mannix family by marriage; and who bought it later in C19. The house is believed to have been largely rebuilt by N.M. Cummins some time ante 1838 and made three storeys high having formerly been only two; if so, that top storey was subsequently removed, for the house is now only two storeys. It has a plain front of six bays, prolonged by a wing set back.”
Coolmain Castle, Kilbrittain, Co. Cork for sale June 2025 courtesy Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty.
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. 91. “(Statwell/LGI1912; Ruskell/LGI1958) A two storey seven bay gable-ended C18 house with a pedimented gable on the shore of Courtmacsherry Bay; enlarged C19 by the addition of a castellated wing with dormer-gables and surrounded by battlemented curtain walls and outworks.”
Detached multiple period country house, commenced 1792, with later additions and wings. Five-bay two-storey block with central gablet having two-bay two-storey block with pair of gables attached to north, with square-plan three- and four-stage crenellated towers to north. Single-bay single-storey crenellated porch to central block. Hipped and pitched slate roofs with rendered chimneystacks. Rubble stone crenellated parapets to towers. Rendered walls. Rubble stone walls to towers. Square-headed and pointed arch openings. Crenellated screen walls and tower to south-east. Related outbuildings to site.
Appraisal
An interesting multiple period house with individual blocks and elements that demonstrate changing architectural fashions in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The regularly proportioned Georgian house, attached wing with gables and pointed arch openings, and crenellated towers combine to create a building of much character and diversity. The related outbuildings, screen walls and tower add to its setting and context. Set overlooking to sea, it makes the most of its picturesque location.
Coolmain Castle, Kilbrittain, Co. Cork for sale June 2025 courtesy Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty €7,500,000
P72 AF85 9 beds6 baths
An extremely attractive and magical 18th-century castle gloriously positioned within private parkland that enjoys a prominent position overlooking the sea and up the estuary to Courtmacsherry Bay and just an 18-minute drive from fashionable Kinsale town. In all about 56 acres (23 Hectares). 6-receptions, 9-bedrooms, 6-bathrooms. Pastoral views over undulating countryside combine gloriously with expansive sea views to give impressive and panoramic vistas from the castle and grounds. A tree lined avenue provides a magical approach, from where a stone arch leads to an inner courtyard. Attractive stone walls providing an extremely pleasant aesthetic. The house is presented in superb condition and is simply magical, the symmetrical five-bay original Georgian house wonderfully augmented by the 19th-century castellated tower and battlemented parapet walls to create a beautifully attractive and fun house. The accommodation is well laid out and updated to readily allow comfortable living, seamlessly incorporating modern convenience whilst retaining fantastic historical character. The reception rooms are impressive with large windows and generous ceiling heights and link excellently to allow superb entertaining yet are each of a scale to be comfortable. The generous kitchen with the wonderfully large table is a great space and superbly designed to allow congenial informal gathering for family and guests. There are ample bedroom suites, and the first-floor sunroom conservatory is exceptional. The original L-Shaped Stable yard has been carefully upgraded and features a modern self-contained 3 Bedroom Caretakers residence, 3 well appointed loose boxes and an abundance of overhead lofted storage itself ripe for further conversion if desired. This Ivy-clad local cut stone finish allows the building to blend seamlessly into the castellated surroundings with a traditional stone archway highlighting its period features. The gardens and grounds are glorious. Extremely private and sheltered but with excellent sea views still afforded. A blend of formal terraces and manicured lawns within the immediate gardens into less formal gardens and the wider parkland works superbly. The use of manicured pathways throughout the parkland working extremely well to seamlessly link the gardens to the wider lands and providing highly useable walks. The outer coastal lands very much connect the estate to the sea and provide some lovely private coves and beaches. Coolmain beach is noted for its pristine powdery sand. Overall, the various component parts of the estate all combine to present a truly magical and attractive circa 56-acre estate. Coolmain Castle has a rich and magical provenance and has been home to the Disney family for the past 35-years. Purchased by Roy E. Disney, nephew of Walt Disney and vice-charman of the Walt Disney Company, in 1989 and comprehensively restored and updated Coolmain Castle has been meticulously maintained ever since. Notable owners before the Disney’s have included The Honourable Henry Boyle Bernard, Thomas Wyse, Hibernicus Scott, the novelist Donn Byrne, photographer Bob Willougby ‘the man who virtually invented the photojournalistic motion picture still’ and most recently and fittingly the Disney family. Dating to the early 18th-century a magical fusion of various additions and amendments in keeping with changing architectural fashions over the preceding centuries presents a wonderfully textured and layered architecture that combined with the gloriously coloured local stone walls and being positioned in an extremely picturesque location, set overlooking the sea, makes Coolmain Castle truly authentic and attractive. Positioned in the scenic and vibrant southwest of Ireland many thriving and bustling nearby coastal towns include popular Kinsale, a popular historic sailing town with a wide selection of fine restaurants, a deep-water harbour and the famed Old Head golf links. Walking trails, golfing and sailing amenity is in abundance. Cork city is within easy reach, just 27-miles or 44-km away and Cork International airport less than a 30-minute drive. The castle is available fully furnished and with garden tools and equipment included. Quoting Excess 7,500,000.
Accommodation
BER Details
BER: E2 BER No: 107140253 Energy Performance Indicator: 356.22 kWh/m2/yr
Castle Hyde, County Cork, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
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. 70. “(Hyde, now Sealy/IFR; Wrixon-Becher, Bt/Pb) a house built ca 1801 for John Hyde to the design of the elder Abraham Hargrave, of Cork; consisting of a centre block of three storeys over a basement and seven bays joined by straight corridors to bow-fronted pavilions, both the corridors and the pavillions being of one storey over basement. The centre block has a three bay breakfront; the entrance door and the two flaking windows are round-headed, as is the central first floor window’ all the basement windows are semi-circular, and all the windows in the front have keystones. The corridors are of three bays, divided by Ionic pilasters; and there ar three round-headed windows in the bows of the pavilions, which are curved. Large hall with screen of fluted Corinthian columns; frieze of transitional plasterwork; plaster panelling on walls. The drawing room, on one side of the hall, has a rather similar frieze. Long and wide corridors – more like galleries, lead from the hall to oval rooms in the pavilions, which are very much of their period in containing additional reception rooms rather than offices. The latter would almost invariable have been the case had the house been a few years earlier; though in some other respects it seems old-fashioned for the date, and might possibly be a rebuilding of an earlier house. But if the wings are very much of 1801, so is the splendid oval cantilevered staircase of stone with its elegant wrought-iron balustrade, which rises to the top of the house in a domed staircase hall behind the main hall. Surprisingly, one has to clim to the top of this beautiful staircase to reach teh garden, for the house stands beside the River Blackwater with its back up against a cliff. From the top of the stairs one crosses the chasm between the house and the cliff by a bridge; then, after climbing a few more steps cut in the rock one goes through a door and finds onself at the end of a brad vista between colossal beech hedges, looking towards a church tower There is an old ruied castle of the Condons rising from the cliff immediately above the house. Handsome entrance gates, with trefoil arched wickets surmounted by sphinxes and flanked by tall piers with Doric friezes. The seat of the Hydes, of which Douglas Hyde, founder of the Gaelic League and 1st President of Ireland, was a cadet. Sold in mid-C19 during the lifetime of John Hyde, son of the builder fo the house, by order of the Encumbered Estates Court. Subsequently the seat of William Wrixon-Becher, a great yachtsman, and a great hunting man who hunted for almost 60 years with almost every pack in Ireland. For many years the home of Mr and Mrs Henry Laughlin, who bought Castle Hyde btween the wars.”
The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Frank Keohane. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.
p. 27. Of mid-C18 Palladian interiors, good representative examples with panelled dados, lugged architraves, fielded panelling and chunky cornices are found at Coole Abbey House, Assolas, Cloghroe, Kilshannig, and Blackrock House. Curiously, the heavy Palladian lugged architrave remained in use in the county long after it fell out of fashion elsewhere. At Lisnabrin, Dunkathel, Burton, Rockforest and Muckridge, the form is encountered in late C18 Neoclassical interiors, suggesting an innate conservatism among local joiners. The finest joinery in most houses is reserved for the staircase, and in many cases these have survived. The best early C18 staircases, at the Red House and Annes Grove, have alternating barley-twist and columnar balusters, big Corinthian newel posts, ramped handrails and carved tread-end brackets. Mount Alvernia (Mallow), Carrigrohane and Cloghroe all have good mid-C18 staircases of a similar type; that at Lota is exceptional in its use of mahogany and for its imperial plan. Good Neoclassical staircases, geometrical in form with delicate ironwork balustrades, survive at Maryborough, Newmarket Court and Castle Hyde; the destruction of those at Vernon Mount is a particularly sad loss.
The best early plasterwork is that of the Swiss-Italian brothers Paolo and Filippo Lafranchini at Riverstown, where highly sculptural late Baroque figurative ornament is applied to the walls and ceilings of the Saloon… Filippo alone decorated two rooms at Kilshannig, blending late Baroque figures with lighter acanthus arabesques and putti. Rococo plasterwork featuring scrolling acanthus and birds comparable to the Dublin school of the 1760s is encountered in the Saloon at Castlemartyr, and at Maryborough. At Laurentium (Doneraile) and the Old College (Youghal), it is rather more hesitant. For the most part, stucco workers remain anonymous, so it is a happy circumstance that Patrick Osborne’s accomplished work at the former Mansion House at Cork is recorded. He also probably worked at Lota, as well as at Castle Hyde. Good Neoclassical plasterwork in low relief and employing small-scale classical motifs of the type made fashionable by Robert Adam and James Wyatt is found at Maryborough, at Old Court House (Rochestown), and at the Old College and Loreto College at Youghal.
Detached seven-bay three-storey over half-basement country house, built c. 1790, facing south, with shallow three-bay breakfront, four-bay side elevations whose north end bays project slightly, seven-bay rear elevation, and three-bay single-storey over half-basement wings terminating in higher single-storey over half-basement pavilions having three-bay bowed front elevations and four-bay side elevations, middle bays of latter projecting slightly. Skirt slate roofs to main block and to pavilions, with cut limestone chimneystacks and moulded limestone cornices and eaves courses. Glazed dome over staircase. Painted rendered walls throughout, with cut limestone quoins to corners of façade and to north bay of side elevations, with pilaster quoins to breakfront. Cut limestone platband between ground and first floors and moulded string course between first and second floors. Carved limestone Ionic-style pilasters flanking openings to ground floor of wings. Cut limestone string course between basement and ground floor of wings and pavilions. Square-headed window openings throughout, with timber sliding sash windows, having cut limestone sills. Blind window openings to south bays of east side elevation. Cut limestone keystones to window openings to front and side elevations. Main block has three-over-three pane windows to second floor, six-over-six pane to first floor, and six-over-nine pane to ground floor. Windows to breakfront have cut limestone surrounds, carved triple-keystones, and sills, with round-headed openings to ground floor and middle bay of first floor having Doric-style pilasters and fanlights. Diocletian windows to basement of main block, with cut limestone surrounds, keystones and sills, blind to side elevation and with fixed windows to front elevation. Elliptical-headed windows to middle bay of side elevations, four-over-eight pane to second floor with cobweb fanlights and eight-over-eight pane to first floor with cobweb and spoked fanlights. Tripartite window to north end bay of ground floor of west side elevation with carved sandstone surround having engaged Ionic-style columns flanking six-over-nine pane lights, with moulded cornice and fluted console brackets to cut-stone sill. Rear elevation of main block has elliptical-headed windows to end bays and square-headed elsewhere, with six-over-six pane windows, and with some six-over-three pane windows to second floor. Decorative cast-iron bridge to rear elevation leading to square-headed timber panelled double-leaf door, other end leading to flight of cut limestone steps. Recessed round-headed window openings to first floor of pavilion bows, having six-over-nine pane windows with spoked fanlights, square-headed elsewhere, with four-over-four pane windows to basement and six-over-nine pane windows to side elevations, some blind window openings to latter. Round-headed main entrance opening having carved limestone surround having pilasters with plinths and moulded capitals, moulded archivolt with triple-keystone and having carved heraldic device and vegetal decoration to tympanum, moulded cornice and timber panelled double-leaf doors, approached by flight of moulded limestone steps having landings to each side with diocletian windows to basement underneath and having cast-iron railings above and to steps, landings having panelled cut limestone piers. Flights of cut limestone steps to doorways to wings and to north-west corner of west pavilion, latter leading to terrace, and wing steps being moulded, all having cast-iron railings. Square-headed doorways to wings having overlights and timber panelled doors. Elliptical-arched vehicular gateway to east, leading to rear of house and having plinths, cut limestone voussoirs, impost course, jambs and coping.
Appraisal
Castle Hyde was built for the Hyde family to the design of the architect Davis Duckart. The architect Abraham Hargreave c. 1800 was employed to enlarge the house; the wings and staircase possibly date from this period. Castle Hyde is similar in design to Cregg House, located in the adjoining townland. Castle Hyde, however, is larger and grander in scale and treatment. Whilst Castle Hyde is characteristic in form of late eighteenth century country houses built in the classical style, it is distinguished by the ornate limestone dressings such as the Ionic style pilasters and tripartite window to the wings. The symmetrical proportions of the façade are articulated by the finely cut limestone quoins, which also add decorative interest to the front elevation. The ornate raised entrance constitutes the focal point of the house; the door surround and heraldic motifs are particularly finely carved. The well-proportioned façade has a piano nobile level raised above the basement, which was a favourite device of eighteenth century Irish architecture. The basement windows are notable for their Diocletian form and cut limestone dressings. The house has an unusual cast-iron bridge to the rear, which leads to walled gardens to the north. The walled gardens retain much of their form and features including carriage arch, dovecote and brick courses. The site retains many demesne related structures such as the walled gardens, grotto, outbuildings and lodges, which provides valuable context.
Complex of two-storey outbuildings, mainly stable-blocks, built c. 1810, for Castle Hyde, comprising square-plan yard with ranges to all sides, having central archways to north and south, latter accessed along street formed by south-west and south-east outbuildings running at right angles to courtyard. All have slate roofs and rubble stone walls. Former steward’s house forms south end of west range. Thirteen-bay north range has exposed stone walls, slight breakfront with gabled single-storey porch to front, rendered pediment with moulded limestone surround, clock-face and having recent louvered timber lantern with weather-vane. Blind elliptical-arched opening to upper level of breakfront with rubble voussoirs and elliptical archway to porch. Slate-roofed lean-to to whole length of range to each side of porch, supported on braced timber posts. Camber-arched window openings with rubble voussoirs and three-over-three pane timber sliding sash windows. Ten-bay east range has roughcast rendered walls, blocked elliptical-headed archways to ground floor and camber-headed three-over-three-pane windows to first floor. Eleven-bay south range has gabled breakfront to courtyard elevation with recent elliptical carriage archway and exposed rubble stone walls, roughcast rendered elsewhere, square-headed three-over-three pane timber sliding sash windows to first floor and altered openings to ground floor with glazed timber doors. External side of archway has roughcast rendered walls, dressed limestone voussoirs, pediment with moulded limestone surround, oculus with timber window, and double-leaf cast-iron gate. West range, thirteen bay externally, formerly used as hotel and comprises seven-bay former outbuilding to north end and multiple-bay rear elevation of former steward’s house to south. North block has recent single-storey hipped slate-roofed addition to four northern bays and recent gabled porch to next bay south, recent brick chimneystack, exposed stone walls except for roughcast rendered south gable, with eaves course, camber-headed three-over-three pane timber sliding sash windows with rubble voussoirs and elliptical-arched openings to ground floor of additions and southmost bay, with glazed timber fittings. West elevation of north block has six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows and recent three-bay single-storey flat-roofed addition to west. Former steward’s house has brick chimneystacks with string courses and stepped copings, coursed rubble sandstone walls, square-headed window openings with six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows having brick surrounds and some limestone sills, round-headed door opening with fanlight, timber panelled door and flight of moulded limestone steps with replacement metal railings. Large limestone trough and overflow, and cast-iron water pump, to centre of courtyard. Four-bay, two-storey south-west and south-east buildings, being pairs of workers’ houses, having chamfered corners to street corners with wheel guards, hipped slate roofs, brick chimneystacks, exposed snecked squared rubble stone walls, partly roughcast rendered, with cut-stone quoins, moulded limestone eaves courses, cut-stone voussoirs and sills. Square-headed window and door openings, having three-over-three pane timber sliding sash windows to first floor and six-over-six pane to ground floor, and timber battened doors with paned overlights. Semi-circular limestone arch detail between middle bays. Other stone-walled outbuildings to east and north, with square-profile rubble sandstone piers to road entrance to north, having cut-stone caps.
Appraisal
The Georgian stables of Castle Hyde are a fine example of planned farm buildings, complete with steward’s house. The stables comprise a well-proportioned walled square with perpendicular ranges to the entrance range of the stables proper. High quality materials are used in the dressings of the stables such as the limestone surrounds to the oculus and pediments. The entrance ranges are distinguished from the side ranges, which housed the stables, animal houses and accommodation for farm workers, by means of the pedimented breakfronts. This is a characteristic device of late eighteenth, early nineteenth-century planned farm buildings in Ireland. The complex represents an interesting group of demesne-related structures.
Ashlar limestone gateway to Castle Hyde House, built c. 1830, comprising vehicular gateway and flanking arched pedestrian entrances. Square-profile piers having moulded plinths and entablature with triglyphs, metopes, bucrania and roundel motifs. Pedestrian entrances have moulded coping courses, trefoil-arched openings with hood-mouldings, having moulded panels above, with sphinxes to parapets. Entrance openings flanked by pilasters with moulded capitals. Gateway flanked by curving rubble limestone walling and terminating in second pair of square-profile ashlar limestone piers. Replacement decorative wrought-iron gates. Piers recently resituated back from road. Detached three-bay single-storey gate lodge, built c. 2000, inside gates.
Appraisal
These ornate gates form one of the entrances to Castle Hyde House. The gateway is notable for its design which incorporates both classical and Gothic elements. The piers are enlivened by the finely sculpted bucrania, roundel motifs and triglyphs which serve as a reminder of the skill of local stone masons and sculptors available in Ireland at the time of construction. The gateway provides important context to the locality and forms an attractive roadside feature.
Entrance gateway from north, to Castle Hyde, erected c. 1830, comprising square-profile ashlar limestone inner and outer piers, with moulded plinths, string courses and moulded caps, and with decorative double-leaf wrought-iron gates. Lower inner piers have acorn finials and outer piers have eagles. Dressed limestone and sandstone sweeping walls between piers, with limestone copings.
Appraisal
These imposing and ornate gates form the northern entrance to Castle Hyde House. They are well designed and solidly constructed and form a strong focal point. The varied finials provide eyecatching decorative detail and the stonework is indicative of high quality craftsmanship.
A late 18th century house, which was the home of the Hyde family. In 1786 Wilson describes it as “a beautiful house, magnificent demesne, highly cultivated, the seat of Arthur Hyde”. At the time of the sale of Castle Hyde in 1851 the house was occupied by Spencer Cosby Price, the brother-in-law of John Hyde. The house was valued at £115. Castle Hyde was bought by John Sadleir MP in trust [for Vincent Scully]. Major Chichester was the tenant from year to year in 1861. John Wrixon Becher, second son of Sir William Wrixon Becher of Ballygiblin, county Cork, subsequently lived at Castle Hyde. in the 1870s John R. Wrixon of Castle Hyde is recorded as the owner of 1,263 acres in county Cork. He was resident in 1906 when the buildings were valued at £96. The Irish Tourist Association Survey of 1942 indicated that the house was then “occupied by the military”. Castle Hyde is now the home of dancer, Michael Flatley.
THE WRIXON-BECHER BARONETS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY CORK, WITH 18,933 ACRES
The BECHERS settled in County Cork in the reign of ELIZABETH I.
The family has a pedigree in its possession tracing their ancestors in that line to Sir Eustace D’Abrichecourt, who came from Hainault with Philippa, consort of EDWARD III, in 1328.
HENRY WRIXON, of Assolas, County Cork, married Anna, daughter of William Mansfield; and dying in 1794, left a daughter (Mary, who wedded William, Viscount Ennismore) and a son and heir,
WILLIAM WRIXON (1756-1847), of Cecilstown, County Cork, who espoused Mary, daughter of John Townsend Becher, of Annisgrove, and sister and heir of Henry Becher, of Creagh, both in County Cork, and had issue,
WILLIAM, his heir;
John;
Nicholas, in holy orders;
Mary Anne; Jane; Georgiana.
Mr Wrixon was succeeded by his eldest son,
WILLIAM WRIXON (1780-1850), of Ballygiblin, MP for Mallow, 1818-26, who assumed the additional surname of BECHER, and married, in 1819, Elizabeth O’Neill, the very celebrated actress, and had issue,
HENRY, his heir;
John;
William;
Mary; Elizabeth.
Mr Wrixon-Becher was created a baronet in 1831, denominated of Ballygiblin, County Cork.
Sir William was succeeded by his eldest son,
SIR HENRY WRIXON-BECHER, 2nd Baronet (1826-93), DL, who wedded, in 1878, Florence Elizabeth, daughter of Frederick John Walker; though died without issue, and was succeeded by his brother,
SIR JOHN WRIXON-BECHER, 3rd Baronet (1828-1914), JP DL, High Sheriff of County Cork, 1867, who espoused, in 1857, the Lady Emily Catherine Hare, daughter of William, 2nd Earl of Listowel, and had issue,
EUSTACE WILLIAM WYNDHAM, his successor; Edgar; Henry; Arthur Nicholas; Charles Edward; Alice Elizabeth; Victoria Emily; Mary; Cecil Eleanor; Barbara Elizabeth; Adelaide Maud; Georgina Victoria; Hilda Mary.
Sir John was succeeded by his eldest son,
SIR EUSTACE WILLIAM WYNDHAM WRIXON-BECHER, 4th Baronet (1859-1934), DL, High Sheriff of County Cork, 1859, who married, in 1907, Constance, daughter of Augustus, 6th Baron Calthorpe, and had issue,
WILLIAM FANE, his successor; Muriel Mary; Aileen; Shiela; Rosemary.
Sir Eustace was succeeded by his son,
SIR WILLIAM FANE WRIXON-BECHER, 5th Baronet (1915-2000), MC, who wedded firstly, in 1946, Ursula Vanda Maud, daughter of George, 4th Baron Vivian, and had issue,
JOHN WILLIAM MICHAEL, his successor; Susannah Elizabeth.
He wedded secondly, in 1960, Yvonne Margaret, daughter of Arthur Stuart Johnson.
Sir William was succeeded by his son,
SIR JOHN WILLIAM MICHAEL WRIXON-BECHER, 6th Baronet, born in 1950.
CASTLE HYDE, near Fermoy, County Cork, was built about 1801 for John Hyde MP.
The architect was Hargrave of Cork.
It comprises a central block of three storeys over a basement and seven bays, joined by straight corridors to bow-fronted pavilions on either side (of one storey over a basement).
The centre block has a three-bay breakfront.
The corridors are of three bays each, with dividing Ionic pilasters.
The pavilions have round-headed windows.
The interior boasts a large hall with a screen of fluted Corinthian columns; a frieze of transitional plasterwork, and plaster panelling on the walls.
The stone staircase is magnificent, being oval and cantilevered, with an exquisite wrought-iron balustrade which ascends to the top of the house in the domed staircase hall, which is behind the principal hall.
Castle Hyde is situated behind the River Blackwater, directly against a cliff, where there is an ancient ruined castle.
The entrance gates are no less impressive to visitors, with their trefoil-arched wickets surmounted by sphinxes, flanked by lofty piers with Doric friezes.
*****
In the early 1850s John Hyde’s estate was located in the baronies of Fermoy, Condons and Clangibbon, and Barrymore, county Cork and Ardmayle and Holycross, barony of Middlethird, county Tipperary.
The first division (over 11,600 acres) of the estates of John Hyde, comprising the manor, town and lands of Castle Hyde with other lands, was advertised for sale in December, 1851.
Printed papers accompanying this rental in the Irish National Archives refer to the history of the Hyde family and the surprise at the sale of their estates which is ”attributed to mismanagement of the estates by agents rather than to any faults on the part of the possessors”.
There is also a newspaper cutting listing the purchasers of the various lots: John Sadleir MP bought Castle Hyde in trust for £17,525.
In 1861 Castle Hyde was for sale again, the estate of John W. Burmester, William Corry and James Andrew Durham (bankers).
Douglas Hyde, founder of the Gaelic League and first Irish President, was a scion of this family.
Castle Hyde subsequently became the seat of William Wrixon-Becher, a great yachtsman and, indeed a hunting man who hunted for sixty years with most packs in Ireland. . [Bence-Jones: For many years the home of Mr and Mrs Henry Laughlin, who bought Castle Hyde between the wars]
In 2003, the Irish Sunday Independent newspaper reported that:-
Costing a staggering €30m, Castlehyde House now boasts 14 lavish bedrooms, an entire first-floor suite for Flatley and his partner, Lisa Murphy, two climate-controlled wine cellars, a Roman spa, a 20-seat private cinema, an African safari room, a Jameson-designed whiskey room, a three-storey 3,000-volume library, a music room, a gym and various reception rooms, not to mention a reinforced steel, eight-bay garage for the star’s collection of Ferraris, BMWs and Rolls-Royce cars.
Incredibly, that €30m price-tag does not include the collection of artwork, antiques and collectibles that Michael Flatley is now hoarding for his private palace.
As if that isn’t enough to impress, consider the fact that Castlehyde’s red-wine cellar will, thanks to the star’s collection of fine Bordeaux labels, become the most valuable collection in the country.
The three-storey library – topped with a meticulously painted ceiling mural and American walnut shelves – will house 3,000 volumes and, at the dancer’s insistence, will boast first editions and signed copies of the most famous works of Irish literature.
“Michael loves Joyce’s Ulysses so we have private buyers now searching out suitable works for the collection,” architect Peter Inston explained.
Incredibly, just four years ago this famous mansion – built in 1760 and extended in 1800 – was falling apart with flood damage to its basement and roof. Its foundations were subsiding due to over 100 years of flood damage and its main walls were leaning outwards by over ten inches at their outer peaks.
“To be honest, it would have been easier to demolish the house,” explained David Higgins, co-owner with his wife, Monica, of Cornerstone Construction, the family firm entrusted with turning Flatley’s dream into reality.
But, with the Riverdance and Lord of the Dancestar determined to retain the mansion’s original character, a painful and laborious process of restoring and rebuilding was launched.
“Just to put it in context, every window in this house has been restored from the original. It cost over €500,000. But if we had torn them out and put in cheaper PVC windows, it would have cost less than €250,000,” he explained.
Hailed by Flatley as “my dream home”, the four-storey River Blackwater mansion will now be formally completed in October when the Chicago-born dancer is scheduled to move in.
Flatley’s friend and world-renowned architect, Peter Inston, admitted he has never handled a project of such magnificence in 20 years of work for the world’s rich and famous.
“I’VE worked for the King of Qatar and other royals but I’ve never seen anyone take such a hands-on interest in restoring a property as Michael has,” Inston told the Sunday Independent. Peter stressed that, in his opinion, Castlehyde House would be regarded as the finest restoration project in Ireland and, quite probably Europe, for decades to come.
“The point is that everything in this house is original. We’ve saved absolutely everything we could. We’ve repaired and restored the original floors, windows, ceilings and slates. In the basement, we even stripped out the original bricks, numbered them, repaired the flood damage and then replaced the bricks exactly as they were,” he added.
Castlehyde Estate caretaker and local historian Pat Bartley admitted that the house is now back to its 18th-century splendour, when it was one of the most famous features on Ireland’s aristocratic ‘social circuit’. ”This house is a treasure and only Michael could have ensured that it was restored the way it is,” Bartley explained.
Castlehyde’s location is a suitable setting for such a project – the River Blackwater was, for a time, known as “the Irish Rhine” thanks to its plethora of great houses and castles.
Landscaping is now under-way on the rolling parkland which sweeps in front of Castlehyde House down to the banks of the river. But if the location of the house is spectacular – with the river providing its frontage and, to the rear, a sheer cliff-face topped by the ruin of a 13th-century Condon Castle – entering the mansion literally takes the breath away.
“This house was restored to bring it back to its former glory,” Peter Inston explained. “But we restored it so that it could once again be lived in and enjoyed. This isn’t going to be a museum. It’s a family home.”
Castlehyde’s most famous features are its collection of 18th-century fireplaces – regarded as priceless – as well as its stone cantilever staircase which is widely acknowledged as the finest in Ireland. But guests arriving for one of Flatley’s future parties will savour not only an 18th-century mansion but a palace equipped with every conceivable 21st-century mod-con.
The entrance hall is now equipped with an electric, conveyor-belt operated coat rack. All coat-rooms are climate-controlled. The main ground-floor hallways can also have their doors opened so that, in one giant room stretching the entire length of the house, guests can dine at a single long table a la royalty.
All the original plaster cornices and murals are being restored with specialist gilt-work by British artists including Keith Ferdinand and Tony Raymond, both of whom have worked on numerous Royal palaces.
The music room – fully sound-proofed and with spectacular views over the Blackwater valley – is equipped with a Steinway grand piano, a concert harp and Flatley’s valuable collection of flutes. Every chimney in the house has been relined – and all the marble fireplaces, many of which were in poor repair, have been restored and can be used.
The entire first floor is Flatley’s personal suite – complete with a butler’s chamber, an Italian-style bedroom with four-poster bed and hand-crafted silk hangings.
Off the bedroom are matching ‘his’ and ‘hers’ bathrooms and dressing rooms – with the 18th-century baths raised on a special dais so that bathers can enjoy full views of the river.
A complete wardrobe can be stored in the changing room – and altered, with the season, with clothing in a basement storage room.
Off the first-floor hallway, the dancer can savour direct access to his stunning library.
The books will be stored on hand-carved American walnut shelves with special display cases for the more valuable volumes.
Upstairs lie the guest bedrooms. Each is decorated to a theme reflecting Flatley’s interests or the house’s own heritage. Themes include the China room, the American Presidents room, the French room, the Napoleon room, the Venetian room and the Beecher-Wrixon room, complete with a nautical theme to reflect the yachting exploits of the family that formerly owned Castlehyde.
Each bedroom has its own specially-designed wallpaper or hangings – each is also complete with its own marble bathroom.
The entire house boasts a centralised, computer-controlled audio-visual system offering satelliteTV to all rooms as well as a selection of classic and popular music.
But it’s in the basement that Castlehyde’s lavish decadence truly comes to the fore.
The African Safari room has canvass-lined walls to given an authentic feel to anyone wishing to feel ‘Out of Africa’ while playing billiards, drinking whiskey or smoking the stock of fine Cuban cigars.
Down the corridor lies the Jameson-designed whiskey room – complete with four giant casks of Irish whiskey and cabinets lined with rare malts and distillations.
Nearby is the 20-seat private cinema complete with 20-foot screen and bar. There is also American pop-corn and Coca-Cola machines. In minutes, the cinema can also be transformed into a private audition room for rehearsals or dance preparations.
THERE are two wine cellars – one for red and white – with a special climate control system. Red wines will be stored by the case – Michael Flatley’s collection, includes fine Chateau Latoursand Margaux.
Those opting for fitness over indulgence will be catered for at Castlehyde’s own Roman spa – which includes a massage room with heated-floor, a relaxation room, steam room, sauna, salt-water flotation tank, showers, mechanical massage room, hair-salon and a state-of-the-art gym.
Guests who arrive with children needn’t be too concerned – there is a special children’s dormitory complete with plasma TV screen and computer games.
Staff are also catered for with a laundry room, fully-fitted kitchens and a butler’s room.
Because the basement is located at the foot of the cliffs and was prone to flooding, exacerbated by the nearby river, the entire sub-structure had to be water-proofed. That water-proofing programme alone cost almost 25 per cent of the original purchase price of the house.
“I don’t think any private individual has ever undertaken a restoration project of this scale or cost,” Peter Inston admitted.
Even the grounds are being restored at lavish expense – Castlehyde’s famous stone gateway is being repaired while the caretaker and lodge-keepers homes are also being restored.
As if all that wasn’t enough, consider the eight-bay garage.
Because it is located near Castlehyde’s cliffs, it was decided to build it of reinforced steel complete with a toughened concrete roof – to protect the priceless vehicles housed inside.
The centrepiece of these will be Michael’s new Rolls-Royce Phantom – which, at 20 feet in length, forced the garage to be redesigned.
Also stored will be the dancer’s sports cars, a Ferrari and BMW roadster, as well as a pre-1904 vintage car he is currently negotiating to buy.
And the star needn’t worry too much about taking them onto North Cork roads because his estate will also boast one-and-a-half miles of resurfaced roadways for private jaunts.
Paddy Rossmore. Photographs. Edited by Robert O’Byrne. The Lilliput Press, Dublin 7, 2019.
“The remains of a large castle, originally called Cariganedy, stands perched on cliffs above the Blackwater, its site clearly chosen because it offered an excellent vantage up and down the river. Some old accounts say that it was built by the Condons, others that it was built by the Mahonys. Whichever is true, in the second half of the sixteenth century the property passed into the possession of Sir Arthur Hyde, granted some six-thousandacres in this area by Elizabeth I following the attainder of the Earl of Desmond.
The old castle, and it inhabitants, suffered during the Confederate Wars of the 1640s so it is not surprising that a new residence was constructed soon afterwards, this in turn replaced by the core of the present building at some date during the second half of the eighteenth century: it has been proposed that the central block was designed by the Sardinian architect-engineer Davis Ducart, who may have been of Italian origin. In 1786 William Wilson’s The Post-Chaise Companion or Travellers Directory Through Ireland described Castle Hyde as “a beautiful house, magnificent demesne, highly cultivated, the seat of Arthur Hyde.” Another account of 1825 notes the building as being “recently greatly enlarged and improved.” This work is likely to have begun at the start of the nineteenth century to the designs of Cork architect Abraham Hargrave: it would appear he was responsible for the additions to the rear and also the wings, giving Castle Hyde’s facade a curiously old-fashioned Palladian appearance.
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. 51. “(Morrough-Bernard /IRF; Preece, sub Farquhar, Bt/PB) A three storey bow ended house which appears to have been built ca 1793 by Robert Fennell Crone…In recent years the home of Mr and Mrs J.R. Preece; and then of Mr and Mrs Terence Millin. Now demolished.”
Robert Fennell Crone (1758-1812), was son of John Crone (1725-1790).
John Crone (1722 – 1790), Byblox, Doneraile, Co. Cork, son of Daniel Crone & his wife Alpha, nee Johnson. He married Frances Fennell, and was father of Alpha, wife of Col. William Odell (1752-1831). Courtesy Fonsie Mealy July 2018.
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
“A large plain three storey late 18C house. In 1814 the seat of John Crone. Demolished.”
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. 4. “A square two storey house of 1797, five bay front, fanlighted tripartite doorway with Composite columns; four bay side. Balustraded roof. Very delicate plasterwork in the style of Patrick Osborne in the hall. Later plasterwork in other rooms. In later C19, a residence of the Sweetman family.”
Annaghs Castle, Co Kilkenny courtesy National Inventory.
Detached five-bay (four-bay deep) two-storey over basement country house with dormer attic, built 1797-1801, on a rectangular plan; six-bay two-storey rear (south) elevation. Burnt, 1867. Vacant, 1901. Leased, 1911. Sold, 1962. Reroofed, —-, producing present composition. Replacement Mansard slate roof behind parapet with paired granite ashlar chimney stacks on axis with ridge having “Cyma Recta”- or “Cyma Reversa”-detailed stringcourses below capping supporting terracotta pots, and concealed rainwater goods. Granite ashlar walls on moulded cushion course on granite ashlar base with dentilated “Cyma Recta”- or “Cyma Reversa”-detailed cornice on blind frieze on entablature below balustraded parapet. Segmental-headed central door opening in tripartite arrangement approached by flight of four cut-granite steps supporting cast-iron bootscrapers, doorcase with three quarter-engaged Composite columns on plinths supporting dentilated “Cyma Recta”- or “Cyma Reversa”-detailed cornice on rosette-detailed frieze framing timber panelled double doors having sidelights below fanlight. Square-headed window openings to front (north) elevation with cut-granite sill course (ground floor) or cut-granite sills (first floor), and cut-granite lintels framing one-over-one (ground floor) or two-over-two (first floor) timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings (remainder) with cut-granite sills, and cut-granite lintels framing three-over-six (basement), one-over-one (ground floor) or two-over-two (first floor) timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): central hall retaining carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors, and plasterwork cornice to ceiling; and carved timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers. Set in landscaped grounds with rendered piers to perimeter having pyramidal capping supporting wrought iron double gates.
Appraisal
A country house representing an important component of the domestic built heritage of County Kilkenny with the architectural value of the composition, one erected for Edward Murphy (b. 1747) ‘[who] has made a residence which ornaments the country [with] three sides faced with Portland stone [sic]’ (Tighe 1802, 588), confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on scenic vistas overlooking the broad River Barrow with the medieval Annaghs Castle [SMR KK041-014001-] as a picturesque eye-catcher in the foreground; the compact rectilinear plan form centred on a Classically-detailed doorcase showing a simplified “peacock tail” fanlight; the construction in a silver-grey granite demonstrating good quality workmanship; the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression; and the balustraded roof: meanwhile, aspects of the composition clearly illustrate the near-total reconstruction of the country house to designs by Charles Geoghegan (1820-1908) of Great Brunswick Street [Pearse Street], Dublin (Dublin Builder 1st January 1866, 12). Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior where contemporary joinery; chimneypieces; and decorative plasterwork enrichments recalling the work of Patrick Osborne (fl. 1760s-1770s); all highlight the artistic potential of the composition. Furthermore, adjacent outbuildings (—-); and the remnants of a walled garden (—-), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of an estate having historic connections with Walter Sweetman JP MRIA (1798-1882) ‘late of Mountjoy-square Dublin and Castle Annagh [sic] County Wexford [sic]’ (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1882, 726); and James Edward Nugent (1831-1922) of Donore House in County Westmeath (NA 1901; NA 1911).
Annaghs Castle, Co Kilkenny courtesy National Inventory.Annaghs Castle, Co Kilkenny courtesy National Inventory.Annaghs Castle, Co Kilkenny courtesy National Inventory.
ALL THE big bidders were farmers when a country estate valued at €16 million just a year ago was sold yesterday for €6.075 million – a 75 per cent drop from the original asking price.
The 550-acre Castle Annaghs estate in south Co Kilkenny was bought at public auction by Liam Sheily, a west Cork dairy farmer.
Bidders flocked to the sale at the Mount Brandon Hotel in New Ross, after the owner reduced the guide price by €8.5 million to an “advised minimum value” of just €7.5 million. However that figure was not reached.
Auctioneer Anne Carton, of the firm PN O’Gorman, interrupted the auction twice to consult the seller by telephone.
She later confirmed that “all the bidders were Irish farmers which is great for the land market and proves that there’s still a future in farming”.
Ms Carton described the estate as “a magnificent 10,000sq ft Georgian house on 550 acres of top quality agricultural land with two miles of river Barrow frontage and the ruins of a 16th century castle.” The new owner will also inherit a milk quota of 174,000 gallons.
The sale price includes a three-bedroom gate lodge, a three-bedroom steward’s house and a four-bedroom grooms’ house.
Speaking to The Irish Times immediately after the sale, the successful bidder Mr Sheily said “it was a big price for it”.
A Tipperary farmer had opened the bidding with an offer of €3 million and the price crept up during a grindingly slow sale.
The estate was sold by Catanga, a Lichtenstein-registered company owned by a wealthy German family, the Jebens, who live in Hamburg.
They bought the property for £60,000 in 1962.
The estate was initially up for sale by tender in spring last year with a price tag of €16 million.
Annaghs Castle; Ruins. Medieval tower house on the banks of the River Barrow. Samuel Grubb (1645-1696), son of John Grubb and Mary Towers, who married Rebecca Thrasher, daughter of William Thrasher lived at Annaghs Castle. Patrick Garvey had a descendant named John Garvey who moved to Annaghs Castle, Co. Kilkenny in about 1730. Legend has it that the site of Annaghs Castle was where Strongbow married Eva McMurrough in the first days of the Norman invasion).
This website also has:
Annaghs House rebuilt in the mid nineteenth century to designs by Charles Geoghegan(1820-1908) following a fire in 1867: superseding a medieval Butler castle the house represents the continuation of a long-standing occupation of the grounds.
And
Castle Annaghs Estate, Georgian house, a Gate Lodge, Stewards House, Grooms House and a historic 16th century tower, believed to be where Strongbow, the second Earl of Pembroke, wed Aoife, is located two miles south of New Ross and its boundary is defined on two sides by the River Barrow. The property is also linked to the Wexford rebel, Fr John Murphy, who stayed there the night before the Battle of Ross in 1798. In 2007 An Bord Pleanala refused planning permission for a multi-million Euro development, comprising of a hotel, 83 apartments, an 18 hole golf course, a nursing home and 63 houses.
The sale of Castle Annaghs Estate, Co Kilkenny, for the second time in 12 months could prove the proverbial ill wind for the lucky buyer.
Since the sale, by tender of the 550ac estate with Georgian residence, fell through, a massive €8.5m has been knocked off its advised minimum value.
The selling agents, PN O’Gorman Auctioneers are now quoting a guide of €7.5m ahead of the May 29 auction.
Castle Annaghs Estate, believed to be where Strongbow, the second Earl of Pembroke, wed Aoife, is located two miles south of New Ross and its boundary is defined on two sides by the River Barrow. The sale includes the magnificent residence (around 10,000sqft), a 165,000ga quota, stable yard, milking parlour, cattle sheds and silage layouts, gate lodge, steward’s house, groom’s house and the historic 16th century tower.
The property is also linked to the Wexford rebel, Fr John Murphy, who stayed there the night before the Battle of Ross in 1798.
The highly productive fertile Clonroche soil has the capacity to sustain high farm productivity under grassland or tillage management. This includes drained marshland that has been fully integrated into the farm. Most of its 450ac of grassland has been reseeded in the past five years and all fields have a water supply. Currently, there are also around 60ac of maize and a further 30ac of barley for whole crop cereal silage.
Facilities include a 20-unit Alpha/Laval parlour with milk meters and cluster removers (installed in 1996) and a new 16,000 Alpha Milk Tank. There is cubicle housing for 250 cows, including replacements and slatted sheds with the capacity for 150 cattle. Additionally, a calving facility with six boxes and a 35-cow maternity ward, housing for up to 200 calves, a large silage layout all with concrete floors and a slurry storage capacity that meets current national regulation requirements are also included.
The Annaghs Farm has a milk quota of 750,955 litres (165,187ga). The dairy herd of 165 cows is based on commercial British Friesian cows with an average annual yield of just over 5220 litres (1150ga). The herd breeding programme has introduced about 30pc Holstein.
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. 4. “(Fox/LGI1912) A house with fine neo-Classical bifurcating staircase. Much altered externally.”
Annaghmore House, County Offaly, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Detached country house, built in 1790, with pedimented three-bay two-storey front with porch and terminating full-height bows added c.1820. Eight-bay two-storey mews, c.1800, to rear. Set within its own grounds. Roof hidden by rendered parapet. Rendered chimneystacks with terracotta pots. Pitched slate roof to mews. Ruled-and-lined rendered walls with plinth, continuous sill courses to first floor, cornice and strip pilasters between bays. Roughcast render to mews walls. uPVC replacement windows to front elevation with timber mullions and transoms, tooled stone surround and sills. Bracketed cornices to ground floor windows. Timber sash windows to sides and rear with tolled stone surrounds. Limestone block-and-start surrounds to mews windows with wrought-iron bars. Ashlar porch to front with double timber doors and limestone steps. Stable yard to rear accessed through segmental-headed carriage arch set in pedimented ashlar surround with oculus and bellcote. Timber battened doors. Multiple-bay two-storey ranges set around tow courtyards incorporating mews. Block-and-start surrounds to windows and doors. Segmental-headed carriage arches with dressed limestone surrounds. Walled garden to south-east with random coursed boundary walls and three-bay two-storey former gardener’s house, now derelict. Concrete piers at house end of avenue. Three-bay single-storey gate lodge. Octagonal limestone ashlar gate piers with wrought-iron gates.
Annaghmore House, located at the end of a long avenue within its own extensive grounds, is a striking edifice. The symmetrical façade with its terminating bows is an unusual and attractive feature with its decorative detailing and interesting timber window frames. Quality of craftsmanship is apparent throughout, most notably in the window surrounds and ashlar porch to front. The outbuildings with incorporated a mews to the rear reinforce this attention to detail with finely tooled block-and-start window and door surrounds throughout and impressive ashlar entrance piece attesting to the one-time significance of the estate. The setting is completed by the walled garden, lodge and entrance making Annaghmore House an important contributor to the architectural heritage of County Offaly.
Annaghmore House, County Offaly, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Annaghmore, County Offaly, photograph courtesy Sunday Times.Annaghmore House, County Offaly, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Annaghmore House, County Offaly, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Annaghmore House, County Offaly, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Annaghmore House, County Offaly, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Annaghmore House, County Offaly, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Annaghmore House, County Offaly, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Set on 10 acres and with a mile-long avenue, Annaghmore House holds strong links with two of Offaly’s famous brewing families and hit the headlines just last year for three rare finds, writes June Edwards
Like any grand dame who has known better and brighter times, but still manages to retain her original style and elegance, Annaghmore House at Ballyboy, Tullamore, Co Offaly, is a ‘Big House’ with a faded but interesting past.
It is on the market with an asking price of €550,000.
Set on 10 acres, its mile-long avenue winds its way to the front of the house which has links to two of Offaly’s most famous brewing families, the Egans, and the Williams of Tullamore Dew fame.
Earlier owner, Major Barry Fox of Longford was married to one of the Edgeworths of Grove House, and author Maria Edgeworth makes reference to Annaghmore House in her letters.
No doubt she enjoyed taking many a ‘turn’ around the gardens at Annaghmore.
Local solicitor and historian Michael Byrne says the house dates back to the 1790s, and was built by the Curtis family.
“But when Major Barry Fox bought it in the 1830s, he carried out a lot of improvements, and added the Victorian block to the front around 1835.”
“When he died in the 1860s, Annaghmore was taken over by his son Maxwell Fox, who was the High Sheriff of the county. Maxwell kept a diary which has been published and it gives an interesting account of what life was like for a country gentlemen,” added Mr Byrne.
By 1919 the house came into the hands PJ Egan, a Cumann na nGaedhael TD for Laois/Offaly in the fourth Dail, 1923-27.
The Egans were a merchant family who owned local breweries, pubs and malting houses.
A later marriage to one of the Williams family, who owned Tullamore Dew, further cemented the brewing connection to Annaghmore.
The house stayed in the Egan family until 1968, when an American couple bought it as their summer home.
The couple were both university professors, and they came to Annaghmore most summers.
The property also hit the headlines last spring when a Sotheby’s representative discovered three rare sculptures at a sale of the house’s contents.
Die Spinnerin by German artist Rudolf Schadow, Venus Italica and Hebe from the workshop of Antonio Canova (1757-1822) caused vast excitement in the antiques world.
Die Spinnerin, a sculpture of a girl spinning, was commissioned by Henry Patten for his Westport home.
Similar sculptures were also done for the Prussian King and Ludwig of Bavaria.
It sold in July at Sotheby’s for almost €295,000. The two Canova statues were valued at between €73,000 and €98,000 each, but failed to reach their reserve.
While future owners will need to carry out some necessary restoration work, Annaghmore’s interiors are still awe-inspiring.
In fact, the first thing you see when entering the house is the magnificent hall with six Doric columns and central staircase which accesses a wrap-around gallery landing from both sides.
Particularly impressive is the plasterwork with ornate cornicing and centre roses.
The hall and upstairs gallery all have plaster moulds adorning the walls, which give Annahgmore a sense of luxury and elegance.
The main reception rooms are in the front Victorian section of the house. Bright and well-proportioned, they are a fine example of early Victorian architecture and contain large period marble fireplaces and ornate plaster ceilings.
Original mahogany panelled doors with decorative architraving are all intact and feature intricate craftsmanship. The drawing room has a bow-ended wall, two double glazed windows with shutters, white marble fireplace and directly accesses the library with its built-in bookshelves, recessed and shuttered windows, and marble fireplace.
Similarly impressive is the formal dining room also featuring a corniced ceiling, bow-ended wall, double- glazed windows with shutters and a grey marble fireplace.
With a floor area of more than 793sqm, it accommodates eight bedrooms.
The ground floor also comprises a smaller study with marble fireplace and built-in bookcases.
The spacious kitchen features built-in units and a marble fireplace.
A back staircase provides access to a ground floor wing with former kitchen, pantry, and servants quarters.
The rear courtyard has an arched entrance with bell tower, four lofted coach houses, three stables and a tack room along with storage rooms.
The grounds include a walled garden, lawns, fields and woodland.
Joint agents Knight Frank 01 6623255, and Sean Joyce, 057 9329442
Milford House, County Carlow, for sale 2018, photograph courtesy Jordan’s Town and Country and Knight Frank.
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. 206. “(Alexander/IFR). A dignified and well-proportioned two storey late-Georgian house, with a single-storey wing at one side. Five bay entrance front, with single-storey Ionic portico. Four bay garden front; two bay side. Parapeted roof. Chimneys all grouped into one long stack.”
Detached five-bay two-storey over basement house, c. 1820, with granite Ionic portico and wing to side. Reroofed and partly remodelled internally, c. 1955. Interior retains original joinery, plasterwork and some replacement chimney pieces, c. 1955.
Record of Protected Structures:
Milford House, Milford. Townland: Ballygowan.
Detached five-bay two-storey over basement house, c. 1820, with granite Ionic portico and wing to side. Re-roofed and partly remodelled internally, c. 1955. Interior retains original joinery, plasterwork and some replacement chimney.
Milford House, County Carlow, for sale 2018, photograph courtesy Jordan’s Town and Country and Knight Frank.Milford House, County Carlow, for sale 2018, photograph courtesy Jordan’s Town and Country and Knight Frank.Milford House, County Carlow, for sale 2018, photograph courtesy Jordan’s Town and Country and Knight Frank.Milford House, County Carlow, for sale 2018, photograph courtesy Jordan’s Town and Country and Knight Frank.Isabella Maria Portis (1741-1806), daughter of George and Mary, by Stephen Slaughter, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy auction.Her sister Anne married John Alexander (1736-1821) of Ardmoulin, County Down, the father of John Alexander (1764-1843) of Milford, County Carlow.George M. Portis (b. 10th Nov 1729), Collector of Belfast, by Stephen Slaughter, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy auction.His sister Anne married John Alexander (1736-1821) of Ardmoulin, County Down, the father of John Alexander (1764-1843) of Milford, County Carlow.John Alexander (1802-1885), High Sheriff of Carlow 1824, MP for Carlow 1853-1859, by Stephen Catterton Smith, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy auction.Esther née Brinkley, wife of John Alexander, High Sheriff of Carlow 1824, MP for Carlow 1853-1859, by Stephen Catterton Smith, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy auction. Daughter of Matthew Brinkly of Parsonstown House, County Meath. She married John Alexander on 18 Oct 1848 and he first brought electricity to Milford. He was high sheriff of County Carlow 1824 and MP for Carlow 1853-1859.Milford House, County Carlow, for sale 2018, photograph courtesy Jordan’s Town and Country and Knight Frank.Milford House, County Carlow, for sale 2018, photograph courtesy Jordan’s Town and Country and Knight Frank.
The Tower House, BALLYGOWAN, Milford, County Carlow
Detached three-bay two-storey estate farmhouse, c. 1840, with observation staircase tower on a circular plan.
Record of Protected Structures:
Tower House, Milford
Townland: Ballygowan
Detached three-bay two-storey estate farmhouse, c. 1840, with observation staircase tower on a circular plan.
Importance: regional, architectural, artistic.
Chapter 1: Alexander of Milford in Jimmy O’Toole, The Carlow Gentry: What will the neighbours say! Published by Jimmy O’Toole, Carlow, Ireland, 1993. Printed by Leinster Leader Ltd, Naas, Kildare.
“The Alexanders were one of the few entrepreneurial gentry families to settle in county Carlow, developing a hugely successful milling and malting business at Milford….In 1618, Reverend Andrew Alexander, a Scottish Presbyterian Minister, settled in Northern Ireland. Later generations of the family established a milling business in Belfast, before John Alexander travelled south in 1780s purchasing land in Milford, first from the Butlers of Garryhundon, and later from the La Touches. The first mill was built in 1790, and by the 1830s, turnover excluding malting was £195,000 a year. For the Alexanders, their business enterprises were of more importance thn their land ownership, which was little more than 2000 acres.
John Alexander’s son [p. 6], John Alexander II, was elected as MP for the Carlow borough in 1853 and again in 1857.
p. 7 Electric lights were installed in Carlow town in Nov 1890 and it was the first inland town in Britain or Ireland to be lit by electricity. From June 1890 the Milford mill supplied the electricity by their water wheel.”
When the first edition of Burke’s Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland (then known as ‘Burke’s Commoners’) appeared in 1833 it did not include an entry for the Alexanders of Milford, County Carlow. This must have been a matter of some disappointment to the family, as was their absence in subsequent editions until finally in 1871 when they were featured, albeit briefly. The history of the Alexanders is a tale of social ascendancy initially dependent on wealth, and the retention of the former even when the latter had gone. The founder of the dynasty, John Alexander, had modest origins but what he lacked in pedigree was amply compensated by entrepreneurial flair, and resulted in his acquisition of an estate sufficiently substantial for later generations to judge themselves members of the landed gentry. Late in life his heir, also called John Alexander (as remained the case with successive generations) wrote ‘There is not any subject so difficult to me as genealogy. I am very much behind in my knowledge of it as far as relates to my family. I have been endeavouring to grasp some particulars for your perusal, my object being to elicit the truth and to place my family in their right position.’ Likewise he had earlier insisted, ‘’I am not a “retired” merchant, never having served my time to any business, and during the years I was proprietor of the mills on this property, I took almost no part in the working of them’. All of which indicates a desire to distance himself from the mercantile activities which had formed the basis of the family fortune, and to ally himself with a class unsullied by sordid commercial transactions.
The first Alexanders arrived in Ireland as settlers from Scotland in the early 17th century, settling in the Limavady area. In the late 1750s John Alexander, a younger son, moved to Belfast where he became a successful merchant and land agent for the Earl of Donegall before also going into the milling business. His eldest son, likewise called John, moved to County Carlow in 1784 with the intention of becoming involved in the last profession and there joined forces with a wealthy Roman Catholic corn merchant and miller called James Conolly. Already Carlow had become one of the country’s principal area’s for corn production: between 1769 and 1784 the amount of corn sent there to Dublin grew from just 78 stone to 382,953 stone, an astonishing increase. This growth was driven by entrepreneurial businessmen like Conolly and young John Alexander. The former already owned a mill on the river Barrow a few miles from Carlow town, in a townland called Ballygowan, and this was the business John Alexander joined and expanded, notably after 1790 when at the age of 26 he took over direct responsibility for its management. The result was further rapid growth, not least thanks to the construction of additional and larger milling buildings on the site, by then given the name it has carried ever since, Milford. Within three years the mill had become County Carlow’s largest supplier of flour to the capital. In addition, Alexander embarked on a second enterprise on the same site: the production of malt. To the east of the flour mill, he constructed Ireland’s largest and most powerful malthouse, thereby establishing his predominance in a second field. During this period of expansion, Alexander lived in a modest single-storey, three-roomed thatched dwelling adjacent to the mills. However, in 1799 it was time for him to build a residence befitting his status as a wealthy man.
Now for sale for the first time since built, Milford House appears to have been designed by its first occupant, mill owner John Alexander who married not long after construction was complete and then gradually acquired an estate of more than 2,000 acres. Facing west, the core of the building is of five bays and two storeys over basement, with a single-storey extension to the north added around 1813. As testament to Alexander’s want of social pretensions, the facade is unadorned other than a granite portico with four Ionic columns. Inside there is a similar want of ostentation, a generous entrance hall leading to the library at the front and drawing and dining rooms to the rear, and accordingly facing east. A staircase opening to the north of the hall leads to a first-floor lobby from which can be accessed six bedrooms. Since its construction, the house has undergone relatively little modification, the most immediately obvious being the insertion of plate glass in the ground-floor windows: this dates from the mid-1890s when John Alexander III married. It was during the same period that Milford benefitted from electrification: the former oat mill was then reconfigured as a hydro-electricity generating station, which led to nearby Carlow town being the first urban centre in Ireland or Britain to enjoy electric street lighting. Meanwhile the entrance hall had been re-decorated in 1883 with the William Morris ‘Pomegranate’ wallpaper still in place. The only other major intervention was the replacement of the main reception rooms’ chimneypieces. The originals were of plain Kilkenny marble but in the mid-1940s they were removed by Olive Alexander (wife of John Alexander IV) who bought that in the library when the contents of nearby and now-ruinous Clogrennane were being auctioned. Those today in the drawing and dining rooms appear to have been acquired around the same period in Dublin. However, Milford essentially retains its original character and is thus a record of how a mercantile family thrived and used the construction of a country house to assist its transformation into landed gentry.
Milford House is a charming Georgian residence (built c.1799) that has never been on the market having remained in family ownership since its original construction. The Alexanders were originally millers and Milford Mill was built in 1791. Although they built up an Estate of c. 2,000 acres, they remained active Mill owners and entrepreneurs over the generations. In the mid 19th century Milford Mills was the largest flour mill in Ireland and despite the abolition of the Corn Laws in 1846 which damaged the economics of the enterprise, the site remained the focus of industrial employment into the 20th century. One of the earliest hydro-electric dynamos was installed in Milford Mills which supplied the town of Carlow with electricity in the 1890s. The Hydro-Electric Plant was completely refurbished in the 1980s and currently produces 250 kilowatts into the National Grid.
Milford House is an attractive 5 by 2 bay two storey house built in 1799 with a granite ionic portico and single storey wing to the left side. The entrance hall is bright and gives access to the library which is one of the wonderfully proportioned reception rooms with a dual aspect benefiting from a magnificent fireplace, chimney piece and ceiling plasterwork. The drawing room interlinks with both the library and dining room making for ideal entertaining space; the drawing room having a dual aspect (S and E), whilst the impressive dining room has an easterly aspect. All the reception rooms are bright with views overlooking the parkland. Other rooms on the ground floor include the kitchen with Aga cooker, breakfast room, TV room, cloakroom with w.c, w.h.b and shower, 2 bedrooms.
There is a wonderful staircase leading to first return with bathroom and walk-in hot press. Upstairs there is a central landing with 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, all with superb parkland views. The lower ground floor (the original service quarters) includes the old kitchen, cellar, pantry, office, tack room, internal garage and boiler room (all of which are ideally suited for additional accommodation if required with good ceiling height (10 ft 6 inches). Away from the house is the original stud yard with 25 stables and grooms house (which has independent access).
Milford House is approached down a long avenue past the front gate lodge. The drive winds through the post and railed paddocks with beech hedging to the main residence which has a very pleasant aspect looking over the parkland and the lawn field. There is a separate drive off the main avenue to the original stud yard. There is a fabulous 2 acre walled garden with a charming brook flowing through it and Victorian (1903) 3 bay greenhouse. The front and rear of the property are laid out in lawn interspersed with mature trees and shrubs ensuring colour at various times of the year. Furthermore there is wonderful two storey stone cut gardeners cottage with its own independent access. The Land is top quality, laid out in 4 paddocks, all in complete privacy and the feeling of being in the middle of a far larger estate.
Milford sits alongside the banks of the river barrow and is approximately 8km south of Carlow Town just off the R448 which is the old Carlow/Kilkenny Road. Carlow is the county town of Co. Carlow in the south east c. 84 km from Dublin. It has a population of c. 24,272 (Census 2016) and nestles on the River Barrow. The M9 Motorway is 2 km (Junction 6) and the famous heritage city of Kilkenny is c. 35 km south with Waterford Airport 70km. The well known national hunt trainer Willie Mullins trains at Closutton nearby. Accommodation Directions From Dublin take the N7 signed Limerick, Cork, Waterford. Continue past Naas, soon afterwards progress onto the M9 (Exit 11, signed to Waterford). Continue on this road and take Exit 6 for Carlow Town. After c. 1km take the left and continue down this road for approximately 1km over the Barrow Bridge past the Mill, turn right over the bridge and go around sharp stone bridge and it is the first entrance on the left. From the South take the M9 from Waterford go past Kilkenny until you come to Exit 6, take the Carlow Road R448 and after c. 1km take the left and continue down this road for approximately 1km over the Barrow Bridge past the Mill, turn right over the bridge and go around sharp stone bridge and it is the first entrance on the left.
Carlow 8 km Kilkenny 35 km Dublin 84 km (approximate)
For Sale Freehold as a whole
Tremendous shelter & many specimen trees
Original period features throughout
1 bed Gate Lodge 2 bed Yard House & 2 bed Gardeners Cottage
A range of 25 stables & walled garden with greenhouse
Picturesque private setting on c.50 acres of parkland in permanent pasture
Principal Residence approx. 10 946 sq. ft. / 1 017 sq. m.
The Rev. Dr. Andrew Alexander (d. 1641) who inherited lands at Eridy (Donegal) from his father [see post on the Alexanders of Enagh and Caw House], was the father of Capt. Andrew Alexander (fl. 1689) of Ballyclose, Newtownlimavady (Derry), who was one of those attainted for treason by the Irish Parliament at the behest of King James II in 1689. He married twice and had a single son by each marriage. The elder, Jacob Alexander, was the ancestor of the Alexanders of Ahilly; the younger, John Alexander I (d. 1747), inherited the family property at Ballyclose, and had in turn three sons: John II (1689-1766), from whom the Alexanders of Milford House descend; Nathaniel (1689-1761), ancestor of the Earls of Caledon (q.v.); and William (d. 1778), ancestor of the Cable-Alexander baronets.
John Alexander II (1689-1766) had a son, John Alexander III (1736-1821) who lived at a house called Ardmoulin in Belfast (Down) adjacent to a flour mill which he also owned. His son, John Alexander IV (1764-1843) built a large flour mill (Milford Mill) at Ballygowan beside the River Barrow near Carlow in 1790, and sometime afterwards, the nearby Milford House. Although they built up an estate of around 2,000 acres, they remained active millowners and entrepreneurs over the generations.
An early photograph of the picturesque setting of Milford Mill
In the mid 19th century Milford Mills was the largest flour mill in Ireland and despite the abolition of the Corn Laws in 1846 which damaged the economics of the enterprise, and a major fire in 1862 which burned out one of the main buildings of the mill, the site remained a focus of industrial employment into the 20th century. Part of the site was still in use as a tannery when a further major fire took place in 1965. Today only one of the three main mill buildings survives, a crenellated shell beside the river.
A section of the 1st edition Ordnance Survey of Ireland map showing the relative location of the house and mills
John Alexander IV had several sons who joined him in the mill business, but his eldest son, John Alexander V (1802-85) inherited Milford House and became MP for Carlow Borough 1853-59. His son, Major John Alexander VI (1850-1944), was an officer in the 1st Dragoon Guards, and installed one of the earliest hydroelectric dynamos at Milford Mills, which supplied the town of Carlow with electricity in the 1890s. His son, Major John Alexander VII (1898-1961) was the father of John Alexander VIII (1927-2017), who died recently.
A 19th century watercolour of Milford House. Image: Major Calloway
A dignified five by two bay, two-storey house of c. 1820, with a granite Ionic portico and single-storey wing to left side. The garden side has a four-bay front. The parapeted flat roof dates from c.1955 when the house was partly remodelled internally, but the interior preserves some original joinery and plasterwork, as well as family furniture and pictures. There are some replacement chimneypieces of c. 1955. The house was advertised for sale in 2018.
Milford House before the remodelling of 1955.
Descent: John Alexander (1764-1843); to son, John Alexander (1802-85); to son, John Alexander (1850-1944); to son, John Alexander (1898-1961); to son, John Alexander (1927-2017).
The Alexanders of Milford
Alexander, John (d. 1747), of Gunsland. Only son of Capt. Alexander Alexander (b. c.1640) and his second wife. He married Anne, daughter of John White of Cady Hill (Derry) and had issue: (1) John Alexander (1689-1766) (q.v.); (2) Nathaniel Alexander (1689-1761), alderman of Londonderry; married Elizabeth, second daughter of William McClintock of Dunmore (Donegal) and had issue five sons and six daughters; from whom descended the Alexanders, Earls of Caledon; (3) William Alexander (d. 1778); married Mary Porter of Vicardale (Monaghan) and had issue; ancestor of the Cable-Alexander baronets of Dublin (who will be treated in a future post); (4) Martha Alexander; married Alexander Kellie. He inherited his father’s estates in Donegal and Derry and in 1717 bought the Gunsland estate in Donegal. He died 12 March 1747.
Alexander, John (1689-1766) of Ballyclose, Newtownlimavady (Derry). Eldest son of John Alexander (d. 1747) and his wife Anne, daughter of John White of Cady Hill (Derry), born 1689. He married Sarah, daughter of Alexander MacCauley of Co. Antrim and had issue including:
(1) John Alexander (1736-1821) (q.v.).
He died in 1766.
Alexander, John (1736-1821) of Ardmoulin (Down). Eldest son of John Alexander (1689-1766) and his wife Sarah, daughter of Alexander MacCauley of Co. Antrim, born 26 January 1736. Flour mill owner in Belfast. He married, 29 May 1760, Anne, daughter of George Portis, and had issue:
John Alexander (1736-1821) of Belfast and Ardmoulin, County Down, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy auction.Anne Alexander née Portis (1733-1796), wife of John Alexander (1736-1821) of Belfast, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy auction.George Portis (d. 1760), who married Mary Ratcliffe, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy auction. He and his wife were Anne Portis’s parents.
(1) John Alexander (1764-1843) (q.v.).
He died 23 December 1821, aged 85.
Alexander, John (27 Feb 1764-16 Aug 1843) of Milford House. Only son of John Alexander (1736-1821) and his wife Anne, daughter of George Portis, born 27 February 1764. Flour mill owner at Milford (Carlow). He married, 8 September 1801, Christian (d. 13 Dec 1864 aged 87 years), daughter of Lorenzo Nickson Izod of Wilton and Chapelizod, and had issue:
John Alexander (1764-1843) of Milford, County Carlow, by Martin Cregan, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy auction.Christian Izod Nickson of Chapelizod, wife of John Alexander of Milford, Co Carlow, by Martin Cregan, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy auction.
(1) John Alexander (1802-85) (q.v.);
(2) Lorenzo William Alexander (1810-67) of Straw Hill (Carlow), born 22 October 1810; married, 25 June 1857, Harriet, daughter of Col. Henry Bruen MP of Oak Park (Carlow) and had issue two sons (one of whom became a coffee planter in Kenya and died there) and one daughter; died 21 September 1867; (3) George Alexander (1814-93) of Erindale (Carlow), born 17 February 1814; educated at Middle Temple, London; barrister; JP for Co. Carlow; married, 28 February 1861, Susan Henn (d. 1895), daughter of Stephen Collins QC of Dublin and had issue four sons and one daughter; (4) James Alexander (1818-92), born 8 March 1818; married, 12 July 1855, Lucia Margaret (d. 1893), daughter of Sir William St. Lawrence Clarke-Travers, 2nd bt., but died without issue; (5) Rev. Charles Leslie Alexander (1820-88), born 28 April 1820; rector of Stanton-by-Bridge (Derbys), married, 26 January 1882, Hon. Emily Caroline Fremantle (d. 1929), daughter of 1st Baron Cottesloe but died without issue; died 13 May 1888; (6) General Henry Alexander (b. 1822); born 17 August 1822; (7) Anne Alexander (d. 1862), married, 6 October 1828, John Cranstoun; died without issue, 10 April 1862; (8) Lucia Alexander (d. 1877); died 7 October 1877; (9) Fanny Alexander (d. 1894), married, 19 October 1847, Rev. Charles Henry Travers (d. 1884), rector of Englefield (Berks), son of Capt. Thomas Otho Travers of Leemount (Cork) but died without issue, 20 May 1894.
He purchased the Milford estate of about 2000 acres and built Milford Mills, 1790 and Milford House, c.1820.
He died 16 August 1843, aged 79. His widow died in 1864.
Alexander, John (1802-85) of Milford House. Eldest son of John Alexander (1764-1843) and his wife Christian, daughter of Lorenzo Nickson Izod of Wilton and Chapelizod, born 26 July 1802. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (MA). Flour mill owner at Milford (Carlow); MP for Carlow Borough 1853-59; High Sheriff of Carlow, 1824. He married, 18 October 1848, Esther, daughter of Matthew Brinckley of Parsonstown (Meath) and had issue:
(1) John Alexander (1850-1944) (q.v.);
(2) William Cranstoun Alexander (1851-1934), born 5 November 1851; married, 8 February 1879, his cousin, Edith Caroline, daughter of Col. William Henry Longfield of Ashgrove (Cork); died 26 November 1934; (3) Lorenzo Alexander (1853-1942), born 28 August 1853; lived at New Denver and later Victoria, British Columbia (Canada); married, 28 December 1899, Charlotte Catherine Louisa, daughter of Arthur John Campbell Gwatkin and had issue one son and one daughter; died 27 June 1942; (4) Brig-Gen. Charles Henry Alexander RA (1856-1946), born 2 June 1856; officer in Royal Artillery; married, 17 March 1891, Isabel Annie, daughter of Gen. Sir Campbell Claye Ross KCB of Lothian House, Ryde (IoW) and had issue one son; (5) George Alexander (1858-1930), born 20 June 1858; educated at Trinity College, Dublin, Middle Temple, London (admitted 1880) and Kings Inn, Dublin; barrister; he acquired property in Alberta and British Columbia (Canada), installed the first water system in Calgary in 1891 and had other enterprises, which he visited in summer; before his death he disposed of most of his Canadian assets; married, 2 January 1891, Louisa (d. 1941) daughter of Kennett Bayley of Inchicove (Dublin) and had issue one daughter and adopted another daughter, Anne; died 2 November 1930; (6) Harriet Lucia Alexander, married, 8 July 1875, Lt-Col. Edward George Moore Donnithorne DL JP (d. 1906) of Colne Lodge, Twickenham (Middx) and had issue.
He inherited the Milford House estate from his father in 1843.
He died in October 1885, aged 83.
Alexander, Maj. John (1850-1944) of Milford House. Eldest son of John Alexander (1802-85) and his wife Esther, daughter of Matthew Brinckley of Parsonstown (Meath), born 23 September 1850. Major, 1st Dragoon Guards; JP; High Sheriff of Carlow, 1891. He married, 22 April 1896, Ethel (d. 1916), daughter of Kennett Bayley of Sevenoaks (Kent) and Inchicove (Dublin) and had issue:
(1) Jane Alexander (b. 1897), married Archibald Hamilton Busteed Moeran (1901-34) and had issue one son;
(2) John Alexander (1898-1961) (q.v.);
(3) Kennett Alexander (b. 1900) of Fonthill House, Raheendoran (Carlow); born 23 March 1900 (4) William Alexander (1901-60), born 13 May 1901; married, October 1936, Josephine Henderson and had issue one daughter; died 22 May 1960, aged 59; (5) George Alexander (b. 1907), educated at Uppingham School; racehorse breeder and trainer in Kenya, married, 1947, Anne [surname unknown] (d. 1955) and had issue one daughter; He inherited the Milford House estate from his father in 1885.
He died 17 June 1944, aged 93.
Alexander, Maj. John (1898-1961) of Milford House. Eldest son of John Alexander (1850-1944) and his wife Ethel, daughter of Kennett Bayley of Sevenoaks (Kent) and Inchicove (Dublin), born 9 July 1898. Major in the Army. He married, 1926, Olive Mary (k/a Pug) (1902-80), daughter of Maj. William Charles Hall, and had issue:
(1) John Alexander (1927-2017), of Milford House; born 19 September 1927; married Chloe Verschoyle-Greene, daughter of Walter Islay Hamilton Verschoyle-Campbell of Tassagart, Saggart (Dublin) and former wife of John Denis Greene; died 19 July 2017 and was buried at Cloydagh;
(2) Brian Alexander of Brannockstown, Naas (Kildare), m. Sheila Lewis.
He inherited the Milford House estate from his father in 1944. Following the death of his son in 2017 the house was put up for sale in 2018.
He died 15 October 1961, aged 63.
Sources
Burke’s Irish Family Records, 1976; BBC, Great British Railway Journeys goes to Ireland, episode broadcast 6 February 2013; M. Bence-Jones, A guide to Irish country houses, 1988.
Location of archives
Believed to be in the possession of the family.
Coat of arms
None recorded.
Revision and acknowledgements
This post was first published 16 October 2013 and updated 13 September 2016, 31 October 2017 and 26 May 2018. I am grateful to Bill Yeo for information about the family’s Canadian connections and to Shay Kinsella for much information about the estate.
Corner-sited detached seven-bay three-storey mansion over raised basement, built 1793-9 and dated 1796, facing east, to designs of Richard Johnson. Now unoccupied and in derelict state. Built on rectangular plan with pedimented three-bay central breakfront and Doric porch, with pair of single-storey advanced quadrant wings to forecourt. Hipped slate roofs on quadrangular plan with central lantern. Roof hidden behind deep moulded granite cornice with modillions spanning all elevations. Low granite parapet wall to central breakfront behind modillioned pediment having coade stone armorial crest to tympanum. Cast-iron rainwater goods throughout. Coursed granite ashlar walls to front elevation with granite frieze below cornice having incised lettering to each plane, reading ‘MDCCXCVI’ to breakfront, indecipherable to either side. Granite platband forming continuous sill course to first floor (spanning all elevations) over rusticated granite walls to ground floor, with granite plinth course (spanning all elevations) over squared and coursed roughly-hewn calp limestone basement walls. Brown brick walls laid in Flemish bond to all other elevations with full-height bows to south side and rear elevations and deep moulded granite parapet cornice. Square-headed window openings with moulded granite architrave surrounds, granite sills and replacement timber sliding sash windows with horns. Pedimented windows to first floor of breakfront, granite frieze and cornice to first floor windows to either side and voussoired granite heads to ground floor with no sills. Gauged brick heads to window openings on all other elevations with wrought-iron grilles to basement windows and some ground floor windows. Prostyle tetrastyle Portland limestone Doric portico to breakfront with incised gilt lettering to architrave stating ‘OTIUM CUM DIGNITATE’ (LEISURE WITH DIGNITY), with dentillated cornice over. Three voussoired round-arched openings having double-leaf timber panelled doors to centre with embellished lintel frieze, and boarded-up windows. Door opens onto granite-paved platform with wrought-iron bootscraper and six granite steps with recent steel rails. Three-bay advanced quadrant wings to either side, that to south having four engaged Portland limestone Doric columns on raised granite plinth with blind arches and supporting plain frieze and dentillated cornice. North quadrant wing (currently obscured) as per south wing without engaged columns. Set back from street within its own grounds having bitmac forecourt enclosed to street by replacement low red brick wall and iron railings with pair of rusticated granite piers with profiled capstones and pair of iron gates, c.1950. Single-storey limestone building to northeast c.1860, formerly barrack building (50010084). Decorative pavilion block terminates south quadrant (50010083).
Aldborough House, Dublin, courtesy Donal Moloney.
Appraisal
Aldborough House is one of Dublin’s great eighteenth-century mansions. Built for the Earl of Aldborough between 1793 and 1799, it was the last great house to be built before the passing of the Act of Union. The classical Palladian design with quadrant walls and flanking pavilions is attributed to Richard Johnson. The Act of Union had a devastating effect on the fate of the great houses of Dublin and Aldborough House did not enjoy a long period as a private home. Leased in 1813 to a private school, the building became an army barracks in the mid-nineteenth century. It is an imposing Palladian mansion, despite its current condition, and it retains most external detailing with impressive side and rear elevations. The survival of Aldborough House contributes to the sense of continuity, interest and significance of this area of Dublin, which at the time of its construction was the north-eastern fringe of the city, overlooking the newly-opened Royal Canal. The original gardens to the rear were developed in the 1940s for local authority housing.
Built by Edward Augustus Stratford (1736-1801), 2nd Earl of Aldborough as Dublin’s last great house of the eighteenth century. The foundation was laid down in 1792 and after its completion there is no record in my possession that any of the family made it their permanent residence, and, although it bears the date 1796, evidence shows that it was still not fully completed by 1798. It included a Play House, a cold bath and a music roo and on the Earl of Aldborough’s death, the property became owned by his wife.
It is built of brick, and cut granite forms the facade, and when built, had balustrading all the way around the parapets, with urns and eagles, sphinxes and lions, and a Coat of Arms, displayed bearing Stratford, Herbert, Henniker, North, Neale, and Major.
It was uninhabited from 1802 to 1813, when Prof Von Feinagle leased it and opened it as a school. he built an addition to the house including large classrooms and a Chapel. He died in 1820 and by 1830 it had been closed altogether as a school. At the outbreak of the Crimean War when it was used as Barracks on acquisition of the Government, and then used as the Stores Department of the Post Office. It is now empty.
Aldborough House, Dublin, photograph courtesy of National Library of Ireland, photographer Robert French, Lawrence Photographic Collection.John Stratford (1698-1777) 1st Earl of AldboroughEdward Stratford (1736-1801) 2nd Earl of Aldborough in ceremonial robes, and with painted coat of arms, by Philip Hussey courtesy of Fonsie Mealy Fortgranite. He lived in Belan House, County Kildare.
Many visitors arriving at Dublin airport are likely to take a route into the city centre that leads them along Amiens Street. This takes its name from Viscount Amiens, an honorary title of the Earls of Aldborough, the second of whom, Edward Augustus Stratford, built the last great free-standing town house of the 18th century around the corner on Portland Row. Travelling along this route visitors will notice the present dreadful condition of that building. The earl’s long-lost country seat Belan, County Kildare has already been discussed here (Splendours and Follies, September 30th 2013) and now it looks as though Aldborough House could likewise be consigned to oblivion as a result of ongoing failure by state and civic authorities to intervene in its preservation. Today marooned amidst neglect and decay (the organisation Irish Business against Litter last week declared this part of Dublin the dirtiest urban area in the State) Aldborough House is an extraordinary building, after Leinster House the biggest Georgian private residence in the capital and a testament to one man’s regrettably misplaced ambition. The earl, who already had a perfectly fine property next to Belvedere House on Great Denmark Street, was determined to construct a new one that would serve as testament to his wealth and social position, and also serve as centre-piece to a westerly extension of the city beyond that already achieved by the Gardiners. Portland Row is a continuation of the North Circular Road, running from the Phoenix Park to the docks, and it made sense to plan for development in this part of Dublin. Unfortunately Lord Aldborough failed to take into account the consequences of the 1800 Act of Union (for which he voted) which led to a precipitate decline in the city’s fortunes and left his great town house stranded.
We know a great deal about the construction of Aldborough House, thanks to research on the subject conducted by Aidan O’Boyle and carried in Volume IV of the Irish Georgian Society’s annual journal Irish Architectural and Decorative Studies. This text, like all others on the subject, is indebted to O’Boyle’s admirable work. It is clear from his analysis of extant material that the building of Aldborough House was fraught from the beginning, not least because the earl’s aspirations were greater than his budget. Although pailings were erected and foundations dug around the start of July 1793, there were many stops and starts as unpaid workmen left the site and replacements had to be found. O’Boyle quotes several piteous letters from various architects, plasterers, painters and other skilled craftsmen who became enmeshed in the project and then found they had to plead for monies owed. It did not help that Lord Aldborough during this period was in the throes of sundry legal battles, one of which led to his temporary imprisonment. Yet somehow the work went on and the house rose ever higher. In style, Aldborough House was something of an anachronism, a last gasp of Palladianism with its tall central block flanked by quadrants that led to pavilions, one containing a chapel the other a private theatre, thereby satisfying the earl’s spiritual and cultural needs. At least in its early stages the architect responsible appears to have been Richard Johnston, older brother of the better-known (and better) Francis Johnson. After his departure several other hands were involved but most likely it was Lord Aldborough himself who had the greatest input into the plans: a extant drawing from his hand of the theatre wing confirms just how decisive was his influence on the project.
Facing north, the main block of Aldborough House is tall and narrow, three storeys over sunken basement and seven bays wide with the three centre bays advanced and pedimented, the whole clad in granite. The pediment contains an elaborately carved Stratford coat of arms in coade stone while the rusticated ground floor features a Doric portico bearing the motto Otium cum Dignitate (Leisure with Dignity). The most striking feature is the line of exaggeratedly elongated windows on the piano nobile; these emphasise the building’s height and thereby distort is overall proportions. An eaves parapet, since removed, was surmounted by alternating eagles and urns on all four sides. A plinth in the centre of the forecourt carried a copy of the Apollo Belvedere. The side and rear elevations are all faced in a now-mellowed brick, originally rendered to resemble ashlar and with large central bows on the east and south sides. At some point the chapel wing to the west was demolished but that originally containing the easterly theatre survives, terminating in a bow facing the street; its interior is gone. The exterior of the two wings both had blind round-headed arches with sunken panels below and lion and sphinx figures along the parapets. The interior of the main house begins with an entrance hall which in turn leads to an immense top-lit stair hall, with wrought-iron balusters set into the cantilevered Portland stone steps, the effect likened by the late Maurice Craig to that of ‘a well-shaft, mine or one of Mr Howard’s penitentiaries.’ On the ground floor a sequence of rooms lead off on all sides, library, dining room, small dining room and so forth, with a circular music room to the rear from which a double-perron staircase led to the garden. Some, but not much of these rooms’ decoration survived until recently such as friezes above the Adamesque doorways; after the horrendous neglect of recent years does any of this still remain? It is believed that Pietro Bossi, who tendered for the stuccowork in the house, provided the main chimneypieces but these were removed at the end of the 19th century. The first floor featured another sequence of rooms still loftier than those below and primarily intended for entertaining as they included a ballroom above the library on the east side of the building. A much quoted description by the newly-arrived vicereine Lady Hardwicke in 1801 gives an account of the staircase’s astonishing sequence of paintings which mostly seem to have been given over to apotheosising the earl and his wife. Again, these have all long vanished.
Costing over £40,000 Aldborough House was largely completed by 1798 but its owner did not enjoy the comfort of his new residence for long since he died in January 1801. Without a direct heir and in dispute with his brothers, he left the property to his widow who subsequently remarried but was likewise dead eighteen months after her first husband. There followed more than a decade of litigation before Lord Aldborough’s nephew Colonel John Wingfield was confirmed in possession of the house; he promptly sold its entire contents. The building was then let to the splendidly named Professor Gregor von Feinaigle, a former Cistercian monk and mnemonist, who opened a school there. Six years later von Feinaigle died and by 1843 the house had become an army barracks. In 1850 the garden statuary was all sold and in the 1940s the garden itself was lost, used by Dublin Corporation for social housing so that today Aldborough House has effectively no grounds. As for the house itself, coming into public ownership it served as a depot for the Department of Posts and Telegraphs during the last century. During this time and especially in later decades the property was compromised by various ill-considered alterations such as the vertical divisions of rooms to create office space and the effective gutting of the former theatre. Nevertheless, the house remained in use and in reasonable condition. In 1999 the state telecommunications company Telecom Eireann was privatised as Eircom and that organisation offered Aldborough House for sale. The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) considered it for a new headquarters but then opted not to go ahead with the scheme and in 2005 the building was sold for €4.5 million to a company called Aldborough Developments, part of a network of businesses connected with would-be tycoon Philip Marley whose Ely Property Group has been much in the news of late, none of it for particularly positive reasons. Thereafter matters of ownership grow increasingly complex with only one irrefutable fact: for the past nine years this important part of the national built heritage has been allowed to fall ever further into a decline which, as the photographs above (taken in 2010) and below (taken last week) demonstrate, now risks becoming irreversible.
Last May, RTE television carried a report warning that Aldborough House was now Dublin’s most endangered historic building; this information was provided by An Taisce which for several years has been at the forefront of efforts to ensure the property is saved. In 2006 Aldborough Developments secured approval from the city council for the conversion of the house into a forty-bedroom ‘Day Hospital Medical Care Facility.’ The scheme never went ahead, the property crash occurred and Aldborough House started slithering into decay. Some years ago the council served enforcement proceedings against the owners to carry out repairs to the roof; this did not take place and inevitably the lead was all stolen from the valleys and parapet gulleys leading to terrible water damage. In December 2011 the council, having received a grant from central government of €80,000 and provided an additional €20,000 carried out emergency repairs to the roof. According to the city architect’s office, this work went ‘some way towards weatherproofing this vulnerable building until such time as the building’s owners are in a position to implement further urgent and necessary repairs in line with their statutory obligations.’ Those obligations have yet to be met: last spring, following an arson attack that could have been fatal but was caught in time, further enforcement proceedings were served on the owners to have the house’s windows, doors and other openings secured to prevent access. The city council’s Planning and Development Department’s Executive Manager Jim Keoghan commented at the time, ‘We would be concerned that there would be long-time damage done to the property in question’ as though this was a future possibility rather than something which had already occurred. The RTE report explained that 75% of Aldborough Developments is owned by a company which is in liquidation, and this in turn is wholly owned by another company that the Bank of Ireland has placed in receivership. Astonishingly, the house remains outside the receivership process, allowing both the receiver and the bank to disclaim all responsibility for its upkeep, even though the latter has a charge on Aldborough House. No doubt legally this is the case, but where is the Bank of Ireland’s sense of corporate responsibility? Where its concern for the welfare of this country? Where its engagement with the society in which it operates? Likewise why is it that Dublin City Council, which could issue a Compulsory Purchase Order, has failed to do so? And why is it that the state, which has a department devoted to heritage, has ignored the shameful deterioration of an important historic building? Are those responsible in all three bodies suffering from collective blindness that they do not see what is happening to a property under their watch, and for the fate of which they will be held culpable? Or are they simply indifferent to what is taking place? Last September when a farmer lost his High Court challenge over the compulsory purchase of his land, the presiding judge Justice John Hedigan declared that ‘the national interest must outweigh the interests of the individual.’ It is in the national interest that Aldborough House be saved and that all those who can act should do so now. Dear visitors: welcome to Ireland where we talk a lot of guff about history and heritage but – as you cannot fail to observe on your drive into central Dublin – where we have no qualms about allowing the remains of our past fall into dereliction.
Three years ago this site drew attention to the scandalous condition of Aldborough House in Dublin (see A Thundering Disgrace, January 13th 2014). The last great aristocratic townhouse to be built in the capital (and, other than Leinster House, the largest) the building’s name comes from the man responsible for its construction Edward Stratford, second Earl of Aldborough. Although the earl already possessed a fine residence next to Belvedere House on Great Denmark Street, he was determined to construct a new one that would testify to his wealth and social position, in addition to serving as centre-piece to a westerly extension of the city beyond that already achieved by the Gardiners. Portland Row is a continuation of the North Circular Road, running from the Phoenix Park to the docks, and it made sense to anticipate further development in this part of Dublin. Unfortunately Lord Aldborough failed to take into account the consequences of the 1800 Act of Union (for which he voted) which led to a steep decline in the city’s fortunes and left his great town house marooned.
Five years in construction, and costing over £40,000, Aldborough House was only enjoyed by its owner for a short period since he died in January 1801. The property passed to his widow who subsequently remarried but was likewise dead a mere eighteen months later. Then came a decade of litigation before Lord Aldborough’s nephew Colonel John Wingfield was confirmed in possession of the house; he promptly sold its entire contents. The building was then let to ‘Professor’ Gregor von Feinaigle, a former Cistercian monk and mnemonist, who opened a school there. (Incidentally, it is proposed that the word ‘finagle’ derives from the professor’s name and reflects his dodgy pedagogical methods). Six years later von Feinaigle died and by 1843 the house had become an army barracks. In 1850 the garden statuary was all sold and in the 1940s the garden itself was lost, used by Dublin Corporation for social housing so that today Aldborough House has effectively no grounds. As for the house itself, coming into public ownership it served as a depot for the Department of Posts and Telegraphs during the last century. During this time and especially in later decades the property was compromised by various ill-considered alterations such as the vertical divisions of rooms to create office space and the effective gutting of the former theatre. At the end of the 19th century all the chimneypieces, supposedly by Pietro Bossi, were removed and placed somewhere safe, never to be seen again. Nevertheless, the house remained in use and in reasonable condition. In 1999 the state telecommunications company Telecom Eireann was privatised as Eircom and that organisation offered Aldborough House for sale. The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) considered it for a new headquarters but then opted not to go ahead with the scheme and in 2005 the building was sold for €4.5 million to a company called Aldborough Developments and over the next nine years it fell further and further into disrepair.
Today’s photographs were taken during a recent opportunity to inspect the interior of Aldborough House, and they testify to the building’s poor condition. The vast central staircase, of cantilevered Portland stone with wrought-iron balusters, is now supported by a number of metal poles rising the height of the building: the glazed dome at the top has been covered over, so no natural light reaches here. Many of the other areas are likewise boarded up, and can only be seen with the aid of a torch. The main rooms on ground and first floors are today principally striking for their scale, immense bare spaces stripped of whatever decoration they had once been given (although in the ballroom scagliola pilasters with Corinthian capitals survive beneath layers of paint). Long windows running almost the full height of the walls provide ample views of what was once largely open countryside but is now urban sprawl. Some of the overdoors, on which classical figures recline and putti frolic indifferent to the decay around them, remain but others have been pulled out. The chimneypieces, as already mentioned, are long gone, even in rooms on the attic storey. Tantalising hints of former splendour appear here and there, but in the main the impression is of long-term neglect with inevitable consequences for the building. Aldborough House changed hands once more in autumn 2014 and initially little seemed to be happening to improve the site. More recently however, clearance and stabilisation work has taken place, as well as the advent of decent security to ensure the place is no longer vulnerable to vandalism. There are proposals now being developed to give Aldborough House a viable future and if these are allowed to proceed the property would be restored and brought back to use. For too long it has sat empty and untended: anyone who cares for our architectural heritage must hope that this situation will soon change and Aldborough House no longer be a thundering disgrace.
This week it was announced an application had been submitted by a company called Reliance Investments Ltd for the refurbishment of Aldborough House, Dublin. The plans propose the building, which has lain empty and neglected for the best part of two decades, be converted to use as offices, with the addition of two substantial glazed wings and an underground car park. The unhappy condition of Aldborough House has been discussed here more than once (see A Thundering Disgrace, January 13th 2014 and A Thundering Disgrace No More, February 27th 2017), as well as the very real threats to its survival. Vernon Mount, Our Lady’s Hospital, Belcamp House: the recent decimation of Ireland’s architectural heritage is a dispiriting roll-call. So far Aldborough House has not gone the same way, but it remains at risk
No doubt Reliance Investments’ scheme will generate opposition since it affects the character of the building and its site. However, both of these have already been so severely compromised that no one can claim the original integrity of Aldborough House is recoverable. Furthermore, the history of the property over recent years indicates options for a viable future are few: hitherto nobody has come up with a feasible strategy. Much as it might be wished that either state or local government would wake up to their responsibilities and intervene, the likelihood of this seems remote. Wishful thinking is not going to yield results, nor is hostility to a commercial development. Accordingly what is proposed by Reliance Investments may be far from ideal, but unless someone comes up with a realistic alternative it could prove the best – if not the only – chance around to ensure Aldborough House remains standing. Meanwhile, today’s pictures are a reminder of the building’s present condition.
The Irish Aesthete: Buildings of Ireland, Lost and Found. Robert O’Byrne. The Lilliput Press, Dublin, 2024.
Samuel Grubb (1645-1696), son of 
(1820-1908) following a fire in 1867: superseding a medieval Butler castle the house represents the continuation of a long-standing occupation of the grounds. 
believed to be where Strongbow, the second Earl of Pembroke, wed Aoife, is located two miles south of New Ross and its boundary is defined on two sides by the River Barrow. The property is also linked to the Wexford rebel, Fr John Murphy, who stayed there the night before the Battle of Ross in 1798. In 2007 An Bord Pleanala refused planning permission for a multi-million Euro development, comprising of a hotel, 83 apartments, an 18 hole golf course, a nursing home and 63 houses. 
Irish Historic Houses 