Accommodation and wedding venues in County Cavan

by jenjunebugMarch 26, 2026

Places to stay, County Cavan

1. Cabra Castle, on section 482 – hotel and lodges

2. Clover Hill Gate Lodge, Cloverhill, Belturbet, Cavan

3. Farnham Estate, Farnham Estate, Cavan – hotel

4. Killinagh House, McNean Court, Blacklion, County Cavan – whole house rental and lodge

5. Lismore House, Co Cavan – was a ruin. Place to stay: Peacock House on the demesne

6. Olde Post Inn, Cloverhill, County Cavan

Whole house rental County Cavan:

1. Killinagh House, McNean Court, Blacklion, County Cavan – whole house rental

3. Virginia Park Lodge, Co Cavan – weddings

1. Cabra Castle, Kingscourt, Co. Cavan – section 482, hotel

This is a hotel but unlike some heritage house or castle hotels, they do allow visitors to view the building: the website states that they are open between 11am to 4pm for visitors for viewing all year round, except at Christmastime.

*Cabra Castle, County Cavan, December 2020.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

see my write-up:

https://irishhistorichouses.com/2021/03/28/cabra-castle-kingscourt-county-cavan/

www.cabracastle.com
Open in 2026: all year, except Dec 24, 25, 26, 11am-4pm
Fee: Free to visit

2. Clover Hill Gate Lodge, Cloverhill, Belturbet, Cavan – airbnb accommodation

*Cloverhill Gate Lodge, County Cavan, photograph courtesy airbnb website.*

https://www.airbnb.ie/rooms/4962376?c=.pi0.pk314483168_127445633672&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=314483168&gbraid=0AAAAADz55LkoVf9TCwAanNAoWG2eWN0AE&gclid=CjwKCAjwspPOBhB9EiwATFbi5CSHSojOSXZPWiu5LFh4sZKMByjLtZpuu_3AzyBVf60HB2uG0_JsNRoCwBwQAvD_BwE&source_impression_id=p3_1774518517_P3JcPlhtI0hbO-oV

The airbnb description tells us:

“This old stone cottage built between 1830 -1850 is tucked away at the archway entrance to the Cloverhill Estate. This cottage is surrounded by gardens and woodland. The magic of this cottage is undeniable. Originally built for the Gate Keeper this cottage reflects heritage with rustic simplicity. Though some features and fittings have been replaced, the survival of historic features, including the label mouldings and timber bargeboards add to its character and charm.“

Cloverhill House is now a ruin. Mark Bence-Jones tells us the house was built 1799-1804 for James Saunderson (1763-1842) to the design of Francis Johnston. [1] Robert O’Byrne adds that it was in fact extended in 1799, but built originally in 1758 (thus was built for James’s father Alexander, who married Lucy Madden of the Hilton Park House Madden family, another Section 482 property. A date stone gives us the date of 1758.) [2] Mark Bence-Jones tells us that the house passed by inheritance to the Purdons, and was sold by Major J.N. Purdon ca 1958. The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage tells us that the Sanderson family were instrumental in the development of Cloverhill village with the building of the Church of Ireland church and estate workers’ houses.

The house is featured in Tarquin Blake’s Abandoned Mansions of Ireland, Collins Press, Cork, 2010.

From James Sanderson (1763-1842) the property passed down through the female line since the son, also named James, had no heirs. It passed first to Mary Anne, who was unmarried, and then to her sister’s son, Samuel Sanderson Winter (1834-1912), whose parents were Lucy Sanderson and Samuel Winter (1796-1867) of Agher, County Meath. Samuel Sanderson Winter married Ann, daughter of John Armytage Nicholson of Balrath Bury, County Meath (we came across this family before as Enniscoe in County Mayo was inherited by Jack Nicholson, of the Balrath Bury family). Samuel Sanderson Winter’s son died young so Cloverhill passed to the son of his sister, Elizabeth Ann Winter, who married George Nugent Purdon (1819-1910). This is how the house passed to the Purdon family.

The house passed to their son, John James Purdon, who died childless so it passed to his nephew, John Nugent Purdon, son of Charles Sanderson Purdon. John Nugent Purdon sold Cloverhill demesne  ca 1958 to Mr Thomas Mee. [3] 

3. Farnham Estate, Farnham Estate, Cavan – hotel

https://www.farnhamestate.ie

*Farnham Estate, County Cavan, photograph courtesy of hotel Instagram page.*

*Farnham House, photograph from National Library of Ireland, flickr constant commons.*

David Hicks tells us in his Irish Country Houses, A Chronicle of Change that the wing of Farnham House that survives today is the truncated section of a much larger mansion. Dry rot led to demolition of a substantial section of the Maxwell ancestral home. The family’s connection was severed in 2001.

The estate was granted by King James I to the Waldron family in 1613. Henry Waldron named the estate after his wife’s family. The Waldrons built a castle here in 1620.

The website gives us a history of the estate:

“1664- The Waldrons of Dromellan Castle (early name of Farnham House) were forced to sell the estate to settle gambling debts. Bought by Bishop Robert Maxwell, thus beginning the Maxwell family connection that was to continue for more than 330 years (family motto is Je suis prêt – I am ready’).”

*Farnham Estate drawing room, County Cavan, photograph courtesy of hotel Instagram page.*

Mark Bence-Jones adds in his  A Guide to Irish Country Houses (1988, p. 123):

“…A few years later the estate was sold to Robert Maxwell [1598-1672], Bishop of Kilmore, whose cathedral was nearby. The Bishop’s son, John Maxwell, built a new house here ca 1700, which was improved ca 1780 by Barry Maxwell, 3rd Lord Farnham and first Earl of Farnham of 2nd creation, who added a library designed by James Wyatt.“

Timothy William Ferres tells us of the Maxwell lineage:

John Maxwell of Farnham, High Sheriff of County Cavan, 1674, who dsp 1713, was succeeded by his nephew, The Reverend Doctor Robert Maxwell; who dsp 1737 and was succeeded by his cousin, John Maxwell (1687-1759), High Sheriff of County Cavan, 1757, MP for County Cavan 1727-56, who was elevated to the peerage, in 1756, in the dignity of Baron Farnham, of Farnham, County Cavan.

In 1719 he married Judith, heiress of James Barry (1660-1725) of Newtownbarry, County Wexford. Their son Robert succeeded as 2nd Baron Maxwell, and he was created Viscount in 1760 and 1st Earl of Farnham in 1763. Robert married Henrietta Cantillon, the widow of William Matthias Stafford-Howard, 3rd Earl of Stafford.

*Henrietta Diana née Cantillon (1728–1761), Dowager Countess of Stafford by Allan Ramsay courtesy of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum;* http://www.artuk.org/artworks/henrietta-diana-17281761-dowager-countess-of-stafford-85788 *She married, first, William Matthias Stafford-Howard, 3rd Earl of Stafford, and after his death, Robert Maxwell, 2nd Baron and 1st Earl of Farnham.*

See also the wonderful book by Melanie Hayes, The Best Address in Town: Henrietta Street, Dublin and its First Residents 1720-80, published by Four Courts Press, Dublin 8, 2020. She has a chapter on John Maxwell, (1687-1759) 1^st Baron Farnham.

The Farnham Estate website tells us that Robert was a keen agriculturalist and agent of improvement who put the most technologically and scientifically advanced agricultural methods into action. The website tells us:

“In 1777, noted agricultural scientist and topographer Arthur Young said of Farnham; “…upon the whole Farnham is one of the finest places that I have ever seen in Ireland; the water wood and hill are all in great stile and abound in a variety of capabilities. The woodland plantations of Derrygid coupled with the lakes of Farnham and Derrygid were noted by Young who described them as being ‘uncommonly beautiful; extensive and have a shore extremely varied.” In the 1770’s, approximately 100 labourers were employed in maintaining the landscape at Farnham.“

*Walk on Farnham Estate, Cavan, Sept 2013*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

Robert 1st Earl and Henrietta’s daughter Henrietta married Denis Daly (1747-1791) of Dunsandle, County Galway.

*Denis Daly (1747-1791) of Dunsandle, County Galway, attributed to Joshua Reynolds, courtesy of Christies 2012 Mount Congreve the London Sale.*

The first Earl’s son John predeceased him and didn’t marry, so the 1st Earl’s brother Barry succeeded him. Barry Maxwell was a barrister and MP for County Cavan and later for Armagh city. When his mother Judith née Barry died in 1771 he must have inherited as he changed his name to Barry Barry. Then when his elder brother Robert Maxwell, 1st and last Earl of Farnham, died in 1779, he inherited and his name was changed back to Barry Maxwell, and he succeeded as the 3rd Baron Farnham, of Farnham, Co. Cavan. He was created 1st Earl of Farnham, Co. Cavan (Ireland, of the 2nd creation) on 22 June 1785.

*Portrait of Barry Maxwell (1723-1800) 1st Earl Farnham by George Romney courtesy of* www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4507942 *He was the son of John Maxwell, 1st Baron Farnham* *and Judith Barry.*

When Robert 1st Earl’s first wife Henrietta died, he married secondly, in 1771, Sarah, only daughter of Pole Cosby, of Stradbally Hall, Queen’s County, and sister of Lord Sydney, but they had no further children. Sarah had been previously married to Arthur Upton (d. 1763) of Castle Upton, County Antrim. After her second marriage she was known as the Countess of Farnham.

*The Countess of Farnham, probably Sarah née Cosby, wife of Robert Maxwell, 1st and last Earl of Farnham* *(of the first creation), painted by Hugh Douglas Hamilton, courtesy of Sothebys 2001.*

The first Earl had another brother Most Reverend Henry Maxwell (d. 1798), who became Bishop of Dromore and Bishop of Meath.

*Right Reverend Henry Maxwell (d. 1798) Bishop of Meath, Irish school courtesy of National Trust Castle Ward*

Reverend Henry Maxwell married Margaret Foster, daughter of Rt. Hon. Anthony Foster Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer between 1766 and 1777, who lived in Collon in County Meath.

Their sons became respectively John Maxwell Barry Maxwell (1767-1838) 5th Baron Farnham and Reverend Henry Maxwell (d. 1838) 6th Baron Farnham, and the Baronetcy continued to their descendants. The Earldom was recreated for the elder brother Barry, 3rd Baron (1723-1800), who obtained a viscountcy and earldom, in 1780, as Viscount Farnham, and, in 1785, Earl of Farnham (2nd creation).

*The dining room at Farnham House. Pub Orig* Country Life 02/01/2003, volume CXCVII. *Photographer Paul Barker.* *With portrait of* *Right Reverend Henry Maxwell (d. 1798) Bishop of Meath*.

The three brothers, Robert 1st Earl, Barry 1st Earl of second creation and Reverend Henry had a sister, Anne, who married Owen Wynn (1723-1789) of Hazelwood, County Sligo.

Barry Maxwell, 1st Earl of Farnham served as MP and Privy Counsellor. He married first Margaret King of Drewstown, County Meath, who gave birth to their son and heir John James Maxwell (1759-1823) later 2nd Earl of Farnham. Barry married secondly Grace, daughter of Arthur Burdett. His son did not have children and the Earldom and Viscountcy became extinct on his death.

*Photograph of Farnham House from* Country Life, A Chinese Chippendale chair in the hall at Farnham House. Pub Orig CL 02/01/2003, volume CXCVII. *Photographer Paul Barker.*

The website tells us of the building of Farham:

“In 1795, Earl of Farnham Barry [Barry Maxwell (1723-1800)] asked James Wyatt, one of the most fashionable architects of that time, to draw designs for three ceilings. Although there is no evidence of them being installed at Farnham, these plans are now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Some work was undertaken by Wyatt though around the 1795 timeframe and to this day, a library case where his design has been noted stands inserted in an alcove on the staircase landing.

“In the early 1800s, a coat of arms was incorporated onto the façade of the house. Comprised of the arms of the Maxwell and Barry family, they are supported by two bucks, with a buck’s head on top of the Baron’s coronet as the crest.

Barry’s son James John Barry 2nd Earl engaged Francis Johnston to build. The website tells us:

“In 1802 Francis Johnston, architect for Dublin’s famous GPO building, was engaged to complete an extension of the existing house to provide an edifice to the southwest garden front. This is the latter day surviving Farnham House, which is now incorporated as the centrepiece of the hotel complex design.“

Mark Bence-Jones describes the house as built by Francis Johnston:

“Johnston produced a house consisting of two somewhat conservative three storey ranges at right angles to one another; one of them, which incorporated part of the earlier house, including Wyatt’s library, having a front of eight bays, with a die over a two bay breakfront, and a single-storey Doric portico; the other having a front of nine bays with a three bay pedimented breakfront; prolonged by one bay in the end of the adjoining range. The interior was spacious but restrained, the principal rooms having simple ovolo or dentil cornices. Elliptical staircase hall, with simple geometrical design in the ceiling; stone stair with elegant metal balustrade.“

*The staircase at Farnham House designed by Francis Johnston.* *Pub Orig* Country Life 02/01/2003, volume CXCVII. *Photographer Paul Barker.*

*Farnham Estate, County Cavan, photograph courtesy hotel.*

The website continues: “In the depths of the earth beneath Farnham lies a myriad of passages. These passages were constructed to allow food, supplies and heating fuels to be brought into the mansion house by the servants. Such underground passages kept the servants out of sight from Lords and Ladies Farnham and their guests and no doubt were used by the servants to enjoy some activities of their own, which they would not have wanted Lord and Lady Farnham to witness!“

When James John died childless in 1823, a cousin, John Maxwell Barry Maxwell (1767-1838), son of Rt. Rev. Henry Maxwell, became 5th Baron Farnham.

The website tells us: “In 1823, a new system of management for the Farnham estate was introduced, employing persons as inspectors of districts, buildings, bog and land and a moral agent! The main duties of the moral agent were to encourage the tenantry to adhere to the main principles contained in Lord Farnham’s address to them. These included: keeping of the Sabbath, responsibility towards the education of their children, imbuing within their children a strict moral sense and to ensure that they abstained from all evil habits, including cursing and the distillation or consumption of alcohol.“

The 5th Baron Farnham died childless in 1838, so his brother Reverend Henry Maxwell became the 6th Baron Farnham. He married Anne Butler, daughter of the 3nd Earl of Carrick. Their son Henry became the 7th Baron Farnham (1799-1868). Their daughter Sarah Juliana married Alexander Saunderson of Castle Saunderson. The other sons Somerset and James became 8th and 9th Baron and then the son of their brother Richard Thomas Maxwell, Somerset Henry Maxwell, became the 10th Baron.

Mark Bence-Jones tells us: “In 1839, 7th Lord Farnham (a distinguished scholar and genealogist who, with his wife, was burnt to death 1868 when the Irish mail train caught fire at Abergele, North Wales), enlarged the house by building new offices in the re-entrant between the two ranges. Also probably at this time the main rooms were changed around; the library becoming the dining room, and losing any Wyatt decoration it might have had; Wyatt’s bookcases being moved to the former drawing room.“

*The drawing room at Farnham House. The portrait to the right is of thr Rt Hon John, 5th Baron Farnham by Sir Thomas Lawrence.* *Pub Orig* Country Life 02/01/2003, volume CXCVII. Photographer Paul Barker.

*Photograph of Farnham House from* Country Life, *Pub Orig Country Life 02/01/2003*, volume CXCVII. *Photographer Paul Barker.*

*Farnham Estate, County Cavan, photograph courtesy Bennett Contruction website.*

Somerset Henry Maxwell, 10th Baron, married Florence Jane Taylour, daughter of Thomas Taylour, 3rd Marquess of Headfort. Their son, Arthur Kenlis Maxwell (1879-1957), became 11th Baron in 1900.

The website continues the timeline:

“1911- Records mention a staff of 11: butler, cook, governess, nursery maid, nurse, footman, ladies’ maid and several house and kitchen maids. Some 3,000 of Farnham’s then 24,000 statute acres were sold off.

“1914-1918- Lord Farnham rejoined the military; he was captured, imprisoned and released after the Armistice. His political efforts failed to prevent the exclusion of three counties from the jurisdiction of Northern Ireland.

“1921-1931- Lord and Lady Farnham left for England. They emptied the house of its furniture, due to widespread burning and looting of country houses. The 1923 Land Act would ultimately end landlordism in Ireland: by 1931, Lord Farnham retained only his demesne lands at Farnham, which he operated in a more intensive fashion in order to increase much-needed revenue.“

Arthur Kenlis Maxwell managed to escape from a prisoner of war camp during the first world war. He and his family returned to Farnham estate in 1926 and began to renovate the house. His son and heir died in the second world war aged just 37, and the title passed to his grandson, Barry Owen Somerset Maxwell. Barry Owen’s mother died in a plane crash when he was just 21.

“1950- Economic decline had by now affected the demesne. A Farnham Tintorreto ’Christ Washing the Feet of His Disciples’ was sold in 1955; the Canadian National Art Gallery in Ontario paid some $100,000. 1956- Barry Owen Somerset Maxwell, 12th Baron Farnham became the last member of the Maxwell family to reside at Farnham House.

“In 1961, dry rot was discovered within the Farnham house and in an attempt to alleviate it, the oldest part of the house looking across the parkland, and the additions made to the house in 1839, were demolished.”

Mark Bence-Jones describes the changes: “Ca 1960, the present Lord Farnham, finding the house to be badly infested with dryrot, demolished the range where the entrance had formerly been situated, as well as the additions of 1839; and remodelled the surviving Johnston range to form a house in itself; being assisted in the work by Mr Philip Cullivan. The pedimented front is still the garden front, as it was formerly; the back of the range being now the entrance front, with the portico re-erected at one end of it; so that the entrance is directly into the staircase hall. The surviving range contains Johnston’s dining room, which has been the drawing room since 19C rearrangement; as well as the boudoir and the former study, now the dining room. One of Wyatt’s bookcases is now in the alcove of the former staircase window. The demesne of Farnham has long been famous for its beauty; a landscape of woods, distant mountain views and lakes, which are part of the great network of loughs and islands stretching southwards from Upper Lough Erne.“

*The entrance front of Farnham House, as remodelled in 1961. In an attempt to alleviate dry rot, the oldest part of the house was demolished. Pub Orig* Country Life 02/01/2003, volume CXCVII. Photographer Paul Barker.

The portico that was on the original entrance front was moved to the rear of the garden front to form a new entrance when part of the house was demolished in 1942. It is now incorporated into the interior of Farnham Estate hotel. *Photograph courtesy hotel.*

The website continues:

“1995 – 2001 – Lord Farnham abandoned farming and leased the agricultural lands to local farmers. One of his last acts on the Farnham demesne was the planting of a group of trees to mark the New Millennium. Lord Farnham died in March 2001 and his wife, Diana, Baroness Farnham now resides in England where she is a current Lady in Waiting to Queen Elizabeth II. Farnham House estate was sold to a local entrepreneur who developed it into a hotel resort.

“Present Day – The resort is owned by Mr. Thomas Röggla and along with his team at the resort, every effort is made to provide genuine hospitality in this new phase in the evolution of this magnificent location. Thus, the indelible-mark made by the Maxwell family, as far back as 1664 on the landscape of Farnham Estate will continue to be appreciated by future generations.”

The multimillion refurbishment and extension was headed by architect Des Mahon of Gilroy McMahon, who had previously worked on the National Museum at Collins Barracks and the Hugh Lane Gallery extension.

*As former Radisson Blu, Farnham Estate, Cavan 2013.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Farnham estate.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

4. Killinagh House, McNean Court, Blacklion, County Cavan – whole house rental and a lodge

*Killinagh House, County Cavan, built 1827, a former Glebe House, three-bay two-storey over basement.* *Photograph courtesy of Killinagh House facebook page*.

https://www.discoverireland.ie/accommodation/killinagh-house

and Killinagh Lodge, https://killinaghlodge.com/facilities.html on the grounds of Killinagh House:

“Killinagh Lodge is situated within 1 mile from the village of Blacklion in the picturesque grounds of Killinagh House, a former Church of Ireland manse dating back to Georgian times.

“Set in the courtyard, Killinagh Lodge offers luxurious, purpose built, self catering accommodation on the shores of Lough MacNean. Boasting its own private access to the Lough, Killinagh Lodge is set in one of the most beautiful and tranquil locations where you can enjoy the grounds of the wider Estate.“

The house website tells us:

“Killinagh House is a unique, Georgian Country House, situated in the heart of the Marble Arch Global Geo Park, in west County Cavan. The perfect getaway for peace and relaxation. We cater for customer comforts, special requests and reasonable prices.

“The perfect retreat to unwind and recharge the batteries. Peaceful and quiet with relaxed garden views. Killinagh House is at the heart of Marble Arch Global Geo Park, ideally located for outdoor pursuits, including golf, fishing and nature walks.”

*Killinagh House, County Cavan,Photograph from National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.*

The National Inventory further describes it: “Roughcast rendered lime-washed walls with string course above basement. Three-over-six timber sash windows to first floor and six-over-six to ground floor all with stone sills and timber internal window shutters. Front door set in smooth-rendered segmental-arched recess, having four-panelled door in classical surround of slender Doric pilasters, metope frieze and cobweb fanlight above. Basement well to east, north and west side. Stone steps leading to entrance with recent metal railings.“

5. Lismore House, Co Cavan – was a ruin. Place to stay: Peacock House on the demesne

Lismore House, Co Cavan – restored house (believed to have been the agent’s house) and a place to stay, Peacock House, available on airbnb. Of the original Lismore House, attributed to Edward Lovett Pearce (1699-1733), only the two wings and tower survive.

https://www.airbnb.ie/rooms/27674042?source_impression_id=p3_1646316758_vwGIKKMTwiWKK%2FB7

*The Peacock House, workers cottage on Lismore Desmese, County Cavan. Photograph courtesy airbnb website.*

The airbnb entry tells us of The Peacock House: “The Peacock House is located within the Lismore Demesne. It was once the dairy and workers cottage. From the 1980s onwards it was used to house peacocks, giving the cottage its name. After being left dormant for 80 years it was lovingly restored.” It has two bedrooms.

*Lismore House, County Cavan, Photograph from National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.* The Inventory tells us it is: “Symmetrical pair of detached six-bay two-storey flanking wings to former Lismore House, built c.1730, having advanced outermost end bays to each block, single-bay two-stage flanking tower formerly attached to south corner of house having single-bay extension to north…Rubble stone walls having red brick quoins, eaves course, and string course. Red brick surrounds to oculi at first floor over round-headed ground-floor windows and central segmental-headed door.“

It was probably built for Thomas Nesbitt, (c. 1672-1750), of Grangemore, County Westmeath, High Sheriff of County Cavan, 1720, MP for Cavan Borough, 1715-50 [4].

The house was restored by Richard and Sonya Beer. [5]

Mark Bence-Jones writes about Lismore House in  A Guide to Irish Country Houses (1988), p. 186:

“Originally the seat of the Nesbitts, passed to the Burrowes through the marriage of Mary [Mary Anne, born 1826, daughter of John Nesbitt and Elizabeth Tatam] Nesbitt to James Burrowes [1820-1860, of Stradone House, County Cavan] in 1854; Lismore passed to the Lucas-Clements family through the marriage of Miss Rosamund Burrowes to the late Major Shuckburgh Lucas-Clements in 1922.“

*Lismore House, County Cavan, Photograph from National Inventory of Architectural Heritage*: “Blind lunette and oculus to gables facing former house.”

Mary Anne and James had a son, Thomas Cosby Burrowes (1856-1925). He married in 1885 Anna Frances, daughter of Richard Thomas Maxwell, and grand-daughter of the sixth Baron Farnham (of Farnham Estate), by whom he has issue two daughters. One daughter, Rosamund Charlotte Cosby Burrowes, of Lismore, married, in 1922, Major Shuckburgh Upton Lucas-Clements in 1922. [6] The main house was vacated c.1870 when the family relocated to Lismore Lodge, formerly the agent’s house.

Mark Bence-Jones continues: “Having stood empty for many years, the house fell into ruin and was demolished ca 1952, with the exception of the “tower” wings. The office wings are now used as farm buildings, and the family now live in the former agent’s house, an early house with a Victorian wing and other additions.”

*Lismore House, County Cavan, Photograph from National Inventory of Architectural Heritage*: “Tower having mansard slate roof, rubble stone walls with cut-stone platbands, cut-stone surrounds to window openings, round-headed openings with raised keystone and impost blocks to former ground floor, and segmental-headed openings to former basement level.”

6. Olde Post Inn, Cloverhill, County Cavan – accommodation, restaurant and wedding venue

https://www.theoldepostinn.co m

The website tells us: “The Olde Post inn was built in the 1800s. It opened as a post office in 1884, grocery & residence. It had a number of owners and was for some time derelict before it was renovated into a restaurant with accommodation in early 1990s. It has been run as a restaurant since and was taken over by Gearoid & Tara Lynch in November 2002. Since then it has gone under further refurbishment and been extended to include two Hampton Conservatories.“

*The Old Post Inn, County Cavan, photograph courtesy of website.*

8. Virginia Park Lodge, Co Cavan – wedding venue

WWW.VIRGINIAPARKLODGE.COM

*Virginia Park Lodge, County Cavan, photograph courtesy website.*

This was formerly the hunting lodge of the Taylours, Marquess Headfort, who also owned Headfort House in County Meath. It was built for the First Earl of Bective, Thomas Taylour (1724-1795), son of Thomas Taylor 2nd Baronet Taylor, of Kells, County Meath, who served as MP for Kells and as a Privy Counsellor in Ireland. His mother was Sarah Graham from Platten, County Meath. Thomas the 1st Earl of Bective also served as Privy Counsellor. He married Jane Rowley, from Summerhill, County Meath.

*Thomas Taylour (1724-1795) 1st Earl of Bective wearing the star and sash of the Order of St. Patrick by Gilbert Stuart and studio, courtesy of Sotheby’s*. *He built Virginia Park Lodge.*

*Headfort, County Meath, photograph courtesy of Irish Georgian Society.*

It was their one of their younger sons, Reverend Henry Edward Taylour (1768-1852), who lived at Ardgillan Castle in Dublin. Their son Thomas the second earl became the 1st Marquess of Headfort, and added to Virginia Park Lodge and imported plants to create the parkland surrounding the Lodge.

*Thomas Taylour (1757-1829) 1st Marquess of Headfort by Pompeo Batoni courtesy of Google Art Project* Public Domain, https//:commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29800995

*Ardgillan Castle, Dublin.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

The Marquess of Headfort married Mary Quin, from Quinsborough, County Clare. The Lodge passed through the family to the 4th Marquess, Geoffrey Thomas Taylour, son of the second wife of the 3rd Marquess. He married a music hall star, Rosie Boote, which scandalised society, but they moved to the Lodge and lived happily and had many children.

The Lodge was bought by chef Richard Corrigan in 2014, and he has undertaken much work to restore it to its former glory.

*************************

[1] 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.

[2] https://theirishaesthete.com/2015/09/09/a-mere-shell/

[3]  see Timothy William Ferres: http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2013/09/cloverhill-house.html

[4] ibid.

[5] https://www.anglocelt.ie/news/roundup/articles/2018/06/17/4157489-bringing-lismore-back-from-the-dead/

[6] https://nisbetts.co.uk/archives/nesalx.htm

Text © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

Accommodation and wedding venues in County Kerry

by jenjunebugMarch 6, 2026March 6, 2026

On the map above:

blue: places to visit that are not section 482

purple: section 482 properties

red: accommodation

yellow: less expensive accommodation for two

orange: “whole house rental” i.e. those properties that are only for large group accommodations or weddings, e.g. 10 or more people.

green: gardens to visit

grey: ruins

donation

Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!

€15.00

Kerry:

Places to Stay, County Kerry:

1. Ard na Sidhe Country House, Killarney, County Kerry – luxury 4* hotel

2. Ballyseede Castle/ Ballyseedy (Tralee Castle), Tralee, County Kerry –hotel

3. Barrow House, Barrow West, Ardfert, Tralee, Kerry, V92 Y270 – B&B or exclusive rental

4. Cahernane (or Cahirnane) House, Killarney, County Kerry – hotel

5. Carrig Country House, County Kerry

6. Dromquinna Estate, County Kerry – self catering in adjunct buildings, weddings

7. Glanleam, Valentia Island, County Kerry – accommodation

8. Keel House, Keel, Castlemaine, Co. Kerry V93 A6 Y3 – section 482 accommodation

9. Kells Bay House & Garden, Kells, Caherciveen, County Kerry

10. Muxnaw Lodge, Kenmare, County Kerry

11. Parknasilla Resort and Spa, Kenmare, County Kerry

Whole House Rental and wedding venues in County Kerry:

1. Ballywilliam House, Kinsale, County Kerry – whole house rental, up to 16

2. Churchtown House, Killarney, County Kerry – whole house rental (sleeps 12)

3.  Coolclogher House, Killarney, County Kerry – luxury vacation rental manor (up to 14 people)

4. Dromquinna Estate, County Kerry – self catering in adjunct buildings, weddings

Places to Stay, County Kerry:

1. Ard Na Sidhe, Killarney, County Kerry luxury 4* hotel

https://www.ardnas idhe.com

“Ard na Sidhe Country House is a place of enchantment and wondrous luxury, an intimate hideaway set on 32 acres of natural woodland on the shores of Caragh Lake.

“Inviting lounges with an open log fire, intimate dining and 18 luxurious guest rooms, it really is possible to feel a world away in this magical gem. Come and share the dream.

“When you arrive at Ard na Sidhe Country House Hotel you are instantly transported to a stunning world away. Translated as ‘the Hill of the Fairie,’ the majestic panorama of this four star lake hotel on Caragh Lake, Killorglin in County Kerry envelops you completely. A luxurious country manor house built by Lady Gordon in 1913, Ard na Sidhe is highly regarded as one of the best four star hotels in Ireland.

“The ethereal architecture and surrounds of this leading country manor house hotel provide an exquisite ambience that make it a landmark destination for secluded Irish accommodation. Victorian styling offers an enthralling sense of history and heritage set against the Ring of Kerry’s breathtaking scenery. Ard na Sidhe’s sumptuous décor and award winning gardens make it a blissful destination for adventure, relaxation and romance in The Reeks District and near the Lakes of Killarney. From the hotel’s doorstop, you’ll feel the heartbeat of this famed region where inspiring tranquility awakens you and modern comforts shroud you at every turn.“

2. Ballyseede Castle, Tralee, Co. Kerry – section 482, also a hotel for accommodation

www.ballyseedecastle.com
Open dates in 2026: Mar 14-Dec 31, 9am-11pm
Fee: Free to visit.

We treated ourselves to a stay in 2023. See my entry: https://irishhistorichouses.com/2023/09/02/ballyseede-castle-ballyseede-tralee-co-kerry/

*Ballyseede Castle, County Kerry.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

3. Barrow House, Barrow West, Ardfert, Tralee, Kerry, V92 Y270 – B&B or exclusive rental

The website https://www.barrowhouse.ie/ tells us the House and Gardens are available for bed & breakfast guests or as an exclusive venue for corporate functions, private group rentals and intimate, small scale weddings. They are members of the Historic Houses of Ireland association, which tells us of the history of the house:

“Nestling on the shore of stunning Barrow Harbour with views of the glorious Slieve Mish Mountains, Barrow House in Co. Kerry has a rich history of ownership from knights to noblemen and smugglers.

“Built in around 1715, it possibly incorporates the fabric of an earlier house from during or after the Cromwellian period (1649-57). The sublime Georgian front elevation of Barrow House was added as part of the structural rebuild and enlargement work carried out at some point before 1760, while a second sympathetic addition was made at the rear towards the end of the 1800s. The house has changed little over the years. In fact, its still-visible four-feet thick internal walls, two gable end chimney stacks, original interior features, handcrafted ceiling mouldings and sash windows with antique glass exude the restrained, rational elegance typical of a noble dwelling.

“Alongside is a detached seven-bay single- and two-storey former boathouse, c. 1800, on a U-shaped plan. Barrow’s lands were originally part of the 6,000 acres granted by Elizabeth 1 in 1587 to Sir Edward Denny for his loyalty following the Desmond Rebellion. Nearby are the ruins of an ancient church referred to in Papal documents 1302-07 as “Ecclesia of Barun” or the Church of Barun (Barrow).

“Over the centuries, the house and the estate were passed on through marriage or by sale to different owners, including the notorious smuggler, John Collis. The smuggling of wines and tobacco was prevalent in Kerry during the 17th and 18th centuries in particular and Barrow Harbour was a natural rendezvous with its caves and narrow inlets. In the first half of the 20th century, the Knights of Kerry, the Fitzgerald family, affectionately referred to Barrow House as their summerhouse. In more recent years, it was purchased by an American, Maureen Erde, who published a popular account of running it as a golfers’ guesthouse entitled “Help me, I’m an Irish Inn Keeper”. After she sold it in 1999, the house was restored as a resort estate, flourishing for some years before enduring a period of neglect and abandonment. Barrow House’s current owner, Daragh McDonagh, purchased it in 2016 and has lovingly restored it to welcome guests.“

4. Cahernane (or Cahirnane) House, Killarney, Co Kerry – hotel

https://www.cahernane.com

Cahernane House, County Kerry, photograph from National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, which tells us it is a seven-bay two-storey over part-raised basement Ruskinesque Gothic Revival style country house with dormer attic, dated 1877, possibly incorporating fabric of earlier house. Designed by James Franklin Fuller.

The website tells us:

“Beautifully situated on a private estate on the edge of Killarney National Park, our luxury four-star hotel is located just twenty minutes’ walk from Killarney town centre. The entrance to the hotel is framed by a tunnel of greenery which unfurls to reveal the beauty of this imposing manor house, constructed in 1877 and formerly home to the Herbert Family.

“Cahernane House Hotel exudes a sense of relaxation and peacefulness where you can retreat from the hectic pace of life into a cocoon of calmness and serenity. The only sounds you may hear are the lambs bleating or the birds singing.

“Cahernane House was built as the family residence of Henry Herbert in 1877 at a cost of £5,992. The work was carried out by Collen Brothers Contractors. The original plans by architect James Franklin Fuller, whose portfolio included Ballyseedy Castle, Dromquinna Manor and the Parknasilla Hotel, was for a mansion three times the present size.“

5. Carrig Country House, County Kerry – B&B

https://carrighouse.com

The website tells us: “If you are looking for the perfect hideaway which offers peace, tranquility, plus a wonderful restaurant on the lake, Carrig House on the Ring of Kerry and Wild Atlantic Way is the place for you. The beautifully appointed bedrooms, drawing rooms and The Lakeside Restaurant, overlooking Caragh Lake and surrounded by Kerry’s Reeks District mountains, rivers and lakes create the perfect getaway.

“Carrig House was built originally circa 1850 as a hunting lodge, it was part of the Blennerhassett Estate. It has been mainly owned and used by British Aristocracy who came here to hunt and fish during the different seasons.

“The house was purchased by Senator Arthur Rose Vincent in the early 20th. Century. Vincent moved here after he and his wealthy Californian father in law Mr. Bowers Bourne gave Muckross House & Estate in Killarney to the Irish Government for a wonderful National Park.

“Bourne had originally purchased Muckross House from the Guinness family and gave it to his daughter Maud as a present on her marriage to Arthur Rose Vincent. However, Maud died at a young age prompting Bourne and Vincent to donate the estate to the Irish State.

“Vincent remarried a French lady and lived at Carrig for about 6 years, they then moved to the France. The country house history doesn’t end there, Carrig has had many other illustrious owners, such as Lady Cuffe , Sir Aubrey Metcalfe, who retired as the British Viceroy in India and Lord Brocket Snr, whose main residence was Brocket Hall in England.

“Frank & Mary Slattery, the current owners purchased the house in 1996. They are the first Irish owners of Carrig since it was originally built and have renovated and meticulously restored the Victorian residence to its former glory.

“For over two decades Frank & Mary have operated a very successful Country House & Restaurant and have won many rewards for their hospitality and their Lakeside Restaurant. They are members of Ireland’s prestigious Blue Book.

“Carrig House has 17 bedrooms, each individually decorated in period style with antique furniture. Each room enjoys spectacular views of Caragh Lake and the surrounding mountains. All rooms are en suite with bath and shower. Those who like to indulge can enjoy the sumptuous comfort of the Presidential Suite with its own separate panoramic sitting room, male and female dressing rooms and bathroom with Jacuzzi bath.

“The restaurant is wonderfully situated overlooking the lake. The atmosphere is friendly, warm and one of total relaxation. The menu covers a wide range of the freshest Irish cuisine.

“Irish trout and salmon from the lake and succulent Kerry lamb feature alongside organic vegetables. Interesting selections of old and new world wines are offered to compliment dinner whilst aperitifs and after-dinner drinks are served in the airy drawing room beside open peat fires.

“Within the house, chess, cards and board games are available in the games room.“

6. Dromquinna Estate, Co Kerry – self catering in adjunct buildings, weddings

https://www.dromquinnamanor.com

Drumquinna Manor, photograph from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, which tells us that the house is an eleven-bay two-storey Jacobean Revival style country house with dormer attic, built c. 1890, designed by James Franklin Fuller.

It was constructed for Sir John Columb around 1889-90. The website tells us:

“There are many elements to Dromquinna Manor. Firstly it is a stunning waterside estate unlike anything else. Set on 40 acres of parkland planted in the 1800s, the Estate offers an abundance of activities and facilities.

“The Manor, dating from the 1890s, is dedicated to catering for Weddings and events. The Oak Room is the heart of the Manor and is classical in every sense. Stylish beyond words with views of Kenmare Bay celebrations here are truly memorable. The Drawing Rooms and Terrace all make for a very special and memorable occassion for all. It is a real family and friends party as opposed to a hotel ballroom function.”

7. Glanleam, Valentia Island, Co Kerry – accommodation

https://hiddenireland.com/house-pages/glanleam-house/

*Glanleam, County Kerry, photograph from National Inventory.*

The website tells us:

“Glanleam was built as a linen mill in 1775 and later converted into a house by the Knight of Kerry, who planted the magnificent sub-tropical gardens. In 1975 Meta Kreissig bought the estate which had declined for 50 years. She rescued the house, restored and enlarged the garden and, with her daughter Jessica, made it a delightful place to stay, with a mixture of antique and contemporary furniture and an extensive library. The setting looking out over the harbour is magical. There are green fields, a beach and a lighthouse, and Valentia Island is connected to the Kerry mainland by a car ferry and a bridge.

“Glanleam was converted into a country house by the 19th Knight of Kerry (1808-1889). His father had developed the famous Valentia slate quarry (the slates were especially in demand for billiard tables, then very much in vogue). The Knight, an enthusiastic botanist, recognised the unique potential of the island’s microclimate for sub-tropical plants and laid out a fifty acre garden, using species just introduced from South America. His efforts won him great acclaim at the time and today his gardens have matured into dense woodlands.

“Together Meta Kreissig and her daughter Jessica have refurbished the house, furnishing it with an amalgam of antique and modern pieces, and opened it to guests. There is an extensive library, several of the rooms have their original Valentia slate chimneypieces, and the bedrooms have luxurious Bonasck designer bathrooms. The gardens have also benefited from their attention. One recent visitor described the ‘radial planting of vegetables’ in the centre of the walled kitchen garden as ‘a jewel’.“

8. Keel House, Keel, Castlemaine, Co. Kerry V93 A6 Y3 – section 482 accommodation

(Tourist Accommodation Facility)

Open for accommodation in 2026: April 1- Oct 15 2026

https://w ww.airbnb.ie/rooms/763099850152850482?source_impression_id=p3_1741194866_P3bysbQjjoOVpVMf

9. Kells Bay House & Garden, Kells, Caherciveen, Co Kerry, V23 EP48 – accommodation and gardens

www.kellsbay.ie

*Kells Bay House and Gardens, Co Kerry. Photo: Valerie O’Sullivan, 2015 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool* (see [1])

See my entry, but note tha in 2026 it is no longer listed on the Revenue Section 482.

https://irishhistorichouses.com/2023/09/13/kells-bay-house-garden-kells-caherciveen-county-kerry/

The website tells us: “Kells Bay Gardens is one of Europe’s premier horticultural experiences, containing a renowned collection of Tree-ferns and other exotic plants growing in its unique microclimate created by the Gulf Stream. It is the home of ‘The SkyWalk’ Ireland’s longest rope-bridge.“

*The rope bridge crosses the river. Kells Bay, March 2023.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

10. Muxnaw Lodge, Kenmare, Co Kerry – accommodation

https://www.muxnawlodgekenmare.com/

The website tells us that Muxnaw Lodge in Kenmare is an attractive Victorian house, with spectacular views of the Kenmare River and Suspension Bridge.

Muxnaw Lodge features in Jane O’Hea O’Keeffe’s Voices from the Great Houses: Cork and Kerry. Mercier Press, Cork, 2013:

p. 242. “John Desmond Calverley Oulton (konwn as Desmond), who was born at Clontarf Castle in 1921, is the son of John George Oulton and Sybil Mona Calverley. He has long and loving memories of his childhood home at Clontarf Castle, where he played with his siblings in truly magical surroundings…”

p. 245. “During his childhood days, Desmond and his family would travel to Kerry each summer to stay at Muxnaw Lodge at Kenmare, which had been owned for generations by his mother’s people, the Calverleys. A lovely gabled building, the Lodge was built in 1801 as a hunting and fishing lodge by the Calverley family. It is situated on a spectacular site overlooking the Kenmare River and is now run as an up-market guesthouse.

The name Muxnaw comes from the Irish Mucsnamh (the swimming place of the pigs). Joyce’s Irish Place Names gives this explanation:

“The natural explanation seems to be that wild pigs were formerly in the habit of crossing… at this narrow point. The Kenmare River narrowed at this point by a spit of land projecting from the northern shore, and here in past ages, wild pigs used to swim across so frequently, and in such numbers, that the place was called Muscnamh or Mucksna.”

p. 245. “Desmond explains the complexities of his family history: “Colonel Vernon, owner of Clontarf Castle, had several daughters and a son. One daughter, Edith Vernon, married Walter Calverley who owned Muxnaw Lodge. They had two children, my mother, Sybil Mona Calverley, and Walter Calverley. Walter was killed during the first world war, and following the death of Walter Calverley Sr, Muxnaw Lodge went to his brother, Charles, who left it to his niece, my mother.” “

11. Parknasilla Resort and Spa, Kenmare, Co Kerry – hotel

*Parknasilla, photograph from National Inventory.*

https://parknasillaresort.com

The website tells us:

“Parknasilla Hotel, nestled in the shadows of the Kerry mountains amidst islands, inlets and hidden beaches.

“Come stay with us and feel the restorative power of nature and marvel in the splendour of the seascape and landscape that surrounds you here.

“The word Parknasilla ,(means the field of Sallys) [perhaps “salix” meaning Willow], for so many is evocative of so many things, tucked away in the corner of a subtropical paradise on the Kenmare river , it’s a place of beauty, of rare plants, islands linked by timber bridges and coral inlets.

“Where the sea, the light and clouds put on a continual show to delight the senses. A place where people come as guests and leave as friends, with its tradition of hospitality stretching back over 125 years. It has hosted royalty, dignitaries, family gatherings and romantic get aways.

“It has provided people with that peaceful haven for them to recalibrate and recharge their batteries but it has also been that place of quite inspiration for writers and artist from George Bernard Shaw to Ceclia Ahern .

“With its winding walks, this 200 acre estate walled gardens, golf course, island dotted bay and spa coupled with a world class resort with a 4 star hotel houses and apartments it provides one with that perfect retreat to suit all tastes.

“It is a place of many layers constantly evolving, seen through the prism of history it’s a place where people create their own be it in the friends formed or memories laid down to last a life time, a place to return to again.”

The website tells us about the history of Parknasilla:

“The origins of the rise of the Great Southern Hotels and Parknasilla arised from the middle of the 19th century. Despite the ravages of the famine, Ireland was seen as an exotic tourism destination and this was particularly true after Queen Victoria’s trip to Ireland and Kerry in 1861, that saw an explosion of tourism from overseas. Railway lines were developed in the mid 1850’s from Dubin to remote towns of Killarney, Dingle, Galway and Sligo and later new lines were developed from Killarney for instance to Kenmare.

“In the South of Ireland, the most import railway was the Great Southern and Western Dublin-Cork Link that opened in 1849. Excursions were promoted and resort hotels that were built were to supplied with customers by new railway line. New doors opened for Parknasilla around the start of the 1890’s, when in 1893 Kenmare became the terminuis of the branch line. Subsequently two years earlier, the Derryquin Estate was in 1891 by the Bland family in various lots. Bishop Graves of Limerick who had leased the part of the property for a long period off the Blands, purchased in one lot, and only a short time after sold the property to the Great Southern Hotel Group.

“On the 1st of May 1895, The Southern Hotel Parknasilla opened, the name Parknasilla which means “The field of the willows” began to appear on the maps. It was also refered to as the “Bishops House Hotel, Parknasilla”. The story of the construction of architecture is also an interesting one. Eminent architect James Franklin Fuller was chosen by the Great South and Western Railway, prior 1895. Fuller himself left an incredible legacy behind, he was responsible for the designs of some of Ireland’s most iconic buildings such as Kylemore Abbey, Ashford Castle, Kenmare Park (formely the Great Southern Kenmare) and Farmleigh House.

“Born in 1835 in Kerry, he was the only son of Thomas Harnett Fuller of Glashnacree by his first wife, Frances Diana, a daugther of the Francis Christopher Bland of Parknasilla dn Derryquin Castle. The Blands were indeed synomous with Parknasilla for over two centuries, and new chapter for Parknasilla future now had an incredible link with its past.

“The hotel originally started out in what was known as “The Bishops House”, however a better position was chosen in 1897 for a new purpose buillt hotel. The new Parknasilla Hotel faced down the Kenmare Bay an offered its guests uparelled views of the Atantic Ocean. The facilties of the new hotel included Turkish Hot and Cold Seawater Baths, reading and games rooms and bathrooms on every floor. This decision came after unprecedented demand that well exceed supply.“

The website also tells us about the early owners of the property:

“The Blands of Derryquin Castle Demense were a Yorkshire family, the first of whom Rev. James Bland came to Ireland in 1692 and from 1693 was vicar of Killarney. His son Nathaniel, a judge and vicar general of Ardfert and Aghadoe obtained a grant of land in 1732 which would later become the Derryquin Estate. Derryquin Castle was the third house of the Blands on this land but it is not known when it was first constructed, its earliest written mention being in 1837, however it was indicated some decades earlier by Nimmo in his 1812 map.

*Nathaniel Bland (1695-1760), Vicar General of Diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe, Picture from The Story of Dorothy Jordan by Clare Jerrold, 1914, courtesy of Teresa Stokes, flickr*

“The estate is said to have reached its zenith under the guidance of James Franklin Bland (1799-1863). His nephew the well known architect James Franklin Fuller described the castle estate in his
autobiography as a largely self-supporting community busy with sawmill, carpenter’s shop, forge as well as farming and gardening. A fish pond existed on the water’s edge just below the castle, alternatively described as being self-replenishing with the tide or restocked from a trawler.

“The castle itself consisted of a three-storey main block with a four-storey octagonal tower rising through the centre and a two storey partly curved wing branching off in a western direction. Major renovations were carried out and a significant additional wing running southwest, overlooking the coastline was added sometime between 1895 and 1904.

“James Franklin Bland’s death in 1863 the estate passed to his son Francis Christopher, the estate slipped into decline during the time that he was absent while travelling and preaching on Christian ministry, this being during the years of land agitation in Ireland. Part of the estate was sold in the landed estates court in 1873 but ultimately the decline continued with the remainder being sold in 1891.

“It was bought in 1891 for £30,000 by Colonel Charles Wallace Warden. He had retired in 1895 as Colonel of the Middlesex Regiment (previously known as the 57th) He had seen action in the Zulu War of 1879 and on his death on 9th March 1953 in his 98th year was its oldest survivor. He also fought with the Imperial Yeomanry in the Boer War. As landlord of Derryquin he was highly unpopular with tenants and neighbours alike, his behaviour regularly mentioned in Parliament. After the burning of Derryquin Castle he retired to Buckland-tout-Saints in Devon and acquired an estate there with his payment from the burning of Derryquin.

“However in 2014 Derryquin castle rose again out of the ashes to feature in a novel by Christopher Bland chairman of the BBC who having discovered a photo of his ancestors decided to write the novel Ashes in the Wind. it interweaves the destinies of two families: the Anglo-Irish Burkes and the Catholic Irish Sullivans, beginning in 1919 with a shocking murder and the burning of the Burkes’ ancestral castle in Kerry. Childhood friends John Burke and Tomas Sullivan will find themselves on opposite sides of an armed struggle that engulfs Ireland. Only 60 years later will the triumphant and redemptive finale of this enthralling story be played out.“

Whole House Rental County Kerry:

1. Ballywilliam House, Kinsale, County Kerry – manor rental, up to 16

https://www.airbnb.ie/rooms/45838390?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=db6b1a4c-0b7e-47c0-8005-a126984fd520&source_impression_id=p3_1662206216_56bfjuaKrGTdi%2Buf

8 bedrooms. Minimum 14 nights stay.

2. Churchtown House, Killarney, County Kerry – luxury manor rental (sleeps 12)

www.churchtownhousekerry.com

Mark Bence-Jones tells us (1988):

p. 83. “(Magill/IFR) A three storey 5 bay C18 house. Doorcase with entablature on console brackets flanked by narrow windows. Fine gate piers with pineapples.” [2]

The Hidden Ireland website tells us:

“Churchtown Estate incorporates both Churchtown House and Beaufort Golf Club. The centre piece is the Georgian Churchtown House built in 1740 by Sir Rowland Blennerhassett. In 1860 James MacGillycuddy Magill bought the estate and turned it into one of the largest dairy farms of its time in the south west region.

“James’s grandson and great grandson’s closed the farm in the early nineties and with the help of golf architect Arthur Spring, developed Beaufort Golf Course which was officially opened in 1995. The golf course went through further development in 2007 when it was re-designed by Tom Mackenzie of Mackenzie Ebert – Leading International Golf Architects.

“Churchtown House mixes traditional elegance with country house charm and modern facilities. 2 large elegant reception rooms, roaring fires and quiet reading rooms add to the atmosphere. There is also a home entertainment room and games room in the basement of the house for guests to enjoy.

“The House comfortably sleeps 12 in 6 spacious bedrooms, with a selection of King or twin rooms, with 2 additional ‘pull out’ beds if needed to accommodate 14 guests. All bedrooms have private bathrooms with modern facilities. The kitchen is fully equipped with an Aga and halogen hob, modern appliances and beautiful breakfast table looking out onto the courtyard and Ireland’s highest mountain Carrauntoohil.

“The ruins of 15th century Castle Corr standing on the 15th green was designed as a square tower house. Castle Corr (Castle of the round hill) was built circa 1480 by the MacGillycuddy’s, a branch of the O’Sullivan Mór Clan. Fearing that it would have been taken by the English forces Donagh MacGillycuddy burnt the castle in 1641 but restored it in 1660. Donagh went on to become High Sheriff of Kerry in 1687.

“The castle was abandoned by Donagh’s son Denis in 1696 when he married into the Blennerhassett family in nearby Killorglin Castle. The stone of Castle Corr was taken to build the Georgian manor Churchtown House.“

3. Coolclogher House, Killarney, County Kerry – luxury vacation rental manor (up to 14 people)

https://coolclogherhouse.com/

*Coolclogher, County Kerry, photograph courtesy of Coolclogher House.*

The website tells us: “Coolclogher House built in 1746 is a historic manor house set on a 68 acre walled estate near Killarney on the Ring of Kerry. The house has been restored to an exceptional standard by Mary and Maurice Harnett and has spacious reception rooms, a large conservatory containing a 170 year-old specimen camellia and seven large luxurious bedrooms, each with their own bathroom and with magnificent views over the gardens and pasture to the dramatic mountains of the Killarney National Park.“

The National Inventory tells us that it was renovated in 1855 according to a design by William Atkins.

“This is an excellent base for exploring this ruggedly beautiful county and Coolclogher House specialises in vacation rental for groups of up to 16 people. It is right on the Ring of Kerry and Ross Castle and Killarney town are within walking distance while the Gap of Dunloe and Muckross House are in easy reach. It is the ideal special holiday destination for extended family groups, golfing groups or celebrating that special occasion.

*Yellow sitting room,* *Coolclogher, County Kerry, photograph courtesy of Coolclogher House.*

*Green sitting room, Coolclogher, County Kerry, photograph courtesy of Coolclogher House.*

“The famous Lakes of Killarney, the Killarney National Park, Muckross House and Abbey and Ross Castle are all within easy reach. Killarney is an ideal starting point on the famous Ring of Kerry, going by way of Kenmare, Parknasilla and Waterville, and returning via Cahirciveen, Glenbeigh and Killorglin, but there are also wonderful drives through Beaufort and the Gap of Dunloe, along Caragh Lake to Glencar or, for the more ambitious, a day trip to the Dingle Peninsula or the wonderful Ring of Beara. There are world famous golf courses at Waterville, Tralee and Ballybunion while boat trips on the famous Lakes of Killarney, fishing and horse riding can all be arranged.

“Situated 5 minutes from the historic town of Killarney, which boasts a number of excellent dining options and a wide variety of entertainment, this mansion house is the perfect base for a longer stay and a wonderful location for a family reunion or for celebrating a special occasion.“

*Torc bedroom, Coolclogher, County Kerry, photograph courtesy of Coolclogher House.*

*Green bedroom, Coolclogher, County Kerry, photograph courtesy of Coolclogher House.*

*Fuschia room, Coolclogher, County Kerry, photograph courtesy of Coolclogher House.*

*Garden room, Coolclogher, County Kerry, photograph courtesy of Coolclogher House.*

*Chinese Toile room, Coolclogher, County Kerry, photograph courtesy of Coolclogher House.*

[1] https://www.irelandscontentpool.com/en

[2] 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.

Text © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

Temple House, Ballymote, County Sligo – section 482 group accommodation and wedding venue

by jenjunebugNovember 15, 2025February 24, 2026

www.templehouse.ie

Tourist Accommodation Facility – not open to the public

www.templehouse.ie

Open for accommodation in 2026: Apr 1 – Nov 15

donation

Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!

€15.00

*Temple House, County Sligo*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Temple House and ruins, photograph courtesy of Temple House facebook page.*

When I saw that Roderick Perceval was giving a tour of his home, Temple House in County Sligo, during Heritage Week 2025, I jumped at the chance to see it and booked straight away. I had booked to stay there in the past but had to cancel, and before this tour, the only way to see this section 482 property was to stay, as it was listed as tourist accommodation. And before you get your hopes up, unfortunately it no longer is providing individual bed and breakfast (with dinner optional) accommodation, as Roderick and his family have decided to focus instead on larger group accommodation and weddings. The website now gives the option to book three or more double rooms for your stay. There is also a self-catering cottage available, which has 4 bedrooms: 1 King, 1 Double, 2 Twin.

*Rear (south) facade, Temple House, County Sligo*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

The Percevals have lived at this location since 1665. Before the current house was built, around 1820 according to Mark Bence-Jones, they lived in another property closer to Templehouse Lake, part of the Owenmore River. [1] The remnants of the earlier house sit adjacent to the ruins of a Knights Templar castle from around 1181, after which the property takes its name. [2]

*Ruins of the old house and the Knights Templar castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

We came across the medieval order of knights when we visited The Turret in County Limerick during Heritage Week in 2022, a house which was built on the foundations of a construction by the Knights Hospitaller, a different branch of religious warriors. The Knights Templar were a religious order established in the eleventh century to protect Jerusalem for Christianity, and were named after Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. Like other religious orders, the members took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

A book review by Peter Harbison of Soldiers of Christ: the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller in medieval Ireland edited by Martin Brown OSB and Colmán Ó Clabaigh OSB tells us that Templars came into Ireland under the protection of the English crown and acted on behalf of the king against the native Irish. Templar Knights helped govern Ireland and often gained high office. [3]

*Ruins of the Knights Templar castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

When Stephen and I stayed at nearby Annaghmore house with Durcan O’Hara, he told me that he is related to the Percevals of Temple House. An O’Hara, it is believed, may have joined the Knights Templar and donated the land near Temple House. [see 2]

The Templar castle passed to the Knights of St. John the Hospitallers when the Knights Templar were disbanded in the 1300s. In France, Templars were burnt at the stake and their land seized by the crown but in other countries their property was transferred to the Knights Hospitallers, known today as the Knights of Malta.

Robert O’Byrne tells us in his blog that the land formerly owned by the Knights Templar came into the hands of the O’Haras, and that they built a new castle here around 1360. He adds that in the 16th century the same lands, along with much more beside, were acquired by John Crofton, who had come here in 1565 with Sir Henry Sidney following the latter’s appointment as Lord Deputy of Ireland. [4]

Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The Templar Castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The Castle, in a photograph taken from the house’s website – it looks more complete in this picture than when we visited.*

*The Castle, in a photograph taken from the house’s facebook page – it looks more complete in this picture than when we visited.*

Roderick told us that the Croftons acquired the property around 1609, and that Henry Crofton built a thatched Tudor house around 1627. The National Inventory tells us that the remains of the house near the Templar ruins are of a two-bay two-storey stone house, built c.1650. [5]

*This picture was in the vestibule of the house and I think is of the house that was built in 1627.*

*Ruins of the old house.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

It came into the Perceval family in 1665 when George Perceval (1635-1675) married Mary Crofton.

*George Perceval (1635-1675) courtesy National Portrait Gallery of London.*

*George Perceval (1635-1675) of Temple House, County Sligo*.

We came across the Percevals when we visited Burton Park in County Cork, another section 482 property in 2025 (see my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2024/02/08/burton-park-churchtown-mallow-county-cork-p51-vn8h/ ).

George’s father Philip (1605-1647) came from England to Ireland to serve as registrar of the Irish court of wards, along with his brother Walter. This position would have given him an insight to property ownership in Ireland. When a son inherited property before he came of age, he was made a Ward of the state, and the someone would be chosen to act on the child’s behalf.

When Walter died in 1624, Philip inherited the family estates in England and Ireland. The land at Burton Park was named after his estate in Somerset, Burton.

Philip’s grandfather Richard Perceval was ‘confidential agent’ to Queen Elizabeth’s Minister Lord Burleigh. He had correctly identified Spanish preparations for the Armada and this vitally important information was rewarded with Irish estates. [6]

*Richard Perceval (1550-1620)*, *agent for Queen Elizabeth and Lord Burleigh, he spotted preparations for the Spanish Armada.*

Philip settled in Ireland, and by means of his interest at court he gradually obtained a large number of additional offices. In 1625 he was made keeper of the records in the Birmingham Tower at Dublin Castle.

*Thomas Wentworth 1st Earl of Strafford (1593-1641) on left, Lord Deputy of Ireland 1632-1640 for King Charles I. This portrait is in Castletown House.*

Perceval was close to the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford. With the fall and execution of Wentworth in May 1641, Perceval lost his major patron and protector. In September 1641 Perceval narrowly avoided prosecution in England when his part in a shady land transaction was revealed. By that time, Perceval owned over 100,000 acres in Ireland, which he obtained partly through forfeited lands.

Philip Perceval married Catherine Ussher, daughter of Arthur Ussher and Judith Newcomen. She gave birth to their heir, John (1629–1665), who was created 1st Baronet of Kanturk, County Cork in 1661. George (1635-1675) was the younger son. He held the position of Registrar of the Prerogative Court in Dublin.

George Perceval’s wife Mary’s father William Crofton was High Sheriff of County Sligo in 1613 and Member of Parliament for Donegal in 1634, so George and Mary might have met in Dublin. Mary, as heiress, was a good match, and since George was a younger son, marrying into property would have suited him well.

Robert O’Byrne tells us that they lived in the old castle which had been converted by the Croftons into a domestic residence in 1627. [see 4] It is not clear to me whether George and Mary lived in a house next to the Templar castle or in some version of the castle itself. O’Byrne tells us that the castle had been besieged and badly damaged in 1641, but was repaired. [see 4].

*The old house.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

George died at the young age of forty when on a ship crossing to Holyhead, when his son and heir Philip (1670-1704) was only five years old. [7] Philip’s mother remarried, this time to Richard Aldworth, who was Chief Secretary of Ireland. Philip also died young, after marrying and having several children, and the property passed to his son John (1700-1754), who was also minor when his father died.

John (1700-1754) married the daughter of a neighbour, Anne Cooper of Markree Castle, another Section 482 property in 2025 (see my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2021/11/06/markree-castle-collooney-co-sligo/). Anne gave birth to their son and heir Philip (1723-87).

Philip Perceval (1723-87) married Mary Carlton of Rossfad, County Fermanagh. Their son and heir Guy died soon after his father so the property passed in 1792 to Guy’s brother Reverend Philip Perceval.

The house is featured in a chapter of Great Irish Houses by Desmond Fitzgerald the Knight of Glin and Desmond Guinness. They tell us that in 1825 Reverend Philip’s son Colonel Alexander Perceval (1787-1858) built a neo-classical two story house up the hill from the castle on the present site.

What is the now the side of the house was once the front.

*The side facade, which was originally the front of the house, according to Mark Bence-Jones. Temple House, County Sligo*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

The house at this time was of two storeys and had five bays on the front, with the centre bay slightly recessed, with an enclosed single storey Ionic porch, and a Wyatt window over the porch.

Before building the house, Alexander Perceval (1787-1858), in 1808, married Jane Anne, eldest daughter of Colonel Henry Peisley L’Estrange, of Moystown, King’s County.

After building the house, Alexander served as MP for Sligo between 1831 and 1841, and from 1841-1858 was sergeant-at-arms to the House of Lords in England.

During the Famine, Alexander’s wife Jane sought to alleviate the suffering of the poor and she died of cholera or typhus in 1847.

*Jane née L’Estrange, with her children.* *Fitzgerald and Guinness write about this portrait:* “Vogel, the artist, depicts her with three of her children while on holiday in Germany in 1842. A touching letter of the time tells of her reminding those around her “*not to neglect the tenant families between my death and my funeral*.” [see 2]

When Alexander died in 1858, his son Philip was unable to afford the death duty tax and he had to sell the property. The house was bought by the Hall-Dares of Newtownbarry, County Wexford.

*Newtownbarry House, County Wexford, photograph by Robert French, Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.*

The Hall-Dares did not remain owners for long. After they evicted some tenants, these tenants actively sought the return of the Perceval family. Four years after Philip Perceval’s sale of the house, his brother Alexander, who had made a fortune in business in Hong Kong, re-acquired the property. Philip had married and moved to Scotland. Alexander brought back many of the dispossessed families from America and Britain, gave them back their land and re-roofed their homes. [see 2]

In the 1860s Alexander Perceval enlarged and embellished the house, hiring Johnstone and Jeane of London. He added a higher two storey seven bay block of limestone ashlar on the right (north) side of the house, which formed a new entrance front, knocking down a north wing in the process. [see 2]

Fitzgerald and Guinness tell us that Alexander also commissioned the company to design and build the furniture for the entire house.

*The side (east) facade, which was originally the front of the house. Temple House, County Sligo*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*A photograph of Temple House from 1862, before the enlargement! Photograph courtesy of Temple House facebook page.*

*The new seven bay entrance front (north) added in 1860 by Alexander Perceval.* *Temple House, County Sligo*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

The newer entrance has a large arched single-storey porte-cochére with coupled engaged Doric columns at its corners and two small arched side windows. Above is another pedimented Wyatt window in a larger pediment over two pairs of Ionic pilasters. The centre windows on either side of the porte-cochére on the ground floor are pedimented and on the upper storey the centre windows have curved arch pediments. The other windows have flat entablatures.

To the right of the newer front is a single storey two bay wing slightly recessed. The house is topped with a balustraded roof parapet.

Looking toward the south facade, we see a three-bay three storey section of the house, as well as more beyond to the west. The windows on the ground floor of the east and south elevations have corbelled pilasters.

The house is said to have over ninety rooms!

*Garden at Temple House, County Sligo*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Restored Italianate terraces at Temple House, County Sligo*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The front door, photograph courtesy of Temple House facebook page.*

We gathered inside the front hall for the tour, with its impressive tiled floor and geometrically patterned ceiling. It has carved decorative doorcases and arched carved and shuttered side lights by the front door, and a large window facing the front door lights the room.

*Front hall at Temple House, County Sligo*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Temple House, Sligo, photograph courtesy of website.*

The ceiling has a Doric freize and a rose of acanthus leaves. A collection of stuffed birds and trophies line the wall, and a fine chimneypiece original to the house. [see 2]

*This door leads off the front hall to the newly renovated wing.* *Temple House, County Sligo*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

Alexander did not get to enjoy his renovated home for long, as he died in 1866 of sunstroke, which occurred while fishing in the lake by the house. His wife lived a further twenty years. His son Alec (1859-1887) married a neighbour, Charlotte Jane O’Hara from Annaghmore.

From the front hall we entered the top-lit double-height vestibule with a grand sweeping staircase and gallery lined with paintings of ancestors.

I’m dying to know who features in the wonderful portraits. The vestibule is so impressive, it is hard to know where to look! The ceiling has intricate detail.

*Temple House, photograph courtesy of the house facebook page*.

*The detail in the ceiling is incredible, as seen in this close-up*. *Temple House, photograph courtesy of the house facebook page*.

The upper level of the stair hall is lined with arches and Corinthian pilasters.

Temple House, County Sligo, photograph courtesy Historic Houses of Ireland

When Alec died of meningitis in 1887, Charlotte took over the running of the estate for 30 years. Alec’s son Alexander Ascelin was injured in the first world war. He married the doctor’s daughter, Nora MacDowell. In financial difficulty, he had to sell some of the land. His wife predeceased him and toward the end of his life, he lived alone in this house of about ninety seven rooms, living in only three rooms. The rest of the house was closed up, dustsheets over the furniture.

These portraits in the dining room are of Charlotte née O’Hara and her son Alexander, her husband Alec (1859-1887), and in the middle Alec’s father Alexander (1821-1866), of Temple House, County Sligo, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

The gasolier lamps remind us that the property generated its own gas at one time.

*The ceiling of the dining room in Temple House, County Sligo*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

Five years after being closed up, in 1953, Ascelin’s son Alex, who had been a tea planter in what was then known as Burma, returned with his wife Yvonne to run the estate. They renovated the house, patched up the roof and installed a new kitchen. Alex modernised the farm.

It was their son Sandy and his wife who decided to take advantage of the size of the house to run a bed and breakfast, which opened in 1980. In 2004 their son Roderick returned to Temple House with his wife and children and took over running the business and the farm.

*Photograph courtesy of Temple house website.*

Roderick told us about the family as we toured the stair hall vestibule, drawing room and dining room, then brought us across the front hall to the newly renovated part of the house, which includes a former gun room passage. He managed to find craftsmen to do repairs, including the windows, moulding and plasterwork. After the tour, he kindly let us wander around the house, including up to the bedrooms.

*The Gun Room Passage, photograph from the house website.*

*The wing that is being renovated. Temple House, County Sligo*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

Guinness and Fitzgerald tell us about the bedrooms:

“The bedrooms are immense. They all have their own bathrooms and a wonderful collection of matching furniture; in each of them a different wood has been used. The individual character of oak and beech and mahogany and others are evident as you stroll from one bedroom to the next. There are magnificent wardrobes – in one room it is 22 ft long – beds, sideboards, dressing tables, chairs. The largest of the bedrooms is so impressive it is called the “Half Acre.”” [see 2]

*The Half Acre bedroom, Temple House, County Sligo*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

We exited through the morning room, which has a tall glass door, the original marble chimneypiece and impressive acanthus leaf ceiling rose.

*The Morning Room, photograph courtesy of the house’s facebook page.*

There is a walled kitchen garden which unfortunately we did not get to visit, where food is grown, including old varieties of apple, plum, pear and fig, and a stable yard. The Percevals preserve most of the 600 acres of old woods and the bogs in their natural state, and they also farm a further 600 acres.

[2] Great Irish Houses. Forewards by Desmond FitzGerald, the Knight of Glin, and Desmond Guinness. Photographs by Trevor Hart. IMAGE Publications, 2008.

[3] Book Review by Peter Harbison, History Ireland issue 5 (Sept Oct 2016), volume 24.

[4] https://theirishaesthete.com/2018/05/14/thinking-big/

[5] https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/32403307/temple-house-templehouse-demesne-co-sligo

[6] http://www.ihh.ie/index.cfm/houses/house/name/Temple%20House

[7] http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2018/01/temple-house.html

Frybrook House, County Roscommon – accommodation

by jenjunebugNovember 2, 2025February 25, 2026

Frybrook House, County Roscommon

*Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

I am sad to see that Frybrook House in Boyle, County Roscommon, is once again advertised for sale, with Savills Estate Agent. We visited it recently during Heritage Week this year, 2025, and the owner, Joan, who showed us around gave no indication that she was planning to sell. It was previously sold in 2017, and since then, the owners spent time, effort, money and love renovating and decorating, preparing it for bed and breakfast accommodation. The thirty three windows took a year for a joiner to renovate, and the total renovation took about six years.

They decorated with flair, filling the house with cheeky art and historical elements, researching the history of the house.

*The sign on the gate of Frybrook during Heritage Week 2025.*

Frybrook is a three storey five bay house built around 1753. [1] A pretty oculus in the centre of top storey sits above a Venetian window, above a tripartite doorcase with a pediment extending over the door and flanking windows. [2] Due to the proximity to the river the house is unusual for a Georgian house in not having a basement.

*Frybrook House, Bridge Street, Boyle, Co. Roscommon photograph courtesy Savills Estate Agent, 2025.*

Henry Fry (1701-1786) built the house for his family and established a weaving industry. The website for the house tells us that in 1743 Lord Kingston, who at that time was James King (1693 – 1761), 4th Baron Kingston, invited Henry Fry, a merchant from Edenderry in County Antrim, to establish the business in Boyle. [3] The Barons Kingston lived in the wonderful Mitchelstown Castle in County Cork and were related to the Kings of King House in Boyle and of Rockingham House, the Baronets of Boyle Abbey (see my entry about King House, https://irishhistorichouses.com/2023/02/02/king-house-main-street-boyle-co-roscommon/.

Henry Fry’s grandfather was from the Netherlands. Henry’s brother Thomas (1710–62) was an artist, recently featured in an exhibition at Dublin Castle.

*The “Neglected Genius” Thomas Frye, featured in an exhibition in Dublin Castle.*

The Dictionary of Irish Biography tells us that by 1736 Thomas Frye was in London and had become sufficiently established to be commissioned to paint the portrait of Frederick, Prince of Wales, on the occasion of his becoming “the perpetual master of the Company of Saddlers.” Thomas also co-founded a porcelain factory, one of the earliest in England, and he experimented with formulas and techniques for making porcelain, obtaining a patent for his work.

*Thomas Frye 1759 by Thomas Frye (c.1710–1762) courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London;* http://www.artuk.org/artworks/thomas-frye-155653

Thomas’s brother Henry Fry (1701-1786) married twice; first to Mary Fuller, with whom he had several children, then after her death in childbirth, to Catherine Mills, with whom he had more children.

Joan brought us inside. The house has its original beautiful plasterwork and joinery, and the tiles in the hall too and staircase are probably original to the house.

*You can immediately see the quirky decor in the front hall, Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The stairs and banister, and hall flooring, are probably original to the house from around 1753.* *Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Plasterwork frieze in the front hall. Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

There are formal rooms on both the ground floor and the first floor. They have more beautiful decorative plasterwork.

The house had been empty for about ten years before the owners bought it in 2018. Most of the fireplaces had disappeared and had to be replaced. There would have been a fine Adam chimneypiece at one time, which was sold by Richard Fry to a member of the Guinness family, our guide told us.

The half-landing features the Venetian window.

*I love the owners’ choice of art. Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

Upstairs there is another formal room with fine plasterwork and also timber carving in the window embrasures.

*The upstairs drawing room. Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The ceiling coving and window embrasure carving. Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The ceiling coving. Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*I love the light fitting. Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*This delightful bonnetted baby sits on the mantlepiece.* *Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

Further up the staircase is another beautiful piece of ceiling detail, a curved ceiling with weblike plasterwork detail, above a curved door frame.

*Further up the staircase is another beautiful piece of ceiling detail, an oval curved ceiling with weblike plasterwork detail, above a curved door frame. Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

Upstairs are the bedrooms. One in particular is gorgeously decorated with sumptuous colours and fittings and has a carved chimneypiece and jewel-like en suite. The owner asked us not to post photographs as it is the guesthouse piéce de resistance. I do hope the new owners, if it is sold, will maintain it as a guest house as it would be a lovely place to stay! Although it would also make a fabulous home for some lucky family. It has seven en-suite bedrooms.

Frybrook passed to Henry’s son, another Henry (1757-1847). He married Elizabeth Baker, daughter of William Baker of Lismacue, County Tipperary, a Section 482 property (see my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2025/02/10/lismacue-house-bansha-co-tipperary-section-482-accommodation/ ).

Robert O’Byrne tells us that “in 1835, Henry Fry of Frybrook and his relative, also called Henry Fry, of another house in the vicinity, Fairyhill, were founding members of the Boyle branch of the Agricultural and Commercial Bank (although this venture failed nationally after only a couple of years). Successive generations of Frys continued to live in the family home until the 1980s when, for the first time, it was offered for sale.” [4]

Another son of Henry Fry, Magistrate, (1701-1786) was Oliver (1773-1868), major of Royal Artillery, Freemason, Orangeman, and diarist. Our guide on the tour of the house read us an excerpt of his diary. The Dictionary of Irish Biography tells us that in 1793 Oliver had to leave Trinity college to go home to help his brother Henry defend his house from the “Defenders.” The Defenders were a Catholic Agrarian secret society that originated in County Armagh in response to the Protestant “Peep o’ Day Boys.” The Defenders formed Lodges, and in 1798 fought alongside the United Irishmen. In later years they formed the “Ribbonmen.” The Peep o’ Day Boys carried out raids on Catholic homes during the night, ostensibly to confiscate weapons which Catholics under the Penal Laws were not allowed to own. [5] The Defenders formed in response, and oddly, grew to follow the structure of the Freemasons, with Lodges, secrecy and an oath swearing obedience to King George III. The Peep o’ Day Boys became the Orange Order.

The Defenders carried out raids of Protestant homes to obtain weapons. When Britain went to war with France in 1793, small Irish farmers objected to a partial conscription as they needed their young men for labour, which increased membership in the Defenders.

The Dictionary tells us about Oliver Fry:

“He was a member of the force of Boyle Volunteers that defeated a large group of Defenders at Crossna and subsequently defended the residence of Lord Kingston (1726–97) at Rockingham. During this latter skirmish he captured the leader of the Defenders, and was later presented with a commission in the Roscommon militia by Lord Kingston.”

*Edward King (1726-1797), 5th Baronet of Boyle Abbey and eventually, 1st Earl of Kingston.*

Oliver served in the Royal Irish Artillery. The Dictionary of Irish Biography entry about him tells us more:

“In 1822 Fry wrote a retrospective account of his early life, and thereafter kept a very detailed diary. While some of the accounts of his military service were somewhat exaggerated, his diary remains an invaluable source of information on the major events of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, including the agrarian disturbances of the 1820s–40s, the repeal movement, the cholera epidemic of 1831, and the Great Famine. Other more colourful events were also described, such as the visits of Queen Victoria, the Crystal Palace exhibition of 1851, and the Dublin earthquake of 1852. He died 28 April 1868 at his Dublin home, Pembroke House, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, and was buried at Mount Jerome cemetery.“

Despite the oppositional stance with Catholics, our guide told us that the family were generous in famine times, as evidenced by the Bakehouse, the remains of which are next to the driveway to the house. However, a bakehouse isn’t evidence that the family gave out the bread for free!

*A sign next to the Bakehouse at Frybrook.*

Further evidence of the Fry’s hospitality, Joan told us, are the “hospitality” stones on the piers at the entrance to the house.

*The Entrance Lodge to Frybook, now a cafe, and next to it, the entrance piers to Frybrook House topped with* “hospitality stones.” *The gate lodge is also thought to date from 1753.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The entrance piers to Frybrook House topped with* “hospitality stones.” Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

The pier stones resemble worn pineapples. The only reference I can find to “hospitality stones” in a quick google search is that hospitality stones were like ancient admission tickets: stones with some marking on them given by someone to indicate that the bearer could produce the stone and receive hospitality in return. The stones on the entrance piers resemble worn pineapples. In the eighteenth century pineapples became a symbol of luxury, wealth and hospitality. A blog of the Smithsonian Museum tells us:

“The pineapple, indigenous to South America and domesticated and harvested there for centuries, was a late comer to Europe. The fruit followed in its cultivation behind the tomato, corn, potato, and other New World imports. Delicious but challenging and expensive to nurture in chilly climes and irresistible to artists and travelers for its curious structure, the pineapple came to represent many things. For Europeans, it was first a symbol of exoticism, power, and wealth, but it was also an emblem of colonialism, weighted with connections to plantation slavery...

“…the intriguing tropical fruit was able to be grown in cold climates with the development, at huge costs, of glass houses and their reliable heating systems to warm the air and soil continuously. The fruit needed a controlled environment, run by complex mechanisms and skilled care, to thrive in Europe. Pineapples, thus, became a class or status symbol, a luxury available only to royalty and aristocrats. The fruit appeared as a centerpiece on lavish tables, not to be eaten but admired, and was sometimes even rented for an evening.

“…The pineapple became fashionable in England after the arrival in 1688 of the Dutch King, William III and Queen Mary, daughter of James II, who were keen horticulturalists and, not incidentally, accompanied by skilled gardeners from the Netherlands. Pineapples were soon grown at Hampton Court. The hothouses in Great Britain became known as pineries. With its distinctive form, the cult of the pineapple extended to architecture and art. Carved representations sit atop the towers of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and other prominent buildings, perhaps an adaptation or reference to the pinecones used on ancient Roman buildings.“

“…During the 18th century, the pineapple was established as a symbol of hospitality, with its prickly, tufted shape incorporated in gateposts, door entryways and finials and in silverware and ceramics.” [6]

*The 37-foot-high Dunmore Pineapple, the north front, showing the entrance (photograph by Keith Salvesen from geograph.org.uk* (via Wikimedia Commons) [6]

The lovely cafe in the gate lodge is situated on the river, next to the triple arch stone bridge over the River Boyle which was built in 1846 (or 1864, according to the National Inventory). [7]

*The Gate Lodge cafe at Frybrook House*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The Gate Lodge cafe at Frybrook House*, *photograph taken from the bridge*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Boyle Bridge, the information sign tells us it was built in 1846*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Information sign in Boyle.* It tells us that the bridge was built for £500, half funded by the county and half by Lord Lorton. Depending on whether it was built in 1846 or 1864, the Lord Lorton at the time was either the 1st or 2nd Viscount Lorton. It replaced a five arched bridge that was prone to flooding.

*Boyle Bridge, with the gate lodge cafe on its right*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

The house’s website tells us:

“A bell was positioned on the roof of Frybrook house and it rang every day to invite the locals to dine in Frybrook, and when there was no room inside the house, tents were erected on the lawn.

“During the 1798 rising (‘Year of the French’) even the officers of the opposing French army were dining in the house.

“Frybrook House also supplied soup to the locals during the Great Famine (1845 to 1852), evidenced by a very large Famine Cauldron in the kitchen.“

I don’t know how it was that the Frys would host the French when Oliver was serving in the army fighting against the French! Perhaps this information is in Oliver’s diary. It would be a fascinating read. The Dictionary of Irish Biography gives a reference for his diary: William H. Phibbs Fry, Annals of the late Major Oliver Fry, R.A. (1909).

The bell may have been used to serve to tell the time for the weaving employees. The rope ran from the top of the house to the ground floor.

The weaving industry had 22 looms, our guide told us. Frybrook wasn’t a landed estate, and the owners did not make their money from having a large amount of land and tenants. The house had six acres. In later years the Fry family sold vegetables, and Lord Lorton established a market shambles for meat and vegetables.

Not all cauldrons were used to feed the public during the Famine. In the kitchen of the house there is a large cauldron that would have been used for washing clothes. The kitchen of Frybrook has many original features.

It has a Ben Franklin designed stove, which was invented to be a stove that was safe for children to be around.

*Stephen takes a break to hear of the interesting details of this original kitchen.* *Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Lovely flagstone flooring of the kitchen*. *Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*There are various spaces in the wall for the oven and for keeping food hot. Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The Ben Franklin stove at* *Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The clothes “washing machine” of the day – a cauldron over a fire.* *Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The laundry cauldron is still intact.* *Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

The Famine in the 1840s hit Boyle hard. Information boards in King House tell us about Boyle in famine times. For the King family of Boyle, it was a time of trouble with tenants, as outlined in The Kings of King House by Anthony Lawrence King-Harmon.

*This large portrait in the dining room of King House in Boyle is General Robert King (1773-1854), 1st Viscount Lorton*, *who was the second son of Robert King, 2nd Earl of Kingston.*

Robert Edward King (1773-1854) joined the military and distinguished himself in the Caribbean. When he inherited Kingston Hall at Rockingham, Boyle, in 1797, he returned to Ireland and joined the Roscommon Militia and worked his way up to become a General. With Rockingham, however, came debt. In 1799 he married his first cousin, Frances Parsons Harman, daughter of his aunt Jane who had married Lawrence Parsons Harman (1749-1807), who owned the Newcastle Estate in County Longford. Robert worked hard to reduce the debt, and was a tough landlord, evicting many tenants.

In famine years, however, he lowered rents and provided work. The information boards in King House tell us that in the 1800s, Boyle residents suffered with poverty. One third of the population died of hunger and hundreds went to the workhouse. In the 1830s about 500 men, women and children were evicted from Lord Lorton’s estates around Boyle. Many were paid to emigrate to North America.

The Fry family would have been in the centre of such poverty and hardship, and it must have been a dreadful time. They remained in the town and survived.

Joan told us that the Frys owned a mill, but the information board for the nearby mill does not mention Fry ownership. The current mill seems to have been built around 1810, according to the National Inventory, and the information board tells us that it was originally established by the Mulhall family and has been run by the Stewart family since 1885.

*The Mill near Frybrook, County Roscommon, October 2025.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

Thank you to Joan for the wonderful tour and for being so generous with her time. She and the owners deserve thanks for bringing Frybrook back so vibrantly to life.

*Artwork in Boyle, home of the annual Boyle Arts Festival.*

[1] https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/31804040/frybrook-house-mocmoyne-boyle-co-roscommon

[2] 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.

[3] https://frybrook.ie/frybrooks-history/

[4] https://theirishaesthete.com/2023/10/23/frybrook/

[5] Brendan McEvoy (1986). The Peep of Day Boys and Defenders in the County Armagh. Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society.

[6] https://blog.library.si.edu/blog/2021/01/28/the-prickly-meanings-of-the-pineapple/

[7] The Inventory says the bridge was built in 1864. https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/31804042/bridge-street-mocmoyne-boyle-co-roscommon

Castlecoote House, Castlecoote, Co. Roscommon F42 H288 – section 482

by jenjunebugSeptember 17, 2025February 24, 2026

www.castlecootehouse.com

Open in 2026: May 13-17, 20-24, 27-31, June 3-7, 10-14, 17-21, 24-28, July 1-5, 8-12, 15-19, 22-26, 29-31, Aug 15-23 2pm-6pm

Fee: adult €14, OAP/student €12, children under 5 years €5

Home of the Percy French Festival, www.percyfrench.ie

donation

Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!

€15.00

*Castlecoote, County Roscommon*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

We visited Castlecoote in County Roscommon during Heritage Week 2025. The owner, Kevin, showed us around, and we were lucky enough to be accompanied on the tour by a previous owner, Tony Convoy, who lived here as a child after the 1920s and moved out in 1988 or 1989.

*A painting in the house of Castlecoote.*

*Tony Convoy, with a photograph of him and his siblings sitting on the front steps of their home, Castlecoote.*

*Tony sits on his sister’s knee – he laughed and said the photograph makes him look like he has long legs!* *His family farmed the property.* *His family and grandchildren recreated the photograph the day we visited*, *sitting on the steps of the house.*

Castlecoote house is situated in the grounds of a 14th or 15th century fort of the Mageraghty clan built on the river Suck. The fort may have been taken over by Nicholas Malby, President of Connaught, in the 1580s. Four towers of the original fort are still standing. The National inventory tells us that the castle was erected in the Raphoe-Rathfarnham star fort plan type with two of the original flanking towers incorporated into the main house. [1] The house was largely destroyed in the 1640s but the flanking towers that now form the wings of the house remained, with their stone flagged floors and musket chambers. Stephen was particularly excited to hear that recently when a tree was blown down in a storm, a skeleton was found underneath, at the bottom of a tower!

*14th or 15th century fort tower, Castlecoote, County Roscommon*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Skeletal remains were found under the tree that fell in the recent storm, and have been sent off for analysis and dating.*

*The remains of one tower of the original castle fort at Castlecoote, County Roscommon*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

Charles Coote (1581-1642), a British soldier who came to Ireland to fight in the Nine Years War, when the Irish tried to take Ireland back from British control, took Castlecoote as his base in 1616, and renamed the castle fort Castlecoote. He enlarged and fortified the castle. Kevin showed us a picture of the old house and the bridge. The house seems to have had more upper floors than today.

Charles Coote fought in the Siege of Kinsale in 1601-2, a battle which ultimately led to rebel Hugh O’Neill’s defeat and the end of the Nine Years’ War. In 1605 Coote was appointed Provost-Marshal of Connaught and in 1613, General Collector and Receiver of the King’s composition money for Connaught.

*Sir Charles Coote (1581-1642) 1st Baronet of Castle Cuffe, Queens County*, *photograph By David Keddie – Own work, Public Domain,* https//:commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42005305.jpg

*Hugh O’Neill (c. 1540-1616) 2nd Earl of Tyrone, courtesy of National Museums Northern Ireland. In* Irish Portraits 1660-1860 by Anne Crookshank and the Knight of Glin, we are told that this was painted during his exile in Rome.

Charles Coote married Dorothea Cuffe in 1617, and in 1620 became Vice President of Connaught. Dorothea brought with her to the marriage land in Counties Cork and Laois. In 1621 Coote was created Baronet of Castle Cuffe in Queen’s County (Laois).

As commissioner to examine and contest Irish land titles, Coote acquired much property. He served as MP for Queens County in 1640.

In 1641, Coote was appointed governor of Dublin and told to raise a regiment to fight against the Catholic uprising. He helped to beat the Irish Confederates in the Battle of Kilrush but was killed by the opposition in 1642.

The castle was attacked by 1200 men during the 1641 rebellion. Coote’s son Charles (c.1609–1661) held the castle successfully, withstanding a siege of around ten days of attack.

The bridge was destroyed by the attack and was replaced only relatively recently by the current owner, who took great care to have the most suitable bridge designed and built – one with a curved arch that shows the house at its best, much like the original. Kevin told us that the arches from the original bridge were reused to make a new bridge further down the River Suck.

*A photograph of the bridge further up the fiver, and one of the apple harvest at Castlecoote below.*

The Dictionary of Irish Biography gives an intriguing hint when it tells us that the son Charles Coote was elected to the Irish parliament for Co. Leitrim in 1640 and “appointed in the same year to a commission to examine those accused of bewitching Katherine, sometime duchess of Buckingham, latterly wife of the earl of Antrim.”

We came across Katherine née Manners who became the Duchess of Buckingham before, when we visited Glenarm, as she married Randal MacDonnell 2nd Earl and 1st Marquess of Antrim. They moved to Ireland after their marriage to live in Dunluce Castle in County Antrim (see my entries https://irishhistorichouses.com/2024/07/04/dunluce-castle-ruin-county-antrim-northern-ireland/ and https://irishhistorichouses.com/2024/07/11/glenarm-castle-county-antrim-northern-ireland-private-can-book-a-tour/ ).

She was the widow of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, favourite of King James I. George Villiers and his mother were recently depicted in a tv series “Mary and George,” based on Benjamin Wooley’s book The King’s Assasin.

Katherine was heiress to her mother’s fortune and to extensive unentailed portions of the Manners estates in Northamptonshire and Yorkshire, together with estates in Buckinghamshire and Leicestershire. She renounced her Catholicism to marry George Villiers.

*Dunluce, County Antrim, June 2023. Katherine née Manners was painted by Rubens.*

Her so-called bewitching occurred before her marriage to George Villiers. The story of the bewitching takes place in 1613 when Katherine and several of her relatives fell ill at their home in Belvoir Castle, and her brother Henry died. It was said that the family were poisoned by some witches. The women accused of witchcraft were from a family who had fallen on hard times, who took work in the castle. They were dismissed, and it was said that in revenge, they poisoned the family. The former servants, Joan, Margaret and Philippa Flower, were known to be herbal healers. They were accused of having used witchcraft to to attack the family, and they became known as “the Belvoir Witches.”

Joan died on route to trial in Lincoln when she choked on a piece of bread: she allegedly requested the bread, saying that if she was guilty it would choke her. If bread blessed by a priest stuck in the woman’s throat, then her crime was an affront to God himself. Her death was taken as evidence of the crime and further incriminated the daughters, who confessed, probably under torture. These ‘witches’ were executed on 11 March 1618. [3]

In 2013, historian Tracy Borman suggested in Witches: A Tale of Sorcery, Scandal and Seduction (Cape, 2013) that the Flower women may have been framed by George Villiers, who may have poisoned Katherine’s brothers in order to inherit the title Duke of Rutland after he married Katherine, sole surviving heir.

George Villiers Duke of Buckingham was assassinated in 1628 and his wife Katherine and her sons inherited an enormous fortune as well as Buckingham’s London mansions – Wallingford House, Walsingham House, and York House – together with nineteen more modest properties on the Strand, a mansion in Chelsea, and another, New Hall, north of Chelmsford in Essex. She was therefore quite a catch for Randal McDonnell.

*Randal MacDonnell 2nd Earl and 1st Marquess of Antrim.*

After Buckingham’s death she reverted to Catholicism.

Let’s return to Castlecoote. In 1645 Charles Coote (c.1610 –1661) the son was made Lord President of Connaught.

Coote fought on the Cromwellian side in the Civil War but managed to win King Charles II’s favour after the restoration of the monarchy, and was created earl in 1661. After becoming earl, he was made one of the lord justices of Ireland.

*Charles Coote 1st Earl of Mountrath (c.1610 –1661), 2nd Baronet, ca. 1642, before he was ennobled, Circle of William Dobson.*

Charles chose Mountrath for his earldom because his father had led a very successful advance through the district of Mountrath during the 1641 uprising, riding over forty eight hours on horseback without losing a single man. (see the Dictionary of National Biography)

Charles’s brother Chidley Coote (d. 1668) lived at Mount Coote in County Limerick, later Ash Hill, which was a Section 482 property until 2025 and provides beautiful accommodation (see my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2023/04/06/ash-hill-kilmallock-co-limerick/. ) Another brother Thomas (d. 1671) lived in Cootehill, County Cavan, and Richard Coote (1620-1683) 1st Baron Coote of Coloony, County Sligo, married Mary St. George and had a son Richard (1636-1700) who became 1st Earl of Bellamont, or he of the splendid pink robe and feathers as I like to think of him.

*Charles Coote, 1st Earl of Bellamont by Joshua Reynolds*, *courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland NGI 216.*

*Ballyfin, County Laois: The staircase hall of Ballyfin, where hang portraits of many Cootes. The house came into the Coote family in 1813.* Country Life *31/08/2011  vol. CCV. Photograph by Paul Barker.*

The Historic Houses of Ireland website tells us that the fortified house was remodelled in the Palladian style in the eighteenth century to create the house as we see it today. [2] The National Inventory tells us that this work was carried out around 1770. The house is a three-bay two-storey house over raised basement, with single-bay flanking projecting wings from the fortified house of c.1630. It has full-height bows to the south and west elevations.

*Rear facade of the house with the full height bow.* *Castlecoote, County Roscommon*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The round window from inside* *Castlecoote, County Roscommon*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The remains of the other two towers are in the back garden.* *Castlecoote, County Roscommon*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

The next family to live in Castlecoote were the Gunning family. The Historic Houses of Ireland website tells us that the family are reputed to have won the estate through a game of cards. [2] Due to their beauty, John Gunning’s daughters Maria and Elizabeth were the toast of 1750s London.

Horace Walpole wrote: “There are two Irish girls, of no fortune, who make more noise than any of their predecessors since the days of Helen, and are declared the two handsomest women alive. I think there being two so handsome, and such perfect figures, is their chief excellence, for singly I have seen much handsomer women than either. However, they can’t walk in the park, or go to Vauxhall, but such mobs follow them that they themselves are driven away.”

*Elizabeth Gunning was a famous Irish beauty who married the 6th Duke of Hamilton in 1752. She then married John Campbell, the future 5th Duke of Argyll.* *The portrait hangs in Malahide Castle and belongs to the National collection.*

In an article in the Roscommon Champion newspaper on February 7th 1992, Angela Doyle writes that Bryan Gunning acquired land in Roscommon, including Castlecoote. Theobald Bourke, 6th Viscount Mayo, married Bryan Gunning’s daughter Margaret in 1731.

Bryan Gunning’s son John married Bridget Bourke, a daughter of the 6th Viscount of Mayo by his first wife, Mary Browne, a daughter of one of the drafters of the Treaty of Limerick (Colonel John Browne – d. 1712).

An extract from Notable Irishwomen tells us more about the Gunning family. It tells us that John Gunning, the second son, was a barrister of the Middle Temple in London. He settled at Hemingford Grey, in Huntingdonshire, and here his eldest daughter, Maria, afterwards Countess of Coventry, was born in 1733. Elizabeth, afterwards Duchess of Hamilton, followed the year afterwards, and there were three more daughters, two of whom died young, and then came a son, who subsequently entered the army, fought at Bunker’s Hill (during the American War of Independence), and attained the rank of General. [4]

“In 1740, by the death of his elder brother, Mr. Gunning succeeded to the property of Castle Coote. The little family now migrated from Hemingford Grey to Roscommon, a formidable journey in those days of stage coaches and sailing boats. Money was not plentiful at Castle Coote, and no wonder, with such numerous charges as there must have been on it. Mrs. Gunning was a clever, ambitious woman, and as she looked at the wonderful beauty of her daughters, fast growing to maturity, she thought that the girls must be taken out into the world to make their mark there. It would never do for them to be thrown away on country squires or struggling attorneys. So she brought them to Dublin, and took a house in Great Britain Street, at that time quite a fashionable locality, within easy reach of Dominick Street, then the head-quarters of high life. But debts soon accumulated. ..“

“It was said that Peg Woffington lent the Gunnings dresses from her theatrical wardrobe, in which they appeared at Dublin Castle. Whether this be true or not, it is certain that they were presented to the Lord Lieutenant at a birthright ball, and they made such a sensation there that Lord Harrington, then Viceroy, advised their mother to take them to London. This she was only too eager to do. By hook or by crook she got the money together… The year they went to London, the two girls had their portraits painted by Francis Cotes, R.A. They are represented in low-cut, long-waisted, grey satin gowns, with rows of pink rosettes down each side of the bodice, black hair curled at the back and fastened with a string of pearls. A small black patch, is, according to the fashion of the day, on one cheek.” [4]

*Maria Gunning, Countess of Coventry (1733-1760) by Francis Cotes, circa 1751. Picture courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.*

*Elizabeth Gunning by Francis Cotes, pastel on blue paper laid down on canvas, courtesy of National Portrait Gallery London, NPG 4890*.

“They were presented to the King (George II.) one Sunday afternoon, and another Sunday in the Park, such crowds assembled to gaze on them that Lord Clermont with some other gentlemen, had to draw their swords to protect them from the mob…” [4]

A Royal Trust Collection picture of Elizabeth tells us:

“Elizabeth Gunning was the second daughter of Col. John Gunning of Castle Coote, County Roscommon, Ireland and his wife, the Hon. Bridget Bourke, daughter of the 6th Viscount Mayo. Born in Hemingford Grey, Huntingdonshire, she was taken to Ireland at the age of three and lived there until 1750 when, with her elder sister Maria, she was brought back to England and presented in London society. Thanks to their beauty and unsophisticated charm the Gunning sisters ‘became the rage and the subject of conversation at every fashionable rout’. Elizabeth became the wife of James, 6th Duke of Hamilton in an extraordinary ceremony, performed with the ring of a bed-curtain at half past midnight on St. Valentine’s Day 1752 after a party at Bedford House at which the Duke had lost £1200 at cards. The Duke of Hamilton, by whom she had three children, died on 17 January 1758 and early in the following year she married John Campbell, Marquis of Lorne, who in 1771 succeeded as 5th Duke of Argyll. She was created Baroness Hamilton of Hambledon in her own right in 1776. Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Charlotte from 1761 to 1784, she was appointed Mistress of the Robes in 1778 and died on 20 December 1790. She was one of the most portrayed women in Britain during the period 1750-70.“

*Elizabeth, Duchess of Argyll and Hamilton by Catherine Read (1723-78).* *Royal Trust Collection*. *Even this super-frilly beribboned decking cannot hide her beauty.*

*A copy of the portrait of Elizabeth Gunning by Joshua Reynolds hangs in Castlecoote.* *Elizabeth Gunning (Duchess of Hamilton and afterwards Duchess of Argyll), 1734‑1790.*

*A portrait of Elizabeth, Duchess of Hamilton and Argyle, painted by Gavin Hamilton.*

*This is my favourite portrait of a Gunning sister: Maria, as painted by Jean-Etienne Liotard.*

Elizabeth held the office of Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Consort Charlotte, wife of King George III, between 1761 and 1784.

*Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III.* *This photograph was taken in Castletown House, County Kildare.*

Maria, who married the Earl of Coventry, died aged 27, Robert O’Byrne tells us she most likely died from lead poisoning due to efforts to maintain her pale skin.

Castlecoote changed hands several times until its current owner. When Tony’s father Pat took over the property in the 1930s and farmed the land, he made sure that the house would have a future. However, a fire occurred soon after it was sold by the Convoys in 1989.

*Article in the Roscommon Champion, February 7th 1992 by Angela Doyle.*

Angela Doyle writes that the brother of the Gunning sisters, Colonel John, married and had a daughter Elizabeth who inherited the Coote good looks. When she forged a letter from a potential suitor, saying that he had changed his mind, her father was outraged and cast out his wife and daughter. He took a mistress and moved to Naples, where he died. His wife Susannah Gunning née Minifie inherited the heavily mortgaged estate at Castlecoote. She was a novelist who wrote romantic and Gothic tales. Her daughter Elizabeth, also a novelist, married Major James Plunkett of Kinnaird, County Roscommon. The literary historian Isobel Grundy tells us in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: “Elizabeth Gunning’s early novels are, like her mother’s, sentimental, with heavy-footed humour, trite moralizing, a self-consciously elaborate style, and intense class-consciousness. Each woman wrote more interestingly, with more criticism of society, later in life.” The estate passed out of Coote ownership.

In 1997, when bought by the present owner Kevin Finnerty, the Historic Houses of Ireland website tells us, Castlecoote was a cavernous ruin, without floors, stairs or windows, while the internal walls were crumbling away. The basement was enveloped by earth, the front doorsteps had collapsed, and the surroundings were badly overgrown.

*The current owner reinstated the front steps. Castlecoote, County Roscommon*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*In Kevin’s office in the basement there is a display of photographs of the house as it uderwent repairs.*

*Castlecoote, County Roscommon*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*A date stone bears the inscription CBC 1791.*

*An aerial view of Castlecoote, a photograph in the house.*

The Historic Houses of Ireland entry tells us that Kevin began a lengthy period of restoration, which took five years to complete. Work included essential repairs to the structure, underpinning the foundations, consolidating the castle towers, re-roofing and more intricate work such as restoring the plaster ceilings, replacing the chimneypieces, the internal doors and other joinery, and completely redecorating the interior.

The result is beautiful. Kevin gave us a tour inside. Although the historic houses website mentions five years, Kevin says it took twelve years to make the house habitable.

Part of the castle has been let to tenants, so Kevin took us first to the basement to show us the renovations, including lime render on the walls and underfloor heating. There had been no stairs down to the basement and the ones installed are much as the original would have been, of limestone.

*The newly made limestone staircase to the basement.*

The fireplaces had to have sixteen new chimneypieces installed as the originals had disappeared while the castle was an empty ruin after the fire. Kevin pointed out that the older the chimneypiece, the narrower the mantle shelf. It was the Victorians, I believe, who instigated wide mantlepieces in order to display pieces. Before, the mantle was used to rest a mirror, which was often tilted upward to reflect light and often, a beautiful ceiling.

*This is an old part of the castle, as you can see from the depth of the walls in the window embrasure.*

*The window mullions in the basement are original.*

Kevin has done the Cootes and the Gunnings and all the former occupants of the house proud, by reinstating its formal splendour in the ceiling plasterwork. With careful attention to detail, he made sure that the windows have the narrow glazing bars of the Georgian period.

*Ground floor ceiling plan of Castlecoote.*

*There is. a dumbwaiter near the corner, that goes down to the kitchen and up to the dining room. Castlecoote, County Roscommon*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The widowframes are splayed to let in more light.* *Castlecoote, County Roscommon*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Portrait of Maria Gunning, and the Francis Cotes portrait of Elizabeth by the window.* *Castlecoote, County Roscommon*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

The bookcases in the library have carving to reflect the wall frieze.

We ended the tour in the grand hall that houses the annual Percy French Summer School. I see that it features very interesting speakers – we must keep a watch for next year’s summer school! The Percy French Summer School began in the 1950s, I believe, and Kevin’s father was one of the founding members. It moved to Castlecoote house in 2009.

The tour included the grounds. In front of the house alongside the river is a millrace, as the family owned a mill on the river.

*View of the River Suck from the bridge.* *Castlecoote, County Roscommon*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The Millrace wall,* *Castlecoote, County Roscommon*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*At Castlecoote, County Roscommon*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*An icehouse, Castlecoote, County Roscommon*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

In the back garden is a wonderful apple orchard of heritage specimen trees. Kevin gave us a glass of delicious sweet apple juice.

The house is available for short and long term rent. For booking, see the house website https://www.castlecootehouse.com

*The back garden, Castlecoote, County Roscommon*, *August 2025*. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The back garden, Castlecoote, County Roscommon*, *August 2025*. *We had a beautiful sunny day for our visit, during the 2025 heatwave!* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

[1] https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/31816001/castle-coote-house-castlecoote-castlecoote-co-roscommon

[2] http://www.ihh.ie/index.cfm/houses/house/name/Castlecoote%20House

[2] https://lincolnshirefolktalesproject.com/2024/02/21/the-witches-of-belvoir/

[4] From Notable Irishwomen: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Notable_Irishwomen.djvu/26

Kinnitty Castle (formerly Castle Bernard), Kinnity, County Offaly – now a hotel

by jenjunebugApril 13, 2025August 12, 2025

donation

Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!

€15.00

Kinnitty Castle (formerly Castle Bernard), Kinnity, County Offaly

https://www.kinnittycastlehotel.com/index.html

*Kinnitty Castle Hotel, 2014, photographer unknown, for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool.* [1]

We treated ourselves to a stay in Kinnitty Castle in February 2023. Formerly a home, it is now a hotel.

The website used to include a history, which told us that the present building was originally built by William O’Carroll on the site of an old Abbey in 1630. The building we see today, however, received a major reconstruction by architect brothers James (1779-1877) and George Richard Pain (1793-1838) in 1833. You can see traces of the Abbey in the courtyard.

*A finely cut ogee-headed window* set in the wall, Andrew Tierney tells us, attests to the fact that the site was occupied in medieval times. Pointed arched entrance to former stable yard and screen wall incorporate part of fifteenth-century church. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

There is a ninth or tenth-century high cross in front of the hotel, which must have been from the grounds of the Abbey.

*The ninth or tenth century high cross.*

In 1641 the castle was confiscated from William O’Carroll, as he must have played a part in the 1641 rebellion. The land was granted in 1663 by King Charles II to Colonel Thomas Winter for his military service.

The Stable yard is in use as a banqueting hall, called the Great Hall of the O’Carrolls, and kitchens.

*There’s even an arrow loop in the ruins by the stable yard.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The stableyard of Kinnitty Castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The Banqueting Hall in the stable yard of Kinnitty Castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The Banqueting Hall of Kinnitty Castle has a mezzanine, or Minstrels Gallery.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The Banqueting Hall of Kinnitty Castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*There’s an impressive looking fireplace in the banqueting hall.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

The website continues, telling us that the Winter family sold the building in 1764 to the Bernards of County Carlow.

Andrew Tierney tells us in his The Buildings of Ireland Central Leinster that Franks Bernard (named after the surname “Franks”), a son of Charles Bernard of Bernard’s Grove, County Laois (now called Blandsfort), leased a small estate here in the early eighteenth century. Either he or his nephew Thomas (d. 1788) probably built the modest T-plan house that forms the core of the castle.

There is another Castle Bernard in County Cork – this seems to have belonged to a different Bernard family.

The castle website tells us that it was Catherine Hely Hutchinson (d. 1844, daughter of Francis Hely Hutchinson, MP for Naas, County Kildare), wife of Colonel Thomas Bernard (d. 1834), who hired the Pain brothers, James and George Pain, to renovate the building, in 1833 (according to Mark Bence-Jones).

*Kinnitty Castle, County Offaly, 9th February 2023.* *The National Inventory tells us that the oriel window over the castellated entrance porch was added at a later date.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

James and George Pain were architects of the impressive Mitchellstown Castle, unfortunately no longer existing.

*Mitchelstown Castle, County Cork, designed by the Pain brothers, courtesy of the National Library of Ireland*, *Lawrence PHotographic Collection, photographer Robert French ca. 1865-1914 ref. NLI L_ROY_01072.*

We saw work by the Pain brothers on a visit to Revenue section 482 property Loughton in County Offaly – see my entry https://i rish historichouses.com/2020/11/01/loughton-house-moneygall-county-offaly/ Loughton is not Tudor Gothic like Kinnitty.

*Loughton, County Offaly.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

James and George were sons of James Pain, an English builder and surveyor. Their Grandfather William Pain was the author of a series of builder’s pattern books, so they had architecture in the blood. According to the Dictionary of Irish Architects, James and his younger brother George Richard were both pupils of John Nash, one of the foremost British architects of his day, responsible for the design of many important areas of London including Marble Arch, Regent Street and Buckingham Palace. He was architect to the prolific lover of architecture the Prince Regent, later King George IV. When Nash designed Lough Cutra Castle in County Galway for Charles Vereker in 1811, he recommended that the two brothers should be placed in charge of the work, so it was at this time that they came to Ireland. Lough Cutra is an amazing looking castle privately owned which is available for self-catering rental (very expensive, I am sure! But for those of you with oodles of money to spend, or for an event that requires nine bedrooms…). [2]

*Lough Cutra castle, County Galway, also designed by the Pain brothers, photograph from Lough Cutra website.*

James Pain settled in Limerick and George in Cork, but they worked together on a large number of buildings – churches (both Catholic and Protestant), country houses, court houses, gaols and bridges – almost all of them in the south and west of Ireland. [3] In 1823 James Pain was appointed architect to the Board of First Fruits for Munster, responsible for all the churches and glebe houses in the province.

The Pains Gothicized and castellated Dromoland Castle in County Clare at some time from 1819-1838, now a luxury hotel. [4]

*Dromoland Castle, County Clare, which was renvoated by the Pain brothers, photo care of Dromoland Castle, for Tourism Ireland 2019, Ireland’s Content Pool.*

The Pains took their Gothicizing skills then to Mitchelstown Castle in 1823-25. In 1825 they also worked on Convamore (Ballyhooly) Castle but that is now a ruin. They also probably worked on Quinville in County Clare and also Curragh Chase in County Limerick (now derelict after a fire in 1941), Blackrock Castle in County Cork (now a science centre, museum and observatory which you can visit [7]), they did some work for Adare Manor in County Limerick (also now a luxury hotel), Clarina Park in Limerick (also, unfortunately, demolished, but you can get a taste of what it must have been like from its gate lodge), Fort William in County Waterford, and they probably designed the Gothicization and castellation of Ash Hill Towers in County Limerick (a section 482 property and with lovely tourist accommodation, see my entry https://irishh isto richouses.com/2023/04/06/ash-hill-kilmallock-co-limerick/), alterations and castellation of Knappogue Castle, County Clare (you can also visit and stay, or attend a medieval style banquet), Aughrane Castle mansion in County Galway (demolished – Bagots used to own it, I don’t know if we are related!), a castellated tower on Glenwilliam Castle, County Limerick and more.

*Curragh Chase, County Limerick garden front 1938, also designed by the Pain brothers, like Loughton it is classical rather than Tudor Gothic, photograph from* 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.*

*Fortwilliam, Glencairn, Lismore, Co Waterford courtesy Michael H. Daniels and Co.*, *also designed by the Pains* *in Tudor Gothic style.*

*Knappogue, or Knoppogue, Castle, County Clare*, *also designed by the Pains.*

*Kinnity Castle (Castle Bernard) County Offaly, photograph by Robert French, Lawrence c. 1865-1914 Photographic Collection National Library of Ireland ref L_Cab_09230*.

In his 1988 book A Guide to Irish Country Houses, Mark Bence-Jones writes about Kinnitty Castle, formerly named Castle Bernard, that it is a Tudor-Revival castle of 1833, with impressive entrance front with gables, oriels and tracery windows and an octagonal corner tower with battlements and crockets; all in smooth ashlar. [5]

*Kinnitty Castle Hotel, 2014, photographer unknown, for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool.* (see [1])

The National Inventory describes it:

“Ashlar limestone walls with castellated parapet, carved limestone plinth course and continuous string course to parapet. Battered walls to basement level. Square-headed window openings with tooled limestone and sandstone label mouldings, chamfered surrounds and punched limestone sills. Castellated box bay to second bay from north-east rising from basement level to first floor with chamfered stone mullions. Oriel window above entrance added at later date.”

Battered walls at basement are walls that slant outwards. This was a traditional building feature of castles, so that stones could be dropped from above and they would not fall straight down but hit the battered walls and bounce outwards to hit intruders.

*The stone finials on top of the porch are particularly impressive.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

Mark Bence-Jones defines an oriel window as a large projecting window in Gothic, Tudor, Gothic-Revival and Tudor-Revival architecture; sometimes rising through two or more storeys, sometimes in an upper storey only and carried on corbelling. This particular window is not carried on corbels.

*Kinnitty Castle, February 2023.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

The National Inventory continues: “Single-storey castellated entrance porch with diagonal buttresses surmounted by pinnacles with crockets and finials. Tudor arched opening to porch with label moulding accessed rendered porch with ribbed ceiling, niches to side walls and tooled limestone bell surround and post box flanking door. Square-headed door opening with chamfered limestone surround and label moulding, sandstone threshold and timber double doors.“

*The Tudor arch opening to porch with “label moulding” over, and you can see the ribbed ceiling inside.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*I love the rather church-like configuration of the three narrow pointed headed windows at the top arranged to form an arch.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Side of Kinnitty Castle, February 2023.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

Before he married Catherine, Thomas Bernard, MP for County Offaly, married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Prittie, 1st Baron Dunalley of Kilboy, County Tipperary. She died in 1802 and he married for a second time in 1814. He began building work on his house in 1833 but died the following year.

Thomas and Catherine had several children. Their heir was Thomas Bernard (1816-1882). Other sons were Francis, Richard Wellesley, and John Henry Scrope, and daughter Margaret.

*Thomas Bernard (1816-1882), son of Catherine née Hely Hutchinson and Thomas Bernard (d. 1834).*

Nearby the Bernard family have an unusual pyramid-shaped mausoleum. Richard Wellesley Bernard (c. 1822-1877) completed his military training in Egypt. He was an architect and engineer and it is said that he built the pyramid between 1830-34 but he would have been only eight years old, so perhaps it was constructed by an earlier Bernard. It is an exact replica of the Egyptian pyramid of Cheop.

*Richard Wellesley Bernard (1822-1877) in early 1860s, National Portrait Gallery of London ref. Ax196557.*

*The Kinnitty Bernard mausoleum.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

The website continues: “The building was burned in 1922 by Republican forces and rebuilt by means of a Government grant of £32,000 in 1927.

The Buildings of Ireland Central Leinster book by Andrew Tierney tells us that the castle was rebuilt by Joseph John Bruntz. He was born in Dublin. The Dictionary of Irish Architects tells us that he was a pupil in his father’s office for four years and remained as an assistant for a further three years. After starting to practise independently as an architect circa 1915, he moved in 1917 or 1918 to Edenderry, Co. Offaly, where he set up an office. From 1922 he held the position of architect and civil engineer to the Co. Offaly Board of Health.

The website continues: “The building became the property of Lord Decies in 1946. He in turn sold it and the estate to the Government of Ireland on 12th December 1951. The State used the castle as a Forestry Training centre from 1955 until it was purchased in 1994 and turned into a 37 bedroom luxurious hotel for all guests both locally and internationally to enjoy.“

Arthur George Marcus Douglas De La Poer Beresford (1915-1992), 6th Lord Decies, bought the property in 1946. He sold it in 1951.

It is a wonderful and affordable hotel, full of character.

*The front entrance to Kinnitty Castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*A suit of armour stands watch by the door.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Entrance hall and reception of Kinnitty Castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The impressive staircase of Kinnitty Castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*I love the angels on this overhead light.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The stair hall is toplit.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*There’s a lovely fireplace in the blue drawing room* *and a painting of the castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The Blue drawing room.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*This room is now a dining room, 2023.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The dining room leads to the octagonal tower room.* *The room has a vaulted ceiling.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The Library Bar in Kinnitty Castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*A hallway upstairs at Kinnitty Castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*We gravitated toward the bookshelf at the top of the stairs.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Another hallway in Kinnitty Castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Our lovely bedroom at Kinnitty Castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

There’s a bar in the cellar of the hotel, called the Dungeon Bar.

*The back stairs of the castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The Dungeon Bar in the basement of the hotel.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The Dungeon Bar at Kinnitty Castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*A snug in the Dungeon Bar.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*An old horse trough in the rather ecclesiastical bar looks for a moment like a coffin!* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The atmospheric Dungeon Bar at Kinnitty Castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*There are still meat hooks on the vaulted ceiling of the cellar.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Kinnitty Castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

The River Camcor winds through the property.

*The River Camcor crosses the property at Kinnity Castle, and one can go for lovely walks in the grounds, along the river.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

Single-spire wire suspension footbridge, built c.1840, over the River Camcor within the demesne of Kinnitty Castle. The bridge is hung from cast-iron columns, and is accessed through a wrought-iron gate with iron circular framing. The Manufacturer’s name ‘T & D Roberts’ is on a downstream upright. It is one of only two suspension bridges in Offaly (the other is at Birr Castle demesne) and one of several footbridges with Kinnitty Castle demesne. It is a rare surviving example of a multiple-wire cable suspension bridge, and the National Inventory tells us it is significant because of its association with the Mountmellick Foundry. Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The bridge has odd sunburst decorative iron circular framing at one end.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Single-span metal lattice footbridge, c.1900, over the River Camcor in the grounds of Kinnitty Castle.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

This could be the “back lodge” referred to by Andrew Tierney. If so, he suggests that it too could have been designed by the Pain brothers, who had supervised the work of John Nash, who designed the Swiss Cottage in County Tipperary (see my entry under Places to Visit and Stay in County Tipperary). Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The gate lodge at Kinnity used to be the Day Spa but is was empty when we visited in February 2023, perhaps a victim of Covid.* *The National Inventory tells us that it was built around 1835.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

[1] https://www.irelandscontentpool.com/en

[2] http://www.loughcutra.com/

[3] https://www.dia.ie/architects/view/2640/PAIN-JAMES

[4] https://www.dromoland.ie/

[5] p. 62 (under Castle Bernard), 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.

Woodhouse, County Waterford – private house, tourist accommodation in gate lodge and cottages

by jenjunebugMarch 29, 2025September 7, 2025

Woodhouse, County Waterford – private house, tourist accommodation in gate lodge and cottages

donation

Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!

€15.00

We visited Woodhouse on a day trip with the Cork Chapter of the Irish Georgian Society on a gloriously sunny day on May 24th, 2023. The home owners Jim and Sally Thompson welcomed us into their home, and historian Marianna Lorenc delivered a wonderful talk about the history of the house and the family who lived there.

*Woodhouse, May 2023.* *The house is private but you can stay in cottages.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

You can stay in the gate lodge or cottages.

https://woodhouseestate.com/

*The Hayloft, Woodhouse*, *available for self-catering accommodation.*

*At Woodhouse, County Waterford.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

The website tells us:

“The original house was built in the early part of the 17th century by the Fitzgerald family (a branch of the MacThomas Geraldines of the Decies).

“While in the ownership of the Uniacke family it was passed by inheritance to the Beresford family and subsequently sold by Lord William Beresford in ca 1970. The House has since been extended over the years to become an impressive six bay window residence with bright and spacious rooms overlooking this private estate with the River Tay flowing through.”

*The River Tay.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

The website gives us a detailed description of the history of the house so I will quote it here:

“The house of Woodhouse as we see it at present was built in at least three stages.

“The first one dates back to early 1600’s and the Munster Plantation, when the Messenger for Court of Wards and Liveries, an English Protestant and Undertaker (in other words Planter), James Wallis Esq., rented the lands of Woodhouse, Carrigcrokie, Stradballymore, Ballykerogue and others from the fellow Elizabethan settler and land distributor Richard Beacon. The latter gentleman was awarded the lands of the Catholic FitzGerald family in Co. Limerick and Co. Waterford (Woodhouse) by the Queen in appreciation for having performed his duties as her majesty’s attorney for the province of Munster. After leasing the land James Wallis had built a fine stone house, a mill, a walled garden accompanied by a numerous outbuildings and weirs (river dams) in the river Tay. The original house was built in an Elizabethan style on a rectangular plan.“

“During the 1641 Rebellion in Ireland, James Wallis Esq. was forced out of Woodhouse by rebels and despite his detailed Deposition made in 1642 describing the damage to his house and the loss of his goods, as well as the favourable court ruling in his favour in 1653, he never returned to the property.“

“The 1654 Civil Survey states that the owner of Woodhouse was then Thomas FitzGerald. Two generations later his grandson Major Richard MacThomas FitzGerald (then of Prospect House in Kinsalebeg, Co. Waterford) was facing large debts and had no way of paying them back so he had to sell the house and lands in 1724. Richard MacThomas Fitzgerald received over £8000 for this property but could only retain £840 while the rest was required to cover his debts.

“The new owner of Woodhouse was Richard MacThomas Fitzgerald’s distant relative and close neighbour Thomas Uniacke Esq. of Ballyvergin, Barnageehy and Youghal. It was then that the second phase of development for Woodhouse started. Thomas’ sons, Borr and Maurice Uniacke, invested heavily into renovating the dilapidated house and completely changed its character by developing it into a Georgian structure. There is no evidence to confirm who the architect of the changes was so it’s quite possible that the wealthy Uniacke family used the “Pattern Books” and hired traveling stonemasons to introduce the changes. The house was substantially enlarged and its functionality vastly changed. At this time the Woodhouse estate was is thought to have consisted of about 2500 acres in total.

“What the house looked like, may be seen at one of Borr Uniacke’s granddaughter’s amateur painting which was likely done in the first half of 1800s.“

“Woodhouse remained with the Uniacke family for about 130 years but in 1853 the Estate changed hands again. It did not entirely leave the Uniacke family inasmuch as the last heiress of this branch of the family, Frances Constantia Uniacke, having inherited Woodhouse from her older brother, Robert Borr Uniacke in 1844, married George John Beresford the grandnephew of the 1^st Marquess of Waterford. Frances and George John took on the responsibility for the house and had the house and the outbuildings further extended. Owing to his sufferings caused by severe gout, at the back of the main house he had built a Turkish bath. We also know that construction of the boat house in nearby Stradbally Cove (which in contemporary nautical charts was called the Blind Cove) was done at this time.“

“For almost a century after that Woodhouse did not see any major changes and once again it became in need of extensive work to save it. Most of the eight Beresford children of George John and Frances Beresford married but none of them had children of their own. In 1933, the last surviving daughter of the couple, Lady Emily Frances Louisa (Beresford) Hodson bequeathed Woodhouse (the main house, 550 acres of land and the village of Stradbally) to her distant cousin Lt. Lord Hugh Tristram de la Poer Beresford Royal Navy, the sixth child of the 6^th Marquess of Waterford. At the time of Lady Hodson’s death Lord Hugh was Aide De Camp to the Governor General of South Africa, yet he still managed to order renovation works including the installation of electricity and running water to the house. There is an extensive written evidence of his endeavours, which describes the works undertaken.“

*Emily Frances Louisa (née Beresford) Hodson* *(1861-1934).*

“In 1936 Lord Hugh Beresford made his last will and testament and bequeathed Woodhouse to his older brother Major Lord William Mostyn de la Poer Beresford. When in 1941 Lt. Cmdr. Lord Hugh Beresford was killed in action during the Battle of Crete, the will and testament were probated and when in 1944 Major Lord William Beresford returned from the war he took on Woodhouse, its lands and the village of Stradbally. Hence the third stage of structural development for Woodhouse began. Until his return however, the Estate was looked after by Arthur Hunt Esq. who had been the agent for the Beresford family since the late 1800s.

“Upon his return from the war, Lord William Beresford moved into Woodhouse. He found the Estate to be quite run down and badly in need of repairs.

“Lord William introduced considerable changes not only to the structure of the main house, but he also developed the land and garden in such a way that they yielded large crops. Every week he transported the rich surplus of vegetables, fruits and dairy products to Waterford where they were sold in the first Co-Op in town.“

*There is a beautiful bridge in the distance, on the property.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

“Lord William and his wife Rachel are remembered as a good and kind people who successfully ran Woodhouse as a working farm and they put all their energy into making it a self-sufficient establishment.”Lord William and his wife Rachel are remembered as a good and kind people who successfully ran Woodhouse as a working farm and they put all their energy into making it a self-sufficient establishment.

“The year 1971 was the year when everything had changed for Woodhouse. It was the first time in 250 years that it was sold outside of the Fitzgerald/Uniacke/Beresford Anglo-Irish family. In that year Lord William sold the Estate to Mr. John McCoubrey who farmed and bred his cattle here and, thanks to the auspicious nature, he succeeded in that enterprise. However only one year later Mr. McCoubrey decided to move on and he, too, sold Woodhouse.

“In 1972 Mr. John Rohan bought the house and all the lands. The new owner began extensive renovations to the main house and, being the Master of the Waterford Hunt, built stables for his horses and kennels for his dogs in the walled garden. He also purchased and installed the beautiful black gate at the main entrance to the Estate.“

*The impressive gates of Woodhouse, purchased and installed by John Rohan.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

“Ten years later, in 1983 Woodhouse changed hands again and was purchased as an investment by a company owned by Mr. Mahmoud Fustok and his associates from the Middle East. Mr. Fustok never occupied Woodhouse but chose to make it available to Dr John O’Connell, an Irish parliamentarian, and his friends. The house was adjusted to their style, but no major renovations took place between 1983 and 2006.

“After 23 years under Mr. Fustok’s ownership Woodhouse was purchased by two Irish business partners – Mr. Aidan Farrell and Mr. Charles O’Reilly-Hyland. After their purchase these two owners sold some land parcels of Woodhouse to interested parties and made some improvements to the Estate but did not make it their residence. Eventually in 2012 they decided to sell the entire estate.“

*The front door to the private house of Woodhouse.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

“The new purchasers, Jim Thompson and his wife Sally, took on the task of renovating and modernizing the vastly run-down house, cottages, outbuildings and lands. Their initiative involved an enormous amount of effort and patience but ultimately was successful. The works extended into every part of the large Estate (500 acres) and was achieved over a period of six years with the support and encouragement of the people of Stradbally.“

*Inside this area is a museum about Woodhouse, a function room*, *and the Hayloft cottage.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

“After many years of being forgotten and with no sufficient means to sustain itself, Woodhouse was brought back to life by various experts – architectural, building, landscape, and farm – who guided the Thompsons through the long renovation process. This commitment to bring Woodhouse back to its former glory proved very successful and as of 2019 – 400 years after the house was originally built – Woodhouse is a vibrant estate once more.“

*The private home of Woodhouse*, *the rear entrance, with French doors from the kitchen.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*French doors from the kitchen.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The beautiful day showed the gardens to perfection.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*These lovely buildings house the museum and a function room.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

We gathered at the ancilliary buildings for coffee and a chat before Marianna’s introduction to the house’s history. She has published a book that was for sale, along with Julian Walton.

*This houses the museum and function rooms.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Ancilliary buildings.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Woodhouse, County Waterford.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Ancilliary buildings at Woodhouse.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The museum, upstairs in the ancilliary buildings.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*This was the walk between the museum and the main house. The gardens everywhere are beautiful and we couldn’t have had a finer day for our visit.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

After our talk, we visited the house and then the walled garden. The website tell us:

“When Woodhouse changed hands in 2012 a project was undertaken to bring the walled garden back to its former glory. Today the Walled Garden and Orchard have a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs and many types of flowers and, thanks to Paddy Kiely and his excellent team of skilled workmen, has developed in a place of beauty in tune with nature as it was planned when originally built. An oasis of calm and tranquility situated right in the centre of the Estate, the beautifully restored Walled Garden is a perfect venue for small intimate weddings and gatherings. Completely enclosed and surrounded by high stone walls the walled garden has flowers beds, beautiful green lawns, a raised pergola overlooking the entire garden and a soothing water feature. As well as providing a beautiful backdrop for weddings the Walled Garden is also an ideal venue for a variety of special events. Whether you are looking to toast a birthday or anniversary or hold a charity event the Walled Garden adds a special atmosphere to any occasion.
For more information please get in touch 1woodhouseestate@gmail.com “

*The beautiful walled garden of Woodtown.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*Events can be held in the buildings in the walled garden.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The beautiful walled garden of Woodhouse.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

Beyond the walled garden in a further section is an orchard and greenhouse, and a house for chickens.

*The orchard at Woodhouse.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*The greenhouse at Woodhouse.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

*At Woodhouse.* Photograph © Jennifer Winder-Baggot, www.irishhistorichouses.com

Woodbrook, Killanne, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, Y21 TP 92 – B&B accommodation

by jenjunebugMarch 13, 2025February 25, 2026

www.wood brookh ouse.ie

*Woodbrook House, photograph courtesy of Historic Houses of Ireland website.*

Today I am going to write about Woodbrook as it is provides holiday accommodation. In 2026, it is no longer on the Revenue Section 482 list.

donation

Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!

€15.00

Then, below my entry, I have listed Section 482 properties that are open for a visit in March 2025!

Woodbrook looks like a lovely place to stay and the hosts Giles and Alexandra Fitzherbert, who have lived there since 1998, serve dinner also if requested. Giles is a former Ambassador in South America and his wife Alexandra is of Anglo-Italian-Irish-Chilean extraction, the Hidden Ireland website tells us.

*Woodbrook, County Wexford, courtesy Hidden Ireland.* [1]

Woodbrook house was built in the 1770s. It was built by Reverend Arthur Jacob (1717-1786), Archdeacon of Armagh, for his daughter Susan and her husband Captain William Blacker, a younger son of the family at Carrigblacker near Portadown. Arthur Jacob was Rector of Killanne in County Wexford while he was also Archdeacon of Armagh. [2]

The Historic Houses of Ireland website tells us:

“Nestling beneath the Backstairs Mountains near Enniscorthy in County Wexford, Woodbrook, which was first built in the 1770s, was occupied by a group of local rebels during the 1798 rebellion. Allegedly the leader was John Kelly, the ‘giant with the gold curling hair’ in the well known song ‘The Boy from Killanne’. It is said that Kelly made a will leaving Woodbrook to his sons but he was hanged on Wexford bridge, along with many others after the rebels defeat at Vinegar Hill. He was later given an imposing monument in nearby Killanne cemetery.” [3]

Another rebel who occupied the house in 1798 was John Henry Colclough (c.1769-98) who was also executed for his participation in the 1798 Insurrection.

The Historic Houses of Ireland site continues:

“… The house was badly knocked about by the rebels and substantially rebuilt in about 1820 as a regular three storey Regency pile with overhanging eaves, a correct Ionic porch surmounted by a balcony and three bays of unusually large Wyatt windows on each floor of the facade.” [3]

*Woodbrook House, photograph courtesy of Woodbrook website.*

The house has tripartite entrance doorcase with large cobweb fanlight under the portico. Mark Bence-Jones writes that the hall has a “rather Soanian vaulted ceiling.” I’m not sure what he means by this – if you can enlighten me, please do let me know! He also comments on the “very spectacular spiral flying staircase of wood, with wrought iron balustrades; a remarkable and brilliant piece of design and construction.” [4] It is called “flying” because it does not touch the walls. The steps look like stone but are timber, and each was carefully made to fit perfectly together. Robert O’Byrne tells us that the stairs bounce slightly as one walks up or down, which sounds disconcerting!

Woodbrook passed to the son, William Blacker (1790-1831). He married Elizabeth Anne Carew, from Castleboro House in County Wexford, now a splendid ruin.

*Castleboro, County Wexford, photograph: Robert French, Lawrence Collection, NLI,* 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*.

*William Blacker married Elizabeth Anne Carew, from Castleboro House in County Wexford, now a splendid ruin. The ruins of Castleboro House, County Wexford (geograph_3716684) By Mike Searle,* https://commons.wikimedia.org

William and Elizabeth Anne’s son Robert Shapland Carew Blacker (1826-1913) inherited the impressive Carrickblacker house in County Armagh from his relatives, as well as inheriting Woodbrook, from an elder brother, William Jacob, who predeceased him and had no children. William Jacob Blacker served as High Sheriff of County Wexford.

Robert Shapland married, in 1858, Theodosia Charlotte Sophia, daughter of George Meara, of May Park, County Waterford. Carrickblacker house remained in the family until the estate was purchased in 1937 by Portadown Golf Club, which demolished Carrickblacker House in 1958 to make way for a new clubhouse. [5]

The eldest son, William Robert George Blacker, died at just twenty years old. The next eldest, Edward Carew Blacker, died unmarried in 1932. He also served as High Sheriff of County Wexford. After his death, Woodbrook lay empty for some years, inherited by Edward’s brother Stewart Ward William Blacker, who also owned Carrickblacker. The Irish Historic Houses website tells us that the house was occupied by the Irish army during the Second World War.

The house has a large drawing room with a chimneypiece that is from the original house.

Stewart’s son Robert Stewart Blacker moved to the house in the 1950s after Carrickblacker was sold, and Woodbrook was then extensively modernised.

*There are three large guest bedrooms, all en suite.* *Woodbrook, County Wexford, courtesy Hidden Ireland.* [1]

Also featured in The Wexford Gentry by Art Kavanagh and Rory Murphy. Published by Irish Family Names, Bunclody, Co Wexford, Ireland, 1994.

and The Irish Aesthete: Buildings of Ireland, Lost and Found. Robert O’Byrne. The Lilliput Press, Dublin, 2024.

Donation towards accommodation

I receive no funding nor aid to create and maintain this website, it is a labour of love. I travel all over Ireland to visit Section 482 properties and sometimes this entails an overnight stay. A donation would help to fund my accommodation.

€150.00

[1] https://hi ddenir eland.com/house-pages/woodbrook-house/

[2] https://theirishaesthete.com/2013/06/24/speaking-of-98/

[3] https://www.ihh.ie/index.cfm/houses/house/name/Woodbrook

[4] 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.

[5] http://lordbel montinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2013/05/house-of-blacker.html

These Section 482 listings are open on certain dates in March 2025, so you might still have time for a visit! I have separated below the places that are listed as Accommodation.

Huntington Castle, Clonegal, Co. Carlow, Y21 K237

Postal address: Huntington Castle, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford

www.huntingtoncastle.com

Open: Feb 1-2, 8-9, 15-16, 22-23, Mar 1-2, 8-9, 15-16, 22-23, 29-30, Apr 5-6, 12-30, May 1-31, June 1-30, July 1-31, Aug 1-31, Sept 1-30, Oct 4-5, 11-12, 18-19, 25-31, Nov 1-2, 8-9, 15-16, 22-23, 29-30, Dec 6-7, 13-14, 20-21, 11am-5pm

Fee: house/garden, adult €13.95, garden €6.95, OAP/student, house/garden €12.50, garden €6, child, house/garden €6.50, garden €3.50, group and family discounts available

Corravahan House & Gardens, Corravahan, Drung, Ballyhaise, Co. Cavan, H12 D860

www.corravahan.com

Open: Jan 3-4, 10-11, 17-18, 24-25, 31, Feb 7-8, 14-15, 21-22, 28, Mar 1, 7-8, 14, May 8-11, 15-18, 22-25, June 12-15, 19-22, 26-29, Aug 8-10, 15-24, 29-31, 2pm-6pm

Fee: adult €10, OAP/student/child €5

Newtown Castle, Newtown, Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare

www.newtowncastle.com

Open: Jan 6-Dec 19 Mon-Fri, National Heritage Week 16-24, 10am-5pm

Fee: Free

Ashton Grove, Ballingohig, Knockraha, Co. Cork

Open: Jan 7-10, 14-17, 21-24, Feb 10-14, 18, 25, Mar 4, May 1-5, 8-11, 13, 15-16, 20, 22-23, June 3-8, 10-15, 17-20, Aug 16-24, 8am-12 noon

Fee: adult €6, child €3, student/OAP free

Blarney Castle & Rock Close, Blarney, Co. Cork

www.blarneycastle.ie

Open: all year, Jan-Mar, Nov, Dec, 9am-5pm, Apr, Oct, 9am-5.30pm, May- Sept 9am-6pm,

Fee: adult €23, OAP/student €18, child €11

Kilshannig House, Rathcormac, Co. Cork, P61 AW77

Open: March 18-19, 21, 24, 26-27, April 2, 4-7, 9, 11-13, 21, 23, 25, May 12, 14, 16-17, 19, 21, 23-26, 28, 30, June 2, 4, 6-9, 11, 13, 16, 25, 27-29, July 2, 4-7, 14, 16, 18-20, 28, 30, Aug 1- 4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 15-25, Sept 18, 20, 22-25, 27, 29, 8.30am-3pm,

Fee: adult €14, OAP €12, student €10, child €8

Woodford Bourne Warehouse, Sheares Street, Cork

www.woodfordbournewarehouse.com

Open: all year, except Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, 12 noon-10pm

Fee: Free

Bewley’s, 78-79 Grafton Street/234 Johnson’s Court, Dublin 2

www.bewleys.com

Open: all year, except Christmas Day, Jan- Nov, 8am-6.30pm, Dec 8am-8pm

Fee: Free

Doheny & Nesbitt, 4/5 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2

www.dohenyandnesbitts.ie

Open: all year, except Christmas Day, Mon-Wed, 9am-12 midnight, Thurs-Sat, 9am-1.30am, Sun, 9am-12 midnight

Fee: Free

Hibernian/National Irish Bank, 23-27 College Green, Dublin 2

www.clarendonproperties.ie

Open: all year, except Jan1, and Dec 25, 9am-8pm

Fee: Free

The Odeon (formerly the Old Harcourt Street Railway Station), 57 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2

www.odeon.ie

Open: all year Tue-Sat, National Heritage Week, Aug 16-24, 12 noon-12 midnight

Fee: Free

Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, 59 South William Street, Dublin 2

www.powerscourtcentre.ie

Open: all year, except New Year’s Day, Christmas Day, 10am-6pm

Fee: Free

10 South Frederick Street, Dublin 2, DO2 YT54

Open: all year, 2pm-6pm

Fee: Free

The Church, Junction of Mary’s Street/Jervis Street, Dublin 1

www.thechurch.ie

Open: Jan 1-Dec 23, 27-31, 11am-11pm

Fee: Free

Clonskeagh Castle, 80 Whitebeam Road, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14

www.clonskeagh.com

Open: Jan 5-9, Feb 28, Mar 1-7, 9, May 1-10, June 1-10, July 1-10, Aug 16-25, Nov 4-6, Dec 2-4, 10am-2pm

Fee: adult €12, student/OAP/groups €8, groups over 4 people €8 each

Martello Tower, Portrane, Co. Dublin

Open: March 1- Sept 21, Sat & Sun, National Heritage Week, Aug 16-24, 9am-1pm

Fee: adult €6, student/OAP €2, child free

Tibradden House, Mutton Lane, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16, D16 XV97

www.selinaguinness.com

Open: Jan 7-17, 24, Feb 3, 10, 17, 24, Mar 3, 10, 21, 24, Apr 4, May 2-3, 9-10, 16-17, 23, 29-30, June 13-15, 19-22, 25-28, Aug 15-24, Sept 3-6, 12-13, 19-20, 26-27, Jan-Apr, May-June, Aug, 2pm-6pm, Feb and Sept, 10am-2pm

Fee: adult €8, student/OAP/group €5

Woodville House Dovecote & Walls of Walled Garden, Craughwell, Co. Galway

www.woodvillewalledgarden.com

Open: Feb 1-3, 7-10, 14-17, 21-24, 28, Mar 1-3, 7-10, 14-17, Apr 18-21, May 16-19, June 1-2, 6-9, 13-16, 20-23, 27-30, Aug 1-4, 8-11, 15-25, Feb-May, 12 noon-4pm, June and August, 11am-5pm, last entry 4.30pm

Fee: adult €10, OAP €9, student, €6, child €4 must be accompanied by adult, family €25 (2 adults and 2 children)

Derreen Gardens, Lauragh, Tuosist, Kenmare, Co. Kerry

www.derreengarden.com

Open: all year, 10am-6pm

Fee: adult/OAP/student €10, child €5, family ticket €30 (2 adults & all accompanying children under18) 20% discount for groups over 10 people

Kells Bay House & Garden, Kells, Caherciveen, Co. Kerry, V23 EP48

www.kellsbay.ie

Open: Jan 1-4, Feb 1-Dec 21, 27-31, Jan-Apr, Oct-Dec 9am-5pm, May-Sept 9am-6pm

Fee: adult €9.50, child €7.50, family €30 (2 adults and up to 3 children 17 years or under) concessions 10% on groups up to 20 persons

Farmersvale House, Badgerhill, Kill, Co. Kildare, W91 PP99

Open: Jan 6-21, Mar 3-6, July 18-31, Aug 1-26, 9.30am-1.30pm

Fee: adult €5, student/child/OAP €3, (Irish Georgian Society members free)

Harristown House, Brannockstown, Co. Kildare, W91 E710

www.harristownhouse.ie

Open: Feb 3-7, 24-28, Mar 10-14, 17-21, May 1-14, July 23-25, 28-31, Aug 1, 5-24, 9am-1pm

Fee: adult €15, OAP/student/child €10

Leixlip Castle, Leixlip, Co. Kildare, W23 N8X6

Open: Feb 17-21, 24-28, Mar 3-7, 10-14, May 12-23, June 9-20, Aug 16-24, Sept 1-7, 9am-1pm

Fee: adult €8, OAP/student/child €4, no charge for local school visits/tours

Kilkenny Design Centre, Castle Yard, Kilkenny

www.kilkennydesign.com

Open: Jan 1 new year’s day 12 noon-5.30pm, Jan 2-Dec 23, 27-31, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov, Dec, Sun, 11am-6pm, Mon-Sat, 10am-6pm, May, 10am-6pm, June, July, Aug, Sept, Sun, 10am-6pm, Mon- Sat, 9am-6pm,

Fee: Free

Ballaghmore Castle, Borris in Ossory, Co. Laois

www.castleballaghmore.com

Open: all year, except Christmas Day, 11am-5pm

Fee: adult €15 with Guide, child over 7 years /OAP/student €8, family of 4 €30

Manorhamilton Castle (Ruin), Castle St, Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim

Open: Jan 3, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20, 24, 27, 31, Feb 3, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, 28, Mar 3, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, 28, 31, Apr 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 25, 28, May 2-5, 9-12, 16-19, 23, 26, 30, June 2, 6, 9, 13, 16, 20, 23, 27, July 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 25, Aug 1, 4, 8, 15-25, 29, Sept 1, 5, 8, 12, 15, 19, 22, 26, 29, 10am-4pm

Fee: adult €5, child/OAP/student free

Brookhill House, Brookhill, Claremorris, Co. Mayo

Open: Mar 13-26, Apr 17-25, June 12-26, July 8-24, Aug 15-26, 2pm-6pm

Fee: adult €8, OAP/student €4, National Heritage Week free

Beau Parc House, Beau Parc, Navan, Co. Meath, C15 D2K6

Open: Mar 1-20, May 1-31, Aug 16-24, 10am-2 pm

Fee: adult €10, OAP/student/child €8

St. Mary’s Abbey, High Street, Trim, Co. Meath

Open: Feb 8-14, 24-28, Mar 3-7, 26-28, May 10-18, June 23-30, July 21-27, Aug 16-24, Sept 14-20, 2pm-6pm

Fee: adult €5, OAP/student/child €2

Swainstown House, Kilmessan, Co. Meath, C15 Y60F

Open: Mar 4-5, 7-8, April 7-8, 10-11, May 5-11, June 2-8, July 7-13, Aug 16-24, Sept 8-12, 15-19, Oct 6-7, 9-10, Nov 3-4, 6-7, Dec 1-2, 4-5, 11am-3pm

Fee: adult €8, OAP/student/child €5, National Heritage Week free

Crotty Church, Castle Street, Birr, Co. Offaly

Open: Jan 1- Dec 31, Mon-Fri, excluding Bank Holidays, National Heritage Week Aug 16-24, 12 noon-5pm

Fee: Free

Springfield House, Mount Lucas, Daingean, Tullamore, Co. Offaly, R35 NF89

www.springfieldhouse.ie

Open: Feb 1-3, 22-23, Mar 8-9, 15-17, Apr 5-6, May 3-5,10-11, 17-18, July 5-6, 26-30, Aug 1-24, Sept 29-30, Oct 1-5, 25-27, 2pm-6pm

Fee: Free

Strokestown Park House, Strokestown, Co. Roscommon

www.strokestownpark.ie www.irishheritagetrust.ie

Open: Jan 10-Dec 24, Jan-Feb, Nov-Dec 10.30am-4pm, Mar-May, Sept-Oct, 10am-5pm, June-Aug, 10am-6pm

Fee: adult house €14.50, tour of house €18.50, child €7, tour of house €10, OAP/student €12, tour of house €14.50, family €31, tour of house €39

Beechwood House, Ballbrunoge, Cullen, Co. Tipperary, E34 HK00

Open: Feb 25-27, Mar 4-6, 11-13, April 1-11, May 8-11, 15-18, 22-25, June 7-8, 14-15, Aug 16-24, Sept 2-4, 9-11, 16-18, 23-28, 9.15am-1.15pm

Fee: adult €5, OAP/student €2, child free, fees donated to charity

Clashleigh House, Clogheen, Co. Tipperary

Open: Mar 4, 6, 11, 13, 18, 20, 25, 27, Apr 1, 3, 8, 10, 15, 17, 22, 24, 30, May 6, 8, 10-11, 13, 15, 17-18, 20, 22, 24-25, 27, 29, June 3, 5, 10, 12, 17, 19, 24, 26, Aug 16-24, Sept 2, 4, 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, 25, 30, Oct 2, 7, 9, 9am-1pm

Fee: adult €8, OAP/student/child €4

Fancroft Mill , Fancroft, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary

www.fancroft.ie

Open: Feb 3-15, Mar 24-30, May 13-28, June 10-20, Aug 15-27, 10am-2pm

Fee: adult €8, OAP/student €6, child free under 5 years, one to one adult supervision essential, group rates available

Cappoquin House & Gardens, Cappoquin, Co. Waterford, P51 D324

www.cappoquinhouseandgardens.com

Open: Apr 7-12, 15-19, 22-26, 28-30, May 1-3, 5-10, 2-17, 19-24, 26-31, June 2-7, Aug 16-24, 9am-1pm

Gardens open all year

Fee: adult house €10, house and garden €15, garden only €6, child free

The Presentation Convent, Waterford Healthpark, Slievekeel Road, Waterford City

www.rowecreavin.ie

Open: Jan 2- Dec 23, 29-30, Mon-Fri, National Heritage Week Aug 16-24, closed Bank Holidays, 8.30am-5.30pm

Fee: Free

Lough Park House, Castlepollard, Co. Westmeath

Open: Mar 15-21, 28-31, Apr 18-21, May 1-7, June 1-9, July 12-25, Aug 1-7, 16-24, 2pm-6pm

Fee: adult €6

Tullynally Castle & Gardens, Castlepollard, Co. Westmeath, N91 HV58

www.tullynallycastle.com

Open: Castle, May 1-3, 8-10, 15-17, 22-24, 29-31, June 5-7, 12-14, 19-21, 26-28, July 3-5, 10-12, 17-19, Aug 1-2, 7-9, 14-24, 28-30, Sept 4-6, 11-13, 18-20, 11am-3pm

Garden, Mar 27-Sept 28, Thurs-Sundays, and Bank Holidays, National Heritage Week, Aug 16-24,11am-5pm

Fee: castle adult €16.50, child entry allowed for over 8 years €8.50, garden, adult €8.50, child €4, family ticket (2 adults + 2 children) €23, adult season ticket €56, family season ticket €70, special needs visitor with support carer €4, child 5 years or under is free

Kilcarbry Mill Engine House, Sweetfarm, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford

Open: Jan 1-4, 29-31, Feb 3-5, Mar 5-7, 10-11, Apr 3-4, 11-13, May 10-12, 19-23, July 5-7, Aug 2-31, Dec 19-23, 27-30, 12 noon-4pm

Fee: adult €10, student/OAP €5, child free

Sigginstown Castle, Sigginstown, Tacumshane, Co. Wexford, Y35 XK7D

www.sigginstowncastle.com

Open: Mar 14-17, 21-23, April 4-6, 11-13, 18-21, May 2-5, 9-11, 16-18, 23-25, June 6-8, 13-15, 20-22, 27-29, July 4-6, 11-13, 18-20, 25-27, Aug 1-4, 8-10, 15-24, Sept 6-7, 13-14, 20-21, 27-28, 1pm-5pm

Fee: adult €10, child/OAP/student €8, groups of 6 or more €8 per person

Altidore Castle, Kilpeddar, Greystones, Co. Wicklow, A63 X227

Open: Mar 10-30, May 1-31, June 1-5, 1pm-5pm, Aug 16-24, 2pm-6pm

Fee: adult €10, OAP/child/student €8

Castle Howard, Avoca, Co. Wicklow

Open: Jan 6-8, Feb 10-14, Mar 3-5, 18-20, June 4-7, 9-11, 23-28, July 7-12, 21-24, Aug 16-24, Sept 1-6, 13, 20, 28-30, Oct 1, 6-8, 9am-1pm

Fee: adult €8.50, OAP/student €6.50, child €5

Mount Usher Gardens, Ashford, Co. Wicklow, A67 VW22

www.mountushergardens.ie

Open: all year, except Christmas Day and St. Stephen’s Day, Jan-Mar, Nov-Dec, 10am-5pm, Apr-Oct, 10am-5.30pm

Fee: adult €10, student/OAP €8, child over 4 years €5, under 4 years free, group rate (10 or more people) €8 per person

Powerscourt House & Gardens, Powerscourt Estate, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow, A98 W0D0

www.powerscourt.com

Open: Jan 1-Dec 24, 27-31, house and garden, 9.30am-5.30pm, ballroom and garden rooms, 9.30am-1.30pm

Fee: Jan-Oct, adult €14, OAP, €12, student €10.50, child €5.50, family €20, Nov- Dec, adult €10.50, OAP €9.50, student €9, child €5.50, Jan- Oct, concessions-family ticket 2 adults and 3 children under 18 years €33, concession-Nov-Dec family 2 adults and 3 children under 18 €25

Russborough, The Albert Beit Foundation, Blessington, Co. Wicklow, W91 W284

enc@russborough.ie

Open: Feb 1-Dec 23, 27-31, Feb, Nov, Dec 9am-5.30pm, Mar-Oct 9am-6pm Fee: adult €14.

Accommodation:

Cabra Castle (Hotel), Kingscourt, Co. Cavan, A82 EC64

www.cabracastle.com

Open: all year, except Dec 24, 25, 26, 11am-4pm

Fee: Free

Claregalway Castle, Claregalway, Co. Galway, H91 E9T3

www.claregalwaycastle.com

Tourist Accommodation Facility

Open: January 2- December 24

Ballyseede Castle, Ballyseede, Tralee, Co. Kerry

www.ballyseedecastle.com

Open: Mar 14-Dec 31, 8am-12 midnight

Fee: Free

Owenmore, Garranard, Ballina, Co. Mayo

www.owenbeag.ie

(Tourist Accommodation Facility)

Open: all year except Jan, Feb, June 15- July 10, Dec

Cillghrian Glebe now known as Boyne House Slane, Chapel Street, Slane, Co. Meath, C15 P657

www.boynehouseslane.ie

(Tourists Accommodation Facility)

Open: all year, National Heritage Week, Aug 16-24, 9am-1pm

Fee: Free

Loughcrew House, Loughcrew, Old Castle, Co. Meath

www.loughcrew.com

(Tourist Accommodation Facility)

Open: all year

Fee: adult €8, OAP/student €6, child €4, carers free

Slane Castle, Slane, Co. Meath, C15 XP83

(Tourist Accommodation Facility)

Open: January, February, May, June, July, August, (Mar-Apr, Sept-Dec, Mon-Thurs)

Fee: adult €14, OAP/student €12.50, child €8.40 under 5 years free

Tankardstown House, Rathkenny, Slane, Co. Meath, C15 D535

www.tankardstown.ie

Open: all year, National Heritage Week, Aug 16-24, 9am-1pm

Fee: Free

Castle Leslie, Glaslough, Co. Monaghan

www.castleleslie.com

(Tourist Accommodation Facility)

Open: all year, National Heritage Week events August 16-24

Fee: Free

The Maltings, Castle Street, Birr, Co. Offaly

www.canbe.ie

(Tourist Accommodation Facility)

Open: all year

Lismacue House, Bansha, Co. Tipperary

www.lismacue.com

(Tourist Accommodation Facility)

Open: Mar 1-Oct 31

Wilton Castle, Bree, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, Y21 V9P9

(Tourist Accommodation Facility)

www.wiltoncastleireland.com

Open: all year

Woodbrook House, Killanne, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, Y21 TP 92

(Tourist Accommodation Facility)

www.woodbrookhouse.ie

Open: all year

Lisdonagh House, Caherlistrane, Co. Galway – section 482 tourist accommodation

by jenjunebugFebruary 13, 2025February 20, 2026

www.lisdonagh.com (Tourist Accommodation Facility)

Open for accommodation: May 1-Oct 31 2026

*Lisdonagh House, County Galway, photograph from Lisdonagh website.*

The 2025 Revenue list still hasn’t been published so today I am writing about Lisdonagh in County Galway. It is another tourist accommodation property that is only available as a whole house rental, so I don’t think I will be able to visit. There are also cottages available for accommodation – perhaps Stephen and I can stay there sometime!

The website tells us:

“When looking for an authentic Irish country house to hire, the beautiful 18th century early Georgian Heritage home is the perfect choice. Lisdonagh House is large enough to accommodate families, friends and groups for private gatherings. This private manor house is available for exclusive hire when planning your next vacation or special event. Enchantingly elegant, Lisdonagh Manor House in Galway has been lovingly restored and boasts original features as well as an extensive antiques collection. Peacefully set in secluded woodland surrounded by green fields and magnificent private lake, this luxury rental in Galway is full of traditional character and charm. The tasteful decor pays homage to the history of Lisdonagh Manor with rich and warm colours in each room. The private estate in Galway is perfect for family holidays, celebrations and Board of Director strategy meetings. Lisdonagh is an excellent base for touring Galway, Mayo and the Wild Atlantic Way.“

Lisdonagh Estate is set in its own mature woodland with private lake and guests may avail of complimentary horse riding, fishing in our lake and rambling walks through our 200 acres of Irish countryside.

I would love to be able to stay sometime!

The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage tells us it was built around 1760; Mark Bence-Jones estimated it to be from 1790s. [1] [2] A third date is suggested on the Visit Galway website which tells us that Lisdonagh House is an early Georgian country manor built around the 1720s by the Reddingtons for the St. George family who were prominent landlords in Galway. [3]

The Landed Estates website tells us:

“For fifty years in the middle of the 19th century a branch of the O’Flaherty family leased an estate at Lisdonagh, parish of Donaghpatrick, barony of Clare, county Galway, from the St. George family of Headford. Bernard O’Flaherty of Lisdonagh was agent to Peter Lynch of Ballycurran in the 1830s…In the 1870s Martin O’Flaherty of Lisdonagh owned 2,128 acres in county Galway. He married Mary O’Gorman and their daughter Eva, a founder member of Scoil Acla on Achill Island, was born in 1874. He sold his estate to Peter O’Mahony in the late 19th century and Lisdonagh passed to Henry Palmer of Galway, who married O’Mahony’s daughter. Their daughter Valda Palmer lived at Lisdonagh until the 1990s. In 1885 Martin Francis O’Flaherty was acting as a trustee for the estate of Edward Michael Davies, a bankrupt. Part of this estate at Moneyteigue, barony of Dunkellin, was offered for sale in the Landed Estates court in April 1885.” [4]

The Women’s Museum of Ireland tells us that Eva O’Flaherty studied millinery in Paris at the end of the 19th century, where she knew Countess Markievicz, and had a millinery emporium on Sloane Street, London, in 1913. Prior to World War I Eva was a well known beauty in the Café Royal, mixing with an eclectic intellectual artistic milieu, many of whom visited her in later years in Achill. Eva corresponded with Kathleen Clarke and other notable Republican women such as Dr Kathleen Lynn and Máire Comerford all her life. She moved to Achill in 1910, opening St Colman’s Knitting Industries in Dooagh which would proved much needed employment for local women for almost fifty years and co-founding Scoil Acla with poet, journalist and, later, politician, Darrell Figgis, Colm O’Loughlainn and Anita McMahon. [5]

“After her hectic experiences in Dublin, Eva settled back into life in Achill, where artist Paul Henry became a close friend and where writer Graham Green played cards regularly in her home. Such was Eva O’Flaherty’s contribution to the fledgling Irish state that President Eamon De Valera sent Senator Mark Killilea as his government representative to give the oration at her funeral in Donaghpatrick graveyard in April 1963. Her coffin was draped with a tricolour and she received military honours.” [5]

The house is two storeys over basement. It has five bays, with a central curved bow. The entrance doorway is in the bow, and has an arched fanlight over the door. The doorcase has limestone block-and-start surround, with a keystone in the form of a massive scroll bracket, and a further cornice above and limestone bracket above that in the form of a heraldic bird’s head, with the beak forming a ring for hanging a lantern. [see 1] The door is approached by flight of five limestone steps with wrought-iron railings.

Mark Bence-Jones tells us that on one side of the house is a detached pyramidally-roofed Palladian pavilion with a Venetian window on one face and a niche on the other. Bence-Jones adds that Dr. Craig is doubtful whether a balancing pavilion was ever built.

The house has commanding views over Lough Hackett, a private Lake which forms part of the Estate, and of Knochma hill.

*Lisdonagh House, County Galway, photograph from website.*

The rear elevation is of three bays and three storeys, with a centre flat-roofed canted bay. This rear bay contains a round headed window with cobweb fanlight which lights the stairs.

Mark Bence-Jones writes in his A Guide to Irish Country Houses that the impressive front hall has walls painted with an Ionic order and figures in grisaille by J. Ryan. [2] The Lisdonagh website tells us that the murals depict the four virtues of valour, chastity, beauty and justice.

*Lisdonagh House, photograph from website.*

The staircase is behind this hall, partly in three sided projection.

The main rooms are beautifully furnished and look invitingly comfortable. The ground floor has a spacious drawing room with open fire, separate Georgian dining room, small study or reading room and fully equipped kitchen. Dining can be self catered or provided by your hosts on request. A sweeping original oak staircase leads to the first floor and 5 en-suite bedrooms with lake or garden views. There are an additional 4 en-suite bedrooms on the lower ground floor as well as Rafferty’s Room which is a stone clad snug with mini bar style facilities.

*Drawing room,* *Lisdonagh House, County Galway, photograph from Lisdonagh website.*

*Lisdonagh House library, photograph from Lisdonagh website.*

*Dining room,* *Lisdonagh House, County Galway, photograph from Lisdonagh website.*

*The Bar,* *Lisdonagh House, County Galway, photograph from Lisdonagh website.*

*The Kitchen, Lisdonagh House, County Galway, photograph from Lisdonagh website.*

The bedrooms look equally enticing.

The Gregory Room: Located in what was originally the kitchens of the Manor, this spacious room features two single beds, marble bathroom and antique period furniture treasures. The two front facing windows are deep set with planted rockery outside. *Lisdonagh House, County Galway, photograph from Lisdonagh website.*

*The Merriman room with four poster bed, and a bathroom with one of the first ever bathtubs in Ireland!* *Lisdonagh House, County Galway, photograph from Lisdonagh website.*

The Sommerville Room: Also on the lower ground floor (opposite the Merriman Room) with double bed and beautiful black and white tiled bathroom. Jacuzzi bath with hand held shower, the Sommerville room has courtyard garden view. *Lisdonagh House, County Galway, photograph from Lisdonagh website.*

*The Synge Room,* *Lisdonagh House, County Galway, photograph from Lisdonagh website.*

*The Maud Gonne room,* *with two windows with garden and courtyard views*, *Lisdonagh House, County Galway, photograph from Lisdonagh website.*

*Located centrally over the main entrance, The Carolan Room, Lisdonagh House, photograph from website.*

*The Yeats Room,* *Lisdonagh House, County Galway, photograph from Lisdonagh website.*

*With views of Lough Hackett, The Joyce* *Bedroom,* *Lisdonagh House, County Galway, photograph from Lisdonagh website.*

The Flaherty Room, located on the lower ground floor, with whitewashed walls and antique brass double bed with mother of pearl headboard. The shuttered window gives a rear view of the courtyard garden area, photograph from Lisdonagh website.

The National Inventory tells us that there is a detached eight-bay two-storey stable block, built c.1760, in yard ancillary to Lisdonagh House. At either end are plain gate piers with wrought-iron gates. The yard has a carriage arch and fountain.

*Coach House at* *Lisdonagh House, photograph from website.* Previously the estate’s stables, the two storey, 3 bedroom Coach House is beautifully renovated and has both period features and modern comforts. It comprises a large contemporary kitchen and breakfast room, under floor heating, a spacious sitting room complete with stove and TV including both Irish and UK channels as well as a smaller study or games room. Upstairs there are three en-suite double bedrooms.

It has two cottages for accommodation also.

*Lughnasa Villa at Lisdonagh House, photograph from website*: Two storeys with under floor heating on the ground floor as well as a compact galley style kitchen and beautiful antique furnishings. Ideal for friends and families, Lughnasa has two double bedrooms (king size & queen size beds) and two bathrooms.

As well as Lughasa Villa there is Inisfree Villa. On the ground floor there is a large sitting room with plush period furnishings and wood burning stove. A small but fully fitted galley kitchen is adjacent to the sitting room. Upstairs there are two bedrooms, one very spacious double bedroom and a twin bedroom – both en-suite.

There is a two-bay single-storey gate lodge of c.1830 on the opposite side of the road to the entrance gates, with lime-rendered walls and wide windows. The entrance is through the porch in the south return wall.

*Gate Lodge at* *Lisdonagh House, photograph from website.* This self-catering cottage is located at the entrance to Lisdonagh Manor Estate. Set entirely over the ground floor, this holiday rental in Galway can sleep four people in two bedrooms with shared bathroom. The Gate Lodge also has a kitchen with dining area and a sitting room. Oil fired central heating with multi-fuel stove.

[1] https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/30404211/lisdonagh-house-lisdonagh-co-galway

[3] https://visitgalway.ie/lisdonagh-house/

[4] http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie/LandedEstates/jsp/property-list.jsp?letter=L

[5] https://www.womensmuseumofireland.ie/blog/eva-oflaherty-achills-forgotten-heroine

Lismacue House, Bansha, Co. Tipperary – Section 482 accommodation

by jenjunebugFebruary 10, 2025February 24, 2026

*Lismacue House, photograph courtesy of Lismacue website.*

donation

Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!

€15.00

(Tourist Accommodation Facility)

Open for accommodation: Mar 1-Oct 31 2026

http://www.lismacue.com

e: info@lismacue.com

Lismacue in County Tipperary was listed in the 2024 Revenue Section 482 list as tourist accommodation. The 2025 Revenue Section 482 list has not yet been published. Under the Revenue rules, a historic property can have an income tax reduction for a percentage of repair and renovation costs if they offer tourist accommodation six months of the year, at least four of those months being between 1st May and 30th September.

There are loopholes in the section 482 scheme, in that it does not specify what sort of accommodation must be provided, nor how much the accommodation costs. Lismacue, for example, can only be rented as an entire house with five bedrooms.

However, you can take a tour of Lismacue with the company Historic Family Home Tours, which brings visitors to three historic houses: twelfth century Castlegarde in County Limerick with its 1820s extension by the Pain brothers, Lismacue and Grenane House (see my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2024/04/04/grenane-house-tipperary-co-tipperary-e34-ep22 / )

Their website is https://www.hfhtours.ie/

The tours are quite expensive, however, and require a group, so I don’t think I will be able to visit Lismacue house, so I am going to write about the history of the house today.

*Lismacue, photograph courtesy of National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.*

Mark Bence-Jones tells us in his A Guide to Irish Country Houses that Lismacue is:

“[Baker/IFR] A late-Georgian house with battlements and other mild Gothic touches. Two storeys; entrance front of three bays with Gothic porch, prolonged by lower wing ending in a gable with tracery window. Side of five bays has a battlemented pediment with pinnacles. Another pediment on the rear facade.” [1]

The Archiseek website tells us that the house was designed by architect William Robertson (1770-1850) and building completed in 1813. [2] William Robertson was born in Kilkenny, where he later ran a busy architectural practice. After some years in London, he returned to Kilkenny, where he designed the Gaol, St. Canice’s Church and the Psychiatric Hospital (“Lunatic Asylum”). Among other private residences, he designed Jenkinstown House in County Kilkenny.

*Five bay side of Lismacue House, photograph courtesy of website.*

*Jenkinstown House, County Kilkenny, courtesy Lisney Sotheby’s 2024.* *Also designed by William Robertson, it also has hood mouldings, crenellations, and a large Gothic traceried window.*

The National Inventory claims that Lismacue was built around 1760. [3] The work by William Robertson was added to the earlier house.

Lismacue has elements of Tudor-Revival with its hood mouldings over the windows and wonderful pinnacles either side of the central breakfront. The house is two storeys over basement. The sides of the house are of five bays, and there is a lower wing to the north with an ecclesiastical-looking Gothic window.

William Baker (d. 1733) purchased Lismacue from Charles Blount in 1705, and the estate remains in the ownership of the same family. The present owners are Kate née Baker and her husband Jim Nicholson. Kate inherited Lismacue from her father, William Baker. The Bakers’ ancestor Thomas Baker (1577-1642) probably came to Ireland in the retinue of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. [4]

William Baker served as High Sheriff for County Tipperary. His father lived at Lattinmore, County Tipperary. In 1700 William married Margaret, daughter of Captain Hugh Massy of Duntrileague, County Limerick.

William and Margaret had several children. The house passed to their oldest son, Hugh (d. 1772). In 1730 Hugh married Catherine, daughter of Robert Ryves, of Ryves Castle, Ballyskiddane, County Limerick. It may be been Hugh who built the first iteration of the house, in time for his new bride.

Reflecting the exterior, the interior features Gothic details. The front hall is divided by a pointed arch with two fluted columns and further fluted pilasters, and quatrefoil circular decorations on the wall over the arch. A large window lights the staircase with its wooden banisters and carved veloute. The staircase leads from the entrance hall to the guest bedrooms.

*Lismacue House, photograph courtesy of website.*

The Lismacue website tells us that the accommodation includes a classically proportioned drawing room, dining room, breakfast room and library. The house is centrally heated throughout, and the owners provide warm and welcoming log fires in the reception rooms. All windows have the original pine shutters.

Many of the large rooms have decorative plasterwork, and the ground floor rooms have mahogany doors. Several rooms retain wallpaper dating from the 1830s. The dining room features decorative pelmets and a sideboard niche.

*The Librar*y, *Lismacue House, photograph courtesy of website.*

Hugh and Catherine’s son William (1719-1808) served as a Colonel for the Irish Volunteers, the local militia formed in 1778 to protect against invasion, such as the French threat in Bantry Bay.

William married Elizabeth, second daughter of the Very Reverend Charles Massy, Dean of Limerick, and sister of Hugh Dillon Massy 1st Baronet of Doonass, County Limerick. Their son William Baker (1767-1815) inherited, and married Elizabeth daughter of Thomas Roberts, 1st Baronet of Britfieldstown, County Cork.

William hired William Robertson and built the current version of the house in 1813, but he was murdered a few years later in 1815. [5] He was a Justice of the Peace and was murdered on the way home from a meeting in Cashel of the Quarter Sessions held under the Insurrection Act. [see 4] Two men were eventually arrested and one of them was executed, on the testimony of the other. William Blake’s grave in Bansha features quatrefoils similar to those on his house. [6]

After his death William’s wife Elizabeth moved to Cheltenham, taking all the family furniture with her, so none of the original furniture remains in Lismacue. William was succeeded by a son of his brother Hugh, who had died in 1801, also named Hugh (1798-1868). He married Marion, only child of Charles Conyers, of Castletown Conyers, County Limerick.

*A bedroom of* *Lismacue House, photograph courtesy of website.*

The Landed Families website tells us:

“Hugh Baker seems to have been a considerate and generous landlord, but that did not stop him receiving unwelcome attention from violent elements in the local population in the 1830s on account of the fact that he employed a Protestant steward. At one point he was obliged to leave the estate for the greater safety of Dublin, although he soon returned and was resident throughout the famine years of the 1840s. He had a large family of four sons and five daughters.“

Hugh’s son Hugh (1845-1887) inherited but he died young, leaving a widow and two small children. The Landed Families website explains:

“The estate passed to his young son, but it was heavily indebted and in an era of falling agricultural prices one of the creditors called in his loan, leading to the estate being vested in trustees for sale. Hugh Baker’s widow, Frances, had meanwhile married again, to Maj. Ralph Hall Bunbury (d. 1898), who bought the house (but not the estate) so that the family could continue to live there. However when he died, rather than leaving the house as might have been expected to his step-son, Hugh Baker (1880-1952), it passed to his unmarried sisters. Hugh, who became a naval officer and a leading figure in the world of fly-fishing, later moved to County Antrim, and died there without issue. The Misses Bunbury sold their unexpected legacy at a generously low valuation to Charles Conyers Massy Baker (1847-1905), the second son of Hugh Baker (1798-1868), who was perhaps looking to retire from his practice as a barrister.”

*A wonderfully spacious bedroom of* *Lismacue House, photograph courtesy of website.*

Charles Conyers Massy’s son Allen inherited the house and was the grandfather of the current owner Kate. Interestingly, Allen Baker (1881-1959) was the first person to qualify (in 1900) as a veterinary surgeon at the Royal Veterinary College of Ireland! It’s a pity my father is not still alive as he too graduated from the veterinary college and would have found that interesting.

Allan Baker made his home at Lismacue, where he established a stud farm and acted as the local vet. His son and heir William Baker (1913-77) followed in his father’s footsteps and maintained both the stud and the veterinary practice. Unfortunately William died suddenly and there were large death duties to pay. From around 2000, Kate and her husband found the funds to embark on a systematic restoration of the house. They continue to operate the family stud farm, now with the assistance of a manager

Outside is fine open parkland with views of the Galtee Mountains and the Glen of Aherlow, and a long avenue of lime trees said to date from 1760.

[1] 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.

[2] https://www.archiseek.com/2012/lismacue-co-limerick/

[3] https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/22109011/lismacue-house-lismacue-bansha-co-tipperary-south

[4] https://landedfamilies.blogspot.com/2018/06/334-baker-of-lismacue.html

[5] https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2017/11/lismacue-house.html

[6] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/167428499/william-baker

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: