Doneraile Court, County Cork, An Office of Public Works property

by jenjunebugApril 19, 2024

*Doneraile Court, County Cork, August 2020.*

General enquiries: 046 942 3175, donerailecourt@opw.ie

From the website https://heritageireland.ie/visit/places-to-visit/doneraile-wildlife-park/:

“Doneraile Court towers majestically over the glorious Doneraile Park, a 160-hectare landscaped parkland and wildlife estate.

“The house was built by the St Leger family around 1645 on the site of a ruined castle. By the time it was refurbished in the mid-eighteenth century it had become an outstanding example of Georgian architecture. Its associations range from links to the famous St Leger Stakes in horse racing and literature, with famous Irish writers such as Elizabeth Bowen. [A horse race took place in 1742 in which Edmund Burke and Cornelius O’Callaghan met a bet as to whose horse could cover the distance fastest between the church steeples of Buttevant and Doneraile. This gave rise to the term “steeplechasing.”]

“Thirteen generations of the St Leger family lived at Doneraile over three centuries. The family had some extraordinary members. For example, Elizabeth St Leger made history when she became the first woman Freemason in the world in 1712.“

*Elizabeth Aldworth née St. Leger (1693-1773),* https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MrsAldworth.jpg#/media/File:MrsAldworth.jpg

*Doneraile Court, County Cork, August 2020.* Tooled limestone porch with deep entablature, Ionic pilasters and columns, a heavy balustraded parpapet and swan neck doorcase. Oval heraldic motif to centre of parapet has curvilinear, foliate and wreath-swag decorative surround. *Frank Keohane tells us that the porch is probably designed by G. R. Pain, added in the 1820s.*

Elizabeth (1695-1772) was the daughter of Arthur St. Leger (1656-1727) 1st Viscount Doneraile. He was an active Freemason and sometimes hosted lodge meetings at his home. The story has it that Elizabeth fell asleep in the library, and woke to hear a secret Masonic ceremony taking place. When the Freemasons discovered that she had heard their secret, she had to be sworn in as a member in order to protect their privacy! She remained a member, as can be seen wearing Masonic symbols in portraits. She married Colonel Richard Aldworth, High Sheriff of County Cork.

The house remained in the hands of the St. Leger family until 1969. Following decades of care by the Irish Georgian Society, it passed to the Office of Public Works in 1994.

From the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage:

“Detached three-storey over half basement country house, built c. 1730, containing fabric of earlier house, built c. 1645. Possibly also incorporating fabric of medieval castle. Extended 1805, conservatory added 1825, extended 1869, and also incorporating other nineteenth-century additions.“

The 1730s work on the house was carried out for Arthur St. Leger, 2nd Viscount Doneraile (1694-1734). Mark Bence-Jones suggests that it was the work of architect Isaac Rothery, but Frank Keohane suggests it could have been Benjamin Crawley. [7] The bow-ended block on the left of the garden front was added 1756-58, payment was made for this to architect Thomas Roberts.

Doneraile Park is associated with the poet Edmund Spenser, who refers to the River Awbeg which flows through the park as the ‘gentle mulla’. The lands were bought by William St. Leger (1586-1642) from the Spensers. William St. Leger was a Privy Counsellor, Lord President of Munster in 1627, and MP for Cork County in 1634. In 1634 he was appointed Sergeant-Major-General in the Army, employed to fight against the rebels in Ireland. His father was Warham St. Leger, who was Commissioner of the Government of Munster in 1599.

Doneraile passed from William St. Leger to his son John (d. 1696). John married Mary, daughter of Arthur Chichester 1st Earl of Donegal. Arthur St. Leger (1656-1727) who became 1st Viscount Doneraile was their son. He too was a privy counsellor in Ireland and he was MP for Doneraile. He married Elizabeth Hayes and one of his sons was named “Hayes” (who eventually became the 4th Viscount Doneraile).

The 1st Viscount’s daughter Elizabeth married Richard Aldworth (1694-1776) and their son St. Leger (d. 1787), born St. Leger Aldworth, took the surname St. Leger to become St. Leger St. Leger and was created 1st Baron Doneraile in 1776. He was created 1st Viscount Doneraile of the 2nd creation in 1785.

Arthur St. Leger 1st Viscount’s son John was killed in a duel in 1741. His son Arthur (circa 1695-1733/1734) succeeded at 2nd Viscount. The 2nd Viscount married Mary Mohun who gave birth to the 3rd Viscount Doneraile, Arthur Mohun St. Leger (1718-1750). He had no children, so the title passed to his uncle Hayes St. Leger (d. 1767), who became 4th Viscount Doneraile. He also died without issue and the title became extinct, until St. Leger St. Leger was created 1st Viscount Doneraile of the 2nd creation.

Memorial to Lady Elizabeth St Leger, Viscountess Doneraile (d. 1761), in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, wife of Hayes St Leger, 4th Viscount Doneraile (1702-1767), daughter of Joseph Dean, Lord Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer and of Margaret Boyle, daughter of Roger Boyle of Castlemartyr in County Cork.

St. Leger St. Leger’s son was another Hayes St. Leger (1755-1818), 2nd Viscount Doneraile. He married Charlotte Bernard of Castle Bernard, County Cork.

The bow ends on the front facade were built when improvements were made by the Hayes St. Leger 2nd Viscount of the second creation (1755-1819), between 1804-1808. At this time a new kitchen was added to the back of the house along with a now-lost Gothic conservatory.

Hayes St. Leger 2nd Viscount of 2nd creation’s daughter Harriet married Richard Smyth (1796-1858) of Ballynatray in County Waterford (see my entry). Hayes’s heir was another Hayes St. Leger (1786-1854) who became 3rd Viscount Doneraile.

National Inventory Appraisal: “The artist who created the ornate plaster work to the interior is unknown, but was clearly highly skilled.“

The Hall was remodelled in the 1820s, when it was extended into the new porch. It has a screen of paired Ionic pillars, a frieze decorated with rosettes and an acanthus ceiling rose. This would have been in the time of Hayes St. Leger (1786-1854) who became 3rd Viscount Doneraile. He married Charlotte Esther, daughter of Francis Bernard 1st Earl of Bandon, County Cork, and she gave birth to their heir, another Hayes St. Leger (1818-1887), 4th Viscount Doneraile.

Mark Bence-Jones writes in his A Guide to Irish Country Houses:

“…On the other side of the house, a wing containing a new dining room was added 1869 by 4^th Viscount Doneraile of the later creation. At the back of the hall is an oval late-Georgian staircase hall in which a staircase with slender wooden balusters rises gracefully to the top of the house beneath of ceiling of Adamesque plasterwork. To the right of the staircase hall is one of the rooms of the original house, with a corner fireplace and fielded panelling; it was possibly in here that, ca 1713, Elizabeth St Leger was initiated as one of the only three women Freemasons in history, after she had been caught spying on a Lodge meeting held by her father. Behind this room was the vast and splendid dining room of 1869 which formerly had an immense mahogany sideboard in a mirrored alcove confronting a full-length portrait of the 4^th Viscount with his favourite hunter. He was one of the greatest Victorian hunting men; ironically, he died of rabies through being bitten by a pet fox. The three drawing rooms on the other side of the house are early C19 in character and probably date from the reconstruction after the fire; they have simple but elegant friezes, overdoors with volutes and windows going right down to the floor. The long connection of the St Legers with Doneraile ended when Mary, Viscountess Doneraile died 1975. The garden, which boasts of a Lime Walk and a long “fishpond” or canal surviving from the original C18 layout, is now maintained by the Dept of Lands; as is the park, in which there is still a herd of red deer. The house, after standing empty for several years and becoming almost derelict, is in the process of being restored by the Irish Georgian Society, with a view to finding someone who would be willing to take it on. The 1869 dining room wing has been demolished.” [8]

From the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage: “Floating elliptical winder staircase with curved newel post and turned timber banisters. Timber treads with carved timber panels to side. Decorative render roses under stair. Ornate Adam-style ceiling with central ceiling rose and decorative fluted surround to stair ceiling.”

*The staircase hall is lit by a tall round-arched window above an elliptical window.*

*The ceiling of Adamesque plasterwork, over the elliptical floating staircase* *(ie. Neoclassical interior design like the work of Scottish architect William Adams and his sons, most famous of whom are Robert and James)*.

Hayes St. Leger (1818-1887), 4th Viscount Doneraile married Mary Ann Grace Louisa Lenox-Conyngham (d. 1907), daughter of George Lenox-Conyngham of Springhill. They had daughters, and the daugher Emily Ursula Clare lived in Doneraile until her death in 1927. She married Bernard Edward Barnaby Fitzpatrick, 2nd Baron Castletown of Upper Ossory, County Laois.

The last member of the St. Leger family to live at Doneraile was Mary, Viscountess Doneraile, who died in 1975. She was the wife of the 5th Viscount, Richard Arthur St. Leger (1825-1891). He was the son of Reverend Richard Thomas Arthur St. Leger (1790-1875), who was the son of Colonel Hon. Richard St. Leger (1756-1840) who was the son of St. Leger St. Leger, 1st Viscount Doneraile of the 2nd creation.

The website tells us: “The fine parklands are designed in the naturalistic style of the famous Capability Brown. They include many beautiful water features, plus a parterre walled garden and gardeners’ cottages. There are numerous pathways and graded walks. Lucky visitors might just spot some of the red deer, fallow deer, sika deer and Kerry cattle that live on the estate.” [1]

“Capability” *Launcelot Brown (1716-1783), Landscape gardener, painting by Nathaniel Dance (later Sir Nathaniel Holland, Bt), c. 1773, courtesy of National Portrait Gallery NPG 6049*

*The landscape of Doneraile is laid out in “Capability” Brown style, which is characterized by a natural flowing appearance rather than more formally patterned gardens.*

[1] See also https://doneraileestate.ie

Burton Park, Churchtown, Mallow, County Cork P51 VN8H

by jenjunebugFebruary 8, 2024February 28, 2024

www.slieile.ie
Open dates in 2024: Apr 1-Oct 12, Sat-Sun, National Heritage Week, Aug 17-25, 2pm-6pm
Fee: Free

2024 Diary of Irish Historic Houses (section 482 properties)

To purchase an A5 size 2024 Diary of Historic Houses (opening times and days are not listed so the calendar is for use for recording appointments and not as a reference for opening times) send your postal address to jennifer.baggot@gmail.com along with €20 via this payment button. The calendar of 84 pages includes space for writing your appointments as well as photographs of the historic houses. The price includes postage within Ireland. Postage to U.S. is a further €10 for the A5 size calendar, so I would appreciate a donation toward the postage – you can click on the donation link.

€20.00

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!

€10.00

*Burton Park, County Cork, August 17th 2023.*

A house was first built at Burton Park around 1665 for John Perceval (1629–1665), 1st Baronet. However, this was destroyed and a later house built on its footprint. The house, which was not completed until 1709, was three times the size of the present building, which was remodelled in the late 1800s.

*John Perceval, 1st Baronet (1629–1665) engraved by J. Faber (1743).* *From Anderson, James (1742), Whiston, William, ed.*, A genealogical history of the house of Yvery, in its different branches of Yvery, Luvel, Perceval and GournayGournay volume *2, London: H. Woodfall*.

The house has been in the ownership of only two families: the Percevals and the Purcells. It now houses Slí Eile, and the website tells us:

“In the Irish language, slí eile means ‘another way’ and Slí Eile was set up to provide an alternative recovery option for those who might otherwise have to spend time in psychiatric hospital…People who come to Slí Eile spend a period of 6-18 months in a residential community in which support is available from both professional staff and from peers. Participating in the Slí Eile community provides an opportunity for a fresh start in a safe, nurturing environment. It also serves to restore a structured pattern to life. It helps in the development of both interpersonal skills and the practical skills that are required for daily living.” [1]

You can read more about Slí Eile on their website.

The website tells us that the original dwelling was fortified with high walls around the house, with four turrets, one at each corner. There are a number of underground passages, recently discovered, which correspond with the sites of the turrets as they would have appeared in the original design.

Philip Perceval (1605-1647), father of John, came to Ireland where he served as registrar of the Irish court of wards, along with his brother Walter. 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. He 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.

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 in 1661. A younger son, George (1635-1675) lived at Temple House in County Sligo, another Section 482 property which we have yet to visit.

In 1665 the officer-architect Captain William Kenn, then engaged on Charleville Manor for Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, proposed a design, and building work on Burton Park started for the 1st Baronet Perceval. [2]

John Perceval served in Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth. He was involved in sending the opponents of Cromwell from their sequestered lands to Connaught. However, he began to distance himself from the Parliament and declined Cromwell’s invitation to sit in Cromwell’s Parliament.

After the Restoration of King Charles II, John Perceval was pardoned for his part in Cromwell’s government, and was granted a Baronetcy (of Kanturk) and made a Privy Councillor to Charles II. He married Catherine Southwell of Kinsale, County Cork.

*Catherine (1637 – 1679) the only daughter of Sir Robert Southwell of Kinsale, wife of Sir John Perceval, 1st Baronet. Engraved by J. Faber (1743).* *From Anderson, James (1742), Whiston, William, ed.*, A genealogical history of the house of Yvery, in its different branches of Yvery, Luvel, Perceval and GournayGournay volume *2, London: H. Woodfall, p. 360*

Catherine and John’s son eldest son and heir died at the age of 24 and he was succeeded by his brother, John (c. 1660-1686), who became 3rd Baronet of Kanturk.

*John Perceval, 3rd Bt (1660-1686) by Thomas Pooley, c. 1670-74, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland NGI 4627.*

*John Perceval 3rd Bt, by John Faber Jr, National Portrait Gallery of London D29835.*

John the 3rd Baronet married Catherine Dering, daughter of Edward 2nd Baronet Dering, of Surrenden Dering, Co. Kent. Their son Edward became 4th Baronet at the age of just four years old but he died aged 9. The next son, John, succeeded as 5th Baronet in 1691 on the death of his brother, and in 1733 was created 1st Earl of Egmont.

*John Perceval (1683-1748) 1st Earl of Egmont by and published by John Smith, after Sir Godfrey Kneller 1704, National Portrait Gallery of London, D11553.*

In 1690 Burton Park house was burnt by Duke of Berwick’s Jacobite forces as they retreated south after the Battle of the Boyne. The Duke of Berwick, James Fitzjames, was the illegitimate son of King James II. The village of Churchtown and fifty other big houses were destroyed.

James Fitzjames, 1st Duke of Berwick (1670–1734), three-quarter-length, wearing a suit of armour, a white jabot and holding a baton, by the circle of Godfrey Kneller, courtesy of Sothebys auction Old Master Paintings 6 April 2022.

The 1st Earl of Egmont rebuilt the house. Frank Keohane writes:

“After being burnt, the house’s rebuilding was delayed by a second long minority until the first decade of C18. The stables were commenced first, and unknown Italian architect was recorded at work in 1707 by the steward. [fn. A proto-Palladian plan dated 1709 shows a colonnaded hall and a portico before the door. Its designer was perhaps James Gibbs, whom Perceval had befriended in Italy when Gibbs was a student of Carlo Fontana.] In 1710 Rudolph Corneille, a Huguenot military engineer, proposed to rebuild the house for £2000. William Kidwell was paid for a chimneypiece in 1712. The house does not appear to have been completed, however, and the demesne was leased in 1716. A drawing of 1737 records the house standing as a shell, while in 1750 Smith described the ruin as ‘a large elegant building, mostly of hewn stone.’ ” [3]

*Burton Park, County Cork, August 17th 2023*: *an artist’s impression of how the original house may have looked.*

Jane O’Hea O’Keeffe writes in Voices from the Great Houses: Cork and Kerry that Perceval is believed to have commissioned Italian architects to submit designs for a new house in 1703, incorporating many Palladian features, to be built on the foundations of the original house. She writes that the mansion was completed in 1709 and was remodelled in the late nineteenth century. [4]

The Percevals didn’t live in Ireland, however, as they served as politicians in the British government.

John Perceval the 1st Earl was elected for the British parliament to represent Harwich in England from 1728 to 1734. The Dictionary of Irish Biography tells us “He was a regular attender at court, and sat (1727–34) for Harwich in the British house of commons, where he had some success in promoting trade concessions for Ireland. Other interests included prison conditions and the Georgia colony [in the United States], of which he was a co-founder in 1732.“

*John Perceval, 1st Earl of Egmont (1683-1748) by Hans Hysing.*

It’s fascinating that he was a founder of Georgia in the United States! He supported James Oglethorpe’s scheme to establish a new colony. He was acquainted with Oglethorpe from their work on the Gaols Committee of the House of Commons, which was painted by William Hogarth. The National Portrait Gallery of London tells us he played a crucial role in securing the funding that was essential for the support and defence of Georgia.

*The Gaols Committee of the House of Commons by William Hogarth circa 1729 courtesy of National Portrait Gallery of London NPG 926.*

Oglethorpe gained a reputation as the champion of the oppressed. He pressed for the elimination of English prison abuses and, in 1732, defended the North American colonies’ right to trade freely with Britain and the other colonies. [5] The prison reforms Oglethorpe had championed inspired him to propose a charity colony in America. On June 9, 1732, the crown granted a charter to the Trustees for Establishing the Colony of Georgia. Oglethorpe himself led the first group of 114 colonists on the frigate Anne, landing at the site of today’s Savannah on February 1, 1733. The original charter banned slavery and granted religious freedom, leading to the foundation of a Jewish community in Savannah.

In 1742, Oglethorpe called upon his military experience and Georgia’s fledgling militia to defend the colony from a Spanish invasion on St. Simons Island. Oglethorpe and his militia defeated the invaders in the Battle of Bloody Marsh, which is credited as the turning point between England and Spain’s fight for control of southeastern North America. [5]

John Perceval was a friend of Bishop George Berkeley, Church of Ireland Bishop of Cloyne. The philosopher-bishop was chaplain to John Perceval and tutor to his son. Papers relating to Burton House tell us that during his stay at Burton, Berkeley enjoyed long walks through its wooded demesne and may have slept on a hammock strung in the barn!

*George Berkeley (1685-1753), Philosopher and Bishop of Cloyne, by John Smibert 1730 courtesy of National Portrait Gallery NPG 653.*

Extracts from the correspondence between Berkeley and Perceval (Ryan-Purcell papers) reveal the special affection the bishop reserved for Burton:

“Trinity College, 17th May 1712:
… Burton I find pleases beyond expectation; and I imagine it myself at this time one of the finest places in the world …

“Trinity College, 5th June 1712: Dan Dering (Perceval’s cousin) and I deign to visit your Paradise, and are sure of finding angels there, notwithstanding what you say of their vanity. In plain English, we are agreed to go down to Burton together and rejoice with the good company there. I give you timely warning that you may hang up two hammocks in the barn against our coming. I never lie in a feather bed in the college and before now have made a very comfortable shift with a hammock.

“London, 27th August 1713:
Last night I came hither from Oxford. I could not without some regret leave a place which I had found so entertaining, on account of the pleasant situation, healthy air, magnificent buildings, and good company, all which I enjoyed the last fortnight of my being there with much better relish than I had
done before, the weather having been during that time very fair, without which I find nothing can be agreeable to me. But the far greater affliction that I sustained about this time twelvemonth in leaving Burton made this seem a small misfortune …” [6]

John Perceval’s son John Perceval (1711–70), sat for Dingle in the Irish commons from 1731 to 1748, when he succeeded to his father’s peerage after his father’s death and became 2nd Earl of Egmont. He was a member of the British Commons, 1741–62, and was a close adviser to Frederick, Prince of Wales. [6]

*John Perceval *(1711-1770)* 2nd Earl of Egmont by Thomas Hudson.*

John 2nd Earl’s sister Helena married John Rawdon, 1st Earl of Moira.

John 2nd Earl married Catherine, daughter of James Cecil 5th Earl of Salisbury. She gave birth to the next in line, John James Perceval (1738-1822) 3rd Earl of Egmont, along with several other children.

John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont with Catherine Perceval (née Cecil), Countess of Egmont by Richard Josey, after Sir Joshua Reynolds mezzotint, 1876 (1756) National Portrait Gallery of London D1855.

When she died, John the 2nd Earl remarried, this time to Catherine Compton, granddaughter of the 4th Earl of Northampton in England. They had several more children.

Catherine Perceval (née Compton), Countess of Egmont; Charles George Perceval, 2nd Baron Arden by James Macardell, after Thomas Hudson mezzotint, published 1765, National Portrait Gallery of London D1829.

From 1751-1759 the 2nd Earl created a house in England, Enmore Castle. He served as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1763-1766 and a port in the Falkland Islands, Port Egmont, was named after him, as well as Mount Egmont in New Zealand.

The 2nd Earl of Egmont was created Baron Lovel and Holland of Enmore, Co. Somerset in 1762, which gave him an automatic seat in the House of Lords.

Following his death, his widow was created Baroness Arden of Lohort Castle, County Cork in the peerage of Ireland, with remainder to her heirs male. This gave the oldest son of his second wife a title.

His third son, Spencer Perceval (1762–1812), became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and is the only British prime minister to have been assassinated, and the only solicitor-general or attorney-general to have become prime minister.

*Spencer Perceval, by George Francis Joseph (died 1846), given to the National Portrait Gallery, London in 1857.*

A son of the first marriage, John James Perceval (1737-1822) became 3rd Earl of Egmont when his father died in 1770, as well as 2nd Baron Lovel and Holland of Enmore, Co. Somerset. He also entered politics in England and served in the British House of Lords.

He did not live at Burton Park and in 1800 he rented it to John Purcell, a member of the family of the Barons of Loughmoe (see my entry on Ballysallagh, County Kilkenny, for more of this branch of the family). He rented the property for his newly married eldest son, Matthew (1773-1845), Rector of Churchtown (1795-1845) and of Dungourney (1808-45).

John James Perceval the 3rd Earl Egmont married Isabella Powlett, granddaughter of the 2nd Duke of Bolton, and they had a son, John (1767-1835) who became 3rd Baron Lovel and Holland, of Enmore, County Somerset and 4th Earl of Egmont. The 4th Earl of Egmont followed in his father’s footsteps and served in the House of Lords. He married Bridget Wynn, daughter of an MP for Caernarvon in Wales and they had a son, Henry Frederick John James Perceval (1796-1841) who became 5th Earl of Egmont after his father’s death, as well as 4th Baron Lovel and Holland of Enmore, Co. Somerset.

The 5th Earl of Egmont inherited large debts. The History of Parliament website tells us:

“Debts of some £300,000 had accumulated on the estate at Churchtown, county Cork, and the property at Enmore, Somerset, was also heavily encumbered. The barrister engaged to defend Perceval’s will claimed that he was ‘a man of education and refinement’ whose ‘feeling of disappointment … on account of the enormous embarrassments on his property, led him to drink, and at an early period of his life he acquired habits of dissipation’; the opposing counsel blamed this fall from grace on neglect by his mother, who was portrayed as a scheming courtesan.” [7]

The Parliament website continues the sorry tale:

“Having thus compounded his financial difficulties, Perceval was declared an outlaw at some point in 1828 and fled abroad. Later that year he married the daughter of a French count in Paris, but evidently not under the auspices of the British consulate. The son born to them about four months after the marriage was apparently living in 1835, but predeceased his father; the fate of the mother has not been discovered. On his father’s death in 1835 Perceval inherited all his property, but the will was not proved until 1857, when the personalty was sworn under £16,000. Enmore had been sold in 1834 for £134,000 to pay off creditors, but no takers had been found for the Cork estates, which comprised 11,250 acres, because of the burden of debt on them. Egmont took his seat in the Lords in February 1836, but afterwards lived under the alias of ‘Mr. Lovell’ at Burderop Park, Wiltshire. This property was purchased in the name of his companion, a Mrs. Cleese, with whom it seems he had previously resided at Hythe, Kent and whom he passed off as his sister.” [7]

The website tells us the nature of his regular pursuits can be inferred from a letter supposedly sent to him on 28 April 1826 by Edward Tierney, the family’s Dublin solicitor and land agent, entreating him to ‘abandon his evil courses and his associates’.

“He decamped to Portugal in 1840, but after Mrs. Cleese’s death he returned to England, where he died in December 1841. Tierney was made sole executor and residuary legatee of the estate, exciting some comment, but it was not until 1857 that the will was finally proved (under £20,000) by Tierney’s son-in-law and heir, the Rev. Sir William Lionel Darell. In 1863 the will was belatedly contested by George James Perceval (1794-1874), Egmont’s cousin and successor in the peerage. It was alleged that alcoholism had rendered Egmont completely dependent on Tierney, whose misleading valuation of the estates had induced him to draw up his will as he did. The evidence was inconclusive and an out of court settlement was reached, by which the Irish property was returned to the Egmont family on payment of £125,000 to Darell. It was estimated that Tierney and his heirs had realized at least £300,000 from their stewardship of the estates, which were eventually sold by the 7th earl in 1889. The 8th earl (1856-1910), a former sailor turned London fireman, upheld family tradition by being arrested for drunkenness in Piccadilly, 16 May 1902.“

In 1814 Rev. Matthew Purcell (1773-1845) was resident. He lived there with his wife Elizabeth Leader. His father John passed his Highfort home in County Cork to his youngest son, Dr. Richard Purcell, and spent his latter years with his eldest son Matthew at Burton House, where he died in 1830.

The Annals of Churchtown (see [6]) tell us:

“John Purcell earned the sobriquet ‘the Knight of the Knife’ (occasionally the ‘Blood-red Knight’) for the spirited manner in which he, at some 80 years of age and, armed only with a knife, had repulsed a number of armed intruders at his Highfort home in Liscarroll [County Cork] on the 18th March 1811, killing three of their number and wounding others before the attackers fled. The attack not only earned a knighthood for Purcell. It also heralded a change in English law: it was determined henceforth that an octogenarian could kill in self-defence.“

The Landed Estates database tells us that the invaders were “Whiteboys.” Whiteboys were members of a secret agrarian organisation who defended tenant farmer land rights. Their members were called “whiteboys” after the white smocks they wore on their night time raids. Their activity began around 1760 when land which had previously been commonage was enclosed by landlords to farm cattle. [9]

The house bears the Purcell coat of arms on the central gable. The crest represents the encounter between Sir John Purcell the Octagenarian and the intruders he fought off.

*Burton Park, County Cork, August 17th 2023.* *The house bears the Purcell coat of arms on the central gable.*

Reverend Matthew Purcell was succeeded by his son John Purcell in 1845, at a time when the house was valued at £34. Reverend Matthew also had eight daughters.

The Sli Eile website tells us:

“Proceeding up the avenue, we can see the very fine parkland. On the right hand side is the new forestry plantation, started in 1997, which now covers a large part of the estate, and contains a very fine forest walk with much to interest both the arboriculturist and the casual walker. Further up, also on the right-hand side, may be seen a group of five mature oak trees, (one of which is unfortunately dead). These trees, of which there were once eight, were planted in the 1800’s to commemorate the birth of eight daughters of the Rev. Matthew Purcell, owner of Burton Park, and Rector of Churchtown. These trees are known as the eight sisters.“

John married Anna More Dempsey and they had two children: Matthew John (1852-1904) and Elizabeth Mary (believed to have been a nun, died unmarried, 1867). Matthew John, who inherited the property as a juvenile, was made a Ward of Court until he came of age.

Matthew Purcell bought Burton Park from the 7th Earl of Egmont in 1889. The 6th Earl of Egmont (John, 1794-1874) was the grandson of the 2nd Earl of Egmont and his second wife, Catherine Compton. His father was Charles George Perceval, who became 2nd Baron Arden after his mother’s death. The 6th Earl did not have any children, and it was a son of his brother Reverend Charles George Perceval who became the 7th Earl of Egmont (Charles George Perceval 1845-1897) and sold Burton Park.

In 1889 the Purcells undertook major renovations and alterations. [see 4]. Mark Bence Jones tells us that the Purcells refaced it in Victorian cement and gave it a high roof with curvilinear dormer-gables. [8] Frank Keohane tells us:

“Today the façade is rather more ornate, owing to a remodelling by William H. Hill c. 1899. Hill faced the house in rough plaster with smooth banded quoins, string courses and a cornice topped with a balustrade. The style is loosely Renaissance, with curvilinear gables and grotesque panels to the pedimented ground floor windows.“

*One of the “grotesque” panels at Burton Park, County Cork, August 17th 2023.*

William Henry Hill (1837-1911) was an architect from Cork. He was architect for the Dioceses of Down, Connor & Dromore under the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1860 until the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1870, when he set up in private practice in Cork. [10] The Dictionary of Irish Architects tells us that in addition to his privately commissioned work, he was diocesan architect for the Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross from 1872 until circa 1878.

On a website about Churchtown, Jim McCarthy writes about Burton Park and tells us more about the 1889 update:

“In the 1890s, through his agent Robert Sanders and in conjunction with the Board of Works, the Purcells embarked on imaginative (and expensive) alterations and improvements to the house and estate: bedroom floors were renewed, ceilings remoulded, chimney shafts rebuilt, a kitchen was added, pantries were provided, a porch built, slating and skylights were repaired and renewed, staircases removed or altered, and windows and shuttering replaced. Extensive work on the coach house, gate lodge, sheds and stables was also undertaken.” [11]

The website tells us that the roof was raised to accommodate the dormer windows, and the ornate architraves over the windows were also added at that time.

The gate lodge, built around 1890, was inhabited until fairly recently, and has one room on each side. It has a central section with Tudor arched carriageway straddling entrance road, and flanking lower single-bay screen walls.

*Burton Park, County Cork, August 17th 2023*, *the castellated entrance gateway.*

There was nobody to greet us when we arrived to the house, despite my contacting the contact person listed for the property, the Manager for Slí Eile. However, the front door was open, so we entered and had a little wander around. We did not venture far, as we felt like intruders.

The porch has lovely tiling, and the front hall has good plasterwork ceiling and cornice.

The entrance leads into a large hall with beautiful plasterwork ceiling and sweeping staircase with thin balusters. Mark Bence-Jones tells us that the pedimented doorcases were added later.

The Slí Eile website tells us that about the Hall:

“The heavy oak carving of the fireplace and over mantel are of typical Edwardian style, as is the glass panelled door from the porch. In a glass-fronted bookcase at the back of the hall is an artefact with a very strange history. It is a carving knife carefully stored in a glass topped box. This knife has a curse on it, in that anyone who opens the box will die within the year. Needless to say, no-one has attempted this to date! The knife was the property of one John Purcell, of Highfort, Liscarroll, who received a knighthood in 1811 for defending himself, single-handedly, as a very old man against a number of burglars. He killed three of them with this knife, the rest fled. He is known as “The Knight of the Knife” as a result of this feat. At the time, it was made a rule in law that an octogenarian could kill in self defence.“

Matthew John Purcell married Anne Daly, daughter of Peter Paul Daly of Daly’s Grove, County Galway. He converted to Catholicism upon his marriage.

They had nine children. It was the son, John, of their daughter Anita, who in 1919 married John Ryan of Scarteen, Knocklong, County Limerick, who inherited Burton Park, and took the name Ryan-Purcell.

*Scarteen House, County Limerick, courtesy of National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.*

Jane O’Hea O’Keeffe interviewed Rosemary Ryan-Purcell, eldest daughter of John Ronan, The Grove, Rushbrooke, County Cork, who along with her husband John came to live at Burton Park with their two eldest children in the early 1960s. Rosemary explains the Ryan-Purcell connection to the old house. “This was the home of my husband John’s mother, whose name was Anita Purcell. He was the younger son, and his elder brother inherited the Ryan family home at Scarteen in Knocklong, County Limerick. When we were first married, we lived at Scarteen, which was John’s childhood home. Later, he inherited Rich Hill near Annacotty, County Limerick, from his godfather, Dicky Howley, and we lived there for a short while. When John’s aunt, Louisa Purcell, died in the early 1960s, she left Burton Park to John, so we then came to live here and have been here ever since.“

They now lease the property to Slí Eile. The Slí Eile website tells us of the drawing room:

“Decorated and furnished in the Louis Quinze style, in 1906, the furniture, carpet and wallpaper are all French. Note the very fine plasterwork on the ceiling and cornice. The architraves around the windows are all mid 18th century, as is most of the woodwork in this room. Over the small bureau by the far window is an artist’s impression of how the original house may have looked. It was originally thought that the house had never been built to this plan, but recent research shows that it is much more accurate than formerly imagined. This room also has a sprung floor, and in earlier days would have been used as a ballroom as well as a drawing room.“

Frank Keohane tells us:

“The three-bay drawing room has an Edwardian Louis XVI overlay of wallpaper framed in panels. The room and the hall have decent Neoclassical ceilings with especially wispy acanthus S-scrolls. The joinery in contrast is heavy and mid-Georgian in character, with cambered and lugged architraves, fielded panels and waterleaf carving, all no doubt the product of a provincial joiner not conversant with Neoclassical trends.”

*Burton Park, County Cork, August 17th 2023*, *the drawing room’s Carrera marble fireplace.*

John Ryan’s family also owned Edermine House in County Wexford.

Rosemary continues: “John’s Auntie Louise, “Lulu,” was the youngest of the Purcell daughters. She was unmarried and she lived here at Burton Park. She suffered from arthritis, and was confined to a wheelchair. She was a very brave woman indeed and she ran the place here on her own for years. When she died, John and I took over, we were asked to take on the Purcell name, and that’s why we are now the Ryan-Purcell family.”

O’Hea O’Keeffe tells us that before they moved to Burton Park, Rosemary was already quite familiar with the house from her many earlier visits there, as John had been farming there before their marriage. “He had to come here to Burton Park straight after school. They used to say in the family that before he opened his eyes as an infant, he had been told by his mother than he would be coming here. This was her home, which she had visited with John almost every week during his childhood. John had two Purcell uncles who were born at Burton Park, both of whom were to lose their lives as a result of the First World War. Raymond, the older brother, tragically took his own life after his return from the war. His brother died at the Battle of the Somme.”

The Oratory is dedicated to the memory of the two Purcell sons who lost their lives as a result of the First World War.

*Burton Park, County Cork, August 17th 2023.* *The oratory has a timber boat-shaped ceiling.*

When the Raymond Purcell was a young man, his mother purchased Curraghmount, near Buttevant, for use as a Dower House. His sisters Maisie and Louise moved there with their mother and stayed there for the remainder of Raymond’s lifetime. Following his tragic death after WWI, they returned to live in Burton Park.

*Curraghmount, County Cork, courtesy of National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.*

While living at Burton Park, Raymond carried out large-scale improvements to the house, including the installation of a generator and electric light in 1912. Thus, the manor became one of the earliest properties in the parish to use electricity.

Residents of Burton House were quite self-sufficient: in addition to the game, meats, vegetables and fruits supplied by its farm, it had a cider press and two limekilns. They manufactured their own bricks, examples of which can be seen in the orchard walls. Thirty-five gardeners once laboured to maintain the bowling green, croquet lawn, tennis courts and parkland. [see 6]

John Ryan-Purcell was ‘a bit of a genius’ says his widow. He was able to keep the house in good repair, including electricity and plumbing, and he also milked his cattle. He had a Jersey herd at Burton Park.

Rosemary continues: “When John and I first came, there were thirty acres of woodland here, mostly scrub, and my husband cleared it and reclaimed the land. We also planted a great amount of woodland, to make ends meet really. Over four or five phases, we planted ninety acres. We also have fifty acres of pasture, and we are now involved in Rural Environmental Protection Scheme, and in organic farming.”

Jane O’Hea O’Keeffe writes: “The pleasure grounds at Burton Park were designed by Decimus Burton, who also designed Kew Gardens in London and Dublin’s Phoenix Park. Indigenous trees, such as beech and oak, grow very well here, and seed has been collected over the years.“

O’Hea O’Keeffe tells us that the copper beech tree on the front lawn was planted by John Ryan-Purcell’s grandmother. The original entrance consisted of a straight avenue down from the front door to the little church and graveyard where the Purcell family vault stands. Matthew Purcell, who bought Burton Park from the Earl of Egmont in 1889, was Church of Ireland rector here.

*Going down to the basement at* *Burton Park, County Cork, August 17th 2023.*

Unfortunately since there was nobody to show us around, we did not get to see the organic farm or the outbuildings, nor the swimming pool. We also didn’t see the stable range, of which Keohane writes: “The long stable range in the adjoining yard may contain the shell of the C18 stables, which were fitted up as a house for the rector by 1739.”

[1] www.slieile.ie

[2] p. 326, Keohane, Frank. The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.

[3] p. 327, Keohane, Frank. The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.

[4] p. 63. O’Hea O’Keeffe, Jane. Voices from the Great Houses: Cork and Kerry. Mercier Press, Cork, 2013.

[5] https://oglethorpe.edu/about/history-traditions/james-edward-oglethorpe/

[6] https://gerrymurphy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/1.-The-Annals-of-Churchtown-854-Pages-9MB-20190 222.pdf

[6] https://www.dib.ie/biography/perceval-percival-sir-john-a7275

[7] http://www.historyofparliamentonline.o rg/volume/1820-1832/member/perceval-henry-1796-1841

[8] 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.

[9] Chapter 34, Cusack, Margaret Anne. An Illustrated History of Ireland (1868) https://www.libraryireland.com/HistoryIreland/Whiteboys.php

[10] https://www.dia.ie/architects/view/2581/HILL%2C+WILLIAM+HENRY+%5B1%5D

[11] http://churchtown.net/history/burton-park/

Drishane Castle & Gardens, Drishanemore, Millstreet Town, Co. Cork

by jenjunebugJanuary 11, 2024February 28, 2024

www.millstreet.ie

Open in 2024: Jan 2- May 31, Mon-Fri, June 1- Sept 30, Mon-Sat, Oct 1- Dec 31, Mon- Fri, National Heritage Week, Aug 17-25, 9am-5pm

Fee: adult €5, OAP/student free, child free when accompanied by adult.

2024 Diary of Irish Historic Houses (section 482 properties)

€20.00

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!

€10.00

*There is a tower house castle next to the house.*

We visited Drishane Castle during Heritage Week in 2023 but it felt awkward as it is now a home for asylum seekers.

Mark Bence-Jones writes in  A Guide to Irish Country Houses (1988) that it is a three storey eighteenth century house built by the Wallises alongside the keep of a fifteenth century castle of the MacCarthys. The house was castellated and extended between 1845 and 1860. [1] The National Inventory tells us that the house was built around 1730. It faces east. [2]

*A picture of Drishane before it was castellated*, *the page is on display inside the residence.*

*Drishane Castle, Millstreet, County Cork, August 2023.*

It has a battlemented parapet and the entrance front has square corner-towers and central porch tower and battlemented porte-cochére. The porte-cochére was added in 1876 by Lady Beaumont. Lady Beaumont, Olivia née Willoughby, first married John Richard Smyth Wallis (1828-1868), but he died young and she married George Howland Beaumont, 9th Baronet Beaumont, of Stoughton Grange, Co. Leicester. Lady Beaumont was the mother of Major Henry Aubrey Beaumont Wallis (1861-1926), the last member of the family to live at Drishane. Henry was only seven years old when his father died, and his mother maintained and improved Drishane Castle on her son’s behalf.

The porte-cochére has Tudor-arched openings to front and sides, with chamfered surrounds, and a Tudor-arched doorway to the house with moulded render surround and glazed timber double-leaf doors and overlight. The corner towers have blank triple lancet openings below the parapet.

*Crest with the Wallis coat of arms on the porte-cochére of Drishane Castle, Millstreet, County Cork, August 2023.*

The building is prolonged by three storey one bay to the north then a single-storey range joining it to a two storey wing or pavilion with battlemented corner towers. This four bay single storey range is in front of seven-bay two-storey recessed block.

The house has roughcast rendered walls with rendered plinth course, except for the front and side elevations of one-bay additions, which have exposed cut sandstone walls.

*The single-storey range joining it to a two storey wing or pavilion with battlemented corner towers, Drishane Castle, Millstreet, County Cork, August 2023.*

Mark Bence-Jones goes on to describe the south facade that faces toward the road and the extensive lawns. This adjoining front has a single three storey bay then a three sided bow and mullioned windows, prolonged by a slightly lower two storey wing ending in a square tower. The square tower is joined by high battlemented walls to the old keep, which stands on a mound at this corner of the house.

*The south, road facing, facade of Drishane Castle, Millstreet, County Cork, August 2023.*

*The south facade of Drishane Castle, Millstreet, County Cork, August 2023.*

*The square keep on the road facing facade of Drishane Castle is joined to the tower house by a pair of battlemented, crow-stepped walls. August 2023.*

*Drishane Castle, Millstreet, County Cork, August 2023.* The National Inventory tells us that tower house is square-plan and of five-stages, built c. 1450. It has a circular-plan two-stage tower to the south with battlemented parapet, sandstone and limestone walls, arrow slit and lancet windows and pointed arch opening with timber battened door.

There is a chapel attached. A two-bay two-storey block to the rear links with the chapel to north-west.

*Cut sandstone turrets to rear elevation with blind cross loops and supporting corbels, Drishane Castle, Millstreet, County Cork, August 2023.*

The Millstreet website tells us about the tower house:

“The castle was built by the MacCarthys and the date given for its construction varies between 1436 and 1450.

“It seems likely that it was commenced by Dermot Mór, the second son of Teige the 3rd Lord of Muskerry, who was a direct descendant of Diarmuid, King of Cork. Dermot also is said to have built Kilmeedy and Carrigaphooca in the great period in which his brother, Cormac Láidir, was building Blarney and Kilcrea. Dermot died in 1448 and Drishane was probably completed by his son, another Dermot.” [3]

Mark Bence-Jones tells us that the old tower house was completely restored some time after 1879 by Lady Beaumont.

*Drishane Castle tower house*, *built by the MacCarthys between 1436 and 1450*.

The MacCarthys of Muskerry were a cadet branch of the MacCarthy Mor, Kings of Desmond. The cadet branch was founded by Dermot MacCarthy (1310-1367), 1st Lord of Muskerry, son of Cormac MacCarthy Mor (1271-1359) Prince of Desmond. The name “Muskerry” comes from Cairbre Musc, son of Finnchad, monarch of Ireland in the third century, S. T. McCarthy tells us in an article about the Clann Carthaigh in Kerry Archaeological Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 10 (Mar., 1913), pp. 53-74. Muskerry comes from “Musc Raighe” or descendant of Musc. Their territory included the area around Millstreet and Macroom.

Dermot MacCarthy 1st Lord of Muskerry’s grandson Teige (b. 1380), 3rd Lord of Muskerry, governed Muskerry for 30 years and died in 1448. His second son, Dermod, was ancestor of the MacCarthys of Drishane, and he erected the castle.

Tadhg MacCarthy was in possession of Drishane Castle in 1592 when he surrendered it to Queen Elizabeth I and it was regranted to him.

The Millstreet website continues the genealogy of the Maccarthys of Drishane:

“Teige died before 1624, when there was an inquisition on his lands, and in a further inquisition of 1638, his son Owen Mac Teige is described as being in possession of Drishane Castle at his death in 1637. The latter’s son, Donogh MacOwen, the centenarian, inherited. He was over 40 at the time (which would confirm a birth date of 1597) and had married Kathleen Fitzgerald, who also died in 1637. It would appear from other information that he married a second time.

“Owen had brothers named Callaghan, Donogh and Phelim… Donogh mortgaged Carriphooca to Dominic Coppinger before 1641 – probably to raise funds for the Confederate War.

“All MacCarthy lands were finally forfeited at the end of this tragic period, but were restored to the Earl of Clancarty, overall head of the family, on the restoration of Charles II in 1660. He granted a lease in 1677 to Donogh, 1st Earl of Clancarty and this lease was passed with the proviso that Donogh settled what was due to Coppinger.“

*Donough MacCarty (or MacCarthy) (1594-1665) 1st Earl of Clancarty; 2nd Viscount Muskerry.* *The MacCarthy lands were regranted to him on the restoration of King Charles II to the throne.*

“The MacCarthy lands were finally forfeited following the Jacobite period of 1690 and Drishane fell into the hands of the Hollow Sword Blade Company, an organisation which had financed William’s campaign in Ireland.“

The Hollow Sword Blades Company was a British joint-stock company founded in 1691 by a goldsmith, Sir Stephen Evance, for the manufacture of hollow-ground rapiers. Before 1691, the British imported their hollow blade rapiers from France. When Britain and France went to war, Evance enabled some French Huguenots to move to England to manufacture the swords. Evance obtained a charter of corporation as the ‘Governor and Company for Making Hollow Sword Blades in England’, granted 13 October 1691, and due to the Charter, the Company could seize imported foreign hollow swords.

Evance was also Governor of the Hudson Bay Company in Canada. In 1700 the Hollow Sword Blades company was purchased by a syndicate of businessmen who used the corporate identity of the company to operate as a bank. The company was used as a stepping stone to the foundation of the South Sea Company which set out to supplant the Bank of England as banker to the government.

Wikipedia tells us, referring to John Carswell’s The South Sea Bubble, (publ. London: Cresset Press)(1960), that:

“The recent reconquest of Ireland by forces loyal to William III had resulted in the confiscation of land from Jacobites which had been given to members of the Williamite army. [John] Blunt was amongst others who campaigned that the property should instead have been sold to defer government expenses, and an act of parliament was passed cancelling the grants of land which instead were to be sold. The Sword Blade company now used its charter powers to own property to purchase land to the value of £200,000 with anticipated revenues of £20,000 per year, or 10%. To pay for this, the company used a trick which the Bank of England had employed in its own creation. The Hollow Sword Blades Company issued shares, which it was also entitled to do under its charter. It offered to exchange its own shares at a nominal value of £100 for £100 of government debt issued by the army paymaster. The government was willing to accept its own debt as payment for the land, so no cash money was required for the transactions. The army debt could at that time only be sold on the open market at a rate of £85 per £100 of face value, so this offered a way for holders to realise a better price. The land remained the property of the company, and the company would pay dividends on the shares from its rental income.“

Wikipedia tells us: “In 1703 the company purchased some of the Irish estates forfeited under the Williamite settlement in counties Mayo, Sligo, Galway, and Roscommon. They also bought the forfeited estates of the Earl of Clancarty (McCarthy) in counties Cork and Kerry and of Sir Patrick Trant in counties Kerry, Limerick, Kildare, Dublin, King and Queen’s counties (Offaly and Laois). Further lands in counties Limerick, Tipperary, Cork and other counties, formerly the estate of James II were also purchased, also part of the estate of Lord Cahir in county Tipperary. In June 1703 the company bought a large estate in county Cork, confiscated from a number of attainted persons and other lands in counties Waterford and Clare. However within about 10 years the company had sold most of its Irish estates. Francis Edwards, a London merchant, was one of the main purchasers.”

We came across the Hollow Sword Blade Company when we visited Blarney Castle, which was also owned by the company, and they also owned Baltimore Castle in Cork.

The Millstreet website continues: “In 1709 they [the Hollow Sword Blade Company] sold to Henry Wallis of Ballyduff, Co Waterford, a younger son of Thomas of Curryglass (Mogeely), where the family had been resident since 1596.“

The Wallis family was living at at Curraglass, since 1596, and there are suggestions that the family connection with Drishane may date from the mid-17th century. Renovations were carried out at the castle in 1643, according to the date on a fireplace, and this bears the inscription ‘W’, perhaps suggesting the name ‘Wallis’.

The Millstreet website tells us:

“It is further suggested that Wallis shared a friendship with Donagh MacCarthy, and that he allowed the latter to live in peace at Drishane during his lifetime. Another account states that Donogh demised part of the land to Henry Wallis; and after Donogh eventually died in 1719 his widow, in 1722 and 1724, leased her interest in the remaining lands to Thomas Wallis.“

In 1703, Thomas Wallis of Curraglass bought part of the estate in the Barony of Muskerry, Co Cork, that once belonged to the Earls of Clancarty, and the Wallis family took full ownership of Drishane castle and the lands in 1728. Thomas had a son, George Wallis of Curryglass.

Henry Wallis (1654-1739) of Curryglass, a brother of aforementioned Thomas, married Penelope Nettles of Tourin, County Waterford and they had a daughter Elizabeth, who married her cousin, George Wallis of Curryglass. Their son Henry (b. 1723) inherited Curryglass and Drishane.

In 1758 Henry Wallis (b. 1723) married Elizabeth, daughter of Christmas Paul, of Paulville, Co. Carlow, by Ellen his wife, daughter of Robert Carew, of Ballynamona, Co. Waterford.

The Millstreet website continues: “The Wallis’ converted to the Church of England and ‘discovered ‘ the property under the Property Act and so purchased what remained of Drishane for £450 (it was valued at £8000) in 1728.

“By the time Doctor Smith wrote his History of Cork in 1750 he was recording that there as a handsome new house near the castle built by the late William Wallis who had considerably improved this part of the country, by manuring it with lime, enclosing planting etc.“

It was at around this time, the new house was built.

We did not venture far inside since it houses asylum seekers. The front hall is double height with a gallery.

*The front hall of Drishane Castle, August 2023.*

*The front hall and Tudor style arched door of Drishane Castle, August 2023.*

*Floor plan of Drishane, inside the residence.*

*We peered into a window from outside and were surprised to see a nicely furnished room. I wish we had ventured further inside.*

*Beautiful shutters inside the window at Drishane.*

*Drishane Castle, County Cork, photograph from National Library of Ireland, flickr constant commons.*

Henry and Elizabeth’s heir was John Wallis (1759-1810). He married first, Patience, eldest daughter of John Longfield, of Longueville, Co. Cork (now a house with accommodation, see my entry of Places to visit and stay in County Cork). They had a daughter before Patience died. He then married Marianne, daughter of John Carleton, of Woodside, Co. Cork. Their heir was a son, Henry Wallis (1790-1862).

Henry Wallis married first, Charlotte Forster, who died in 1816 and they had one son. Henry was Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant and High Sheriff. He married secondly, in 1827, Ellen, daughter of Grice Smyth of Ballynatray, County Waterford, another Section 482 property which we visited, see my entry.

*Ballynatray, County Waterford, 19th August 2023*.

Their heir was John Richard Smyth Wallis (1827-1868). He married aforementioned Octavia Willoughby. She gave birth to their heir Henry Aubrey Beaumont Wallis (1861-1926). After her husband died, Octavia married George Howland Beaumont, 9th Baronet Beaumont, of Stoughton Grange, Co. Leicester. They had no further children together.

During the Fenian Rising 150 years ago, Drishane Castle was garrisoned in 1867.

The Millstreet website tells us: “The Wallis’ appear to have been popular in the neighbourhood and remained there until 1882 when the estate was placed in Chancery on an application of insurance companies, and there it remained until 1912 when it was sold before Judge Roy to Patrick Stack of Fermoy from whom, through the offices of Cornelius Duggan of Cork, it was passed to the Dames of Saint Maud, a French order of teaching nuns (The Congregation of the Holy Child Jesus).“

Reverend Patrick Comerford writes about Drishane Castle and the Wallis heir, Henry Aubrey Beaumont Wallis (1861-1926). [4] He tells us:

“Henry Aubrey Beaumont Wallis was born on in July 1861, the third child but only surviving son of Captain John Richard Smyth Wallis (1828-1868). His mother Octavia (Willoughby) was the illegitimate daughter of Sir Digby Willoughby, 7th Baronet, of Middleton.

“When Aubrey was only a boy of seven, Captain John Wallis died on 27 October 1868. Within three years, the widowed Octavia Wallis had remarried: on 4 April 1872, she married Sir George Howland Beaumont, 9th Baronet, of Cole Orton Hall, Leicestershire, in Saint Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge.

“As Lady Beaumont, she continued to take an interest in the Drishane Estate on behalf of her son while he was a minor. In the 1870s, the Drishane Castle estate totalled 5,000 acres, and in 1876 Lady Beaumont was involved in architectural improvements and extensions to the house, building new entrance gates and erecting a grand new porch at the castle, with the Wallis arms carved above.”

“In 1882, when Aubrey Wallis came to full age, he inherited Drishane in his own name. The estate was placed in Chancery on an application of insurance companies, but the family remained at Drishane and continued to invest in the estate. Slater noted in 1894 that Drishane Castle was still the seat of Major Wallis, although he misspells his surname as Wallace.

“However, Henry Aubrey Beaumont Wallis was the last member of the Wallis family to live at Drishane Castle.

“Shortly after Aubrey inherited Drishane Castle, he married Elizabeth Caroline Bingham at Kiderpore in Calcutta on 1 March 1883. She was a daughter of the Hon Albert Yelverton Bingham, and a granddaughter of Lord Clanmorris. Aubrey and Elizabeth lived together in India, New Zealand, London, West Africa, and at Drishane Castle, as well as other places, and were the parents of a son and a daughter.” [4]

Their son Henry Digby Wallis (1885-1914) died in World War I.

*In the front hall of Drishane Castle, August 2023.*

Patrick Comerford continues:

“In 1892, the Wallises returned from the Gold Coast (now Ghana) in West Africa, where he had been a District Commissioner, and they lived at Albert Gate Mansions, London. But Elizabeth soon returned to India, without her husband or her children, claiming her visit to India was for the benefit of her health.
On her return to London, she claimed, she could not ascertain where her husband was living. Later, however, the couple lived together again for some time, in Drishane Castle, in London, and possibly in Molesworth Street, Dublin.

“Until then, the Wallis family owned all of Millstreet and the surrounding country property from the Bridge to Drishane. The second portion of Millstreet, from the bridge west to Coomlegane, was the property of the McCarthy O’Leary.” [4]

*A copy of the newspaper in Drishane Castle.*

The nuns lived at Drishane Castle for most of the 20th century, built a new convent chapel and from 1911 ran a boarding secondary school for girls. The convent was built as a separate building for the Sisters of the Infant Jesus, and in 1931, they built a separate nine-bay, two-storey chapel and hall, and the new Chapel was solemnly blessed in 1934. The chapel block was designed by the Cork-born architect Dominick O’Carroll.

The website tells us: “When the Drishane Sisters came to Drishane they remained there until c.1992 when the Estate was purchased by the Duggan Family. Initially a hotel was envisaged.”

There’s a broad sweeping lawn, after driving over a little bridge, on the way to the residence.

*The approach to the residence at Drishane Castle, Millstreet, County Cork, August 2023.*

The demesne remains relatively intact, with many of the related demesne structures, such as the gate lodges, reflecting the style of the main house. In The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County, Frank Keohane writes that there is an attractive wooded desmesne with lakes, in part laid out by James Fraser. Keohane considers that the castellated and turreted lodges, dating from the 1830s, are rather more successful than the main house and suggest the possible hand of Sir Thomas and Kearns Deane. [5]

The entrance gates and attached disused gate lodge are castellated and decorative, and were built around 1870 for Lady Beaumont, and are flanked by curved crenellated walls with tall castellated piers either side of a vehicle entrance gate. [6]

*Entrance to Drishane Castle, Millstreet, County Cork, August 2023.*

I explored inside the Gate lodge:

*The turret of the gate lodge, Drishane Castle entrance.*

*Inside the gate lodge, Drishane Castle.*

[1] p. 108, Bence-Jones, Mark.  A Guide to Irish Country Houses (1988)

[2] https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20903910/drishane-castle-drishane-more-co-cork

[3] http://www.millstreet.ie/blog/history/drishane-castle

[4] http://www.patrickcomerford.com/search/label/castles?updated-max=2017-10-13T18:30:00%2B01:00&max-results=20&start=58&by-date=false

[5] p. 521, Keohane, Frank. The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County, Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.

[6] https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20903906/drishane-castle-drishane-more-co-cork

Baltimore Castle (Dún Na Séad), Co. Cork 981 X968

by jenjunebugDecember 28, 2023March 25, 2024

www.baltimorecastle.ie
Open dates in 2024: Apr 1- Sept 30, 11am-5pm
Fee: adult/OAP/student €5, child under 12 free

2024 Diary of Irish Historic Houses (section 482 properties)

€20.00

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!

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Dunasead Castle, also known as Dún a Séad (“Fort of the Jewels”), Dunashad or Baltimore Castle, lies in the town of Baltimore in County Cork.

*The view from Baltimore Castle 16 August 2023.*

The website tells us that the site of Dún na séad Castle has been fortified for a very long time. The first fortification might have been a ring fort. After that an Anglo-Norman castle was built here in 1215. In 1305 that castle was taken and destroyed by the MacCarthys. Subsequently the O’Driscolls took possession of the site and built a castle.

The website tells us that the present Dún na séad Castle was built in the 1620s by the O’Driscolls, but Frank Keohane writes that it was built by Thomas Crooke before 1610 near an earlier O’Driscoll castle. Frank Keohane writes in his The Buildings of Ireland: Cork City and County:

“Baltimore or Dunasead Castle. Early C17 two-storey gable-ended block with an attic, set on a rock overlooking Baltimore Harbour. An O’Driscoll castle NE of the present building was occupied by an English force in 1602 after the Battle of Kinsale, during which it was substantially demolished. Sir Fineen O’Driscoll then leased Baltimore and its ‘castle’ to Thomas Crooke and William Coppinger. Crooke, who established an English settlement, appears to have built the present castle before 1610, possibly incorporating features such as the window surrounds from the O’Driscoll castle.” [1]

Keohane tells us: “[Baltimore is] a small pretty village… overlooking a broad deep bay sheltered from the Atlantic by Sherkin Island. An English settlement was first established here in the early C17 by Sir Thomas Crooke, later passing to Sir Walter Coppinger. By 1629 English settlers had built sixty houses here.“

Between 1997 and 2005 the ruined castle was rebuilt as a private residence. At present it is a small museum. The owners, the McCarthys, have done an amazing job restoring the castle and it is also their home.

Keohane continues: “Restored as a dwelling in 1997-2003. The contemporary interventions are well considered, with minimal conjecture and cleanly distinct materials….The castle is approached across a small enclosed bawn on the east or landward side. The lower floor served as stores, with living quarters above. Wall-walks behind parapets are provided on the long sides. These give access to a square bartizan over the SW corner; another bartizan was probably provided on the opposing NE corner. The West side is blind at the ground level but has generous two and three light first floor windows (all now missing mullions and transoms), with ogee heads, sunken spandrels and curious curved hoodmould terminals similar to those at Clodagh Castle (Crookstown). On the east side, two great reconstructed chimneystacks sit on corbels at first-floor level. Here, small rectangular lights serve the ground-floor rooms, while the first-floor rooms have wider windows. A narrow first-floor door at the south end led to a now destroyed garderobe turret. The upper rooms were approached by an internal stair rather than a forestair. Markings in the plaster suggest that there were three major rooms, divided by partitions, with attics at each end. The central “hall” had good sandstone window dressings with neat roll mouldings, and a fireplace with remains of a moulded and chamfered limestone jamb. A solar or parlour was provided to the south. The north room has a bread oven and a slop stone in addition to its fireplace, indicating use as a kitchen.”

*Baltimore Castle 16 August 2023*: *a chimneystack from first floor level.*

*Baltimore Castle, here we see the small bartizan on the southwest corner, and the hood moulding over the ogee shaped window, April 2021.*

But let us backtrack to the Castle’s fascinating history.

*Information board in Baltimore Castle.*

The information boards tell us that in 1215 Robert de Carew, Lord Sleynie, built the castle, and that his mother was a daughter of the chieftain Dermod MacCarthy of Cork.

After the Battle of Callan, the O’Driscoll family took possession of the castle at Baltimore. The O’Driscolls were fishermen and pirates.

The website tells us that the O’Driscolls were constantly under pressure from encroachments by Anglo-Norman settlers and rival Gaelic clans on their territory and trade interests, which resulted in the castle being attacked and destroyed numerous times in the following centuries.

The O’Driscolls imposed taxes on harbour trade and traffic in order to support their opulent lifestyle. They had no authority from the crown to impose such taxes, so in 1381 King Richard II appointed admirals for the ports of county Cork in an attempt to deal with the pirate menace to merchant shipping in the area. The admirals were commissioned to deal in particular with the O’Driscolls of Baltimore “who constantly remained upon the western ocean, preying in passing ships.” [2]

In the early 1600s Fineen O’Driscoll of Dún na Séad castle pledged loyalty to the Crown of England. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I.

*Elizabeth I Queen of England (1503-1603) date c.1560, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.*

*Pottery shards found around Baltimore Castle.*

In 1606 Thomas Crooke (b. 1574) was granted Baltimore Castle and the town of Baltimore as well as lands and islands formerly belonging to the O’Driscolls, in order to secure the area for the Crown and establish a Protestant colony. Bernie McCarthy tells us in her book that there is no evidence of the relationship between Fineen O’Driscoll and Thomas Crooke, and we do not know if the O’Driscolls stood aside willingly or whether Crooke had to engage in force to obtain the property. The portrait in the information board is not of Thomas Crooke but is of typical attire of an English planter at the time.

Crooke was meant to represent the Crown but he became involved in piracy, co-operating with English and Flemish pirates and profiting from their spoils.

There was, however, a system the Crown used for legitimising piracy by a system of “privateering” which was sanctioned by the State. A Privateer obtained a license, or letter of “Marque” to use their ships as a man-o-war against the State’s enemies in times of war. The marque permitted vessel owners to seize Crown enemies, acquire their cargo and make a profit. The captured ships were taken before the Prize Court and the captured cargo was referred to as the “prize,” and the privateer was awarded 90% of the prize, with 10% of the value going to the National Prize Fund. [3] Privateers took advantage of this legitimacy to capture illegitimate bounty, but in the case of Crooke, his work establishing a colony made the Crown turn a blind eye to his piracy.

Pirates would dock in Baltimore to repair ships or gather supplies, and this led to proliferation of taverns and brothels in Baltimore. A list of goods brought to Baltimore around 1615 by the pirate Campane includes wax, pepper, 100 Barbary hides, a chest of camphor, tobacco, cloves, elephants’ teeth (probably tusks), Muscovy hides, a chest of chenery roots and canopies of beds from the Canary Islands. [4]

In 1613, Baltimore was enabled by charter to send two MPs to the Dublin Parliament. Thomas Crooke was elected MP. Ironically, it was this parliament which introduced the Irish Statue against piracy.

By 1626, Crooke feared the consequences of foreign pirates, and he petitioned the House of Lords for protection of Baltimore. Unfortunately, any protection proved inadequate.

*Early seventeenth century anti-pirate map of Baltimore, commissioned by the Dutch in order to facilitate an attack on local pirates, to render the adjacent seas safer for Dutch merchant vessels.*

In 1631 a band of pirates from Algiers took 107 captives to a life of slavery in North Africa. Bernie McCarthy of Baltimore Castle has written a book called Pirates of Baltimore from the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth Century, Baltimore Castle Publications, 2012, which informs the educational material in the museum. [see 2]

At the time of the raid, Baltimore Castle was occupied by Thomas Bennett. He wrote to James Salmon of Castlehaven, County Cork, in an effort to send a ship from there to try to intercept the captives, and the Lord President of Munster ordered two of the king’s ships of war, the Lions Whelps, which were in Kinsale at the time, to go to the rescue, but none of the attempts were successful. [5]

*Wooden lock to prevent slaves from escaping, and bronze tokens used to trade for slav*es.

*Coins that would have been used at the time, and a cimitar sword similar to those used by Barbary pirates.*

In 1624 the House of Lords in London instructed the House of Commons to grant Letters Patent for a collection to be made for the redemption of English captives, and an “Algerian Duty” was set aside from Customs tax. There were also ransom charities, but at the same time, it was feared that paying ransoms would encourage the taking of captives. An account of Barbary pirates was written by a French priest who worked in Algeria trying to negotiate the release of captives, Pierre Dan, “Histoire de Barbarie et de ses corsairs.” He worked for the Catholic charity the Order of the Holy Trinity and Redemption of Slaves.

*Courtesy of DePaul University, Chicago* [6]

The website tells us that in the 1640s the castle was surrendered to Oliver Cromwell’s forces and passed to the Coppingers. In 1642 the O’Driscolls attempted to recover the castle by force. In the 1690s the Coppingers had to forfeit their property. After the 17th century the castle fell to ruin.

*A canonball like those used by the French Armada in 1796.*

According to the information board in the castle, Percy Freke obtained the castle in 1703 from the investment company the Hollow Sword Blade Company. This company also owned Blarney Castle in County Cork for a period.

The Landed Estates database tells us:

“The Hollow Sword Blades Company was set up in England in 1691 to make sword blades. In 1703 the company purchased some of the Irish estates forfeited under the Williamite settlement in counties Mayo, Sligo, Galway, and Roscommon. They also bought the forfeited estates of the Earl of Clancarty in counties Cork and Kerry and of Sir Patrick Trant in counties Kerry, Limerick, Kildare, Dublin, King and Queen’s counties (Offaly and Laois). Further lands in counties Limerick, Tipperary, Cork and other counties, formerly the estate of James II were also purchased, also part of the estate of Lord Cahir in county Tipperary. In June 1703 the company bought a large estate in county Cork, confiscated from a number of attainted persons and other lands in counties Waterford and Clare. However within about 10 years the company had sold most of its Irish estates. Francis Edwards, a London merchant, was one of the main purchasers.” [7]

As well as her work on the Pirates of Baltimore, Bernie McCarthy has published a book about Baltimore Castle which we did not purchase, unfortunately. Called Baltimore Castle, An 800 Year History, I would love to read it, as I’d love to know more about how the McCarthys rebuilt the ruin. I will purchase a copy next time we are in the area!

Percy Freke’s son Ralph (1675-1718) gained the title of 1st Baronet Freke, of Rathbarry, County Cork. The property then passed to Ralph’s daughter Grace who married John Evans, and their son was John Evans-Freke (1743-1777), who became 1st Baronet Freke of Castle Freke, County Cork. He married Elizabeth Gore, daughter of Arthur Gore (1703-1773) 1st Earl of Arran, 3rd Baronet of Newtown, Viscount Sudley.

John and Elizabeth had a son named also named John Evans-Freke (1765-1845), who succeeded as 6th Baron Carbery. This John Evans-Freke married Catherine Charlotte Gore, daughter of Arthur Saunders Gore, 2nd Earl of Arran of the Arran Islands. John Evans-Freke was MP for Donegal from 1784-1790 and MP for Baltimore 1790-1800. He had Catherine Charlotte did not have surviving children and the title passed down to his nephew, son of his brother Percy Evans-Freke. I don’t think the castle was inhabited after Cromwell’s time, however. The 6th and 7th Barons of Carbery (George Patrick Percy Evans-Freke) did make some improvements to the town, Frank Keohane tells us.

Finally the castle was purchased by Patrick and Bernadette McCarthy, who restored it.

The castle was in a severely ruinous state when the McCarthys acquired it, as we can see from photographs in the noticeboards.

The castle now houses the museum and it contains wonderful artefacts and pieces of furniture. You can also go up to the ramparts and outside for beautiful views of the sea and of Baltimore.

Replica of a sixteenth century gallowglass sword, as would have been used by armies of the Irish Chieftains. Many Gallowglass fighters came from Scotland. A census from the end of the sixteenth century shows that McCarthy of Carbery had sixty horsemen, 80 gallowglass and 2000 kerne soldiers. O’Driscoll of Dún na Séad had six horsemen and 200 kerne.

Finally, I always assumed that Baltimore in Maryland was named after Baltimore in Cork. It turns out that this is not the case! It is indeed named after a Lord Baltimore who had ties with Ireland, but his title was for a property in County Longford!

*Baltimore Castle 16 August 2023.* *The 1st Lord Baltimore was George Calvert (1582-1632).* *I lived on Calvert Street in Baltimore, Maryland, from 2003-2005!* *He was granted an Irish peerage but it was named not after Baltimore in Cork but Baltimore Manor in County Longford.*

*George Calvert (1582-1632), 1st Baron Baltimore, Baltimore Castle 16 August 2023.*

[1] p. 243. Keohane, Frank. The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.

[2] p. 5, McCarthy, Bernie. Pirates of Baltimore from the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth Century, Baltimore Castle Publications, 2012. Footnoted reference is to Timothy O’Neill, Merchants and Mariners in Medieval Ireland, p. 30.

[3] p. 23, McCarthy.

[4] p 29, McCarthy.

[5] p. 49, McCarthy.

[6] https://news.library.depaul.press/full-text/2009/04/22/pirates-and-st-vincent-de-paul-who-knew/

“Legend has it that from 1605 to 1607 when St. Vincent de Paul was a young priest he was captured by Algerian corsairs and sold to different masters before making a daring escape with one of his captors, a French renegade who wished to be reconciled with the Church. Although the account of Vincent’s captivity came from letters he wrote at the time to explain his two year disappearance, most historians today doubt the veracity of the account and speculate that the young Vincent had dropped out of sight because of his heavy debts, and the failure of his attempts to gain an ecclesiastical benefice. Nonetheless, the Vincentian (Lazarist) order also had missions in Algiers and Tunis to bring relief or freedom to captured Christians.

Fast fact: Between 1575 and 1869, there were 82 redemption missions where friars bought the freedom of an estimated 15,500 captives.“

[7] https://landedestates.ie/family/2877

Kilcascan Castle, Ballineen, Co. Cork 947 R286

by jenjunebugDecember 14, 2023February 28, 2024

Alison Bailey

Tel: 023- 8847200, 087-3638623

www.kilcascan.utvinternet.com

Open dates in 2024: Aug 1-31, Sept 1-30, 9.30am-1.30pm
Fee: Free.

Fee: adult/OAP/student/€5, child under 12 free

2024 Diary of Irish Historic Houses (section 482 properties)

€20.00

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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!

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We contacted the owner of Kilcascan Castle, Alison Bailey, before heading across Cork during Heritage Week. She welcomed us to her home, which has been a work in progress for three decades for the family and is still undergoing a lot of renovation. Many family members have added their work to the process.

Kilcascan was built for the Daunt family and they owned it until it was sold to the current owners. Alison told us that members of the Daunt family fought with William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and held a large estate in Gloucestershire until modern times. Two of the younger descendant sons came to Ireland in the 16th century and ultimately established a large house (recently demolished) and estate at Gortnegrenane near Kinsale. A descendant came c. 1712 and built a residence at Kilcascan.

The current house, or castle, replaces an earlier house, and is thought to have been built in the early decades of the nineteenth century (around 1820) around the time of the second wedding of Joseph Daunt (1779-1826). Alison told us that there had been a Georgian house nearby, which was demolished in the 1960s.

According to Burke’s Irish Family Records Joseph Daunt (1702-1783) married Sarah Rashleigh in 1729. Their son William (1750-1809) inherited Kilcascan and married Jane Gumbleton (d. 1830), daughter of Richard (1721-1776) who was High Sheriff of County Waterford in 1772 and lived in Castlerichard, otherwise known as Glencairn Abbey in County Waterford. Jane’s mother was Elizabeth Conner.

*Replica portrait of Jane Gumbleton; either Jane (d. 1830) of Castlerichard, the second wife of William Daunt (d. 1809),* *or Jane (d. 1867) the wife of Joseph Daunt (d. 1826).*

*Replica of a portrait of Captain Joseph Daunt (d. 1826)*.

William Daunt and Jane née Gumbleton had several children, including Richard, Robert and Joseph (1778-1826).

It was Joseph (1778-1826) who inherited Kilcascan, and who built the current house, at the time of his second marriage. His first marriage was to Jane Wilson, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Wilson, Rector of Ardstraw, County Tyrone, but she died in 1816, after giving birth to at least five children. Secondly he married Jane Gumbleton from Fort William in County Waterford, daughter of Robert Warren Gumbleton, in 1822.

It has been suggested that Kilcascan was designed by the Pain brothers, James and George Richard. We know that Kilcascan was under construction before 1819 because when a ground floor ceiling collapsed around 1990 a date of 1819 was discovered carved on a ceiling joist. This would make it, Alison told me, the earliest country house constructed to a design by the Pains.

James (1779–1877) and his brother George Richard Pain (ca. 1793-1838) worked in close partnership and together established a highly successful architectural practice in the south of Ireland. They were pupils of John Nash. They were commissioned to work for the Board of First Fruits in Ireland so designed many churches and glebe houses. A building they designed which has many similarities to Kilcascan is the larger Strancally Castle in County Waterford, built around 1830. The triple arch on the Kilcascan facade is repeated on the garden front at Strancally as a veranda.

*Strancally Castle in County Waterford, by the Pain brothers.*

*Lough Cutra castle, County Galway, courtesy of National Library of Ireland.* *Frank Keohane writes of Kilcascan that* “At one end is a geometric stair with arcaded balustrading in a round tower which rises above the rest of the house; an arrangement similar to John Nash’s Lough Cutra castle, County Galway, as supervised by James and George R. Pain, whose work this may be.”

Frank Keohane writes that nearby Manche House in County Cork, built for a cousin of the Daunts, Daniel Conner, was designed around 1824 by George R. Pain. Keohane writes that the builder was Jeremiah Calnan of Enniskeane, who may have also worked on Kilcascan. [2]

Kilcascan is a five bay two storey house with the two end bays projecting and joined by a battlemented cloister, as Mark Bence-Jones describes it, or colonnade, of three Tudor-shaped arches. It was hard for me to make out the plan of the house as it nestles into its setting.

We approached the house from the side and were greeted at a side door in a one storey castellated hallway next to a three storey square tower and then a two-storey round tower. From this side the house looks very higgeldy piggeldy.

I admired the garden at this side of the house, a profusion of flowers, with a pond. Like the castle itself, the garden is laid out on different levels, with steps between.

We walked through the house, which is a maze of different floor levels and stairways. We then walked around the house to see the more symmetrical entrance front. The house has beautiful Gothic windows and stone mouldings over the windows. There’s a limestone stringcourse under the level of the eaves. The pilasters of the colonnade are topped with square bartizans.

Unfortunately, Joseph Daunt was killed in a duel in 1826, shot by his cousin Daniel Connor from Manch House. The duel was fought over a case brought to court by Joseph Daunt which Daniel Connor dismissed, saying it was ungentlemanly of Daunt to pursue a poor woman for the price of a cow. Enraged at the insult, Daunt wanted to challenge Connor to a duel.

However, duels were illegal and to kill a man in a duel would count as murder. Despite this, many cases against men who had killed their opponent in a duel did not result in harsh sentencing, because the jury consisted of gentry peers, and they often judged that the death was the unfortunate result of a “fair fight between gentlemen.” In other words, there had to be a good reason to kill someone in a duel, and if the jury felt that this was the case, punishment was extremely light. Daunt knew that if he challenged a judge to a duel over a judgement made by the judge in court, and he killed the judge, he would receive punishment as a murderer. Therefore, Alison told us, Daunt arranged the distribution of a scurrilous article defaming Connor’s wife, thus forcing Connor to issue the challenge.

Though Connor killed Daunt, he was judged not guilty of murder.

The house was inherited by Joseph’s son William Joseph O’Neill Daunt (1807-1894) when he was just 19 years old.

Young William O’Neill Daunt was raised Protestant, but he converted to Catholicism. The Dictionary of Irish Biography tells us that he was influenced by the Conners of Connerville, especially Feargus O’Connor (Feargus’s father Roger officially changed his name from Conner to O’Connor).

William O’Neill Daunt sought repeal of the Act of Union that had abolished the Irish Parliament. Together with Daniel O’Connell he was one of the founders of the Repeal Association and he was its director for Leinster. He was also opposed to tithes that all people had to pay to the Protestant church.

He served as MP for Mallow in 1832-33 but was unseated by a petition. He married Ellen Hickey in 1839.

Daniel O’Connell appointed him to be his secretary when O’Connell was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1841.

Despite his active political work for the Home Rule movement, travelling around Ireland and to Scotland seeking support for repeal of the union, he managed to spend most of his time at Kilcascan.

Daunt kept a diary, which the National Biography describes “Though excessively gossipy, the diary reveals much of the life of an Irish country gentleman and of Irish politics viewed from County Cork.” He also wrote Catechism of the history of Ireland (1844), Ireland and her agitators (1845; new edition 1868), Eighty-five years of Irish history (1886) and Personal recollections of the late Daniel O’Connell (1848). Under the nom-de-plume Denis Ignatius Moriarty, he wrote five novels. One novel, The Wife Hunter, features a hero based on Feargus O’Connor.

William and Ellen had a son, Achilles Thomas, who inherited Kilcascan, and a daughter who edited Daunt’s diary and never married. [3]

Achilles Thomas Daunt (b. 1849) married Anna Maria Corballis, daughter of Bartholomew Corballis who was a proponent of Catholic Emancipation and Chair of the Catholic Association of Ireland between 1827 and 1832. Achilles Thomas served as Justice of the Peace.

Achilles and Anna Maria had two surviving sons and two daughters. The daughters did not have children. Both sons emigrated, Reginald to Africa and Achilles Thomas Wilson O’Neill (b. 1880) to Canada.

The son Achilles married Elizabeth Dey from Canada, and they had several children. Current owner Alison told us that Achilles wrote Boys Adventure books!

The Landed Estates database tells us that The Irish Tourist Association Survey of 1944 referred to Kilcascan as the residence of Miss M. O’Neill-Daunt, probably Mary Dorothea, born in 1910, the daughter of Achilles. Alison and her husband bought Kilcascan from a son of Achilles, Tom, in 1988. A second son, also named Achilles, was killed in WW2.

The house has not yet been completely renovated, but some rooms are finished, including a lovely drawing room.

A lateral corridor at the back of the house has a surprisingly ornate groin-vaulted ceiling with foliate bosses.

*Kilcascan Castle, County Cork*, *15th August 2023.*

Upstairs has interesting Gothic decorative carving in the hallway, and one bedroom has lovely wood panelling on the ceiling and an impressive Gothic window.

The east side of the house, including the staircase, is still a work-in-progress. The work is, excuse the pun, “daunting”! The house sits in one hundred acres of farmland with sixty acres of woodland. Alison told us that descendants of the Kilcascan Daunts have visited the house. It’s great to see the house being preserved.

[1] https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20910814/kilcascan-castle-kilcaskan-co-cork

[2] p. 227, Keohane, Frank. The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.

[3] https://www.dib.ie/biography/daunt-moriarty-william-joseph-oneill-denis-ignatius-a2414

Event or wedding venues – spaces for 100 and more

by jenjunebugSeptember 19, 2023September 19, 2023

Venues in County Antrim:

1. Larchfield Estate, Lisburn, Co Antrim, BT27 6XJ, Northern Ireland €

https://www.larchfieldestate.co.uk/staying-over

The website tells us that Larchfield extends to 600 acres and includes peaceful forest and woodland alongside picturesque river banks. Steeped in history, Larchfield’s heritage dates back to the 1600’s with many remarkable ups and downs throughout its 350-year history.

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/03/21/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-ulster-county-antrim/

“The current owners (Gavin and Sarah Mackie) were married themselves at Larchfield in 2007, and moved back to take on the estate from Gavin’s parents. The estate was opened up for weddings and events around this time and in 2010, as part of its renovation, the Stables was re-built and re-roofed for hire for ceremonies and smaller functions downstairs.

In 2012, Rose Cottage was the first of the onsite accommodation to be restored, leading to the development of accommodation for up to 37 guests. Late 2019 saw the completion of the redevelopment of an 1800s railway style building facing the Larchfield Estate cottages. Harkening back to its history as a piggery, The Old Piggery was officially launched in 2020 as a new offering for experiences, dining, special celebrations and corporate retreats. This project was kindly supported by the Rural Development Programme.“

2. Magheramorne, County Antrim

The website https://magheramorneestate.com/ tells us:

“The stunning Magheramorne Estate, conveniently located just 23 miles from Belfast, is one of the most exclusive venues available for private hire in Northern Ireland. From weddings, family parties, corporate meetings and events to occasion meals, this coastal estate offers a variety of unique indoor and outdoor spaces to fulfil your dreams.

Built as a grand family home around 1880, the house has recently enjoyed sympathetic and elegant restoration in keeping with its Grade B1 listed status.

The Allen family have made significant investments to ensure the house meets modern expectations while carefully retaining the welcoming warmth of genuine domestic comfort.

Designed circa 1878 by Samuel P Close, it was built by James Henry for Sir James Hogg to mark his rise to the peerage of Baron Magheramorne in 1880. It replaced Ballylig House, an earlier and more modest residence originally constructed in 1817.

Venues in County Armagh:

1. Elmfield Estate, Craigavon, County Armagh

The website https://elmfieldestate.com/about/ tells us:

“Elmfield Estate has been a family home for generations and of the Shaw family for the last 60 years. It has evolved through the years, from a modest dwelling house and stable yard in the 18c to an impressive Victorian Scottish baronial style house with turrets and ziggurat balustrades, built by the wealthy linen barons in the mid-1800s. The estate ran into disrepair after the second world war but was saved by the Shaws who have lovingly restored the house, farm, and gardens room by room lawn by lawn. Elmfield has certainly been a place of transformation and vision over the last 60 years. When Derek and Ann’s three children were little, they enjoyed the freedom and wildness that only a semi-derelict estate can offer. To turn that into what you see today is down to Derek’s vision.

2. Killeavy Castle, County Armagh

*St. Patrick’s day Greening, Killeavy Castle Estate, Co Armagh, 2022 ©Killeavy Castle Estate, for Failte Ireland*.

https://www.killeavycastle.com

The website tells us:

“Killeavy Castle is a Grade A listed historical building originally designed in 1836 by architect George Papworth of Dublin. Formally known as Killeavy Lodge, the Foxall family had their home rebuilt in the style of the pre-Victorian Gosford Castle with towers, Tudor windows and a medieval-style door transforming the modest farmhouse into a home fit for a king.

Situated on the eastern base of Slieve Gullion, the original castle and surrounding grounds brought a new element to the beautiful landscape. The building contained a basement level with a kitchen, store rooms, servant’s quarters and an underground tunnel to allow servants to enter and exit the building unseen. Above was a parlour and wine cellar, with an adjoining drawing room, library and conservatory. On the top level were six bedrooms, four dressing rooms and bathrooms. There was a beautiful walled garden and an ornamental water wheel.

The Bell family took ownership of the property in 1881, but in recent years the building fell into disrepair. Fortunately, the facade remained intact and, surrounded by fir plantations and lush farmland, it has been returned to its former glory.

The Architect

George Papworth (1781-1855) was the younger brother of English architect John Buonarotti Papworth. He established himself in Ireland and designed many notable buildings including Sir Patrick Dun’s Hospital and the King’s Bridge in Dublin. His drawings of Killeavy were exhibited in the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1836.“

County Carlow venues:

1. Huntington Castle, County Carlow €

*Huntington Castle and Gardens, by Daniel O’Connor 2021 for Tourism Ireland.*

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/14/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-leinster-carlow/

2. Lisnavagh, County Carlow

www.lisnavagh.com

*Lisnavagh, County Carlow, photograph taken October 2019.*

Lisnavagh is a wedding venue, and there are buildings with accommodation, including the farm house, converted courtyard stables, the groom’s cottage, schoolhouse, farm and blacksmiths cottages and the bothy.

The National Inventory tells us that it was designed around 1847 by Daniel Robertson. It was built for William McClintock-Bunbury (1800-1866). Around 1953, it was truncated and reordered, to make it more liveable, and this was designed by Alan Hope.

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/14/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-leinster-carlow/

3. Sandbrook, Tullow, Co Carlow – wedding/retreat venue

https://sandbrook.ie

The website tells us that Sandbrook is a handsome period country house, originally built in the early 1700s in Queen Anne style [the National Inventory says 1750], and sits in 25 acres of mature parkland on the Wicklow/Carlow border in the heart of the Irish Countryside with views toward Mount Leinster and the Wicklow Mountains. The National Inventory further describes it:

“five-bay two-storey over basement house with dormer attic, c. 1750, with pedimented central breakfront having granite lugged doorcase, granite dressings, two-bay lateral wings, Palladian style quadrant walls and pavilion blocks. Interior retains original features including timber panelled hall and timber staircase.“

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/14/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-leinster-carlow/

Venues in County Cavan

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2020/07/03/county-cavan-historic-houses-to-see-and-stay/

1. Cabra Castle, on section 482 – hotel €€

www.cabracastle.com

2. Farnham Estate, Cavan – hotel €€

*Farnham Estate, County Cavan, photograph from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.*

https://www.farnhamestate.ie

3. Virginia Park, Co Cavan – weddings only

https://www.irelands-blue-book.ie/houses.html?country=Cavan

This was formerly the hunting lodge of the Taylours, Marquess Headfort, who also owned Headfort House in County Meath. See my County Cavan entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2020/07/03/county-cavan-historic-houses-to-see-and-stay/

Venues in County Clare:

1. Dromoland Castle, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co. Clare – hotel €€€

www.dromoland.ie

*Dromoland Castle, County Clare, photo care of Dromoland Castle, for Tourism Ireland 2019, Ireland’s Content Pool.*

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2023/01/20/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-clare/

Venues in County Cork:

1. Ballincurra House, County Cork

https://www.ballinacurra.com/

2. Ballymaloe, Cloyne, Co Cork – accommodation €€

https://www.ballymaloe.ie/

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/17/places-to-visit-and-stay-munster-county-cork/

3. Ballynatray, Youghal, Co Cork, holiday cottages and whole house rental – https://www.ballynatray.com/private-estate-rental

*Ballynatray, County Waterford, August 2023. The house is not on the Section 482 listing, just the garden.*

4. Ballyvolane, Castlelyons, Co Cork – Hidden Ireland accommodation €€€

*Ballyvolane, County Cork, photo taken 2014 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool.*

https://ballyvolanehouse.ie

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/17/places-to-visit-and-stay-munster-county-cork/

5. Bantry House & Garden, Bantry, Co. Cork  €€

*Bantry House, County Cork, a treasurehouse of culture.*

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/17/places-to-visit-and-stay-munster-county-cork/

6. Barnabrow, Cloyne, Co Cork – whole house accommodation

https://www.barnabrowhouse.ie/

The website tells us: “Barnabrow Country House: in idyllic East Cork is discreet – it is like a secret garden that beckons. Visitors may happen upon it nestled in the rolling hills of East Cork with distant but tantalising glimpses of Ballycotton Bay. At first glance it appears contained – its banqueting hall, high on the hill, is not obvious, the twenty-two bedrooms are tucked away in various courtyards and the cottages are not apparent.“

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/17/places-to-visit-and-stay-munster-county-cork/

7. Blackwater Castle (Castle Widenham, or Blackwater Valley Castle) Castletownroache, Co Cork – whole house

https://www.blackwatercastle.com/

The website tells us:

“A medieval Castle for rent in Ireland, the spectacular home of the former Viscount of Fermoy and Lords of the Barony of Fermoy, is a truly unique heritage site of international significance. Blackwater Castle, with a history extending back some 10,000 years to the Mesolithic period, is available to hire as a private Castle experience for exclusive Castle weddings, private parties, and family gatherings.

The Castle was first erected in the twelfth century on the site of the Bronze Age fortress of Dún Cruadha, an inland promontory fort which was established some 2,500 years ago or more on a rocky outcrop on the banks of the River Awbeg. Beautifully appointed suites, welcoming reception rooms, historical tours, and extensive activities from zip-lining to fly fishing are all on offer at one of Ireland’s more interesting and best preserved castles set on a 50 acre estate of mature native Irish trees with a private stretch of the River Awbeg.“

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/17/places-to-visit-and-stay-munster-county-cork/

8. Castlemartyr, Co Cork – hotel €€€

https://www.castlemartyrresort.ie/

Venues in County Derry

1. Beechill House, 32 Ardmore Road, Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland BT47 3QP – weddings

https://www.beech-hill.com/

*Beechill Country House Hotel, Courtesy of Tyrone and Sperrins destination, for Tourism Ireland.*

2. Drenagh House, County Derry – whole house rental, 22 guests

https://www.drenagh.com

Nestled in beautiful parkland where you will find our grand Georgian Mansion House which is perfect for weddings, family get togethers, corporate events and much more.

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2023/05/20/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-counties-armagh-derry-and-down/

Venues in County Donegal

1. Drumhalla House, Rathmullen, County Donegal – whole house rental and wedding venue

https://drumhallahouse.ie

“Steeped in history, the house was originally built in 1789 by Dr Knox of Lifford. The house and grounds have now been beautifully restored by the present owner and offer luxury accommodation as well as a unique, private location for a variety of functions including weddings and corporate events.

Drumhalla House offers superior 5 star accommodation and is a much sought after and unique wedding venue.

Panoramic views over Lough Swilly and the renowned Kinnegar beach provide the perfect backdrop for your wedding day. The beautifully maintained grounds and lawns at Drumhalla House make it perfect for your guests to enjoy and explore.

Allow our Country Manor House, complete with 5 star accommodation at Drumhalla to transform your wedding ideas into the fairytale you always dreamed of.

All of our bedrooms are individual and unique and everything one would expect in a much loved Manor House. The rooms are very comfortable and traditional in style and filled with carefully chosen furnishings. They are located on the 1st floor of the house and provide varied views over the gardens and beach.“

2. Dunmore, Carrigans, Co Donegal – accommodation and weddings

https://www.dunmoregardens.ie/our-history/

3. Rockhill House, Letterkenny, Co Donegal – hotel €€€

https://www.rockhillhouse.ie

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/27/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-donegal-ulster/

Venues in County Down

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2023/05/20/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-counties-armagh-derry-and-down/

1. Culloden, County Down – hotel €€€

*Culloden Estate and Spa, photograph courtesy of Hastings Hotel 2017, Ireland’s Content Poo*l.

See https://www.cullodenestateandspa.com

2. Narrow Water Castle, Newry Road, Warrenpoint, Down, Northern Ireland, BT34 3LE http://narrowwatercastle.co.uk

*Narrow Water, photograph by Chris Hill 2005 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool*.

The website tells us:

“Narrow Water Castle is the private home of the Hall family who have lived at Narrow Water since 1670, originally in the Old Narrow Water Keep situated on the shoreline of Carlingford Lough which is now a national monument.

As a private home the castle is not open for public admission. It does however occasionally open its doors for weddings and exclusive events.

In 1816 construction began on the new Castle by Thomas Duff, a well-known Newry architect who also designed the Cathedrals in Newry, Armagh and Dundalk. The Elizabethan revival style castle is made from local granite and built next to the existing house, Mount Hall (1680). It was completed in 1836.

Event Venues Dublin

1. Luttrellstown Castle, (known for a period as Woodlands), Clonsilla, Co Dublin

https://www.luttrellstowncastle.com

*Luttrellstown Castle Resort, photograph by Colm Kerr 2018, Ireland’s Content Pool*. *The National Inventory describes it*: “Detached seven-bay two-storey castle, incorporating fabric of earlier castle. Extended and remodelled c.1810, with battlements and turrets. Two wings to rear, with several later additions. Farmyard quadrangle mostly dating to c.1840. Demesne with lake, cascades, ice-house, gate lodges, obelisk, tower, bridges, rustic pavilion, and Doric temple. Now in use as hotel.”

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2023/05/26/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-dublin-city-and-county/

The castle dates from around 1420, according to Timothy William Ferrars.

*Luttrellstown Castle, courtesy of Luttrellstown Castle Resort for Failte Ireland 2019, Ireland’s Content Pool.*

*Luttrellstown Castle, courtesy of Luttrellstown Castle Resort for Failte Ireland 2018, Ireland’s Content Pool.*

*Gothic Hall*, *Luttrellstown Castle, courtesy of Luttrellstown Castle Resort for Failte Ireland 2018, Ireland’s Content Pool.* *The National inventory describes the interior*: “Octagonal entrance hall; Gothic vaulting; ballroom with Adamesque plasterwork.”

*Inner Hall: the staircase hall with a painted ceiling by Thornhill,* *Luttrellstown Castle, courtesy of Luttrellstown Castle Resort for Failte Ireland 2018, Ireland’s Content Pool.*

*Luttrellstown Castle Resort, Van Stry Ballroom, photograph by Colm Kerr 2018.*

*Luttrellstown Castle Resort, The Kentian Room:* “birds and swags and foliage of stucco in high relief on the walls, and a painted ceiling by de Wit. The room was designed by Mr Felix Harbord, who also designed an Adamesque drawing room decorated with grisaille paintings by Peter de Gree fro Oirel Temple, and transformed the staircase hall with a painted ceiling by Thornhill”*, photograph by Colm Kerr, 2019, Ireland’s Content Pool*.

2. Orlagh House, Dublin – whole house, weddings

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

The Hidden Ireland website tells us:

“A Georgian mansion built by Dublin snuff merchant Lundy Foot back in 1790. Frequent visitors to the house included the Great Emancipator Daniel O’Connell, Eoin Mac Neill, Padraig Pearse and William Smith O’Brian, among many other famous figures from Anglo-Irish history.

A truly unique house set on 45 acres in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains, with spectacular views over Dublin City and stretching out as far as the Irish Sea. We are only 25 minutes from Dublin Airport and from Dublin city centre. The house has been lovingly and tastefully restored in recent years, with large drawing and reception rooms and open fires. Our beautiful dining room sits 20 people at our regency table. There is a large games room in the basement of the house with table tennis, pool table, and a full-sized snooker table.

There is lots to do in the immediate area including numerous hiking trails both on the estate and in proximity including the Dublin Way and the Wicklow Way. We have an equestrian centre next door with reduced rates for guests and some of Dublin’s most infamous pubs are within 10 minutes of the house, with great local food, traditional music, and Irish dancing.

The house really is one-of-a-kind.

WEDDINGS

Orlagh house is the perfect location for couples who want something different from the norm, a unique and truly personal day to remember. Exclusively yours for your wedding day with a second day optional, we also have 14 bedrooms to offer your guests.

We have an in-house catering team who can create your perfect menu, from sit down formal dining to a more laid-back BBQ’. Choose from our indoor ballroom or numerous outside garden areas. Our wedding team are there to help you with everything you may need.“

Whole House Accommodation and Weddings, County Galway:

1. Cloghan Castle, near Loughrea, County Galway – whole castle accommodation and weddings, €€€ for two.

https://www.cloughancastle.ie/

The website describes it:

“An air of historic grandeur and authenticity is the initial impression upon arrival at Cloughan Castle. Follow the long sweeping driveway surrounded with breath-taking countryside views, to the beautifully restored castle with its ornamental stonework & imposing four storey tower. Sitting within several acres of matured woodlands with striking panoramic countryside views, this lovingly restored 13th-century castle holds its historic past with a character that blends effortlessly with elegance and comfort.

Find yourself immersed in unrivalled castle comfort with the ultimate mix of homeliness & grandeur, the most appealing destination for those seeking exclusivity & privacy. A combination of seven magnificently appointed bedrooms, two versatile reception rooms, complete with an idyllic backdrop, ensures a truly memorable occasion to be long remembered. Cloughan Castle offers complete exclusivity for all occasions, from an intimate family getaway to a private party celebration, to a truly magical wedding location.“

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2023/05/31/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-galway/

2. Glenlo Abbey, near Galway, Co Galway – accommodation €€

*Glenlo Abbey Hotel & Estate, Co Galway Kelvin Gillmor Photography 2020,* *for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool*.

https://www.glenloabbeyhotel.ie

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2023/05/31/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-galway/

*Glenlo Abbey Hotel & Estate, Co Galway Courtesy Glenlo Abbey Hotel and Estate, Galway 2017, for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool*.

*Glenlo Abbey Hotel 2020 Courtesy Glenlo Abbey Hotel and Estate, Galway, for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool*.

*Palmer Bar, Glenlo Abbey Hotel & Estate, Courtesy Glenlo Abbey Hotel and Estate, Galway 2020, for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool*.

3. Lough Cutra Castle, County Galway

info@loughcutra.com

https://www.loughcutra.com/

“Nestled into the Northern corner of the courtyard, this beautifully appointed self catering cottage can sleep up to six guests – with private entrance and parking. Built during 1846 as part of a programme to provide famine relief during the Great Potato Famine of the time, it originally housed stabling for some of the many horses that were needed to run a large country estate such as Lough Cutra. In the 1920’s the Gough family, who were the then owners of the Estate, closed up the Castle and converted several areas of the courtyard including Cormorant into a large residence for themselves. They brought with them many original features from the Castle, such as wooden panelling and oak floorboards from the main Castle dining room and marble fireplaces from the bedrooms.

We have furnished and decorated the home to provide a luxuriously comfortable and private stay to our guests. Each unique courtyard home combines the history and heritage of the estate and buildings with modern conveniences.“

4. Rosleague Manor, Galway – accommodation €€

https://www.rosleague.com

The website tells us: “Resting on the quiet shores of Ballinakill Bay, and beautifully secluded within 30 acres of its own private woodland, Rosleague Manor in Connemara is one of Ireland’s finest regency hotels.“

The National Inventory tells us: “Attached L-plan three-bay two-storey house, built c.1830, facing north-east and having gabled two-storey block to rear and multiple recent additions to rear built 1950-2000, now in use as hotel…This house is notable for its margined timber sash windows and timber porch. The various additions have been built in a sympathetic fashion with many features echoing the historic models present in the original house.”

Places to Stay, County Kerry:

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/19/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-kerry-munster/

1. Ballyseede Castle/ Ballyseedy (Tralee Castle), Tralee, County Kerry – hotel €€ www.ballyseedecastle.com

*We ate our breakfast here every day, Ballyseede Castle.*

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

https://www.cahernane.com

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.“

3. Carrig Country House, County Kerry €€€

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.“

4. Dromquinna Estate, Co Kerry – accommodation €€

https://www.dromquinnamanor.com

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 occasion for all. It is a real family and friends party as opposed to a hotel ballroom function.

Venues in County Kildare:

1. Barberstown Castle, Kildare – hotel

www.barberstowncastle.ie

2. Carton House, Kildare – open to public, hotel

*The garden front of Carton House. The house was built in 1739 to designs by Richard Castle and remodelled in 1815 by Richard Morrison. Not Used* Country Life *archives, 18/02/2009.  Photographer Paul Barker.*

*Carton House 2014, for Failte Ireland*.

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2023/06/08/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-kildare/

*Carton, Image for* Country Life, by *Paul Barker.*

The Gold Saloon at Carton House, which was originally known as the Eating Parlour. The organ case was designed by Lord Gerald FitzGerald in 1857. Not Used Country Life archives 18/02/2009,  Photographer Paul Barker.

3. The Cliff at Lyons, County Kildare

www.cliffatlyons.ie

Robert O’Byrne writes about the Cliff at Lyons:

“The Village at Lyons, County Kildare is often described as a restoration but to be frank it is more a recreation. By the time the late Tony Ryan bought the estate in 1996, the buildings beside the Grand Canal, which had once included a forge, mill and dwelling houses, were in a state of almost total ruin. Therefore the work undertaken here in the years prior to his death in 2007 involved a great deal of architectural salvage, much of it brought from France, although some Irish elements were incorporated such as a mid-19th century conservatory designed by Richard Turner, originally constructed for Ballynegall, County Westmeath. Today the place primarily operates as a wedding venue, providing an alluring stage set for photographs but bearing little resemblance to what originally stood here.” [9]

*The entrance front of Lyons House, designed by Oliver Grave for Nicholas Lawless, 1st baron Cloncurry circa 1786 and remodelled by his son Richard Morrison in 1802-05. Pub Orig* Country Life 16/01/2003, *vol. CXCVII by Photographer Paul Barker.*

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2023/06/08/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-kildare/

4. Firmount, Clane, County Kildare – whole house or weddings

The website https://www.firmounthouse.com/ tells us:

“Firmount House is a unique and stunning venue just outside Clane in County Kildare, only 40minutes from Dublin city centre. Lovingly restored by the owners, the house is known for flexibility and creativity and is now open for weddings, private parties, film shoots, yoga retreats and corporate events. Enjoy visiting the Firmount website and see for yourself the lifelong journey these restoration warriors have taken to provide you with the perfect location in a wonderful, natural setting.

This fabulous house consists of a sitting room, breakfast room and dining room downstairs reached from a large hallway, alongside a commercial kitchen and butlers pantry. The first floor consists of seven large and sumptuous bedrooms – five doubles and two twin rooms with plenty of room for two travel cots which are also provided. There are also six bathrooms. Heated by oil fired radiators, there are also two stoves in the main entertaining space.

5. The K Club, Straffan House, County Kildare

See https://www.kclub.ie

6. Kilkea Castle, Castledermot, Kildare – hotel

https://www.kilkeacastle.ie/

7. Leixlip Manor hotel (formerly St. Catherine’s Park) Leixlip, Co Kildare

Formerly Liffey Valley House hotel

http://www.leixlipmanorhotel.ie/about-us/the-manor-kildare

The house that stood before the current Manor House was taller and was tenanted by the Earl of Lanesborough. Then in 1792, it was occupied by David La Touche, of the Huguenot banking family. It shortly thereafter burned to the ground and in around 1798 a new house, also called St Catherine’s Park, was built in the same townland to the design of Francis Johnston; it is now Leixlip Manor Hotel & Gardens.

8. Moyvalley (formerly Balyna), Co Kildare – weddings, accommodation

Now called Moyvalley Hotel. https://www.moyvalley.com/aboutus.html

The website tells us:

“Balyna House lies to the south of Moyvalley Bridge over the Grand Canal, about half way between Enfield and Kinnegad on the old Dublin — Galway road. The house lies in the centre of the estates 500 acres. Balyna Estate was granted in 1574 by Queen Elizabeth I to the O’Moore family because they had lost their land in Laois and were reinstated in Balyna.“

Balyna House consists of 10 luxurious ensuite bedrooms, 3 reception rooms to cater for up to 100 guests, Balyna Bar and Cellar Bar. The house is available exclusively for private events and weddings.“

9. Palmerstown Manor House

See https://www.palmerstownhouse.ie

Venues in County Kilkenny

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/28/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-kilkenny-leinster/

1. Ballyduff, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny – wedding venue, B&B

http://ballyduffhouse.ie/booking-enquiries/

The website tells us:

“Ballyduff House is a classic Georgian country house with a 14th century castle, steeped in Irish history and full of the warmest of welcomes.

The River Nore sparkles as it runs along Ballyduff’s riverbank while sheep and cattle graze the pasture either side.

Open fires, the book lined library and the comfortable bedrooms furnished with Irish antiques capture an early 18th century experience tempered by discreet 21st century comfort.

This is real Ireland – calm, green and beautiful, set alongside the picturesque village of Inistioge with Dublin only an hour away.“

2. Butler House, Kilkenny, co Kilkenny – accommodation

https://www.butler.ie

*View to Butler House and Garden, Kilkenny Leo Byrne Photography 2015*.

3. Lyrath House, near Kilkenny, County Kilkenny – hotel

https://www.lyrath.com

4. Mount Juliet, Thomastown, County Kilkenny – hotel

*Mount Juliet Gardens, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, photograph by Finn Richards 2015 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool.*

See https://www.mountjuliet.ie / and my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/28/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-kilkenny-leinster/

Venues in County Laois:

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/27/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-laois-leinster/

1. Ballyfin House, Co. Laois – hotel €€€

https://ballyfin.com

2. Castle Durrow, Co Laois – a hotel

https://www.castledurrow.com

3. Ballintubbert House, County Laois – whole house and weddings

https://www.ballintubbert.com/exclusive-hire/manor-house/

Ballintubbert is a five-bay two-storey over basement rectory, c. 1835. It was previously owned by actor John Hurt, and poet Cecil Day-Lewis.

The Manor House has five double bedrooms and the Garden Wing has four additional double bedrooms. A beautiful country style kitchen, two stunning living rooms and a dining room that sits twenty. The house has six bathrooms.

4. Preston House, Abbeyleix, County Laois – whole house rental

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

Hidden Ireland tells us:

“We are delighted that you have found our beautifully restored 18th Century Georgian House, with a private courtyard and wooded garden, located on the Main Street of the picturesque Heritage Town of Abbeyleix.“

Venues in County Leitrim

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/19/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-leitrim-connaught/

1. Bush Hotel, Carrick on Shannon, Co Leitrim €

https://www.bushhotel.com/

“Our charming award-winning boutique heritage hotel is in the centre of Carrick on Shannon, County Leitrim.”

2. Lough Rynn Castle, Mohill, County Leitrim €

https://www.loughrynn.ie/

Venues in County Limerick:

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2023/07/21/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-limerick/

1. Adare Manor, Limerick – hotel €€€

See my entry https://www.adaremanor.com

2. Glin Castle, whole house rental.

*Glin Castle, County Limerick, photograph from National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.*

https://www.glin-castle.com/

You can see lovely photographs of the castle, inside and out, on the website.

Venues in County Longford:

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/05/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-leinster-longford-louth-and-meath/

1. Newcastle House Hotel, Ballymahon, County Longford

https://www.newcastlehousehotel.ie

*Newcastle House (now a hotel), County Longford, photograph from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.*

Newcastle House is a 300-year-old manor house, set on the banks of the River Inny near Ballymahon, in Co. Longford.

The website tells us; “Standing on 44 acres of mature parkland and surrounded by 900 acres of forest, Newcastle House is only one and half hour’s drive from Dublin, making it an excellent base to see, explore and enjoy the natural wonders of Ireland. So whether you are looking for a peaceful place to stay (to get away from it all) or perhaps need a location to hold an event, or that most important wedding, give us a call.”

Venues in County Louth:

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/28/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-louth-leinster/

1. Ballymascanlon House, Louth  – hotel

https://www.ballymascanlon.com

*Ballymascanlon House, County Louth, photograph from National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.*

The website tells us: “The Ballymascanlon House is set on 130 acres of beautiful parkland, this impressive Victorian House forms the heart of this Hotel. It is one of the most remarkable historical estates in Ireland dating back to 833 A.D. Steeped in history, Ballymascanlon estate is located in Ireland’s North East on the Cooley Peninsula in close proximity to the Irish Sea and Mourne Mountains. Less than 1 hour from Dublin and Belfast, and 20 minutes from the medieval town of Carlingford. We are delighted to welcome you to our beautiful luxurious venue, ideal for both Business and Leisure.”

2. Darver Castle, County Louth

https://www.darvercastle.ie/home/

3. Castle Bellingham, Co. Louth

*Castle Bellingham, County Louth, 20th November 2022.*

https://www.bellinghamcastle.ie

The website tells us:

“At Bellingham Castle, the welcome is warm, the facilities luxurious and the memories, eternal. Nestled in the medieval village of Castlebellingham in County Louth along Ireland’s Ancient East, Bellingham Castle is an elegant and spacious 17th Century authentic Irish Castle available for exclusive hire, to allow you become King or Queen of your very own castle for a truly memorable experience. The Castle opens for overnight stays on select dates throughout the year, but is predominantly a venue for spectacular Weddings, conferences or events.“

*Castle Bellingham, County Louth, November 2022.*

Places to stay, County Mayo:

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/15/places-to-stay-and-visit-in-connacht-leitrim-mayo-and-sligo/

1. Ashford Castle, Mayo/Galway – hotel €€€

Ashford Castle, photograph *Courtesy Aervisions 2016* *for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool*.

https://ashfordcastle.com/

The website tells us: “Unrivalled service, warm Irish hospitality and five-star luxury await at Ashford Castle, part of The Red Carnation Hotel Collection. Situated in a spectacular 350-acre estate, discover sumptuous rooms and suites, splendid interiors brimming with antique furniture, fine fabrics and unique features at every turn.“

It was built originally by the Norman De Burgo family around 1228.

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/15/places-to-stay-and-visit-in-connacht-leitrim-mayo-and-sligo/

*Ashford Castle, photograph by Brian Morrison 2015 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool*.

*Afternoon tea, Ashford Castle, Co Mayo Courtesy Kelvin Gillmor 2014*.

2. Belleek Castle and Ballina House, originally Belleek Castle, Ballina, Mayo – €€

See https://belleekcastle.com/

3. Knockranny House Hotel and Spa, County Mayo

https://www.knockrannyhousehotel.ie/

The website tells us: “Owned and run by Adrian & Geraldine Noonan, Knockranny House Hotel & Spa is one of Ireland’s finest 4 star hotels in Westport.

Set in secluded grounds on a hillside, this luxury hotel stands proudly overlooking the picturesque town of Westport and enjoys breathtaking views of Croagh Patrick and Clew Bay’s islands to the west and the Nephin Mountains to the north, one of the best Westport hotels locations.

The welcoming atmosphere at Knockranny House Hotel Westport begins with the open log fires in the reception hall, and is carried throughout the property with its antique furniture, excellent spa facilities, superb cuisine and friendly service, creating a genuine sense of relaxed warmth and hospitality. Previously voted as AA Irish hotel of the year. “

4.  Mount Falcon, Ballina, County Mayo – hotel €€

https://www.mountfalcon.com/

*Mount Falcon Estate, Co Mayo_by Mount Falcon 2020 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool.*

The website tells us:

“Mount Falcon Estate is a luxury 32 bedroom 4-star deluxe hotel with 45 luxury lodges located on the west bank of the River Moy and is situated perfectly for exploring the 2500km of rugged Irish coastline called The Wild Atlantic Way. Mount Falcon hotel offers 100 acres of magical woodlands, between Foxford and Ballina, in North County Mayo, the most beautiful part of the West of Ireland. Situated in the heart of the Moy Valley (which encompasses Mayo North and Co. Sligo) this Victorian Gothic manor house (est. 1876) exudes understated elegance from a bygone era. Originally constructed as a wedding gift, Mount Falcon Estate has subsequently become known as the most romantic house in Ireland.“

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/15/places-to-stay-and-visit-in-connacht-leitrim-mayo-and-sligo/

Places to stay, County Meath:

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/28/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-meath-leinster/

1. Bellinter House near Bective, County Meath – hotel and restaurant €€

www.bellinterhouse.com

*Bellinter House, photograph for Tourism Ireland*, *Ireland’s Content Pool.*

The website tells us:

“A magnificent 18^th century Georgian house, located in the heart of the Boyne Valley, less than 5 minutes of the M3 and under 30 minutes from Dublin City centre and Dublin airport.

A property designed originally by Richard Castles for John Preston [1700-1755], this house was once used as a country retreat for the Preston Family, to abscond from the city for the summer months.

Following over 270 years of beautiful history the purpose of Bellinter House remains the same, a retreat from ones daily life.

On arriving, you will find yourself succumb to the peacefulness and serenity that is Bellinter House.“

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/28/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-meath-leinster/

2. Johnstown Estate, Enfield, Co Meath – hotel

https://thejohnstownestate.com

The website tells us:

“The original manor – or The Johnstown House as it was known – is as storied as many other large country house in Ireland. Luckily, the house itself has stood the test of time and is the beating heart of the hotel and all its facilities which together form The Johnstown Estate.

Built in 1761, The Johnstown House (as it was then known) was the country residence of Colonel Francis Forde [1717-1769], his wife Margaret [Bowerbank] and their five daughters. Colonel Forde was the 7th son of Matthew Forde, MP, of Coolgraney, Seaforde County Down, and the family seat is still in existence in the pretty village of Seaforde, hosting Seaforde Gardens.“

3. Tankardstown House, Rathkenny, Slane, Co. Meath – section 482

*Tankardstown, County Meath, August 2019.*

www.tankardstown.ie
See my entry.

4. Ballinlough Castle, County Meath

https://www.ballinloughcastle.ie/

5. Boyne Hill estate, Navan, County Meath – whole house rental

https://www.boynehillhouse.ie

“Set in 38 acres of pretty gardens and parklands and just 35 minutes from Dublin, this stunning country house estate becomes your very own private residence for your special day.“

6. Durhamstown Castle, Bohermeen, County Meath – whole house rental https://durhamstowncastle.com

“Durhamstown Castle is 600 years old inhabited continuously since 1420. Its surrounded by meadows, dotted with mature trees. We take enormous pleasure in offering you our home and hospitality.“

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/05/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-leinster-longford-louth-and-meath/

7. Loughcrew House, Loughcrew, Old Castle, Co. Meath – section 482

www.loughcrew.com

*Remains of Loughcrew House, 22nd May 2010.*

8. Mill House, Slane – weddings

https://www.themillhouse.ie

The website tells us:

“Built in 1766, The Millhouse and The Old Mill Slane, the weir and the millrace were once considered the largest and finest complex of its kind in Ireland. Originally a corn mill powered by two large water wheels, the harvest was hoisted into the upper floor granaries before being dried, sifted and ground.

Over time, the Old Mill became a specialised manufacturer of textiles turning raw cotton into luxury bed linen. Times have changed but this past remains part of our history, acknowledged and conserved.

In 2006, The Millhouse was creatively rejuvenated, transformed into a hotel and wedding venue of unique character – a nod to the early 1900’s when it briefly served as a hotel-stop for passengers on pleasure steamer boats.”

Venues in County Monaghan

1. Castle Leslie, Glaslough, Co. Monaghan – section 482

www.castleleslie.com

See my entry:

https://irishhistorichouses.com/2020/08/07/castle-leslie-glaslough-county-monaghan/

2. Hilton Park House, Clones, Co. Monaghan – section 482
www.hiltonpark.ie

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/04/03/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-ulster-counties-fermanagh-monaghan-and-tyrone/

Places to stay, County Offaly

See my entry: https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/27/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-offaly/

1. Gloster, County Offaly

https://www.glosterhouse.ie/

*Gloster, County Offaly, February 2023.*

2. Kinnitty Castle (formerly Castle Bernard), Kinnity, Co Offaly

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

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

Mark Bence-Jones writes in his 1988 book of Kinnitty Castle, formerly named Castle Bernard: p. 62. [Castle Bernard]: “[Bernard 1912; De la Poer Beresford, Decies] A Tudor-Revival castle of 1833 by James and George Pain [built for T. Bernard]. Impressive entrance front with gables, oriels and tracery windows and an octagonal corner tower with battlements and crockets; all in smooth ashlar. Subsequently the home of 6th Lord Decies [Arthur George Marcus Douglas De La Poer Beresford (1915-1992)], by whom it was sold ca. 1950. Now a forestry centre.”

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/07/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-leinster-offaly-and-westmeath/

2. Loughton House, County Offaly

https://loughtonhouse.com

Places to stay, County Roscommon:

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/26/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-roscommon-connaught/

1. Clonalis House, Castlerea, Co Roscommon – accommodation and 482

www.clonalishouse.com

2.  Kilronan Castle (formerly Castle Tenison), Ballyfarnan, County Roscommon – hotel €

Amazingly, when this was photographed for the National Inventory, it was a ruin! It has now been completely renovated. https://www.kilronancastle.ie

The website tells us:

“Kilronan Castle Estate & Spa should be on your list of castles to stay at in Ireland. The luxury 4 star castle hotel is situated in County Roscommon in a secluded corner of the idyllic West of Ireland. Built in the 18th century, the Kilronan Castle resort welcomes its guests through a set of magnificent medieval gates at the top of a meandering driveway through an ancient forest which is surrounded by fifty acres of lush green estate and next to a beautiful lough making the castle look like something straight out of a fairytale.“

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/26/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-roscommon-connaught/

Places to stay, County Sligo:

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/19/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-sligo-connaught/

1. Castle Dargan Lodges, Ballygawley, Co. Sligo, Ireland

https://www.castledargan.com

The website tells us: “Welcome to Castle Dargan Estate, a magnificent, rambling country estate on 170 rolling acres in W.B. Yeats’ beloved County Sligo. The great poet was inspired to write of its charms in The King of The Great Clock Tower and a hundred years later we invite you to be enchanted by a timeless elegance and unique atmosphere that will stay with you forever.

Accommodation at Castle Dargan Estate offers guests a diverse range of 4-star hotel accommodation including luxury suites in the 18th century Castle Dargan House, one and two bed Walled Garden Suites which are perfect for family breaks, and self-catering lodges available for holiday rentals. With a rich history brought in to 21st century, Castle Dargan Estate offers more to our guests than hospitality and fantastic settings, it offers classic grandeur that remains timeless.“

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/19/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-sligo-connaught/

2. Markree Castle, Collooney, Co Sligo – section 482

www.markreecastle.ie

*Markree Castle by Tom Keenan, creative commons on flickr.*

See my entry:

https://irishhistorichouses.com/2021/11/06/markree-castle-collooney-co-sligo/

3. Newpark House and Demesne, Newpark, Ballymote, Co. Sligo – section 482

See https://www.juniperbarn.ie/accommodation and my entry:

*Newpark, County Sligo, 16th August 2021.*

https://irishhistorichouses.com/2021/11/30/newpark-house-and-demesne-newpark-ballymote-co-sligo/

4. Temple House, Ballymote, Co. Sligo – section 482

www.templehouse.ie

Places to stay, County Tipperary

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/19/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-tipperary-munster/

1. Ashley Park, Nenagh, Co Tipperary – accommodation €

https://hiddenireland.com/stay/bed-breakfast-guesthouses/

*Ashley Park, County Tipperary, December 2016.*

The Hidden Ireland website tells us:

“Ashley Park House has a magical quality that is particularly appealing. The avenue winds along the shore, through deep woods of oak and beech, until–suddenly–you reach the Georgian house, surrounded by tall trees, with beautiful views over a private lake. Inside, the rooms are large, comfortable and well equipped so offering a truly relaxing break away from the busyness of modern life.

The owners, Margaret & David McKenzie run their home in a relaxed and informal way in the style of the traditional Irish country house, ideal for family and friends taking a break to celebrate a special occasion. Guests like nothing more than losing themselves in the woods and gardens, or rowing around the lake and exploring the ruins of the ancient fort on the island.“

2. Cashel Palace Hotel, Cashel, County Tipperary – €€€

https://www.cashelpalacehotel.ie

The website tells us it is: “A Palladian manor, in the heart of Ireland, Cashel Palace is a luxury hideaway, meticulously restored and exquisitely reimagined. Spectacularly located by the Rock of Cashel in picturesque Co. Tipperary, the hotel is enveloped in nature and overlooked by ancient history.“

*Cashel Palace hotel, County Tipperary, photograph by Brian Morrison 2014 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool.*

The website tells us of the history:

“Built in 1732, as the home of Church of Ireland Archbishop Theophilus Bolton, Cashel Palace was designed by the eminent architect Sir Edward Lovett Pearce. Lovett Pearce was one of the most celebrated architects of the time, and would go on to design Dublin’s impressive Parliament House – now the Bank of Ireland in College Green.“

3. Clonacody House, County Tipperary – whole house or B&B €

https://www.clonacodyhouse.com/home

“Clonacody has six spacious bedrooms, all boasting genuine antique interiors. Expect the good-old fashioned hospitality of the bygone days, curious family history, artwork and photographs to pour over. Curl up on our squishy sofas with a good book while enjoying an open fire on our ground floor, or have a bath beside an open window taking in the glorious surrounding views of Co. Tipperary’s mountains for endless relaxation. All include quality bedlinen, towels and toiletries.“

4. Cloughjordan House, Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary – section 482

*Cloughjordan House, County Tipperary, photograph from National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.*

https://www.cloughjordanhouse.com/accommodation

5. Dundrum House, County Tipperary – €€

https://www.dundrumhousehotel.com

6. Lissanisky House, County Tipperary €

https://www.lissaniskyhouse.com/

The website tells us:

“Lissanisky House is a listed Irish Georgian country house just outside Nenagh in Tipperary, Ireland. Built in approx. 1770 on the site of the 12th century O’Meara castle, it boasts a pedimented breakfront, five bays and three storeys over the basement. It is also renowned for its glorious cobweb fanlight above the front door. It was once a huge estate, but this was carved up by the land commission and now retains 10 acres of the original grounds, including the Victorian walled garden. The trees planted in the walled garden are still producing the tastiest apples, pears, quinces, plums and hazelnuts. If you’re around at the right time, you’ll get to enjoy one of our scrumptious homemade apple and toffee puddings with fresh cream. Delicious!

The house itself is full of history, with some interesting previous owners, like Dr Barry O’Meara, Napoleon’s doctor in St Helena and author of the definitive book on Napoleon, ‘Napoleon in Exile’; The Hon Otway Fortescue Graham-Toler, son of the second Earl of Norbury and relation of John Toler, the infamous ‘hanging judge’ and R Smithwick who is believed to be of the Kilkenny brewing family. We also recently discovered that former owners, the Cleeve family, were related to a member of the Guinness brewing family via the matriarch Heath Otway Waller of Priory Park.

THE FUTURE

We fell in love with Lissanisky House and made it our joint life goal to ensure that it would be restored to its full potential and secure it for future generations. By staying with us in our bed and breakfast or celebrating your wedding here, you are helping to fund all future restoration work to the house and outbuildings, making a huge contribution to the preservation of such an important building.“

7. Raheen House Hotel, Clonmel, County Tipperary €€

https://www.raheenhouse.ie/

“Raheen House Hotel is one of the leading hotels in the vibrant town of Clonmel, County Tipperary. This captivating hotel, with a history dating back to the 17th century, offers visitors the opportunity to relax and luxuriate in exquisite surroundings.

The Hotel offers 15 elegant bedrooms within the tranquillity of its own 3.5 acre gardens. The refinement extends throughout the whole house; have a drink in front of the open fire in the bar, take afternoon tea in the sumptuous Drawing Room or enjoy a delicious formal dinner in our restaurant.”

8. Kilshane, Tipperary, Co Tipperary – whole house rental:

*Kilshane, County Tipperary, photograph from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.*

https://www.kilshanehouse.ie

The National Inventory tells us this impressive country house was built by the architect C.F. Anderson for John Lowe.

*Kilshane, County Tipperary: the impressive conservatory – see the website for a better picture, photograph from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.*

Venues in County Tyrone

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/04/03/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-ulster-counties-fermanagh-monaghan-and-tyrone/

1. Baronscourt Estate, Newtownstewart, Omagh, County Tyrone

https://barons-court.com

2. Blessingbourne, County Tyrone €€

https://www.blessingbourne.com/self-catering-accommodation/

3. Killymoon Castle Lodge, 302 Killymoon Road, BT80 8ZA €

https://killymooncastle.com

Places to stay, County Waterford

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/26/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-munster-county-waterford/

1. Ballynatray Estate, Co. Waterford – section 482

www.ballynatray.com

2. Faithlegg House, Waterford, Co Waterford – hotel €€

https://www.faithlegg.com

*Faithlegg House Hotel, Co Waterford, Courtesy Colin Shanahan_ Faithlegg House Hotel 2021, for Tourism Ireland.*

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/26/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-munster-county-waterford/

The Faithlegg website tells us that the house was probably built by John Roberts (1714-1796): “a gifted Waterford architect who designed the Waterford’s two Cathedrals, City Hall, Chamber of Commerce and Infirmary.  He leased land from Cornelius Bolton at Faithlegg here he built his own house which he called Roberts Mount. He built mansions for local gentry and was probably the builder of Faithlegg House in 1783.”

3. Waterford Castle, The Island, Co Waterford €€

https://www.waterfordcastleresort.com

*Waterford Castle Hotel, photo by Shane O’Neill 2010 for Tourism Ireland.*

The Archiseek website tells us that Waterford Castle is: “A small Norman keep that was extended and “restored” in the late 19th century. An initial restoration took place in 1849, but it was English architect W.H. Romaine-Walker who extended it and was responsible for its current appearance today. The original keep is central to the composition with two wings added, and the keep redesigned to complete the composition.“

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/26/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-munster-county-waterford/

*Waterford Castle Hotel and Golf Resort 2021 County Waterford, from Ireland’s Content Pool.*

*Photograph Courtesy of Waterford Castle Hotel and Golf Resort, 2021, Ireland’s Content Pool.*

*Waterford Castle Hotel, photo by Shane O’Neill 2016 for Tourism Ireland.*

4. Lismore Castle, whole house rental

www.lismorecastlegardens.com

Places to stay, County Westmeath:

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/07/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-leinster-offaly-and-westmeath/

1.  Middleton Park, Mullingar, County Westmeath – available to rent

http://mph.ie

Middleton Park House featured in The Great House Revival on RTE, with presenter (and architect) Hugh Wallace. The website tells us:

“Carolyn and Michael McDonnell, together with Carolyn’s brother Henry, joined together to purchase this expansive property in Castletown Geoghegan. Built during the famine, the property was last in use as a hotel but it had deteriorated at a surprisingly fast rate over its three unoccupied years.

Designed by renowned architect George Papworth, featuring a Turner-designed conservatory, Middleton Park House stands at a palatial 35,000sq. ft. and is steeped in history. Its sheer scale makes it an ambitious restoration.

The trio’s aim is to create a family home, first and foremost, which can host Henry’s children at the weekends and extended family all year-round. Due to its recent commercial use, the three will need to figure out how to change industrial-style aspects to make it a welcoming home that is economical to run.

Henry will be putting his skills as a contractor and a qualified chippy to use, and Michael will be wearing his qualified engineer’s hat to figure out an effective heating system. Carolyn will be using her love of interiors to work out the aesthetic of the house, and how to furnish a property the size of 35 semi-detached houses in Dublin.“

The trio have now made the house available for accommodation and as a wedding venue.

County Wexford

1. Johnstown Castle, County Wexford

https://johnstowncastle.ie/weddings/

See my entry.

2. Marlfield, Gorey, Co Wexford – accommodation

WWW.MARLFIELDHOUSE.COM

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/10/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-leinster-wexford-and-wicklow/

3. Monart, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford – 5* hotel

https://www.monart.ie/

*Monart Spa Wexford Annica Jansson 2016, for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool.*

Nestled in over 100 acres of lush countryside in County Wexford, Monart offers two types of accommodation, 68 deluxe bedrooms with lake or woodland views and two luxurious suites located in the 18th century Monart House.

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/10/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-leinster-wexford-and-wicklow/

4. Horetown House, County Wexford – weddings

https://www.horetownhouse.ie/

The website tells us:

“Horetown House is a private country house wedding venue in County Wexford in the South-East corner of Ireland. Situated among rolling hills in the heart of rural Wexford, Horetown House is the perfect venue for a stylish, laid back wedding. Our charming country house is yours exclusively for the duration of your stay with us.

Family owned and run, we can take care of everything from delicious food, bedrooms and Shepherds huts, to a fully licensed pub in the cellar. Horetown House is perfect for couples looking for something a little bit different, your very own country house to create your dream wedding.“

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/10/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-leinster-wexford-and-wicklow/

5. Wells House, County Wexford

See https://wellshouse.ie/

Places to stay, County Wicklow:

See my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/10/20/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-county-wicklow-leinster/

1. Brook Lodge and Macreddin Village, County Wicklow

https://www.originalirishhotels.com/hotels/brooklodge-macreddin-village

The website tells us:

“Relax and unwind at The Wells Spa, a designated ‘resort spa’. Dine at The Strawberry Tree, Ireland’s first certified Wild and Organic Restaurant, or La Taverna Armento, a Southern Italian style bistro. We also host Actons Country Pub, The Orchard Café, an Organic Bakery, a Smokehouse and a Wild Food Pantry and much more. Macreddin Golf Course designed by European Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley is a short stroll from BrookLodge.

Macreddin Village has twice won AA Hotel of the Year, Ireland’s Culinary Hotel of the Year and Ireland’s Luxury Eco-Friendly Hotel. Other recent awards for The Strawberry Tree Restaurant include titles such as Best Restaurant and Best Organic Restaurant.“

2. Druid’s Glen hotel and golf club (formerly Woodstock), Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow

https://www.druidsglenresort.com

3. Rathsallagh, co Wicklow – accommodation €€

*Rathsallagh*, *photograph courtesy of Rathsallagh House.*

www.rathsallagh.com

It was built around 1750 as stables and converted in 1798. The range consists of four wings based around a large courtyard with the main wing to the front (west) having two-storey projections to its north and south ends.

The website tells us: “Rathsallagh House has been owned and run by the O’Flynn family for over 30 years, it has a happy and relaxed atmosphere with log and turf fires in the bar and drawing rooms. The food at Rathsallagh is country house cooking at its best, Game in season and fresh fish are specialities. Breakfast in Rathsallagh is an experience in itself and has won the National Breakfast Awards a record four times.

Rathsallagh also has conference and meeting rooms, Spa room, billiard room, and tennis court and is surrounded by the magnificant Rathsallagh Golf Club.“

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/10/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-leinster-wexford-and-wicklow/

*Rathsallagh* *House, County Wicklow*, *photograph courtesy of Rathsallagh House.*

4. Summerhill House Hotel, County Wicklow

https://summerhillhousehotel.com

The website tells us: “Summerhill House Hotel is where glamour and the countryside blend in one of Ireland’s prettiest villages. Our location in the cosy village of Enniskerry is a gloriously refreshing antidote to city living or stressful lives. Reconnect with family and friends and let the kids run free. Lose track of time as you breathe in clean air, stride for miles through nature walks on your doorstep, stargaze under big skies, and, most importantly – relax, with a dose of the finest Wicklow hospitality.“

5. Tinakilly House, Rathnew, Co Wicklow – country house hotel

https://tinakilly.ie

The website tells us:

“Set in 14 acres of mature landscaped gardens overlooking the Irish Sea Tinakilly offers peace and tranquillity yet is only 45 minutes from Dublin. This stunning award winning Country House Hotel in Wicklow is steeped in history and oozes charm and sophistication.“

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/10/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-leinster-wexford-and-wicklow/

6. Tulfarris, Blessington, Co Wicklow - hotel

www.tulfarrishotel.com

The website tells us: “Tulfarris Hotel & Golf Resort is a luxury 4 star retreat situated in the garden of Ireland, County Wicklow. Perched on the banks of the Blessington Lakes against the backdrop of the Wicklow mountains, yet only 45 minutes drive from Dublin. Offering delicious food, relaxed bars and deluxe guest accommodation, the views are breathtaking and the golf course is immense. Step back in time as you enter the 18th century Manor House which stands imposingly at the heart of our 200 acre resort. Get married, get your colleagues together or get some rest and relaxation. Tulfarris Hotel in Wicklow is yours to enjoy.“

See my entry www.irishhistorichouses.com/2022/05/10/places-to-visit-and-stay-in-leinster-wexford-and-wicklow/

Riverstown House, Riverstown, Glanmire, County Cork T45 HY45

by jenjunebugFebruary 25, 2023February 28, 2024

Open dates in 2024: May 2-Sept 7, Thurs, Fri, Sat, National Heritage Week, Aug 17-25, 2pm-6pm

Fee: adult €8, OAP €5, student €3

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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!

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*Riverstown House, June 2022.* *The back facade of the house; the entrance door is on the opposite side.* *The roof has a round-headed bellcote.*

*Riverstown County Cork, 1970, National Library archives.* [1] *The portico over the door has been since removed. Note that the image is mirror-image reversed* – *see my photograph above*.

Riverstown is famous for its stucco work. It contains important plasterwork with high-relief figurative stucco in panels on the ceiling and walls of the dining room, by Paolo and Filipo Lafranchini. The brothers also worked in Carton House in County Kildare (see my entry for places to stay in County Kildare https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/04/27/places-to-visit-and-to-stay-leinster-kildare-kilkenny-laois/) and in Kilshannig in County Cork (see my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2020/12/10/kilshannig-house-rathcormac-county-cork/).

The Swiss-Italian stuccadores were brought to Ireland from England in 1738 by Robert Fitzgerald (1675-1744) 19th Earl of Kildare, who built both Leinster House in Dublin (first known as Kildare House until his son was raised to be Earl of Leinster) and Carton House.

*Stucco work carried out by Lafranchini brothers in 1739 in Carton House, now a hotel*.

*Plasterwork by the Lafranchini brothers in Kilshannig, County Cork.*

Going back to its origins, the estate of Riverstown was purchased by Edward Browne (b. 1676), Mayor of Cork. He married Judith, the heiress daughter of Warham Jemmett (b. 1637), who lived in County Cork. The present house possibly dates from the mid 1730s, Frank Keohane tells us in Buildings of Ireland: Cork City and County. [2] A hopper with the date 1753 probably records alterations, when the gable end at one side was replaced by full-height canted bays.

Mark Bence-Jones describes Riverstown in his A Guide to Irish Country Houses (1988):

“…The house consists of a double gable-ended block of two storeys over a basement which is concealed on the entrance front, but which forms an extra storey on the garden front, where the ground falls away steeply; and a three-storey one bay tower-like addition at one end, which has two bows on its side elevation. The main block has a four bay entrance front, with a doorway flanked by narrow windows not centrally placed.” [3]

*Due to the deep slope upon which the house is built, one side is of three storeys, or two storeys over basement.*

*The grounds of Riverstown also contain an old ice house.*

The tower-like third storey on part of the house was possibly added by architect Henry Hill around 1830, Keohane tells us. Henry Hill was an architect who worked in Cork, perhaps initially with George Richard Pain, and later with William Henry Hill and Arthur Hill.

As Riverstown and its plasterwork was described in 1750 in Smith’s History of County Cork, it must have been created before this, perhaps when Browne’s son Jemmet Browne was elevated to the position of Bishop of Cork in 1745. He later became Archbishop of Tuam.

*Reverend Jemmett Browne at a meet of Foxhounds by Peter Tillemans, courtesy of Yale Centre for British Art.*

Reverend Jemmett Browne gave rise to a long line of clerics. He married Alice Waterhouse, daughter of Reverend Thomas Waterhouse. His son Edward (1726-1777) became Archbishop of Cork and Ross, and a younger son, Thomas, also joined the clergy.

*A portrait of Alice Waterhouse, wife of Bishop Jemmett Browne.*

Edward Archbishop of Cork and Ross named his heir Jemmett (1753-1797) and he also joined the clergy. He married Frances Blennerhassett of Ballyseede, County Kerry (now a hotel and also a section 482 property, see my entry). If the tower part of the house was built in 1830 it would have been for this Jemmett Browne’s heir, another Jemmett (1787-1850).

In Beauties of Ireland (vol. 2, p. 375, published 1826), James Norris Brewer writes that: “the river of Glanmire runs through the gardens banked with serpentine canals which are well stocked with carp, tench, etc. A pleasant park stocked with deer, comes close to the garden walls. The grounds of this very respectable seat about in aged timber and the whole demesne wears an air of dignified seclusion.”

The first Jemmett Browne was friendly with Laurence Sterne, author of Tristram Shandy. The bawdiness of the novel demonstrates that clerics at the time led a different life than those of today! Jemmett Browne’s interest in fine stucco work was probably influenced by fellow clerics Bishop George Berkeley, Samuel “Premium” Madden and Bishop Robert Clayton. Samuel Madden recommended, in his Reflections and Resolutions Proper to the Gentlemen of Ireland that stucco is substituted for wainscot. [4] Bishop Clayton owned what is now called Iveagh House on St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin (see my entry, https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/09/23/open-house-culture-night-and-heritage-week-dublin-visits/ ).

Portrait c. 1740 of Archbishop Robert Clayton (1695–1758) and Katherine née Donellan by James Latham, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland. Known for his unorthodox views, at the time of his death Robert Clayton was facing charges of heresy.

*George Berkeley (1685-1753), Philosopher; Bishop of Cloyne, by John Smibert 1730 courtesy of National Portrait Gallery NPG 653.* *He was a friend of Reverend Jemmett Browne.*

The stucco work is so important that the Office of Public Works feared it would be lost, as the house was standing empty in the 1950s before being purchased by John Dooley, father of the current owner, in around 1965. Under the direction of Raymond McGrath of the Office of Public Words, with advice from Dr. C. P. Curran, the authority on Irish decorative plasterwork, moulds were taken in 1955-6. The moulds are now displayed prominently in the home of Ireland’s President, Áras an Uachtaráin. (see my entry on the Áras in the entry on Office of Public Works properties in Dublin, https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/01/21/office-of-public-works-properties-dublin/ )

*Riverstown, 1975, photograph from Dublin City Library and Archive.* (see[1])

*The Lafranchini hallway in Áras an Uachtaráin, with the moulds taken of the stucco work in Riverstown.*

Shortly after John Dooley purchased the property, the members of the Irish Georgian Society decided to help to restore the plasterwork.

The book published on the 50th anniversary of the Irish Georgian Society, by Robert O’Byrne, has part of a chapter on Riverstown and the Irish Georgian Society’s role in restoration of the Lafranchini plasterwork in the 1960s.

The book published on the 50th anniversary of the Irish Georgian Society has part of a chapter on Riverstown and the Irish Georgian Society’s role in restoration of the Lafranchini plasterwork in the 1960s. By this time, John Dooley had purchased Riverstown, after it has been standing empty. At the time, Dooley had not yet moved in, and the dining room was not preserved to the standard the Georgian Society would have liked. The book has a photograph of potatoes being stored in the dining room.

*Photograph from* Irish Georgian Society, by Robert O’Byrne. *The photograph was published in the Cork Examiner in February 1965.* *We don’t know of course how temporary this storage was.*

The entrance hall of Riverstown is also impressive, and the members of the Georgian Society also helped to clean the plasterwork in this room. The walls curve, and the room has an elegant Neoclassical Doric frieze and shapely Corinthian columns.

Mark Bence-Jones decribes: “The hall, though of modest proportions, is made elegant and interesting by columns, a plasterwork frieze and a curved inner wall, in which there is a doorcase giving directly onto an enclosed staircase of good joinery. To the left of the hall, in the three storey addition, are two bow-ended drawing rooms back to back. Straight ahead, in the middle of the garden front, is the dining room, the chief glory of Riverstown.”

*The rounded entrance hall has a Neoclassical Doric frieze, thin columns and marble busts and statue.*

The Lafranchini work in the dining room derives from Maffei’s edition of Agostini’s Gemme Antiche Figurate (1707-09). Frank Keohane notes that the Maffei’s engravings were also used for the decoration of the Apollo Room in 85 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, also by the Lafranchini brothers.

The ceiling at Riverstown: winged figure of Father Time, rescuing Truth from the assaults of Discord and Envy, taken from the allegorical painting by Nicholas Poussin which he painted on the ceiling in France for Cardinal Richelieu in 1641 and now hangs in the Louvre, Paris.

*The dining room in Riverstown, August 2022.* *Marcus Curtius on horseback over fireplace, next to Aeneas carrying Anchises on his shoulders, then Liberty and Ceres.*

*The Apollo Room, 85 St. Stephen’s Green, also by Lafranchini brothers, using Maffei’s engravings*, *executed in 1740*.

The ceiling at Riverstown: winged figure of Father Time, Chronos, rescuing Truth (a young woman, La Verdad) from the assaults of Discord and Envy, taken from the allegorical painting by Nicholas Poussin which he painted on the ceiling in France for Cardinal Richelieu in 1641 and now hangs in the Louvre, Paris. Discord is armed with a dagger and Envy with snakes, and in the original painting, Envy’s robes are green. A cherub bears the sickle and circle, symbolising Time and Immortality.

C. P. Curran tells us that the history of the Lafranchini brothers is obscure, but they “represent one of the successive waves of stuccodores who from quite early periods swarmed over Europe from fertile hives in the valleys of either side of the Swiss Italian Alps….They worked in some unascertained way side by side with local guildsmen and introduced new motifs and methods. Their repertory of ornament was abundant and they excelled in figure work.” [4] They executed their work in Carton in 1739, Curran tells us, and in 85 St. Stephen’s Green in 1740.

*Marcus Curtius on horseback over fireplace, next to Aeneas carrying Anchises on his shoulders, then Liberty and Ceres.* *The panels have moulded frames, those over the fireplace and the opposing wall being lugged and enriched with acanthus-tufted C-scrolls above and below the panels.*

Keohane tells us that the simple eighteenth century black-marble slab chimneypiece was installed in the 1950s when the house was saved by the Dooley family from ruination. It replaced a remarkable overmantel, now in an upper room, with great scrolled jambs garlanded with flowers and tufted with acanthus, and a comic mask in the centre of the frieze which possibly depicts Bishop Browne.

A remarkable overmantel, now in an upper room, with great scrolled jambs garlanded with flowers and tufted with acanthus, and a comic mask in the centre of the frieze which possibly depicts Bishop Browne.

*Marcus Curtius*, *personifying heroic virtue.* Denis told us that it was he who uncovered the buildings in the top left hand corner of this panel, and that they surprised Desmond Guinness who was helping to clean the pictures, as he did not realise they were there!

*Aeneas, carrying Anchises on his shoulders* *and vase enclosing his household gods. It is an allegory of filial piety.*

*The figure of Liberty*, or *Grammar*. *Between the panels are pendants suspended from female masks, in the manner of Jean Berain, Keohane tells us, with thin bandwork and acanthus. Floral garlands are looped above.*

*Fides Publica, Fortuna, Cincinnatus and Roma Aeterna, in the dining room at Riverstown.*

*Even the stucco work around the mirror is splendid.*

The work by the members of the Irish Georgian Society on the dining room in Riverstown was complete by the end of 1965. John Dooley continued the restoration of the rest of the house, and it is now kept in beautiful condition by his son Denis and wife Rita, with many treasures collected by the Dooleys. A 1970 Irish Georgian Society Bulletin, Robert O’Byrne tells us, reported further improvements made by the Dooleys. It tells us that one of the house’s two late-eighteenth century drawing rooms adjoining the dining room:

“has been given a new dado, architraves, chimney-piece, overdoors and overmantel. These have been collected by John Lenehan of Kanturk, who rescued them from houses in Dublin that were being demolished and inserted them at Riverstown.”

*An old illustrated manuscript about the Brownes of Riverstown was presented by Mrs Trippe of Tangiers. The Browne family, Denis told us, mostly went to South Africa.*

*Beautiful carved doorframes, and a splendid Waterford crystal chandelier in the Green Drawing Room.*

The two drawing rooms do indeed have splendid over mantel and overdoors. The drawing room has been hung with green silk wall covering. The Dooleys have shown fine taste for the decoration and maintenance of the rooms and I suspect John Dooley knew what he was doing when he purchased and thus saved the house.

A fine wooden staircase brings us upstairs to a spacious lobby containing a Ladies’ conversation chair. Keohane suggests the stair may have originally been open to the front hall, but is now hidden by a screen wall. He writes that this arrangement probably dates from c. 1784, when Phineas Bagnell was granted a long lease of the house.

*A bedroom upstairs has canted windows.*

*Denis told us that the four-poster bed came from Lissadell, so perhaps W.B. Yeats slept in it!*

The owners’ bedroom has an extraordinary carved marble mantel. It was probably originally in the room with the Lafranchini stuccowork. It has great scrolled jambs garlanded with flowers and tufted with acanthus, and a comic mask in the centre of the frieze which possibly depicts Bishop Browne, Frank Keohane tells us.

The Dooleys have a garden centre, which is situated behind the house. They maintain the gardens with its rolling lawns beautifully. The Glanmire river passes by the bottom of the garden.

*An old bridge at the end of the property passes over the Glanmire River.*

[1] https://repository.dri.ie/catalog
[2] p. 556, Keohane, Frank. Buildings of Ireland: Cork City and County. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2020.

[3] 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.

[4] Curran, C.P. Riverstown House Glanmire, County Cork and the Francini. A leaflet given to us by Denis Dooley.

Bantry House & Garden, Bantry, Co. Cork 975 T293

by jenjunebugDecember 1, 2022February 28, 2024

www.bantryhouse.com
Open dates in 2024: Apr 1-Oct 31, 10am-5pm. Check the website in advance as it may be closed due to an event.
Fee: adult €14, OAP/student €11.50, child €5, groups over 8-20, €8 and groups of 21
or more €9

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!

€10.00

*Bantry House, overlooking Bantry Bay, from the top of the “Sky Steps” or 100 Steps. June 2022.*

*Photograph from the National Library of Ireland Creative Commons.* *This is taken c. 1895, and the conservatory is now gone, as well, unfortunately, as the stork sculptures on the steps!*

What we see today at Bantry House started as a more humble abode: a three storey five bay house built for Samuel Hutchinson in around 1690. It was called Blackrock. A wing was added in 1820, and a large further addition in 1845.

In the 1760s it was purchased by Captain Richard White (1700-1776). He was from a Limerick mercantile family and he had settled previously on Whiddy Island, the largest island in Bantry Bay. The Bantry website tells us that he had amassed a fortune from pilchard-fishing, iron-smelting and probably from smuggling, and that through a series of purchases, he acquired most of the land around Bantry including large parts of the Beare Peninsula, from Arthur Annesley, 5th Earl of Anglesey. The house is still occupied by his descendants, the Shelswell-White family.

*This looks like the main entrance to the house – we came in the back way.*

Driving from Castletownshend, we entered the back way and not through the town. From the car park we walked up a path which gave us glimpses of the outbuildings, the west stables, and we walked all around the house to reach the visitors’ entrance. We were lucky that the earlier rain stopped and the sun came out to show off Bantry House at its best. I was excited to see this house, which is one of the most impressive of the Section 482 houses.

We missed the beginning of the tour, so raced up the stairs to join the once-a-day tour in June 2022. Unfortunately I had not been able to find anything about tour times on the website. We will definitely have to go back for the full tour! The house is incredible, and is full of treasures like a museum. I’d also love to stay there – one can book accommodation in one wing.

Captain Richard White married Martha Davies, daughter of Rowland Davies, Dean of Cork and Ross. During his time, Bantry House was called Seafield. They had a son named Simon (1739-1776), who married Frances Hedges-Eyre from Macroom Castle in County Cork. Their daughter Margaret married Richard Longfield, 1st Viscount Longueville.

The house overlooks Bantry Bay which is formative in its history because thanks to its views, Richard’s grandson was elevated to an Earldom.

Frances Jane and Simon had a son, Richard (1767-1851), who saw French ships sail into Bantry Bay in 1796. The British and French were at war from February 1793. It was in gratitude for Richard’s courage and foresight in raising a local militia against the French that Richard was given a title.

There are four guns overlooking the bay. The two smaller ones are from 1780, and the larger one is dated 1796. One is French and dated 1795 and may have been captured from an invading French ship.

United Irishman Theobald Wolfe Tone was on one of the French ships, which were under command of French Louis Lazare Hoche.

Theobald Wolfe Tone (1763–98) (named after his godfather, Theobald Wolfe) had sought French support for an uprising against British rule in Ireland. The United Irishmen sought equal representation of all people in Parliament. Tone wanted more than the Catholic Emancipation which Henry Grattan advocated, and for him, the Catholic Relief Act of 1793 did not go far enough, as it did not give Catholics the right to sit in the Irish House of Commons. Tone was inspired by the French and American Revolutions. The British had specifically passed the Catholic Relief Act in the hope of preventing Catholics from joining with the French.

*Theobald Wolf Tone, who was on the ships which Richard White spotted in Bantry Bay carrying the French who were coming to support Irish Independence.*

The Dictionary of Irish Biography tells us that

“With the outbreak of war with France, Dublin Castle instituted a crackdown on Irish reformers who had professed admiration for the French, and by the end of the year the United Irishmen and the reform movement were in disarray. In quick succession, the Volunteers were proscribed, the holding of elected conventions was banned, and a number of United Irishmen… were hauled before the courts on charges of seditious libel.“

Tone went to the U.S. and thought he might have to settle there but with others’ encouragement he continued in his work for liberating Ireland. He went to France for support. As a result 43 ships were sent to France.

“In July 1796 Tone was appointed chef de brigade (brigadier-general) in Hoche’s army ... Finally, on 16 December 1796, a French fleet sailed from Brest crammed with 14,450 soldiers. On board one of the sails of the line, the Indomptable, was ‘Citoyen Wolfe Tone, chef de brigade in the service of the republic.’” [1]

Richard White had trained a militia in order to defend the area, and stored munitions in his house. When he saw the ships in the bay he raised defenses. However, it was stormy weather and not his militia that prevented the invasion. Tone wrote of the expedition in his diary, saying that “We were close enough to toss a biscuit ashore”.

The French retreated home to France, but ten French ships were lost in the storm and one, the Surveillante, sank and remained on the bottom of Bantry bay for almost 200 years.

For his efforts in preparing the local defences against the French, Richard White was created Baron Bantry in 1797 in recognition of his “spirited conduct and important service.” In 1799 he married Margaret Anne Hare (1779-1835), daughter of William the 1st Earl of Listowel in County Kerry, who brought with her a substantial dowry. In 1801 he was made a viscount, and in 1815 he became Viscount Berehaven and Earl of Bantry. He became a very successful lawyer and made an immense fortune.

*Bantry House. June 2022.* *The entrance is under the portico, which is now glassed in.* This middle section is the original house. The part on the sea facing side is the part added in 1820. The addition that appears on the left hand side is part of the fourteen bay block added to the rear of the old house in 1845 by the 2nd Earl.

In this view of the house we can see the two copper domes of the stable ranges, either side of the house. The stable blocks were built in 1845 and the National Inventory tells us they are sited to appear as further lateral extensions of the house beyond its wings; when viewed from the bay they might be read as lower flanking wings in the Palladian manner.

Richard was not Simon White’s only son. Simon’s son Simon became a Colonel and married Sarah Newenham of Maryborough, County Cork. They lived in Glengariff Castle. Young Simon’s sister Helen married a brother of Sarah Newenham, Richard, who inherited Maryborough. Another daughter, Martha, married Michael Goold-Adams of Jamesbrook, County Cork and another daughter, Frances, married General E. Dunne of Brittas, County Laois. Another son, Hamilton, married Lucinda Heaphy.

A wing was added to the house in 1820 in the time of the 1st Earl of Bantry. This wing is the same height as the original block, but of only two storeys, and faces out to the sea. It has a curved bow at the front and back and a six bay elevation at the side. This made space for two large drawing rooms, and more bedrooms upstairs.

*The side of the house which faces the bay.* *This is the six bay elevation with curved bow at front a back (not visible here) which was added to the original house by the 1st Earl of Bantry.*

The entrance is under the Corinthian colonnade, which was built later onto the oldest part of the house. The bow in this photograph is part of the house added on during the time of the 1st Earl of Bantry.

The house was greatly enlarged and remodelled in 1845 by the son of the 1st Earl, Richard (1800-1867). The 1st Earl had moved out to live in a hunting lodge in Glengariff. This son Richard was styled as Viscount Berehaven between 1816 and 1851 until his father died, when he then succeeded to become 2nd Earl of Bantry. He married Mary O’Brien, daughter of William, 2nd Marquess of Thomond, in 1836.

The 2nd Earl of Bantry and his wife travelled extensively and purchased many of the treasures in the house. The website tells us he was a passionate art collector who travelled regularly across Europe, visiting Russia, Poland, France and Italy. He brought back shiploads of exotic goods between 1820 and 1840.

To accommodate his new furnishings he built a fourteen bay block on the side of the house opposite to the 1820 addition, consisting of a six-bay centre of two storeys over basement flanked by four-storey bow end wings.

To accommodate his new furnishings, the Viscount built a fourteen bay block to the rear of the old house consisting of a six-bay centre of two storeys over a basement flanked by four-storey bow end wings.

The website tells us:

.”..No doubt inspired by the grand baroque palaces of Germany, he gave the house a sense of architectural unity by lining the walls with giant red brick pilasters with Coade-stone Corinthian capitals, the intervening spaces consisting of grey stucco and the parapet adorned with an attractive stone balustrade.“

He also lay out the Italianate gardens, including the magnificent terraces on the hillside behind the house, most of which was undertaken after he had succeeded his father as the second Earl of Bantry in 1851.

After his death in 1867 the property was inherited by his brother William, the third Earl (1801-1884), his grandson William the fourth and last Earl (1854-91), and then passed through the female line to the present owner, Mr. Shelswell-White.

Mark Bence-Jones tells us: “The house is entered through a glazed Corinthian colonnade, built onto the original eighteenth century front in the nineteenth century; there is a similar colonnade on the original garden front.” [2]

*The Corinthian colonnade at the entrance to the house.*

*There is a colonnade similar to that on the front entrance on the other side of the oldest part of the house.*

*The cafe area to the side of the house.*

Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs inside. You can see photographs of the incredible interior on the Bantry house website, and on the Irish Aesthete Robert O’Byrne’s blog. [3]

The rooms are magnificent, with their rich furnishings, ceilings and columns. Old black and white photographs show that even the ceilings were at one time covered in tapestries. The Spanish leather wallpaper in the stair hall is particularly impressive.

Mark Bence-Jones continues: “The hall is large but low-ceilinged and of irregular shape, having been formed by throwing together two rooms and the staircase hall of the mid-eighteenth century block; it has early nineteenth century plasterwork and a floor of black and white pavement, incorporating some ancient Roman tiles from Pompeii. From one corner rises the original staircase of eighteenth century joinery.”

*Staircase in Bantry House, photograph courtesy of Bantry house website.*

The website tells us: “Today the house remains much as the second earl left it, with an important part of his great collection still intact. Nowhere is this more son than the hall where visitors will find an eclectic collection garnered from a grand tour, which includes an Arab chest, a Japanese inlaid chest, a Russian travelling shrine with fifteenth and sixteenth century icons and a Fresian clock. There is also a fine wooden seventeenth century Flemish overmantel and rows of family portraits on the walls. The hall was created by combining two rooms with the staircase hall of the original house and consequently has a rather muddled shape, though crisp black and white Dutch floor tiles lend the room a sense of unity.. Incorporated into this floor are four mosaic panels collected by Viscount Berehaven from Pompeii in 1828 and bearing the inscriptions “Cave Canem” and “Salve.” Other unusual items on show include a mosque lamp from Damascus in the porch and a sixteenth century Spanish marriage chest which can be seen in the lobby.“

Bence-Jones continues: “The two large bow-ended drawing rooms which occupy the ground floor of the late eighteenth century wing are hung with Gobelins tapestries; one of them with a particularly beautiful rose-coloured set said to have been made for Marie Antoinette.“

*The Drawing Room in Bantry House, photograph courtesy of Bantry house website.*

The Royal Aubusson tapestries in the Rose drawing room, comprising four panels, are reputed to have been a gift from the Dauphin to his young wife-to-be Marie Antoinette. In the adjoining Gobelin drawing room, one panel of tapestries is said to have belonged to Louis Philippe, Duc D’Orleans, a cousin of Louis XV.

The website tells us: “The most spectacular room is the dining-room, dominated by copies of Allan Ramsay’s full-length portraits of George III and Queen Charlotte, whose elaborate gilt frames are set off by royal blue walls. The ceiling was once decorated with Guardi panels, but these have long since been removed and sold to passing dealers at a fraction of their worth. The differing heights of the room are due to the fact that they are partly incorporated in the original house and in the 1845 extension, their incongruity disguised by a screen of marble columns with gilded Corinthian capitals. Much of the furniture has been here since the second Earl, including the George III dining table, Chippendale chairs, mahogany teapoy, sideboards made for the room, and the enormous painting The Fruit Market by Snyders revealing figures reputedly drawn by Rubens – a wedding present to the first Countess.“

The Chippendale chairs and the George III dining table were made for the room.

*King George III*, *a reproduction in Castletown, County Kildare.*

*Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III*, *a reproduction in Castletown, County Kildare.*

The description on the website continues: “The first flight of the staircase from the hall belongs to the original early eighteenth century house, as does the half-landing with its lugged architraves. This leads into the great library, built around 1845 and the last major addition to the house. The library is over sixty feet long, has screens of marble Corinthian columns, a compartmented ceiling and Dublin-made mantelpieces at each end with overhanging mirrors. The furnishing retains a fine rosewood grand piano by Bluthner of Leipzig, still occasionally used for concerts. The windows of this room once looked into an immense glass conservatory, but this has now been removed and visitors can look out upon restored gardens and the steep sloping terraces behind. “

*The Library in Bantry House, photograph courtesy of Bantry house website.*

The third Earl, William Henry (1801-1884), succeeded his brother, who died in 1868. On 7 September 1840 William Henry’s surname was legally changed to William Henry Hedges-White by Royal Licence, adding Hedges, a name passed down by his paternal grandmother.

His grandmother was Frances Jane Eyre and her father was Richard Hedges Eyre. Richard Hedges of Macroom Castle and Mount Hedges, County Cork, married Mary Eyre. Richard Hedges Eyre was their son. He married Helena Herbert of Muckross, County Kerry. In 1760 their daughter, Frances Jane, married Simon White of Bantry, William Henry’s grandfather. When her brother Robert Hedges Eyre died without heirs in 1840 his estates were divided and William Henry the 3rd Earl of Bantry inherited the Macroom estate. [4] Until his brother’s death in 1868, William Henry Hedges-White had been living in Macroom Castle. [5]

*Macroom Castle, photograph taken 2009 by “Shiny Things,” flickr constant commons*.

*Macroom Castle gate house, photograph taken 2007 by Carole Waller, flickr constant commons.*

William Henry Hedges-White married Jane Herbert in 1845, daughter of Charles John Herbert of Muckross Abbey in County Kerry (see my entry about places to visit in County Kerry).

In November 1853, over 33,000 acres of the Bantry estate were offered for sale in the Encumbered Estates Court, and a separate sale disposed of Bere Island. The following year more than 6,000 further acres were sold, again through the Encumbered Estates Court. Nevertheless in the 1870s the third earl still owned 69,500 acres of land in County Cork.

His son, the 4th Earl, died childless in 1891. The title lapsed, and the estate passed to his nephew, Edward Egerton Leigh (1876-1920), the son of the 4th Earl’s oldest sister, Elizabeth Mary, who had married Egerton Leigh of Cheshire, England. This nephew, born Edward Egerton Leigh, added White to his surname upon his inheritance. He was only fifteen years old when he inherited, so his uncle Lord Ardilaun looked after the estate until Edward came of age in 1897. William Henry Hedges-White’s daughter Olivia Charlotte Hedges-White had married Arthur Edward Guinness, 1st and last Baron Ardilaun. Edward Egerton’s mother had died in 1880 when he was only four years old, and his father remarried in 1889.

*Bantry House, County Cork, photograph 1989 from the National Library, flickr constant commons.*

Edward Egerton married Arethusa Flora Gartside Hawker in 1904. She was a cousin through his father’s second marriage. They had two daughters, Clodagh and Rachel. In March 1916 an offer from the Congested Districts’ Board was accepted by Edward Egerton Leigh White for 61,589 tenanted acres of the estate. [6] Edward Egerton died in 1920.

Patrick Comerford tells us in his blog that during the Irish Civil War in 1922-1923, the Cottage Hospital in Bantry was destroyed by fire. Arethusa Leigh-White offered Bantry House as a hospital to the nuns of the Convent of Mercy, who were running the hospital. Arethusa only made one proviso: that the injured on both sides of the conflict should be cared for. A chapel was set up in the library and the nuns and their patients moved in for five years. [7]

In 1926, Clodagh Leigh-White came of age and assumed responsibility for the estate. Later that year, she travelled to Zanzibar, Africa, where she met and married Geoffrey Shelswell, then the Assistant District Commissioner of Zanzibar. (see [7])

Geoffrey Shelswell added “White” to his surname when in 1926 Clodagh inherited Bantry estate after the death of her father. They had a son, Egerton Shelswell-White (1933-2012), and two daughters, Delia and Oonagh.

During the Second World War, the house and stables were occupied by the Second Cyclist Squadron of the Irish Army, and they brought electricity and the telephone to the estate.

Clodagh opened the house in 1946 to paying visitors with the help of her sister Rachel who lived nearby. Her daughter Oonagh moved with her family into the Stable Yard.

Clodagh remained living in the house after her husband died in 1962, until her death in 1978. Brigittte, wife of Clodagh’s son Egerton, writes:

“As far as I know it never occurred to Clodagh to live elsewhere. She thought nothing of having her sitting room downstairs, her kitchen and bedroom upstairs and her bathroom across the landing. No en suite for her! In the winter when the freezing wing howled through the house, she more or less lived in her fur coat, by all accounts cheerful and contented. She loved bridge and held parties, which took place in the Rose Drawing Room, or in the room next to the kitchen, called the Morning Room.“

Brigitte also tells of wonderful evenings of music and dance hosted by Clodagh and her friend Ian Montague, who had been a ballet dancer with the Royal Swedish Ballet. Ian put on plays and dancing in period costumes. Members of the audience were taught about eighteenth century dance and were encouraged to join in. I think we should hold such dances in the lovely octagon room of the Irish Georgian Society!

Clodagh’s son Egerton had moved to the United States with his wife Jill, where he taught in a school called Indian Springs. When his mother died he returned to Bantry. The house was in poor repair, the roof leaking and both wings derelict. Jill decided to remain in the United States with their children who were teenagers at the time and settled into their life there.

Bantry House features in Great Irish Houses, which has a foreward by Desmond FitzGerald and Desmond Guinness (IMAGE Publications, 2008). In the book, Egerton is interviewed. He tells us:

p. 68. “The family don’t go into the public rooms very much. We live in the self-contained area. I remember before the war as children we used the dining rooms and the state bedrooms, but after the war my parents moved into this private area of the house. It feels like home and the other rooms are our business. You never think of all that furniture as being your own. You think of it more as the assets of the company.”

The relatively modest private living quarters were completed in 1985. Sophie Shelswell-White, Egerton’s daughter, says, “When we were younger we shied away from the main house because of the intrusion from the public. Everyone imagines we play hide and seek all day long and we did play it a bit. We also used to run around looking for secret tunnels and passageways. I used to believe one day I’d push something and it would open a secret room, but it never happened.”

Mark Bence-Jones continues his description, moving to the stables: “Flanking the entrance front is an imposing stable range, with a pediment and cupola. The house is surrounded by Italian gardens with balustrades and statues and has a magnificent view over Bantry Bay to the mountains on the far shore. The demesne is entered by a fine archway.” (see [2])

*The large stable complex is to one side of the house*, *the East Stables. This is where the horses and carriages were kept.*

The National Inventory tells us about the East Stables:

“A classically inspired outbuilding forming part of an architectural set-piece, the formal design of which dates to the middle of the nineteenth century when Richard White, Viscount Berehaven and later second Earl of Bantry, undertook a large remodelling of Bantry House. At this time the house was extended laterally with flanking six-bay wings that overlook the bay. This stable block and the pair to the south-west are sited to appear as further lateral extensions of the house beyond its wings; when viewed from the bay they might be read as lower flanking wings in the Palladian manner. This elaborate architectural scheme exhibits many finely crafted features including a distinguished cupola, playful sculptural detailing as well as cut stone pilasters to the façade. The survival of early materials is visible in a variety of fine timber sliding sash windows, which add to the history of the site.“

*View of the 1820 wing in foreground and 1845 behind, and behind that, the East Stables.*

*This impressive arch with pediment topped by urns and birds, which leads toward the east stable yard, as seen behind.*

*The east stable yard as seen from the garden.*

Egerton married Brigitte in 1981. They undertook many of the repairs themselves. They started a tearoom with the help of a friend, Abi Sutton, who also helped with the house. Egerton played the trombone and opened the house to musical events. They continued to open the house for tours. They renovated the went wing and opened it for bed and breakfast guests.

Coffee is served on the terrace, similar to that in the front, but only partly glazed. Unfortunately we arrived too late for a snack. Bantry House is breathtaking and its gardens and location magnify the grandeur. I like that the grandeur, like Curraghmore, is slightly faded: a lady’s fox fur worn down to the leather and shiny in places.

The balustraded area on the side of the house where tea and coffee are served overlooks a garden.

*From the garden to one side of the house, you can see another stable complex, the West Stables.*

Brigitte and Egerton continued restoration of the house and started to tackle the garden. They repaired the fountain and started work on the Italian parterre. In 1998 they applied for an EEC grant for renovation of the garden. They restored the statues, balustrades, 100 Steps, Parterre, Diana’s Bed and fourteen round beds overlooking the sea.

*Looking past the fountain to the 100 Steps.*

*Bantry House, County Cork, photograph by Chris Hill, 2016 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool.* *Wisteria adds an extra oomph to the garden.*

It is Egerton’s daughter Sophie who now lives in and maintains Bantry House, along with her husband and children.

The family donated their archive of papers to the Boole Library of University College Cork in 1997.

The National Inventory tells us the five-bay two-storey west stables were also built c.1845. They have a pedimented central bay with cupola above, which has a copper dome, finial, plinth and six Tuscan-Corinthian columns. [8] The West Stables were used as a workshop for outdoor maintenance and repairs. They had fallen into disrepair but were repaired to rectify deteriorating elements with the help of the Heritage Council in 2010-11.

*These buildings, the West Stables, were used as a workshop for outdoor maintenance and repairs.* *They have fallen into disrepair but were repaired to rectify deteriorating element with the help of the Heritage Council in 2010-11.*

[1] https://www.dib.ie/biography/tone-theobald-wolfe-a8590

[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://theirishaesthete.com/2014/09/08/when-its-gone-its-gone/

[4] https://landedestates.ie/family/1088 and https://www.dib.ie/biography/eyre-robert-hedges-a2978

Ashton Grove, Ballingohig, Knockraha, Co. Cork

by jenjunebugNovember 4, 2022February 28, 2024

Open dates in 2024: Jan 2, 9, 13-14, 16, 23, 30, Feb 5, 13, 17-18, 20, 27, Mar 5, 12, 19, 23-24, 26, Apr 9, 16, 23, May 7-8, 14-15, 25-26, 28-29, June 4-5, 8-12, 17-19, 24-26, July 2-3, 6-7, 9-10, Aug 17-25, Sept 3-4, 10-11, 17-18, 24-25, 8am-12 noon, Wednesdays 2pm-6pm

Fee: adult €5, child/OAP/student free

I can’t find much information on Ashton Grove and we haven’t had a chance to visit yet. The property has a facebook page and a contact email on it:

ashtongrovegarden@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/ashtongrovegardens/

The Landed Estates database has an entry for Ashton Grove:

*Ashton Grove, photograph courtesy of National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.*

“This house is marked Ashton Grove on the first Ordnance Surve map. John Cotter was the proprietor of Ashton, Cork, in 1814 and T. Cleary of Ballingohig in 1837. Thomas J. Cleary held the property from Henry Braddell at the time of Griffith’s Valuation when the buildings were valued at £22. Cleary held a cornmill from Braddell in the townland of Kilrussane. James Fitzgerald held 122 acres of untenanted land and buildings valued at £26+ in 1906.” [1]

Under the Braddell family, the landed estates database tells us:

“This family appear to be descended from the Reverend Henry Braddell of Raheengraney, County Wicklow. Henry Braddell held land in the parish of Mallow, County Cork, from at least the early 19th century. Henry Braddell may have been agent to the Earl of Listowel. His nephew John Waller Braddell certainly fulfilled this role in the 1850s and early 1860s until he was murdered in 1863. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation Matthew Braddle held land in the parish of Mourneabbey, barony of Barretts, and Henry Braddle held land in the parishes of Mallow, barony of Fermoy, Castlelyons and Knockmourne, barony of Condons and Clangibbon, Killaspugmullane, barony of Barrymore, county Cork. In the 1870s Henry Braddell of Modelligo, Fermoy, owned 1,872 acres in county Cork.“

and about the Cleary family:

“Thomas J. Cleary held land in the parish of Killaspugmullane, barony of Barrymore, county Cork, at the time of Griffith’s Valuation. In January 1866 the estate of John Thomas Clery at Ashton Grove, Ballingohig, barony of Barrymore, was advertised for sale. His brother Henry Clery was selling his share of Ashton Grove in June 1866. Under tenure in this sale rental a detailed history of the Clerys’ land holding is given. By a fee farm grant dated December 1850 Henry Braddell granted the lands of Kilrossane and Ballingohig to Thomas John Clery, who by his will dated 6 February 1851 left his property divided between his six sons, John Thomas, Henry, Charles, William, George and Richard. In the 1870s William Henry Cleary of Cork owned 2,534 acres in the county.“

An article published on June 2nd 2013 in the Irish Examiner by Peter Dowdall gives a wonderful description of the garden. He writes:

“From tiny little details, such as a glimpse of a marble seat in the distance through an accidental gap in a hedge, to a perfectly-positioned specimen tree, this garden needs senses on high alert.

If I am to be honest, I was expecting a garden recreated by the book and with a certain degree of interest from the owner. What I discovered was a garden being recreated by a man who is now thinking of the future generations and recreating this garden with a passionate attention to detail. Every plant that goes in is carefully considered; every stone and brick that went into creating an orangery from a derelict pig shed and a belfry from a cowshed were reused from the estate. Fallen slates, which weren’t good enough to use on buildings, create an edge around the rose beds.

What I love about the place is that the rule book is not evident, trial and error is the order of the day, which to me is real gardening. Except when it comes to the meticulous planning of the box hedges in the potager and the Horological Maze, which at this stage is on its third planting because the original Taxus (yew) failed due to a blight which struck again a few years later. The maze was replanted using Lonicera and is thriving, though it will be a few years before it is truly at its best…I can’t think of a more enjoyable way to spend a Sunday than roaming through the ‘garden rooms’ here.

Looking down on this garden, which is next to the maze, from an elevated platform you could imagine yourself in the south of France, except for the single-figure temperatures. Other features to admire include the fantastic Anglo-Chinese Regency-style bridge, constructed by the owner’s brother, and the pergola, which has been planted with several climbers including Jasminum, Laburnum, David Austin roses, Wisteria and Passiflora.

However, no account of a visit to this garden is complete without mentioning the Horological Maze.

What, I hear you ask is a Horological Maze? Well it’s a design centred on a French mantle clock, which is surrounded by interlocking cog-wheels, pinions and coil springs, all inspired by the workings of a typical mechanism. It also reflects the owner’s interest in horology and provides a balance in its garden sculpture to the turret clock presiding over the courtyard.

The owner took his inspiration for this creation from visits to Blenheim Palace and Weston Park in England, Shanagarry and Faithlegg in Ireland, and the Summer Palace in Vienna.” [2]

[1] https://landedestates.ie/property/3505

[2] https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/outdoors/gardening/getting-to-the-soul-of-a-magical-place-232846.html

Blarney House & Gardens, Blarney, Co. Cork

by jenjunebugSeptember 30, 2022February 28, 2024

www.blarneycastle.ie

Open dates in 2024: June 1-Aug 31, Mon-Sat, National Heritage Week, Aug 17-25, 10am-2pm
Fee: adult €10, OAP/student €8, child €5

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!

€10.00

*Blarney House, County Cork, June 2022.*

We timed our visit to County Cork to be able to have a tour of the impressive Scottish Baronial Blarney House, replete with turrets, finials, stepped gables and dormer windows.

“*built of the light blue hammer-dressed limestone of the demesne, with Glasgow stone dressings to doors, and window opes, gables, etc.; the slates are green Cumberland.”*

It was designed by John Lanyon of the Belfast architectural firm Lanyon, Lynn and Lanyon. It was built in 1874 for Sir George Conway Colthurst (abt. 1824-1878), 5th Baronet and his wife, Louisa, whose family owned Blarney Castle, so that his family could live on their Blarney estate, but away from the castle, which was a tourist destination, much as it is today. He married Louisa Jane Jefferyes in 1846. The Historic Houses of Ireland website tells us that Sir George Colthurst was a neighbour, from Ardrum near Inniscarra in County Cork. He was also her second cousin.

The Jeffereyes (or Jefferyes) family previously occupied a house which was attached to Blarney Castle. In 1820, the same year in which Louisa was born, this house was destroyed by fire (see my entry about Blarney Castle). Instead of rebuilding, George Jeffereyes and his family moved to Inishera House in West Cork. [1]

*The view of Blarney House from the top of Blarney Castle.*

George Colthurst was a man of considerable property with another large estate at Ballyvourney near the border with County Kerry, along with Lucan House in County Dublin (now the home of the Italian ambassador to Ireland). He inherited Blarney on his father-in-law’s death in 1862. [2] He and Louisa lived in Ardrum House, which has since been demolished, before moving to the new house in Blarney, nearly thirty years after they married. [3] Randall MacDonnell tells us in his The Lost Houses of Ireland: A chronicle of great houses and the families who lived in them that the mirrors and fireplaces, as well as the neoclassical porch, came from Ardrum House. [4]

*The pillared porch was taken from George Colthurst’s former house, Ardrum House, which no longer exists.*

*There are some interesting carvings on the facade of the house – a horse, and a few crests. A black colt is on the Colthurst crest. Inside the portico is lovely carved drapery above the door.*

*Stephen liked the sculpture inside this window.*

The family motto Justem ac Tenacem (Just and Persevering) and the quartered Colthurst and Jefferyes Arms are set in the entrance façade of the house.

The limestone walls are “snecked” which means that it has a mixture of roughly squared stones of different sizes (and lumpishness) and some of the walls have carved sandstone stringcourses. The windows are also surrounded by carved sandstone.

The Archiseek website quotes The Architect, August 21, 1875:

“This new mansion has just been completed for Sir George C. J. Colthurst, Bart., it is built of the light blue hammer-dressed limestone of the demesne, with Glasgow stone dressings to doors, and window opes, gables, &c.; the slates are green Cumberland (a combination that produces a very pleasing effect). The new building is situated within about three hundred yards of the historical old “Blarney Castle,” and from the oriel window in our illustration the celebrated ” Kissing Stone ” can be seen. The principal entrance is as shown on the north-east, and leads, by a wide flight of Portland stone steps, through the vestibule to the staircase hall (which is central and lit from the top); off this hall are grouped dining-room, drawing-room, morning-room, library, billiard-room, own room, etc. The next floor contains the principal bed-rooms and dressing-rooms, boudoirs, etc., which are entered off a handsome arcaded gallery, with timber roof supported on walnut pilasters; on the top floor are bedrooms for the family, female servants, etc. The kitchen and household offices and men-servants’ bed-rooms are on the basement floor, which is all above ground. The Castle is in the Scottish Baronial style, and designed with a view to defense if necessary.

The works have been carried out by the Messrs. Dixon, of Belfast, builders, under the superintendence of, and from the designs by, Mr. John Lanyon, F.R.I.B.A., Dublin and Belfast.” [5]

I wonder why George and Jane decided to hire John Lanyon to design their new house, since the company in which he worked, Lanyon, Lynn and Lanyon, was based in Belfast, and most of the houses the company designed are in the north of Ireland, including Castle Leslie in County Monaghan (another section 482 property which we visited, see my entry)? John joined his father Charles Lanyon (1813-1889) and William Henry Lynn (1829-1915) in the architectural firm. Blarney House looks very similar in style to Belfast Castle, also designed by Lanyon, Lynn and Lanyon.

*Belfast Castle, photograph by Aidan Monaghan 2015 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool* [6]

*The National Inventory continues:* “single-storey wing to side (west) terminating in corner turret and full-height corner turret to north-east.”

The Lanyons were Freemasons, so perhaps the Colthurst family were also part of that Society. Another possibility is that George Colthurst met John Lanyon due to a common interest in railways. After his father retired, John Lanyon, who also worked as an engineer, worked on railways in the north. [7] The railway was important for bringing tourists to Blarney, as we can see from the old tourism posters on display in the cafe in the stable courtyard, advertising the London Midland and Scottish Railway, British Railways and Great Southern Rhys railway. George Colthurst probably made sure that the railway travelled to Blarney so that it could bring tourists to the destination his wife’s family had created. The Dublin to Cork Great Southern and Western Railway reached Cork in 1856, and Blarney was a stop along the way. The Muskerry railway line, built in 1880, which he financially supported, ran through the George Colthurst’s Ardrum estate and travelled to Blarney. [8] John Lanyon was not involved in the southern railways, but perhaps Colthurst met with him when he was interested in the railways.

[note: Another house built in the south by the company of Lynn, Lanyon and Lynn was Killarney House in County Kerry, in 1872 designed by W.H. Lynn]

Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside Blarney House. We paused in the front hall, with its timbered ceiling of polished pine beams, on a flight of stone steps, next to a Colthurst and Jefferyes family tree, to learn more about the family and the house. A chair in the hall also features a white colt, the symbol of the Colthurst family, and was made for the wedding of George Colthurst and Jane Jefferyes.

George and Jane had a son, and they gave him the second name of St. John, following the tradition of the Jefferyes family. George St. John Colthurst the 6th Baronet married Edith Jane Thomasine Morris from Dunkathel house, County Cork. He was in the military and served as Aide-de-Camp to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. His son George Oliver the 7th Baronet succeeded to the estates. He fought in the First World War and was awarded the Croix de Guerre. He died at the age of 68, unmarried. His brother then inherited the estate and title. Richard St. John Jefferyes Colthurst (1887-1955), 8th Bt, also fought in the First World War. He married twice and his heir was son of his second wife.

The house and castle still belong to the Colthurst family. It was empty for some years until Richard Colthurst 9th Baronet and his wife, Janet Georgina Wilson-Wright from Coolcarrigan, County Kildare (also a section 482 property, see my entry) moved in, replumbed, rewired and redecorated it, and in the process, saved the building. Their son the 10th Baronet now lives in the house with his family. We did not meet the Colthursts unfortunately, and a guide led the tour.

*The National Inventory describes the entrance*: “Square-headed door opening with double-leaf timber panelled door opening to flight of sandstone steps and set within sandstone diastyle portico comprising Composite columns, architrave, frieze and dentilated cornice.” [9] *A fine arched sandstone window with Corinthian pilasters and keystone and corbelled architrave with a crest on top, sits above the portico.*

The chandelier in the front hall is of Waterford crystal and it was made for the house, as were the carpets, which mirror the keyhole motif in the doors. In the staircase hall, with its Jacobean style oak staircase, our guide pointed to a console table at the foot of the stairs, which has a mirror underneath for ladies to be able to check their hems before entering the reception rooms, to make sure their ankles weren’t accidentally revealed!

The stairs lead up through two storeys to a barrel-vaulted coffered ceiling, framing a large skylight. The heavy wooden staircase was made in Scotland, and features the baronetcy symbol of a hand, and also the Colthurst symbol of a horse and a crest.

A silk embroidery of the castle with its attached Gothic mansion which burnt down was stitched by the Jeffereyes women.

*The rainwater hopper sits below a stone dog-style gargoyle.*

The library to the left of the stair hall was originally the dining room, as we can see by the Carrera marble fireplace which features Ceres, Goddess of Agriculture and grain. One side of the room has a servants’ entrance and the other end has a dumb waiter, a mini elevator to bring dishes up from the kitchen. The guide pointed out a rent table, a round table with drawers into which tenants could put their rent, and the table could be rotated on its base. I learned that a safe was built in underneath the table top! The land agent would have collected rent twice a year. The Gothic bookcases came from the house in Ardrum. A library chair opens up into steps for climbing the shelves!

The double doors to the drawing room are fireproof and soundproof. The drawing room is painted Regency style duckegg blue. The mirror in the room is from Ardrum. A writing bureau from 1710 is the oldest piece in the house. There are many portraits of members of the family including miniatures, which would have been a gift before a wedding to a future spouse, to show all the members of the new family being acquired! These miniatures feature the La Touche family.

The father of George Colthurst the 5th Baronet of Ardrum, Nicholas, was just seven years old when his father, also named Nicholas, died in 1795. Nicholas the 3rd Baronet Colthurst married Emily La Touche, daughter of David La Touche and Elizabeth Marlay. As I mentioned in my entry about Blarney Castle, Louisa Jeffereyes was also a descendant of a daughter of David La Touche and Elizabeth Marlay, Anne La Touche, who married Louisa’s grandfather, George Charles Jeffereyes (1761-1841).

Nicholas Conway Colthurst (1789-1829) the 4th Baronet married Elizabeth Vesey, daughter of Colonel George Vesey of Lucan House in County Dublin, which is how Lucan House came into the ownership of the Colthurst family. The portrait of Nicholas the 4th Baronet would have come from Ardrum House.

*I love the corner turret and its round wrought-iron finial, and the tantalising exterior staircase.*

*On top of the full height corner turret is a very fancy weather vane. The carved stringcourse to the turret has a floral motif alternating with armorial shield shapes and engraved date reading 1874.*

What is now the dining room was the billiard room. It has a plain wooden floor and a slimmer door which was designed, our guide told us, to keep women, with their large crinoline skirts, out! The fireplace, like the one in the entrance hall, is of Portland stone, not marble, indicating that it was originally a less formal room than the drawing room or original dining room. Suitable to a male environment, it has nautical imagery in the fireplace, and acorns, which are a military symbol also, indicating the oak from which ships were made. A portrait of William of Orange shows that the Colthursts took William’s side in the war between the future King William and James II.

*The east facade of the house has a full height canted bay and above the window is very decorative tiara-like carving.*

Upstairs the upper landings open on three sides through rounded arcades with Corinthian pilasters, and the bedrooms are off the arcaded gallery. [10] The Adam Revival friezes and late eighteenth century Neoclassical chimneypieces reputedly came from Ardrum. [11] We did not get to see the back of the house from the outside as the gardens behind are private, but there is a lake behind the house.

I was disappointed also to discover that the walled garden is private, after a television show was made called “Blarney: a year on the estate.” I felt sure that the gardens featured in the television show would be open to the public!

[1] see the timeline in James Lyttelton’s Blarney Castle, An Irish Towerhouse.

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

[3] https://landedestates.ie/property/3182

[4] p. 30. MacDonnell, Randal. The Lost Houses of Ireland. A chronicle of great houses and the families who lived in them. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. London, 2002.

[5] Archiseek: https://www.archiseek.com/2009/1875-blarney-castle-cork/

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

[7] https://www.dia.ie/architects/view/3086/LANYON,+JOHN

[8] http://www.inniscarra.org/history/page/ardrum.html

[9] https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20845020/blarney-house-blarney-blarney-co-cork

[10] 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.

[11] p. 269, Keohane, Frank. The Buildings of Ireland: Cork City and County. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2020.

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