Ballymack House, Cuffesgrange, Co Kilkenny
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 24. “(Barton/IFR) A small Georgian house with a regular front and a fanlighted doorway; projection in centre of rear elevation. Acquired ca 1851 by the Townsend family.”
Not in national inventory
Ballyline House (formerly White House), Callan, Co Kilkenny
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 23. “(Barton/IFR) An early Georgian house with a return added 1798. Occupied 1729 by William Chandler.”
Not in national inventory
Ballyconra House, Ballyragget, Co. Kilkenny
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 20. “[Butler, Mountgarrett; Cahill] An early C18 gable-ended house with a high, parapeted roof; the seat of the Butlers, Viscount Mountgarret, after they abandoned their earlier seat of Ballyragget Castle. 2 storey, with an attic lit by windows in the gable ends; 7 bay front, doorway with pilasters and entablature, above which is a stone panel with a coat of arms, brought from another old Butler castle in the neighbourhood. Low ceilinged rooms. Large hall, with a ceiling of somewhat bucolic rococo plasterwork; doorcases of good C18 joinery. Wooden staircase going up round inner hall, with additional flight to attic. Drawing room to left of hall had plasterwork ceiling which fell earlier this century and was replaced with a plain ceiling; more plasterwork in a small study to the right of hall. Dining room behind study, divided in the middle by a thick arch pierced through the main wall of the house, the other half of the room being an addition. This room is said to be haunted by the ghost of Edmund, 12th Viscount Mountgarret and 1st and last Earl of Kilkenny, who died 1846 and was the last Mountgarret to live here; a benign spectre in a high collar and stove pipe hat who has been seen going up the stairs. After the death of the Earl of Kilkenny, the house was occupied by Michael Cahill, agent to the subsequent Viscount Mountgarret, by whose descendents it was afterwards acquired.”
https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/12400402/ballyconra-house-ballyconra-co-kilkenny
Detached seven-bay two-storey over basement house with dormer attic, dated 1724, on an L-shaped plan possibly originally mill owner’s house with two-bay two-storey side elevations, and single-bay two-storey double-pile return to north-west. Mostly refenestrated, c.1900, with canted bay window added to return. Part refenestrated, c.1925. Part refenestrated. Now in use as offices. Pitched slate roof behind parapet (pitched double-pile (M-profile) slate roof to return) with clay ridge tiles, yellow brick Running bond chimney stacks having profiled cornices, rooflights, and cast-iron rainwater goods on rendered stepped eaves. Unpainted roughcast walls (unpainted rendered walls to basement) with cut-limestone stringcourse supporting parapet having cut-limestone coping. Square-headed window openings (including to canted bay window on painted rendered tapered jetty) with cut-limestone sills, remains of carved cut-limestone hood mouldings over to front (south-east) elevation, and replacement one-over-one timber sash windows, c.1900, retaining some six-over-six timber sash windows to rear (north-west) elevation (one in tripartite arrangement having two-over-two sidelights) having some replacement four-over-four timber sash windows, c.1925, with some replacement timber casement windows throughout. Round-headed door opening with two cut-limestone steps over basement, cut-limestone doorcase having engaged pilasters on panelled pedestals supporting cornice, glazed timber panelled double doors, decorative overlight, and heraldic panel over (dated 1724) having cut-limestone surround. Square-headed door opening to return with four cut-limestone steps, cut-limestone surround having keystone, replacement timber panelled door having overlight, and heraldic panel over (dated 1880). Interior with entrance hall having carved timber architraves to door openings (one carved timber shouldered architrave with dentilated moulded cornice) with timber panelled reveals leading to timber panelled doors, moulded plasterwork cornice leading to decorative plasterwork ceiling having foliate motif, stairhall with carved timber staircase, and timber panelled shutters to window openings. Set back from road in own grounds on a slightly elevated site.
Appraisal
A well-appointed substantial house representing an important element of the early eighteenth-century architectural heritage of County Kilkenny possibly originally having associations with the nearby Ballyconra Mills indicated on archival editions of the Ordnance Survey but of primary significance for the connections with the Butler Family, Viscounts Mountgarret late of Ballyragget Castle (1495) together with the Cahill family. Elegantly composed with Classically-proportioned openings centred on a doorcase displaying high quality stone masonry the house has historically been well maintained to present an early aspect: of particular importance are the internal details exhibiting expert craftsmanship including plasterwork accents of artistic design significance together with ornamental timber joinery. Positioned on a slightly elevated site the house makes an important impression in a landscape dominated by late twentieth-century industrial ranges.
http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2014/03/ballyconra-house.html
THE VISCOUNTS MOUNTGARRET WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY KILKENNY, WITH 14,073 ACRES
This is a branch of the noble house of BUTLER, Earls and Marquesses of Ormonde, springing from
THE HON RICHARD BUTLER (1500-71), second son of Piers, 8th Earl of Ormonde, who was elevated to the peerage, in 1550, in the dignity of VISCOUNT MOUNTGARRET, County Wexford.
His lordship married firstly, Eleanor, daughter of Theobald Butler, of Nechum, County Kilkenny, and had one son, Edmund; and secondly, Catherine, daughter and heir of Peter Barnewall, of Stackallan, County Meath, and had issue, Barnewall, who died unmarried, Pierce, and other issue.
He espoused thirdly, in 1541, Anne, daughter of John, Lord Killeen, from whom he was divorced in the first year of his marriage.
[The Landed Gentry and Aristocracy of Kilkenny by Art Kavanagh, p. 61:
“In 1541 Richard Butler was given leases of lands in Wexford and Kilkenny, noteably in Inistioge, Thomastown and Shankill. Two years later, in 1543 he got a grant of all the Augustinian lands in and near New Ross. He was created Viscount Mountgarret and Baron of Kells in 1550 in direct response to his plea to be given a title that would outshine that of the McMurrough.
…The forays of his father Piers into the territories of the Fitzpatricks of Upper [p. 62] Ossory trained him in the exercise and knowledge of those military operations, which he afterwards turned to good account in defending the King’s lands against the “Irish enemy,” especially in Wexford, against the Kavanaghs. It was in recompense for such services to his Sovereign that King Edward VI gave directions to have him created a Viscount. He had already been installed in Mountgarret Manor and caslte, on the outskirts of New Ross, and it was from this that the name Mountgarret derived. The Manor was formerly Church lands and the Castle was the home of the famous Bishop Barret in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, after he had removed from Ferns, the traditional residence.
In addition to the Augustinian lands of New Ross, Mountgarret bought the lands of Kayer (Davidstown to Glynn) from Foulks Denn in 1556. They Kayer lands were later demised to Piers Butler his son. The Butler family of Kayer was subsequently dispossessed by the Cromwellians.
p. 63. During the reigns of Edward and Queen Mary, prioer to being created Viscount Mountgarret, Richard was made keeper of the Castle of Ferns. He was also in two commissions for the preservation of the peace, in the Counties of Tipperary , Kilkenny and Wexford. He was present in the Parliament of 1560 which met in Dublin and which ended in passing the Statute of Uniformity, which made Queen Elizabeth head of the church, in Ireland, and re-established the reformed worship, as it had existed under Edward VI. Richard was buried in St. Canice’s cathedral, Kilkenny, in 1571.
By his first wife, Eleanor, daughter of Theobald Butler of Neigham, he had a daughter Margaret, and a son, Edmund, who became 2nd Viscount.]
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,
EDMUND, 2nd Viscount (c1562-1602), who married Grizzel, daughter of Barnaby, 1st Baron Upper Ossory,
[Kavanagh, p. 63. He followed in his father’s footsteps of persecuting and hunting down the “mere Irishry.” He was ever ready to spill blood, in quarrels and in defence. He renewed the old animosities with the Fitzpatricks, the Princes of Upper Ossory. Edmond later married Grainne, the daughter of Lord Ossory, Sir Barnaby Fitzpatrick. Marriage alliances in those days were often used in an attempt to patch up old enmities.
The second Viscount was a significant political player in his time, siding ith the Earl of Ormond and Lord Justice Pelham against the Earl fo Desmond. He played a prominent role in the Plantation of Munster. He accompanied the Lord Deputy in his Munster Expedition in 1579 against the Spaniards and James Fitzmaurice, who was leader of the Desmond insurgents. He sat in Perrott’s Parliament in Dublin (1585-6) which attainted the late Earl of Desmond. …p. 64. Piers and James, two brothers of Edmund the future Mountgarret also sided with the Desmond faction, then led by James Fitzmaurice the son of Sir Morish Fitzgibbon, the White Knight.
The rebel Butlers all took an active part in the battle of Kilkenny in 1568. The Butler participation in the rebellions of the period stemmed from two grievances – the loss of land suffered by the Butlers of Cloghgrennan, County Carlow, and the pressure being put on them to renounce Catholicism.
The battle of Kilkenny was a serious affair involving the Butlers allied to the Gaelic clans of the region, the Kavanaghs, O’Byrnes and O’Nolans. The rebel Butlers and their allies took over the city and defended it against the Crown forces led by Peter Carew and probably the Mountgarret forces. Carew defeated them with great slaughter, killign over 400.
Following this defeat the Butlers were arrested but were released on the orders of Black Tom, 10th Earl…They wre in rebellion again the next year, 1569 and together with their old allies sacked the town of Enniscorthy. After this the rebellion seems to have fizzled out and the Butlers were again arrested but once more due to the influence of their brother (who claimed they were mad) they were released. Edmund 2nd Viscount Mountgarret died in 1602.]
and was father of
RICHARD, 3rd Viscount (1578-1651), who wedded firstly, Margaret, eldest daughter of Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, by whom alone he had issue, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
[Kavanagh, p. 65: Richard 3rd Viscount along with his father sided with the O’Neills of Tyrone in the Nine Years War…In a bewildering change of allegiance the Butlers, father and son, sided with the Earl of Essex, who arrived in 1599 to put down the rebellion. This was probably done because of the urgings of the Earl of Ormond. When the Nine Years War was finally brought to a conclusion by the defeat at Kinsale the Mountgarret Butlers had their lands intact.
Richard sat in the Parliament of 1615 in his capacity of Viscount. He continued as a solid citizen and loyal to the Crown and was again in Parliament in 1634 when Wentworth was Lord Deputy. However in 1641-2 he resurrected his ancient armour, mounted his old war steed, and joined the Confederacy in support of the Catholic cause. At the time he was the owner of a huge amount of land in Kilkenny, Wexford and Carlow, said to have been in excess of 20,000 acres.
This move by Mountgarret was a staggering blow to the government side and his second cousin James 12th Earl of Ormond. The old man now in his early 60s [p. 66] commanded such huge respect that all of the Catholic gentlemen of the county with their cohorts flocked to his standard. He swept into Kilkenny city and seized it for the Confederacy. One of his first acts was to extend his protection to all the Protestant citizens and their property. Of course the wife of the 12th Earl was Protestant and she made every effort to help her co-religionists by giving them sanctuary in the castle. …
p. 67. It is not clear what subsequent role Lord Mountgarret played in the Confederacy or in the campaign against Cromwell, but he died a natural death in 1652. [fn: After the Cromwellian campaign he fled to Galway where he took refuge and died there. His castle at Ballyragget was taken over by Major Abel Warren. Warren’s father, Rev. Edward Warren, the rector of the parish was ousted from his living by MOuntgarret’s soldiers in 1641. Reve Edward had three sons, two of whom were officers in Cromwell’s army.] Edward one of Mountgarret’s younger sons who had been living in Urlingford Castle was arrested in 1652 and taken to Dublin. He was tried or the murder of people in the Freshford area ten years earlier. He was believed to be innocent but on the testimony of Major Warren he was found guilty and executed.]
[p/ 68. Edmund 4th Viscount was a key player in the Confederate Army and saw action in Kilrush and Ballinvegga and in C. Wexford, where he was for a time Governor of Enniscorthy and then of the entire county of Wexford. He was also Governor of Kilkenny in 1646. He was taken prisoner when Wexford was captured by the Cromwellian army. …In the subsequent land grab his lands were declared forfeit, but the arrangement was declared null and void in 1660 when Charles II was restored. the Duke of Ormond was Charles II’s most trusted advisor and probably the most powerful man in Ireland. One of his first acts was to restore their lands, almost in total to his relatives. In this way Edmund Butler 4th Viscount Mountgarret was reinstated in most of his Kilkenny lands. In addition he received further lands in 1667 in an Act of Settlement grant. Those lands were in the barony of Knocktopher.
Sir Edmund was married twice and by his first wife, Dorothy Touchet, he had two sons and two daughters.
p. 69. The 5th Viscount was lucky in that his relation, the 2nd Duke of Ormonde, was a committed Williamite, who entertained that monarch in his castle of Kilkenny after the defeat of King James at the Battle of the Boyne. In the Jacobite confiscations that followed, the Mountgarret Butlers emerged unscathed. They still remained Catholic and produced children too numerous to mention…
p. 70. The 6th Viscount was educated at the Jesuit colleges of Flamstead, St. Omer and La Fleche. He was a Lt Col of Horse in the Army of King James II at the Siege of Derry but was captured and outlawed. The outlawry was reversed in 1721 but while he took the oath of allegiance he would not take the oath of supremacy and withdrew from the House of Parliament.
…The 11th Viscount took the expedient step of becoming a Protestant. He was MP for County of Kilkenny from 1776-1779.
p. 71. 12th Viscount had no children and was succeeded by his nephew, Henry Edmund as 13th Viscount. The Earldom became extict on the death of the 12th Viscount who according to Lord Dunboyne was insane for most of his adult life.
EDMUND, 4th Viscount (1595-1679),
Earls of Kilkenny (1793)
Viscounts Mountgarret (continued)
The current heir presumptive is the present holder’s brother, Edmund Henry Richard Butler (b 1962).
Piers James Richard [Butler], 18th and present Viscount, is de jure 27th Earl of Ormonde and 21st Earl of Upper Ossory following the death of the 7th Marquess of Ormonde in 1997. 
BALLYCONRA HOUSE is a seven-bay, two-storey over basement house with dormer attic, dated 1724, on an L-shaped plan, possibly originally a mill owner’s house with two-bay two-storey side elevations, and single-bay two-storey double-pile return to north-west. Now in use as offices.
This is a well-appointed substantial house representing an important element of the early 18th century architectural heritage of County Kilkenny.
It may originally have had associations with the nearby Ballyconra Mills, though its primary significance was for the connections with the Butler Family, Viscounts Mountgarret, late of Ballyragget Castle (1495) together with the Cahill family.
Ballyconra is located on a slightly elevated site.
This house makes an important impression in a landscape dominated by late 20th-century industrial ranges.
The house is said to be haunted by the ghost of Edmund, 12th Viscount Mountgarret and first and last Earl of Kilkenny, who died in 1846 and was the last Mountgarret to live there.
Following Lord Kilkenny’s death, the house was occupied by Michael Cahill, agent to the 13th Viscount, by whose descendants it was afterwards acquired.
The Mountgarrets’ other seat was Nidd Hall, near Ripley, Yorkshire; sold in 1968.
Mullinabro, Kilmacow, Co Kilkenny
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 220. (Jones/LGI1012) A bow-ended C18 house with a doorway rather similar to that at Woodstock, in the same county. Round-headed, rusticated and incorporating the flanking windows. Good mahogany doors. Now demolished.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
… In 1814 the seat of Humphrey Jones.
Woodsgift, Urlingford, Co Kilkenny – demolished
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 286. (St. George, Bt/PB; Keatings/IFR) A large three storey Georgian block with a lower wing. Seven bay front with breakfront centre; later porch. Roof parapet with finials. Five bay side elevation. Burnt ante 1914 and ruin later demolished.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. A large three storey mid to late 18C house. Porch added in 19C. In 1814 the seat of Sir Richard St. George. Burnt c. 1914. Ruin now demolished.
New Park (or Newpark) House, Co Kilkenny – burnt in 1932
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 225. “(Newport, Bt/PB1862; Bloomfield/LGI1912) A late C18 house with rounded ends, on the opposite bank of the River Suir to the City of Waterford. Built by the rich and powerful C18 Waterford banking family of Newport, in whose day the house was noted for its picture collection. Subsequently passed on to the Boomfield family. Burnt 1932.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
From an old photograph album, a view of New Park, County Kilkenny. Situated high above the river Suir on the opposite bank to the City of Waterford and with parkland running down to the water, the house was built in the second half of the 18th century by Simon Newport, who established the region’s largest and most important bank, Simon Newport and Sons: at the time there was a common expression in Waterford, ‘as good as Newport’s notes.’ Unfortunately in 1820 the bank failed and the founder’s younger son William Newport who was then responsible for its affairs committed suicide. Although he repudiated any personal liability Simon Newport’s elder son, Sir John Newport, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer who was then an M.P. in London, contributed at least £5,000 towards numerous local compensation claims. On his death in 1843, New Park was inherited by Sir John’s only surviving nephew, the Rev. John Newport and when he died sixteen years later, the estate was sold to Fitzmaurice Gustavus Bloomfield whose mother had been heiress to the Castle Caldwell estate in County Fermanagh. New Park remained with the Bloomfield family until the house was destroyed by fire in 1932: below is a photograph of its appearance after the conflagration.
Kilcreene House and Lodge, Kilkenny, Co Kilkenny
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 166. “(Evans, Bt/EDB; De Montmorency, Bt/PB; Smithwick/IFR) A very important late C17 house. Of two storeys over basement; “U”-shaped, the two wings projecting on either side of the entrance front and each having two bays in its end. High, sprocketed roof on bracket cornice. Brick chimney stacks with recessed panels. Front prolonged by screen walls with niches and large rusticated arches. Good quoins. Later pilastered porch. Six bay garden front, the two outer bays on either side breaking forward. Single storey entrance hall, with stairs in separate room at side of hall. Very fine chimneypieces, notably one of grey Kilkenny marble with a scroll pediment. The house was demolished in fairly recent years; some of the chimneypieces are at Bonnettstown Hall and one is at Kilcreene Lodge.”
Kilcreene Lodge:
(Smithwick/IFR) A pleasant two storey stucco faced Victorian house, built ca 1860 by J.W. [John William] Smithwick, incorporating an older, smaller house. Four bay front with triangular pediments on console brackets over ground floor windows, and gabled wing at one end. Roof of main block on bracket cornice. Irregular adjoining garden front, with single-storey curved and balustraded bow; decorative ironwork cresting on ridge of roof. Ornate overdoors in the hall and drawing room, the latter being large and handsome room in Louis Quinze style. Good late C17 or early C18 chimneypiece brought from Kilcreene House in billiard room. Attractive garden with lake spanned by bridge.”
The Landed Gentry & Aristocracy: Kilkenny. Volume 1. Art Kavanagh, 2004.
Smithwick of Kilcreene.
p. 193. Kilcreene House, the home of the Smithwick family for many generations and now a hospital, was first built, according to Peter Smithwick, in 1660. The lands of Kilcreene were originally owned by the Rothe family and then after the Cromwellian war it was acquired by Sir Henry Bayley Meredith [he was married to one of the Butlers of Lanesborough]. This Smithwick family bought the lands from the Merediths.
https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/12401927/kilcreene-lodge-kilcreen-crannagh-by-kilkenny-co-kilkenny
[no picture]
Detached four-bay two-storey house, redeveloped 1863, incorporating fabric of earlier house, c.1675, with two-bay two-storey recessed wing to right having single-bay single-storey lean-to advanced glazed porch leading to full-height gabled canted projecting bay, and three-bay two-storey higher return to west having bowed bay window to left ground floor. Completed, 1884-90. Hipped slate roofs (lean-to to porch; half-polygonal to projecting bay incorporating gable) with terracotta ridge tiles, rolled lead ridges having wrought iron finials to apexes, decorative timber bargeboards, and cast-iron rainwater goods on overhanging timber eaves having carved timber consoles. Painted rendered walls with panelled piers to bow bay window supporting frieze, moulded cornice on consoles, and balustraded parapet having moulded coping. Square-headed window openings (paired round-headed window openings to projecting bay) with painted sills, moulded rendered surrounds having triangular pediments to ground floor on consoles (entablature to ground floor projecting bay on consoles), and one-over-one timber sash windows having timber casement windows to return. Square-headed openings to bowed bay window with panelled pilaster surrounds having entablatures on consoles, and French doors having overlights. Square-headed door opening with timber panelled door having sidelights, and overlight. Interior with carved timber architraves to door openings (some with moulded friezes supporting entablatures; some with foliate consoles flanking friezes supporting entablatures) having timber panelled doors, decorative plasterwork cornices to ceilings, and carved Kilkenny limestone fireplace, c.1800, incorporating scroll pediment. Set back from road in own grounds with landscaped grounds to site.
Appraisal
Having origins in a mid to late seventeenth-century range intended as a flax (linen) miller’s house a middle-size lodge redeveloped by Charles Geoghegan (1820-1908) for John William Smithwick (1833-94) represents a pleasant Victorian merchant’s villa forming an important element of the domestic architectural legacy of County Kilkenny. Displaying characteristic robust detailing the various rendered and timber accents enhance the Italianate theme identifying the architectural design significance of the composition. Having been well maintained the historic fabric survives substantially intact both to the exterior and to the interior where features including Victorian joinery, decorative plasterwork, an early fireplace salvaged from nearby Kilcreene House (c.1675; demolished, post-1950), and so on all exhibit high quality traditional craftsmanship. Set in mature grounds the house together with the outlying estate makes an appealing visual impression on the road leading into Kilkenny City from the west.
https://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/kilcreene-lodge-kilkenny-r95-vka4/4507479
Eircode: R95 VKA4
For sale 12/6/21
€3,250,000.
WONDERFULLY SPACIOUS, RICH WITH HISTORY AND SURROUNDED BY GLORIOUS GROUNDS OF SOME 4HA (10ACRES), KILCREENE LODGE IS A RARE AND EXTRAORDINARY GEM. SPECIAL FEATURES – Fully restored and maintained 17th Century Italianate Mansion with Jacobean and Victorian features. – 5 exquisite flowing reception rooms, ideal for entertaining – Notable and beautiful period detailing – 8 bedrooms – Rich history former residence of Walter Smithwick – Private setting in lush grounds in the heart of Kilkenny city – c. 4ha(10acres) of grounds on own private Lake DESCRIPTION Set overlooking a weir on a private lake which runs into the River Breagagh and downtown to meet the Nore, Kilcreene Lodge occupies an extraordinary location. Secluded on its private almost ten-acre estate, it is just a short walk to the Medieval core of Kilkenny City. Lovingly maintained and presented as a signature historic home, it has also been beautifully modernised to add the luxury and comforts of contemporary living. Find beautiful and graceful formal rooms, across which film stars and aristocracy have danced. Throughout the years, luminaries including Tyrone Power and James Cagney, Lord Iveagh and Miranda Guinness have enjoyed the beautiful hospitality Kilcreene Lodge has to offer. Further back, Daniel O’Connell, known as the Irish Liberator, was a beloved and frequent guest. A bright and welcoming home, with graceful proportions throughout, you will find space to entertain, places to work and ample family accommodation to relax. History is elegantly layered, as the earliest Jacobean parts of the house, dating from 1690, meet Victorian spaces with wonderful stained glass, as contemporary additions are seamlessly incorporated. These are all held together by an Italianate theme, based on the timeless Classical principals of architecture. Kilcreene is noted by the Inventory of Architectural Heritage, most particularly for the preservation of its original features, and for the quality of its craftsmanship. Yet this is not a museum piece of a house, rather an extraordinary and stunningly beautiful home, in which you can fully enjoy all the wonderful qualities it has to offer.
HISTORY Originally built in 1690, the year King William triumphed at the Battle of the Boyne, Kilcreene Lodge was once a peaceful miller’s house. There is still a small water wheel on the river, as a memory of this time. A quiet spot, surrounded by mature woodlands and forestry and acres of rolling fields, it would have been a short horse ride to the markets of Kilkenny City. Almost two hundred years later, John William Smithwick spotted the opportunity of this wonderful location, and employed Charles Geoghegan to almost quadruple the size of the house. Geoghegan also worked on Annagh’s Castle in Kilkenny, and was responsible for some of the beautifully Italianate bank buildings at Foster Place and Dame Street in Dublin. He was also passionate about water supply, and Kilcreene is said to have been the first house in County Kilkenny with running water in the bathroom. The building followed the fortunes of the famous Smithwick brewing family, growing as they grew in prosperity, and increasingly hosting the famous and notable of each passing era: from Daniel O’Connell to Tyrone Power, and James Cagney to the Guinnesses. Successive generations have added their own stamp, all the while preserving what was best about the house they inherited. In 1999 Kilcreene was purchased by Gerry and Christine Byrne who lovingly restored the original house and sympathetically extended by building on the Lake room and a Master suite. This means that, today, there is still running water in the eight bathrooms, but they are now exceptionally lavish ensuites. The property has a host of reception rooms as well as a fully fitted Kitchen which features original ceramic brick wall tiles, painted units and Aga cooker. The house is complemented by all the modern conveniences you could need for catering the kind of parties this house so richly deserves. As Kilkenny City has grown to the thriving and cultural spot it is today, Kilcreene retains a beautiful sense of timelessness and tranquillity. It is a rare and quiet gem, at peace with itself and its extraordinary place in the world. KILCREENE LODGE Layers of time blend beautifully at Kilcreene Lodge. Fronting onto the private Lake, the entrance hall, with its warm tiled floor and stunning sweeping staircase is actually a newer addition, created to knit the Period elements of the house together.
From here, 5 exquisite reception rooms, ideal for entertaining. Firstly an exceptionally large and graceful triple aspect Lake room, opens to a sun terrace looking on to the weir and tranquil waters, and is the most wonderful space for entertaining. This graceful reception room leads to the dining room, while to the right, there is an equally beautiful and spacious drawing room, music room and living room. The Lake room, dining room and drawing room all have commanding fireplaces and interconnect. The second hall is currently a jewel box of a music room, with particularly wonderful plasterwork.
The dining room is notable for its rich and deeply polished parquet floor and timber ceiling, while the other reception rooms display ornate plasterwork. To the rear of the house there is a bright kitchen, large study, from which you can hear the sounds of birdsong, and the trickling waters. The office leads to a charming sunroom, with double doors out onto a decked area for al fresco dining, a peaceful retreat with planted sloping bank with watercourse which gives a fantastic backdrop. There are also storerooms, utility rooms, a boot room and cloakroom.
Upstairs, there is a very elegant gallery landing with arching columns, skylights and ornate plasterwork. The master suite is triple aspect, with a balcony. It has a walk-in wardrobe, and the ensuite is a beautiful open space with a gorgeous free-standing bath that has its own delicious garden and lake views. There are eight bedrooms which are all ensuite, and a gym. The second main bedroom has its own balcony and its fitted ensuite also has balcony access. These are bedrooms to savour and truly enjoy.
GARDENS AND GROUNDS A winding lime tree-lined drive leads to Kilcreene Lodge, where the house is beautifully surrounded by lawns and sheltered by mature trees. There is c.4ha (10 acres) in all, including a gravelled parking area, and stone patios at the front, overlooking the Lake and weir. The gardens have been designed to enjoy lovely private spots, classic lighting, decks, sheltered lawns, a small water wheel and feature fountain. There are little bridges, places to walk in peace, and a hard tennis court. Also find a separate garage building with an upper floor and plenty of storage for all your gardening needs.
See Ancestry.co.uk John William Smithwick
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 92. A very important late 17C house. It had an “H” shaped plan. Flanking screen walls were added to the entrance front in the 18C and a single storey porch was added in 19C. Very fine interior with interesting 18 C chimneypieces. The house was sold in 1947 and has since been delmolished. Seat of General Drummond in 1814.
Castlecomer House, Co Kilkenny
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 64. “(Wandesford, E/DEP; Butler, sub Ormonde, M/PB; Prior-Wandesford/LGI1958) A very large C18 and C19 house, consisting of a square two storey main block with fronts of five bays, and a slightly lower three storey wing of great length, recessed for its first six bays and then stepped forward. Battlemented parapet on main block and wing; rectangular Georgian sash-windows, mostly with astragals; pointed Georgian-Gothic windows on ground floor of entrance front of main block; hood mouldings over windows of main block. John Johnston, who worked at Birr Castle, was also employed here. Enclosed Gothic porch. Largely demolished in recent years.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 89. A very large 18C house with 19C additions. Battlemented parapet. Burnt in 1965 and now largely demolished.
https://archiseek.com/2014/1802-castlecomer-house-co-kilkenny
1802 – Castlecomer House, Co. Kilkenny
Architect: John Johnston
The original Castlecomer House, the family seat of the Wandesfordes, was built in 1638. It was burned down during the battle of Castlecomer in 1798. A replacement and larger house was constructed on the site in 1802. This house was on a far grander scale than the original, and was testament to the success of the Wandesforde enterprise in Ireland. It was a large 19th century mansion consisting of a square, two-storey main block with fronts of five bays; a slightly lower three-storey wing of great length.There was a battlemented parapet on the main wing and block; rectangular sash windows, mostly astragals. Also an enclosed Gothic porch.
Lying largely empty during the 1960s and 70s, most of the building was demolished in 1975. Nothing now remains of the house. The entrance and lodge can still be seen today, designed by G.F. Beckett in 1913.
The Landed Gentry & Aristocracy: Kilkenny. Volume 1. Art Kavanagh, 2004.
Wandesford of Castlecomer.
https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2013/12/castlecomer-house.html
THE WANDESFORDES WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY KILKENNY, WITH 22,232 ACRES
This family was of great antiquity in Yorkshire.
JOHN DE WANDESFORDE, of Westwick, near Ripon, married, in 1368, Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Sir Henry de Musters, Knight, of Kirklington, Yorkshire, and widow of Alexander Mowbray.
He died in 1396, and was direct ancestor of
THOMAS WANDESFORDE, of Kirklington, in 1503, who wedded Margaret, daughter of Henry Pudsey.
He died in 1518, having had four sons and two daughters,
CHRISTOPHER, his heir;
William;
Michael;
John (Rev);
Ellen; Elizabeth.
The eldest son,
CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD, of Kirklington, espoused Anne, daughter of John Norton, and died in 1540, having had issue,
FRANCIS, his heir;
Christopher.
The elder son,
FRANCIS WANDESFORD, of Kirklington, married Anne, elder daughter and co-heir of John Fulthorpe, of Hipswell, and had by her (who wedded secondly, Christopher, younger son of Ralph, Earl of Westmorland),
CHRISTOPHER (Sir);
John;
Jane.
Mr Wandesford died in 1559, and was succeeded by his elder son,
SIR CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD, Knight, of Kirklington, who received the honour of knighthood, 1586, and served as Sheriff of Yorkshire, 1578.
He espoused Elizabeth, daughter of Sir George Bowes, of Streatlam, and dying in 1590, was succeeded by his elder son,
SIR GEORGE WANDESFORD, Knight (1573-1612), of Kirklington, knighted by JAMES I, 1607, who wedded firstly, Catherine, daughter and co-heir of Ralph Hansby, of Beverley, and had issue,
CHRISTOPHER, his successor;
John;
Michael (Very Rev);
Anne.
Sir George espoused secondly, Mary, daughter of Robert Pamplin, and had a daughter, Margaret, and a son, WILLIAM WANDESFORDE, Citizen of London, to whom, and his heirs, his eldest brother, in 1637, gave £20 per annum, issuing out of the manor of Castlecomer, and payable upon Strongbow’s tomb in Christ Church, Dublin.
Sir George was succeeded by his eldest son,
THE RT HON CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD (1592-1640), being upon close habits of intimacy and friendship with Sir Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, accompanied that eminent and ill-fated nobleman into Ireland when he was constituted Chief Governor of that kingdom, was sworn of the Privy Council, and was appointed Master of the Rolls.
Mr Wandesford was one of the Lords Justices in 1636 and 1639; and was appointed, in 1640, Lord Deputy; but the fate of his friend Lord Strafford had so deep an effect upon him, that he died in that year.
[Kavanagh, p. 218. He appears to have brought over some of his relatives to Ireland also, as his brother Nicholas was MP for Thomastown and his eldest son, George, was MP for Clogher in 1639. – see Burke’s Landed Gentry.
Christopher bought the lease of Kildare castle and manor from Sir Charles Coote shortly after his arrival in Ireland and intended livign there. He did in fact live in the castle for a year with his familoy but the Earl of Wentworth took a fancy to the place and two years later it was sold to him. In July 1637 Christopher Wandesford bought Castlecomer Castle and an estate of some 20,000 acres. These lands were formerly owned by the Gaelic Brennan clan from the barony of Odough, of which Castlecomer is the focal point.
The Brennans, in common with other Gaelic families of Leinster such as the O’Moores of Laois, Kavanaghs of Crlow and the O’Byrnes of Wicklow and Fitzpatricks of Ossory, saw their lands pilfered from them under the governments of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. …An inquisition held in Kilkenny in 1635 found that the Brennans had no title in the area as they were “mere Irish” and held only the territory by force of arms. In 1636 Christopher W. commenced negotiations to buy the Brennan lands from Ormonde and Ridgeway. The sale included the castle of Castlecomer, which was in the possession of Richard Butler, 3rd Viscount Mountgarret… By 1638 W.had still not succeeded in obtaining possessionso Straford sent a body of soldiers to Castlecomer where they seized the parents of about 100 families of Brennans, took them to Dublin and imprisoned them. They took possession of the castle.
Christopher’s conscience must have been causing him some trouble, as in his will he made in 1640, he made provision for the payment of some money to some of the Brennan families to the value of a 21 year lease on whatever lands they occupied at the time. He also secured the release of one of the Brennans who had been sentenced to death for sheep stealing, and installed his half-brother William as his agent. William and his wife took up residence in the castle.
He married, in 1614, Alice, daughter of Sir Hewet Osborne, of Kiveton, Yorkshire, and had issue,
GEORGE, his heir;
CHRISTOPHER, successor to his brother;
John;
Catherine; Alice.
Mr Wandesford was succeeded by his eldest son,
GEORGE WANDESFORD (1623-51), of Kirklington, who dsp and was succeeded by his brother,
SIR CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD (1628-87), of Kirklington, who was created a baronet in 1662, denominated of Kirklington, Yorkshire.
He married, in 1651, Eleanor, daughter of Sir John Lowther Bt, of Lowther Hall, Westmorland, and had issue,
CHRISTOPHER, his heir;
George;
Charles;
Mary; Eleanor; Catherine; Elizabeth; Alice; Frances; Christiana.
Sir Christopher, MP for Ripon, was succeeded by his eldest son,
THE RT HON SIR CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD (1656-1707), who was sworn of the Privy Council by WILLIAM III, and again, in 1702, by Queen ANNE, who elevated him to the peerage, in 1706, as Baron Wandesforde and VISCOUNT CASTLECOMER.
He wedded, in 1683, Elizabeth, daughter of George Montagu, of Horton, Northamptonshire, and had issue,
CHRISTOPHER, 2nd Viscount;
GEORGE, 4th Viscount;
John;
Richard;
Henrietta.
His lordship died in London, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
CHRISTOPHER, 2nd Viscount (1684-1719), MP for Morpeth, 1710, and for Rippon, 1714.
In the latter year he was sworn of the Privy Council to GEORGE I, and the next year appointed Governor of County Kilkenny.
In 1717, he was constituted Secretary-at-War.
His lordship wedded, in 1715, Frances, daughter of Thomas, 1st Lord Pelham, and sister to Thomas, Duke of Newcastle, and had an only child,
CHRISTOPHER, 3rd Viscount (1717-36), who died in London of the smallpox, unmarried, and was succeeded by his uncle,
GEORGE, 4th Viscount (1687-51),
The 1st EARL OF WANDESFORD died in 1784, and his son having predeceased him, all his honours, including the baronetcy, became extinct, and his estates upon his only daughter,
THE LADY ANNE WANDESFORDE, who espoused, in 1769, John Butler, to whom the EARLDOM OF ORMONDE was restored by the House of Lords, 1791, as 17th Earl of Ormonde and 10th Earl of Ossory.
Her fourth, but second surviving son,
THE HON CHARLES HARWARD BUTLER-CLARKE-SOUTHWELL-WANDESFORDE(1780-1860), of Castlecomer and Kirklington, inherited his mother’s estates, and assumed, in 1820, the additional surname of CLARKE after Butler; and, in 1830, the additional surnames of SOUTHWELL-WANDESFORDE after Butler-Clarke.
He espoused, in 1812, the Lady Sarah Butler, daughter of Henry Thomas, 2nd Earl of Carrick, and had issue,
John, dspvp;
HENRY BUTLER-CLARKE-SOUTHWELL-WANDESFORDE, died unmarried;
Walter, father of CHARLES;
SARAH, of Castlecomer and Kirklington.
The Hon Charles Harward Butler C S Wandesforde was succeeded by his grandson,
CHARLES BUTLER-CLARKE-SOUTHWELL-WANDESFORDE, of Castlecomer and Kirklington, High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1879, who died unmarried, 1881, and was succeeded by his aunt,
SARAH PRIOR-WANDESFORDE (1814-92), of Castlecomer, Kirklington, Hipswell, and Hudswell, Yorkshire, who married, in 1836, the Rev John Prior, of Mount Dillon, County Dublin, Rector of Kirklington, Yorkshire, son of the Rev Dr Thomas Prior, Vice-Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, and had issue,
Charles Butler, father of RICHARD HENRY PRIOR-WANDESFORDE;
Henry Wallis;
Sarah Butler; Sophia Elizabeth.
Mrs Prior-Wandesforde succeeded to the Castlecomer and Kirklington estates on the death of her nephew, 1881, and in accordance with the provisions contained in her father’s will, assumed, in 1882, for herself and her issue the additional surname and arms of WANDESFORDE.
She was succeeded by her grandson,
RICHARD HENRY PRIOR-WANDESFORDE JP DL (1870-), of Castlecomer and Kirklington Hall, Hipswell, and Hudswell, Yorkshire, High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1894, who wedded, in 1896, Florence Jackson von Schwartz, daughter of the Rev Ferdinand Pryor, Rector of Dartmouth, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and had issue,
CHRISTOPHER BUTLER, b 1896;
Ferdinand Charles Richard, b 1897;
Richard Cambridge, b 1902;
Vera; Florence Doreen.
*****
During Lady Ormonde’s time on the estate, the coal mines were mainly run by master miners who leased the land and employed teams of about fifty men to operate them.
Her son, Charles Harward Butler-Clarke-Southwell-Wandesforde, took a great interest in the running of the estate and in the welfare of his tenants and attempted to reduce the role of “middle men” by reducing rents and providing assistance.
He even helped some of his tenants to emigrate.
He was succeeded by his daughter Sarah, who married John Prior.
She outlived all her children and was succeeded by her grandson Richard Henry who inherited the estates and assumed the Wandesforde name in 1892.
When Captain Richard Henry Prior-Wandesforde inherited the estate in the late 19th Century, the family owned thousands of acres of woodland in the area.
In previous years, the mines had been operated by master miners who leased the mines from the Wandesforde family, but ‘the Captain’ took personal control of the mines.
He introduced many improvements in the mine workings including overhead ropeways to transport the coal to the Deerpark railway depot.
He also established the Castlecomer Basket Factory, the Castlecomer Agricultural Bank and the Colliery Co-operative Society and built a number of housing schemes for the mine workers.
Captain Prior-Wandesforde took personal control of the coal mines and invested his own money in upgrading and modernising the mine workings.
CASTLECOMER HOUSE in County Kilkenny, the family seat, was originally built in 1638.
It was burned down during the battle of Castlecomer in 1798.
A larger house was built in its place, in 1802, during the time of Lady Ormonde.
It was a very large 18th and 19th century mansion consisting of a square, two-storey main block with fronts of five bays; a slightly lower three-storey wing of great length.
There was a battlemented parapet on the main wing and block; rectangular sash windows, mostly astragals; and an enclosed Gothic porch.
Most of the building was demolished in 1975 as it was no longer in use and had fallen into disrepair.
Nothing now remains of the house.
Castlecomer Discovery Park is situated on grounds that once formed part of the Wandesforde family estate.
The Visitor Centre is located in what was originally the farm yard and kitchen gardens of the estate.
The stables and many of the farm buildings have been restored and now house the craft units and the education facilities.
The original walled garden is now home to a small herd of Fallow and Sika Deer and a flock of Jacob Sheep.
First published in December, 2011.
See Art Kavanagh, Wandesford of Castlecomer.
Castle Morres, Kilmaganny, Co Kilkenny
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 73. “de Montmorency, Bt/PB; De Montmorency/IFR) a magnificent mid-18C house by Francis Bindon. Of two storeys over basement, nine by front…sold post world War I, partially demolished ca 1940; ruin recently demolished.
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 89. “A large mid18C house designed by Francis Bindon for the Morres family. Very fine interior with good plasterwork. Altered in the early 19C by Daniel Robertson of Kilkenny. Partially demolished following a demolition sale in 1940. Ruin recently demolished.
https://archiseek.com/2019/1751-castle-morres-co-kilkenny
1751 – Castle Morres, Co. Kilkenny
Architect: Francis Bindon
The first Viscount Mountmorris commissioned Castle Morres as one of the largest stately homes in the country and it was built in approximately 1751.
Sold in the 1920s to the Land Commission, it was deroofed in the 1930s, and the ruin finally demolished in 1978. Only a gatelodge attributed to Daniel Robertson remains.
A gate lodge at the entrance to the former Castle Morres estate in County Kilkenny. The main house here, built for the de Montmorency family, dated from the mid-18th century, its design attributed to Francis Bindon: the remains of the building were demolished in 1978. This lodge was constructed later, at some point in the second quarter of the 19th century and is presumed to have been the work of Daniel Robertson.
The Landed Gentry & Aristocracy: Kilkenny. Volume 1. Art Kavanagh, 2004.
De Montmorency.
p. 116. According to Lodge the family descended from Hervey de Monte Marisco, who accompanied Strongbow to Ireland in 1170. They received grants of land in Wexford, Tipperary and Kerry. Many of these lands were later conveyed to the Ormondes through marriage connections.
p. 117. The family seems to have persisted in Tipperary wher the name became Morres. The Kilkenny family descended from Herny the secodn son of John Morres of Knockagh in co Tipperary. This John was the grandson of Sir John Morres who was created a baronet in 1632. Hervey was born in 1625 and saw few prospects at home and probably in a spirit of adventure left and joined Cromwell’s army.
https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2016/03/castle-morres-house.html
THE DE MONTMORENCYS OWNED 4,808 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY KILKENNY
MAJOR HERVEY RANDALL SAVILLE PRATT DL (1782-1859), third son of the Rev Joseph Pratt, of Cabra Castle, County Cavan, by the Hon Sarah de Montmorency his wife, daughter of Harvey, 1st Viscount Mountmorres, of Castle Morres, County Kilkenny, wedded, in 1811, Rose Lloyd, daughter of the Rt Rev John Kearney, Lord Bishop of Ossory, and had issue,
JOHN, his heir;
Joseph;
Hervey Mervyn;
Raymond;
Anne Sarah; Letitia; Elizabeth; Sarah; Fanny.
Mr Pratt, who, upon the death of his father, succeeded his mother in the Kilkenny estates, which she and her sister, the Marchioness of Antrim, had jointly inherited as co-heirs of their brother Hervey Redmond, 2nd Viscount Mountmorres.
He assumed, in 1831, the surname and arms of DE MONTMORENCY.
Mr de Montmorency was succeeded by his eldest son,
JOHN PRATT DE MONTMORENCY (1815-68), of Castle Morres, who married, in 1838, Henrietta O’Grady, daughter of Standish, 1st Viscount Guillamore, and had issue,
HERVEY JOHN, his heir;
WALLER, successor to his brother;
Mervyn Standish, barrister;
Raymond Oliver;
Katherine Maria; Rose Emily.
Mr de Montmorency was succeeded by his eldest son,
HERVEY JOHN DE MONTMORENCY JP (1840-73), of Castle Morres, High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1872, late 2nd Dragoon Guards, who espoused, in 1867, Grace, daughter of Sir Thomas Fraser Grove Bt, of Ferne, Wiltshire, leaving issue, a daughter, Henrietta Kathleen.
He was succeeded by his brother,
THE VEN WALLER DE MONTMORENCY JP (1841-1924), of Castle Morres, Archdeacon of Ossory, who wedded, in 1872, Mary, daughter of the Rt Rev James Thomas O’Brien, Lord Bishop of Ossory, Ferns and Leighlin, and had issue,
JOHN PRATT, his heir;
Geoffey FitzHervey, b 1876.
The Archdeacon was succeeded by his elder son,
CAPTAIN JOHN PRATT DE MONTMORENCY CMG DL RN (1873-1960), High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1921, who espoused firstly, in 1908, Margaret Elinor, eldest daughter of Colonel Samuel Pym; and secondly, in 1934, Norah, daughter of Colonel Mervyn de Montmorency, by whom he had issue,
Jane Avril, b 1936;
Sarah Anne, 1943-97.
CASTLE MORRES, Kilmaganny, County Kilkenny, was a splendid mid-18th century mansion by Francis Binden.
It comprised three storeys over a basement, with a nine-bay front.
There were single wings on either side of the centre block.
There was a three-bay central break-front with quoins and a rusticated ground floor.
The roof parapet had balustrades.
A balustraded perron and double stairway led to the doorway, which had Ionic columns and pediment.
There was a magnificent black marble chimney-piece in the hall, resplendent with a military trophy under a scroll pediment; and an eagle spreading its wings above.
Captain John Pratt de Montmorency sold Castle Morres to the Irish Land Commission in 1926.
In the 1930s its roof was removed; and the once great mansion house suffered its ultimate fate in 1978 when it was demolished.
First published in March, 2016.
Bellevue House, Slieverue, Co Kilkenny
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 38. “(Power/IFR) A three storey Georgian house with a top storey almost as high as those below, creating an unusal effect. Eight bay front; entrance doorway with recessed columns fitted in between two narrower windows, under an unusual 19C two storey canted portico, almost like an Indian verandah, wiht four widely spaced polygonal columns of no recognisable order in each storey, the upper storey forming a covered balcony with a wrought-iron balustrade; the upper entablature being adorned with St. Hubert’s Stag, the crest of the Power family. Prominent moulded string courses; parapeted roof. Entirely plain four bay side elevation. Owned in early C19 by the politician, Richard Lawlor Shiel, MP, from whom it was bought by Patrick Power, MP. Sold 1940 by A.R. Power; afterwards dismantled, the ruin standing for some years until it collapsed.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 89. A three storey late Georgian house with good Doric doorcase. A strange two storey canted portico was added in the late 19C by the Power family. Dismanteld c. 1940. The ruin has since collapsed.
Irish Historic Houses 