Raheen House & Farm, Raheen, Killala, Co Mayo

by jenjunebugJune 28, 2025August 5, 2025

Raheen House & Farm, Raheen, Killala, Co Mayo for sale June 2025 courtesy Savills.

Not in National Inventory or Bence-Jones.

F26TF40

€1,100,000

5 Bed184 m²

Description

*Raheen House, Killala, Co Mayo for sale June 2025 photograph courtesy Savills.*

Productive farm in a contiguous block with a charming farmhouse and extensive farm buildings Raheen House Raheen House and Farm is a charming period residence set in a peaceful and private location just outside the coastal town of Killala. Surrounded by mature trees and open farmland, the house enjoys a secluded setting that offers both privacy and scenic rural views. Accessed through a pair of traditional stone piers, a tree-lined driveway leads to a generous parking area at the front of the house. Believed to date from the late 19th Century, Raheen House is a well-proportioned country home of classic design, featuring a rendered façade beneath a hipped slate roof. Accommodation is arranged over two storeys and offers a spacious and well-balanced layout as illustrated in the accompanying plans. Internally, the house retains period features including ornate ceiling roses, cornicing, high ceilings, architraves and a decorative marble fireplace. The property is entered via a porch into a welcoming entrance hall, where a fine curved staircase forms an elegant focal point. From the hall, there is access to two principal reception rooms, both positioned to the front of the house and ideal for formal entertaining or relaxed family use. Also located on the ground floor is a study, a generously sized utility room and a bathroom. Upstairs, the first floor is laid out to provide five spacious bedrooms, one of which is ensuite, along with a family bathroom. The generous proportions and natural light throughout make this a comfortable and adaptable family home. Gardens & Grounds The house is set within mature and well-established grounds, with formal gardens to the front predominantly laid to lawn. Framed by a variety of mature trees and planting, the setting offers both privacy and natural beauty, creating a picturesque and tranquil environment. Outbuildings To the rear of the house lies a charming courtyard, enclosed by a series of traditional outbuildings and stores. Farm Buildings Raheen House and Farm is well-appointed with a range of functional farm buildings, all conveniently located to the rear of the main residence. These include a substantial seven-bay shed of steel-frame construction, partially slatted and roofed with corrugated sheeting. This structure incorporates the original dairy unit and is adjoined by traditional stone-built stores and cubicle shed with 90 cubicles, also with corrugated roofing. Additional sheds of traditional construction are located throughout the yard and are currently used for general-purpose storage. To the west of the farmyard lies a large grain store/machinery shed. This four-bay double Dutch barn includes lean-tos on either side and is of steel portal frame construction with corrugated roof and cladding. It features shuttered concrete walls and a solid concrete floor, ideal for heavy machinery or crop storage. The yard itself is well laid out with extensive concrete aprons and hardstanding, providing excellent access and manoeuvrability. It also includes two silage clamps, both with concrete bases and retaining walls. Farmland The land at Raheen House & Farm lies in a contiguous block and comprises productive rolling grassland interspersed with areas of mature woodland. The topography is gently undulating, with elevations ranging from approximately 24 metres / 78 feet above sea level at the northern end to about 20 metres / 65 feet at the southern boundary. key feature of the holding is its extensive road frontage, stretching approximately 650 metres, complemented by a network of internal tracks providing excellent access throughout the property. The land is laid out in a series of well-sized fields, enclosed by a combination of traditional stone walls, mature hedgerows, and electric fencing. This landholding presents an attractive opportunity for both livestock grazing and broader agricultural use. The land can be classified as follows: Pasture – 81 acres Woodland – 2 acres Miscellaneous – 2 acres Total – 85 acres

Advertised again August 2025: by Property Partners Gill and Glynn

€1,100,000

5 Bed3 Bath85 ac

Property Partners Gill & Glynn, together with Savills, are delighted to present to the market Raheen House & Farm, an exceptional residential farm extending to approximately 85 acres (34 hectares), comprising a beautifully refurbished period residence, extensive farm buildings, and productive farmland in a superb coastal setting near Killala, Co. Mayo. Raheen House Raheen House and Farm is a charming period residence set in a peaceful and private location just outside the coastal town of Killala. Surrounded by mature trees and open farmland, the house enjoys a secluded setting that offers both privacy and scenic rural views. Accessed through a pair of traditional stone piers, a tree-lined driveway leads to a generous parking area at the front of the house. Believed to date from the late 19th Century, Raheen House is a well-proportioned country home of classic design, featuring a rendered façade beneath a hipped slate roof. Accommodation is arranged over two storeys and offers a spacious and well-balanced layout as illustrated in the accompanying plans. Internally, the house retains period features including ornate ceiling roses, cornicing, high ceilings, architraves and a decorative marble fireplace. The property is entered via a porch into a welcoming entrance hall, where a fine curved staircase forms an elegant focal point. From the hall, there is access to two principal reception rooms, both positioned to the front of the house and ideal for formal entertaining or relaxed family use. Also located on the ground floor is a study, a generously sized utility room and a bathroom. Upstairs, the first floor is laid out to provide five spacious bedrooms, one of which is ensuite, along with a family bathroom. The generous proportions and natural light throughout make this a comfortable and adaptable family home. Gardens & Grounds The house is set within mature and well-established grounds, with formal gardens to the front predominantly laid to lawn. Framed by a variety of mature trees and planting, the setting offers both privacy and natural beauty, creating a picturesque and tranquil environment. Outbuildings

To the rear of the house lies a charming courtyard, enclosed by a series of traditional outbuildings and stores. Farm Buildings Raheen House and Farm is well-appointed with a range of functional farm buildings, all conveniently located to the rear of the main residence. These include a substantial seven-bay shed of steel-frame construction, partially slatted and roofed with corrugated sheeting. This structure incorporates the original dairy unit and is adjoined by traditional stone-built stores and cubicle shed with 90 cubicles, also with corrugated roofing. Additional sheds of traditional construction are located throughout the yard and are currently used for general-purpose storage. To the west of the farmyard lies a large grain store/machinery shed. This four-bay double Dutch barn includes lean-tos on either side and is of steel portal frame construction with corrugated roof and cladding. It features shuttered concrete walls and a solid concrete floor, ideal for heavy machinery or crop storage. The yard itself is well laid out with extensive concrete aprons and hardstanding, providing excellent access and manoeuvrability. It also includes two silage clamps, both with concrete bases and retaining walls. Farmland The land at Raheen House & Farm lies in a contiguous block and comprises productive rolling grassland interspersed with areas of mature woodland. The topography is gently undulating, with elevations ranging from approximately 24 metres / 78 feet above sea level at the northern end to about 20 metres / 65 feet at the southern boundary. key feature of the holding is its extensive road frontage, stretching approximately 650 metres, complemented by a network of internal tracks providing excellent access throughout the property. The land is laid out in a series of well-sized fields, enclosed by a combination of traditional stone walls, mature hedgerows, and electric fencing. This landholding presents an attractive opportunity for both livestock grazing and broader agricultural use. The land can be classified as follows:

Pasture – 81 acres Woodland – 2 acres Miscellaneous – 2 acres Total – 85 acres Local information – Raheen House and Farm enjoys a peaceful yet scenic setting in Raheen, just outside the heritage town of Killala in County Mayo. Located along Ireland’s famed Wild Atlantic Way, this stretch of North Mayo coastline is celebrated for its dramatic cliffs, pristine beaches and uninterrupted ocean views. The area provides a rare blend of coastal beauty and rural tranquillity, while still being within easy reach of nearby towns and amenities. -The property is conveniently situated approximately 6 kilometres from Killala, a picturesque coastal town rich in history and local charm. Killala offers a comprehensive range of day-to-day amenities including a supermarket, cafés, pubs, restaurants, health services, a harbour, and access to the Killala-Ballina Greenway, ideal for walkers and cyclists. The town also features a number of historical landmarks, including Round Towers, ecclesiastical ruins, and ancient forts. -Just 13 kilometres away is Ballina, the largest town in North Mayo, offering a more comprehensive range of amenities including shopping, dining and world-class salmon fishing on the River Moy. Ballina also provides access to a wide selection of primary and secondary schools, sports clubs, and essential services. -The wider area offers excellent recreational opportunities, from golfing at Enniscrone and Carne Links, to hiking along the cliffs at Downpatrick Head or exploring the Céide Fields, one of the oldest Neolithic field systems in the world. For marine and beach enthusiasts, Lacken Strand and Kilcummin Back Strand are popular for swimming, horse riding and water sports. Ross Beach, Killala is also in close proximity and is a blue flag beach. -Despite the rural setting, Raheen House and Farm benefits from excellent transportation links, including the R314 connecting the area south to Ballina and north to Ballycastle. Ballina benefits from regular bus and train services to Dublin, while Ireland West Airport Knock, just 53 kilometres away, provides convenient access to international flights.

The area surrounding Raheen House and Farm is redominantly agricultural, characterised by open ields and picturesque countryside. It benefits from a well-established agricultural infrastructure, ncluding a strong network of agricultural merchants, milk processors and livestock markets. Viewing Strictly by appointment with the joint selling agents Savills and Property Partners Gill & Glynn. For further information call (091) 884000 or call/text/WhatsApp Claire Glynn of Property Partners Gill & Glynn on 087 9655584 or Josh Pim (Savills) on 016181300

Raheens (Rahins, Rehins) House, Castlebar, Co Mayo – lost

by jenjunebugJune 28, 2025

Raheens (Rahins, Rehins) House, Castlebar, Co Mayo – lost

Not in Bence-Jones

https://www.buildin g sofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/31307808/raheens-house-raheens-carr-by-co-mayo

Raheens House, RAHEENS [CARR. BY.], County Mayo

*Raheens House, County Mayo, courtesy National Inventory.*

Detached three-bay two-storey over basement country house, built 1847-8, on an L-shaped plan centred on single-bay full-height pedimented breakfront; two-bay (east) or three-bay (west) full-height side elevations. Occupied, 1901; 1911. Vacated, 1932. “Closed”, 1933. Sold, 1941. Vacant, 1945. In ruins, 1976. Hipped roof now missing with remains of cast-iron rainwater goods on cut-limestone stepped cornice. Part creeper- or ivy-covered coursed hammered limestone walls on lichen-covered drag edged cut-limestone cushion course on coursed hammered limestone base with tooled cut-limestone flush quoins to corners. Square-headed central door opening in tripartite arrangement approached by flight of three moss-covered cut-limestone steps with cut-limestone monolithic surround supporting lichen-covered “Cyma Recta” or “Cyma Reversa” cornice. Square-headed window opening (first floor) with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sill, and red brick block-and-start surround supporting tooled cut-limestone voussoirs with two-over-two timber sash window now missing. Square-headed window openings in bipartite arrangement with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and red brick block-and-start surrounds supporting tooled cut-limestone voussoirs with one-over-one (ground floor) or two-over-two (first floor) timber sash windows now missing. Square-headed window openings (remainder) with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and red brick block-and-start surrounds with six-over-six timber sash windows now missing. Interior in ruins including (ground floor): central hall on a square plan with remains of run moulded plasterwork cornice to ceiling; drawing room (east) with no fittings surviving; dining room (west) with elliptical-headed buffet niche. Set in unkempt grounds.

Appraisal

The shell of a country house erected for Hugh John Henry Browne (1800-68) representing an important component of the nineteenth-century domestic built heritage of the rural environs of Castlebar with the architectural value of the composition, ‘a neat cut stone building’ retaining at least the footings of an eighteenth-century house displaying a comparable footprint on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey (surveyed 1838; published 1839), confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on panoramic vistas overlooking wooded grounds and Lannagh or Castlebar Lough; the compact plan form centred on a Classically-detailed breakfront; and the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression with those openings once showing elegant bipartite glazing patterns. Although reduced to ruins following a prolonged period of neglect, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with fragments of the original fabric including, remarkably, some sleek plasterwork refinements highlighting the now-modest artistic potential of the composition. Furthermore, an adjacent coach house-cum-stable outbuilding (see 31307809); a walled garden (see 31307810); a private burial ground (opened 1868); and the nearby “Cenotaph” (see 31307811), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of an estate having historic connections with the Browne family including Neal O’Donel Browne RM (1804-74) ‘late of Rahins [sic] County Mayo’ (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1874, 59); and Dodwell Francis “The Judge” Browne JP LLB (1841-1920), ‘Pensioner Ceylon Civil Service late of Rahins [sic] Castlebar County Mayo’ (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1920, n.p.).

https://www.buildingso firel and.ie/buildings-search/building/31307809/raheens-house-raheens-carr-by-co-mayo

Farmyard complex, dated 1784, including: Detached eleven-bay single-storey coach house-cum-stable outbuilding with half-attic on a symmetrical plan. Now in ruins. Pitched slate roof now missing, lichen-covered dragged cut-limestone coping to gables with drag edged dragged limestone ashlar bellcote (south) or drag edged dragged limestone ashlar chimney stack (north) to apexes, and no rainwater goods surviving on dragged cut-limestone eaves. Part creeper- or ivy-covered walls originally rendered with drag edged tooled cut-limestone quoins to corners. Segmental-headed central carriageway with drag edged tooled cut-limestone block-and-start surround centred on date stone-inscribed drag edged tooled cut-limestone keystone (“1784”). Square-headed flanking door openings with drag edged tooled cut-limestone block-and-start surrounds centred on drag edged tooled cut-limestone keystones. Square-headed window openings with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and drag edged tooled cut-limestone block-and-start surrounds centred on drag edged tooled cut-limestone keystones with no fittings surviving. Interior in ruins. Set in unkempt grounds shared with Raheens House.

Appraisal

A coach house-cum-stable outbuilding erected by Dodwell Browne (d. 1796) not only contributing positively to the group and setting values of the Raheens House estate, but also surviving as interesting evidence of the eighteenth-century origins of the estate.

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/31307811/raheens-house-raheens-carr-by-co-mayo

https://www.buildingsofirel an d.ie/buildings-search/building/31307812/raheens-house-struaun-co-mayo

Gateway, extant 1895, on a symmetrical plan comprising pair of vermiculated-banded drag edged tooled limestone ashlar piers on battered plinths having “Cavetto” stringcourses below lichen-covered rock faced cut-limestone capping supporting wrought iron double gates. Now disused. Road fronted at entrance to grounds of Raheens House.

Appraisal

A gateway making a pleasing visual statement in a sylvan street scene at the entrance on to the grounds of the now-bisected Raheens House estate.

http://davidhicksbook.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2019-02-01T06:29:00-08:00&max-results=7

Raheens House

Castlebar, Co. Mayo

A large green field in front of a house

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The name of the townland which it is long associated with Raheens House near Castlebar , has a number of different spellings, it can be spelt Raheens, Rahins and Rehins. Over the years the size of this modest house has been exaggerated, some reports state that the house contained 35 rooms another 54, however the 1911 census revealed that the house  actually extended to a more modest 17 rooms. An advertisement for the sale of the contents of the house in 1933 indicates that it contained an Entrance Hall, Dining Room, Drawing Room, Kitchen and six bedrooms. The decline of the house was swift from the time after the departure of the Browne Family in the 1930’s. A curious visitor to the  house in 1954 recorded that it had been in ruins by that point for several years. 

The images above shows Raheens House prior to it descending in to ruins

The image below shows the house from a similar angle today 

     Copyright ICHC

Raheen’s House was built in 1847 during the Irish Famine and replaced an earlier house that existed on the site, however the kitchen from the earlier house was incorporated in to the new structure. An older residence on the site was pulled down around the year 1835 by Hugh John Henry Browne who built the present structure. John Wesley described the older structure as a fortified house with two turrets which were still standing in 1835. The Browne’s were said to have been visited by Wesley who founded the Methodist religion and who traveled Ireland on horseback in the 1780’s. Wesley laid the foundation stone for the Methodist Church in Castlebar in May 1785. The house is built solidly of chiseled limestone and stands in the centre of what was once a beautifully wooded park.  The surrounding landscape was said to be exceptional pleasing when viewed from the Drawing Room window. This estate which surrounded the house extended to 1,000 acres and came into the possession of the Browne family at the time of the Cromwellian Plantations allegedly in exchange for a white horse. In the 1800’s the estate was owned by Dodwell Browne who married Elizabeth Cuffe of Ballinrobe who died in 1777 aged only 44. Dodwell married secondly Maria O’Donel, daughter of Sir Nial O’Donel of Newport. A few years after her marriage, Maria became unwell and had to be transported to Dublin for treatment. As she left her home at Raheens her condition worsened, and she was only a short distance from the house when the horses drawing her carriage came to a halt and would not move. Due to great efforts of the driver the horses eventually relented, and they continued on their journey to Dublin, where Maria died. In 1809, Maria’s husband erected an obelisk on the spot where the horses stopped on the day of her departure. The monument is 25 metres in height and can be viewed from the main reception rooms of the house, as an eye catcher or folly in the landscape.

A large green field with trees in the background

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An old photo of a building

Description automatically generated, Picture ﷟HYPERLINK “https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6UrXg2xFAow/W_7FTUrXpLI/AAAAAAAAW5Y/SUpZxpk_pR8mNmJL-3yiZ9ySAoaAaMtYgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Raheens%2BHouse.jpg” 

In September 1910 it became necessary for repairs to be made to this monument which had become unstable. The London steeplejacks of Mr. Will Larkins of 18 Alfred Street, Bow, London were employed to rebuild the apex of the memorial obelisk. It is said at this time that the estate at Raheens was in exceptionally condition as the then owner Dodwell F. Browne had taken up permanent residence in recent years. The monument is built of tapering chiseled limestone that rises to a height of 70 feet that sits upon a plinth of 10 feet. Atop the monument sits a globe of limestone which had been blown off the monument in a storm in the 1890’s which had remained on the ground thereafter. It appeared that an iron dowel had rusted which allowed the apex of the monument to collapse during the gale.  The masonry had also suffered over the years when a mountain ash had become embedded high up on the obelisk that had began to dislodge loose stones and it became necessary to have it removed.  Mr. Larkin, who was employed to carry out repairs to the structure, supposedly began his career at the age of seven and during his working life he had never suffered any serious injury despite working at extreme heights. He had carried out repairs to the steeple of the Protestant Church in Athenry which was struck by lightning and it was from here that he spied the lady who became his wife. The work to the obelisk at Raheens was carried out by a Mr. Stacey and a number of assistants over three days. The apex was reached by the means of a telescopic ladder which was lashed to the structure. Thereafter a scaffolding was built around the apex which was supported by four small pieces of timber.  From this platform, the root of the tree was extracted and the damaged courses rebuilt. A copper dowel was inserted which allowed the fallen globe to be returned to its position on top of the monument. When the monument was built in 1809, a slab was placed on the obelisk inscribed with the words

‘ A Marie

Et A L’Armour

Par son Chere Epouse

Dodwell

1809’

Followed by another slab, which is inscribed

‘ To Gaiety

and

Innocence’

Higher on the monument is a profile of a women said to be that of Maria who in the decade prior to her death wrote to General Humbert who had just taken Castlebar in 1798. She allayed to him her concerns about the safety of herself and other aristocratic ladies in the community. The General replied assuring her of his protection and extended an invitation for Maria and her husband to dine with him. It is said that General Humbert visited the Browne’s at Raheen’s on three separate occasions.

A sunset over a body of water

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Dodwell Browne died in the 1830’s and the estate was inherited by his son Hugh John Henry Browne who proceeded to plant a number of trees within the demesne including a number of trees along the original avenue. The new house was built at the height of the famine however elements of the original structure that existed on the site were retained such as the kitchen which formed part of the basement of the new house and the out buildings to the rear of the house were also retained. The expense of rebuilding the Browne family home left Hugh John Henry heavily indebted, after his death the encumbered estate passed to Henry’s brother Neil in 1870. Neil O’Donel Browne died on the 15^th March 1874 at 8 Upper Mount Street Dublin and left an estate of less than £6,000. With his passing the estate at  Raheen’s passed to his son, Dodwell, who spent most of his professional life in the colonial service in Ceylon ( now known as Sri Lanka)  from where he returned to Raheens in 1905.  Dodwell had three sons, Dodwell, Keppel and O’Donnell and a daughter Norah Lucy. On the 19^th February 1895 it was reported that the only daughter of Dodwell Browne, Norah Lucy Frances Dodwell married Thomas Yates Wright the younger son of C. Wright of Lower Oak, Tyldesley, Lancashire. 

A large brick building with a grassy field

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In October 1908 in Naas, Co. Kildare the death occurred of Dodwell’s son, Keppel Glenny Dowell Browne, who was unmarried and aged 35. He was a barrister and had been suffering from Leukaemia. He left £479 13s 4d in his will which was administered by his brother Dodwell F. Browne. His remains were interred in the family vault at Raheens with those of his ancestors. At the time of the census in 1911, Dodwell Francis Browne aged 69 is in living in the house at Raheen’s together with his wife Annabelle aged 65, who was born in Co. Down. Their daughter Norah Lucy Dodwell Browne Wright aged 36 who was born in Ceylon and Dodwell’s granddaughter Annabelle Dodwell Browne, aged 6 are also present in the house together with three domestic servants.  After the death of Dodwell Senior in 1920, his wife Annabelle continued to live in the house. Her son, Dodwell, became the owner of the estate but he had emigrated to Australia where he remained permanently after 1923 and  was joined by his sister after the death of their mother in 1932.

A large brick building with grass and trees

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On the 4^th December 1932, Annabelle Browne died who in her youth was said to be the envy of many young women when she made her debut on the social scene in London. She was received by royalty and was apparently a frequent visitor to Buckingham Palace. With the death of Annabelle, the Browne connection with Raheens came to an end. The contents of the house were advertised for auction which was carried out over two days in April 1933. The contents of the entrance hall offered for sale included Indian and Chinese ornaments together with mounted birds, exotic animal heads and antlers. What is interesting, is that the animal heads must not have held much appeal for anyone at the auction as it was noted in 1954 when the house was in ruins that these remained on the walls in the house. In the dining room there was a circular mahogany table with twelve chairs, an oak side board and a valuable collection of books contained in a number of bookcases. The drawing room contained a collection of ebony furniture, a grand piano, arm chairs and an Axminister carpet. Also offered for sale were the contents of six bedrooms and the auction was conducted by Robert Caldwell, an auctioneer from Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo. Prior to the sale of the house, the Land Commission had acquired most of the Browne land in 1928 and divided it among the tenants.

A large brick building

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In January 1940, the remaining lands of the estate were offered for sale which amounted to 168 acres, which was retained by the family after the bulk of their lands were divided by the Land Commission. In April 1941 it was announced that Reheens Demesne near Castlebar had been sold. It was at that time the property of Dodwell Browne who had been in Australia for some time at the time of the sale. It was said that the demesne had been purchased by a local man and prior to this Raheens had been abandoned with irreparable damage having been done to the woods surrounding the house. The mansion house at the centre of the estate at this time was said to have been in good condition and that the surrounding farm buildings were also in good repair. However, by 1954, the house was in ruins with its large reception room open to the sky and large amounts of rubble having collected in the basement.  A curious visitor to the house at this time, recorded what they had seen and mentioned that the roof was stripped from the house in 1947. At this time they noted that there was a strange gate post to be found on the avenue. It was actually the barrel of a seventeenth century cannon, one of four other cannons that once could be found in the grounds of Raheens House. Within walking distance of the obelisk, there is the Browne family vault where several the family members are buried. The last member of the family to buried there occured in 1940 approx. One mystery that is associated with the family vault are two interments whose deaths both occured on the same day.  Hugh John Henry Browne and Neal O’Browne both died on the 2nd October 1868, what tragedy befell the family on that day.

Balrath Bury, County Meath

by jenjunebugMay 14, 2025

Balrath Bury, County Meath

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. 30. “Nicholson/IFR) Originally a two storey pedimented C18 house of seven bays with curved bow at either end of the front. Subsequently enlarged by the addition of three bays to the right of the front, and seven bays with another pediment as well as two more bays to the left, so that the front extended for a total of 19 bays, plus two bows. After suffering damage when used as a barracks 1939-42, the house was reduced in size 1942 to the original block, which at the same time was rebuilt in an American Colonial style. The front kept its pediment, but lost its bows, and a colonnaded veranda was built along the full length of the ground floor. A pillared loggia was made under the pediement, and a porte-cochere was added to the end of the house, which is the entrance front; the columns for this and the veranda having been brought from Rosmead. The present arrangement of the interior, and the proportions of the rooms, dates from this rebuilding; the principal rooms being on either side of a large hall with a bifurcating staircase. Long Georgian stable range, with pediment.”

Record of Protected Structures

Baltrath-Bury, Balrath Demesne.

Detached 9 bay, 2 storey colonial revival villa, c. 1930, originally built in 1671 for the Nicholson Family. Incl of Stable yards and Gate lodges

https://lordb el montinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2013/05/balrath-bury-house.html

THE NICHOLSONS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY MEATH, WITH 7,693 ACRES

This family came originally from Yorkshire.

GILBERT NICHOLSON, of Bare and Poulton, Lyndall, in Lonsdale, and of Baton and Easterton, Westmorland, married Grace, daughter and co-heir of Gyles Curwen, of Poulton Hall, and had issue,

FRANCIS, dvp leaving a son, HUMPHRY;
Giles;
Grace.

Mr Nicholson died in 1605, and was succeeded by his grandson,

HUMPHRY NICHOLSON, who was father of

GILBERT NICHOLSON (1620-1709), formerly of Poulton, Lancashire, and of the city of Dublin, Lieutenant in the royal army before 1649, and one of the Forty-nine Officers, whose arrears of pay were paid up after the Restoration, “for service done by them to His Majesty, or to his royal father, as commissioners in the wars of Ireland, before the 5th day of June, 1649.”

By the Act of Settlement Mr Nicholson received grants of land in County Monaghan, which he sold, and bought Balrath Bury in 1669.

He afterwards resided in Dublin.

Mr Nicholson and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Worsopp, Knight, are buried in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, and on their tombstone appear the arms and crest still used by the family.

The issue of the marriage were,

Christopher;
THOMAS, of whom presently;
John.

The second, but eldest surviving son,

THOMAS NICHOLSON, of Balrath Bury, born in 1662, inherited Balrath Bury in 1709.

In 1692, he was a commissioner for County Meath, during the reign of WILLIAM & MARY, and High Sheriff, 1704.

Mr Nicholson married firstly, in 1691, Mary, daughter of John Beauchamp, and had, with other issue, a daughter, Anne, whose daughter, Margaret, was second wife of Sir Richard Steele Bt, of Hampstead.

He wedded secondly, in 1700, Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of John Wood, of Garclony, and had issue,

CHRISTOPHER, his heir;
John;
Thomas;
Gilbert.

Mr Nicholson espoused thirdly, Rose, widow of Simeon Pepper, of Ballygarth, by whom he had no issue.

The eldest son,

CHRISTOPHER NICHOLSON, of Balrath Bury, High Sheriff of County Meath, 1735, espoused firstly, in 1723, Elinor, only daughter of Simeon Pepper, of Ballygarth, by Rose his wife, daughter of the Hon Oliver Lambart, of Plainstown, and granddaughter of Charles, 1st Earl of Cavan, and had issue,

JOHN, his heir;
Thomas;
George;
Christopher;
Hampden;
Rose; Christian; Emilia.

He wedded secondly, in 1751, Mary, daughter of Oliver Lambart, of Plainstown, by whom he had no issue.

His eldest son,

JOHN NICHOLSON (1724-82), of Balrath Bury, Captain, Coldstream Guards, wedded, in 1766, Anna Maria, daughter of Sir Samuel Armytage Bt, of Kirklees, Yorkshire, widow of Thomas Carter, of Shaen, and had issue,

CHRISTOPHER ARMYTAGE, his heir;
John.

He was succeeded by his elder son,

CHRISTOPHER ARMYTAGE NICHOLSON JP DL (1768-1849), of Balrath Bury, High Sheriff of County Meath, 1791, who married firstly, in 1796, Catharine, daughter of the Most Rev William Newcombe, Lord Archbishop of Armagh, by Anna Maria his wife, daughter and co-heir of Edward Smyth, of Callow Hill, County Fermanagh, second son of the Ven. James Smyth, Archdeacon of Meath, and had issue,

JOHN ARMYTAGE, his heir;
Christopher Hampden;
William (Rev);
Gilbert Thomas, JP;
Anna Maria.

He wedded secondly, in 1826, Anna, daughter of George Lenox-Conyngham, of Springhill, County Londonderry, by Olivia his wife, daughter of William Irvine, of Castle Irvine, County Fermanagh, and had issue,

Armytage Lenox;
Olivia; Sophia Elizabeth.

Mr Nicholson was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN ARMYTAGE NICHOLSON JP DL (1798-1872), of Balrath Bury, High Sheriff of County Meath, 1827, who married, in 1824, Elizabeth Rebecca, daughter of the Rt Rev and Rt Hon Nathaniel Alexander, Lord Bishop of Meath (nephew of James, 1st Earl of Caledon), by Anne his wife, daughter and heir of the Rt Hon Sir Richard Jackson, of Forkhill, by Anne his wife, sister of John, 1st Viscount O’Neill, and had issue,

CHRISTOPHER ARMYTAGE, his heir;
Nathaniel Alexander;
John Hampden (Rev);
William Newcome;
Gilbert de Poulton;
Katharine; Anne.

Mr Nicholson was succeeded by his eldest son,

CHRISTOPHER ARMYTAGE NICHOLSON JP DL (1825-87), of Balrath Bury, High Sheriff of County Meath, 1856, who espoused, in 1858, Frances Augusta, eldest daughter of the Hon Augustus Henry MacDonald Moreton, and had issue,

GILBERT MORETON, died unmarried;
JOHN HAMPDEN, succeeded his brother;
Mary Jane; Elizabeth Katharine; Emilia Olivia.

The only surviving son,

JOHN HAMPDEN NICHOLSON JP (1871-1935), of Balrath Bury, High Sheriff of County Meath, 1895, married, in 1894, Florence Isabel, third daughter of Thomas Rothwell, of Rockfield, Kells, and had issue,

CHRISTOPHER HAMPDEN;
John Armytage;
Joyce Frances.

His elder son,

CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER HAMPDEN NICHOLSON (1903-), of Balrath Bury, married, in 1928, Stephanie Adelaide Edwards, and had issue,

JOHN WARREN, his heir;
Virginia Rose.

His only son,

JOHN WARREN NICHOLSON, born in 1931, inherited Balrath House in the 1960s.

BALRATH BURY HOUSE, near Kells, County Meath, is a two-storey, pedimented, 18th century house.

It has seven bays with a curved bow at either end of the front.

Three more bays were added to the right; and seven more bays with another pediment plus two further bays to the left side.

Today, the front extends to nineteen bays and two bows.

The mansion suffered damage during the 2nd World War, having been used by the army.

It was subsequently reduced in size, in 1942, to the original block.

Balrath Bury is now in the American-Colonial style.

The principal rooms are on either side of a large hall, with a bifurcating staircase.

There is a long, Georgian, pedimented stable block.

It is thought that the most recent owners have been Frank and Carol Mallon.

First published in June, 2013.

https://meathhistoryhub.ie /houses-a-d/

Balrathbury house is located to the west of Kells. A two storey house, over basement, was constructed about 1709 and this was replaced by a colonial style house in the 1830s. The seat of the Nicholson family the house was described in 1835 as a handsome residence, pleasantly situated in an extensive and well wooded demesne with a park well stocked with deer. Bence-Jones said that the house suffered damage when it was used as a barracks 1939-42. This house was demolished about 1948 and a new smaller house in American Colonial style was erected. The stableyard is the only surviving building from the Georgian period.

The Nicholsons came to Ireland from Yorkshire. Gilbert Nicholson of Dublin remained loyal to the king during the Cromwellian period and was rewarded with lands in Monaghan. Selling the lands in Monaghan he bought Balrathbury in 1699. His second son, Thomas, settled at Balrathbury in 1709, after his father’s death. Thomas served as High Sheriff of County Meath in 1704. His eldest son, Christopher succeeded him at Balrathburry. Christopher served as High Sheriff of Meath in 1735. Dying in 1775 he was succeeded by his eldest son John. Born in 1724 John was a captain in the Coldstream Guards. In 1766 John married Anna Maria, daughter of Sir Samuel Armytage, 1^st Baron of Kirklees, Yorkshire and widow of Thomas Carter. Their son, Christopher Armytage, was born in 1768. High Sheriff of Meath in 1791 he married Catherine Newcome, daughter of William Newcome, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland. Their eldest son, John Armytage succeeded at Balrathburry. John was born in 1798 and was High Sheriff of Meath in 1827. In 1824 John married Elizabeth Rebecca, daughter of Nathaniel Alexander, Bishop of Meath. John died in 1872 and was succeeded by his son, Christopher Armytage Nicholson. Christopher was born in 1825 and served as High Sheriff of Meath in 1856. In 1858 Christopher married Frances Augusta Moreton. In October 1869 there was an attempt to murder Mr. Nicholson on his way home from the railway station in Kells. This is was part of the land dispute. In 1876 Christopher Armytage Nicholson of Balrath Burry, held 7,693 acres in County Meath.

Their son, Gilbert, succeeded in 1887 following the death of his father. Gilbert died unmarried in 1898 and was succeeded by his brother, John Hampden Nicholson. John served as High Sheriff of Meath in 1895 and married Florence Rothwell of nearby Rockfield. John H. Nicholson died in 1935 at his residence Balrath Burry. At one stage he held nearly 8000 acres in the Kells area but had only about 1000 acres remaining at his death as it had been disposed of to the Land Commission.

John Nicholson inherited Balrath House, Balrathbury in the 1960s. John became involved in breeding deer and became national chairman of the Irish Deer Society. The John Nicholson trophy is presented by the Irish Deer Society each year for meritorious service in the welfare, conservation and protection of deer in Ireland whether the deer are wild, feral or park

Tully, Louisburgh, Co Mayo

by jenjunebugMay 6, 2025

Tully, Louisburgh, Co Mayo

“A small house of ca 1800. In 1814, the residence of Nicholas Garvey, now of Sir Charles and Lady Harman.”

https://www.buildingsofire land.i e/buildings-search/building/31309602/tully-lodge-tully-murr-by-co-mayo

Tully Lodge, TULLY [MURR. BY.], County Mayo

*Tully Lodge, County Mayo, courtesy National Inventory.*

Detached three-bay two-storey fishing lodge, built 1805, on an L-shaped plan centred on single-bay full-height breakfront on an engaged half-octagonal plan; single-bay (east) or two-bay (west) two-storey side elevations centred on single-bay (single-bay deep) full-height return (south). Mortgaged, 1869. Sold, 1886. Vacant, 1901. Occupied, 1911. Sold, 1947. Undergoing renovation, 1996. Now disused. Hipped and pitched slate roof on an L-shaped plan centred on half-octagonal slate roof (breakfront), clay ridge tiles, paired rendered central chimney stacks having stringcourses below chamfered capping supporting ribbed terracotta or yellow terracotta tapered pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on roughcast cut-limestone eaves retaining cast-iron octagonal or ogee hoppers and downpipes. Part creeper- or ivy-covered roughcast walls. Hipped segmental-headed central door opening in segmental-headed recess with timber mullions on dragged cut-limestone step threshold supporting timber transom, and concealed dressings framing replacement timber panelled door having sidelights below fanlight. Square-headed window openings in tripartite arrangement with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, timber mullions, and concealed dressings framing six-over-six (ground floor) or four-over-four (first floor) timber sash windows having two-over-two sidelights. Interior including (ground floor): central hall retaining timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors; and timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with timber panelled shutters to window openings. Set in landscaped grounds with limestone ashlar piers to perimeter having stepped capping supporting flat iron double gates.

Appraisal

A fishing lodge representing an important component of the early nineteenth-century built heritage of the rural environs of Louisburgh with the architectural value of the composition, one erected ‘less than a decade after the foundation of the town [and] the last in a series of houses built by members of the Garvey family of Murrisk’ (Ruane 1996 II, L21), confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on scenic vistas overlooking landscaped grounds and the meandering Bunowen River; the compact plan form centred on a polygonal breakfront; and the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated tiered visual effect with those openings showing Wyatt-style tripartite glazing patterns. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the restrained interior, thus upholding the character or integrity of a fishing lodge having historic connections with the Garvey family including Nicholas Garvey (1709-1816; Edinburgh Annual Register 1816, 552) and James William Garvey (Westport Estate Papers 333-5); Patrick O’Dowd (1831-1917), ‘Landed Proprietor [and] Farmer’ (NA 1911); and Sir Charles Eustace Harman PC (1894-1970; Bence-Jones 1978, 277).

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

[Tully Lodge/Murrisk] The original house was built in the early 19th century by the Garveys. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation, it was held in fee by James Garvey and valued at £10. It was sold to the O’Dowds in the mid-1880s and to the Harman family in 1947. A house is still extant at the site.  

Rosturk Castle, Mulrany, Co Mayo

by jenjunebugMay 6, 2025November 28, 2025

Rosturk Castle, Mulrany, Co Mayo

*Rosturk Castle, County Mayo, courtesy National Inventory.*

p. 248. “(Stoney/IFR) A C18 house on the shore of Clew Bay, rebuilt as a rather austere C19 castle of rubble and random ashlar. Of two and three storeys; round and square corner towers of different sizes; a few turrets and corbelled bartizans. Small, simple battlements and rudimentary machicolations; plain walls with few, and in many cases, rather narrow, windows, of the ordinary rectangular Victorian plate-glass type At one side is a very extensive castellated office quadrangle; which, with its small battlements, its squat towers and its narrow window-openings, is reminiscent of an Arab fort.”

*Rosturk Castle, County Mayo, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.*

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings -se arch/building/31306612/rosturk-castle-rosturk-co-mayo

Detached five-bay two- and three-storey split-level country house, extant 1881, on a square plan with single-bay three-storey turrets on circular plans centred on single-bay three-stage breakfront originally with single-bay single-storey projecting porch to ground floor; two-bay two-storey (south) or four-bay three-storey (north) side elevations with single-bay three-stage towers on square plans. Occupied, 1911. Seized, 1921. Sold, 1976. Repaired, 1994. Interior including (ground floor): vestibule; pointed-arch door opening into hall with glazed timber panelled double doors; top-lit double-height hall retaining carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors, staircase on a dog leg plan with chamfered timber balusters supporting carved timber banister terminating in chamfered timber newels, carved timber surrounds to door openings to landing framing timber panelled doors, and wind braced rafters to vaulted ceiling centred on lantern; and carved timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers. Set in unkempt landscaped grounds with piers to perimeter having battlemented capping supporting looped wrought iron double gates.

Appraisal

A country house erected for Robert Vesey Stoney JP DL (1841-1924), one-time High Sheriff of County Mayo (fl. 1884), representing an important component of the later nineteenth-century domestic built heritage of County Mayo with the architectural value of the composition, one repurposing a sporting lodge erected by Lieutenant-Colonel John Francis Vaughan (1808-80) of Courtfield, Hertfordshire (Williams 1994, 305), confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on panoramic vistas overlooking the islet-studded Clew Bay with its mountainous backdrop in the distance; the compact, near-square plan form originally centred on a Georgian Gothic porch; the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression with the principal “apartments” or reception rooms defined by polygonal bay windows; and the “tourelle”-topped battlements embellishing the roofline. Although recently consigned to occasional use, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior where contemporary joinery; Classical-style chimneypieces; and sleek plasterwork refinements, all highlight the artistic potential of the composition. Furthermore, adjacent outbuildings (see 31306613); an ivy-enveloped gate screen (extant 1915); and distant gate lodges (see 31306614; 31306615), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of an estate having historic connections with the Stoney family including Lieutenant-Commander Robert Vesey Stoney RNVC (1903-44), killed in action in Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa, during the Second World War (1939-45); and Lieutenant-Commander Robert Oliver Vesey Stoney (1928-97).

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/build ing s-search/building/31306613/rosturk-castle-rosturk-co-mayo

Farmyard complex, extant 1901, including (west): Attached six-bay two-storey coach house on a symmetrical plan. Now disused. Pitched slate roof on strutted King post timber construction with clay ridge tiles, lichen-covered rock faced cut-limestone battlemented crow stepped coping to gables with rendered chimney stacks to apexes having stringcourses below capping supporting yellow terracotta pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on timber eaves boards retaining cast-iron downpipes. Limewashed roughcast walls. Series of six segmental-headed carriageways with concealed red brick voussoirs. Square-headed window openings (first floor) centred on square-headed loading opening with cut-limestone sills, and concealed dressings with no fittings surviving. Set in wooded grounds shared with Rosturk Castle.

Appraisal

A farmyard complex contributing positively to the group and setting values of the Rosturk Castle estate.

https://www.buildingsofirelan d.i e/buildings-search/buil ding /31306614/rosturk-castle-rosturk-co-mayo

Detached single-bay two-storey flat-roofed gate lodge, extant 1898, on a square plan. Now disused. Flat roof not visible behind parapet. Rendered, ruled and lined walls with rendered parapet on dentil consoles having concrete coping. Square-headed window openings, concealed dressings with hood mouldings framing boarded-up fittings. Set back from line of road at entrance to grounds of Rosturk Castle.

Appraisal

A tower-like gate lodge making a pleasing visual statement in a sylvan street scene at the principal entrance on to the grounds of the Rosturk Castle estate.

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/31306615/rosturk-castle-rosturk-co-mayo

Detached three-bay two-storey gate lodge, extant 1915, on a rectangular plan with three-bay two-storey rear (east) elevation. Renovated, —-, to accommodate occasional private residential use. Pitched slate roof with clay ridge tiles, cement rendered chimney stacks having stepped capping supporting terracotta pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on timber eaves boards on rendered eaves retaining cast-iron downpipes. Replacement cement rendered walls centred on cut-limestone panel (first floor). Square-headed central door opening with concealed dressings framing replacement glazed timber panelled door. Square-headed window openings with drag edged tooled cut-limestone (ground floor) or concrete (first floor) sills, and concealed dressings framing timber casement windows. Set perpendicular to road at entrance to grounds of Rosturk Castle.

Appraisal

A gate lodge clearly illustrating the continued development or “improvement” of the Rosturk Castle estate in the early twentieth century with the architectural value of the composition suggested by such attributes as the compact rectilinear plan form centred on an emblem reminiscent of the Royal Banner of Scotland; and the somewhat disproportionate bias of solid to void in the massing compounded by the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with quantities of the original or sympathetically replicated fabric, thus upholding the character or integrity of a gate lodge making a pleasing visual statement in a sylvan street scene.

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

Enlarged and extended by Robert Vesey Stoney in the latter half of the 19th century. It was noted as his residence by Slater in 1894. The property was sold in the late 1970s to Dr Healy of St Luke’s Hospital, Dublin.  

Ross House, Newport, Co Mayo

by jenjunebugMay 6, 2025

Ross House, Newport, Co Mayo

p. 246. “(O’Malley/IFR) A house of different periods, consisting of a plain front of ca 1800 and a long rambling range at the back, of which the furthest part is very old. The house stands at the end of a narrow peninsula, jutting out into Clew Bay.”

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/31307601/ross-house-rosbeg-co-mayo

Ross House, ROSBEG, County Mayo

Detached three-bay single-storey house with half-dormer attic, extant 1838, on a cruciform plan centred on single-bay single-storey flat-roofed projecting porch with single-bay (two-bay deep) full-height central return (north). “Improved”, pre-1897, producing present composition. Part refenestrated. Hipped gabled slate roof on a T-shaped plan with clay ridge tiles centred on paired cement rendered chimney stacks having stepped capping supporting terracotta or yellow terracotta octagonal pots, and replacement uPVC rainwater goods on box eaves retaining some cast-iron octagonal or ogee hoppers and downpipes. Part creeper- or ivy-covered fine roughcast walls centred on fine roughcast walls to porch with “Cyma Recta” or “Cyma Reversa” cornice below blocking course; limewashed lime rendered surface finish (north). Square-headed window openings with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and concealed dressings framing replacement timber casement windows to front (south) elevation retaining two-over-two timber sash windows (remainder) having part exposed sash boxes. Interior including (ground floor): central entrance hall retaining carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors; and carved timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with timber panelled splayed reveals or shutters to window openings. Set in landscaped grounds with fluted cast-iron colonette piers to perimeter supporting wrought iron-detailed flat iron “farm gate”.

Appraisal

A house erected by Lewis O’Donel (d. 1841; NUIG) regarded as an important component of the early nineteenth-century domestic built heritage of County Mayo with the architectural value of the composition, one allegedly retaining at its core the basis of a seventeenth-century house (Ruane 1996 II, L16), confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on panoramic vistas overlooking an inlet of Clew Bay with Tonaknick Point in the near distance; the compact plan form centred on a Classically-detailed porch; and the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression: meanwhile, a comparison of the first (surveyed 1838; published 1839) and second (surveyed 1897; published 1899) editions of the Ordnance Survey clearly illustrates the continued development or “improvement” of the house in the later nineteenth century. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior ‘much altered in the nineteenth and early twentieth century [and retaining] good chimneypieces’ (ibid.): the gradual introduction of replacement fittings to the openings, however, had not had a beneficial impact on the character or integrity of the composition. Nevertheless, adjacent outbuildings (extant 1838); and a nearby walled garden (extant 1838), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a self-contained ensemble having subsequent connections with the O’Malley family including Middleton More O’Malley JP (1826-1902), ‘Magistrate for Mayo’ (NA 1901); and a succession of tenants including Robert William Hilliard (b. 1862), ‘Commercial Traveller’ (NA 1911).

*Ross House, County Mayo, courtesy National Inventory.*

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

Ross House was built by Lewis O’Donel, a son of Lewis O’Donel of Killeen, Crossmolina, county Mayo and a first cousin of the first Sir Neal O’Donel, baronet. The house was inhabited by Captain and Mrs William Houstoun at the time of Griffith’s Valuation. They later moved to Doolough and Delphi in the barony of Murrisk. The house was purchased by Middleton O’Malley about 1880 and Slater records it as his residence in 1894. It is now the home of Mrs Meike Blackwell, whose mother-in-law was an O’Malley.

Rossyvera, or Rockfleet, County Mayo

by jenjunebugMay 6, 2025May 6, 2025

[Rockfleet, but see Rossyvera entry] p. 243. “A two storey late-Georgian house on an inlet of Clew Bay close to an old castle of the celebrated C16 chieftain, Graunuaile or Grace O’Malley; enlarged and remodelled from 1939 onwards by the British diplomat, Sir Owen O’Malley, and Lady O’Malley (better known as the writer and traveller, Ann Bridge). An extra storey, with a flat roof, was added to the house; and a new two bay block built to the right of the original three bay front and projecting forwards from it. The new additions are of random ashlar with the joints raked out and well pointed to resist the weather; the windows are small Georgian sashes. The whole effect is that an old castle enlarged and modernised in C18. The principal rooms are arranged round an oval staircase hall, which is original to the house but was raised and surmounted by a lantern when the extra storey was added. One of the rooms is an octagon. The library bookcases and some of the chimneypieces are of macacauba, a Portuguese colonial timber, which Sir Owen, who was Ambassador in Lisbon, sent to Ireland in the form of containers for his furniture.”

https://www.buildingsofireland .ie/b uild ings -search/building/31306710/rossyvera-house-rossyvera-co-mayo

*Rossyvera, County Mayo, courtesy National Inventory.*

Detached five-bay (two-bay deep) three-storey country house, under construction 1838, on an F-shaped plan originally five-bay two-storey over basement on a cruciform plan centred on three-bay full-height projecting breakfront abutting two-bay full-height projecting end bay; three-bay two-storey rear (west) elevation centred on single-bay full-height breakfront on an engaged half-octagonal plan. Sold, 1853. Vacant, 1901. Occupied, 1911. Extended, 1939, producing present composition. Roof not visible behind parapet with paired rendered central chimney stacks having stringcourses below capping supporting terracotta or yellow terracotta tapered pots, and concealed rainwater goods retaining cast-iron hoppers and downpipes. Part creeper- or ivy-covered walls with lead-covered coping to parapet. Elliptical-headed central open internal porch with cut-limestone surround centred on cut-limestone keystone. Square-headed door opening into country house with concealed dressings framing timber panelled double doors. Square-headed window openings with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and drag edged tooled cut-limestone lintels framing six-over-six timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings to rear (west) elevation with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and cut-limestone voussoirs (ground floor) or hammered limestone lintels (first floor) framing two-over-two (ground floor) or four-over-four (first floor) timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): central hall retaining timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors; and timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors. Set in landscaped grounds with piers to perimeter having stepped capping supporting cast-iron double gates.

Appraisal

A country house representing an important component of the early nineteenth-century domestic built heritage of County Mayo with the architectural value of the composition confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on panoramic vistas overlooking Rockfleet Bay; the cruciform plan form centred on a restrained doorcase; the construction in a local fieldstone offset by “sparrow pecked” limestone dressings demonstrating good quality workmanship; and the uniform or near-uniform proportions of the openings on each floor with the principal “apartments” defined by a polygonal bow: meanwhile, aspects of the composition clearly illustrate the continued development or “improvement” of the country house in the twentieth century with ‘the whole effect [being] of an old castle enlarged and modernised in the eighteenth century’ (Bence-Jones 1978, 243). Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior, thus upholding the character or integrity of the composition. Furthermore, an adjoining walled garden (extant 1897); and lengthy outbuildings (extant 1897), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a self-contained estate having historic connections with Captain Alexander Wadham Wyndham (1799-1869) of West Lodge, Dorset (NUIG); James Butler Stoney JP (1814-97); William Frederick Ormsby (1858-1941; NA 1911); the O’Malley family including Sir Owen St. Clair O’Malley KCMG (1887-1974) and Mary Dolling Sanders O’Malley (1889-1974), alias Ann Bridge, author of “Frontier Passage” (published 1942) and “The Dark Moment” (published 1952); and Walter Joseph Patrick Curley II (b. 1922), one-time American Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ireland (fl. 1975-7).

entry in MacDonnell, Randal. The Lost Houses of Ireland. A chronicle of great houses and the families who lived in them. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. London, 2002

Rossyvera House, or Rockfleet [see Rossyvera entry], is near to the tower house of Carrigahowley. It has been suggested that it was originally a dower-house for the O’Donel family, who lived at Newport House (Newport is a small village, ten miles west of Castlebar in the northeast corner of Clew Bay). [p. 181] However, there is an account that it was built ‘as a nice neat house’ by a family by the name of Arbuthnot.

“In the 19^th century the house came into the possession of the Stoney family. They had come from England in the 17^th century and in the 19^th century James Stoney (1814-1897), a Justice of the Peace, is known to have lived at Rossy-Vera (as it was spelt). His family cannot have owned the house after his time because James’s elder son, Thomas, resided at Oakfield Park, near Raphoe in County Donegal.

“The next name that is associated with Rossyvera is that of Sir Owen St. Clair O’Malley. Sir Owen described himself as ‘an autochthonous Irishman’ and was one fo the O’Malleys of Belclare. This branch of the family lived at Hawthorn Lodge (or Tallyho as it was originally named), near Castlebar in Co Mayo. One of this family was created a Count of the Holy Roman Empire and another, Loughlin O’Malley, conformed to the Established Church in 1718. His great-grandson, Peter O’Malley, QC, moved to England in the mid 19^th century and became the Recorder of Norwich. His son, Sir Edward, was variously Attorney General of Jamaica and Hong Kong and eventually Chief Judge of H.M. Supreme Consular Court for the Ottoman Empire. Sir Owen O’Malley was Sir Edward’s son. He entered the diplomatic service in 1911 and the next year married Mary Saunders. …

On Sir Owen’s retirement, he and Lady O’Malley began remodelling and enlarging Rossyvera – it is recorded that Sir Owen built the additions with his own hands. They added a two-bay wing to the original three bay house, an extra storey with a flat roof, as well as a cupola on the top of the staircase hall. There is an elliptical hall and a spiral staircase, the three original reception rooms are now four – one of which is an octagon shape – and there are nine bedrooms. The library bookcases and the dining room chimneypiece are made out of macacauba wood, an exotic oriental timber used by Sir Owen to make cases for his possessions when he moved from Portugal to Ireland. [182] with view to reusing the timber, he instructed his packers to employ screws rather than nails when fastening the timber.

In the 1950s Sir Owen O’Malley and the O’Malley clan Association restored Carrigahowley Cstle (which had been used, at one period, by a family called Flynn for storing hay) and it is now a National Monument. He wrote a history of the O’Malley lordship in the 16^th century in The Galway Archaological and Historical Journal (1950).

Sir Owen sold Rockfleet (the name is a contraction of the anglicization of Carrigahowley) in 1955, and moved to Oxford, where he died in 1974, a month after his wife. The new owner of the house was Carmel Snow, the editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, and the doyenne of fashion writers during the 1930s and 40s… she restored its original name of Rossyvera.

In 1957, Rossyvera was bought by Walter P. Curley and his wife, Mary. After a successful career in venture capital, Walter Curley served as Ambassador of the US to Ireladn from 1975-1977 and later, from 1989-1993 as Ambassador to France. .. He and hisw wife now live at Rossyvera for several months a year.”

Rockfleet Castle, Newport, Mayo

by jenjunebugMay 6, 2025May 6, 2025

Rockfleet Castle, Newport, Mayo

https://archiseek.com/2009/rock flee t-castle-newport-co-mayo

1550c – Rockfleet Castle, Newport, Co. Mayo

*Rockfleet Castle or Carraigahowley Castle (Carraig-an-Cabhlaigh), County Mayo, courtesy Archiseek.*

Rockfleet Castle or Carraigahowley Castle (Carraig-an-Cabhlaigh), is a tower house near Newport. It was built in the mid 16th century, and is most famously associated with the legendary Grainne ni Mhaille, Grace O’Malley, the pirate queen and chieftain of the clan O’Malley, who lived here after she married Sir Richard Burke (Richard the Iron) in 1566.

The castle has four storeys with a small rectangular corner turret rising above the parapet. The principal apartment was in the top floor where there is a fireplace. After the last war the building was restored by the diplomat Sir Owen O’Malley, a direct descendant of Grace, who lived in the nearby late Georgian house.

https://www.irelandscontentp ool.c om/en/media-assets/media/112755

*Rockfleet Castle or Carraigahowley Castle (Carraig-an-Cabhlaigh), County Mayo, courtesy Tourism Ireland, Photo by Artur Ilkow, 2016.*

*Rockfleet Castle or Carraigahowley Castle (Carraig-an-Cabhlaigh), County Mayo, courtesy Tourism Ireland, Photo by Pawel Sadowski, 2016.*

entry in MacDonnell, Randal. The Lost Houses of Ireland. A chronicle of great houses and the families who lived in them. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. London, 2002

p. 177 “A late 18^th century house with 19^th and 20^th century additions. Rockfleet stands near the shore of Clew Bay. It had been home to the only woman alleged to have held the position of an Irish Chief, as well as two distinguished diplomatists and their families.”

p. 178. Carrigahowley is a small, 16^th century tower house on the shore of Clew Bay, four storeys high with box machicolations (projecting galleries) on two opposing corners of the parapet. There are very few windows, but there are a number of narrow loops. Carrigahowley, or “Rock of the Fleet of Ships”, is the only residence that can be connected with certainty to Grace O’Malley…unfortunately, most of the tales that concern her are based more on fiction than fact. The house known as Rockfleet stands near the tower house.”

p. 179. “Grace was born between 1530-1540, the daughter of Eoghan Dubhdara (‘black oak’) O’Malley, the Lord of Upper Umhall, or the barony of Murrisk. Her father’s people were described as sea gods of the western ocean by the inhabitants of Mayo. To everybody else they were known as dangerous pirates. As a child, Grace accompanied her father on his marauding expeditions, and on his death she took over the leadership of the Murrisk O’Malley clan, since her brother was still a child. This was an extraordinary achievement for, despite its logic, it was completely contrary to the Brehon laws of succession in Gaelic Ireland.

In about 1546, Grace married Donal ‘of the strife’ the son of Giolla Dubh O’Flaherty, the Lord of Iar Chonnacht and Connemara. This marriage lasted for about 15 years – the Joyces (the descendants of Cambro-Normans, who controlled a large part of Co Galway, butchered him before 1561. Grace then married Sir Richard Fitz-David Bourke, The MacWilliam Uachtar, who was known in Irish as ‘Richard of the Iron’ or “Iron Dick’). Thanks to this match, she became Lady Bourke. Her eldest son by Iron Dick, Theobald of the Shops, would become the 1^st Viscount Mayo.

Grace now turned to open piracy, which she called her ‘trade of maintenance.’ An old manuscript described her as ‘a great pirate and plunderer from her youth.’ She was finally proclaimed an outlaw and a reward of £500 was offered for the capture of ‘Grany O’Mayle, a woman that hath impudently passed the part of womanhood, and been a great spoiler and chief commander and director of thieves and murtherers at sea.” An attempt to capture her at Carrigahowly Castle failed after a siege that lasted a fortnight.

Another tale has it that Grace acquired the castle by marrying her second husband Richard Bourke on a trial basis for a year. At the end of which, having filled the place with her own people and got herself an heir, she dismissed him.

“In 1576, Grace approached the Lord Deputy, Sir Henry Sidney, in an attempt at a rapprochement with Dublin Castle, but he rejected her overturnes and wrote that ‘she brought with her, her husband; for she was, as well by sea and by land, more than master-mate with him.” The unfortunate Sir Richard Burke died in 1538, leaving Grace a widow for the second time. She now decided to cast her net wider than before and led a raiding party against the Geraldines in Co Kerry. It was a disasterous undertaking. Cpatured by the Earl of Desmond and imprisoned for 18 months, no sooner was she released than she took to piracy once again. Her conduct led Sir Richard Bingham to write that she was a ‘notable traitress and nurse to all the rebellions in Connacht for forty years.’ Her son, Murrough O’Flaherty, had made submission to the Crown and was never forgiven by his mother. Bingham recalled that ‘she fell out of charity with Murrough, and having manned her navy of galleys, she landed at Ballynahinch, where he dwelt, burnt the town, destroyed his people’s cattle and goods, and killed three or four of his men who resisted.’

Then she retired to Carrigahowley with ‘all her own followers and one thousand head of cows and mares.’ Grace did not take sides in the political conflicts of the age in which she lived. All were considered as fair game. Consequently, in 1558, when those ships that had escaped from the disasterous defeat of the Spanish Armada sailed into Clew Bay, she made short work of them, and their crews were summarily dealt with, an action which won the approbation of Queen Elizabeth. Seeing her opportunity, Grace decided that now was the time to make her [p. 180] submission to the queen but, being Grace O’Malley, she did not submit to elizabeth’s representative but went in person to the court of London in 1593. However, despite the stories, there is no evidence that Grace actually ever met the queen. When she was in London, she petitioned for the release of her sons, which was granted, and asked for her entitlement from her husband’s lands, but this was refused. The Queen did, however, instruct Bingham to give her ‘some maintenance for her lving the rest of her old years.’

There is a famous tale that on her way back from the Queen, Grace was refused hospitality by Lord Howth. In revenge, she seized his infant son, taking him back to Mayo with her and only returning him after she was given a promise that a place would be laid at Howth Castle from that day forwards for the O’Malleys – just in case a member of that family might happen to be passing and in need of refreshment. There are serious flaws in this account of events. For one thing, the Lord Howth in the 1590s had no infant son to be kidnapped by anyone. But the legend is so well known (and a place is still laid at Howth Castle) that it is not impossible she might have kidnapped some member of Lord Howth’s family.”

“Interestingly, a similar legend concerns Ricard O Cuairsge Bourke, Lord of the mac Williams from 1469 until 1479 (and a collateral ancestor of Grace’s late husband). This version has it that it was this Richard Bourke who seized Lord Howth and, as part of his ransom, insisted that the head of the St. Lawrence family should always ‘keep the door of his Court open at dinner time.’ Perhaps the facts and the legend have become so mixed that it will never be possible to know the truth of the story.

Grace made a second trip to London in 1595 and died at some date after 1601 for, in that year, one of her galleys was captured with 100 musketeers on board by an English ship. She is allegedly buried on Clare Island in Clew Bay.

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

An O’Malley castle, owned by the Arbuthnots at the end of the 18th century. By the time of Griffith’s Valuation, the townland was in the possession of William B. Stony, leasing from Captain A.W. Wyndham. The castle ruin is still extant.  

Irish Castles and Historic Houses. ed. by Brendan O’Neill, intro. by James Stevens Curl. Caxton Editions, London. 2002:

This relatively small tower-house was the principle residence of the great Pirate Queen, Grace o”malley, whose powers were undisputed in the 16th century.

https://www.geni.com/projects/Hi storic -Buildings-of-County-Mayo/29699

Rockfleet Castle, Restored Castle – a.k.a. Carraigahowley Castle. 15th century tower house. Home of Grace O’Malley (Grainuale), “The Pirate Queen”.Rockfleet Castle, Restored Castle – a.k.a. Carraigahowley Castle. 15th century tower house. Home of Grace O’Malley (Grainuale), “The Pirate Queen”.

http://historicsitesofireland.blogspot.com/2011/03/rockfleet-castle.html

Rockfleet Castle also known as Carrickahowley Castle, stands in a small inlet on the northern shores of Clew Bay in County Mayo.
The Castle is renowned for its links with Grace O`Malley, a pirate sea Queen who inhabited the castle in the latter part of the 16th Century.
The castle is four floors high with a small rectangular corner turret rising above the parapet.
The principal apartment was in the top floor where there is a fireplace.
The building was restored by the diplomat Sir Owen O’Malley, a direct descendant of Grace O’Malley.
The castle is signposted (as Carrickahowley) just off the N59 between Newport and Mulranny.              

http://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/mayo/rockfleet/rockfleet.html

Map Reference: L931955 (0931, 2955) 

Rockfleet or Carrigahowley Castle is a fine 15th- or 16th-century tower house situated beside an inlet of Clew Bay. It is four storeys high with two corner bartizans. There is a fireplace at the top floor. 

It is known to be the principal residence of Grace O’Malley, or Grainneuaile, the famous sea-pirate. In 1574 she beat off an attack by sea-borne English from Galway. She lived at Rockfleet after the death of her second husband, Sir Richard Burke, in 1583. In 1593 she appeared before Elizabeth I and was granted a licence to attack the Queen’s enemies. 

Mount Gordon, Castlebar, Co Mayo

by jenjunebugMay 5, 2025May 6, 2025

Mount Gordon, Castlebar, Co Mayo

p. 213. “A mid C18 house of one storey over a high basement’ with a three sided central bow and a rusticated and round-headed doorway approached by a flight of steps. Single-storey one bay lean-to wings. Niches in the side-faces of the bow and in one of the wings.”

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/building s-se arch/building/31307813/mount-gordon-knockacroghery-co-mayo

*Mount Gordon, County Mayo, courtesy National Inventory.*

Detached five-bay single-storey over raised basement farmhouse, extant 1777, on a T-shaped plan centred on single-bay full-height breakfront on an engaged half-octagonal plan. Vacant, 1901[?]. Occupied, 1911. Extensively renovated. Replacement pitched slate roof on a T-shaped plan centred on half-octagonal slate roof with ridge tiles, abbreviated drag edged tooled cut-limestone coping to gables with drag edged tooled snecked limestone chimney stacks to apexes having stringcourses below chamfered capping supporting terracotta or yellow terracotta pots, and uPVC rainwater goods on timber eaves boards on rendered cut-limestone eaves. Roughcast walls bellcast over rendered plinth. Round-headed niches centred on round-headed central door opening approached by flight of nine benchmark-inscribed cut-limestone steps with drag edged cut-limestone block-and-start surround centred on keystone framing replacement timber panelled door having fanlight. Square-headed window openings with drag edged cut-limestone sills, and concealed dressings framing replacement casement windows replacing one-over-one timber sash windows having part exposed sash boxes. Set in landscaped grounds with rendered piers to perimeter having ivy-covered capping supporting wrought iron double gates.

Appraisal

A farmhouse widely regarded as an important component of the eighteenth-century domestic built heritage of the outskirts of Castlebar with the architectural value of the composition, one annotated as “Mount Gordon [of] Garden [Gardiner] Esquire” by Taylor and Skinner (1778 pl. 79), confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on panoramic vistas overlooking landscaped grounds and Lannagh or Castlebar Lough; the “top entry” plan form centred on a Classically-detailed polygonal breakfront; the uniform or near-uniform proportions of the openings on each floor; and the high pitched roofline. However, while the elementary form and massing survive intact, a comprehensive renovation programme involving the substitution of much of the original fabric has not had a beneficial impact on the external expression or integrity of the composition. Nevertheless, adjacent outbuildings (extant 1838); and a lengthy walled garden (extant 1838), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a self-contained ensemble having historic connections with the Boyd family including Sir William Boyd MD (1746-1815) and Patrick Boyd (1784-1846; Lewis 1837 I, 289); and the McDonnell family including James McDonnell (b. 1857), ‘Farmer’ (NA 1911).

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

An 18th century house, occupied in the 1770s by ‘Garden’ [Gardiner]. Wilson refers to it as the seat of Mr. Garden [Gardiner] in 1786. It was occupied by Mary Boyd at the time of Griffith’s Valuation, when the house was valued at £43. It is still extant and occupied.  

The Rock House, County Mayo see http://lordb elm ontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-rock-house.html

Milford, Hollymount, Co Mayo

by jenjunebugMay 5, 2025March 9, 2026

Milford, Hollymount, Co Mayo

p. 206. (Miller/LGI1912; Ormsby/IFR) A two storey early C18 gable-ended house, built to replace a late C17 house which was burnt. The lower storey of the front is five bay, with a fanlighted doorway in a single-storey three sided projection. The upper storey has four windows which are narrower than those below, and not in line with them. Milford passed by inheritance to the Ormsbys 1910, John Ormsby having married his cousin, Anne Bowen-Miller, 1851. A new wing was added, ante 1926, by C.C. Ormsby, who designed the addition himself. Richard Murphy, the poet, was born at Milford in the bedroom known as “the Bog Room,” his elegy, The Woman of the House, is in memory of his grandmother, Lucy, wife of Lt-Col Rev Thomas Ormsby, who lived at Milford until her death 1958.”

https://www.buildingsofirel and.i e/buildings-search/building/31312204/milford-house-milford-demesne-co-mayo

Milford House, MILFORD DEMESNE, County Mayo

*Milford, County Mayo, courtesy National Inventory.*

Detached three- or five-bay single-storey country house with half-dormer attic, extant 1740, on a cruciform plan originally three- or five-bay single-storey on a T-shaped plan centred on single-bay single-storey projecting porch on an engaged half-octagonal plan; single-bay (three-bay deep) full-height central return (south). “Improved”, pre-1893, producing present composition. Occupied, 1911. Pitched slate roof on a T-shaped plan centred on hipped slate roof (south); half-octagonal slate roof (porch), clay ridge tiles, fine roughcast red brick Running bond chimney stacks having lichen-covered chamfered capping, rendered chimney stack (south) having cut-limestone stringcourse below capping supporting terracotta pots, and replacement rainwater goods on rendered cut-limestone eaves retaining some cast-iron downpipes. Part creeper- or ivy-covered roughcast battered walls on rendered plinth. Segmental-headed central door opening with two cut-limestone steps, dragged cut-limestone surround centred on fluted keystone framing timber panelled door having fanlight. Square-headed flanking window openings with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and dragged cut-limestone lugged surrounds framing four-over-four timber sash windows without horns. Square-headed window openings with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and dragged cut-limestone lugged surrounds (ground floor) or concealed dressings (half-dormer attic) framing nine-over-six (ground floor) or four-over-four (half-dormer attic) timber sash windows without horns having part exposed sash boxes with six-over-six timber sash windows to side (east) elevation. Square-headed window openings (south) with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and dragged cut-limestone surrounds framing two-over-two timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): bow-ended central hall retaining carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters with carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors, moulded plasterwork cornice to ceiling, timber boarded staircase on a dog leg plan with timber “match stick” balusters supporting carved timber banister, and carved timber surrounds to door openings to landing framing timber panelled doors; dining room (east) retaining carved timber surround to door opening framing timber panelled door with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers, cut-white marble Classical-style chimneypiece, and run moulded plasterwork cornice to ceiling; drawing room (west) retaining carved timber surround to door opening framing timber panelled door with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers, Classical-style chimneypiece, and moulded plasterwork cornice to ceiling centred on plasterwork ceiling rose; and carved timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers. Set in landscaped grounds.

Appraisal

A country house representing an important component of the early eighteenth-century domestic built heritage of south County Mayo with the architectural value of the composition, one allegedly repurposing a seventeenth-century house destroyed by fire [SMR MA 122-014—-], confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate skewed alignment maximising on scenic vistas overlooking gently rolling grounds; the compact plan form centred on a polygonal porch showing a restrained Classical doorcase; the battered silhouette; the dramatic diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression; and the high pitched roof showing a slab-like slate finish: meanwhile, aspects of the composition clearly illustrate the continued development or “improvement” of the country house into the early twentieth century with those works including a wing self-designed by Charles Croasdaile Ormsby (b. 1856), ‘Civil Engineer’ (NA 1901; Bence-Jones 1978, 206). Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior including crown or cylinder glazing panels in hornless sash frames: meanwhile, contemporary joinery; Classical-style chimneypieces; and neo-Jacobean plasterwork enrichments, all highlight the artistic potential of the composition. Furthermore, adjoining walled gardens (extant 1838); a lengthy outbuilding (“1718”; Ruane 1996 I, 26); and a distant gate lodge (see 31312205), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of an estate having historic connections with the Miller family including Robert Miller (d. 1747), one-time High Sheriff of County Mayo (fl. 1735); his brother Croasdaile Miller (d. 1783), one-time High Sheriff of County Mayo (fl. 1750; 1756); George Miller (1763-1808); his brother Brigadier General Croasdaile Charles Miller (1772-1811); Croasdaile Bowen Miller (né Bowen) (1802-37); Croasdaile Charles Bowen Miller JP DL (1829-80), one-time High Sheriff of County Mayo (fl. 1870; Burke 1871 II, 922); his brother Ormsby Bowen Miller JP DL (1832-1910); and the Ormsby family including John Yeadon Ormsby (1822-88) and his daughter Lucy Ormsby (1873-1958), immortalised in “The Woman of the House: An Elegy” (1959) by Richard Murphy (b. 1927), poet.

https://www.buildingsofirela nd.i e/buildings-search/building/31312206/milford-house-milford-demesne-co-mayo

Gateway, extant 1838, on a symmetrical plan comprising pair of lichen-covered drag edged tooled limestone ashlar piers having “Cyma Recta” or “Cyma Reversa” cornices below capping supporting wrought iron double gates. Road fronted at entrance to grounds of Milford House.

Appraisal

A gateway forming part of a neat self-contained group alongside an adjacent gate lodge (see 31312205) with the resulting ensemble making a pleasing visual statement in a rural street scene at the entrance on to the grounds of the Milford House estate.

https://www.igs.ie/conservation/project/milford-house-2

Milford House, Co. Galway, is a c.1667 house that has been in the same family since its construction. Its three-sided front porch, which is integral to the internal design of the hallway, was in need of re-slating and new rainwater goods.

Grants Awarded:
2014: £2,000 from IGS London towards re-slating of three-sided single-story porch and a new cast for the rainwater spouting.

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/31312204/milford-house-milford-demesne-mayo

Detached three- or five-bay single-storey country house with half-dormer attic, extant 1740, on a cruciform plan centred on single-bay single-storey projecting porch on an engaged half-octagonal plan; single-bay (three-bay deep) full-height central return (south). Occupied, 1901; 1911. Pitched slate roof on a T-shaped plan centred on hipped slate roof (south); half-octagonal slate roof (porch), clay ridge tiles, fine roughcast red brick Running bond chimney stacks having lichen-covered chamfered capping, rendered chimney stack (south) having cut-limestone stringcourse below capping supporting terracotta pots, and replacement rainwater goods on rendered cut-limestone eaves retaining some cast-iron downpipes. Part creeper- or ivy-covered roughcast battered walls on rendered plinth. Segmental-headed central door opening with two cut-limestone steps, dragged cut-limestone surround centred on fluted keystone framing timber panelled door having fanlight. Square-headed flanking window openings with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and dragged cut-limestone lugged surrounds framing four-over-four timber sash windows without horns. Square-headed window openings (ground floor) with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and dragged cut-limestone lugged surrounds framing nine-over-six timber sash windows without horns having part exposed sash boxes. Square-headed window openings (half-dormer attic) with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and concealed dressings framing four-over-four timber sash windows without horns having part exposed sash boxes. Square-headed window openings (south) with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and dragged cut-limestone surrounds framing two-over-two timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): bow-ended central hall retaining carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters with carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors, moulded plasterwork cornice to ceiling, timber boarded staircase on a dog leg plan with timber “match stick” balusters supporting carved timber banister, and carved timber surrounds to door openings to landing framing timber panelled doors; dining room (east) retaining carved timber surround to door opening framing timber panelled door with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers, cut-white marble Classical-style chimneypiece, and run moulded plasterwork cornice to ceiling; drawing room (west) retaining carved timber surround to door opening framing timber panelled door with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers, Classical-style chimneypiece, and moulded plasterwork cornice to ceiling centred on plasterwork ceiling rose; and carved timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers. Set in landscaped grounds.

Appraisal

A country house representing an important component of the early eighteenth-century domestic built heritage of south County Mayo with the architectural value of the composition, one allegedly repurposing a seventeenth-century house destroyed by fire [SMR MA 122-014—-], confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on scenic vistas overlooking gently rolling grounds; the compact plan form centred on a polygonal porch showing a restrained Classical doorcase; the battered silhouette; the dramatic diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression; and the high pitched roof showing a slab-like slate finish: meanwhile, aspects of the composition clearly illustrate the continued development or “improvement” of the country house into the early twentieth century with those works including ‘a new wing added by C.C. [Charles Croasdaile] Ormsby who designed the addition himself’ (Bence-Jones 1978, 206). Having been well maintained, the form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior including crown or cylinder glazing panels in hornless sash frames: meanwhile, contemporary joinery; Classical-style chimneypieces; and neo-Jacobean plasterwork enrichments, all highlight the artistic potential of the composition. Furthermore, adjoining walled gardens (—-); a lengthy outbuilding (“1718”; Ruane 1996 I, 26); and a distant gate lodge (see 31312205), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of an estate having historic connections with the Miller family including Robert Miller (d. 1747), High Sheriff of County Mayo (fl. 1735); his brother Croasdaile Miller (d. 1783), High Sheriff of County Mayo (fl. 1750; 1756); George Miller (1763-1808); his brother Brigadier General Croasdaile Charles Miller (1772-1811); Croasdaile Bowen Miller (né Bowen) (1802-37); Croasdaile Charles Bowen Miller JP DL (1829-80), High Sheriff of County Mayo (fl. 1870); his brother Ormsby Bowen Miller JP DL (1832-1910); and the Ormsby family including John Yeadon Ormsby (1822-88) and Charles Croasdaile Ormsby (1856-1925). NOTE: The birthplace of the poet Richard Murphy (1927-2018), son of Sir William Lindsay Murphy (1888-1965) and Elizabeth Mary “Betty” Murphy (née Ormsby) (1898-1995), who immortalised his grandmother, Lucy Mary Ormsby (née Thomson) (1873-1958), in “The Woman of the House: An Elegy” (1959).

Irish Historic Houses

Properties open to the public, on Irish Revenue Section 482

County Mayo

Raheen House & Farm, Raheen, Killala, Co Mayo

€1,100,000

Raheens (Rahins, Rehins) House, Castlebar, Co Mayo – lost

Balrath Bury, County Meath

Tully, Louisburgh, Co Mayo

Rosturk Castle, Mulrany, Co Mayo

Ross House, Newport, Co Mayo

Rossyvera, or Rockfleet, County Mayo

Rockfleet Castle, Newport, Mayo

Mount Gordon, Castlebar, Co Mayo

Milford, Hollymount, Co Mayo

Appraisal

€1,100,000

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