Glenfarm, Co Meath
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 113. A two storey gable ended early 19C house. Derelict.
Doolistown, Trim, Co Meath – a ruin
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. 106. “(The Fox/IFR) A two storey three bay Georgian house with good doorcase. For six years the home of T.H. White, author of The Once and Future King (filmed as Camelot) and his beloved dog “Brownie.” Now a ruin.”
Not in National Inventory
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
https://meathhistoryhub.ie/houses-a-d/
Doolistown or Doolystown is two storey three bay Georgian house with a good doorcase, located near Boardsmill, Trim.
John Grierson of Doolistown was the son of Robert Grierson of Newtown, Co. Meath. John known as ‘Honest Johnnie Grierson’ married Elizabeth Higgins in 1728 and died 1775 aged 68. He and his wife are buried at Laracor graveyard. John left Doolistown to his youngest son, William, his oldest son James only got 5 shillings and was not to ‘pretend any claim to Doolistown.’ William lived at Doolistown but he was also a merchant operating in Dublin selling tobacco at 40 Meath Street. William married Abigail Higgins of Higginsbrook. When William died in 1793 he was buried at Laracor and after his death his widow carried on his merchant business in Dublin.
Doolistown appears to have been transferred to the ownership of the Grierson’s relatives, the Fox family. Matthew Fox married Elizabeth Grierson, daughter of John Grierson of Doolistown. Matthew, born in 1745, died in 1808 leaving issue James, John, Joseph and William and five daughters. The third son, Joseph, succeeded at Doolistown. In 1807 he married Frances D’Arcy of Hyde Park, Co. Westmeath and they had three daughters. In 1835 Doolistown House was the residence of Mr. J. Fox. He died in 1855.
In the early part of the twentieth century Doolistown was home to the McDonagh family.
For six years Doolistown was the home of Terence Hanbury White, author of ‘The Once and Future King’, filmed as Camelot, and his beloved dog “Brownie”. His father, Garrick Hanbury White, a former Royal Irish Constabulary man from Co. Meath, had joined the Indian Civil Service. The name, Hanbury, is associated with Trim and Laracor. In the late 1930s the owners of Doolistown House were approached and asked would they take in White as a lodger. In February 1939 White moved to Doolistown where he lived out the international crisis and World War II. White took lessons in Irish and attended the religious devotions of the family almost converting to Roman Catholicism. In 1940 he began work on ‘Candle in the Wind’, the third book in his trilogy. T.H. White was a sad and lonely man and while at Doolistown he suffered ill health and depression. His fantasy ‘The Elephant and the Kangaroo’ is loosely based on his time at Doolistown. Trim Castle may have been the model for the room in the ‘The Queen of Air and Darkness’. White’s ‘The Elephant and the Kangaroo’ is very critical of the Irish people and the people at Doolistown were offended by their portrayal. Vincent Eivers of Roristown was an acquaintance of White’s and said his book was ‘a desperate thing.” White taught him how to divine water and took him on hawking expeditions. Marie Mac Sweeney wrote an article on Terence Hanbury White in Meath in the 2004 issue of Ríocht na Midhe.
J.R. H. Greeves wrote an article on the Griersons of Co. Meath in the Irish Genealogist in 1959.
Dollardstown, Slane, Co Meath – a ruin
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. 104. “(Meredyth, Bt, of Greenhills, PB1909; Somerville, Athlumney, B/PB 1920) A house grandly remodelled in red brick ca 1730 for Arthur Meredyth, probably by Richard Castle. Three storey over a high basement with a parapet-attic of blind windows above the cornice. Seven bay front, three bay breakfronted centre, with Castle’s favourite sequence of a blind oculus above a niche above the entrance doorway, which is pedimented and pillared. Two bay side elevation, with Venetian windows in both principal storeys, triple windows above and triple blind windows in the attic and also in the basement; which, instead of being brick faced with stone, is of stone faced with brick. The principal front is flanked by two tall pedimented pavilions. Passed by inheritance to the Somerville (Athlumney) family; occupied by a farmer as early as 1837. Now a ruin. – supplement: In 1920s, Dollardstown, somewhat decayed, was the home of Mrs Hannah Laffan, mother of Brandan Bracken (afterwards Viscount Bracken), who spoke of the house as ‘that old barracks.’”
Paddy Rossmore. Photographs. Edited by Robert O’Byrne. The Lilliput Press, Dublin 7, 2019.
“The name Dollardstown derives from Adam and Paganus Dullard who in 1175 were granted lands in this part of the country by the Anglo-Norman Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath. In the late seventeenth century, Dollardstown was acquired by Arthur Meredith, whose forbear the Welsh-born cleric Richard Meredyth in 1584 moved to Irelnd where he became Bishop of Leighlin and Dean of St Patrick’s, Dublin. It seems likely that the house at Dollardstown was at least in part of seventeenth-century origin, but after the estate was inherited by Arthur Meredith’s son (also called Arthur) in 1732 he rebuilt the property, apparently to the designs of Richard Castle. From the 1830s onwards, it seems that Dollardstown passed through various hands: in the last century, it was home to the mother of Financial Times founder and politician Brendan Bracken following her marriage to Patrick Laffan who then owned the house: she described it as “that old barracks.” Of seven bays and three storeys, the house had tall free-standing pavilions on either side: one of these still survives. An architectural curiosity was taht both side elevations had paired Venetian windows on ground and first floors. Inside, the main rooms had plaster panelling and there was a fine staircase. All remained in place as late as the 1950s when the house still had its roof…demolished in 1986…”
The Landed Gentry and Aristocracy: County Meath. Volume 1. Art Kavanagh, published by Irish Family Names, 11 Emerald Cottages, Grand Canal St, Dublin 4, 2005.
Aylmer of Balrath, p. 1. During the reign of Henry VI, Richard Aylmer of Lyons, a Keeper of the Peace for both Dublin and Kildare, was appointed Sovereign of the Borough of Tassagard, a position that put him in charge of protecting the settler community from attack by the neighbouring O’Toole and O’Byrne septs. Richard’s grandson Bartholomew served as High Sheriff of County Kildare in 1495 and married a daughter of the wealthy Meath magnate, Sir Christopher Chevers. The family subsequently rose to become one of the most prominent families in Meath and Kildare and, from 1530 onwards, key figures in the Dublin administration. By the close of Henry VIIIs reign, the Aylmer’s landholding extended from Kildare to Meath to Dublin. Before teh end of the 16th century they had established two independent branches at Donadea in north Kildare and at Dollardstown in Co Meath. The first Aylmer of real significance, in terms of land acquisition, was John Aylmer who married Helen Tyrell of Lyons, an heiress, at the end of teh 14th C and so the family acquired Lyons manor. He may have been a successful merchant and was descended from a family that had been prominent in the Lyons area since the Norman invasion.
p. 2. In the 13th and 14th centuries they intermarried not along with the Tyrell family of Westmeath but with three major Meath families – the Petits of Piercetown, the Bathes of Dollardstown and the Chevers of Macetown. In the 15th century, the Tews of Dublin, Suttons of Kepok, Luttrells of Luttrellstown and Dillons of Fingal came into the fold.
p. 3. Sir Gerald Aylmer [c. 1485-1560] was a shrewd and ambitious man. He studied law in his youth and catching the eye of Thomas Cromwell, was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. As a leading figure in the Dublin administration, Sir Gerald co-orchestrated the military campaign that defeated Silken Thomas. He personally commanded the force that burned Maynooth in 1534. When Silken thomas and his five captured uncles were sent to London, Sir Gerald went as their escort. Initially Gerald was a keen supporter of Lord Deputy Leonard Grey and assisted him during the campaign against the O’Neills of Ulster. In 1539, Grey knighted him on teh battlefield for his valour and granted him the manor and lordship of Dollardsotnw in County Meath, seized from Gerald’s great-uncle, Attorney General Bathe, who was implicated in the Kildare Rebellion. Gerald’s elder brother, Richard Aylmer of Lyons, chief sergeant of Kildare in 1535, also fared well in Lord Deputy Grey’s loyalty payout, receiving the lucrative manor house of Donadea.
Indeed Lrd Grey’s intimate circle divided the spoils so that the Earl of Ormond was granted Kildare’s manor at Kilkea, Sir Thomas Eustace secured Kilcock, Thomas Cusack secured Ardmulgham and Grey himself, Maynooth. Richard’s landholdings included 46 acres held by the glebe of Oughterard Rectory from the Abbot of Thomas Court Abbey in Dublin. He also held three gardens in Kill and the tithes of Fenaghes in the parish of Cloncurry. He was also in receipt of the tithes of Whitechurch and its glebe-land, the property of St John’s Hospital in Naas. With the dissolution of the monasteries, Richard as able to swiftly sweep these outlying properties into his own estate.
p. 4. However, he did not actually benefit from the breakup of the large Kildare churches save for the short-term purchase of the Dominican house in Naas, which he passed on to his brother-in-law Sir Thomas Luttrell within a few years.
p. 5. His son Bartholomew, who maried Elinor Warren of Navan, was appointed Clerk of the Peace for Counties Kildare and Meath in 1553 and given the post of Clerk of the Crown. He died soon afterwards and was succeeded by his eldest son James. James later married his second cousin Anne, daughter of Sir Richard Aylmer of Lyons and he inherited all the lands from his grandfather, Sir Gerald of Dollardstown who died in 1560….From him descended the Aylmers of Dollardstown.
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 113. “A superb house remodelled c. 1730 for Arthur Meredyth probably to the design of Richard Castle but incorporating a late 17C house. Very fine interior plasterwork and main staircase. The house was still roofed in the 1950s and having stood as a ruin for many years was demolished in 1986. The cut stone doorcase and other details were saved and are now in a private collection in County Cork.”
https://meathhistoryhub.ie/houses-a-d/
Dollardstown House stood near Beauparc, just off the road from Navan. Casey and Rowan described Dollardstown as a large and impressive stone and redbrick house designed in 1734 for Arthur Meredyth by Richard Castle, which stood as a derelict ivy grown shell until 1986 when it was completely demolished. Maurice Craig said Dollardstown was a remodelling in red brick, probably by Richard Castle of an earlier late seventeenth century house. On each side of the main house were tower-like wings. There is photo in Maurice Craig’s book. The three storey over high basement house had very fine interior plasterwork. The house was still roofed in the 1950s but demolished in 1986. The cut stone doorcase and other details were saved.
The local names of Dollardstown and Painestown derive from Adam Dullard and his relative Paganus Dullard who were given grants of land by Hugh de Lacy in 1175. Sir Gerald Aylmer was granted Dollardstown in the reign of Henry VIII.
Arthur Meredith held 382 acres of Dollardstown, barony of Duleek, and the 200 of Cristown, barony of Kells, from the Crown in 1683. Born in1639 Arthur was High Sheriff of Meath and M.P. for Navan from 1692 to 1713. He purchased 1070 acres in Co. Meath from the Commissioners for Sale of Forfeited Estates between 1702 and 1703. Dying on 1732 at age 93 years he was buried at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.
His son, Arthur Francis Meredith born about 1706, served as MP for Meath from 1751 to 1761. High Sheriff of Meath in 1736 he married Mary Waller and lived at Dollardstown.
Richard Jones M.P. for Killybegs 1761-8 and M.P. Newtown Limavady 1768-76 resided at Dollardstown.
Arthur’s daughter and heiress, Mary, married Sir Richard Gorges in 1775. Richard Gorges was the only son of Hamilton Gorges who was from the Kilbrew Gorges. He took the name, Meredith, and was created a Baronet in 1787, by the name of Richard Gorges Meredith. He received the third penny of tolls and customs of Navan and half toll of corn. Mary died in 1809. Sir Richard’s only daughter and heiress, Mary Anne Meredyth, married Sir Marcus Somerville in 1801. Sir Marcus was M.P. for Co. Meath in Irish Parliament in 1800 and in London Parliament 1801-31. Their son, William Meredyth Somerville, born about 1802 became 1st Baron Meredyth of Dollardstown and 1st Baron Athlumney. He lived at nearby Somerville House. In the 1830s Dollardstown House, described as a spacious mansion was occupied by a farmer.
Dollardstown was resided in by the O’Brien family and the Shields family. A copper mine operated at Dollardstown in the early twentieth century. The poet, Francis Ledwidge, was a miner there. After the O’Briens died out the house was lived in by the Laffin family. A native of Tipperary, Patrick Laffan acquired Dollardstown when it was being divided by the Land Commission. Patrick Laffin had married a widow, Hannah Brackan, the mother of Brendan Bracken. The house was somewhat dilapidated and Hannah Laffan described the house as ‘that old barracks.’ Brendan Bracken attended Mass at Yellow Furze while living at Dollardstown.
Brendan Bracken was born in Templemore, Co. Tipperary in 1901 to Joseph K. Bracken and Hannah Ryan. Joseph died when Brendan was three and his mother married Patrick Laffan. Bracken made a successful career from 1922 as a magazine publisher and newspaper editor in London. Bracken founded the modern Financial Times in 1945. He was an ardent opponent of the appeasement of Adolf Hitler and a supporter of Winston Churchill. Brendan Bracken, was Minister of Information under Winston Churchill during the Second World War. He was briefly First Lord of the Admirality in 1945. He was created Viscount Bracken in 1952, the title became extinct on his death in 1958.
Patrick Laffan was a member of the Farmer’s Party and was elected to Meath County Council in 1925. Patrick Laffan also represented Fianna Fail on Meath County Council. His second wife, Catherine Moran, was a native of Trim. A son, Pat Laffan, became a distinguished Abbey actor. Pat Laffan featured in “The Snapper” and Fr. Ted. Pat Laffan was director of the Peacock Theatre and also directed in the Gate Theatre. He has appeared in around 40 films.
After the death of Mr. Laffan in the 1950s, the property was purchased by Dan Connell. The house was then been demolished. A stone carving bearing an image of Our Lady and dating to the 16th century was uncovered in recent years in Dollardstown on the lands of the Connell family.
Clonebraney or Clonabreany, Crossakeel, Co Meath – a ruin
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. 86. “(Wade/IFR) An early C19 house, of which only two ruinous wings remain. Handsome stable yard with pedimented archway.”
Record of Protected Structures:
Clonabreanay, townland: Clonabreanay
An early 19th century House with only two ruinous wingsremaining. incl stable yard
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 113. …In 1814 the seat of Robert Wade.
https://meathhistoryhub.ie/houses-a-d/
Clonabreany
Clonabreaney
Clonabreany House outside Crossakeel was demolished in the last century. There was a house here in 1786 but the house was described as being an early 19th century house. There was extensive woodlands surrounding the house. There was the Bleach Wood, the Long Wood and the Tunnel Wood.
Cromwell is said to have encamped on Crossakiel Hill and offered 1000 acres of Clonabreaney to one of his officers who had distinguished him in the fight. The officer refusing said he would not want to live in a swamp like that and so a drummer boy spoke up saying he would be delighted with 1000 acres of the land and Cromwell said ‘Young Wade, I will give you 2000 acres of it.’
Henry Wade purchased lands in Meath in 1663 and was confirmed with 1490 acres at Clonabreaney in 1684. John Wade of Clonabreaney was MP for Athboy 1703-14 and for Trim 1728-35. John was the eldest son of Henry Wade. He had a house in Trim. Henry Wade had been granted lands in Westmeath by Charles II and John had purchased lands at Clonabreaney from the Forfeited Estates Court in 1703 after the Battle of the Boyne. He purchased 100 acres in Dublin and 3151 acres in Meath. John Wade had served as High Sheriff of Meath in 1702 and he died in 1735.
Walter Wade, a descendant of Henry Wade of Clonabreany, became a noted botanist in the late eighteenth century. He successfully proposed the establishment of a botanical garden at Glasnevin in 1795.
John was succeeded by his nephew, Clotworthy Shields, who took the name Wade in 1735 in order to inherit the estate. Clotworthy was killed by a fall from his horse ten years later and was succeeded by his cousin, John Daniell, who took the name Wade.
Robert Wade of Clonabreany was High Sheriff of Meath 1772. He was succeeded by his eldest son, William Blaney Wade. When William died he was succeeded by Robert. Robert Craven Wade was born 1809 and served as High Sheriff of Meath 1840 and for Co. Wicklow 1847. The Wades were said to be good landlords and slaughter an ox a week to feed the people during the famine.
In 1883 Robert Craven Wade of Clonabreaney held 5174 acres in Meath, 4055 in Wicklow and 367 in Louth making a total estate of 9,596 acres. Robert died in Surrey in 1898. His eldest son William George Clayton Wade died in 1882 and was buried at Crossakiel. The estate then went to Craven Henry Clothworthy Wade who lived at Rockfield, Co. Wicklow. He died in 1911.
The estate was broken up in the early part of the twentieth century. Clonabreaney House was levelled in the middle of the twentieth century but the stable block remained standing. In 2009 the old estate manager’s house was completely restored and opened as Clonabreany House, a venue for weddings, occasions and conferences. Clonbreany now features the restored courtyard, containing 10 self-contained houses and two restored Georgian houses.
Black Castle, Navan, Co 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. 42. “(Fitzherbert/IFR) Originally a single-storey late C18 gentleman’s “cottage” with a thatched roof and two curved bows on the entrance front; to the back of which a two storey slate roofed wing was added, probably ca 1791 and with the advice of that talented amateur architect, Rev Daniel Beaufort. The “cottage” was replaced, some time post 1826, by a plain two storey early C19 house. Principal front of six bays with two bay breakfront centre. Single-storey Doric portico at side; three sided bow at other end. Recently destroyed by fire.”
In Blake, Tarquin. Abandoned Mansions of Ireland. Collins Press, Cork, 2010.
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
https://meathhistoryhub.ie/houses-a-d/
Blackcastle
Blackcastle
Black Castle House is located on the banks of the Boyne river, just downstream from Navan town. The Fitzherbert family was a junior branch of the family of Lord Stafford who was beheaded by Charles II in 1680 for alleged complicity in the ‘Popish Plot.’ William Fitzherbert, second son of William FitzHerbert, third Lord of Swynnerton settled at Shercock, Co. Cavan. From there the family acquired Black Castle.
The Fitzherberts were in Black Castle from at 1722 and the first house erected was a single storey gentleman’s cottage with a thatched roof constructed around 1760. William Fitzherbert of Black Castle left the estate to his sister, Leititia, who was married to John Ruxton of Ardee. When John Ruxton died in 1785, the Fitzherbert estates were divided between his two younger sons with John getting Black Castle and Samuel getting Swinnerton, provided they adopted the surname Fitzherbert. The Fitzherberts were said to be related to Mrs Fitzherbert who married the Prince of Wales in 1785.
John Ruxton Fitzherbert lived at Black Castle and married Margaret Edgeworth in 1770. Margaret was sister to Richard Edgeworth and aunt of the novelist Maria Edgeworth. Maria regularly visited Black Castle. John was associated with the building of the Boyne canal and also added a slated two storey wing to the rear of the house in 1791.
A family tradition stated that the Ruxton family of Ardee maintained a claim over Black Castle which they could enforce if they gained possession on St Peter’s Day, 29 June. On 29 June, all the gates leading into the demesne were locked and guarded and nobody was permitted to either enter or depart the property. From dusk to dawn four large bonfires were lit outside the main gateways on all the roadways leading to Black Castle. All the men in the district would stand guard, whilst consuming quantities of porter which was supplied to them. This custom continued annually until Bertie Fitzherbert’s death in 1939.
John died in 1825 aged 80 and was succeeded by his son, Richard Ruxton, who took the additional surname Fitzherbert. Richard also acquired the estates of his uncle, Samuel. Richard replaced the cottage at Black Castle in 1826 with a much larger two-storey house. In 1837 Black Castle was described as the handsome residence of Richard Ruxton Fitzherbert, the mansion was a spacious and modern structure, situated on the banks of the Boyne, which flowed within sight of it; the demesne was extensive and well planted. Mrs. Fitzherbert supported a charitable loan society in Navan and a society for the relief of the destitute sick poor. Richard married Elizabeth Selina Staples of Dunmore, Queen’s County in 1807 but they had no children and so they adopted Thomas Rothwell, grandson of his aunt Mary, née Ruxton, who had married James Corry of Shantonagh, Co. Monaghan. There is a memorial to Richard Ruxton Fitzherbert who died in 1840 in St. Mary’s Church of Ireland church in Navan
In 1838 Thomas Rothwell married Francis Vesey from which union stem the present Fitzherberts of Swynnerton and Blackcastle. Thomas assumed the name Fitzherbert in 1863.
Black Castle then went to his son, Richard who became High Sheriff of County Monaghan in 1880. In 1883 Richard Ruxton Fitzherbert held 2011 acres in Meath and 2387 acres in Monaghan giving a total estate of 4398 acres. Richard Fitzherbert died in 1920 and he was succeeded by his younger son, Bertram Fitzherbert who had to pay an annuity to his older brother’s widow. His older brother, Richard, had died in 1920.
Bertram was born in 1871. Known as Bertie, he was a land agent, managing Emo Court for the fifth and sixth earls of Portarlington. He lived on the Emo estate but in 1930 Emo Court was sold ending Bertie’s thirty year service to the family.
Bertie died unmarried on 4th December 1939 so the estate was bequeathed to Ivo Fitzherbert, eldest son of his first cousin. Ivo served in the Second World War as a captain, settled in Argentina and lived there until 1960. Ivo Fitzherbert pioneered the growing of maize in Ireland when he sowed the crop in the 1970s. Ivo Fitzherbert died in 2000. The family acquired Rockfield House, home of the family’s ancestors, the Rothwells.
In 1940 Blackcastle House was requisitioned by the army to use as a base and it continued to be occupied until the end of the war. The Fitzherbert family sold the house in 1946 to Dr. and Mrs Reeves. In 1962 the house was purchased by Captain Maguire. The house was sold again and allowed to fall derelict in the 1980s before being destroyed by fire in 1987.
Housing estates Fitzherbert Wood, Fitzherbert Court and Fitzherbert Place recall the names of these local landowners.
Athcarne Castle, Duleek, Co 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. 14. “An old tower-house with a three storey 5 bay later wing which is plain but for a battlemented porch and a rather thin turret. Now a ruin.”
Record of Protected Structures:
Athcarne Castle, townland: Athcarne, town” Duleek
late 16th C house with early 19thC castellated extensions.
Built by the De Bathes. Original castle is ruinous.
Not in national inventory
In Blake, Tarquin. Abandoned Mansions of Ireland II: More Portraits of Forgotten Stately Homes. Collins Press, Cork, 2012.
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 113. …In 1814 the seat of Henry Garnett.
https://curiousireland.ie/athcarne-castle-balrath-co-meath-1590/
This foreboding looking building is Athcarne Castle located in Balrath co. Meath. It was built for William Bathe in 1590. The Bathe family produced a number of well known legal and political personalities around the 16th and 17th century. It originally comprised of an Elizabethan tower house, a three storied mansion and a corner turret but was renovated around 1830 with the addition of a large three story turret. It lies just six miles from the site of the Battle of the Boyne and it is said that James II stayed here on the night before the event in 1690. The last occupant was James Gernon who lived there until the 1950’s when the building was partly demolished and has stayed in a state of dangerous ruin since. Legends about the castle include cries of dying soldiers heard at night and the spectre of a hanged soldier on the great oak tree adjacent. The most disturbing tale is a recent one by a local worker who claimed to have seen the face of “a demented girl with blood covered hands”!
http://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/meath/athcarne/athcarne.html
Map Reference: O031647 (3031, 2647)
This is a 16th century four-storey tower-house with a ruined 19th century house attached. A spiral stairway rises within a projecting turret in the NW corner to roof level. There are some roof weepers but all crenellations have been removed except at the SW corner.
The tower is vaulted abover the ground floor and there are some excellent wicker-marks in the vaulting. There are at least two rooms at each level and the walls of the upper rooms have had lath and plaster finish. The three-storey 19th century house is stone-faced and brick-lined. It has a S porch with crenellations. There are remains of a two-storey extension on the N side. There is a turret at the SW corner and an armorial plaque on the S wall. This house replaces a late-16th century house on the same site and incorporates some of the stone.
https://theirishaesthete.com/2021/05/03/athcarne-2/
Alas, the dilapidated remains of Athcarne Castle, County Meath now indicate little of its distinguished history, which go back at least 900 years. The name of the place is thought to derive from either Ath Cairn (the Bridge/Fording Point at the Cairn) or Ard Cairn (High Cairn). Whichever is the case, this indicates that it was originally the site of a pre-Christian cairn, or burial mound: it may well be that the structure seen today rests on top of or adjacent to a cairn. For hundreds of years, the lands in this part of the country belonged to the Bathe family, descendants of Hugo de Bathe, and Anglo-Norman knight who, as his name explains, came from Bath and who arrived in Ireland with Hugh de Lacy in 1171. It may be that Hugo de Bathe built some kind of castle or defensive fort here but eventually this was succeeded by the tower house which still survives and constitutes the eastern portion of the building. Rising four storeys and presumably erected in the 15th or 16th century, the tower has large window openings on the upper levels which were clearly later than the original structure; those on the topmost floor are topped with stone mouldings and there is a buttress on the north-east corner.
Until the mid-17th century the Bathes were a prominent family in Ireland, with large landholdings in north County Dublin, where they built a number of other castles at places such as Drumcondra and Glasnevin. Three of them would serve as the country’s Lord Chief Justice while John de Bathe was Attorney General in 1564 and then Chancellor of the Exchequer 1577-86. Around 1590 his son William Bathe, a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas and then married (as his second wife) Janet Dowdall (as her third husband) built what, from a surviving engraving, appears to have been an Elizabethan manor house onto the west side of the old tower house; it may well have been around this time that the latter’s windows were enlarged. The couple’s respective coats of arms can be seen on a slim tower on the south-west corner of the present building, seemingly having been moved to this location in the 19th century. Despite remaining Roman Catholic, the Bathes appear to have survived and held onto their estates until the outbreak of the Confederate Wars of the 1640s when, along with other landed families of the same faith, they rose in rebellion. And, like so many other landed families of the same faith, upon the arrival of the Cromwellian forces towards the close of the decade, they found themselves on the losing side. As a result, their considerable lands were forfeited and distributed to members of the English army, Athcarne being granted to one Colonel Grace. Following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 the Bathes sought the return of their property, but were unsuccessful, since it was now granted to Charles II’s brother, James, Duke of York (the future James II). Following further appeals, the duke returned Athcarne and surrounding 1,200 acres on a 99 year lease at a peppercorn rent: the rest of their former lands he retained. When James II came to Ireland, it is claimed that he spent the night before the decisive Battle of the Boyne at Athcarne Castle, which was, after all, only rented to the Bathes. In any case, soon after the start of the following century, the family had gone, James II was in exile in France, and Athcarne passed into the hands of another family, the Somervilles who in turn rented it on a long lease to the Garnetts.
Athcarne Castle remained occupied by successive generations of Garnetts until the early 1830s when it was acquired by the Gernons, once more a family of Anglo-Norman origin (mentioned here recently, see Alms and the Man « The Irish Aesthete). It appears the Gernons were responsible for pulling down the Elizabethan manor house and replacing it with a new residence, the remains of which can still be seen. This is a castellated three-storey block originally two rooms’ deep. A modest, single-storey entrance porch was added on the south side (previously access to the building had been from the north). It was probably also around this time that the little tower in the south-west corner was constructed and the Bathe/Dowdall coats of arms, previously on the exterior of the manor house, placed there as a souvenir of the castle’s earlier history. By the last century, the Gernons, rather like their predecessors on the site, were in decline. The surrounding land was sold and finally in 1939 an auction of the contents was held; among the lots, apparently, was a bed dating from the 17th century, the bed in which James II had slept the night before the Battle of the Boyne. In May of that year, the Land Commission offered the castle and remaining 88 acres for sale. Left empty, the building was unroofed and left as a shell in the early 1950s and so it has remained ever since.
For more information about Athcarne Castle and its history, an invaluable source is Athcarne Castle | Facebook
https://meathhistoryhub.ie/houses-a-d/
Athcarne Castle is located just west of Duleek, on the Hurley river and near to the Nanny.
Athcarne consists of a medieval tower with a large nineteenth century extension. Athcarne Castle was originally built for William Bathe in 1590. Home to the Bathe and Gernon families it was lived in until the mid-twentieth century. The four storey tower house was renovated about 1830 and a large three storey extension and a thin turret tower were constructed. The tower house has a vaulted lower chamber with wicker markings on the ceiling. The three-storey nineteenth century house is stone-faced and brick-lined. There is a turret at the south west corner and an armorial plaque on the south wall. There was a great walled garden and yard. The rear entrance to the house is off the Duleek – Balrath road while the front entrance had a gate lodge.
Mathew de Bathe, who died in 1350, obtained a grant from Edward III, of the manor of Rathfeigh. The family held considerable lands at Drumcondra, Co. Dublin. Matthew’s descendant, James Bath, was Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer in 1547. His son, John, was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and died in 1586. His eldest son, William, was second Justice of the Common Pleas; but dying in 1599 without issue, the estates reverted to his next brother John, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, who died in 1634. It was William who erected the house at Athcarne. William’s widow, Jenet Dowdall, erected three crosses in the memory of her late husband, William Bathe. She erected one at the western end of Duleek, one at entrance to Annesbrook House and one at Whitecross near the entrance to Athcarne.
John was succeeded by his eldest son James, who lost the property in the Cromwellian confiscations. His eldest son, Luke, was created a Baron when Charles II was restored to the throne but he had difficulty in having the estate restored to the family. In the end he was forced to accept a 99 year lease on his lands of Athcarne which amounted to 1200 acres but had to give up the family’s considerable estates in Dublin.
Sir Luke died in 1672, leaving an only son Sir Peter who died without issue. It was said that King James slept in the house and a bed was preserved in memory of the king. Sir Luke had three brothers who survived him but none were able to gain control of the family estates. The widows of Sir Luke and Sir Peter in 1693, gave possession to the Crown and in 1704 the property was sold to Mr. Somerville, woollen draper of Dublin. The Bathe family seem to have managed to stay on at Athcarne.
In 1832 Sir William Plunkett de Bathe lived there but the property was shortly after acquired by the Gernon family.
In 1837 Athcarne, the residence of James Gernon, was described as pleasantly situated on the Nannywater, a perfect specimen of the Elizabethan castellated style. It was described as a massive pile of building, with a still more massive keep defended by quadrangular towers; and the whole was formerly surrounded by a fosse.
Henry Chester Gernon, JP for Meath, was born in 1848, the son of James Gernon. In 1876 Henry C. Gernon is recorded as holding 734 acres in Meath and Louth while other members of the family held 257 acres in both counties. Colonel (later Major) Gernon commanded 5th Batt. Royal Dublin Fusiliers in the Boer War and died in 1908.
Major Gernon, had five in family, one boy went to Canada, a daughter married Mr. McCann of Staleen House. The castle was retained by the Major’s son, James Gernon and his two sisters, Helen and Constance. James regaled locals with tales of the Klondike gold rush. He was the last occupant of the castle which was partially demolished in the 1950s. King James’ bed, along with the skins of the last wolves to be killed in Ireland and many other items, were disposed of in the 1950s. After the division of the estate the roof was removed from the castle.
2026 Diary of Irish Historic Houses (section 482 properties)
To purchase an A5 size 2026 Diary of Historic Houses (opening times and days are not listed so the calendar is for use for recording appointments and not as a reference for opening times) send your postal address to jennifer.baggot@gmail.com along with €20 via this payment button. The calendar of 84 pages includes space for writing your appointments as well as photographs of the historic houses. The price includes postage within Ireland. Postage to U.S. is a further €10 for the A5 size calendar, so I would appreciate a donation toward the postage – you can click on the donation link.
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Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!
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A happy new year to all of my readers!
www.killeenmill.ie
Tourists Accommodation Facility – not open to the public
Open for accommodation in 2026: April 1- Sept 30, Mon-Sat
The five bay four storey mill was built in around 1800. [1] Built on to the side is a house, which is listed on 2024’s Revenue Section 482 as tourist accommodation, although the website link is not working for me today. If interested, you could try ringing (086) 818 2384. The mill was once part of the Killeen estate of the Plunkett Earls of Fingal. Stephen and I drove by the property to see it in July 2022 after a wonderful visit to Dunsany Castle.
A sign on the mill tells us that it was owned by Christopher Plunkett, Earl of Fingal. The only Christopher who was Earl of Fingall is the 2nd Earl (1612-1649). There has been a mill on the site since the seventeenth century, the first record appears in the Civil Survey of 1654.
The sign tells us that the top floor was used for storing grain, the middle for shelling, grinding and “bolting.” The ground floor was used for “shafting” and there was also an office on this level, as well as a small shop. A kiln was used to dry the grain, added in the nineteenth century.
The mill was powered by a horizontal water wheel. Water was channelled to form a millpond. Water passed down a shute to the wheel which ground the flour.
The core of the miller’s house, the sign tells us, could date back to the sixteenth century!
The current owners, Dermot and Fiona Kealy, installed new flagstones inside the cottage and new windows. [2] The also reroofed the mill and made it a safe structure.
The cottage has a kitchen, family room and living room on the ground floor, while upstairs there’s a bathroom and three bedrooms. Fiona told the Irish Times about how restoration had to be done according to regulation for a historic building: “We even had to have an archaeological dig to make sure we wouldn’t disturb anything of significance. Then everything had to be architecturally correct for the period. When we stripped off the layers of wallpaper, there were holes in the plaster, and our plasterer had to make up plaster with horsehair and lime, the way it would have been done.
“It was handy, because the pony was having his hair cut and we used some of his hair. It’s lovely to think you’ve preserved something, and that Cookie the pony is forever enshrined in the walls.” [see 2] At first the family lived in the house, but then they moved to a larger house when their children grew, and they let the cottage for short stays.
Donation towards accommodation
I receive no funding nor aid to create and maintain this website, it is a labour of love. I travel all over Ireland to visit Section 482 properties and sometimes this entails an overnight stay. A donation would help to fund my accommodation.
€150.00
Arch Hall, Wilkinstown, Co Meath – a ruin
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. 7. “(Garnett/LGI1912) A three storey early C18 house attributed, as is the arch in the garden, to Sir Edward Lovett Pearce. Curved bow in centre of front, doorway with pediment and blocking; curved ends, with round-headed windows. Top storey treated as an attic. In the C19, the house was given a high-pitched roof on a bracket cornice, the curved ends being given conical roofs, so that they looked like the round towers of a French chateau. Also in C19, the windows in the attic storey were replaced by rather strange Romanesque windows in pairs. Now a ruin.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 113. “A very interesting early 18C house attributed to Sir Edward Lovett Pearce. The house is in fact a smaller version of Wardtown, County Donegal. The top floor was altered during the first half of the 19C. In 1814 the seat of J. N. Payne Garnett. Now a ruin.”
Record of Protected Structures:
Arch Hall, townland: Arch Hall, town: wilkinstown.
A large early Georgian house. Three-storey, nine-bay
entrance front with cylindrical turret surviving. Incl.
Outbuildings
Casey, Christine and Alistair Rowan. The Buildings of Ireland: North Leinster. Penguin Books, London, 1993.
p. 109. “The fragmentary shell of a large early Georgian house whose design has been attributed to Sir Edward Lovett Pearce. All that survives is a three-storey, nine bay entrance front with cylindrical turret-like bows at each end and a broader three-bay semicircular bow at the centre of the façade. Thoroughly reworked in the c19, the façade, formerly of brick, is now drably rendered in cement. It has curious paired Romanesque windows and Italianate sills to the attic storey. Thus an early Georgian castle idiom was here transformed into a hybrid Victorian chateau; conical slated roofs added to the end bows completed the Chambord effect.
“The destruction of Arch Hall is unfortunate as it was one of a small group of Irish buildings – Wardtown in Co Donegal (also now in ruins) is another – which may be considered as descendants of Vanbrugh’s castle style and his geometrical designs, making rare use of bow windows and circular rooms at an early date. Behind the façade the house is only one room deep, built over a brick-vaulted basement. The hall, originally a large space with curved ends, was flanked by a reception room on each side. The room to the r. maintains its original dimensions of roughly 18 ft (5.5m) square. Throughout the fabric, fragments of plaster panels cling to the brickwork, and in one of the corner towers a shallow saucer dome is ornamented with plaster coffering and egg-and-dart mouldings.”
https://theirishaesthete.com/2014/12/15/the-untriumphal-arch/
Arch Hall, County Meath, the house shown above, is a tantalising mystery. Who was the architect? When was it built? And for whom? Answers to all these questions, and others, have been proposed and while convincing they cannot be absolutely verified. Today what remains of Arch Hall stands on flat ground in the middle of open fields, and the greater part of the ornamental park with which it was once surrounded has been lost. A painting from 1854 by the Yorkshire-born artist James Walsham Baldock depicts the wife of Arch Hall’s then-owner Samuel Garnett and the couple’s two young sons on horseback with the house visible behind. Evidently at the time it was surrounded by a belt of mature trees but most of these have now gone leaving the building isolated and even more exposed to the elements than would otherwise be the case. At some date obviously it was abandoned and left to fall into ruin but – another question – when?
Arch Hall appears to derive its name from the rustic arch lying some distance to the south of the house and serving as point of access to the original avenue. Placed on an axis and intended to offer an unexpected vista of the property, the arch is composed of a single broad entrance with pinnacle above and flanking buttresses. From this point Arch Hall looks like a very substantial building, but the impression is deceptive because despite rising three storeys over basement the house was only one room deep. Its most striking feature is the nine-bay facade which on either side concludes in cylindrical bows and is centred on a larger, three-bay semi-circular bow. This has a handsome stone pedimented Gibbsian doorcase but the rest of the building was constructed of locally-produced red brick. At some – also unknown – date in the 19th century, the exterior was covered in cement render marked out to imitate cut stone. Presumably at the same time the topmost storey windows were paired in Romanesque style and Italianate sills added, while the end bows were capped with conical roofs presumably in an effort to make the place resemble a French château. Inside the front door was a large hall with curved ends and reception rooms on either side, each measuring some five and a half metres square. These in turn gave access to small circular rooms in the front corners. Despite long exposure, the two end rooms retain traces of their decorative plasterwork, that on the western flank somehow still having a shallow saucer dome with plaster coffering and egg-and-dart moulding. Almost all the rear of the house has been lost, as well as part of the front wall, making Arch Hall’s long-term survival unlikely.
For a number of reasons the design of Arch Hall is usually ascribed to Sir Edward Lovett Pearce. Believed to have been born at some date in the late 1690s in County Meath, Pearce was the son of an English general and an Irish mother (her father was Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1676-77). Most importantly for his son’s future career, General Edward Pearce’s first cousin was Sir John Vanbrugh. The latter appears to have had an influence on the young architect, if only stylistically, but Pearce’s work in Ireland was also shaped by time spent in mainland Europe in 1723-24 during which he studied Palladio’s buildings in the Veneto. Thus while essentially a classicist, he sometimes liked to feature elements of the baroque. Such is the case with Arch Hall if indeed it was designed by Pearce. Another Irish house, alas now also a ruin, with which it has strong similarities is Wardtown Castle, County Donegal. Built for John Folliott, Wardtown is deeper than Arch Hall but, as Maurice Craig noted in 1996, it shares ‘the Vanbrughian feature of cylindrical towers and semi-circular projections.’ In fact the design of the two houses is so alike, the inevitable conclusion is that either they were by the same hand or one was a copy of the other.
So when was Arch Hall built, and for whom? Sir Edward Lovett Pearce died in 1733 so if he were the house’s architect, work on its construction would most likely have begun before that date. At the time, the townland of which it is part, Newtown-Clongill was owned part-owned by the Payne or Pain(e) family: a deed of 1714 records the transfer of 510 acres in the area from John Raphson to William Paine. In 1737 his granddaughter Anne Paine married Benjamin Woodward of Drumbarrow, near Kells, County Meath. Her settlement included the town and lands of Clongill and Newtown-Clongill. Somehow by the early 19thcentury the property had transferred into the ownership of another local family, the Garnetts who were associated with a number of houses in the county, not least Williamstown and Summerseat. The first of them to live at Arch Hall was John Pain Garnett, second son of Samuel Garnett of Summerseat. John Pain Garnett’s middle name would imply some kind of connection with the previous residents but there appears to be none: the Garnetts tended to marry cousins, or else members of the Rothwell and Wade families. Arch Hall was subsequently inherited by John Pain’s son, another Samuel Garnett who in 1841 married Marianne Tandy: it is she and the couple’s two sons who appear in the 1854 painting by James Walsham Baldock. Burke’s 1871 Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland list the family as still in residence, but at some date thereafter they must have left and the place began its slide into dereliction. But when and why was Arch Hall permitted this most untriumphant end? So many unanswered questions…
https://meathhistoryhub.ie/houses-a-d/
The rustic arch flanked by obelisks to the south of the house on the original avenue provided the name of the house. The arch contains a decorated stone from Neolitic times. Other follies included two bridges over a narrow canal that is diverted from the Yellow River. There was a large lake to the south-west of the house. With a lodge at the entrance gates there was a walled garden and extensive outbuildings.
A local story says that there were two Chilean pine trees planted, one each side of the arch to celebrate the birth of two boys to the Gilliat family. Captain Glennie Gilliat died of wounds in October 1914 while his brother, Captain Reginald Gilliat was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle in April 1915.
Arch Hall is associated with the Payne and Garnett families. The lands at Newtown-Clongill were in the hands of the Payne family from the time of the Cromwellian confiscations. William Paine acquired a lease of 510 acres at Arch Hall in 1714. William had two sons, Lawrence and John. Anne, daughter of John Paine, married Benjamin Woodward of Drumbarrow in 1737.
The house was probably constructed in the 1730s and designed by Edward Lovett Pearce. Arch Hall is one of a small group of Irish buildings in Vanbrugh’s castle style making use of bows and circular rooms at an early date.
In 1835 John Payne Garnett retained the townland of Arch Hall in his hands and had most of the townland under pasture, raising sheep and black cattle. Mr. Garnett’s house was described as a beautiful old-style residence with a fine garden and offices, an artificial pond with a number of islands on which ducks and widgeon feed. On the western boundary was a beautiful decoy. The well-wooded demesne comprised about 350 statute acres. Garnett also kept the townland of Fletecherstown in his hands raising sheep and cattle. The sheep were mostly of the Galway breed and the cattle chiefly the long-horned Irish breed. John Payne Garnett was High Sheriff of Meath in 1821.
John Paine Garnett died 1846 and was succeeded by his son, Samuel. Samuel Garnett of Arch Hall married Mary Anne Tandy in 1841. In 1845 Samuel Garnett, Esq., J. P., was a member of a company promoting the construction of a railway from the south of Ireland to the north, from Limerick to Clones. In the 1850s Samuel Garnett held lands at Arch Hall, Fletcherstown, Oristown and Clongill. Samuel was High Sheriff of Meath in 1858. In 1876 Samuel Garnett of Arch Hall owned 1,336 acres in county Meath. Samuel’s son, John, married Edith Singleton of Aclare but died in 1872 leaving an only son, John, born in 1866, who succeeded to the estates of his grand-father in the 1880s. A Justice of the Peace John died unmarried in 1894.
The property then came into the hands of the Gilliat family who were involved in banking in London and trade in Liverpool. In the 1901 and 1911 censuses Edith Gilliat and her daughter, Constance, resided at the house with their servants.
Arch Hall, the property of the late Mrs. Gilliat, was burned in April 1923. The house was unoccupied at the time. Before it was destroyed, one of the rooms was reputed to be made entirely in gold, from the paint on the walls to the furniture and picture frames. All that survives today is the facade and some remains of the front rooms. Mulligan described it as a “romantic decaying shell.”
Annesbrook, Duleek, Co 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. 5. “(Smith/LGI1912) A two storey three bay Georgian house with ground floor windows set under relieving arches and a large rusticated and fanlighted doorway; to which an impressive pedimented portico of four fluted Ionic columns and a single-storey wing containing a charming Georgian-Gothic “banqueting room” were added early in C19 by Henry Smith. According to the story, he made these additions in 1821, for when George IV came over to dine with him while staying with Lady Conyngham at Slane Castle; the monarch, however, never saw the banqueting room, preferring to dine out of doors.”
Not in national inventory
Record of Protected Structures:
Annesbrook House, townland: Deenes. Town: Duleek.
A small handsome early 19thC house of three-bays and two
storeys, to which was added an ionic portico perhaps by
Francis Johnston.
Annesbrook is an 18th century house located outside Duleek, Co. Meath and is an integral part of the Meath built and living heritage. It is approached via a long avenue and is set in woodland in the rolling Meath countryside.
The front of the house has the Georgian rooms and portico which were added when the prince regent, later to become George IV, paid a visit in 1816. It was designed by Francis Johnston the architect for GPO on O’Connell Street and many other landmark buildings in Dublin. The front Georgian section hides a much older and modest farmhouse behind. It is estimated there has been a house on the site since the 15th century.
Over the past number of years ambitious restoration projects have been undertaken. The banqueting hall and portico have been restored, other projects are being undertaken to restore Annesbrook to it’s full grandure. The restoration has been funded by the family, The Irish Georgian Society, The Heritage Council, Meath County Council and Meath Partnership.
The historical setting provides an atmospheric backdrop to an intimate and exclusive gathering, an ideal venue for weddings, private parties, meetings, concerts, theatre, lectures and pop-up dinners. We can offer you the opportunity to design your own event in a magical and unique setting.
Kate Sweetman was a founding member of the highly acclaimed Hidden Ireland group. She successfully operated Annesbrook as a guest house for over twenty years providing hospitality to countless visitors from Ireland and abroad. She comes from a family with a deep interest of the built and living heritage and is sister of David Sweetman, former Chief Archaeologist of Ireland.
As a family we have a profound interest and knowledge of Meath, its landscape, history and traditions. Members of the family have in-depth expertise of the history, heritage, folklore and landscape of Meath. We also have strong professional and personal networks within the culinary, photography, arts, performing arts and environmental communities within Ireland.
The splendid house offers all sorts of possibilities as a setting for your special event.
From the magnificent entrance hall with its feature curved staircase through to the diningroom, which seats 30, and onwards to the Gothic Banqueting Hall which seat 60 comfortably. French doors open out from the Banqueting Hall which make it ideal for extending the space with a marquee.
Set amidst manicured lawns and surrounded by rolling pastureland, the grounds at Annesbrook will add privacy and serenity to your event. As well as providing a beautiful backdrop for the photographs!
The entrance to Annesbrook, County Meath. The design of the main house with its towering Ionic portico and gothick dining chamber in the north wing is sometimes attributed to Francis Johnston (see When Royalty Comes to Call, October 12th 2015). Perhaps he was also responsible for this building which might also have been constructed in anticipation of a visit by George IV in 1821. With the character of a miniature castle, it holds just two rooms, a kitchen/living area on one side of the arch and a sleeping chamber on the other.
https://theirishaesthete.com/2015/10/12/when-royalty-comes-to-call/
Today the visit of George IV to Ireland in 1821 is primarily remembered because it is believed to have led to the road between Dublin and Slane, County Meath being made as straight as possible. But the event was noteworthy for other reasons, not least due to the fact this was the first time a reigning English monarch had arrived in the country without bellicose intentions (as had last been the case when James II and his son-in-law fought here for control of the British throne, with the latter victorious at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690). The original arrangement would have had George IV land south of the capital at Dunleary, from whence he would set out to make a formal entry into the city. However following the death of his estranged wife Caroline of Brunswick just days before the visit was due to begin, it was felt expedient a more low-key approach be taken to the king’s arrival. Accordingly the royal party landed on August 12th 1821 at Howth harbour where the fifty-nine year old monarch made an immediate impression on the waiting crowd by displaying symptoms of being, to use modern parlance, tired and emotional after the rigours of his passage across the Irish Sea. (Incidentally, his footprints, memorialised by a local stonemason, can still be seen on Howth’s west pier). He flung himself into the throng, shaking hands with anyone within reach before being put into a carriage that set off for the Phoenix Park and the Viceregal Lodge. On arrival there, the king again abandoned protocol by insisting the park gates be thrown open and, in descending from his carriage, making an impromptu speech during which he declared, ‘rank, station and honour are nothing: to feel that I live in the hearts of my Irish subjects, is to me the most exalted happiness.’ No wonder one commentator observed that he was behaving not as a sovereign but ‘like a popular candidate come down upon an electioneering trip.’
Despite national woes due to the economic downturn following the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, and indeed owing to the consequences of the 1800 Act of Union, George IV’s visit had been keenly anticipated. It helped that he had expressed a wish everyone he met during his time in Ireland should be wearing locally-produced clothing, thereby giving a boost to trade. In addition, he asked that Lord Forbes, son of the Roman Catholic Earl of Granard, be one of his aides-de-camp for the duration of the visit, and he arranged to act as witness for the installation of the Earl of Fingall as the first Catholic member of the Order of St. Patrick. For his own official entry into Dublin – this was after a period of recovery in the Viceregal Lodge – he wore the order’s ribbon over a full military uniform, shamrock on his hat and on his breast a rosette ‘more than twice the size of a military cockade’: no wonder comparisons were made with election candidates. The formal procession of some 200 carriages began by making its way down Sackville (now O’Connell Street) accessed via temporary gates for which keys were handed to the king by the Herald, Athlone Pursuivant. Progress was slow due to the crowds, and this set the tone for subsequent events, all of which attracted enormous and consistently enthusiastic attendance. The welcome he received in Ireland was in striking contrast to his unpopularity in England, and more than once he noted the difference between the ‘triumph of Dublin’ and the ‘horrors of London’ where he was often booed in the streets. Up to the day of departure, on 5th September and from Dunleary which was then renamed Kingstown in his honour, the numbers following his course never diminished and the visit concluded with Daniel O’Connell – Ireland’s so-called Liberator – kneeling before the monarch and proferring a laurel wreath
For members of Ireland’s aristocracy, George IV’s visit was especially significant since it appeared to offer them an opportunity to entertain their monarch. Still today there are a number of State Bedrooms created in 1821 in expectation of a royal guest. The best-known of these is in Castle Coole, County Fermanagh but another can be found in Loughton, County Offaly (in recent years this has been home to Minister for Children and Youth Affairs James Reilly but it is now on the market). Alas the hopes of many prospective hosts were dashed, because while the king did make a few excursions out of Dublin – notably to Powerscourt, County Wicklow where by lingering over luncheon he avoided being swept away by the waterfall, damned in anticipation of his arrival, which burst through its barricades and swept away the viewing platform – outside Dublin he stayed for several nights in one place only: Slane Castle, County Meath. For those unfamiliar with the tale, herein lies the explanation for the fast straight road from the capital: Slane was the home of George IV’s mistress, the Marchioness Conyngham, and her accommodating husband. Neither the king nor his inamorata were in the first flush of youth, and both were equally corpulent. These circumstances however did nothing to dampen their ardour. As was written of them at the time, ‘Tis pleasant at seasons to see how they sit/ First cracking their nuts, and then cracking their wit/ Then quaffing their claret – then mingling their lips/ Or tickling the fat about each other’s hips.’ And according to one contemporary observer, Lady Conyngham ‘lived exclusively with him during the whole time he was in Ireland at the Phoenix Park. When he went to Slane, she received him dressed out as for a drawing-room; he saluted her, and they then retired alone to her apartments.’ Hence those other State Bedrooms going abegging…
One house that did receive a royal visit was Annesbrook, County Meath – presumably because its location was not too off the route to Slane. Annesbrook is a relatively modest country residence which may have begun as a farm house before being extended westwards in either the late 18th or early 19th century. The front of the building is of two storeys and three bays, the emphatic arch of the centre groundfloor entrance echoed in the shallow relieving window arches to either side. Inside, the hall is divided by a screen of Corinthian columns, the stairs snaking upward inside a bow to the north. That might have been the limit of the house had not its owner in 1821, one Henry Smith, decide to improve the property in anticipation of the king coming to call. Thus he aggrandised the facade by the addition of an enormous limestone portico comprising four Ionic-capped columns beneath a pediment that soars above Annesbrook’s shallow hipped roof. Then to the north of the main block he constructed a single storey, four bay extension in which to entertain the king to lunch. While the exterior of this is plain, the interior, accessed via a antechamber off the dining room, is a riot of gothick decoration, a late flowering of the 18th century style prior to the advent of historical accuracy. Whether on the ceiling, walls or even the marble chimneypiece, Annesbrook’s gothick is as much rococo as mediaeval, with an overlay of classical symmetry. The room is a playful frolic, the plasterwork treated like icing sugar ornamentation, an opportunity to demonstrate the unknown stuccodore’s ingenuity and skill. It was always intended as a backdrop for entertainments and that remains the case: the house’s present owner has worked to preserve the room as best as resources allow, and to this end has received assistance from a variety of agencies including the Irish Georgian Society. While sections of the ceiling still require attention, more than sufficient has already been secured for the remaining work to be undertaken once requisite funds become available. Visitors to Annesbrook today can admire Henry Smith’s enterprise, perhaps more than did George IV: seemingly on the day of his visit to the house, the sun shone and the royal guest chose to dine outdoors. Ironically he never even saw the room built to entertain him.
Annesbrook
Annesbrook, Duleek.
Annesbrook house is approximately two miles from Duleek on the Ashbourne Road but may be best viewed from the Balrath road. The house has a beautiful view over the River Nanny and the surrounding countryside. On the Ashbourne Road there is a stone gateway, known locally as ‘The Pockets’ with a kitchen on one side and a bedroom on the other side of the arch. In 1838 it was described as a ‘modern spacious gateway.’ The two storey house dates to the late eighteenth century with a portico and dining hall being added for a visit by the king in 1821. The portico may have been designed by the noted architect, Francis Johnson.
Annesbrook is sometimes known as Loughanmore and was the seat of Mr. Hamilton in 1766. Thomas Hamilton of Strabane married Anne Rouse of Oberstown, Co. Meath in 1752. When Thomas died in 1792 their son, Rev. William Slicer, Hamilton inherited Annesbrook.
Henry Jeremiah Smith of Beybeg House married Margaret Osborne of Dardistown Castle in 1802 and they acquired Annesbrook and were in residence when George IV paid a visit in 1821. When George IV paid a royal visit to Ireland in 1821, cynics said that he was coming to Ireland to visit his mistress, Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness Conyngham of Slane. The king received invitations from the major landowners and nobility in Ireland and yet he chose to visit Annesbrook. The ionic portico was erected for the royal visit as was the gothic banqueting room with a splendid plasterwork ceiling. George suffered from diarrhoea during the visit and did not enter the banqueting room. As the additions were erected in a hurry the foundations were not adequate and the room sank. In 1842 William M. Thackeray visited the area and is said to have been most impressed by Annesbrook, being pretty and neatly ordered.
Henry had nine sons. His fourth son, St. George W. Smith, lived at Duleek House. A number of the brothers served in the British army. Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Augustus Smith saw action in the Crimean War. For his bravery at Tauranga, on the 21st of June 1864 during the Maori Wars in New Zealand he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He died at Duleek in 1887. A memorial plaque to him, which was in the church in Duleek, was moved to the church in the Ulster
In the 1870s Mrs. Smith wrote a number of novels, one of which featured members of the family and their neighbours. In 1876 Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen H. Smith, of Annesbrook, Duleek, held 981 acres in County Meath. His brother, Michael Edward, succeeded in 1892. Michael, born 1814, had served with the British Army in Jamacia, India and Australia. He died aged 88, in 1903. After Michael’s death the properties went to his nephew, Fitz Henry Augustus Smith. Fitzhenry Smith of Annesbrook died in 1930, aged 70 and was buried in Duleek.
In 1920s the McKeever family took up residence at Annesbrook and the property was sold to the Allens in the 1960s. It then passed through various owners. In recent years the Irish Georgian Society grant aided part of the work of the restoration of the plasterwork in the banqueting hall which had been damaged by water.
Aclare House, Drumconrath, Co 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. 1. “(Singleton/LG1912; Lindsay, sub Crawford, E/PB). An almost Italianate house built 1840 for H.C. Singleton; 2 storey and faced with ashlar. Three bay entrance front, projecting central bay with pedminent and Wyatt windown about Grecian Doric portico; three bay side with slightly projecting end by. Office wing set back, fronted by graceful conservatory with curving ends and roof. Inner hall ceiling supported on carved wood brackets; upstairs landing screened from central top-lit space by arcade supported on Tuscan columns. Opened as a hotel ca. 1950 by its then owner, Mr D.E.T. Lindsay; it has since been sold, but is still run as a hotel.”
Record of Protected Structures:
Aclare House, aclare House Demesne.
A good example of the Greek Classical revival, c.1830.
Frontispiece of three bays, two-storeys, with single bay
pedimented breakfront, Wyatt window in the centre,
tetrastyle doric porch. Stone outbuildings to rear of house.
Walled Garden.
https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/site/4931/aclare-house-lower-slane-drumcondra-aclare-house-demesne
was a hotel in 1982 but no longer.
In 1837 belonged, along with 325 statute acres, seat of H. Corbet Singleton Esq. ref: https://www.libraryireland.com/topog/D/Drumconra-Lower-Slane-Meath.php
A listed structure, https://meathcountydevelopmentplan.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/appendix-8-record-of-protected-structures.pdf
A good example of the Greek Classical revival, c.1830. Frontispiece of three bays, two-storeys, with single bay pedimented breakfront, Wyatt window in the centre, tetrastyle doric porch. Stone outbuildings to rear of house. Walled Garden.
Also known as Athclare lodge the house was possibly constructed about 1800. The two storey over basement house is located near Drumconrath. 1835 it was the property of H.C. Singleton. Aclare Cottage, the residence of Mr. G. Moore Adams, was in the north-east of the townland. The Adams family had connections to Aclare from the early 1700s. The demsne contained 36.5 acres. The house was described as a two storey, slated modern house in good repair. It seems to have been a u shaped house. George Adams held the house and demesne in the 1850s. John William McKeever and his family occupied Aclare Cottage in 1911. The original windows have been replaced. Today there are farm buildings around the house.
Aclare House, Drumconrath, was constructed for Henry Corbet Singleton in 1840. A previous house on the site was described in 1836 as being a two storey slated house in good repair. A well planted demesne of 97 ½ acres surrounded the house.
Located beside the river Dee the townland takes its name from a ford over the river possibly at the site of the crossing called the Han bridge. The house is a good example of classical revival. Casey and Rowan describe the house as faced with Scottish sandstone. The house has a central top-lit stair hall. Held by the Lord of Slane in 1640 the property became part of the estate of the Corbet family. The large reception rooms contain neoclassical chimney pieces. The ballroom leads to the orangerie which overlooks the parkland of the estate. There are substantial stables and outbuildings to the rear of the house and a walled garden. The river Dee winds its way though the parklands and powered a turbine which provided electricity for the house.
The Corbets of Aclare were descended from Very Rev. Francis Corbet DD, Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, and the family had burial rights at the cathedral. The owner of Aclare, Francis Corbet, added the name Singleton to his surname by royal licence in 1820 when he inherited the Meath estates of his uncle, Henry Singleton. The eldest son, Henry Corbet Singleton, born in 1806 inherited the property. Henry was a magistrate and deputy lieutenant of the County Meath. [see https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/singleton-francis-corbet-1597 ]
Robert Corbet Singleton, the second son of Francis Corbet, established St Columba’s College, Rathfarnham, in 1843 and St Peter’s College, Radley at Oxford in 1847. As its first warden he inaugurated a very strict and rigorous system of religious discipline. In 1868 he co-edited, The Anglican Hymn-Book, which contained nearly thirty original hymns by him, most notably ‘With gladsome feet we press.’
Francis Corbet Singleton was the third son of Francis Corbet Singleton. Joining the Royal Navy he emigrated to Adelaide, South Australia, where he became Clerk of the Legislative Council. He established a silver mine in South Australia which he named Aclare. This may not be accurate as there was a second Francis Corbet Singleton, who was a relative of the family living at the same time.
Loftus Corbet Singleton, the fourth son, joined the army and became a major. He died in 1881 aged 38 from wounds received at Majuba Hill, Natal, South Africa while fighting the Boers.
Henry Corbet’s son, also Henry Corbet, was born in 1837 and served as a major in the 30th Foot before assuming his role as landlord of 5,857 acres in County Meath in 1872 on the death of his father. When he died in 1890 the estate passed to his brother, Rear Admiral Uvedale Corbet Singleton, who died in 1910. His only child monica Virginia, married and English cousin in 1923. The estate then passed to the Land Commission in the late 1920s or early 1930s. The contents of the house were sold in 1930. Each summer the Singletons gave a party at Aclare for the school children from Drumconrath, which was followed by a football match between the local men.
The house and 160 acres were sold by the Land Commission in 1939. In the 1940s the house was owned by Mr. Phillips. The house was opened as a hotel about 1950 by its then owner Mr. D.E.T. Lindsay and it remained operating as a hotel in the following decades.
Another branch of the Singletons were established at Mell, Drogheda and a number of these were members of parliament in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This family held nearly nine thousand acres in Cavan, Louth, Meath and England. Another Singleton family held over nine thousand acres mainly in Monaghan and Fermanagh.
Irish Historic Houses 