Newbliss House, County Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
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. 223. (Murray-Ker/LGI1912) A two storey early C19 Classical house with an eaved roof on a bracket cornice. Five bay entrance front, breakfront centre with Wyatt window in upper storey and enclosed Grecian porch with two Ionic columns and acroteria. Seven bay garden front, the three outer bays on either side forming shallow curved bows.”
https://archiseek.com/2014/1814-newbliss-house-newbliss-co-monaghan/ 1814 – Newbliss House, Newbliss, Co. Monaghan An early 19th century house of two storeys with a five bay main front. The enclosed porch features two Ionic columns. Owned by the Ker family who largely developed the village of Newbliss, and by 1800 the linen trade was thriving here. The garden frontage was of seven bays, the two outermost having shallow bows. Demolished in 1940s.
https://www.geni.com/projects/Historic-Buildings-of-County-Monaghan/29819 Newbliss House An early 19th century house of two storeys with a five bay main front. The enclosed porch features two Ionic columns. Owned by the Ker family who largely developed the village of Newbliss, where by 1800 the linen trade was thriving. The garden frontage was of seven bays, the two outermost having shallow bows. Demolished in 1940s.
Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy National Library of Ireland.
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. 192. “(Shirley, sub Ferres, E/PB) A very large and unusual Tudor-Gothic house by Thomas Rickman, the English architect and architectural writer who invented the terms “Early English”, “decorated” and “perpendicular” to describe the different periods of Gothic architecture. Built ca 1827 for E.J. Shirley, whose family had owned the estate since the marriage of Sir Henry Shirley to the daughter of Elizabeth I’s favourite, the Earl of Essex; but had lived entirely at their English seat, so taht there was no previous house here.
Unlike most houses of its period and style, Lough Fea has no battlements and few gables, but a solid parapet which conceals much of the roof.
There are hardly any projecting bows or oriels, but rather small, mullioned windows under hood mouldings; so that the elevations, of pinkish-grey ashlar, have a solid effect.
There are several slender, square turrets with sprocketed pyramidal roofs; also a polygonal lantern and a small tower and polygonal turret at the end of one wing; but no major tower; so that the house seems low and wide-spreading.
The entrance front, facing the lough from which the estate takes its name, is flanked on one side by the chapel and on the other by a great hall, which together form a three-sided court.
The interior is of great complexity, with many corridors and ante-rooms.
There is a hall divided by a stone arcade, its walls hung with an early 19th-century wallpaper.
There is a large and handsome library with oak bookcases, which formerly contained the famous library of EP Shirley, the antiquary, son of the builder of the house.
The chapel is on the scale of a sizeable church, with two pulpits and a gallery.
The clou of the house is, however, the great hall: vast and baronial, with a lofty hammer-beam roof, a minstrels’ gallery and an arcade at first-floor level.
It was added after the rest of the house was completed.
According to the story, Mr Shirley and Lord Rossmore vied with one another as to which of them could build the bigger room.
Lord Rossmore enlarged his drawing room at Rossmore Park five times, but in the end Mr Shirley won the contest by building his great hall.
The garden front of the house faces along a vista to an immense Celtic cross, which was erected by the tenants of the estate in token of their gratitude to the Shirleys.
The demesne is noted for its magnificent woodlands.”
Lough Fea, County Monaghan, courtesy Mark Bence-Jones.Lough Fea House, County Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Lough Fea House, County Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Lough Fea House, County Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Lough Fea House, County Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
NLI photos.
Country Life photos:
Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy Country Life.Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy Country Life.Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy Country Life.Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy Country Life.Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy Country Life.Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy Country Life.Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy Country Life.Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy Country Life.Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy Country Life. I think the portraits are Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, by Mireveldt. It has the inscription “Robert Devereux Earle of Essex Earle Marshall of England and Lord Deputie of Ireland. Viscount Hereford Baron Ferrers of Chartley, Lord Bouchier and Lovaine, Master of the Horse and Groome to Queen Elizabeth, Knight of the Garter, one of Her Majesties Privy Counsell, and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.” Around his neck hangs a jewel representing the Queen encircled by true lover’s knots. The other is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth by Mireveldt, with “non sine sole iris.” The picture in the middle is, I think, Walter Devereux 5th Earl of Essex, copied in the year 1858 from the original belonging to Lord Bagot at Blithfield, half length in armour. [ https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.091031361&seq=10 ]Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy Country Life.Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy Country Life.Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy Country Life.Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy Country Life.Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy Country Life.Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy Country Life.Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy Country Life.
Designed for the Shirley family by the historian Thomas Rickman and which is his only Irish commission, Lough Fea was built in 1827. Lough Fea is unusual in that it resembles an Oxbridge college more than a Victorian castle with its absence of battlements in favour of a solid parapet concealing the roof. Small widely spaced windows give the building a very solid look. The Shirleys and the Rossmores competed for years to build the largest room in the county – with Lord Rossmore extending his Drawing room five times. However Lough Fea lifted the honours with the magnificent Great Hall.
With no major towers, Lough Fea seems low and well spaced as it faces onto the lake after which it is named – with the central block flanked by the double height chapel and Great Hall. The chapel is almost a full sized church with pulpit and gallery while the Great Hall has a seven bay minstral gallery over a doorway height dado and two fireplaces and open timber trussed roof.
National inventory no entry except for gate lodges:
Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy National Inventory.
Detached H-plan three-bay single-storey gate lodge with half-dormer attic, built c.1850, having advanced bays to either end of front (south) and rear elevations, that to west being full-height, that to east being higher; canted bay window to east gable of front elevation; gabled porch to east elevation; raised gablet to front and rear elevations, and multiple-bay single-storey outbuilding attached to west elevation. Formerly also used as land steward’s house. Now in use as house. Pitched slate roofs with cut limestone chimneystacks and cut limestone barges with kneelered gables. Snecked limestone walls having cut limestone quoins. Square-headed window openings, some double and triple-light, having chamfered stone surrounds, cut-stone sills, and carved stone label-mouldings. Pointed window openings to dormer windows, having chamfered stone surrounds. Replacement uPVC windows throughout. Square-headed door opening to rear of porch, having chamfered stone surround, carved stone label-moulding and cut-stone step. Curved rubble stone boundary wall to garden to rear, having square-headed opening with timber battened door. Outbuildings to north-west of site with pitched slate roofs and rubble stone walls. Wrought-iron railings forming boundary to front of house. Set back from road at south-east entrance to Lough Fea estate. Site entrance to east having cast-iron double-leaf gate, cut limestone octagonal-plan piers with carved caps, in turn flanked by matching cast-iron railings on cut limestone plinth.
Appraisal
Bracken Lodge is the largest of a number of gate lodges serving the Lough Fea Estate. It is understood to have been the land steward’s house, as well as functioning as a gate lodge, which would explain its larger size. Lough Fea is the seat of the Shirley family who, by 1876, had become the biggest landlords in County Monaghan. The house is well constructed and displays skilled stone masonry. It retains its original form and shares a number of characteristics with other estate buildings in the vicinity. The entrance gates and railings are similar to several other gate lodges on the estate, with their distinctive alternating fleur-de-lys and spearheads, and the carved piers are very similar to those of Lake Lodge to the west boundary of the estate.
Lough Fea, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy National Inventory.
THE SHIRLEYS WERE THE GREATEST LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY MONAGHAN, WITH 26,386 ACRES
This is a branch of the noble and ancient family of Shirley, EARLS FERRERS, springing from
SIR ROBERT SHIRLEY, Knight, 1st EARL FERRERS (1650-1717), who married firstly, Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Lawrence Washington, of Garsdon, Wiltshire; and secondly, in 1699, Selina, daughter of George Finch.
The third, but, eventually, eldest surviving son of his secondmarriage,
THE HON GEORGE SHIRLEY (1705-87), of Ettington Park, Warwickshire, Captain, 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, wedded Mary, daughter of Humphrey Sturt, and had issue,
GEORGE, his successor;
EVELYN, succeeded his brother;
Selina; Margaret.
He was succeeded by his eldest son,
GEORGE SHIRLEY, of Ettington Park and Lough Fea, County Monaghan, who espoused Phillis Byam, daughter of Charlton Wollaston, and had issue,
EVELYN JOHN;
Charles;
William;
James;
Horatio;
Arthur George Sewallis;
Selina; Mary; Frances; Emily Harriet.
Mr Shirley was succeeded by his eldest son,
EVELYN JOHN SHIRLEY (1788-1856), of Ettington Park and Lough Fea, who wedded, in 1810, Eliza, daughter of Arthur Stanhope, cousin to the Earl of Chesterfield, sometime MP for County Monaghan and South Warwickshire, and had issue,
EVELYN PHILIP;
Arthur;
Sewallis;
George Edward;
Walter Devereux;
Selina; Louisa.
His eldest son,
EVELYN PHILIP SHIRLEY DL (1812-82), of Ettington Park and Lough Fea, MP for South Warwickshire and County Monaghan, had issue,
SEWALLIS EVELYN SHIRLEY JP DL (1844-1904), of Ettington Park and Lough Fea, MP for County Monaghan, 1868-80, High Sheriff of Warwickshire, 1884, who had issue,
EVELYN CHARLES SHIRLEY JP DL (1889-1956), of Ettington Park and Lough Fea; High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1914; Lieutenant-Colonel, Major, the Warwickshire Yeomanry; Lieutenant-Colonel, the General Staff, whose only son,
JOHN EVELYN SHIRLEY (1922-2009), of Ettington Park and Lough Fea, Major, King’s Royal Rifle Corps.
He lived in 2003 at Ormly Hall, Ramsey, Isle of Man.
He had issue,
Philip Evelyn Shirley, b 1955;
Emily Margaret Shirley, b 1957;
Hugh Sewallis Shirley, b 1961.
The Shirley estate is based at Lough Fea, near Carrickmacross in County Monaghan.
It had an area of some 40 square miles, in the western half of the barony of Farney, County Monaghan, in the period 1576-1960.
The Shirleys were semi-absentee landlords. Their main seat was Ettington Park in Warwickshire.
Evelyn Philip Shirley visited Lough Fea several times a year.
The estate was formerly in the ownership of the Earl of Essex, though underwent the first of several partitions: It passed in two halves to Essex’s co-heirs, the Marquess of Hertford and Sir Robert Shirley.
Sir Robert himself died in 1656, imprisoned in the Tower of London for supporting the Royalist cause in the English Civil War.
His son and heir was Sir Seymour Shirley, on whose death in 1667 the estate and the rest of the family inheritance passed in turn to his second and only surviving son, Sir Robert Shirley.
Sir Robert entered the House of Lords in 1677, as Baron Ferrers of Chartley, and in 1711 was further ennobled as 1st Earl Ferrers and Viscount Tamworth.
This last title related to the family seat of Ettington in Warwickshire.
About 1750, the Shirleys built a house near Carrickmacross for their occasional visits.
It was not until 1826 that Robert’s grandson, Evelyn John Shirley, laid the foundations of a mansion house worthy of the family and estate, near the banks of Lough Fea.
LOUGH FEA is a very large and unusual Tudor-Gothic house by Thomas Rickman, the English architect and architectural writer who invented the terms “Early English”, “decorated” and “perpendicular” to describe the different periods of Gothic architecture.
Unlike most houses of its period and style, Lough Fea has no battlements and few gables, but a solid parapet which conceals much of the roof.
There are also hardly any projecting bows or oriels, but rather small, mullioned windows under hood mouldings; so that the elevations, of pinkish-grey ashlar, have a solid effect.
There are several slender, square turrets with sprocketed, pyramidal roofs; also a polygonal lantern and a small tower and polygonal turret at the end of one wing; but no major tower; so that he house seems low and wide-spreading.
The entrance front, facing the lough, is flanked on one side by the chapel and on the other by a great hall, which together form a three-sided court.
The interior is of great complexity, with many corridors and ante-rooms.
There is a hall divided by a stone arcade, its walls hung with an early 19th-century wallpaper.
There is a large and handsome library, the famous library of EP Shirley, son of the builder of the house.
The chapel is on the scale of a sizeable church, with two pulpits and a gallery.
The clou of the house is, however, the great hall: vast and baronial, with a lofty hammer-beam roof, a minstrels’ gallery and an arcade at first-floor level.
It was added after the rest of the house was completed.
According to the story, Mr Shirley and Lord Rossmore vied with one another as to which of them could build the bigger room.
Lord Rossmore enlarged his drawing room at Rossmore Park five times, but in the end Mr Shirley won the contest by building his great hall.
The garden front of the house faces along a vista to an immense Celtic cross.
The demesne is noted for its magnificent woodlands.
At the end of the 19th century the estate comprised 26,386 acres, but these lands had to be sold due to the Irish Land Acts before the First World War.
The estate now has less than 1,000 acres of grass and woodland.
After the sale of the land, which had been rented to tenants, large mansions such as Lough Fea became white elephants with little revenue coming in.
In 1904, when Major Shirley’s grandfather died, his father moved from his Ettington Park home in Warwickshire to Carrickmacross, County Monaghan.
Between 1904 and 1977, Major Shirley’s father and his family lived there permanently.
There was a serious fire at the house in 1966, which did quite a lot of damage.
In 1977, the family moved to the Isle of Man and thus reverted to its 19th Century role of absenteeism; though because Major Shirley and his sons were brought up on the estate they have a great love of the place and they do their best to keep the main parts of the building waterproof.
Carrickmacross in Co. Monaghan came into existence as a plantation town. It belonged to an area called the Barony of Farney. The Barony of Farney was given by Queen Elizabeth I of England to the First Earl of Essex, Walter Deveraux in 1576. He planned to ‘plant’ the area with settlers and build a walled town around a nearby area called Donaghmoyne. He died, however, in September 1576 and never achieved this.
During the following years Ulster was in a state of rebellion. The 2nd Earl of Essex Robert Deveraux asked Queen Elizabeth if he could crush the rebellion. He achieved little, however, and was seen to have displeased the Queen. In 1601 he lost his head and the estate of Farney was taken from the Deveraux family. Queen Elizabeth died in 1603 and James I took the throne. He returned the estate of Farney to the Deveraux family. The Deveraux family faced the problem of local opposition in the area of Farney. The McMahons were the Gaelic Lords of the area and they posed a possible threat to the Deveraux family’s hold on Farney. The family therefore decided to build a stronghold in the area of Farney. They chose Carrickmacross as the place in which they would build a castle. This castle, known as Essex Castle was completed in 1630.
Before the castle was built the town did not exist. When the castle was built a street ran northwards from it and became the main street of the town. A survey of the estate carried out by Thomas Raven around that time reveals that before the building of the castle, there was only one properly constructed house. This was an inn belonging to William Ceasar. Beside it were a few hovels. With the arrival of the settlers, plots of land were distributed and fine houses were built. These houses, together with the castle, shaped the foundation of Carrickmacross Town.
Essex castle no longer exists. The site on which it was located was acquired by the order of St Louis nuns who came to Carrickmacross in 1888. They started a girl’s secondary school and also took charge of the girls’ national school. Both remain today. The St Louis nuns also started the famous Carrickmacross lace industry.
The Deveraux Estate passes to the Shirley family
In 1646 Robert Deveraux, a later Earl of Essex died leaving no heir. His estate was then passed on to his two sisters Dorothy and Francis. Lady Dorothy was married to Sir Henry Shirley and they had a son Robert who became co-heir. Francis was married to Sir William Seymour. In 1655 the Barony of Farney appears to have been surveyed. This survey shows the contents of every townland and it divides the land into profitable and waste ground. The survey that the whole estate was made up of 47,734 English acres equal to 29, 468 Irish acres and 36, 965 Scottish acres.
The Shirley family were absentee landlords, i.e. they did not live on their estates but occasionally visited. About 1750 the Shirley family erected a house adjoining the town of Carrickmacross. This became the occasional residence of the Shirley family.
It was located in an area now known as Ivy Lane. There are modern houses located there today. In 1777 the Hon. George Shirley made preparations to erect a castle on the high grounds of an area called the Lurgans. The design of this castle was abandoned and it was not until 1826 that the Hon. George Shirley’s grandson, Evelyn John Shirley Esq. laid the foundation of a mansion worthy of the estate near Lough Fea. This house still remains today.
The house is erected entirely of free stone found on the estate and built in the manner of a college. The ground floor holds a Great Hall, a chapel and in the centre are the principal living rooms. At the end of the 19th century the estate had approximately 25,000 acres but these lands had to be sold due to the Land Acts before the First World War. The estate now has less than 1,000 acres of grass and woodland. After the sale of the land, which had been rented to tenants, large mansions such as Shirley’s House became white elephants with little revenue coming in. In 1904 when the present Major Shirley’s grandfather died his father moved from his Ettington Park home in England to Carrickmacross. Between 1904 – 1977 Major Shirley’s father and his family lived there permanently. There was a serious fire at the house in 1966, which did quite a lot of damage. In 1977 the family moved to the Isle of Man and thus reverted to its 19th Century role of absenteeism. But because Major Shirley and his sons were brought up on the estate they have a great love of the place and they do their best to keep the main parts of the building waterproof.
Pedigree of the Shirleys of Lough Fea, Lords of the Manor of Ettington
1. Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers – died Dec 25, 1717 married 2nd: Selina, daughter of George Finch, of London esq. (note: children of Robert Shirley’s first wife inherited the title of Earl Ferrers) 2. Robert Shirley – born May 27 1700 Lord of the Manor of Ettington 2. Selina Shirley – m. Peter Bathurst 2. Mary Shirley – m. Charles Tryon 2. George Shirley – b. 1704 d. 1704 2. George Shirley – born Oct 23 1705 Lord of the Manor of Ettington married Mary, daughter of Humphry Sturt of Horton, Co Dorset 3. George Shirley – b. Nov 6 1750 3. Selina Shirley – m. Sir Thomas George Skipwith 3. Mary Shirley – m. John Smith 3. Evelyn Shirley – b Dec 17 1756 Lord of the Manor of Ettington married Phillis Byam, daughter of Charleton Wollaston esq. children: 4(i). Phillis Shirley – b. July 3 1785 4(ii). Selina Shirley – b March 31 1787 4(iii). Evelyn John Shirley – born April 26 1788 died 31 December 1856 Lord of the Manor of Ettington
Evelyn John Shirley (thanks to Alexander Brooks for this minature image)
married Eliza, daughter and heir of Arthur Stanhope, esq. 5. Evelyn Phillip Shirley – b Jan 22 1812 Lord of the Manor of Ettington married Mary Clara Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Edmund Hungerford Lechmere 6. Sewallis Evelyn Shirley – b July 15 1844 Lord of the Manor of Ettington married Emily Jean Macdonald 7. Lt. Col. Evelyn Charles Shirley Lord of the Manor of Ettington married Kathleen Mary Phyllis Cardew 8 Major John Shirley Lord of the Manor of Ettington Times of London obituary – John Evelyn Shirley, of Ettington and Lough Fea. Major retired 60th Rifles. Died peacefully at home on the Isle of Man on 7th November 2009 aged 86. Husband of Judith and father of Philip, Emily and Hugh. 9. Philip Evelyn Shirley was born on 29 September 1955 –
current owner of Lough Fea, Lord of the Manor of Ettington
6. Selina Shirley – b Aug 5 1845 6. Mary Clara Shirley – m. Rev W. K. W. Chafy 6. Katharine Shirley – b Mar 20 1857 5. Arthur Shirley – b Feb 8 1813 5. Selina Shirley – m. Sir William Heathcote of Hursley 5. Sewallis Shirley – b April 17 1816 5. George Edward Shirley – b July 24 1817 5. Louisa Shirley – m. Neil Malcolm of Poltallock, esq 5. Walter Devereaux Shirley b July 20 1829 married Anne Knox dau of W.K. Fawcette, esq. 6. Louisa Shirley – b Nov 27 1857 4(iv). Lt. Henry Robert Shirley – born Mar 27 1789; He died May 1808 during active Naval service at sea, age 19. 4(v). Mary Shirley – She died 17 February 1838; She married George Morant 4(vi). Gen. Charles Shirley – born Nov 15 1792; He died 12 December 1855, age 63 without children married Anne Charlotte Bridgeman on 7 December 1819, daughter of Rev Hon. George Bridgeman. 4(vii). Maj. William Shirley – b March 23 1794; He fought in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. 4(viii). Frances Shirley – b May 18 1795 4(ix). Frederick Shirley – b June 15 1797 4(x). Emily Harriot Shirley – She died 3 January 1881; She married Edward, Lord Suffield 4(xi). Rev. James Shirley – born Jan 15 1802; He was Rector at Frettenham Norfolk; He died 7 January 1870 married Katherine Dolphin, daughter of the Rev. J. Dolphin children:(all died unmarried) 5. Horatio Henry Shirley – b Jan 6 1834 5. Katherine Frances Shirley – b Oct 15 1836 5. Georgiana Louisa Shirley – b Nov 13 1837 5. Evelyn William Shirley – b Nov 30 1840 5. Mary Shirley – b Mar 4 1842 5. James Charlton Shirley – b Aug 30 1843 5. Selina Caroline Shirley – b Mar 23 1850 4(xii). Georgiana Shirley – b June 27 1803 4(xiii). General Sir Horatio Shirley – born 8 December1805; Having been nominated a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, he was knighted by Her Majesty Queen Victoria, at Windsor Castle, 5th July 1869. He died 8 April 1879. 4(xiv).Rev. Arthur George Sewallis Shirley – born July 20 1810; MA of Christ Church Oxford; He was the Vicar of Stinsford, Dorset; He died 8 October 1891 married 1) Georgiana Emily Cookson on 24 August 1841 at Sherborne Minster, Dorset, daughter of Rev William Cookson. She died on 8 July 1852 and buried at Stinsford Dorset married 2) Mary Beadon Turner on 3 September 1853 at Swanage, Dorset, daughter of Edward Turner, esq. of Sherborne, Dorset. She was the widow of Dr Jackson MD of Dorchester; She died 3 April 1877. married 3) Francesca Vincenzia Edith Money in 1878, daughter of Captain John Ernle Money. 2. Frances Shirley – b May 5 1707 2. Anne Shirley – m. Sir Robert Furnese 2. Sewallis Shirley – b Oct 19 1709. m. Margaret, daughter of Samuel Rolle of Hainton Co Devon, Baroness Clinton and Say. 2. Stuarta Shirley – b Aug 19 1711 2. John Shirley – b. March 1 1712
Acknowledgements Text taken from: http://www.ulster.ac.uk/thisisland/modules/ ulsterplantation/carrickmacross.html Sketch of Essex Castle, Carrickmacross is taken from ‘The Monaghan Story’, by Peadar Livingstone. County Monaghan – Baronies, taken from ‘The Monaghan Story’, by Peadar Livingstone.
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. 191. “(Hanbury-Tenison/IFR) A two storey house in the manner of Francis Johnston, rebuilt after the previous house was destroyed by fire 1795. Three bay front, centre bay breaking forward slightly; eaved roof. Shallow porch with coupled Doric columns; fanlight over doorway and sidelights. On either side of the porch, a Wyatt window under a shallow relieving arch. Central dormer with oval Adamesque fan panel between two windows. Two storey wings, set back. Stable yard behind house.”
Lough Bawn, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Complex-plan country house, built c.1815, incorporating earlier house and with further blocks added. Three-bay two-storey over basement entrance block incorporating earlier house of c.1760 to rear (west) elevation, having single-bay three-storey over raised basement return to middle of rear with one-bay one and two-storey bay to south side of return, three-bay south and four-bay side elevations to entrance block, and with lower blocks to north-west and south-west corners, four-bay to former with single-bay projection to front re-entrant corner, and three-bay to latter. Courtyard of outbuildings to rear of house. Shallow projecting breakfront to front (east) elevation. Hipped slate roofs, pitched to west end of north elevation, with rendered chimneystacks having string course and clay pots, moulded eaves brackets and cast-iron rainwater goods. Flat-roofed dormer window to front pitch. Dressed stone bell-cote to west end wall of south-western block. Roughcast rendered walls having render plinth course and quoins. One round-headed window to rear elevation of entrance blcok and of north-west block, with six-over-six pane and three-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows. Windows elsewhere are square-headed, six-over-six pane to front elevation, to north-west block, ground floor of south-west block and most of rear elevations, and three-over-three pane to first floor of south elevation of entrance block and south-west block. Two margined timber casement windows to ground floor of side elevations of entrance block. Ground floor windows of entrance block re tripartite and set within segmental-headed recessed openings, Bull’s-eye window with render surround and timber framed window to first floor of north elevation of entrance block. Some cast-iron railings to windows to north elevation. Dormer window comprises two three-over-three pane windows flanking recessed moulded panel having oval patera. Masonry sills throughout. Doric-style pediment added to front c.1950, comprising paired render engaged columns supporting entablature. Elliptical-headed door opening with timber panelled door and margeined sidelights, openings flanked by fluted engaged pilasters supporting entablature, petal fanlight with moulded render surround, approached by concrete platform and three steps. Round-headed door opening to south elevation, having timber panelled door and fanlight with Y-tracery, opening onto stone steps. Gardens around house, bounded by rubble stone walls with garden gate. Extensive lawned grounds to site. Lodge, bridge, boathouse and well to grounds, near house.
Appraisal
This elegantly-proportioned country house has been substantially enlarged over the years, much of the original house having been destroyed by fire in the late eighteenth century. Architectural quality and design are apparent in the form and fabric of the house, notably in the variety of fenestration. It retains much of its early fabric, both internally and externally. The survival of attendant outbuildings, walled garden, boat house and limekiln provide contextual interest. The demesne landscape was planned so as to provide pleasing sweeping vistas both to and from the house, as it is sited overlooking two lakes, and within view of a number of churches, and is a good example of early landscaping.
Attached L-plan multiple-bay two-storey outbuildings, built c.1790, comprising seven-bay range to west boundary having integral carriage arch, and seven-bay range to north range, around courtyard to rear (west) of house, having hipped slate roofs with rendered chimneystacks and replacement rainwater goods, roughcast rendered walls, with rubble stone visible to rear (west) elevation, square-headed openings to first floor having masonry sills, mixed three-over-three-pane timber sliding sash windows, timber louvered vents, and timber battened shutters, square-headed window openings to ground floor with masonry sills and mixed timber battened shutters and timber sliding sash windows having four-over-four panes or six-over-six panes, square-headed door openings having glazed over-lights and double-leaf timber battened doors, segmental-headed carriage arches with dressed stone surrounds, keystones, double-leaf timber battened doors and glazed over-lights, ans segmental-headed integral carriage arch to west range having dressed stone surround, and with red brick to interior walls. Timber stalls and tack room fittings remain to interior. Gauged red brick surrounds to openings to west elevation of west range. Detached four-bay two-storey outbuilding to rear of courtyard, having external staircase to front (south) elevation, hipped tiled roof with red brick chimneystacks and roof-lights, rubble stone walls, square-headed window openings, some having gauged brick surrounds, with masonry sills and six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows, square-headed pitching door at first floor level to front elevation with gauged red brick surround and timber panelled double-leaf door, square-headed door openings to ground floor, elliptical-headed carriage arches to north elevation. Red brick vaulted ceiling to interior. Rubble stone boundary wall to north, having segmental carriage arch. Single-storey three-bay outbuilding to north of complex, having projecting end bay with catslide roof to front elevation, and with single-storey two-bay outbuilding attached to gable, with hipped slate roof having red brick eaves course, terracotta ridge tiles and red brick chimneystack and clay pot, rubble stone walls with squared quoins, and square-headed door openings to front (east) elevation having red brick voussoirs. Vestiges of cobbles to yard. South of stable yard enclosed by rendered wall. Double-leaf timber battened gate flanked by square-profile dressed stone piers having moulded string courses and ball finials.
Appraisal
The stable yard of Loughbawn House is a fine example of planned outbuildings associated with demesne landscapes in Ireland and reflects the wider planning of the demesne landscape as a whole. It is elegantly proportioned and neatly laid out, comprising an L-plan range surrounding a cobbled yard, with additional buildings forming an outer yard to the rear. Much of the original form and fabric is retained, notably original timber fittings to the interior, which provides rare contextual interest. Features such as dressed stone surrounds attest to the employment of skilled craftsmanship in the construction of these outbuildings, which make an important contribution to the architectural heritage of the region.
Lough Bawn, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
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. 113. “(Kane/LGI1912) A two storey C19 Tudor-revival house of the “cottage” type, with gables and decorated bargeboards.”
Drumreaske, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Possibly added to by local architect William Walker in a simple tudor style. For many years after the departure of the Kane family, it was divided into two and rented to tenants.
Detached six-bay two-storey county house, built c.1840, having gabled porch to front and slightly projecting gable-fronted bay to each end of front (south-east) elevation, and gabled projections to rear. Pitched slate roof, with decorative timber bargeboards, valences and finials, and having terracotta ridge tiles. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Red brick and rendered chimneystacks, having diamond-plan multiple flues, and clay chimneypots. Half-dormer windows to front with gables over having decorative timber bargeboards with finials. Harl-rendered walls, with red brick and coursed rubble sandstone visible in areas. Square-headed window openings to front, with chamfered rendered surrounds. Render label-mouldings to first floor to end bays and to ground floor. Canted-bay window to front, having tooled stone risers, sills and chamfered mullions. Box-bay windows to ground floor of end bays to front, with smooth rendered walls, square-headed openings with chamfered surrounds, and render label-mouldings. Canted oriel window to south-west elevation with chamfered render surrounds and sills, with later box-bay window below. Square-headed window openings to rear and north-east elevation, with render sills. Windows boarded-up throughout. Porch to front has rendered walls with chamfered corners, Tudor-arch opening having moulded render surround, double-leaf timber panelled door and boarded-up over-light, with decorative timber bargeboards and finial. Square-headed boarded-up doorway to north-east elevation, having flat concrete canopy supported on cast-iron cylindrical columns. Square-headed door openings to rear, boarded-up, some having timber fittings.
This country house was constructed, with some guidance from William Walker, for Henry Mitchell. It has a well-proportioned front elevation exhibiting a subtle symmetry, enhanced by its gable-fronted end-bays. This is enlivened, and challenged, by the off-centre doorway, which draws the eye. Decorative timber detailing to the roof provides further visual interest, bringing a dramatic aspect to this substantial house. The site retains notable demesne-related features, including the walled garden and some outbuildings to the rear, and although it is now derelict, it remains a significant and imposing feature in the landscape.
Blayney Castle, (also known as Hope castle), Co Monaghan
Blayney Castle (or Hope Castle), Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
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.
(Blayney, B/DPE; Hope.LG1937; Pelham-Clinton-Hope, Newcastle, D/PB) A three storey five bay Georgian block, built near the site of a C17 “Plantation Castle”; refaced and embellished during the Victorian period. Entablatures over windows; scrolled cresting on roof parapet; segmental pediment with arms on garden front. Entrance front with central curved bow, to which a projecting porch, and a canopy of ornamental cast iron work and glass, was added. Top storey treated as attic, above cornice. Lower service wing, and single-storey four bay C19 addition with roof on bracket cornice prolonging garden front. Centre first floor window of garden treated like a niche, sheltering a statue. Sold 1853 by 12th and last Lord Blayney to Henry Hope, of Deepdene, Surrey, son of Thomas HOpe, the great exponent of neo-Classicism and a member of the Scottish-Dutch banking family, famous for its ownership of the Hope Diamond. Passed by descent to Lord Henry Francis Hope Pelham-Clinton-Hope, afterwards 8th Duke of Newcastle. Now a convent.”
Blayney Castle (or Hope Castle), Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Blayney Castle (or Hope Castle), Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Blayney Castle (or Hope Castle), Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Blayney Castle (or Hope Castle), Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Blayney Castle (or Hope Castle), Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Mary Cairnes, Lady Blayney (c. 1703–1790) after Robert Home, courtesy of Sothebys , Old Masters and 19th Century Paintings.She married Cadwallader Dominic Blayney 7th Baron Blayney of Monaghan.She was the daughter of Alexander Cairnes, 1st Baronet.She married secondly Colonel John Murray, MP, from Glenalla House, near Rathmullan in Donegal.Dowager Lady Cunninghame, prob Elizabeth Murray who inherited vast estates of Alexander Cairnes. Adams auctioh house tells us she should be called Lady Rossmore, and that she married Bernard Cunninghame of Mount Kennedy, but I think she she married Robert Cuninghame, 1st Baron Rossmore. Courtesy Adam’s 5 Oct 2010, Hugh Douglas Hamilton (1739-1808). She was also a daughter of Colonel John Murray MP and his wife Mary Cairns.
Blayney Castle, County Monaghan, courtesy Archiseek.Blayney Castle, County Monaghan, courtesy Archiseek.Blayney Castle or Hope Castle, County Monaghan, courtesy Archiseek.
The area of Muckno and Ballynalurgan was granted to Sir Edward Blayney under the Plantation of Ulster in 1607 and 1611. Blayney was a Welsh soldier, and built a stone defensive castle, Blayney Castle, consisting of a fortified house and bawn.
The town of Castleblayney has grown up round that original site. Blayney was created the first Baron Blaney in 1621 and the Blayneys would continue to occupy the estate until the 1850s. The castle was derelict by the 1790s, by which time the family had moved into a large Georgian house nearby. No trace remains today.
Blayney Castle or Hope Castle, County Monaghan, courtesy Archiseek.Blayney Castle or Hope Castle, County Monaghan, courtesy Archiseek.
Known also as Blayney Castle after the plantation castle nearby (from which the town gets its name), Hope Castle has had many owners and uses over the years. Originally a three storey 5 bay Georgian block, it was sold in 1853 by the twelfth and last Lord Blaney to the Hope family after whom the famous Hope Diamond is name.
Henry Hope had the house extended, and the facade of the house received many embellishments including scrolled cresting on the roof parapets and at one stage an ornamental cast iron and glass porch canopy. After the Hopes, it was used as a military base and later as a convent.
The building has suffered greatly during its lifetime – after being an convent, it remained empty for many years and was taken over the the local County Council who demolished the 19th century additions to the garden and main fronts and renovated the building. Its most interesting internal feature – a Soanesque toplit upper stair landing was destroyed during the building’s phase of dereliction. It has since been badly damaged by fire and is currently boarded up and derelict. The estate still has a good stableyard and cast-iron gateway with matching gatehouses.
The sad remains of Hope Castle, County Monaghan. Built on the edge of Castleblayney, the house – like the town – owes its existence to the Blayney family who settled here at the start of the 17th century. Initially they lived in a castle built by Sir Edward Blayney, created first Baron Blayney in 1721 but at the end of the 18th century his descendant, the 11th Lord Blayney commissioned a new house designed by Dublin-born Robert Woodgate who for several years had worked in London for Sir John Soane. In 1853 the 12th Lord Blayney sold the estate to the rich Henry Thomas Hope; he enlarged and remodelled the building in what has been called ‘a frivolous kind of Italianate classicism.’ Occupied by Queen Victoria’s son the Duke of Connaught for several years at the start of the last century when he served Commander of the Forces in Ireland, Hope Castle was sold in 1928 and served as a military barracks and then a county hospital before being occupied until the mid-1970s by Franciscan nuns. It was then acquired by the local county council, which leased it to an hotelier who was permitted to strip out all of Woodgate’s interiors. In 2010 the building was badly damaged by arsonists and has remained in a sorry state ever since.
THE BARONS BLAYNEY WERE THE SECOND LARGEST LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY MONAGHAN, WITH 24,546 ACRES
SIR EDWARD BLAYNEY(1570-1629), Knight, a native of Wales, said to be descended from Cadwallader, King of Cambria and a younger son of the Prince of Wales, had been employed from his youth in the armies of ELIZABETH I.
He accompanied Robert, Earl of Essex, as Colonel, into Ireland, 1598, where he obtained both wealth and renown in the subsequent wars.
Sir Edward, Governor of Monaghan, was granted the thirty-two townlands of Ballynalurgan and in 1611 he obtained the termon of Muckno as well.
Blayney built a castle, around which a Planter village soon began to develop.
This was the origin of the present town of Castleblayney.
Sir Edward married Anne, second daughter of the Most Rev Dr Adam Loftus, Lord Archbishop of Dublin, CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND, by whom he had, with six daughters, two sons,
HENRY (Sir), his successor; ARTHUR (Sir), of Castle Shane.
Sir Edward was elevated to the peerage by JAMES I, in 1621, in the dignity of BARON BLAYNEY, of Monaghan.
His lordship was succeeded by his elder son,
HENRY, 2nd Baron, who wedded, in 1623, Jane, daughter of Gerald, Viscount Drogheda, by whom he had two surviving sons and five daughters.
His lordship, who was a military man, was slain at the battle of Benburb, County Tyrone, 1646, and was succeeded by his elder son,
EDWARD, 3rd Baron (c1625-69), who died unmarried, and was succeeded by his brother,
RICHARD, 4th Baron (c1625-70), who was high in favour with CROMWELL, and had been appointed, in 1656, the usurper’s custos-rotulorum of County Monaghan, and escheator of County Tyrone.
His lordship espoused firstly, in 1653, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Mr Alderman Vincent, of Dublin, MP, by whom he had several children; and secondly, Jane, daughter of John Malloch.
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,
HENRY VINCENT, 5th Baron, who wedded Margaret Moore, eldest sister of John, 1st Lord Tullamore, by whom he had an only surviving child, Elinor.
His lordship fled Castleblayney at the outbreak of the Williamite wars and was chosen as commander-in-chief of the Protestant forces raised to defend Monaghan and Armagh against JAMES II, who transmitted it to his brother,
WILLIAM, 6th Baron, who married, in 1686, Mary, eldest daughter of William, 1st Viscount Charlemont, and dying in 1705, was succeeded by his only surviving son,
CADWALLADER, 7th Baron (1693-1732), who married Mary, daughter of the Hon John Tucket, and niece of Charles, Duke of Shrewsbury, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and had issue.
His lordship espoused secondly, Mary, daughter and heiress of Sir Alexander Cairnes Bt, of Monaghan.
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,
THE VERY REV CHARLES TALBOT, 8th Baron (1714-61), Dean of Killaloe, at whose decease, without surviving issue, the title devolved upon his brother,
CADWALLADER, 9th Baron (1720-75), who married, in 1767, Sophia, daughter of Thomas Tipping, of Beaulieu, and had issue,
CADWALLADER DAVIS, his successor; ANDREW THOMAS, succeeded his brother; Sophia; Mary.
His lordship, a lieutenant-general in the army, was succeeded by his elder son,
CADWALLADER DAVIS, 10th Baron (1769-84); at whose decease, unmarried, the title reverted to his brother,
ANDREW THOMAS, 11th Baron (1770-1834), a lieutenant-general in the army, who wedded, in 1796, Mabella, eldest daughter of James, 1st Earl of Caledon, and had issue,
CADWALLADER DAVIS, his successor; Anne; Charlotte Sophia.
His lordship was succeeded by his son,
CADWALLADER DAVIS, 12th Baron (1802-74), MP for County Monaghan, 1830-34, at whose decease, unmarried, the title expired.
THE CALEDON CONNECTION
The Caledon estate in County Tyrone is just a few fields away from that of the Leslies in Glaslough, County Monaghan, and the Earls of Caledon themselves owned some land in County Monaghan.
Because of the family connection between the lst and 2nd Earls and the 11th Lord Blayney, who was their son-in-law and brother-in-law respectively, the correspondence between Blayney and the two earls yields a lot of information about his military and political careers; for example, the siege of Alexandria and as a prisoner of war in Napoleonic France.
During Blayney’s long incarceration, the 2nd Earl of Caledon looked after his financial, domestic, and political affairs, thus being drawn into the Monaghan sphere.
This brought political figures such as Dawson and Leslie beating a path to Caledon’s door, because during this period he was the representative of Blayney and ‘the Blayney interest’.
On his return, Blayney was given a seat in parliament for Caledon’s infamous ‘rotten borough’ of Old Sarum, Wiltshire. Later, he attempted to get Caledon to use his influence with the Government to get him elected an Irish Representative Peer.
This yields a very illuminating and often pained correspondence between the two men.
HOPE CASTLE, Castleblayney, County Monaghan, formerly known as Blayney Castle after the plantation castle nearby (from which the town gets its name), has had many owners and uses over the years.
Originally a three storey, five bay Georgian block, the house received many embellishments during the Victorian era including scrolled cresting on the roof parapets and at one stage an ornamental cast iron and glass porch canopy.
In 1853, Cadwaller, 12th and last Lord Blayney, sold the Castle and estate to Henry Thomas Hope from Deepdene in Surrey, a former MP at Westminster.
Thereafter the Castle was renamed Hope Castle, as it still called.
Hope gave the Georgian Castle with its splendid prospect a Victorian makeover that the present building retains, externally at least.
After his death in 1862, Hope’s wife Anne inherited the estate.
Soon after 1887, the Castle and demesne fell to the next heir, a grandson of Hope: Lord Henry Francis Hope Pelham-Clinton-Hope, famous for having sold the renowned family heirloom, the Hope Diamond.
From 1900 until 1904, the Castle became the residence of Field-Marshal HRH The Duke of Connaught, Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.
After 1916, Lord Henry no longer resided in the Castle nor in Ireland.
On becoming 8th Duke of Newcastle in 1928, he later sold both the Castle and the estate, which was broken up and used in part for local political patronage.
In 1919-21, the Castle was used as a barracks by the British Army.
Some time afterwards it functioned as a hospital; and from 1943-74, it was occupied by Franciscan nuns who also managed an adjacent guest house.
After some years of neglect, the Castle has been used for catering and hotel purposes set in what is now a Leisure Park with golf course.
In October 2010, the Castle was burnt down in an arson attack.
The building has suffered greatly during its lifetime – after being an convent, it remained empty for many years and was taken over the the local County Council who demolished the 19th century additions to the garden and main fronts and renovated the building.
Its most interesting internal feature – a Soanesque top-lit upper stair landing, was destroyed during the building’s phase of dereliction.
The estate still has a good stable-yard and cast-iron gateway with matching gatehouses.
Hope Castle can be found near the town of Castleblayney in County Monaghan. Perched high on a hill overlooking an expanse of water known as Lough Muckno, the castle is hidden by trees and accessed from the town through impressive entrance gates. The town of Castleblayney is the third largest in County Monaghan and its development is closely linked to the influential Blayney family. From the late 1700s the Blayneys were responsible for the creation of local industry and the construction of a number of the public buildings in the town. A few months after I began to compile this piece, I learnt that the castle had been deliberately burnt to the ground. As a result of the loss of this building I felt I had to highlight its history and beauty, in the hope it would rally local people to ensure that it is restored. It is also fascinating that the family that gave their name to the worlds most famous gem stone also lent their surname to this castle in Monaghan.
The entrance front of Castle Hope with its large extension added by Henry Thomas Hope in the 1860s. The Hope family crest is emblazoned on the castle in the centre of this facade. Accreditation- The National Library of Ireland
In the 1600s, the lands around Lough Muckno were owned by the Blayney family who built the original castle that preceded the existing building. The eleventh Baron Blayney, Lord Andrew Thomas Blayney eventually built a new castle near the site of the original ancestral seat. It is little wonder that the site for the new castle was chosen as it enjoys one of the most spectacular views of Lough Muckno and the surrounding countryside. Robert Woodgate who designed the new castle in 1799 had previously served as an apprentice to the architect John Soane in London. In the same year, he also set up his Irish practise in Dublin and secured the commission from Baron Blayney in County Monaghan. Woodgate wrote to Soane, his former employer, in November 1799 and enclosed a sketch of Castle Blayney. The grateful apprentice recorded the following in the accompanying letter- ‘Sketch of the first house I ever built as a small tribute due for your former kindness to me’. The completed three storey, five bay block of Castle Blayney now stood on the hill overlooking the lough but its completion would also mark the end of the Blayneys connection with the estate. The eleventh Baron was a generous man and in 1814 he donated a painting of St. Sebastian to be used as an alter piece in the local Catholic Church which stood on land that he had donated in 1803.During the time that the eleventh Baron Blaney succeeded to the Monaghan estate he did much to improve the town of Castleblayney and he was responsible for its streetscape and development of local industry. Lord Blayney died on April 8, 1834 and was succeeded by his son Cadwallader Davis Blayney, the twelfth and last Lord Blayney. In 1853, the Hope family purchased the remainder of the Blayney estate under the Encumbered Estates Act 1849 for £180,000
The castle is now boarded up since it was destroyed by fire in 2010. The substantial wing built by Henry Thomas Hope was demolished around the time the castle was renovated in the 1980s leaving the building as it appeared when it was first built. Accreditation- Photograph by Ellie Ross
The most famous diamond in the world which shares its name with a castle
in Monaghan once owned by Henry Hope
A niche on the rear elevation of the castle still contains a statue that once overlooked a formal garden.Accreditation- Photograph by Ellie Ross
The estate had been sold to Henry Thomas Hope of Surrey who was a member of the Scottish-Dutch banking family, famous for their ownership of Hope Diamond. The diamond was a supposedly cursed jewel that had passed through both the French and British Royal families and had supposedly brought ruin to whoever owned it. Henry Thomas Hope had the building in Monaghan refaced and embellished during the 1860s which included the addition of the Hope family crest to the parapet of all the facades of the castle. A large extension was added to the building which now became a modern country retreat for the extremely affluent family. Inside a large collection of art treasures were amassed which included a gallery of pictures by the Dutch and early English masters. Henry Thomas Hope died in 1862 and the castle eventually passed to his grandson, Lord Henry Francis Hope Pelham-Clinton. Between 1900 and 1904, Hope Castle was occupied by the Duke of Connaught, son of Queen Victoria, during his appointment as Commander in Chief to Ireland. It was said at the time that the Duke and Duchess experienced a great deal of difficulty in finding an Irish home as they did not wish to spend all their time in the official residence at the RoyalHospital in Kilmainham, Dublin. The Irish residence associated with the office of Commander in Chief was not thought to be suitable for habitation by such high ranking royals as the grounds of the residence were far from private and its location was thought to be in an inferior part of the city. The residence of the Lord Lieutenant and the Chief Secretary in the Phoenix Park would have been suitable but neither of these residents could vacate those houses. The large administrative staffs associated with these official roles could not be moved easily without huge disruption. Several other houses such as Castletown House in Kildare were considered before the Duke settled on Castle Hope in Monaghan which he leased from Lord Henry Francis Hope.
Prince Arthur, 1st Duke of Connaught (The National Portrait Gallery, London)
The garden front of the castle that overlooks Lough Muckno, the large drawing room of the house was contained behind the large projecting bay window that can be seen in this picture.Accreditation- Photograph from The Irish Historical Picture Company
Leonie Leslie
It is believed that Castle Hope was chosen as it was located near the home of Leonie Leslie, a prominent socialite at the time, who lived at Castle Leslie. She was a close friend of the Duke and Duchess of Connaught but it is alleged that she was a closer friend of the Duke. The royal couple arrived in Castle Blayney in June 1900 and received a warm welcome from the local people; both the gates to the castle and the whole town were decorated with bunting and flags. The Duke had taken the castle for the summer season in 1900 with an option of leasing it for a further five years. It was thought at the time that Castle Hope would become an official royal residence and that Queen Victoria would visit her son here. She never graced Castle Hope with her presence before her death in 1901 and the Duke of Duchess of Connaught ended their association with the castle in 1904.
The entrance gates to the castle in the 1900s around the time that Duke and Duchess of Connaught were in residence. The presence of police officers also gives credence to this assumption.Accreditation- The National Library of Ireland.
Today the handsome gates piers and adjoining lodges are a distraction surrounded by parked cars, incongruous signage and electric wires.Accreditation- Photograph by Ellie Ross
Lord Henry, the castle’s owner, lived beyond his means which eventually led to marriage troubles and financial woes. He was forced to sell the Hope Diamond in 1901 for £29,000, which would be over two million pounds in today’s money, but this was not sufficient to plug the gapping hole in his finances. Lord Henry Francis Hope had mortgaged the estate in Monaghan heavily and ceased to live there from 1914. After this, the castle was occupied by every army that the country had seen since 1919 which included the Auxiliaries, Black and Tans and the Free State Army. It was also recorded that after the ratification of the treaty that the Crown forces were evacuated from Hope Castle on January 16, 1922.
Lord Henry Francis Hope Pelham-Clinton
(The National Portrait Gallery, London)
None of these occupants had caused serious damage to the stately pile’s contents and in 1926, an auction of the property of Lord Henry Francis Hope was announced. The contents of the castle consisting of antique furniture, paintings, china and the entire furnishings contained in the billiard room, drawing room, boudoir, library, smoking room, bedrooms, servant’s quarters and kitchen were to be auctioned. The sale of the furniture was the final severance of the connection that the Hope Family had with the town of Castleblayney and the auction attracted a huge attendance for the sale of the 1,400 lots. A lot of the large antique furniture sold quite cheaply due to its large size not being suitable for the average family home of the time. Items dispatched for sale included a grand piano and a billiard table which were sold to the nearby Hope Arms Hotel. Over the following years, the castle remained empty and unoccupied until it was used as a temporary hospital between 1932 and 1937 while the new county hospital was being built. It again lay idle for a number of years until it was purchased by a Franciscan Order of nuns who lived there from 1942 until the early 1970s. The Franciscan Sisters had purchased their new home in Monaghan as their previous convent in Londonhad been lost in the blitz during the Second World War. They sought permission to come to Monaghan in December 1941 and secured a loan of £6,000 to establish their convent in Castleblayney. In 1951 the lands of the Hope Estate was taken over by the Land Commission and divided up among the former tenants of the estate. In later years the Franciscan Sisters ran the castle as a guesthouse and they had converted the ballroom into a chapel.
A gravel path led directly from the French doors of the drawing room,down to the shores of Lough Muckno and a boat house. Accreditation- The National Library of Ireland.
The boarded up windows of the drawing room of the castle once overlooked Lough Muckno which is considered to rival the famous Lakes of Killarney in County Kerry.Accreditation- Photograph by David Hicks
In 1979, the castle and the remaining estate lands were offered for sale which extended to 1,000 acres but only fifty-five acres were deemed to be agricultural land as over 900 acres were occupied up by Lough Muckno and its twelve islands. The castle was described as having a floor area of 22,500 sq.ft. which included five reception rooms, twenty-six bedrooms and four bathrooms. There were also coach houses, stables, two gate lodges, farm buildings and a boat house. An asking price of £500,000 was sought and eventually in the 1980s the castle and surrounding lands were purchased by Monaghan County Council. The nineteenth century additions built by Henry Thomas Hope were demolished and the surviving main block of the building was renovated. The eighteenth century castle was leased and operated as a fourteen bedroom hotel for the next number of decades.
A niche on the rear elevation of the castle still contains a statue that once overlooked a formal garden.Accreditation- Photograph by Ellie Ross
The castle once was surrounded by gardens that contained elaborate planting, statues and stone balustrades topped with flower filled urns.Accreditation- Photograph From the National Library of Ireland
In 2010, the townspeople of Castleblayney were shocked to hear that a fire had swept through Hope Castle which caused extensive interior damage. The alarm was raised by Gardai who were on an early morning patrol when they discovered a huge fire was raging inside the building. Fire units from all the neighboring towns were called but serious damage had been done, the castle had been unoccupied at the time and the fire was started maliciously by trespassers. The blaze ripped through the building leaving large sections of the castle destroyed and many of the antiques that furnished its reception rooms were also lost. For the moment Hope Castle remains cordoned off behind a high fence that shields it from public view. Behind this hoarding is a scene of desolation of broken windows and blackened walls, a view reminiscent of the house burnings of the 1920s. I sincerely hope that this building is restored as a resource that can be enjoyed by the local community and the tourists of Castleblayney. Surely this building could become a place where the history of the many famous people associated with this castle could be recorded. How many buildings in Ireland have their history’s interwoven with the world’s most famous diamond and members of the British Royal family?
As a result of the fire, the castle is now surrounded by hoardings that prevents public access but this also inhibits the replication of the above historical image. Architecturally, the facades of this side of the building remain relatively unchanged.Accreditation- Photograph by Ellie Ross
Comparing the aerial photograph above and the period ordinance survey
map belowillustrates the reduction in size of the Castle
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. 41. “A high Victorian Ruskinian Gothic house with a fantastic carved porch.”
Bessmount Park, County Monaghan, by Peter Murray, 2020, courtesy Irish Georgian Society.
Day 7: Bessmount Park, Co. Monaghan
A nineteenth-century mansion in the heart of the Irish countryside—in this case Co. Monaghan—with its pyramid roof, and patterned surfaces, there is nothing ordinary about Bessmount Park. Somewhere within this Ruskinian riot of pinnacles, gables, polychrome brick and coloured stonework, lies the original Bessmount, a plain and unremarkable country house of the early eighteenth century. Around 1868, the Henderson family decided that it was time to spend money on home improvements. The name of the architect they employed is not known for certain; John McCurdy, responsible for the nearby Monaghan Lunatic Asylum, (now St. Davnet’s Hospital), has been suggested, but it was probably the Belfast architect W. J. Barre who took on Bessmount, with a relish equal to his Albert Memorial in Belfast—another great exercise in Gothic Revival. Barre’s re-imagining of Bessmount is eclectic in outlook and nternational in flavour. A brief description of the exterior, with its proliferating voussoirs, mullions, crockets, diapers and gargoyles, would task a lexicon of architecture. On either side of the Romanesque entrance, stone roundels contain sculpted portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Henderson, whose fortunes sprang from brewing beer and whose cheerful countenances greet visitors as they ascend the steps to the front door. A study in colours, textures and geometries, the windows and brick arcades are serried in ranks of three, five and seven. There is symmetry here, but it is an idiosyncratic, irregular, poetic symmetry. An octagonal oriel window springs from the corner of a three-storey gable, the tip of which is embellished with a polychrome brick pattern. The main tower is adorned with a roof that would look at home on a French chateau. A large music room adjoins the main house. The side of the house is as heavily ornamented as the front. No surface, that could be adorned with boss, roundel, crest or knob, is left plain. While the windows in the oriel turret have straight lintels, others are crowned with trefoils and arches. The patterns on the roof are equally varied, with triangular and rounded slates alternating with plain rectangular slates. The presence of monkeys, bats and owls in the carved capitals of the entrance pilasters is reminiscent of the Shea brothers, whose carvings on the Kildare Street Club and Oxford Museum are similarly spirited, although this work at Bessmount is attributed to the equally talented Fitzpatrick brothers of Belfast.
IGS Grants — 2001: external rendering and brickwork repairs; 2004: rainwater goods repairs; 2020: external repairs to Music Room
Pictures & text by Peter Murray from his exhibition ‘Saving Graces’ (2021)
The work of the Irish Georgian Society is supported through the Heritage Council’s ‘Heritage Capacity Fund 2022’.
Bessmount, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Originally a relatively conventional Georgian residence, Bessmount was redesigned by William Barre (architect of the Dawson Monument in the centre of nearby Monaghan town) for William Henderson around 1869. The redesign involved building a separate music room, adding another floor to the building and the addition of the many ornate Victorian features seen in the photograph. These features were designed to distract attention from the low ceilings that the original house had. Apart from the addition of the corner turret, the other main feature added was the tall water-tower and ornate porch. In the porch are lavish carvings of animals including squirrels, owls, monkeys, pelicans, dogs, fish, lizards and many others. Also on the porch are two roundals featuring the owner (the builder) and his wife.
Bessmont House Detached three-bay three-storey irregular-plan house, mainly remodelling of c.1868 of earlier house of c.1722. Originally a relatively conventional Georgian residence, Bessmount was redesigned by William Barre (architect of the Dawson Monument in the centre of nearby Monaghan town) for William Henderson around 1869.
Detached three-bay three-storey irregular-plan house, mainly remodelling of c.1868 of earlier house of c.1722. front elevation having stepped plan, south end bay gabled and having octagonal-plan oriel window to corner at first floor level supported on engaged carved limestone octagonal-plan column. Middle bay topped with tower, latter incorporating water, and fronted by gabled projecting porch. North end bay to front has canted bay window, and half-dormer. Gable-fronted music room to north having three-bay long sides and connected to house by short link. South elevation is four-bay four-storey, with projecting gabled bay fronted by bowed two-storey glazed projection, with lean-to glazed corridors to flanking bays, and gable-fronted projecting bay to south. South elevation is arcaded at lowest level. Three-bay three-storey west elevation has projecting middle bay. Hipped slate roofs, having pyramidal spires to oriel projection and to half-dormer window to north bay of front elevation, with decorative metal finials. Sprocketed truncated pyramidal roof to tower to entrance bay, with decorative cast-iron railings to top, and having decorative gargoyle rainwater spout. Pierced terracotta ridge tiles, polychrome brick chimneystacks with clay pots, cast-iron rainwater goods having decorative edging, and moulded red brick eaves brackets, cut-stone copings, and with sculpted foliate finial to gabled front south bay flanked by doves. M-profile slate roof to music room and connection, with decorative timber bargeboards to front, terracotta ridge cresting and finials. Dormer windows to north elevation of music room, with timber bargeboards, and terracotta ridge cresting and finials. Harl-rendered walls, red brick block-and-start quoins and string courses to front, polychrome brick detailing and polychrome blank arcades to water tower, brick detailing to apex of projecting bays to front, north and south elevations. Rendered panels to corner oriel. Harl-rendered plinth course to front and side elevations, having tooled limestone coping. Cut limestone porch to front has trefoil-arch opening with billeted surround, inset stone medallions to spandrels depicting William Henderson and his wife, carved foliate capitals and frieze to impost course on square-plan piers with corner columns. Three shield devices to apex of porch gable, with carved panel above and blind arcaded balustrade. Tooled limestone canted bay window has five trefoil-headed lights with chamfered surrounds, fixed timber windows, moulded brick cornice and diagonally set hipped slate roof. Paired windows to first floor front and south elevations, set within trefoil-headed recesses, with cut-stone block-and-start surrounds, mullions and transoms, with linked polychrome brick arches above. Pointed-arch window openings to second floor to front, north and south elevations, arranged in groups of three to north and middle bay and five to south bay, with brick voussoirs and tooled limestone block-and-start surrounds, mullions and transoms. Square-headed openings to tooled limestone oriel window and to openings in ground and first floors of north elevation, with triple window to ground floor of north elevation. Pointed-arch window openings to south bay ground floor to front, in group of five, with raised chamfered tooled limestone surrounds, mullions and transoms. Pointed-arch window opening to second floor to south elevation, with yellow brick jambs and red brick voussoirs, and traceried margined timber window. Square-headed window openings to rear, west elevation, and to north elevation of music room, lacking articulation. One-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows throughout (except where already specified), with timber fixed or casement frames above transoms of the more complex windows, with stone sills. Triple lancet window to front gable of music room, with trefoil heads, in tooled limestone surrounds with transoms. trefoil light in oculus to apex of same gable. Tripartite arrangement of shouldered window openings to front of entry porch to music room, with tooled limestone chamfered surround, sill and mullions. Trefoil devices to dormer hoods of north elevation of music room. Variety of single, double and triple window openings to returns to rear. Projecting double-light bay window to rear with hipped slate roof and timber surrounds. First floor level of south elevation has timber posts between groups of four trefoil-headed lights, and glazed roof. Square-headed door opening to house proper, comprising double-leaf timber panelled door with over-lights and sidelights opening onto mosaic tiled platform approached by two steps. Flight of limestone steps to front of porch to garden level, flanked by cut-stone parapets. Square-headed door opening to front of glazed south end of glazing to south elevation, with double-leaf half-glazed timber panelled door with sidelights and over-lights, opening on to nosed render steps. Square-headed door opening to front of music room with raised render surround and half-glazed timber panelled door, opening onto two
render steps. Square-headed door opening to rear at basement level, with timber battened door and tripartite over-light. Gauged-brick three-centred door opening to rear of music room, with timber battened door. Square-headed door opening to rear of music room, with timber panelled door. Random rubble wall enclosing yard to rear of house.
A modestly-proportioned Georgian house was built here about 1722, but was remodelled in a dramatic Ruskinian Gothic style by W.J. Barre in about 1868, incorporating elaborate additions such as projecting gables, gargoyles, a turret-like oriel window, an ecclesiastical-themed ‘music room’, pyramidal spires to the roof, and intricate polychrome brick detailing indicative of the later nineteenth-century date of this remodelling. The building displays naturalistic carvings in stone, probably undertaken by the Fitzpatrick Brothers of Belfast, one of which depicts William Henderson, the owner of Bessmount Park, who was High Sheriff in 1876. Bessmount Park is notable for the intricacy of its design, a rare example of such a high degree of ornamentation in Ireland.
Tour one of Monaghan’s hidden gems – a house with a three hundred year history from Georgian to Gothic revival. The Montgomery family are happy to welcome visitors on this rare opportunity during Heritage Week to enjoy fascinating stories of families, architecture, local and social history. Booking is essential as tour numbers are limited.
As the picture above shows, until the late 1860s Bessmount, County Monaghan was a fairly standard, medium-sized country house, of two storeys over basement and with a five-bay façade onto which the box-like porch had been added. With a Wyatt window on the first floor being the only feature of interest, it looks to be of indeterminate date, both 1722 and 1807 having been proposed as when originally constructed. Either or indeed any time in between are possible, since the building gives the appearance of being solid but unimaginative in its design. In the 18th century the land on which it stands belonged to a branch of the Montgomery family and in 1758 an eldest daughter, Mary Montgomery married Alexander Nixon of the now-demolished Nixon Hall, County Fermanagh. The couple’s second son, Alexander Nixon Montgomery, inherited Bessmount where he lived until his death in 1837.
Although Alexander Nixon Montgomery and his wife Eliza (nee Stanley) had no less than nine children, Bessmount was sold a few years after his death. The purchaser was John Hatchell, a wealthy Monaghan brewer who a few years later married Elizabeth Anne Speer from nearby Glaslough. Their daughter Frances Maria in turn married William Henderson whose own family were associated with the linen industry and it would seem that the couple, having sufficient funds from their forebears’ respective businesses, decided to recast Bessmount, transforming what had been a rather staid residence into something completely different.
Despite its extraordinary appearance, and relatively late date, we do not know who was the architect responsible for Bessmount’s makeover. Two names have been suggested, one being the Newry-born William Barre who worked mostly in the Ulster region and whose Danesfort House in Belfast has a very similar entrance tower. But Barre died in 1867 (that is, before work began at Bessmount) so the other architect proposed is John McCurdy, then working nearby on Monaghan’s District Lunatic Asylum (now St Davnet’s Hospital), the largest such institution in the country. Whether one of these gentlemen or another party, whoever received the commission clearly had a field day with the project, no doubt encouraged by his clients whose carved portraits can be seen in medallions on either side of the entrance porch (Mrs Henderson being tricked out to look like Queen Elizabeth I: perhaps a play on the house’s name?). Bessmount metamorphosed from a dull Georgian block into an extravagance of Ruskinian Gothic, thanks to the use of certain devices such as bands of yellow and red brick especially in the aforementioned tower (which originally served the practical purpose of holding the house’s water tanks). Asymmetry rules across the intentionally stepped façade, so that the eye is constantly moving from one feature to the next, whether the large gable featuring crests of the Hatchell and Henderson families, the trefoil-headed canted bay window that lights the drawing room or the first-floor oriel turret on the opposite side of the house. Meanwhile the south-facing garden front is enlivened by a Gothic conservatory raised on arcades, while to the immediate north a short link leads to the only major extension to the property, a large ‘music room’ that both inside and out resembles a Victorian village hall.
The interiors of Bessmount are not as remarkable as the exterior, perhaps because funds – and imagination – ran low. To a considerable extent they retain their pre-refurbishment appearance, albeit here and there tricked out in gothic finery. The majority of chimney pieces, for example, were in the original house, but their interiors now lined with pretty Minton tiles. Really the fun is on the outside, not least the porch where whoever received the commission to carve the capitals (the late Jeremy Williams proposed the Fitzpatrick brothers of Belfast) didn’t hold back. The ornamentation is lavish in the extreme, a bestiary of animal life ranging from bats and monkeys to frogs and rabbits, many of them peeking out of the undergrowth to pull a face as though determined to ruin a staid animal kingdom portrait. It is all rather droll, conveying the impression that the earnest intentions behind Ruskin’s advocacy of the Gothic mode are here being guyed. Fortunately the opportunity to relish this architectural humour remains since Bessmount still stands intact and in good order. The property changed hands in the last century when it once more became a Montgomery house, as is the case to the present. The owners are well aware of the building’s importance and have undertaken repair work where feasible. A cheering note with which to approach the year’s end.
Ballibay House (or Ballybay), Ballibay, Co Monaghan – demolished
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 16. “(Leslie/LGI1912) A fine Classical house of 1830 by John B. Keane, built for C.A. Leslie. Of two storeys, over a high basement; three bay entrance front, the centre bay being recessed, with a Wyatt window above a single-storey Doric portico. Adjoining front of five bays, the centre bay breaking forward under a pediment-gable and having a tripartite window in its lower storey. Apart from this window, all the windows in the lower storey were set in arched recesses, also those in the basement, and the centre window in the upper storey of the side elevation. Eaved roof on bracket cornice. A three storey gable-ended range was added behind the house later in C19. Now demolished
Ballibay, County Monaghan, courtesy Archiseek.Ballibay, County Monaghan, courtesy Archiseek.
Ballybay House, residence of Edward John Henry Leslie C.M.G., M.V.O; (1890-1966), British Ambassador to Rome, which was destroyed by the IRA on 2nd June 1921. It was two storeys over a high basement, with a three-bay entrance front, the centre of which was recessed, with a Wyatt window above a single-storey Doric portico.
Described in Lewis as “About half a mile from the town is Ballibay House, the seat of that gentleman, on whose estate the town is built; it is a handsome and spacious mansion beautifully situated on the border of a lake, and backed by some extensive plantations”.
THE LESLIES OWNED 5,556 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY MONAGHAN GEORGE, 4TH EARL OF ROTHES, married thirdly, Agnes, daughter of Sir John Somerville, of Cambusnethan, and had issue,
Andrew, 5th Earl; Peter; JAMES, of whom we treat; Janet; Helen.
His lordship’s third son by his marriage to Agnes Somerville,
THE HON JAMES LESLIE, born in 1530, married Jane, daughter of Sir James Hamilton, of Evandale, and had issue,
George; HENRY, of whom we treat.
The younger son, THE MOST REV DR HENRY LESLIE (1580-1661), Lord Bishop of Meath, settled in Ireland, 1614, where he was ordained in 1617.
His lordship was chaplain to CHARLES I, with whom he shared his great adversities.
He espoused Jane Swinton, and had issue,
Robert(Rt Rev Dr); JAMES, of whose line we treat; William, of Prospect, Co Antrim; Mary; Margaret.
The second son,
JAMES LESLIE (1624-1704), of Leslie Hill, County Antrim, wedded, in 1650, Jane, daughter of John Echlin, of Ardquin, County Down, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
THE VEN DR HENRY LESLIE (1651-1733), Archdeacon of Down, Chaplain to the Duke of Ormonde, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
In 1680 he obtained a Prebend in Down Cathedral, which he resigned, 1695, for the Archdeaconry.
Dr Leslie espoused, in 1676, Margaret, daughter and heiress of Peter Beaghan, of Ballibay, and had issue,
PETER, his heir; Edmund, MP for Antrim; Penelope.
The Archdeacon was succeeded by his elder son,
THE REV PETER LESLIE, born in 1686, Rector of Ahoghill, who married Jane, daughter of the Most Rev Dr Anthony Dopping, Lord Bishop of Meath, and had issue,
HENRY, his heir; James, of Leslie Hill, Co Antrim; Samuel; EDMOND (Ven), Archdeacon of Down; Margaret; Jane.
The eldest son,
THE REV HENRY LESLIE (1719-1803), of Ballybay, County Monaghan, Prebendary of Tullycorbet, Clogher, and afterwards prebendary of Tandragee, in Armagh Cathedral.
Dr Leslie married, in 1753, Catherine, daughter of the Very Rev Charles Meredyth, Dean of Ardfert, and had issue,
Peter Henry, b 1755; k/a in America; CHARLES ALBERT, of whom hereafter; Catherine Letitia.
The surviving son,
CHARLES ALBERT LESLIE (1765-1838), of Ballybay, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1805, married, in 1799, Ellen, youngest daughter of Richard Magenis MP, of Waringstown, County Down, and left at his decease an only surviving child,
EMILY ELEANOR WILHELMINA LESLIE, of Ballybay, who married firstly, in 1828, her cousin, Arthur French, of Clonsilla, County Dublin, and had issue,
ROBERT CHARLES (now LESLIE), of Ballybay; Charles Albert Leslie Attila FRENCH; Helena Charlotte; Albertine Caroline; Henrietta Victoria Alexandria.
She wedded secondly, in 1844, her cousin, the Rev John Charles William Leslie, son of James Leslie, of Leslie Hill, by whom she had issue,
Ferdinand Seymour; Marion Adelaide.
Mrs Leslie died in 1844, and was succeeded by her eldest son,
ROBERT CHARLES LESLIE JP DL (1828-1904), of Ballybay, and Kilclief, County Down, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1854, who married, at Paris, 1867, Charlotte Philippa Mary, daughter of Captain Edward Kelso, of Kelsoland, and Horkesley Park, Essex, and had issue,
Theordore Barrington Norman; EDWARD HENRY JOHN, succeeded his brother; Mabel Edith.
He assumed, in 1885, the surname and arms of LESLIE, in compliance of his maternal grandfather’s will.
Mr Leslie was succeeded by his second son,
EDWARD HENRY JOHN LESLIE CMG MVO JP DL (1880-1966), of Ballybay, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1908, who entered the Foreign Office, 1902.
BALLYBAY HOUSE, Ballybay, County Monaghan, was a fine Classical house of 1830 by JB Keane, for Charles Albert Leslie.
It comprised two storeys over a high basement, with a three-bay entrance front, the centre of which was recessed, with a Wyatt window above a single-storey Doric portico.
The adjoining front had five bays.
Practically all of the windows in the lower storey were set in arched recesses.
A three-storey, gable-ended range was added behind the house later in the 19th century.
Ballybay House was burnt and the contents were sold in 1920.
Nothing remains.
Former London residence ~ 10 Douro Place, Kensington.
Annamakerrig (Tyrone Guthrie Centre, or Annaghmakerrig), Newbliss, Co Monaghan – artist accommodation
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. 289. “(Power/LGI1912) A house of Victorian appearance, in watered-down Tudor-Jacobean. Entrance front with central porch-gable; adjoining front with two curvilinear gables, single-storey three sided bows, windows with blocked surrounds. Finials on gables. The seat of the Moorhead family; inherited by Martha (nee Moorhead), wife of Sir William James Tyrone Power – whose father was the early C19 Irish actor, Tyrone Power, ancestor of the film actor of the name – and in recent years the home of her grandson, Sir William Tyrone Guthrie, the producer, who bequested it to the Irish nation as a centre for artists and writers.”
Annaghmakerrig House (Tyrone Guthrie Centre), MULLAGHMORE, County Monaghan
Annaghmakerrig House (Tyrone Guthrie Centre), Mullaghmore, County Monaghan.
Detached three-bay two-storey two-pile country house, built c.1805 and extended c.1860, having full-height projecting gable-fronted entrance bay, five-bay side elevation to west with canted bay windows and curvilinear gables to each pile, return to north end of east elevation with gabled two-storey projection to east, and adjoining four-bay two-storey block attached to north-east corner. Now in use as artists’ retreat. Pitched slate roof, with dressed sandstone chimneystacks and terracotta chimneypots, cast-iron rainwater goods, raised rendered curvilinear gables with moulded stone copings and finials to front, east and west elevations, raised stone parapet to front, raised rendered shouldered parapets to eastern projection. Dormer windows to east elevation of four-bay block, with stone parapets having decorative metal finials. Ruled-and-lined rendered walls, with dressed granite block-and-start quoins. Dressed coursed granite to lower half of entrance bay, having corner buttresses. Harl render to front, and to west elevation of return. Tripartite arrangements of square-headed window openings to ground floor to front and bipartite square-headed window openings to first floor to front and to ground floor of east elevation of four-bay block, with dressed chamfered granite surrounds and sills, having dressed label-mouldings to ground floor front windows with foliate stops and with pediment detail to middle lights. Bay windows have dressed granite surrounds and dressed sandstone detailing. Square-headed and round-headed window openings to first floor to east and west elevations, to south gable of four-bay block and to rear proper. Dressed granite surrounds and sills throughout, having one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows, with six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows to rear. Plain glazed oculus to rear, with dressed granite surround. Pointed-arch former door opening to west elevation, dressed granite chamfered surround, with one-over-one pane timber sliding sash window, and having timber panelled riser over granite step. Tudor-arch doorway to front, with chamfered recessed surround and hood-moulding, and double-leaf half-glazed timber panelled door, opening onto tiled platform and seven nosed granite steps, flanked by dressed granite walls. Wider Tudor-arch doorway to south elevation of four-bay block, having dressed chamfered granite surround and hood-moulding, half-glazed timber panelled door, sidelights and over-light, opening onto flagged stone steps, with cast-iron bootscraper. Square-headed door opening to west of return to rear, having render surround, timber panelled door and over-light. Segmental-headed door openings to east and west of return, with render surrounds and replacement uPVC glazed doors. Gauged red-brick square-headed door openings to front of former stable block, with red brick surrounds, timber battened doors, one with cast-iron latticed sidelights. Original decorative coving to interior ceilings, timber architraves to doors and windows, timber shutters to windows. Multiple-bay two-storey former stables block at right angles to rear of four-bay block, now in use as accommodation, having hipped re-slated roof with rendered chimneystacks, rubble limestone walls, gauged red brick window and door openings with timber fittings to doorways and double-leaf casement windows with lattice glazing.
Appraisal
Built in the Gothic Revival style, to replace an earlier house on this site, Annaghmakerrig House was bequeathed to the State for use as an artists’ retreat by its last owner, Tyrone Guthrie. Accordingly it has been subtly remodelled to accommodate working and sleeping space for artists. Despite these alterations it retains much of its early form and character. Externally the façade is enlivened by dressed granite detailing to the window surrounds, copings and well-detailed doorways. Shaped gables and a range of window openings provide an element of variety. Prominently set within its own grounds, overlooking a lake and forestry, Annaghmakerrig makes an interesting and decorative impact on the landscape and the demesne is enhanced by the retention of features such as outbuildings, a pleasure garden, and various lodges and gateways.
Annaghmakerrig House (Tyrone Guthrie Centre), Mullaghmore, County Monaghan.Annaghmakerrig House (Tyrone Guthrie Centre), Mullaghmore, County Monaghan.Annaghmakerrig House (Tyrone Guthrie Centre), Mullaghmore, County Monaghan.Annaghmakerrig House (Tyrone Guthrie Centre), Mullaghmore, County Monaghan.Annaghmakerrig House (Tyrone Guthrie Centre), Mullaghmore, County Monaghan.
Entrance gateway to Annaghmakerrig House, erected c.1850. Comprises double-leaf wrought-iron vehicular gate flanked by cast-iron columns with ball finials, having foundry insignia of Kennan and Sons of Dublin, flanked by pedestrian pass to north-west end and single-leaf wrought-iron gate to south-east, with matching section of railing to north-west of vehicular gate. Matching cast-iron columns to each side of gateway.
Appraisal
This simple but elegant gateway provides an entrance to Annaghmakerrig House, now also the Tyrone Guthrie Centre. Subtle, but well-composed, the wrought and cast-iron work is indicative of the high-quality craftsmanship and skill which was available at the time of their construction. They form a group with the adjacent gate lodge.
Annaghmakerrig House (Tyrone Guthrie Centre), Mullaghmore, County Monaghan.
Range of former outbuildings of Annaghamakerrig House, built c.1850. Now in use as apartments and studios. Two-storey L-plan block around courtyard, having lean-to extension to rear (west) elevation, ten-bay two-storey block to west. Half-hipped slate roof to front block, with red brick chimneystacks, roof-lights, and dressed stone bell-cote having iron weather-vane. Hipped slate roof to block to east. Cast-iron rainwater goods throughout. Roughly coursed rubble stone walls, with red brick block-and-start quoins, and some cast-iron wall-ties. Recent oriel window to south gable of west block. Gauged red brick square-headed openings, with replacement timber fittings, including some timber sliding sash windows, with dressed stone sills. Gauged-brick segmental-headed vehicular entrances, now in use as pedestrian entrances, some infilled to provide windows, all with replacement timber fittings. Gravel and recent brick paths to yard.
Appraisal
This group of former outbuildings provides contextual interest for the adjacent country house, and stands as a reminder of the provision made for the stabling of horses and other livestock, as well as storage of machinery and crops grown on the land. Although it has been altered to a residential use, it retains much of its original form and character.
Annaghmakerrig House (Tyrone Guthrie Centre), Mullaghmore, County Monaghan.Annaghmakerrig House (Tyrone Guthrie Centre), Mullaghmore, County Monaghan.Annaghmakerrig House (Tyrone Guthrie Centre), Mullaghmore, County Monaghan.
Detached three-bay single-storey gate lodge with attic floor, built c.1875, having projecting porch to front under catslide roof, canted bay window to west gable, slightly recessed addition catslide projection to rear, and recent flat-roof extension also to rear. Half-hipped slate roof with red brick chimneystack, terracotta ridge cresting with cast-iron finials, cast-iron rainwater goods, and timber eaves. Timber brackets to roof of porch. Red brick walls laid in English Garden Wall bond, with dressed sandstone block-and-start quoins, plat-band and plinth course. Rubble stone and rendered walls to rear additions. Bay window has rendered riser, timber mullions and hexagonal cast-iron latticed panes. Glazed oculus to apex of same elevation, with dressed sandstone surround. Triangular-headed window openings to front and upper east elevation, with dressed sandstone surrounds, chamfered sills and hexagonal cast-iron latticed windows. Pointed-arch window openings to side elevations of porch, with dressed sandstone sill and hood, and plain glazed windows. Square-headed timber battened door to porch, opening onto sandstone step. Double-leaf cast-iron gates flanked by square-plan squared sandstone piers having pointed stone caps, to south-east.
Appraisal
Designed by Henderson and Murray, this Gothic Revival gate lodge was built in the late nineteenth century to replace an earlier lodge which had stood at the site since 1835. It was placed at the main entrance to Annaghmakerrig House and as such was an integral component part of the demesne landscape. Its red brick façade is enlivened and enhanced by dressed stone detailing and terracotta ridge tiles. The lodge is similar in style to a number of workers’ houses, also associated with Annaghmakerrig House, and together they form an important component in the architectural heritage identity of this part of Monaghan.
Annaghmakerrig House (Tyrone Guthrie Centre), Mullaghmore, County Monaghan.Annaghmakerrig House (Tyrone Guthrie Centre), Mullaghmore, County Monaghan.Annaghmakerrig House (Tyrone Guthrie Centre), Mullaghmore, County Monaghan.
Rectangular-plan knot garden, created c.1860, constituting plant beds arranged in floral pattern, emanating from central octagonal stone sun-dial, surrounded by rounded quadrant beds and rectangular beds. Original hedging replaced with concrete blocks c.1950. Box hedging enclosing site. Coursed rubble stone wall having red brick to interior face (south), and red brick walled lean-to shed, with glazed panels to roof, to south of knot beds. Three-stage square-plan recent water tower to east of lean-to. Segmental-headed concrete-covered reservoir to rear (north) of garden wall.
Appraisal
Knot gardens were established in England during the sixteenth century as a formal garden arrangement Decorative, as well as practical, they served as a statement of status and wealth. Although this example has been altered through the replacement of its box hedging with concrete blocks, it retains its original form and is an aesthetically-pleasing component part of the former Annaghkerrig House.
Annaghmakerrig House (Tyrone Guthrie Centre), Mullaghmore, County Monaghan.
Rossmore Park, County Monaghan, Gillman Collection, 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.
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. 247. “(Westenra, Rossmore, B/PB) A C19 castle of great size and complexity; partly Tudor-Gothic, of 1827, by William Vitruvius Morrison; and partly Scottish Baronial, of 1858, by William Henry Lynn. The 1827 range, built for 2nd Lord Rossmore, dominated by a square tower and turret topped with crow-step battlements; and having a line of gables and oriels. Various small additions were made at one end, in order to enlarge the drawing room; according to the story, Lord Rossmore vied with Mr Shirley of Lough Fea, as to which of them could build a bigger room. The 1838 range dominated by a smaller and more massive tower with a polygonal turret and cupola, a balustraded parapet and other Scottish Baronial touches; also by a slender square tower with a spire. Eventually the combined ranges boasted of at least 117 windows, of 53 shapes and sizes. the three towers together produced a romantic silhouette, particularly as the castle was magnificently situated on a hilltop, overlooking a landscape of woods and lakes. In the later Victorian and Edwardian days, Rossmore was noted for its gaiety; the then (5th) Lord Rossmore, known as “Derry,” being one of the brighter sparks of the Prince of Wales’s set, and author of some lively memoirs called Things I can Tell. Post WWII, the castle became severely infested by dry rot and was abandoned by 6th Lord Rossmore in favour of Camla Vale. Now demolished.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
Architects: William Vitruvius Morrison / W.H. Lynn
Rossmore Park, County Monaghan, courtesy Archiseek.Rossmore Park, County Monaghan, courtesy Archiseek.
Also known as Rossmore Park, Rossmore Castle was a 19th century castle of great size and variety. Originally built in 1827 to the designs of William Vitruvius Morrison in Tudor Gothic, it was extended in 1858 by W.H. Lynn. The 1827 range was dominated by a square tower with turret and crow stepped battlements and a line of gables and oriel windows.
Lord Rossmore and the Shirleys of Lough Fea had competed for many years for the largest room in County Monaghan with the result that the drawing room at Rossmore was extended five times and resulted in the elongated area seen in the left of the photograph. Eventually the Castle had at least 117 windows of 53 different sizes and shapes and the three towers produced a romantic silhouette when viewed from the surrounding hills in the demense.
Rossmore Park, County Monaghan, courtesy Archiseek.
In the later years of the 19th century Rossmore was known for its gaiety with the 5th Lord Rossmore being a friend of the Prince of Wales. After the Second World War, dry rot forced the abandonment of the castle in favour of Camla Vale. Rossmore Castle has since been demolished.
THE BARONS ROSSMORE WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY MONAGHAN, WITH 14,839 ACRES
The family of CAIRNES of that ilk is of very ancient standing in Scotland. In 1363, DAVID II gave a renewal charter of the two Baronies of East and West Whitburn, Linlithgowshire, to WILLIAM DE CARNYS, and Duncan his son and heir.
This William had issue,
Duncan;
John;
William, father of JOHN, of whom presently;
Alexander.
The grandson,
JOHN CAIRNIS, of Cults, Aberdeen, son of William and heir of his uncle Alexander, was Custumar (customs officer) of Linlithgow, 1406-22, and Scutifer (shield-bearer) to the Earl of Douglas.
He died in 1456, leaving three sons, of whom the eldest,
JOHN CAIRNIS, of Cults and of Orchardton, Custumar of Linlithgow, 1449-56, served in the wars under JAMES II, and died ca 1493.
His son, or grandson,
WILLIAM CAIRNIS, of Orchardton, summoned as a minor Baron 1527, married Margaret, daughter of Sir Patrick Agnew, of Lochnaw, and died 1555, having had, with other issue,
William;
JOHN, of whom presently;
PETER;
HENRY.
The second son,
JOHN CAIRNIS, of Cults, Esquire to MARY Queen of Scots, wedded, in 1555, Margaret, daughter of Alexander McCulloch, of Killaster, and died in 1568, leaving issue, his second son,
JOHN CAIRNIS, of Cults, who sold most of the estates, espoused Margaret Hamilton, and died in 1603, leaving issue,
ALEXANDER CAIRNIS, of Blairboys, who sold the remainder of the lands of his family, settled in Ulster 1609, as general agent for the Scottish Undertakers in Donegal.
He died ca 1635, leaving issue, his eldest son,
JOHN CAIRNES, of Parsonstown, or Cecil, County Tyrone, MP for Augher, 1639-40, who married Jane, daughter of Dr James Miller, MD, of Monaghan, and had issue, with two daughters,
ALEXANDER CAIRNES (1665-1732), MP for Monaghan Borough, 1710-13, County Monaghan, 1713-14, 1715-27, Monaghan Borough, 1727-32, was created a baronet, in 1708, designated of Monaghan.
He wedded, 1697-8, Elizabeth, daughter of John Gould, of Hackney, and sister of Sir Nathaniel Gould, by whom he had issue,
William Henry, died unmarried;
MARY, of whom presently.
Sir Alexander died in 1732, when he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his brother, Sir Henry Cairnes, 2nd and last Baronet.
his only surviving child,
MARY CAIRNES, espoused firstly, in 1724, 7th Baron Blayney. He dsp 1732.
She married secondly, in 1734, Colonel John Murray, MP for Monaghan, and by him had issue,
Frances Cairnes, m 1st Earl of Clermont;
ELIZABETH, m (as below) General Rt Hon R Cuningham, 1st Baron Rossmore;
Anne; Mary; Harriet.
The Dowager Baroness Blayney died in 1790; her son-in-law was Robert, 1st Baron Rossmore.
Lineage of Westenra
THE WESTENRAS, descended from the family of VAN WASSENAER, of Wassenburg, were of great antiquity in Holland, and they bore the augmentation of the SEAHORSE, in reference to the valour of an ancestor who, during the Duke of Alba’s campaigns, was actively employed against the enemy, and undertook to swim across an arm of the sea with important intelligence to his besieged countrymen.
WARNER WESTENRA settled in Ireland during the reign of CHARLES II, and with his brothers, Derrick and Peter Westenra, became a free denizen of that kingdom, by act of parliament, in 1662.
In 1667, Colonel Grace sold the town and lands of “Clonlee, Brickanagh, and Lyagh” [sic], in the King’s County, to this Warner Westenra, merchant, of the city of Dublin.
He married Elizabeth Wyhrantz, and had issue,
HENRY, his successor; Elizabeth, m Rt Rev Simon Digby.
Mr Westenra died in 1676, and was succeeded by his son,
HENRY WESTENRA, who inherited likewise the estates of his cousin, Peter Westenra, MP for Athboy, 1692.
Mr Westenra wedded, in 1700, Eleanor, second daughter of Sir Joshua Allen, Knight, and sister of John, 1st Viscount Allen, by whom he had surviving issue,
WARNER, his successor; Henry; Peter; Elizabeth; Jane; Penelope.
He died in 1719, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
WARNER WESTENRA, MP for Maryborough, 1728-55, who espoused, in 1738, the Lady Hester Lambert, second daughter of Richard, 4th Earl of Cavan, and had issue,
HENRY, his successor; Richard; Joseph; Castilinna; Eleanor.
Mr Westenra was was succeeded by his eldest son,
HENRY WESTENRA, MP for Monaghan, 1818-26, Seneschal of the King’s Manors in Ireland, who married, in 1764, Harriet, daughter of Colonel John Murray MP, and had issue,
WARNER WILLIAM, his heir; Henry; Mary Frances; Harriet Hesther.
He was succeeded by his eldest son,
WARNER WILLIAM WESTENRA (1765-1842), of Rossmore Park, County Monaghan, who wedded firstly, in 1791, Mary Anne, second daughter of Charles Walsh, of Walsh Park, County Tipperary, and had issue,
HENRY ROBERT, his successor; Richard; John Craven; Charles; Marianne.
He espoused secondly, in 1819, Augusta, fourth daughter of of Francis, Lord Elcho, and sister of Francis, 7th Earl of Wemyss.
Mr Westenra succeeded to the barony of ROSSMORE on the decease of ROBERT CUNINGHAME, 1st Baron Rossmore, in 1801.
***********************
ROBERT CUNINGHAME (1726-1801), son of the late Colonel David Cuninghame, of Seabegs, Stirling, a General in the army, and Colonel, 5th Dragoons; MP for Tulske, 1751-60, for Armagh, 1761-8, for Monaghan, 1769-96, and for East Grinstead, 1788-9; was elevated to the peerage, in 1796, in the dignity of BARON ROSSMORE, of Rossmore Park; and having no issue by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of John Murray, and co-heir of her mother Mary, Dowager Lady Blayney, sole heir of Sir Alexander Cairnes Bt, the patent of creation contained a reversionary clause conferring the Barony, at his lordship’s decease, upon the heirs male, at the time being, of two of her ladyship’s sisters successively; namely, Anne, the wife of the Rt Hon Theophilus Jones; and Harriet, the wife of Henry Westenra.
His lordship died in 1801, and the only son of Mrs Jones, Alexander Jones, having predeceased him, unmarried, the barony devolved upon Mrs Westenra’s eldest son, WARNER WILLIAM WESTENRA, 2nd Baron Rossmore.
The heir apparent is the present holder’s only son, the Hon Benedict William Westenra (b 1983).
ROSSMORE CASTLE, County Monaghan, was a very large and complex mansion, constructed on the outskirts of Monaghan town in Tudor-Gothic style in 1827 by the the 3rd Lord Rossmore, to the designs of William Vitruvius Morrison.
An extension was added in 1858 in Scottish-Baronial style, designed by William Henry Lynn.
A main feature of the original building was a large square tower and turret with crow-step battlements.
The extension also featured two towers, one with a polygonal turret and cupola, the other a smaller square tower with a spire.
The building underwent further smaller changes, a number of which were inspired by a competition which had developed over the years between Lord Rossmore and Mr Shirley of Lough Fea, as to which of them could claim to have the largest room in County Monaghan.
The remarkable consequence was that the drawing-room in Rossmore Castle was enlarged five times.
Eventually the combined changes and additions resulted in a building with three towers and over 117 windows in 53 different shapes and sizes.
After the 2nd World War, the house developed a severe case of dry rot, and the 6th Baron and his family were forced to leave the castle and take up residence in Camla Vale, a Georgian house owned by the family and situated within the estate grounds.
Oscar Wilde once said ‘to lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune, but to lose both looks like carelessness’. The same could be said of County Monaghan and its castles, for my first book I was developing two chapters about two wondrous architectural creations in Monaghan. However imagine my surprise to discover that absolutely nothing of these great buildings remain but a few steps, outbuildings and gate lodges. The first of these is Dartrey which was completed in the midst of the Great Irish Famine in 1847. It was originally designed to extend and incorporate a house from the 1770’s known as Dawson’s Grove, with the old and the new house being divided by a substantial wall. The house cost its owner, Richard Dawson, who later became the first Earl of Dartrey, £30,000. It was a vast Elizabethan Revival mansion and the architect chosen for these improvements was William Burn. The house had a very long facade with legions of mullioned windows, oriel windows, Tudor chimneys and curvilinear gables.
In March 1856, a fire is believed to have destroyed the original part of the house which would have been the Dawson’s Grove section. The fire broke out in the roof as a result of a defective chimney and completely destroyed the north-eastern wing. Furniture, pictures and statues were saved as numerous people fought to bring the fire under control. Rooms lost in this fire included the drawing room and her ladyship’s boudoir. The house was insured and the damaged section was replaced, as a result the house that now existed was a totally ‘new’ house that contained nothing of the original Dawson’s Grove.
A major change took place in the finances of this house and family in less than 100 years after its completion. The last owner of the house was Lady Edith Windham who was the daughter of the second Earl of Dartrey, Vesey Dawson. Vesey Dawson, the second Earl of Dartrey died in June 1920 after a long illness at Dartrey. He was born on the 22nd April 1842 and succeeded to the Earldom upon the death of his father in 1897. He married Julia daughter of Sir George Orby Wombwell in 1882 and had two daughters. During the First World War, he and Lady Dartey produced large amounts of vegetables in the gardens and terraces that surrounded the castle. He was succeeded to the title by his brother Hon Edward Stanley Dawson born in 1843. Lady Edith Windham, the grand daughter of the first Earl disposed of the house contents in 1937 with a four day sale which included a number of paintings by El Greco, Zoffany, Reubens and Coates. A broadcasting or speaker system was used so bidding could be heard in the different rooms of the house. Also included in the auction were 5,000 books from the library, it is un-imaginable that one house could contain so many books but these were all contained in one room. There auction created a bit of a stir in the antiques world as buyers travelled from Dublin, Northern Ireland and Great Britain with special buses put in place to ferry expectant bidders to and from the castle. Lady Edith had previously moved in to the Stewards Cottage and a number of years after the auction she then made arrangements to have the house demolished. Therefore the man that originally built the house was only separated from the lady who demolished the house, by only one generation. In March 1946, the demolition sale of the castle was advertised and consisted of 500 lots which included beams, flooring, rafters, moldings, skirting’s, the solid oak staircase, oak doors, window casings, brick, 5,000 slates, mantelpieces in white and cream marble. The sale handled by Samuel Brown, an auctioneer from Monaghan. Lady Edith claimed she had no option as the rates were too high and a buyer was not forth coming. A company from Dublin called Hammond Lane Foundry were engaged to carry out the destruction of this architectural masterpiece; however one imagines they were more interested in the lead in the roof than architectural salvage. The process of demolishing the family seat supposedly made Lady Edith a profit of £3,000 but one wonders if this figure could be considered a profit, when it cost her descendant ten times that amount to build the house in the first place.
One of the few elements that survive today and give some impression of the architectural splendour of the original house is the Dawson Mausoleum which recently underwent a spectacular restoration. The Mausoleum was built to commemorate Lady Anne Dawson who died in 1769 and contains a life sized marble sculpture of the deceased, her husband and son gathered around an urn that contained her ashes. The domed building that contained this sculpture was designed by the architect James Wyatt and was situated in the demesne that once surrounded Dartrey. Over the years the building became derelict and the sculpture was vandalised, with pieces of the statue being broken off and stolen. Now that the Mausoleum is restored a recent appeal has located the head of one of the statues in Dublin. However the hands, feet and angels wings still remain at large.
The second architectural jewel lost to the county of Monaghan was Rossmore Castle whose decline was hastened when it developed dry rot. This castle, as can be seen in the pictures, was something akin to a Walt Disney creation with its towers and turrets.
A succession of extensions in order to claim the title of the largest drawing room in Monaghan enlarged the floor area of the castle over the years. Rossmore Castle was a large Tudor Revival house built in 1827 to the design of William Viturvius Morrison for the second Lord Rossmore. In 1825, Richard Morrison was engaged in producing plans to rebuild the house then known as Cortolvin Hills for Lord Rossmore. In 1854, William Deane Butler produced plans for remodelling the house but these were not executed. The house was altered and enlarged 1858 to the design of William of William H. Lynn. Eventually the combined changes and additions resulted in a building with three towers and over 117 windows in 53 different shapes and sizes. One feature of the house was its drawing room which enlarged on a number of occasions due to Lord Rossmore competing with his neighbour Mr. Shirley of Lough Fea to have the largest room in the county. A competition Lord Rossmore eventually lost.
The early 1900’s the Rossmore’s seemed to have a run of bad luck. It was reported in August 1906, Lord Rossmore was ill in the castle and was confined to his room for the previous week. He had intended to go to his large, recently built, shooting lodge on his mountain. In April 1907, Lord and Lady Rossmore’s eldest son William was injured while mounting his pony near the castle. The pony bolted, William’s foot became entangled in the stirrups and he was dragged for some distance. He suffered a fractured skull and a broken leg. However a happy event was recorded in 1908 when the Duke of Connaught paid a visit to the castle. He again returned in 1909, where he stayed overnight and then travelled to Lord Rossmore’s mountain in Glasslough for grouse shooting. In the early part of the twentieth century Rossmore remained unoccupied for long periods as the fifth and sixth Barons decided to live in England which resulted in the uncontrolled spread of dry rot.
The Rossmore Family made a valiant attempt to brave the dry rot at Rossmore but when the mushrooms appeared on the drawing room ceiling it was hard to make any guests believe they were there for decorative purposes. The time came for them to abandon the castle for another family property when they had to ask their guests to wipe their feet on a disinfected mat so not to spread the spores of the dry rot. One wonders if it was the social embarrassment or the actual dry rot that led to the demolition of the house. In May 1946, contents of the castle advertised by Battersby & Co and that they had been removed to the Dower House, Camla, Rossmore Park. The auction which was to take place included antique furniture, Chippendale Mirrors, oil paintings statues, tapestries, china, carpet chandeliers and of course the obligatory billiards table. The oil paintings included works from Dutch, English, Flemish and Italian schools and comprised of portraits, battle scenes and landscapes. Now with the castle denuded of its contents, a demolition sale took place in September 1946 and lots included joist, rafters, bricks, slates, fireplaces, doors, windows, shutters, water tanks, bathroom fittings
The house remained unoccupied, was unroofed during the Second World War and finally demolished in 1975 and the grounds of the castle were sold to the Irish State in the 1960’s. The family moved to a nearby dower house called Camla Vale after the castle became uninhabitable due to the dry rot. The dry rot spores are believed to have traveled in the corks of the bottles from the wine cellar of the castle and as a result their new home also became infested. Today Rossmore is a public park with only a few elements such as the entrance steps and terraces of the castle surviving.
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.
93. “(Hamilton/LGI1912) A restrained and dignified early C19 Classical house of the school of Francis Johnston…. Now demolished.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 119. …built for Dacre Hamilton. Demolished but the stables remain.
Cornacassa House, County Monaghan, courtesy Archiseek.
A dignified smaller classical house with a lower service wing. Described in Lewis as “Cornacassa, of Dacre Hamilton, Esq., pleasantly situated in a highly cultivated and well-planted demesne”. In the 1870s, the Hamiltons owned over 7,300 acres in Co. Monaghan. A large sale of the library contents was held in 1922. Demolished.
Cornacassa House, County Monaghan, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Detached five-bay house, built c.1800, having two-storey front (north-west) elevation and three-storey rear elevation. Formerly part of Cornecassa House. Hipped slate roof, with rendered chimneystacks, and replacement rainwater goods. Snecked limestone walls with tooled sandstone block-and-start quoins. Square-headed window openings throughout, having tooled sandstone surrounds, tooled stone sills and replacement uPVC windows. Square-headed door openings to front and north-east elevations, with tooled sandstone surrounds and replacement timber and uPVC doors, front having over-lights. Front doorways open onto concrete paving bridging basement area, with rendered parapets. Coursed rubble limestone boundary wall with limestone coping to north-west of house, surrounding former walled garden.
Appraisal
Built c.1800 for Dacre Hamilton, Cornecassa House was subsequently partly demolished. Despite the loss of the main house what remains is architecturally interesting. The good-quality masonry with tooled details formalises this interesting split-level building. The demesne also incorporated an impressive walled gardens and a range of outbuildings, some of which can still be seen.
Irish Historic Houses 
