Thomastown House, County Roscommon, entry front during demolition 1958, 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. 272. “A three storey seven bay Georgian house with a pillared porch.”
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. 127. A three storey early 18C house. Roof altered in the early 19C when a Doric porch was also added. Demolished 1958.
Walled garden, outbuilding, deer park and former entrance gates and lodge to former Thomastown Park House, built c.1750. Main entrance gates with square-profile, ashlar limestone gate piers with frieze and capping stones with wrought-iron gates flanked by pedestrian entrances with tooled limestone surrounds flanked by quadrant walls. Single-storey gate lodge to east. Large walled deer park to north of former demesne with random coursed stone walls. Walled garden to west of former house site with random coursed stone walls and red brick internal wall to north. Outbuilding to farmyard complex with roughcast rendered walls, corrugated roof and ashlar limestone bellcote to south-east elevation. Segmental and square-headed carriage arch openings with corrugated doors.
Appraisal
Thomastown Park House, built during the mid eighteenth century for the Leggat family and in the ownership of the Bennett family during the nineteenth century, was once a large and important estate within County Offaly. The house even had a private chapel. Though the country house itself is no longer extant, the associated structures of the demesne remain. Notable elements include the large walls which surround what once was a deer park, the finely tooled limestone entrance gates, the walled garden and the outbuilding with ashlar bellcote.
Runnamoat (or Runnymeade), Ballymoe, County Roscommon
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. 250. “(Balfe/IFR; Chichester -Constable/LG1952) A three storey house of late C18 appearance; five bay front, one bay central breakfront, doorway with sidelights and very shallow segmental fanlight. The seat of the Balfe family; passed through marriage to the Chichester family, who assumed the additional name of Constable on inheriting Burton Constable, Yorkshire. Burnt 1933.”
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.
Then and Now, Mount Talbot House, 1910 v 2024 from The Landed Estates of County Roscommon fb page
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.
pg. 217. (Talbot, sub Crosbie/IFR) Originally a C18 winged Palladian house, the wings constructed at an angle of 45 degrees to the centre block, and joined to it by by curved open arcades, with urn finials on the parapets. Then, ca 1820, the centre block was transformed into an impressive castellated and Gothic pile; the arcades and wings being left as they were, producing a somewhat hybrid effect. As transformed, the entrance front of the centre block was nearly symmetrical and had a masive square tower like a keep at one end, a pair of turrets in the centre, which resembled a Tudor gatehouse tower, and 3rd turret at the other end. The garden front was more ecclesiastical than military, and had a three bay projection with graceful pointed windows and Gothic pinnacles at the corners. Dining room with Gothic recess. Chaste and elegant Classical arch at entrance to demesne, with rusticated piers and urns on its entablature; flanked by two smaller arches for pedestrians. Mount Talbot was burnt 1922.”
Mount Talbot, County Roscommon, courtesy of Mark Bence-Jones.
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. 127. A mid 18C Palladian house built for the Talbots consisting of a central block connected to pavilions by open arcade sweeps. The pavilions have elevations similar to those at Altavilla, County Limerick. In c. 1820, the central block was remodelled in the Tudor Revival style. The house was burnt in 1922, but the arcade and wings remain.
Chapter in David Hicks, Irish Country Houses, a Chronicle of Change.
THE TALBOTS OWNED 5,916 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ROSCOMMON RICHARD TALBOT (c1520-77), of Templeogue, County Dublin, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland, eldest son of William Talbot, the youngest son of Thomas Talbot, Lord of Malahide, married Alice, daughter of John Burnell, of Balgriffin, was father of
JOHN TALBOT, of Templeogue, whose will was proved in 1584; father of
ROBERT TALBOT, of Templeogue, who wedded Eleanor, daughter of Sir Henry Colley, of Castle Carbury, and had two sons,
John, of Templeogue, dsp 1627; HENRY, his successor.
Mr Talbot died in 1616, and was succeeded by his younger son,
JAMES TALBOT, of Templeogue, and Mount Talbot, County Roscommon, Colonel in JAMES II’s army, was killed at the battle of Aughrim, 1691.
He married Bridget, daughter of Francis, 17th Baron Athenry, and had two daughters,
Mary, m John, 9th Earl of Clanricarde; Bridget, m Valentine Browne (ancestor of the Marquess of Sligo).
Mr Talbot died without male issue, and was succeeded by his brother,
WILLIAM TALBOT (-1692), of Mount Talbot, who wedded Lucy, widow of George Holmes, daughter and co-heir of William Hamilton, of Liscloony, King’s County, by whom he had a son,
HENRY TALBOT (-1729), of Mount Talbot, High Sheriff of County Roscommon, 1713, who married Isabella Forward, and had issue,
WILLIAM, his heir; John (Rev).
The elder son,
WILLIAM TALBOT (-1787), of Mount Talbot, High Sheriff of County Roscommon, 1753, wedded, in 1739, Sarah, widow of John Southwell, and daughter of the Rt Hon Henry Rose MP, and had issue,
Henry Rose, dvp 1759; WILLIAM JOHN, succeeded his brother; Bridget; Jane.
The younger son,
WILLIAM JOHN TALBOT (-1787), of Mount Talbot, wedded firstly, in 1765, Elizabeth Margaret, daughter of George Rose, of Moyvane, County Limerick, and had a daughter,
Jane, m in 1786 Sir Edmund Stanley.
He espoused secondly, in 1775, the Lady Jane Crosbie, daughter of William, 1st Earl of Glandore, and had further issue,
William, dsp 1851; JOHN, of whom presently; Charles; Theodosia.
The second son,
THE REV JOHN TALBOT, assumed, in 1816, the name and arms of CROSBIE in pursuance of the will of his uncle, John, last Earl of Glandore.
He married, in 1811, Jane, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Lloyd, of Beechmount, County Limerick, and had issue,
WILLIAM (TALBOT-CROSBIE), of Ardfert Abbey; JOHN, of Mount Talbot; Anne; Diana.
The Rev John Talbot-Crosbie died in 1818, and was succeeded by his second son,
JOHN TALBOT JP DL (1818-95), of Mount Talbot, High Sheriff of County Roscommon, 1857, formerly of the 35th Regiment, who assumed, in 1851, the name and arms of TALBOT instead of CROSBIE.
He espoused firstly, in 1845, Marianne, eldest daughter of Marcus McCausland, of Fruit Hill (otherwise Drenagh), County Londonderry, and had an only daughter,
Marianne Jane Theodosia.
Mr Talbot married secondly, in 1858, Gertrude Caroline, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Bayly, of Ballyarthur, County Wicklow, by whom he had a son,
CAPTAIN WILLIAM JOHN TALBOT JP DL (1859-1923), of Mount Talbot, High Sheriff of County Roscommon, 1886, Armagh, 1903, who wedded, in 1897, Julia Elizabeth Mary, only child of Sir Capel Molyneux Bt DL, of Castle Dillon, County Armagh, though the marriage was without male issue.
Captain Talbot was the last Lord-Lieutenant of County Roscommon, from 1917 until 1922.
MOUNT TALBOT HOUSE, near Athleague, County Roscommon, today lies in ruins.
It was built ca 1750 in the Palladian style, with wings constructed at an angle to the main block, joined by curved arcades.
The arcades, which were open, were embellished with urn finials on the parapets.
The central block was changed, about 1820, into a castellated Gothic, Tudor-Revival edifice.
The main block now had a huge square tower at one end with a pair of pinnacles or miniature turrets; and a third castlellated turret at the other end.
Whereas the garden front boasted a three-bay projection with pointed windows and Gothic pinnacles.
A grand Triumphal kind of arch with rusticated piers still remains at the former main entrance to the demesne.
The Talbot family’s great ancestral home was maliciously burnt in 1922.
William John Talbot and his wife probably never returned.
Mr Talbot, the last Lord-Lieutenant of County Roscommon, died in London one year later.
THE charming little church at Mount Talbot, which contains the family mausoleum, was erected by the Talbots in 1766.
It has been described as “a plain, neat, Gothic building, erected in 1766 at an expense of £415, a gift from the Board of First Fruits.“
Its last service took place in 1965, it is thought.
Mount Talbot, County Roscommon, photograph by Irish Aesthete.
It was the late Nuala O’Faolain who, almost 25 years ago, told me the unhappy story of Marianne Talbot, a story Nuala later incorporated into her 2001 novel, My Dream of You. The tale can be summarized as follows: in January 1845 John Talbot-Crosbie, a younger son of the Rev John Talbot-Crosbie of Ardfert Abbey, County Kerry, married Marianne McCausland. A year later the couple’s only child, a daughter also called Marianne, was born. In May 1851 John Talbot-Crosbie’s uncle William Talbot died, and left his nephew an estate in County Roscommon called Mount Talbot. However, the will stated that John was only to enjoy lifetime occupancy and full ownership rested on his having a male heir. A year later, John, who by royal licence had now dropped Crosbie from his surname, claimed to have discovered his wife Marianne with a groom called Mullen in the latter’s room, the door to which was locked; curiously the couple’s little daughter was also in the room. However, immediately separated from her child, the following day Marianne Talbot was brought by the local rector to Dublin and there kept in confinement. It is said that Mullen followed Marianne to the city and tried to see her there, but was not allowed to do so. Some time later she was declared insane, taken to England and placed in a lunatic asylum where she is believed to have spent the rest of her life. Meanwhile, her husband initiated divorce proceedings against Marianne on the grounds of adultery and although his application was granted, it was repeatedly challenged by Marianne’s family, the case going all the way to the House of Lords where the couple’s divorce was confirmed in July 1856. As can be imagined, the matter attracted considerable public attention, and it was widely believed that John Talbot, knowing his wife was unlikely to have any further children and certainly not a boy, had fabricated her adultery with the groom so as to allow a divorce. Having succeeded in this ambition, he was able to marry again – in October 1858 – and a year later his second wife, Gertrude Caroline Bayley, had a son. Divine justice then intervened: John Talbot died a fortnight after the birth.
Mount Talbot, County Roscommon, photograph by Irish Aesthete.
Mount Talbot, County Roscommon, photograph by Irish Aesthete.
Mount Talbot, County Roscommon, photograph by Irish Aesthete.
Mount Talbot, County Roscommon, photograph by Irish Aesthete.
Mount Talbot, County Roscommon, photograph by Irish Aesthete.
The Talbots were a family long settled in Ireland, the first of them being Richard de Talbot who around 1185 was granted land in Malahide where his descendants lived in a castle until 1973. Another branch was based in Templeogue, County Dublin until, in the aftermath of the Cromwellian Wars, Sir Henry Talbot had his lands seized and was transplanted to County Roscommon. Restored to his original lands in the aftermath of the Restoration, all seemed well until Sir Henry’s son James took up the cause of James II and was killed at the Battle of Aughrim in 1691. Once again, the family lost its property in the Dublin region, but somehow managed to hold onto the Roscommon estate, which eventually passed to James Talbot’s nephew Henry. In the 1730s he embarked on building the core of what remains today of the house at Mount Talbot. The design of this has been attributed to that prolific architect of the period, Richard Castle. Certainly, the building as originally constructed conformed to the Castle’s Palladian model, the main block being flanked by wings set at an angle of 45 degrees and linked to them by curved open arcades with a series of urns along the parapets. So far, so standard but then around 1820 the era’s Tudor Gothic craze hit Mount Talbot’s then owner, the aforementioned William Talbot (the terms of whose will would later be the cause of so much unhappiness). The consequences were startling.
Mount Talbot, County Roscommon, photograph by Irish Aesthete.
Mount Talbot, County Roscommon, photograph by Irish Aesthete.
Mount Talbot, County Roscommon, photograph by Irish Aesthete.
Mount Talbot, County Roscommon, photograph by Irish Aesthete.
Mount Talbot, County Roscommon, photograph by Irish Aesthete.
The architect chosen to oversee Mount Talbot’s transformation was a local man, Richard Richards, of whom relatively little is known although he did design a number of churches. This was certainly his most important commission and he clearly wanted to make an impression. What presumably had been a symmetrical classical house was given a great square keep at one end of the façade and a smaller polygonal turret at the other; between them the entrance to the building was now flanked by similar turrets. The centre of the garden front received a three-storey projecting block with arched Gothic windows and pinnacles at the corners of the roofline, all of which was castellated. One more turret rose above all the others in the middle of the building. Further work undertaken in the early 1880s when a new entrance front approached by a grand stone staircase was added in the north-east corner of the house. Yet while the main block was dressed up to look like a castle, the arcades and wings retained their original classical appearance, an altogether bizarre juxtaposition of styles. It was not to last long. William John Talbot, the heir born to John Talbot just two weeks before his death, in due course came of age and into his inheritance when he embarked on the additional work mentioned above. Known as Johnnie, in 1897 he married a wealthy heiress, Julia Molyneux, only child of Sir Capel Molyneux of Castle Dillon, County Armagh, meaning the couple were exceedingly wealthy. All was well until the onset of the War of Independence and its aftermath, the Civil War. During the first of these, British troops were garrisoned in the house and grounds of Mount Talbot, the Talbots seemingly living during this period at Castle Dillon. Following the signing of the Treaty, they returned to Mount Talbot but in early April 1922, a group of armed Republicans arrived at the house and assaulted the now-elderly Johnnie Talbot, giving the couple 24 hours to leave the place or face worse. The next day the Talbots departed, never to return, he to go into a nursing home in Dublin, his wife to the Shelbourne Hotel, where she died that night, supposedly from shock brought on by the attack at Mount Talbot. Johnnie Talbot died the following year in London. Meanwhile, as the Civil War continued, Free State troops occupied Mount Talbot which in July 1922 was attacked by Anti-Treaty forces who placed a mine under the main entrance and other bombs around the building, causing considerable damage. The Talbots had no children, and following his death, the estate was broken up by the Land Commission and the house, along with its contents, sold. All that remains today is a stump of the central block and one of the wings. No trace survives of the other wing, nor of either linking arcade. After all that John Talbot had done to ensure Mount Talbot remained in his family, and all the suffering he had caused to his first wife Marianne, this was the end result.
Mount Plunkett, County Roscommon entrance front c. 1920 photograph: William English, 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. 216. “A house of unusual design built 1806 by George Plunkett….Passed to the Grehan family ca 1850 and in 1876, to Robert Adamson. Laster the residence of C.E.A. Cameron, Assistant Inspector General of the RIC. Dismantled 1946, now a ruin.”
In Blake, Tarquin. Abandoned Mansions of Ireland II: More Portraits of Forgotten Stately Homes. Collins Press, Cork, 2012.
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
Mote Park, County Roscommon entrance front c. 1860 before fire, photograph: Augusta Crofton, 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. 211. “(Crofton, B/PB) A three storey house by Sir Richard Morrison incorporating an earlier C18 house. Nine bay entrance front… Sold by 5th Lord Crofton 1950s, demolished 1958.”
Mote Park, County Roscommon, photographs courtesy of Mark Bence-Jones.
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.
Mote Park, County Roscommon, photograph by Irish Aesthete.
The Lion Gate at Mote Park, County Roscommon. This was once one of the entrances to an estate owned by the Crofton family who settled here in the second half of the 16th century; in 1798 they became Barons Crofton of Mot . In the 1620s their forebear George Crofton built Mote Castle, but it was replaced by a new house at some date between 1777-87. This property was in turn rebuilt after being gutted by fire in 1865 but only survived another century: the last of the Croftons left Mote in the 1940s after which the contents were auctioned: the house itself was demolished in the 1960s. In February 2015 its former portico, rescued at the time of the demolition, was sold at auction for €12,000.
Mote Park, County Roscommon, photograph by Irish Aesthete.
Mote Park, County Roscommon, photograph by Irish Aesthete.
According to a history of Mote Park compiled in 1897 by Captain the Hon Francis Crofton, the Lion Gate was erected in 1787 and its design has sometimes been attributed to James Gandon, although this is disputed. Whatever the case, it takes the form of a Doric triumphal arch with screen walls linking it to what were once a pair of identical lodges (but are now used for housing livestock). A plinth on top of the arch features a Coade Stone lion, one foot resting on a ball. Over time this had become much weathered (not helped by bees nesting inside the animal) and when taken down a few years ago three of its feet fell off. Following restoration work at the Coade workshop in Wiltshire, the lion was reinstated in September 2016 and now once more surveys what is left of the Mote parkland: this restoration was funded by a number of sources, predominantly American supporters of the Irish Georgian Society.
Mote Park, County Roscommon, photograph by Irish Aesthete.
THE BARONS CROFTON WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY ROSCOMMON, WITH 11,053 ACRES
The family of CROFTON is descended maternally from the Croftons of Crofton Hall, Cumberland, but paternally descend from a common ancestor of the Lowthers, Earls of Lonsdale.
The founder of the family in Ireland was
JOHN CROFTON (1540-1610), of Mote, County Roscommon, Auditor-General in the reign of ELIZABETH I, who accompanied the Earl of Essex into Ireland and obtained large grants of land in the counties of Roscommon and Leitrim.
Mr Crofton wedded Jane, sister of Sir Henry Duke, of Castle Jordan, County Meath, and had issue,
EDWARD, his heir; John; William; HENRY, ancestor of Sir M G Crofton Bt, of Mohill House; Sarah; Joan; Anne.
The eldest son,
EDWARD CROFTON, of Mote, County Roscommon, wedded Elizabeth, daughter of Captain Robert Mostyn, and had issue,
GEORGE, his heir; Thomas, ancestor of Crofton of Longford House, County Sligo; John; William.
The eldest son,
GEORGE CROFTON, MP for Askeaton, 1639, married Elizabeth, second daughter of Sir Francis Berkeley, MP for County Limerick, and had issue,
John; Thomas; EDWARD, of whom we treat; Mary; Sarah.
Mr Crofton, who erected the castle of Mote, 1639, was succeeded by his youngest son,
EDWARD CROFTON (1624-75), of Mote, who espoused firstly, in 1647, Mary, daughter of Sir James Ware; and secondly, Susanna Clifford, by whom he had issue, an only child, EDWARD.
Mr Crofton was created a baronet in 1661, denominated of The Mote, County Roscommon.
He was succeeded by his only son and heir,
THE RT HON SIR EDWARD CROFTON, 2nd Baronet (c1662-1729), MP for Boyle, 1695-9, County Roscommon, 1703-27, who married, in 1684, Katherine, daughter of Sir Oliver St George Bt, and had issue,
Oliver, father of the 5th Baronet; EDWARD, of whom hereafter
Sir Edward’s younger son,
SIR EDWARD CROFTON, 3rd Baronet (1687-1739), MP for Roscommon Borough, 1713-39, wedded, in 1711, Mary, daughter of Anthony Nixon, and had issue,
EDWARD, his successor; CATHERINE, m Marcus Lowther.
Sir Edward was succeeded by his son and successor,
SIR EDWARD CROFTON, 4th Baronet (1713-45), MP for County Roscommon, 1713-45, who espoused, in 1741, Martha, daughter of Joseph Damer; he was, however, killed in actionat Tournai, France, when the title reverted to his cousin,
SIR OLIVER CROFTON, 5th Baronet (1710-80), who married, in 1737, Abigail Jackson Buckley, though the marriage was without issue.
The baronetcy therefore expired, when his sister and heiress,
CATHERINE CROFTON, became representative of the family.
Miss Crofton married, in 1743, Marcus Lowther (second son of George Lowther MP, descended from a common ancestor with the Earls of Lonsdale), who assumed the name of CROFTON, and being created a baronet in 1758, denominated of The Mote, County Roscommon, became
SIR MARCUS LOWTHER-CROFTON, 1st Baronet, MP for Roscommon Borough, 1761-8, Ratoath, 1769-76, who had issue,
EDWARD, his successor; John Frederick Lowther; William Henry; Catherine; Sophia Jane.
Sir Marcus died in 1784, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
SIR EDWARD CROFTON, 2nd Baronet (1748-97), MP for Roscommon, 1775-97, Colonel, Roscommon Militia, who married, in 1767, Anne, only daughter and heiress of Thomas Croker, and had issue,
EDWARD, his successor; Henry Thomas Marcus (Rev); George Alfred, Captain RN; William Gorges, Captain, Coldstream Guards; k/a 1814; Caroline; Louisa; Frances; Harriet; Augusta.
Sir Edward died in 1797 and his widow,
ANNE, LADY CROFTON (1751-1817), was elevated to the peerage (an honour for Sir Edward, had he lived), in 1797, in the dignity of BARONESS CROFTON, of Mote, County Roscommon.
Her ladyship was succeeded by her grandson,
EDWARD, 2nd Baron (1806-69), who espoused, in 1833, the Lady Georgina Paget, daughter of Henry, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, and had issue,
EDWARD HENRY CHURCHILL, his successor; Charles St George, father of 4th Baron; Alfred Henry; Francis George; Augusta Caroline.
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,
EDWARD HENRY CHURCHILL, 3rd Baron (1834-1912), Gentleman of the Bedchamber to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1867-68, State Steward to the Lord Lieutenant, 1880; Gentleman in Waiting to the Lord Lieutenant, 1886-92, who died unmarried, when the honours reverted to his nephew,
ARTHUR EDWARD LOWTHER, 4th Baron (1866-1942), who married, in 1893, Jessie Castle, daughter of James Hewitson, and had issue,
Edward Charles (1896-1936), father of 5th Baron; Marcus Lowther; Eileen Mabel Lowther.
His lordship was succeeded by his grandson,
EDWARD BLAISE, 5th Baron (1926-74).
GUY PATRICK GILBERT, 7th Baron (1951-2007), Lieutenant-Colonel, was Defence Attaché to the British Embassy in Angola.
MOTE PARK HOUSE, Ballymurray, County Roscommon, was built by the Crofton family in the later half of the 18th century, preceding the Castle of Mote erected by the family in 1620.
It was clearly an imposing house and reflected the influence of neo-classicism prevalent at the time.
This style emphasized for the first time a sense of permanence and security among the gentry and nobility in Ireland.
The house was the most impressive of its type built in County Roscommon, the others of this period being located at Runnamoat near Ballymoe, and Sandford House in Castlerea.
The house was originally an irregular two-storey-over-basement house, which the architect Richard Morrison more than doubled in size by adding six bays and an extra storey.
It had a deep hall with a screen of columns, beyond which a door flanked by niches led into an oval library in the bow on the garden front. These gardens contained many fine architectural features, some of which are still intact.
Perhaps the most splendid surviving feature is the original entrance gate consisting of a Doric triumphal arch surmounted by a lion with screen walls linking it to a pair of identical lodges. It has been suggested that this was designed by James Gandon, although others have pointed out that while this certainly is feasible, certain elements, most notably the head and keystone of the arch, appear to be of a later date and have a provincial character.
It is worth mentioning at this stage the work of Augusta Crofton: She was a renowned amateur photographer and appointed OBE in 1920.
From the mid-19th century, as with so many other estates, things started to go downhill for the fortunes of the Croftons and their home.
It should be noted at the outset that the Croftons, while not among the best examples of improving landlords, did keep their rents low and endeavoured to help their tenants as much as possible.
The fact that the estate was well managed is evident from many volumes of rentals of the estate dating from 1834-1893, along with family records held at Roscommon Library.
Rents received, expenditure on wages, bills, details of land improvements and summaries of yearly rental statistics for each denomination are clearly recorded.
The problem of absenteeism was largely irrelevant to the Crofton estate during this period as it was administered by competent land agents.
Despite the Land Acts, tenants made no effort to purchase their land.
Arrears of rent increased with arrears accounting for over 30% of total rent received by the 1890s.
Clearly the house itself was also falling into disrepair.
The 3rd Baron died in 1912 and was interred in the family vault at Killmaine.
In many respects he had become disillusioned with life on the estate long before his death, showing little interest in his Irish properties.
Instead he preferred, among other roles, that of representative peer at Westminister.
As he was a bachelor, his titles passed to his nephew Arthur Edward, 4th Baron.
Although the 4th Baron took a practical interest in his inheritance, the last of the Land Acts meant most of the estate was sold piecemeal in the early 20th century.
Ownership of what was left passed to his children and then to his grandson Edward Blaise, 5th Baron, to whom the title eventually passed.
The 5th Baron was the last of the Croftons to reside at Mote, but moved to England in the 1940s.
A sign that the final demise of the big house was forthcoming is evidenced by the public auction of October, 1947.
It occasioned quite a large public interest as evidenced by a photograph taken of the house on the morning of the auction.
The 1950s and early 1960s saw the final nail driven in the big house’s coffin with the Irish Land Commission demolishing the house completely.
Much of the beautiful woods surrounding the house were also felled, and replaced with newer mixed conifer species.
The remaining land was divided into several properties for families transferred from the nearby congested districts.
Now, instead of the big house, many smaller farm houses lay scattered over what was once the Crofton estate.
Mote Park still attracts many visitors however, marketed now as a heritage walkway, almost ten miles in length and taking in whatever original features still remaining intact.
The house was demolished in the 1960s.
Roscommon Golf Club occupies part of the original Mote Park demesne.
First published in July, 2012. Crofton arms courtesy of European Heraldry.
The Irish state and the Big House in independent Ireland, 1922–73 Emer Crooke, B.A., M.A. Thesis submitted for the degree of Ph.D Jan 2014, Maynooth. p. 116- 119. In another case, on 16 March 1954 the Land Commission wrote to the O.P.W. to say that they had for sale, on a Land Commission owned estate in Roscommon, Mote Park House with ‘a suitable area of accommodation land if required’.31 They described the mansion as ‘an imposing structure, in an excellent state of repair and would appear to be suitable for use as a hospital, sanatorium, school, etc.’32 The commission enquired if the O.P.W. would be interested in the purchase of the property and declared that if they did not receive a reply in twenty-one days they would assume they did not require the property and ‘other arrangements for its disposal will be made’.33 Ten days later the O.P.W. replied briefly to say that the premises were not required by them, suggesting both in the actual reply and its brevity that no interest was shown by the O.P.W. in the property, despite the willingness of the Land Commission to let them know of it for their further information and the commission’s positive comments about its repair and possible use.34 Three years later the Land Commission contacted the O.P.W. again to inform them that efforts which had been made by the commission ‘to sell the building with certain accommodation lands as a residential holding’, their first preference, had failed and they then proposed to sell the building for demolition. This was only considered when they could not sell the house as a residence and the O.P.W. was not interested in maintaining it. Furthermore, it was not in the Land Commission’s remit or budget to have been able to decide to keep and preserve this house; the O.P.W. was the only department which could do so and, if it refused, the commission was in no position but to sell or, if that proved impossible, demolish. However, even after the O.P.W’.s previous brief response the Land Commission did not demolish without thought and its officer wrote again to the O.P.W. stating: before any decision is taken in the matter the Land Commission will be glad to know whether the building is of any historical or architectural importance and if so whether you are interested in preserving the building, either as a complete structure or as a roofless shell and whether you would be prepared to take over the building and its site at a nominal sum.35 On 5 November a member of the O.P.W. requested a report from the Inspector of National Monuments on the matter.36 Having received no reply at all from a seemingly unconcerned O.P.W., on 30 November the Land Commission wrote again to them requesting an early reply and reminding them of their previous letters; they did so again in December.37 As a result the O.P.W. sent a reminder to the inspector on 5 December, 2 January and 28 January 1958 asking for his report.38 Nonetheless, the Land Commission was obliged to send a further letter to the O.P.W. on 27 January asking that they deal with the matter urgently.39 The O.P.W. finally replied on 10 February that their Inspector of National Monuments had not yet found it possible to inspect the property to assess if it would be eligible for preservation as a national monument under the 1930 act, but they hoped this would be arranged shortly and would write when it had been.40 Their inspector, Leask, was again behind the refusal to recognise Mote Park House as a national monument as when he finally carried out his report he described the house as a ‘large, but not very attractive stone mansion of mid nineteenth-century appearance’.41 It did not merit the effort of an interior inspection for him and he concluded: ‘there does not appear to be anything worthy of consideration for state care’.42 Subsequently the O.P.W. informed the Land Commission: ‘we do not consider that the house … is of sufficient interest to merit preservation by the state as a national monument’.43 Following this the Land Commission went ahead with arranging for the disposal of the property and on 6 September 1958 the Irish Independent ran an advertisement by the Land Commission announcing the sale by tender of Mote Park.44 Two options were listed: the first was ‘Mote Park house, steward’s house, out-offices and 112 acres of accommodation lands; the second was ‘alternatively, Mote Park House and some of the buildings for demolition (in lots)’.45 Mote Park House was sold under this second option and demolished in 1958, although it is clear from the evidence here that this was not the preference of the Land Commission who first enquired if the house could be saved. 27 H. G. L. and J. R. joint honorary secretaries of the N.M.A.C. to the secretary of the Department of Lands (forestry division), 15 June 1945 (N.A.I., O.P.W. files, F94/574/1). 28 J. Darby, Department of Lands, to the secretary of the N.M.A.C., 10 May 1945 (N.A.I., O.P.W. files, F94/574/1). 29 H. G. Leask handwritten note to division C, O.P.W., 17 May 1945 on letter from J. Darby, Department of Lands to the N.M.A.C., 10 May 1945 (N.A.I., O.P.W. files, F94/574/1). 30 Ibid. 31 The Land Commission to the O.P.W., 16 Mar. 1954 (N.A.I., O.P.W. files, F94/1084/1/57). 32 Ibid. 33 Ibid. 34 O.P.W. to the Land Commission, 26 Mar. 1954 (N.A.I., O.P.W. files, F94/1084/1/57). 35 The Land Commission to the O.P.W., 26 Oct. 1957 (N.A.I., O.P.W. files, F94/1084/1/57). 36 Handwritten note addressed to the Inspector of National Monuments, 5 Nov. 1957 (N.A.I., O.P.W. files, F94/1084/1/57). 37 The Land Commission to the O.P.W., 30 Nov. 1957; 31 Dec. 1957 (N.A.I., O.P.W. files, F94/1084/1/57). 38 Handwritten note addressed to the Inspector of National Monuments, 5 Dec. 1957; 2 Jan. 1958; 28 Jan. 1958 (N.A.I., O.P.W. files, F94/1084/1/57). 39 The Land Commission to the O.P.W., 27 Jan. 1958 (N.A.I., O.P.W. files, F94/1084/1/57). 40 O.P.W. to the Land Commission, 10 Feb. 1958 (N.A.I., O.P.W. files, F94/1084/1/57). 41 Handwritten note in O.P.W. files signed H. G., entitled: ‘Mote Park, county Roscommon’, 27 Feb. 1958 (N.A.I., O.P.W. files, F94/1084/1/57). 42 Ibid. 43 O.P.W. to the Land Commission, 8 Mar. 1958 (N.A.I., O.P.W. files, F94/1084/1/57). 44 Irish Independent, 6 Sept. 1958. 45 Ibid.
Main staircase, Mantua, County Roscommon 1972, photograph: J and S Harsch, 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. 200. “(Grace, sub Bowen/LGI1912) A Palladian house attributed to Richard Castle and believed to have been built ca 1747 for Oliver Grace, who married the daughter and heiress of John Dowell, the former owner of the estate. Centre block of three storeys over basement and five bays; roundel between niches in centre of top storey, above pedimented niche betwwen two narrow windows, above fanlighted doorway also between two narrow windows. Rusticated window surrounds. Single-storey corridors joining centre block to two storey three bay wings, each with a roundel above a Venetian window; the wings also having rusticated window surrounds.”
Not in national inventory
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 127. “A three storey house built c. 1747 to the design of Richard Castle for Oliver Grace.
The property: eight-bedroom 557sq m (6,000sq ft) house for €295,000 which represents a cost of €529 per sq m (€49 per sq ft).
The look: extended country farmhouse, currently the Mantua Arts Centre.
The landscape: located in the scenic countryside of Elphin, 14.5 miles from Boyle and 13.5 miles from Carrick-on-Shannon. Mantua national school is 100 yards away.
The features: tree-lined property with its own brook and private well. It has a kitchen, utility room, well, four reception rooms, eight bedrooms and seven additional rooms used as gallery space.
How much for an investor? The repayments on a 85 per cent loan at an interest rate of 3.6 per cent (APR 3.66 per cent) over 25 years would be €1,266 per month. With an interest-only loan at the same rate, the repayments would be €825 per month.
How much for owner-occupier to buy? Over 35 years, at AIB’s discounted tracker rate of 3.1 per cent (3.6 per cent) the repayments on this mortgage would be €1,151 per month for the first year.
At 92 per cent of the property price, at AIB’s discounted tracker rate of 3.1 per cent (Apr 3.6 per cent) the repayments over 35 years would be €1,058 per month for the first year. Repayments at the standard variable rate of 3.75 per cent (APR 3.81 per cent) would be €1,159 per month.
Potential: it has previously been a barracks, nursing home and shop/post office and is currently an arts centre. Other possibilities include a guest-house or a family home for which it would need some refurbishment.
Verdict: could be a golden opportunity for someone looking to get away from it all and start their own business in the country.
Built in the mid 18th century and owned by the Grace family in the 18th and 19th centuries. Occupied by R. Underwood in 1778. In 1786 Wilson notes that it was the seat of the late Richard Underwood and of Captain Grace. The 1st edition Ordnance Survey map indicates that it had elaborate gardens with a fishpond and terrace. It was owned by Edward F. Bowen in 1906. Mantua is now a ruin.
Mantua House, near Elphin. Oliver Grace married the Roscommon heiress Mary Dowell in the 1740’s and they built this large Palladian house at Mantua, to a design by celebrated architect Richard Castle. The house is now an ivy covered ruin.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 88. “(French/IFR) A plain two storey three bay Georgian house, originally a shooting lodge but occupied permanently by the Frenches after their original house, about a mile away, was burnt. ..The boyhood home of Percy French, entertainer, writer of immortal Irish songs and watercolourist. Sold ca 1955 by Mr H. A. St G. French; afterwards demolished.
Not in National Inventory
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
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. 75. “(Sandford, Mount Sandford, B.BEP; Wills-Sandford/LGI1958) A large C18 block…The house is now demolished; the demesne is maintained as a public park by the town of Castlerea.”
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. 125. Very large 18C three storey house. Two storey wing added in 19C when the entrance doorway was moved to one end of the house. The roof of the original house was also altered at this time. The seat of the Sandford family. Demolished.
The earlier main block of seven bays was quite plain; while the 19th century wings had balustraded parapets. The three-bay side of the left wing served as the entrance front. In the later part of the 19th century, architects Millar & Symes were retained on a couple of occasions to work on the house. The house was demolished and the demesne serves as a public park.
Castlerea House, constructed in the 1790’s and expanded in the 19th century. The central block of the house was destroyed by fire in 1895 and replaced with a rather crude looking pre-fabricated single storey structure. What remained of the original building was demolished in the 1960’s. The house was built by the Sandford family adjacent to an earlier O’Connor castle. Have completed the chapter on Castlerea House but need to tie up some loose ends, does anyone know were the demesne lands bequeathed to the town of were they purchased? Is the demesne still owned by a Trust? Besides the gatehouses (Gaynors funeral home) is there any other outbuilding, herds house, gatehouse etc still standing anywhere in Castlerea? And finally, does anyone have a photo of the original entrance gates? Very interesting chapter to write, relating to a house i knew very little about. (My email address is paulconnoll@gmail.com)
THE BARONS MOUNT SANDFORD WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY ROSCOMMON, WITH 24,410 ACRES
THEOPHILUS SANDFORD (1631-68), descended from a good family in Yorkshire, obtained grants of land in Ireland for his services during the civil wars, as a captain in Reynolds‘ regiment. He fixed his abode at Castlerea, County Roscommon; and from him lineally descended COLONEL HENRY SANDFORD (ante 1671-1733), of Castlerea, MP for Roscommon Borough, 1692-1713, who married, in 1692, Elizabeth, daughter of the Rt Hon Robert FitzGerald, and was succeeded at his decease by his eldest son,
ROBERT SANDFORD (1692-1777), MP for Boyle, 1715-27, Newcastle, 1727-60, who wedded, in 1717, Henrietta, second daughter of William, 3rd Earl of Inchiquin, and had issue,
HENRY, his heir; Robert, major-general, Governor of Galway; Henrietta.
Mr Sandford was succeeded by his eldest son,
HENRY SANDFORD (1719-96), MP for County Roscommon, 1741-60, Kildare Borough, 1761-8, Carrick, 1768-76, who married, in 1750, Sarah, eldest daughter of Stephen, 1st Viscount Mount Cashell, and had issue,
HENRY MOORE, of whom we treat; William (Rev); father of HENRY, 2nd Baron; GEORGE, 3rd Baron; Louisa.
Mr Sandford was succeeded by his eldest son,
HENRY MOORE SANDFORD (1751-1814), High Sheriff of County Roscommon, 1784, MP for Roscommon Borough, 1776, 1791-99, who was elevated to the peerage, in 1800, in the dignity of BARON MOUNT SANDFORD, of Castlerea, County Roscommon, with remainder, in default of male issue, to his brothers and their male descendants.
His lordship espoused, in 1780, Catherine, eldest daughter of the Rt Hon Silver Oliver, of Castle Oliver, County Limerick; but dying childless, in 1814, the barony devolved, according to the limitation, upon his nephew,
HENRY, 2nd Baron (1805-28); who, being brutally slain in a riot at Windsor, and dying unmarried, the barony reverted to his uncle,
GEORGE, 3rd Baron (1756-1846), MP for Roscommon, 1783-97.
The title became extinct in 1846 following the death of the 3rd Baron.
CASTLEREA HOUSE, near Castlerea, County Roscommon, was a large 17th century (ca 1640) block of three storeys over a basement, with 19th century wings of two storeys over a basement.
The main block of seven bays was plain; while the wings had balustraded parapets.
The three-bay side of the left wing served as the entrance front.
The house is now demolished and the demesne serves as a public park.
This week the Irish Aesthete marks its fourth anniversary. It is remarkable that an initiative started almost on a whim has continued for such a long period, and looks set to carry on doing so. The need to find ‘fresh’ (albeit old) material for this thrice-weekly site has encouraged me to take greater interest in, and investigation of, this country’s architectural heritage, providing opportunities to return to old favourites as well as abundant chances to explore other sites hitherto overlooked, at least by myself. There continues to be no shortage of places to visit, photograph (with mixed results) and write about. Sometimes the outcome is a feeling of despondency, but just as often one comes away elated, thrilled to learn there are people across Ireland who care passionately for the preservation of our country’s tangible history and are actively ensuring it has a viable, vibrant future. Such is the case with the house shown today.
Rush Hill, County Roscommon featured not long after the Irish Aesthete began (see The Folks Who Live at Rush Hill, November 12th 2012) and after an absence of almost four years was recently revisited. Listed as one of the four ‘gentlemen’s seats’ in the area in Samuel Lewis’s 1837 Topographical Dictionary of Ireland it is the only one remaining. The core of the house dates from c.1700 and until almost the end of the 19th century it was the residence for successive generations of the same family of tenant farmers. A fire which broke out not long after it was taken on by another family resulted in a programme of rebuilding and augmentation, as can be seen by the ground floor bay windows. But much of the building would look familiar to earlier occupants, especially after the under the care of its present owners. Rush Hill’s renewal has been a gradual process, one by no means complete. It was fascinating to see how much more had been accomplished over the past four years, and to hear of intended work during the years to come. Thanks to such care the house looks as though it will continue to serve as a ‘gentleman’s seat’ long into the future.
The Irish Aesthete rather too often focusses on ruins, so it is a delight to feature a building which, prior to being taken on by the present owners, seemed destined to go the way of so many others in this country. One looks forward to reporting more such stories; please feel free to get in touch if you know of any. This site is always looking for further material, and welcomes your thoughts, comments and – provided politely phrased – criticisms and corrections. There are many plans for the year ahead, including expansion into other areas and media. In the meantime, please continue to follow the Irish Aesthete not just here but also on Facebook (TheIrishAesthete) Twitter (@IrishAesthete) and Instagram (the.irish.aesthete). And thank you as always to friends and followers for your kind words and encouragement, these are very much appreciated.
The Irish term ‘strong farmer’ refers not to the title holder’s physical strength but to the size of his land holding. Until sequential legislation in the late 19th/early 20th centuries collectively known as the Land Acts, the greater part of this country lay in the possession of a relatively small number of wealthy families, their tenants obliged to survive on tiny holdings of just a couple of acres. Tenantry leasing larger, more economically viable plots of land came to be known as strong farmers and their fiscal strength allowed them to build bigger houses than the usual one- or two-roomed thatched cottage. Rush Hill in County Roscommon is just such a house. This has never been a particularly fashionable, or indeed affluent, part of the country but it used to sustain many more such properties; of the four ‘gentlemen’s seats’ identified in the immediate parish by Samuel Lewis in his 1837 Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Rush Hill is the only one still standing. The core of the house dates from c.1700. By that date, and for the next 200-odd years, much of the region was owned by the King family, beneficiaries of extensive land acquisitions made in the first decades of the 17th century by an ancestor, Edward King, Anglican Bishop of Elphin.
Rush Hill’s clerical connections are frequent. Within a century of Bishop King taking possession of the land on which the house stands, it was leased together with some 400 acres to a relation of his descendants, the Rev. George Blackburne who became rector of the local parish and built a new church at the end of what was effectively Rush Hill’s drive. Described by Lewis as ‘a neat, plain building with a small spire,’ this survived an ever-dwindling congregation until demolished in 1971. The graveyard survives. Unmarried, Blackburne left control of the property to his nephew William Devenish; generations of the same family remained there as major tenant farmers and minor Protestant gentry for the next 150 years. In 1884 the last of the line to live at Rush Hill, Robert Devenish gave up the tenancy and two years later it was let to George Acheson whose heirs continued to live there until 1943, during which time they acquired the freehold of the house and 109 acres from the King estate. Next it passed into the hands of a local farmer but after fifty years the house was abandoned and began to slide into decay, a condition only partially arrested when a Dutch family bought the place in 1997. Ten years ago Rush Hill was acquired by its present owners who ever since have been engaged in diligently restoring house and grounds.
By the time they assumed responsibility for the place, Rush Hill was in poor shape; it had not been rewired since the mid-1950s when electricity was first introduced to the premises, the only sink was in the kitchen, supplied with water via a rubber hose through a window, and the only lavatory was broken. Almost all the windows needed to be replaced, as did many floorboards and parts of the roof, while the majority of original fittings like chimney pieces had long since been sold or stolen. Likewise outdoors the gardens were overgrown and the yard buildings in a state of total dereliction. Given the scale of work required, inevitably it has taken time to achieve the present results. Looking at Rush Hill today, it is hard to imagine the property’s shambolic state a mere ten years ago. While most of the finance for this enterprise has come from the owners’ own resources, they did receive assistance on a couple of occasions from the Heritage Council; one worries the organisation may not be able to provide such support for much longer, given the present government’s apparent determination to emasculate it.
Rush Hill is precisely the kind of property that deserves help from state agencies, especially when relatively small sums can make a substantial difference. Too often, because the national mindset is fixed on the extremes of Big House and peasant cottage, the idea that our architectural heritage might include other kinds of domestic building tends to be overlooked. Not being one of the region’s more significant properties, Rush Hill could easily have slipped out of existence, like the other three ‘gentlemen’s seats’ in the parish, had it not been rescued just in time. The evolution of Rush Hill took place over three centuries; the core five-bay house probably began as just one-room deep and without the lop-sided extensions to either side of the central block or indeed the latter’s projecting groundfloor bows. Gradually the house grew to reflect successive owners’ affluence and aspirations until achieving its present form. In the process, it came to represent one lesser-known but still important strand of our nation’s history. Without Rush Hill’s patient preservation we should all be the poorer.
See Robert O’Byrne, The Irish Country House, A New Vision. With photographs by Luke White. Rizzoli, New York, Paris, London, Milan, 2024.
Irish Historic Houses 