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.
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.
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.
Supplement
p. 294. “(Leicester, Bt/Edb; Magan/IFR) In mid-C18, Clonearl was sold by Sir John Leicester to Arthur Magan, a County Westmeath landed magnate of old Irish descent who had married a rich wife. William Henry Magan, “The Magnificent” built a new and elegant cut-stone neo-Classical house here ca 1820, to the design of William Farrell. Of two storeys, it had a five bay front with a giant Ionic portico in antis…Clonearl was inherited 1840 by the yonger William Henry Magan, known as Wiliam Henry the Bad; he was wildly extravagant and his misdeeds ranged from seducing the married daughter of an Earl (he married her, but is alleged, probably unfairly, to have strangled her) to annoying Queen Victoria by making faced when, as a young cavalry officer, he was escorting her carriage. He was also blamed for causing the death of a local man, who was called in to amuse a stag party at Clonearl and accidentally set fire to his shirt, sustaining fatal burns. Clonearl was burnt 1846, supposedly as a result of one of William Henry the Bad’s drunken orgies; it was not rebuilt. The house features in Brid William Magan’s excellent book, Umma-More.”
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. 121. “A very fine cut stone two storey house built for W.H. Magan to the design of William Farrell c. 1817. Garden front with two storey Ionic portico in antis. Demolished.”
Ranges of stone outbuildings, built c.1750, set around courtyard. Multiple-bay single- and two-storey buildings with pitched and hipped slate roofs. Renovated east wing with replacement widows and doors. Square and segmental-headed openings to north west and south wings, with remains of groin-vaulted carriage arch beneath former clock tower to west range. Remains of Clonearl House, underground rooms and water pump located on the site.
Though in poor condition, these outbuildings retain evidence of some original design features that hint of the former splendour of Clonearl House. At present efforts are being made to restore the north wing.
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.
Platten Hall, County Meath, courtesy Thomas U. Sadlier and Page L. Dickinson’s Georgian Mansions in Ireland, published in 1915 by Ponsonby and Gibbs, Dublin.Platten Hall, County Meath, courtesy Thomas U. Sadlier and Page L. Dickinson’s Georgian Mansions in Ireland, published in 1915 by Ponsonby and Gibbs, Dublin.
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.
“(D’Arcy;IFR; Reeves;LGI1912; Gradwell, LGI1958) A very handsome red brick house with stone facings probably built ca 1700 by Alderman John Graham on an estate which, before the Williamite War, had belonged to a branch of the D’Arcy family. Considered by Dr Craig to be a possible work of William Robinson. Originally of three storeys; nine bay front, thee bay breakfront; splendid Baroque doorcase with segmental pediment, engaged Ionic columns and camber-headed fanlight. Camber-headed ground floor windows with scroll keystones. Long side elevations which in later years were largely blind; in the centre of one side, however, was a pedimented doorcase. Large two storey panelled hall with stairs and gallery of fine joinery; engaged fluted Corinthian columns superimposed on fluted Ionic columns. Carved frieze below gallery; fluted Corinthian newels and fluted balusters; ceiling with modillion cornice; floor of marble pavement. Oak panelling in dining room enriched with fluted Corinthian pilasters and elaborately carved segmental pediment over door. Pedimented stables at back of house. The house was originally set in a formal layout of elm avenues. Mrs Delany (then Mrs Pendarves) came to a ball here in 1731. A later John Graham left the estate 1777 to a friend, Graves Chamey; it was sold post 1800 to Robert Reeves, whose son, S.S. Reeves, removed the top storey, giving the house a rather truncated appearance. In later years, too, part of the house was derelict; which would explain why the side windows were bricked up. Platten Hall was sold post 1863 to J. J. Gradwelll; it was demolished ca 1950.”
Platten Hall, County Meath, courtesy Mark Bence-Jones.Platten Hall, County Meath, courtesy Mark Bence-Jones.Platten, County Meath, dining room c. 1915, photograph: Milford Lewis, 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.
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. 115. “Very important three storey early 18C house attributed to William Robinson. The top floor was removed in the early 19C. Very fine interior which included a superb staircase and a panelled dining room. Built for Alderman John Graham. The dining room as re-erected in a house in Dublin. The house was demolished c. 1950.”
See also, for more on William Graham who lived at Platten Hall, Melanie Hayes, The Best Address in Town: Henrietta Street, Dublin and its First Residents 1720-80, published by Four Courts Press, Dublin 8, 2020.
Thomas U. Sadlier and Page L. Dickinson’s Georgian Mansions in Ireland, published in 1915 by Ponsonby and Gibbs, Dublin
A large bedroom, the door of which appears in LXVI is known as the Duke’s Room, the tradition being that Duke Schonberg’s body was laid in state here after the Boyne.
“p. 81 For several centuries this property belonged to the Anglo-Norman family of D’Arcy. Sir John D’Arcy, a distinguished soldier under Edward III, sometime Constable of the Tower, came to Ireland in 1329, and for some years acted as Justiciary; he subsequently fought in both Scotland and in France, serving with distinction at the Battle of Crecy. The castle at Platten built by him passed at his death, 1347, to his younger son, William D’Arcy, father of John D’Arcy of Platten, who was sheriff of Meath in 1404 and 1415. Another Sir William D’Arcy, of Platten, the latter’s great-grandson, apparently a man of considerable bodily strength, carried Lambert Simmel on his back through Dublin, after he had been crowned in Christchurch, for which offence he was obliged to do homage and fealty to Sir Richard Edgecombe, Lord Deputy, in 1488. The family lived on here till the 17C, when they experience various vicissitudes. In 1641 they resisted the attack of Sir Henry Tichborne, ultimately surrendering Platten on terms by which the garrison departed without arms, but were allowed to take some of their good with them. It was perhaps at this period that the old chapel of the D’Arcys, some remains of which may yet be seen, became ruinous. Finally in 1690, on the attainder of Nicholas D’Arcy, who had taken sides with the Jacobites, the property was forfeited.
It next passed into the possession of Alderman John Graham, of Drogheda, a man of great wealth of whom we know little save that he bought landed property, doubtless at an undervalue, from the Commissioners of Forfeited Estates, and that for some years he sat in Parliament for his native city. On his death he was succeeded in the representation of that borough, and also at Platten, where he built the present residence, by his son William.
This William Graham married the Hon. Mary Granville, second daughter of George, Lord Lansdown; she doubtless met him at the court in Dublin when staying with her uncle, Lord Carteret, for he was Lord Leiutenant at the time of their marriage (1729). Thus the owner of Platten found [p. 82] himself allied with some of the first families in England – a circumstance which speedily led to his being sworn a member of the Irish Privy Council, and of coming to the notice of Mrs Delaney, or as she was then, Mrs Pendarves, his wife’s first cousin.”
“p 85 William Graham was sadly extravagant…spendthrift.” On his death, “Platten, in 1748, devolved on his elder son, John Graham, who in that year married Dorothy Sophia, daughter of Richard Gorges, of Kilbrew, in Meath.
‘We have unfortunately no further details as to life at Platten. Its owner, John Graham, seems to have become estranged from his family, and preferred to reside in Dublin, where he had a house in North Great George’s Street. Finally, on his death in 1777, all his property in Meath and Drogheda passed under his will to Graves Chamney, an intimate and valued friend, who for some years previously had resided in Platten Hall. The reason Mr Graham gives for thus passing over his wife and daughter in favour of Mr Chamney is “for his friendship in taking me out of gaol when my own and my wife’s relations would not relieve me.” Graves Chamney died unmarried in 1794, but the property remained in his family till soon after 1800, when it was sold to a Mr Robert Reeves, of Merrion Square, Dublin, who left it to his second son, Samuel Spaight Reeves. From this gentleman, who was resident here in 1863, and by whom the house was lowered a storey, it passed by purchase to John Joseph Gradwell, father of George Fitzgerald Gradwell, JP, the present landlord.”
Platten Hall, County Meath, courtesy Thomas U. Sadlier and Page L. Dickinson’s Georgian Mansions in Ireland, published in 1915 by Ponsonby and Gibbs, Dublin.Platten Hall, County Meath, courtesy Thomas U. Sadlier and Page L. Dickinson’s Georgian Mansions in Ireland, published in 1915 by Ponsonby and Gibbs, Dublin.Platten Hall, County Meath, courtesy Thomas U. Sadlier and Page L. Dickinson’s Georgian Mansions in Ireland, published in 1915 by Ponsonby and Gibbs, Dublin.
Construction started circa 1700 for Alderman John Graham. According to Maurice Craig, possibly designed by Sir William Robinson. Demolished in the 1950s. Replaced by a smaller house on the same site. The farmyard building to the rear still exists.
A description of 1906: “It is an ugly building now, in spite of its rich red colouring; but in former days, when it was a story higher, and had a gabled roof, its appearance was doubtless more attractive.
Like all early Georgian houses, the main entrance is on a level with the ground ; it opens into the imposing hall, which contains a handsome grand staircase in three flights,/ supported by six Ionic columns, the floor being paved in black and white marble. The walls are panelled, and there are other symptoms of early construction; there is some tasteful decoration, the frieze being very richly carved, and displaying tiny figures, quite Jacobean in treatment. Note, too, the gallery, which we also illustrate, with its handsome balustrading, with ramps at the newels. Below the gallery the panels are in plaster.
Platten once afforded considerable accommodation, but one wing has been allowed to fall into disrepair, as its bricked-up windows show, and the excellent rooms in the basement are no longer utilized.
….the dining-room, a large apartment panelled in oak, which is to the right as we enter the hall ; it has handsome high doors with brass locks, and the wainscot is ornamented with boldly carved fluted pilasters. There is a curious, probably early Georgian, mantel in white and grey marble.”
Anyone familiar with the Irish Georgian Society will know that the original organisation of that name was established in 1908 with the specific intention of creating a record of the country’s 18th century domestic architecture. Five volumes were produced over successive years, the first four devoted to Dublin while the last, which appeared in 1913, made an attempt to provide an overview of country houses. Two years later, another work, Georgian Mansions in Ireland, appeared. This book, written by barrister and genealogist Thomas U. Sadleir and architect Page L. Dickinson, both members of the now-dissolved Irish Georgian Society, was intended to correct what they believed to have been a problem with the earlier work: namely that its compilers ‘laboured under a disadvantage, for they had but slight knowledge of the existing material.’ The two authors proposed that whereas the compilers of the Irish Georgian Society volumes were well informed about historic buildings in Dublin, ‘as regards the country districts, their number, their history and their situation were alike unknown.’ For Sadleir and Dickinson, writing almost a century ago, the contrast between historic properties in Dublin and the rest of the country could not have been more stark. The former’s large houses, ‘so far from being, as they once were, the residences of the rich, are too often the dwellings of the poor; at best, hotels, offices or institutions. But the country houses present a delightful contrast. Some, no doubt, have gone through a “Castle Rackrent” stage; but – as anyone who cares to consult the long list in the fifth Georgian volume must admit – the vast majority are still family seats, often enriched with the treasures of former generations of wealthy art-lovers and travelled collectors.’ It is unlikely the authors would have been able to write such words even a decade later, and certainly not today. ‘Irish houses seldom contain valuable china,’ they advised, ‘but good pictures, plate, and eighteenth-century furniture are not uncommon. How delightful it would be to preserve the individual history of these treasures! The silver bowl on which a spinster aunt lent money to some spendthrift owner, and then returned when a more prudent heir inherited; the family pictures, by Reynolds, Romney, Battoni, or that fashionable Irish artist Hugh Hamilton, preserved by that grandmother who removed to London, and lived to be ninety; the Chippendale chairs which had lain forgotten in an attic. Even the estates themselves have often only been preserved by the saving effects of a long minority, the law of entail, or marriage with an English heiress.’ Below are three houses featured in Georgian Mansions in Ireland, with a selection of the pictures included in the book. The line drawings are by the architect Richard Orpen, who had been in partnership with Dickinson before the outbreak of the First World War.
Platten Hall, County Meath dated from c. 1700 and was built for Alderman John Graham of Drogheda: Maurice Craig proposed the architect responsible was Sir William Robinson. Built of red brick and with a tripartite nine-bay facade, it was originally three-storied but the uppermost floor was removed in the 19th century. Alderman Graham’s son William Graham married the Hon. Mary Granville, second daughter of George, Lord Lansdown and cousin of the inestimable Mrs Delaney who visited Platten on several occasions during her first marriage (when she was known as Mrs Pendarves). Sadleir and Dickinson quote one of her letters from January 1733, in which she described a ball given in the house: ‘we began at seven; danced thirty-six dances, with only resting once, supped at twelve, everyone by their partner, at a long table which was handsomely filled with all manner of cold meats, sweetmeats, creams, and jellies. Two or three of the young ladies sang. I was asked for my song, and gave them “Hopp’d She”; that occasioned some mirth. At two we went to dancing again, most of the ladies determined not to leave Plattin till daybreak, they having three miles to go home, so we danced on till we were not able to dance any longer. Sir Thomas Prendergast is an excellent dancer – dances with great spirit, and in very good time. We did not go to bed till past eight; the company staid all that time, but part of the morning was spent in little plays. We met the next morning at twelve (very rakish indeed), went early to bed that night, and were perfectly refreshed on Saturday morning. …’ As for Platten when they knew it, Sadleir and Dickinson comment: ‘Like all early Georgian houses, the main entrance is on a level with the ground; it opens into the imposing hall, which contains a handsome grand staircase in three flights, supported by six Ionic columns, the floor being paved in black and white marble. The walls are panelled, and there are other symptoms of early construction; there is some tasteful decoration, the frieze being very richly carved, and displaying tiny figures, quite Jacobean in treatment. Note, too, the gallery, which we also illustrate, with its handsome balustrading, with ramps at the newels. Below the gallery the panels are in plaster. Platten once afforded considerable accommodation, but one wing has been allowed to fall into disrepair, as its bricked-up windows show, and the excellent rooms in the basement are no longer utilized…the dining-room, a large apartment panelled in oak, which is to the right as we enter the hall; it has handsome high doors with brass locks, and the wainscot is ornamented with boldly carved fluted pilasters. There is a curious, probably early Georgian, mantel in white and grey marble.’ Platten Hall was demolished in the early 1950s.
Platten Hall was located at Donore, just west of Drogheda. Today the cement works occupy part of the estate. Bence-Jones described Platten Hall as a ‘very handsome red brick house with stone facings’ probably from about 1700. Craig considered it possibly the work of Sir William Robinson for John Graham. A large red-brick mansion the design occupied three sides of a square. Situated in an extensive demesne, originally wide avenues of elms radiated from it on all sides, like the spokes of a cart-wheel — a plan fashionable in England; but unfortunately these did not remain perfect. It had a large hall with an open staircase of three flights. Samuel Reeves took a storey off the house in the mid nineteenth century. One wing was closed off and the windows bricked up. The house was demolished in the second half of the twentieth century. The house may have replaced a medieval castle, belonging to the D’Arcy family. The house was originally set out in a formal layout of elm avenues. The church in the grounds was sued as a mausoleum by the successive residents of the Hall. Octagonal pigeon house attached to Platten Hall
According to ‘The parish of Duleek and over the Ditches’ Plattin was purchased from the Forfeited Estates Court by Alderman John Graham of Drogheda. John Graham was the eldest son of Robert Graham of Ballyheridan, Co. Armagh. The Darcy family had held the property before the Battle of the Boyne. Platten being between Oldbridge and Duleek featured in the battle of the Boyne. Graham erected the three-storey red-brick mansion where he resided until his death in 1717. His second son, William, succeeded as he disinherited his first son, Richard.
Mrs. Delaney (Pendarves) wrote of the Christmas at Platen in 1732 – ‘We are to have a ball, and a ball we had; nine couples of as clover dancers as ever tripped. We began at seven, danced thirty-six dances, with only resting once, supped at twelve, everyone by their partner at a long table which was handsomely filled with all manners of cold meats, sweetmeats, creams and jellies. Two or three young ladies sang. At two we started dancing again; most of the ladies determined not to leave Platten till daybreak so we dance don until we were not able to dance any longer. We did not get to bed till past eight.’ A regular visitor to the Grahams Mrs Delaney makes a number of mentions of balls in their home.
The extravagance of William Graham was a matter of public notoriety. Swift had to write to him as he did not meet the rent of a premises he held from St. Patrick’s Cathedral. In 1734 Dean Swift wrote to Mrs. Delaney (Pendarves) that Mr. Graham was ruining himself as fast as possible. One of the bedrooms in the house was called the Duke’s Room after the Duke of Dorset, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland who visited the house in 1732 when the Boyne Obelisk was unveiled.
William Graham died in 1748 and was succeeded by his son, John, who was M.P. for Drogheda 1749-1768. John married Dorothy Gorges of Kilbrew. John was High Sheriff of Meath in 1753. When John died in 1777 all his property went to his steward, Graves Chamney. Graves Chamney became heir as Graham said he had succeeded in ‘taking me out of prison when my wife and relations would not relieve me.’ He was obviously in gaol for debt. Graham resided for the most part in his house North Great Georges Street, Dublin rather than at Plattin. A branch of the Graham family settled at Cromore House, Doneraile, Co. Cork.
In 1800 the property was sold to Robert Reeves of Dublin who bequeathed it to his second son, Samuel Speight Reeves. From Samuel the property passed to John Joseph Gradwell, High Sheriff of Drogheda in 1855. The Gradwells from Preston had already purchased Dowth Hall. Mr. Gradwell died in 1873 and was succeeded by his son, George Fitzgerald Gradwell. The Gradwells were involved in the milling trade in Drogheda. In 1876 Ellen Gradwell of Platten Hall held 615 acres in county Meath. He had three sons and was succeeded by the third son, Francis William Edward Gradwell in 1933 and he was living in the house in 1941. The house passed through the hands of T.J. O’Neill and D’Arcy Slone. The house became derelict and was 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.
“(Dillon, Bt/PB) A three storey give bay early to mid-C18 house. Good quoins; wall carried up to form roof parapet; buttresses on façade. Side elevation of two bays and then three bays set slightly back, prolonged by a two storey office wing. Burnt 1923, afterwards rebuilt without the top storey.”
Miss Elizabeth Dillon of Lismullen, Co. Louth, (later Mrs. James Corry), courtesy Fonsie Mealy Dec 2025James Corry who married Elizabeth Dillon of Lismullen, courtesy Fonsie Mealy Dec 2025.
Mid 18th C, burned in 1923, rebuilt without top storey.
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 113. (18C house), Skreen: A three storey early 18C house much altered. The top storey may be a later addition. Burnt in 1922. Demolished.
A suggested date for the construction of the house is 1720 –1740 when there was an optimistic period after the Boyne. Lismullen is a typical gentleman’s residence, nothing unique about its design, sited to maximise the use of local scenery. At the turn of the twentieth century the mansion had twenty one rooms and thirty four outoffices. The house had an entrance hall, study, dining room, drawing room, back hall, principal staircase, butler’s pantry, two lavatories and bathrooms, eleven bedrooms, dressing rooms and strong room. The house was decorated with many paintings including a Gainsborough, a Reynolds and portraits of family members and family connections. A door from the main house led into a kitchen, with a scullery and larder. The out offices included a larder, dairy, tiled laundry, apple loft, storerooms and stables. There were three coach houses and a motor house. These out offices were entered through an archway from the back avenue. At the back of these buildings was a large farmyard, hay barn, walled in garden, pleasure ground, conservatory and tennis court.
The Dillons were a prominent family of the Pale. Lodge’s Peerage states that the Dillons of Lismullen were descendants of Thomas, the third son of Sir Robert of Riverstown. William Mallone, Irish papist, was in possession of Lismullen in 1640 but during the Cromwellian confiscation the entire parish of Lismullen and 172 acres at Clonarden in the neighbouring parish of Templekeran parish were allocated to Arthur Dillon. Arthur’s son, John, added further lands to the estate in the Williamite confiscations. Sir John Dillon’s close connection to Ormond may have resulted in William of Orange spending a night at Lismullen after the Battle of the Boyne. A number of personal items were said to have been given to the Dillons by William of Orange in 1690, two days after the Battle of the Boyne. The items included a glass decanter, a glass posset bowl, a bed-coverlet and two pairs of gauntlets.
John was succeeded by his grandson, John Talbot Dillon who as Member of Parliament for Wicklow introduced a successful bill for some relief of Catholics from the penal laws in 1782. For this support of the Catholic cause Sir John Dillon was created a baron of the Holy Roman Empire by Emperor Joseph II of Austria. On 22 February 1783 John Dillon received Royal License to use the title and was created baronet by George III on 31 July 1801. Sir John Dillon, his son, Charles and Nathaniel Preston formed a company to exploit a vein of copper ore on the Walterstown lands of Nathaniel Preston. There appear to have been two Sir John Talbot Dillons living at approximately the same period in the nineteenth century and the lives of both having some common events are often confused by writers.
Sir John Talbot Dillon had six sons and three daughters. His eldest son died before his father. His three remaining older sons, Charles Drake, Arthur Richard and William, held the title of baronet in succession following his death. In March 1847 the stables of Sir William Dillon of Lismullen were rented as extra accommodation for paupers by the Dunshaughlin Board of Guardians as the work house at Dunshaughlin was at full capacity.
The fifth son, Rev. Ralph Dillon, left a son, John, who succeeded on the death of his cousin, in 1852. This John was the father of Sir John Fox Dillon.
Sir John Fox Dillon married Marion Louisa Dykes and the couple had only one child, a daughter, Millicent, born in 1895. Sir John enjoyed hunting and was a member of the Meath Hunt and the Norfolk Hunt. Sir John was a candidate in the first Meath County Council elections, running in Tara district. He received twenty-seven votes but failed to get elected. The 1898 Act stipulated that three seats on the new council were reserved for outgoing members of the Grand Jury and Sir John Dillon was one of the three selected. Sir John had donated a site for a new church at Lismullen and contributed a large amount to the construction costs.
Sir John remained as churchwarden until his death in 1925. Lady Dillon commissioned a window from Harry Clarke in February 1929 as a memorial to her husband for the new church at Lismullen. The window The Ascension was installed above the altar in March 1930. Lismullen church was demolished in 1964 as a result of declining attendance. The Clarke window was removed to storage in Trim and sold by the church authorities in the 1990s.
Sir John grew tobacco to support Sir Nugent Everard in his efforts to introduce the industry on a commercial basis in Meath at the turn of the century. He also supported Everard’s experimentation with the growing of hemp to provide the raw material for cordage and as shelter for the tobacco crop. Sir John invented a machine to scotch the hemp and proposed that the 10,000 tons of hemp imported annually from Russia and Poland be produced in Ireland. In 1918 Sir John Dillon disposed of 1,693 acres of his estate at Lismullen under the Land Acts.
In early 1923 a renewed outbreak of violence occurred in the area surrounding Lismullen. Despite his military experience Sir John was not prepared for the arrival of the arsonists. On 5 April 1923 a group of men stole a trap at Knockmark, drove to Dunsany Stores and took petrol which they took to Lismullen. Later that night a large party of men gained entrance to Lismullen house and set the place alight. When the house was destroyed by fire very few items were saved. Sir John found time to send a note to Killeen to warn the Fingalls that the arsonists had said that Killeen was next. The motive for the burning is not clear with various reasons being put forward at the time.
In 1923 he and his family left Ireland behind to purchase a property, Longworth Hall, in England. Under the Damage to Property (Compensation) Act of 1923 Sir John Dillon received £10,942 to rebuild his house. The new ‘modern residence’ at Lismullen was built on the foundations of the destroyed house which was ‘of a very old fashioned and inconvenient type’. The replacement house was as undistinguished as its predecessor being described by one observer as ‘a modern tasteless building’ in 1942. Sir John Dillon died suddenly on 1 November 1925, at his residence, Longworth Hall, at the age of 82.
Since Sir John had no son a distant cousin, Robert William Charlier Dillon, was the heir. Robert’s father died 6 October 1925, just a month before Sir John’s death so Sir Robert inherited the estate at eleven years of age.
The Dillon lands at Lismullen were compulsory purchased by the Land Commission in 1963.
The house and garden were sold on for charitable and social purposes and became a residential conference centre and a hospitality training centre. It is owned by the Lismullin Educational Foundation, an educational charity, which in 2000 completed a major development of the site and facilities. These are inspired by the spirit of the Prelature of Opus Dei and reflect a Christian outlook on life and culture.
Letters from Georgian Ireland: The Correspondence of Mary Delany 1731-68.
Ed. Angelique Day, foreward by Sybil Connolly. The Friar’s Bush Press, Belfast, UK, 1991.
p. 129. En route from Dublin, end of Aug 1732:
“Dined at Lismullen; Mr Dillon’s house made mighty neat; a vast deal of wood and wild gardens about it. Walked to see the ruins of the old Abby near them – a vast building enclosed with large trees, great subterraneous buildings, with arches of cut stone, which make no other appearance above the earth but as little green hillock, like mole-hills. The arches seem to have been openings to little cells, rather than continued passages to any place; they are very low – whether it be that they are sunk into the ground, or always were so, I can’t judge, but they are formed of very fine cut stone. The Abbey is in the prettiest spot about the house: ‘til surrounded with tall trees, and a little clear rivulet winds about it. The road from Lismullen to Naver [Navan] very pleasant; passed by Arsalah [Ardsallagh] which lies upon the Boyn [Boyne]. The house seems a very antique edifice, it has fine gardens, but the trees and meadows that lie by the river are extremely beautiful; their domains reach all along the river, and half the way to Navan. Navan stands just where the Boyne and Blackwater meet, high over the river. I walked over the bridge by moonlight, along a walk of tall elms which leads to a ruined house they call the Black Castle, from a vulgar tradition of it beign haunted; it lies over the Blackwater, has a vast number of trees about it, and seems to have been pretty. The [p. 130] “spirit” it was visited by was extravagance; it belonged to two young men, who in a few years ruined themselves,and let the seat go to destruction, and ever since they give out it is haunted, it is now another person’s property, and going to be repaired.
The 25th, left Navan, and travelled through bad roads and a dull uninhabited country, till we came to Cabaragh, Mr Prat’s house, an old castle modernized, and made very pretty; the master of it is a virtuoso, and discovers whim in all his improvements [she may have been referring to the delightful villa designed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce which preceeded the monumental nineteenth century castle on an adjacent site]. The house stands on the side of a high hill, has some tall old teres about it; the gardens are small but neat; there are two little terrace walks, and down in a hollow is a little commodious lodge where Mr Prat lived whilst his house was repairing. …
The 26th, left Mr Prat’s and travelled over the most mountainous coutry I ever was in; still as we passed over one hill, another showed itself. Alps peeped over Alps and “hills on hills” arose [the drumlin country of south Ulster]; the face of the country not pleasant till I came to Shercock [County Cavan], which is a handsome house, and stands over a fine lake, that has several woods and meadows on the sides of it. A vast deal of heath and ploughed land from that till I came within three miles of Coote Hill, then the scene changed most surprisingly, and the contrast is so strong that one imagines they are leaving a desert and coming into Paradise.
The town of Coote Hill is like a pretty English village, well situated and all the land about it cultivated and enclosed with cut hedges and tall trees in rows. From the town one drives nearly a mile on a fine gravelled road, a cut hedge on each side, and rows of old oak and ash trees to Mr Coote’s house [Bellamont Forest]. ..”
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. 169. “(Bourke/LGI1904) The Palace of the C of I Bishops of Killala, a tall plain three storey “L” shaped building with a gable-ended tower-like block at the end of one of its arms. The entrance door, near the angle of the two arms, was fanlighted, with some blocking, and flanked by two small side-lights. The castle was said to be ruinous 1787, but some repairs to it were arried out 1796 when, presumably, one of the arms was given its Wyatt windows. Soon afterwards the scholarly Bishop Joseph Stock came into residence, and a few months later (August 1798) the French landed at Killala. The castle was occupied by General Humbert and 300 French troops in 1798; but they treated the Bishop and his family with courtesy and consideration, leaving them undisturbed on the top floor, where the Bishop’s library and three principal bedrooms were situated. When Bishop James Verschoyle died 1834, the See of Killala was joined to that of Tuam, and Killala Castle ceased to be the episcopal residence (for the present residence, see Knockglass, Co Mayo); it then became a warehouse, and was demolished 1950 to make room for a housing estate.”
Letters from Georgian Ireland: The Correspondence of Mary Delany 1731-68.
Ed. Angelique Day, foreward by Sybil Connolly. The Friar’s Bush Press, Belfast, UK, 1991.
p. 125. 21 June 1732, “Killala is a very pretty spot of ground; the house old, and indifferent enough, the sea so near us, that we can see it out of our window; the garden, which is laid out entirely for use, is pretty – a great many shady walks and full-grown forest trees. The Bishop has added a field, and planted it in very good taste; there are abundance of green hills on one side of the garden, on the other a fine view of the Bay, and main ocean behind it, and several pleasant islands.
One day Miss Don, Miss Forth, Mr Crofton, Mr Lloyd, and your Penny [her own nickname], mounted their horses to take the air! We rode very pleasantly for a mile by a sweet river, were caught in a smart shower of rain, took shelter in a cabin as I described to you some time ago. The master of it, the greatest bear that ever walked erect on two legs, his wife little better and that man is absolutely worth two thousand pounds a year; “muck is his darling”; poor miserable wretch! But, however, he had hospitality to receive us as civilly as his sort of manners would allow, made a good fire, and his wife gave us tea; the sky cleared, we took our leave, and returned home wisely moralising all the way and condemning the sordidness of the wretch we left behind us….. Monday we made visits to some of the townspeople. Tuesday we had a very clever expedition, the Bishop and I in a chaise, Mrs Clayton, Phill, and Miss Forth on [p. 126] horseback…. We went to a place about five miles off where the salmon fishery is [river Moy], the house put me in mind of Redgate [on the Fowey river near Liskeard] in Cornwall… We saw the river drawn as we stood in the garden, and a whole net full caught of salmon and trout. It was very good sport, but what was best of all, those salmon were dressed for our dinner, and we reglated very plentifully…Today we dined at Mr Palmer’s [Carrowmore House], a gentleman that lives a mile off, the only very agreeable neighbour we have; he is a very good sort of man, has a handsome fortune, his wife a civil, gentle, agreeable woman; they are very fond of one another, but both very melancholy in their dispositions; they were married some time and had no children, at last she had one son, which is so great a darling and so much spoiled, that I believe she’ll repent of her wishing so earnestly as she did for a son….” [they work in Killala on a shell grotto]. [she also writes in an entertaining manner of Killala fair day.]
[note that the Bishop is Robert Clayton, relative of Mary Delany’s friend Anne Donnellan. P. 24, Ed.Robert Clayton became bishop of Killala and Achonry in 1730, commissioned Richard Cassels to build a mansion in 1730 on the south side of Stephen’s Green. Note,
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. 45. “Ruttledge/IFR) A three storey Georgian block, enlarged, altered and refaced ca 1769 and later. Five bay front, doorway with shallow fanlight over door and sidelights below a central Wyatt window. Good ceiling decoration and chimneypieces. Sold 1924, subsequently 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. 110. “An early Georgian house enlarged c. 1769. The house was further altered in the late 18C and early 19C. Good interior. In 1814 the seat of Robert Rutledge. Demolished.”
White Hill, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford – 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. 284. “(Wilson-Slator, sub Walsh/LGI 1958) A 2 storey gabled Victorian house with a three sided bow and some battlements and pinnacles. Imposing castellated gatehouse. Demolished and devastated ca 1961.”
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. 107. “A two storey castellated Victorian house built for the Wilson-Slator family. Demolished c. 1961.”
Irish Historic Houses 