Castlecomer House, Co Kilkenny

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. 64. “(Wandesford, E/DEP; Butler, sub Ormonde, M/PB; Prior-Wandesford/LGI1958) A very large C18 and C19 house, consisting of a square two storey main block with fronts of five bays, and a slightly lower three storey wing of great length, recessed for its first six bays and then stepped forward. Battlemented parapet on main block and wing; rectangular Georgian sash-windows, mostly with astragals; pointed Georgian-Gothic windows on ground floor of entrance front of main block; hood mouldings over windows of main block. John Johnston, who worked at Birr Castle, was also employed here. Enclosed Gothic porch. Largely demolished in recent years.” 

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. 89. A very large 18C house with 19C additions. Battlemented parapet. Burnt in 1965 and now largely demolished.

https://archiseek.com/2014/1802-castlecomer-house-co-kilkenny

1802 – Castlecomer House, Co. Kilkenny 

Architect: John Johnston 

The original Castlecomer House, the family seat of the Wandesfordes, was built in 1638. It was burned down during the battle of Castlecomer in 1798. A replacement and larger house was constructed on the site in 1802. This house was on a far grander scale than the original, and was testament to the success of the Wandesforde enterprise in Ireland. It was a large 19th century mansion consisting of a square, two-storey main block with fronts of five bays; a slightly lower three-storey wing of great length.There was a battlemented parapet on the main wing and block; rectangular sash windows, mostly astragals. Also an enclosed Gothic porch.  

Lying largely empty during the 1960s and 70s, most of the building was demolished in 1975. Nothing now remains of the house. The entrance and lodge can still be seen today, designed by G.F. Beckett in 1913. 

The Landed Gentry & Aristocracy: Kilkenny. Volume 1. Art Kavanagh, 2004. 

Wandesford of Castlecomer. 

https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2013/12/castlecomer-house.html

THE WANDESFORDES WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY KILKENNY, WITH 22,232 ACRES 

 
This family was of great antiquity in Yorkshire. 
 
JOHN DE WANDESFORDE, of Westwick, near Ripon, married, in 1368, Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Sir Henry de Musters, Knight, of Kirklington, Yorkshire, and widow of Alexander Mowbray. 
 
He died in 1396, and was direct ancestor of 
 
THOMAS WANDESFORDE, of Kirklington, in 1503, who wedded Margaret, daughter of Henry Pudsey. 
 
He died in 1518, having had four sons and two daughters, 

CHRISTOPHER, his heir; 
William; 
Michael; 
John (Rev); 
Ellen; Elizabeth. 

The eldest son, 
 
CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD, of Kirklington, espoused Anne, daughter of John Norton, and died in 1540, having had issue, 

FRANCIS, his heir; 
Christopher. 

The elder son, 
 
FRANCIS WANDESFORD, of Kirklington, married Anne, elder daughter and co-heir of John Fulthorpe, of Hipswell, and had by her (who wedded secondly, Christopher, younger son of Ralph, Earl of Westmorland), 

CHRISTOPHER (Sir); 
John; 
Jane. 

Mr Wandesford died in 1559, and was succeeded by his elder son, 
 
SIR CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD, Knight, of Kirklington, who received the honour of knighthood, 1586, and served as Sheriff of Yorkshire, 1578. 
 
He espoused Elizabeth, daughter of Sir George Bowes, of Streatlam, and dying in 1590, was succeeded by his elder son, 
 
SIR GEORGE WANDESFORD, Knight (1573-1612), of Kirklington, knighted by JAMES I, 1607, who wedded firstly, Catherine, daughter and co-heir of Ralph Hansby, of Beverley, and had issue, 

CHRISTOPHER, his successor; 
John; 
Michael (Very Rev); 
Anne. 

Sir George espoused secondly, Mary, daughter of Robert Pamplin, and had a daughter, Margaret, and a son, WILLIAM WANDESFORDE, Citizen of London, to whom, and his heirs, his eldest brother, in 1637, gave £20 per annum, issuing out of the manor of Castlecomer, and payable upon Strongbow’s tomb in Christ Church, Dublin. 
 
Sir George was succeeded by his eldest son, 
 
THE RT HON CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD (1592-1640), being upon close habits of intimacy and friendship with Sir Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, accompanied that eminent and ill-fated nobleman into Ireland when he was constituted Chief Governor of that kingdom, was sworn of the Privy Council, and was appointed Master of the Rolls. 
 
Mr Wandesford was one of the Lords Justices in 1636 and 1639; and was appointed, in 1640, Lord Deputy; but the fate of his friend Lord Strafford had so deep an effect upon him, that he died in that year. 

[Kavanagh, p. 218. He appears to have brought over some of his relatives to Ireland also, as his brother Nicholas was MP for Thomastown and his eldest son, George, was MP for Clogher in 1639. – see Burke’s Landed Gentry. 

Christopher bought the lease of Kildare castle and manor from Sir Charles Coote shortly after his arrival in Ireland and intended livign there. He did in fact live in the castle for a year with his familoy but the Earl of Wentworth took a fancy to the place and two years later it was sold to him. In July 1637 Christopher Wandesford bought Castlecomer Castle and an estate of some 20,000 acres. These lands were formerly owned by the Gaelic Brennan clan from the barony of Odough, of which Castlecomer is the focal point. 

The Brennans, in common with other Gaelic families of Leinster such as the O’Moores of Laois, Kavanaghs of Crlow and the O’Byrnes of Wicklow and Fitzpatricks of Ossory, saw their lands pilfered from them under the governments of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. …An inquisition held in Kilkenny in 1635 found that the Brennans had no title in the area as they were “mere Irish” and held only the territory by force of arms.  In 1636 Christopher W. commenced negotiations to buy the Brennan lands from Ormonde and Ridgeway. The sale included the castle of Castlecomer, which was in the possession of Richard Butler, 3^rd Viscount Mountgarret… By 1638 W.had still not succeeded in obtaining possessionso Straford sent a body of soldiers to Castlecomer where they seized the parents of about 100 families of Brennans, took them to Dublin and imprisoned them. They took possession of the castle. 

Christopher’s conscience must have been causing him some trouble, as in his will he made in 1640, he made provision for the payment of some money to some of the Brennan families to the value of a 21 year lease on whatever lands they occupied at the time.  He also secured the release of one of the Brennans who had been sentenced to death for sheep stealing, and installed his half-brother William as his agent. William and his wife took up residence in the castle.  
 
He married, in 1614, Alice, daughter of Sir Hewet Osborne, of Kiveton, Yorkshire, and had issue, 

GEORGE, his heir; 
CHRISTOPHER, successor to his brother; 
John; 
Catherine; Alice. 

Mr Wandesford was succeeded by his eldest son, 
 
GEORGE WANDESFORD (1623-51), of Kirklington, who dsp and was succeeded by his brother, 
 
SIR CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD (1628-87), of Kirklington, who was created a baronet in 1662, denominated of Kirklington, Yorkshire. 
 
He married, in 1651, Eleanor, daughter of Sir John Lowther Bt, of Lowther Hall, Westmorland, and had issue, 

CHRISTOPHER, his heir; 
George; 
Charles; 
Mary; Eleanor; Catherine; Elizabeth; Alice; Frances; Christiana. 

Sir Christopher, MP for Ripon, was succeeded by his eldest son, 
 
THE RT HON SIR CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD (1656-1707), who was sworn of the Privy Council by WILLIAM III, and again, in 1702, by Queen ANNE, who elevated him to the peerage, in 1706, as Baron Wandesforde and VISCOUNT CASTLECOMER. 
 
He wedded, in 1683, Elizabeth, daughter of George Montagu, of Horton, Northamptonshire, and had issue, 

CHRISTOPHER, 2nd Viscount; 
GEORGE, 4th Viscount; 
John; 
Richard; 
Henrietta. 

His lordship died in London, and was succeeded by his eldest son, 
 
CHRISTOPHER, 2nd Viscount (1684-1719), MP for Morpeth, 1710, and for Rippon, 1714. 
 
In the latter year he was sworn of the Privy Council to GEORGE I, and the next year appointed Governor of County Kilkenny. 
 
In 1717, he was constituted Secretary-at-War. 
 
His lordship wedded, in 1715, Frances, daughter of Thomas, 1st Lord Pelham, and sister to Thomas, Duke of Newcastle, and had an only child, 
 
CHRISTOPHER, 3rd Viscount (1717-36), who died in London of the smallpox, unmarried, and was succeeded by his uncle, 
 
GEORGE, 4th Viscount (1687-51), 

• Christopher Wandesford, 2nd Viscount (1684–1719) 

• Christopher Wandesford, 3rd Viscount (1717–36) 

• George Wandesford, 4th Viscount (1687–1751) 

• John Wandesford, 5th Viscount (1725–84) (created Earl Wandesford in 1758). 

The 1st EARL OF WANDESFORD died in 1784, and his son having predeceased him, all his honours, including the baronetcy, became extinct, and his estates upon his only daughter, 
 
THE LADY ANNE WANDESFORDE, who espoused, in 1769, John Butler, to whom the EARLDOM OF ORMONDE was restored by the House of Lords, 1791, as 17th Earl of Ormonde and 10th Earl of Ossory. 
 
Her fourth, but second surviving son, 
 
THE HON CHARLES HARWARD BUTLER-CLARKE-SOUTHWELL-WANDESFORDE(1780-1860), of Castlecomer and Kirklington, inherited his mother’s estates, and assumed, in 1820, the additional surname of CLARKE after Butler; and, in 1830, the additional surnames of SOUTHWELL-WANDESFORDE after Butler-Clarke. 
 
He espoused, in 1812, the Lady Sarah Butler, daughter of Henry Thomas, 2nd Earl of Carrick, and had issue, 

John, dspvp; 
HENRY BUTLER-CLARKE-SOUTHWELL-WANDESFORDE, died unmarried; 
Walter, father of CHARLES; 
SARAH, of Castlecomer and Kirklington. 

The Hon Charles Harward Butler C S Wandesforde was succeeded by his grandson, 
 
CHARLES BUTLER-CLARKE-SOUTHWELL-WANDESFORDE, of Castlecomer and Kirklington, High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1879, who died unmarried, 1881, and was succeeded by his aunt, 
 
SARAH PRIOR-WANDESFORDE (1814-92), of Castlecomer, Kirklington, Hipswell, and Hudswell, Yorkshire, who married, in 1836, the Rev John Prior, of Mount Dillon, County Dublin, Rector of Kirklington, Yorkshire, son of the Rev Dr Thomas Prior, Vice-Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, and had issue, 

Charles Butler, father of RICHARD HENRY PRIOR-WANDESFORDE; 
Henry Wallis; 
Sarah Butler; Sophia Elizabeth. 

Mrs Prior-Wandesforde succeeded to the Castlecomer and Kirklington estates on the death of her nephew, 1881, and in accordance with the provisions contained in her father’s will, assumed, in 1882, for herself and her issue the additional surname and arms of WANDESFORDE. 
 
She was succeeded by her grandson, 
 
RICHARD HENRY PRIOR-WANDESFORDE JP DL (1870-), of Castlecomer and Kirklington Hall, Hipswell, and Hudswell, Yorkshire, High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1894, who wedded, in 1896, Florence Jackson von Schwartz, daughter of the Rev Ferdinand Pryor, Rector of Dartmouth, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and had issue, 

CHRISTOPHER BUTLER, b 1896; 
Ferdinand Charles Richard, b 1897; 
Richard Cambridge, b 1902; 
Vera; Florence Doreen. 

***** 

 
During Lady Ormonde’s time on the estate, the coal mines were mainly run by master miners who leased the land and employed teams of about fifty men to operate them. 
 
Her son, Charles Harward Butler-Clarke-Southwell-Wandesforde, took a great interest in the running of the estate and in the welfare of his tenants and attempted to reduce the role of “middle men” by reducing rents and providing assistance. 
 
He even helped some of his tenants to emigrate. 
 
He was succeeded by his daughter Sarah, who married John Prior. 
 
She outlived all her children and was succeeded by her grandson Richard Henry who inherited the estates and assumed the Wandesforde name in 1892. 
 
When Captain Richard Henry Prior-Wandesforde inherited the estate in the late 19th Century, the family owned thousands of acres of woodland in the area. 
 
In previous years, the mines had been operated by master miners who leased the mines from the Wandesforde family, but ‘the Captain’ took personal control of the mines. 
 
He introduced many improvements in the mine workings including overhead ropeways to transport the coal to the Deerpark railway depot. 
 
He also established the Castlecomer Basket Factory, the Castlecomer Agricultural Bank and the Colliery Co-operative Society and built a number of housing schemes for the mine workers.  
 
Captain Prior-Wandesforde took personal control of the coal mines and invested his own money in upgrading and modernising the mine workings.

CASTLECOMER HOUSE in County Kilkenny, the family seat, was originally built in 1638. 
 
It was burned down during the battle of Castlecomer in 1798. 
 
A larger house was built in its place, in 1802,  during the time of Lady Ormonde. 
 
It was a very large 18th and 19th century mansion consisting of a square, two-storey main block with fronts of five bays; a slightly lower three-storey wing of great length. 
 
There was a battlemented parapet on the main wing and block; rectangular sash windows, mostly astragals; and an enclosed Gothic porch.  
 
Most of the building was demolished in 1975 as it was no longer in use and had fallen into disrepair. 
 
Nothing now remains of the house. 

Castlecomer Discovery Park is situated on grounds that once formed part of the Wandesforde family estate. 
 
The Visitor Centre is located in what was originally the farm yard and kitchen gardens of the estate. 
 
The stables and many of the farm buildings have been restored and now house the craft units and the education facilities. 
 
The original walled garden is now home to a small herd of Fallow and Sika Deer and a flock of Jacob Sheep. 
 
First published in December, 2011. 

See Art Kavanagh, Wandesford of Castlecomer.