“Crosshaven House is an elegant eighteenth century country house set in the picturesque village of Crosshaven, overlooking Currabinny Wood and Cork Harbour. It is where the spaci
“Crosshaven House, sited in Knocknagore townland, was in the ownership of the Hayes family since the lands were first purchased by Richard Hayes of Cork City in 1656 from Peyton Le Hunte, a Cromwellian grantee. The land was bought for a sum of £247 and 10 shillings. Richard Hayes built a residence, which stood from 1656 until 1769, when a descendant in line, William Hayes II, decided to demolish this old mansion, and construct a new one a short distance away. This became known as Crosshaven House.
Crosshaven House, County Cork, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
“Crosshaven House was built by the Sardinian architect Daviso de Arcort, who was better known as Davis Ducart. Well known in Ireland for his work in smaller country houses, large houses and civic buildings around Ireland, prior to designing aesthetically pleasing grand buildings, Ducart was involved in industrial construction, most notably the Newry Canal completed in 1741, the first inland waterway to be constructed on the British Isles. Ducart was responsible for the design of the Limerick Custom House in 1765; Castletown Cox, Co Kilkenny built in the 1760s for Michael Cox, Archbishop of Cashel; Kilshannig, Co. Cork, commenced in 1756; the Mansion House, Cork, was commissioned by the City Corporation in 1765; and Lota House, Cork in 1765.
“Although built in 1769, as indicated on the datestone inscribed “W. Hayes 1769” which is fixed to the wall surface of the attic with iron pegs, the interior of Crosshaven House was left unfinished until 1810. A study of the Hayes family-tree offers a possible explanation for the difference in date of the basic structure and the interior of Crosshaven House. The original owner of Crosshaven House, William Hayes II, died unmarried in 1770, just one year after its construction. His new mansion and estate of 1,571 acres passed to his brother Richard who was established in business in Cork City and did not marry until 1776.
“Upon his death, Richard’s youngest son Thomas inherited the House, married in 1807 and died in 1817.
“This fact conforms to the stylistic evidence which suggests the House was not finished until the time of his marriage in 1807 or soon after. In the past, access from the main part of the house was available to the two stable wings through a tunnel. Since there was no service yard around the north of the main block, the tunnel was used to bring in supplies. There was evidence that another tunnel was used in the original house in 1659 for smuggling purposes, but no evidence for this remains today.
“Most of the decorative interior details of Crosshaven House, such as the ceiling plasterwork and cornicing, the joinery and ironmongery date from circa 1810. Expert Italian craftsmen carried out the plasterwork at the beginning of the nineteenth Century, and this was carefully conserved and restored in 2006. The last member of the Hayes family to have possession of Crosshaven House was Colonel Hayes, until he sold it in 1973 to Mr Graham Flint of Florida. In recent years the house was meticulously restored to its former glory while enjoying the comforts of contemporary living.”
Archbishop’s Palace, Armagh, photograph by Eric Jones, Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license 2.0.
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. 12. “The Palace of the (C. of I.) Archbishops of Armagh and Primates. A plain and dignified late C18 block, nine bays long and four bays deep, originally of two storeys over a high rusticated basement. Built 1770, to the design of Thomas Cooley, by Primate Richard Robinson, who added a third storey 1786, his architect then being Francis Johnston. Later, a large enclosed porch was added, with pairs of Ionic columns set at an angle to the front. Flanking the entrance front of the Palace is the Primate’s Chapel, a detached building in the form of an Ionic temple. The exterior, of 1781, is by Cooley; but the interior was carried out after Cooley’s death in 1784 by Francis Johnston, who succeeded him as architect to Primate Robinson. Johnston’s interior, a modification of Cooley’s design, is one of the most beautiful surviving C18 ecclesiastical interiors in Ireland; with a coffered barrel-vaulted ceiling, a delicate frieze, Corinthian pilasters, a gallery with a curved rear wall, and splendid panelling and pews. The Palace is surrounded by a well-wooded demesne, in which there is an obelisk, also by Johnston. The Church of Ireland is at present building a modern residence for the Primate on Cathedral Hill, so that the future of the Palace is uncertain.”
Archbishop’s Palace Armagh, County Armagh, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
THE PALACE (ARMAGH), County Armagh (AP ARMAGH, BANBRIDGE and CRAIGAVON 03) – A/029 REGISTERED GRADE A The Archbishop’s Palace walled demesne occupies 348 acres (141ha) on the south perimeter of the City of Armagh, the grounds now belonging to the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Council who use the palace of 1768-75 and stable yard for office accommodation. The palace and its demesne owe their existence to Archbishop Richard Robinson (1708-1794), who, following his elevation to the Primacy of Armagh in 1765, demanded a residence in Armagh appropriate to his status; his predecessors had resided mainly in the palace in Drogheda, while the see house in English Street, had fallen into disrepair. Accordingly, in 1769 an Act of Parliament was passed for the enclosure of a demesne incorporating the townlands of Parkmore, Drumarg and part of Ballnaone, church property that fittingly included the remains of the Franciscan friary, founded in 1263, whose impressive ruins now lie at the entrance to the demesne (ARM 012:016). The building of the palace in the centre of the demesne on a height overlooking the city had already begun by 1768, if not earlier, for by February 1769 Robinson ‘hath already erected and covered in the shell of a house for himself and his successors’. The building (Listed HB 15/18/016), a chase but dignified classical block of nine bays and four bays deep, was originally of two-stories over a high rusticated basement, but it was subsequently raised in 1825 by Francis Johnson, who also Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest (NI) – November 2020 added a porch. The original palace building, completed in 1775 at a cost of £10,322 17s 9d was evidently the work of Dublin architect George Ensor, but the Sardinian architect, Davis Ducart may also have been involved. Lying on slightly higher ground 93 yards (85m) to the west is the cobbled stable yard – a two-storey Palladian quadrangle built at the same time as the palace (Listed HB 15/18/018), probably also by Ensor; it was burnt in 1859 and rebuilt with a few additions by the Belfast architect W.J. Barre. Also in the 1770s an icehouse was built in the woods behind the yard (Listed HB 15/18/015), while between the house and yard a chapel for the Archbishop was erected in 1781 of ashlar limestone in the form of a classical Roman temple to a design by the English architect Thomas Cooley (Listed HB 15/18/017); the Primate’s Chapel was completed by Francis Johnston after Cooley’s death in March 1784 (chapel deconsecrated in 1977). The Clerk of Works for the construction of buildings ‘in and about the demesne’ at this time was Euclid Alfrey and William Johnston (father of Francis); in addition to the house, yards and chapel, their work will have included the 48m high eye-catcher Rokeby Obelisk (Listed HB 15/18/021), erected in 1782-83 on a hill 0.6 miles (0.9km) south-east of the palace; designed by Thomas Cooley from a sketch by John Carr of York, this obelisk was built to commemorate the friendship between Archbishop Robinson, by then raised as the first Baron Rokeby and Hugh Percy, the first Duke of Northumberland (1714-1786), who as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland had appointed him to the Primacy. The Obelisk was originally set on the north side of a small woodland plantation atop the hill in a carefully designed parkscape laid out in the Reptonian Picturesque manner then popular. The landscape designer is not known, but he made skilled use of the undulating landscape by setting the palace in sweeping open meadows (‘lawns’) with isolated trees, clumps, belts and perimeter screens – all of which were judicially laid out so as to enjoy fine views of the city and its cathedral both from the palace and from a network of walks and drives which meandered their way through surrounding meadows and shelter belts. The planting in the park seems to have been nearly all undertaken in the 1770s; a report of 1775 says that young trees to the value of £283 6s 3d had then been planted in the demesne; the species were mostly beech and ask, but also included sycamore, chestnut, lime, ash and elm; remarkably, the woodland and screen boundaries then established remained unaltered into the mid-20th century. When Arthur Young visited in 1776 he admired the ‘large lawn’ around the palace, which ‘spreads on every side over the hills, and skirted by young plantations, in one of which is a terrace, which commands a most beautiful view of cultivated hill and dale.’ Inglis visited the park in 1834 and found it ‘… in excellent order … laid out with much taste’. At a slightly later date, probably in the 1780s, the main Newtownhamilton road was diverted westward to its present course (A29/B31) to expand the parkland; it notable that much of the parkland planting lies east of the old line of this road. Within this area lies the architecturally notable Palace Farm (Listed HB 15/19/013), erected in the 1790s, probably to a design by Francis Johnson, 0.3 miles (0.5km) south-west of the palace. Enclosed by open parkland, with flanking tree screens each side, this yard comprises a large and pleasantly designed quadrangle fronted by twin farmhouses; it was admired by Sir Charles Coole in 1804, who remarked that ‘his grace’s farmyard, implements of husbandry and mode of culture, afford a bright example to the gentry’. Invariably, demesne farm buildings were located conveniently to the walled garden; however, here the walled garden, which was built for kitchen produce (vegetables, flowers, fruit) in the 1770s lay in the north of the demesne where it was characteristically carefully screened with trees from the parkland. It occupied a large rectangular stone walled area (440ft/121m x 440ft/134m) covering 4.25 acres (1.72ha), which was typically divided by paths into four quadrant sections with a circular pond in the centre. The walled slip gardens lay on its north and east sides; one of these areas, the frame yard, is known in 1863 to have included three ‘Green Houses’, two ‘Vine Pits’; a ‘Vinery’; ‘Fruit House’; ‘Mellon Pit’ and ‘Mushroom Pit’ in addition to offices and a ‘cole pit’. One of the other walled slip enclosures was made into a pleasure garden, known as ‘Lady Anne’s Garden’, laid out in box-edged rose beds; it was entered via a fine wrought iron gate, c.1840 and named after a sister (died 1842) of Lord John George de la Poer Beresford, Primate from 1822 to 1862. All these slip gardens were removed in
Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest (NI) – November 2020 the 1950s and are now covered by car parks, while the walled garden area itself has been used since the 1970s by Armagh Rugby Club; its enclosing walls were partly cleared at this time although much of the walling to the east and north has survived, along with a section to the south. North of the walled garden lies the old head gardener’s residence/aka Frazer House (Listed HB 15/18/014), a relatively large two-storey gables house built sometime around 1790; currently this is used to house the planning, and births marriages and deaths registry office. Significantly perhaps, the ruins of the adjacent friary were not incorporated into the landscaped parkland in the 1770s, but rather left obscured behind a wall and within an orchard (it may be noted that in 1557 the friary then had its own orchard and garden). Indeed, stones from the friary were robbed to build walls in the demesne in the 1760s and 1770s and not until the early Victorian era that it became a romantic ruin in the park; by 1888 Bassett referred to ‘the picturesque effect of the immediate surroundings’ [of the friary] being ‘heightened by splendid Irish yews and stately forest trees’; some of these yews are still present in this area and there is a wall with a high arch opening onto the friary church at its west end. The present public entrance to the demesne lies a short distance from these ruins; this dates from the building of the ‘Friary Road’ by-pass in the early 1970s, which removed the northern perimeter tree belts of the park and resulted in the demolition of the main 18th century gate lodge and the movement of the Cooley-designed limestone entrance gates piers – effectively cutting the palace demesne off from the city. The damage was made worse by the later building of the large unsightly Armagh City Hotel (2006), which now dominates much of what used to be the north-east part of the parkland. Of the three former gate lodges into the park, only one is now extant, that on south of the demesne from the Newtownhamilton Road (not listed). The enclosing wall of the demesne, which unfortunately has been damaged, removed and lowered in a number of places, was largely built in the 1770s on the north, east and south sides, while the wall flanking the later section on the west was constructed between 1803-05 at a cost of £3,233 10s 8d, by Archbishop William Stuart. Unlike many large contemporary parks, no lake was made in the Primate’s Demesne, but below the palace meanders a stream north to south through the park; in the 19th century some small weirs were built on the stream to enliven its water and so add to its picturesque effect, while it was crossed by a number of small bridges, some relics of which still remain. There is no historic arboretum in the park, but from the mid-19th century a number of exotic trees, including sequoia, were planted around the palace and on its approaches; since the 1960s the council have added to this collection. South-west of the palace a small ornamental garden was made around the mid-19th century, which is overlooked by a fine metal curvilinear lean-to glasshouse of c.1860 with heating pipes (Listed HB 15/18/020); in section it is quadrant shaped with recesses, possibly for pots, along the base of the wall. The building contained vines and shelving for pots and is now used to grow flowers for Armagh City and District Council. The associated garden has stone-edged paths, flowering shrubs, including magnolia, topiary and stone urns. Close by on the south side of the palace is a 20th century garden with stone sundial, clipped box hedges and a ‘Garden of the Senses’ created in the 1990s. The main house remained the archbishop’s palace until 1975 when a see house was built beside the cathedral. The palace and the core of the demesne were conveyed to Armagh City and District Council two years later and since 1981 the palace has been used as their offices with the service drive becoming the main entrance. The palace outbuildings have become a visitors’ centre—‘The Palace Stables’—with an adventure playground made beside the public car park to the west, all concealed in woodland, however the car park for the council office was less well concealed. In 2015 improvements were made to the front sweep of the palace, removing unsightly fencing and confining cars to a relatively discrete car park north-west of the house. Separate from council ownership is a golf course which occupies 126 acres (51ha) of the north-east section of the parkland. This had its origin in 1893-94 when a golf course was established here, but unfortunately in 1975 what had been previously a discretely laid out course was dramatically remodelled and extended to eighteen holes, resulting in the removal of much of the park’s 18th century south-eastern woodland belts but also saw the planting of extensive
Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest (NI) – November 2020 fairway screens of fir, which are not only out of character with the original park scheme but block the historic vistas south; however, the golf course remains part of the registered area in the hope that this damage can be reversed at some stage in the future. SMR ARM 12:16 Franciscan Friary ruins, ARM 12:017 St Bridget’s Holy Well. Public access to part of the grounds.
Florence Court, formerly the home of the Cole family, Earls of Enniskillen, is surrounded by a large area of parkland, garden and woodland, with beautiful views to Benaughlin and the Cuilcagh Mountains. photo Courtesy of Tourism Northern Ireland by Brian Morrison 2008 (see [1]).
“Florence Court epitomises the Irish country house: a grand and elegant house in a romantic setting with self-sufficient demesne complete with gardens, parkland, woodland, and supporting buildings. The beauty and peacefulness of Florence Court bely the sometimes turbulent lives of those who lived and worked here during the course of its 300-year history.
“Captain William Cole came to Ireland as part of Elizabeth 1’s army of colonisation in 1601. He oversaw the creation of Enniskillen at its strategically important location on Lough Erne and lived in Enniskillen Castle, becoming Provost and then Governor. Many generations of the family continued to be involved in the governance of the area and as members of parliament. A century later, his descendant Sir John Cole (1680-1726) built a lodge to the south west of the town, and named it after his wife, Florence [née Wray]. The house he built in the 1720s was not fortified as the early 1700s were a time of relative peacefulness in Ulster compared to the previous century. The present Florence Court house we see today was built by Sir John’s son, also called John Cole [1709-1767], who was raised to the peerage as Lord Mount Florence in 1760. The house was still unfinished at the time of young John’s death. The colonnades and pavilions were completed by his son, William Willoughby Cole (1736-1803) who became Earl of Enniskillen in 1789.“
Mark Bence-Jones writes in his A Guide to Irish Country Houses (1988):
p. 125. “(Cole, Enniskillen, E/PB) A tall, early to mid-C18 block of three storeys over a basement and seven bays, its front heavily enriched with rustications, balustrades, pedimented niches and other features; joined by long arcades with rusticated pilasters to pedimented and pilastered single-storey pavilions. The centre block was probably built by John Cole, MP, afterwards 1st Lord Mountflorence, whose mother was the Florence after whom the house is named; the name was probably originally given to a shooting-box built here in the days when the family lived at Enniskillen Castle. The arcades and pavilions seem to date from ca 1770, and would have been added by William Cole, 1st Earl of Enniskillen; they were possibly designed by Davis Duckart. They blend perfectly with the centre block, and the whole long, golden-grey front has a dream-like Baroque beauty that is all the greater for being somewhat bucolic. The centre block has a three bay breakfront with a central pedimented niche between two windows in the top storey, a Venetian window between two niches in the storey below, and a pedimented tripartite doorway on the ground floor. The rear elevation has a central three sided bow with rusticated window surrounds, but there is nothing like the lavish ornament here that there is on the front. Curved sweeps join the back of the house to outbuildings.” [2]
The website tells us: “The house is a bit of a mystery: the architect or architects are unknown and in some of the main rooms superb decorative plasterwork survives though there is no record of who the skilled plasterers were. The main block probably dates to the 1760s and its colonnades and wings to the 1770s. These hide extensive yards and service buildings, grouped cleverly around the back of the house.“
The only room we were allowed to photograph inside was the Colonel’s Room, which is in one of the pavilions and which is where the tour begins.
Mark Bence-Jones continues, describing the inside of Florence Court: “The interior contains some wonderfully vigorous rococo plasterwork, in the manner of Robert West and apparently dating from 1755. In the hall, which is divided from the staircase by an arch, the decoration is architectural, reflecting the outside, with banded pilasters and a Doric frieze. Through the arch and up the staircase of splendid joinery with its handrail of tulip wood, the plasterwork becomes more rococo: great panels of foliage on the walls, and a cornice of pendants and acanthus. From the half landing one gets a view downwards to the hall and upwards through two arches at the top of the stairs to the Venetian Room, lit by the great Venetian window, which has what is probably the finest ceiling in the house; with a swirl of foliage and eagles and other birds of prey in high relief. The drawing room, to the right of the foot of the staircase, has a cornice of acanthus foliage, masks of “Tragedy” and “Comedy,” baskets of fruit and and birds. The ceiling of the dining room, on the other side of the staircase hall, is more elaborate, with foliage and birds and a central panel of cherubs puffing from clouds. There was formerly a delightful ceiling in the nursery on the top floor, with drums, rocking horses and other toys incorporated in the ornament.“
Florence Court in County Fermanagh, photograph by Robert French, Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.The Staircase Hall at Florence Court resplendent with its decorative woodwork and rococo plasterwork by Robert West; Florence Court, County Fermanagh, Copyright Christopher Simon Sykes/The Interior Archive Ltd, PhotoShelter ID/ I000041iD7fcpfGk, CS_GI15_32.Looking back down the staircase to two tiers of windows surrounded by rococo plasterwork panels attributed to Robert West, Florence Court, County Fermanagh, Copyright Christopher Simon Sykes/The Interior Archive Ltd, Byline/ Sir Albert Richardson, PhotoShelter ID/ I00009VnMC66jNjY, CS_GI15_37.
“After a devastating fire in 1955 the interiors of the house were quickly rebuilt and repaired. The contents had been on loan from the family and many had miraculously survived the fire. They were removed by the 6th Earl in the 1970s, when he and his wife went to live elsewhere but were generously returned by his widow, Nancy, in the 1990s. This breathed renewed life back into the house and the Trust continues to restore the gardens and demesne buildings so that all can enjoy this remarkable house, gardens and demesne and hear the story of those who created them.“
Bence-Jones writes: “The park, which is dramatically overshadowed by the sombre mountains of Benknocklan and Cuilcagh, contains the original Irish or Florence Court yew. The 5th Earl and his son, the late Viscount Cole, gave Florence Court to the Northern Ireland National Trust in 1953. Two years later, the centre of the house was severely damaged by fire; fortunately the staircase and much of the plasterwork was saved, and most of what was lost was restored under the direction of the late Sir Albert Richardson. No photographic record existed of the nursery ceiling, which was among those destroyed, so this was not reinstated. Florence Court is open to the public.”
“At around the same time, the formal landscape of the 1720s was re-designed by William King, one of the great landscape gardeners of the late 18th century, who planted belts of trees to provide shelter and woodland, and clumps of trees in open parkland, where sheep, horses and cattle could graze. The mass of Benaughlin mountain provides a dramatic backdrop to the composition. The demesne provided the immediate needs of the household and employment for staff, servants and farm labourers, with grazing for cattle, sheep and horses, a large deer park, arable land for crops and woodlands for timber. A major restoration of the 19th century walled garden is underway through the dedication of volunteers and staff. The vegetable and fruit garden is full of activity once again, giving a sense of Florence Court as the hive of industry that enabled it to be largely self-sustaining.”
“At its height, it was further supported by nearly 30,000 acres of tenanted farmland, which provided much-needed rental income. The latter part of the 19th century in Ireland was dominated by the Land Wars: a period of unrest and reappraisal of the historic form of land tenure and landlord- tenant relations. Like most other estates, Florence Court’s estate was significantly reduced by various Land Acts brought in by the British government in around 1900 to deal with the situation. In so doing, many houses in Ireland lost their main source of income from tenanted land and began a gradual decline in fortune. With the impact of the 1st and 2nd World Wars and rising taxes, Florence Court eventually proved impossible for the family to maintain and the house was transferred to the National Trust in 1954.”
The website tells us: “Through the 19th century the 3rd and 4th Earls of Enniskillen continued the work of their ancestors by investing in and developing the land and the estate. William, 3rd Earl, was also a keen palaeontologist, and gathered a large collection of fossil fish which he eventually sold to the British Museum. As Grand Master of the Orange Lodge of Ireland he was also involved in many civic duties. William’s first wife, Jane Casamaijor, laid out the American garden with rhododendrons and azaleas on the slopes south of the house. William invested heavily in the estate and demesne. The 3rd Earl also built a Tile, Brick and Pottery Works which turned local clay into drainage pipes, bricks and tiles (no longer extant). The sawmill transformed trees into everything from coffins to fence posts, railway sleepers, furniture and gates.”
[2] Bence-Jones, Mark. 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.
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Stephen and I visited Kilshannig House in Rathcormac, County Cork, in August 2020, during Heritage Week. Kilshannig is most notable for its wonderful stucco work.
I rang Mr. Merry in advance, and he was away but told me his housekeeper could show us around. Stephen and I were spending a few days on holidays with our friends Denise and Ivan, and Denise decided to join us to come to see the house. I was excited to show someone what it is like to visit the section 482 houses. In most cases, like this day visiting Kilshannig, we are going to see someone’s private home. It is not like visiting a place normally open to the public, like Fota House or Doneraile Court, two houses which Stephen and I also visited while in Cork, which are now owned and run by Irish Heritage Trust and the OPW (Office of Public Works) respectively. [1] I always feel that I am an inconvenience, requesting a visit someone’s home. I must remind myself that it is visitors like me and you who ensure that the section 482 revenue scheme continues. I envy owners of these beautiful homes, but maintaining a Big House is almost a career choice. In fact owners often express their belief that they are the caretaker of a small part of Ireland’s built heritage. In this case, Mr. Merry runs an equine stud, and it is the success of that which enables him to maintain the upkeep of his home. He has also converted an extension into self-catering accommodation [2].
The house, as you can see from the photograph of the entire sweep, is Palladian [3]. It was built in 1765-66 for Abraham Devonsher, an MP and a Cork banker. The date 1766 is written on a “hopper” and probably commemorates the completion of the house.
It was designed by Davis Ducart [or Duckart], whose Irish career began in the 1760s and continued until his death in about 1785. The Dictionary of Irish Architects tells us:
According to William Brownlow, writing to the Earl of Abercorn in 1768, he ‘dropped into this Kingdom from the clouds, no one knows how, or what brought him to it.’ [4]
The Irish Historic Houses website tells us that Ducart worked as a canal and mining engineer as well as an architect. With engineering skill, he was committed to good design and craftsmanship. The Dictionary of Irish Architects tells us of criticism of his work, however:
An attack on him in the Freeman’s Journal for 3-4 February 1773 states that he had given up architecture by this time: ‘Our French architect … never could bring any thing to perfection he put his hands to; he made some of his first (and, alas! his last) experiments as an architect, at the cost of the public and many private gentlemen, in the country and city of Cork, the latter of which bears a large monument of his insipid, uncooth taste in the art of designing; he was actually ignorant of the common rules and proportions of architecture; eternally committing mistakes and blunders, and confounding and contradicting his own directions, until he himself saw the folly of such proceedings, and (not without certain admonitions) quitted the profession he had no sort of claim to.’
I do not know enough about architecture to contradict the writer in the Freeman’s Journal but the Irish Historic Houses website claims: “Ducart was arguably the most accomplished architect working in Ireland between the death of Richard Cassels and arrival of James Gandon.” [5] In an article in Country Life, Judith Hill suggests that criticism was motivated by professional jealousy of a foreigner. [6]
Other works associated with Ducart are the Mayoralty or Mansion House, Cork (1765-1773); Lota Lodge in County Cork (1765); Castletown Cox in County Kilkenny (1767); Brockley House, Laois (1768); Custom House of Limerick (1769) which now houses the Hunt Museum; Castlehyde House, County Cork; Drishane Castle, County Cork (which is also a section 482 property, not to be confused with Drishane House – about which I will be writing shortly). [see 4]
The house consists of a central block of two storeys over basement (with a mezzanine level), with wings either side that are described by Mark Bence-Jones as “L” shaped but to me they look U shaped, almost like a pair of crab claws. [7] Curved walls close in either wing into courtyards. Frank Keohane describes it in The Buildings of Ireland: Cork, City and County:
“At Kilshannig, Ducart developed his own interpretation of the ubiquitous Irish Palladian country-house plan, which he also used with modification at Castletown Cox, Co Kilkenny, and The Island, Co Cork (demolished). Eschewing the Pearse-Castle tradition, Duckart’s central block is flanked by inward turned L-shaped (rather than rectangular) wings which project forward to form a cour d’honneur. Curved screen walls connect the inward-facing ends of the wings back to the house and enclose kitchen and stable courts. The principal North front, looking across the park to Devonsher’s parliamentary borough of Rathcormac, comprises a neat central corps de logis flanked by six-bay blind arcades, representing the back ranges of the courts, which terminate in domed pavilions. The plan has been likened to that of Vanbrugh’s Castle Howard, Yorkshire.” [8]
Keohane suggests that Davis Ducart was probably assisted by Thomas Roberts of Waterford. The front of the house is of red brick with limestone quoins, and the centre block is seven bays across with a single-storey three bay Doric frontispiece which the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage tells us is of cut sandstone. [9] The frontispiece has Doric style pilasters, and the door and window openings have fluted scroll keystones with plinths that look like they should hold something, in circular niches. The pilasters support an entablature which the National Inventory describes: “with alternating bucrania and fruit and flowers metopes and triglyphs.” The metopes are the squares with the pictures of “bucrania” (cow or ox skulls, commonly used in Classical architecture, they represent ancient Greek and Roman ceremonies of sacrifice) and fruit and flowers, and the triglyphs are the three little pillars between each square picture (wikipedia describes: “In classical architecture, a metope (μετόπη) is a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, which is a decorative band of alternating triglyphs and metopes above the architrave of a building of the Doric order.“) [10]
Above this stone frontispiece is an empty niche which Bence-Jones tells us contained, in a photograph taken in approximately 1940, a statue or relief of a warrior or god.
There is a mezzanine level, which is unusual in such a house, and we can see that the windows at this level are squeezed between ground and first floor levels. The Irish Historic Houses website tells us that the house has four formal fronts. Unfortunately we did not walk around the house so I did not photograph the other fronts. The basement windows are semicircular, which is apparently characteristic for Ducart.
Photograph from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage [9].The basement windows, “charmingly glazed with cobweb-like astragals,” as Casey and Rowan describe them. Photograph from National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
The wings have five arched windows each and Keohane tells us that the wings are actually low two-storey buildings. The copper domes and timber cupolas have been reinstated by the present owners.
Keohane writes that the plasterwork in Kilshannig is by two different people with distinctive styles. He writes: “The accomplished decoration to the Saloon and Library ceilings is the work of the Swiss-Italian Filippo Lafranchini, here combining emphatic late Baroque modelling with the refinement of small-scale ornament of a Rococo character. The remaining decoration, which is vigorously naturalistic and in places ungainly, is by an unknown, and presumably Irish, hand.” For more on the Lafranchini brothers, see the Irish Aesthete’s entry about them. [11]
The stuccadore of the wonderful Rococo plasterwork in the hall is therefore unknown. Our guide, Anne, pointed out that the birds, that reminded me of birds at Colganstown by Robert West of Dublin, stick out too far and that the heads have a tendency to be knocked off. The ceiling is deeply coved, and features acanthus leaves, flower and fruit-filled baskets and garlands with draped ribbons.
The floor of the front hall is of Portland stone with black insets. The walls have Corinthian columns and the corners of the ceiling decoration are curved.
The hall has a beautiful Portland stone fireplace with a mask flanked by garlands, and two male Grecian bearded Herms (“a tapering pedestal supporting a bust, or merging into a sculpted figure, used ornamentally, particularly at the sides of chimneypieces. Roughly similar to a term.’) [3]. Herm refers to Hermes, the Greek god.
The entrance hall leads to a three bay saloon, with dining room on one side and library on the other. To one side of the front hall is a corridor leading to the wonderfully curving staircase. The stone floor and stuccowork continue into the corridor, which has panelled walls.
The circular cantilevered Portland stone staircase rises two full rotations to the first floor. The domed ceiling has more stuccowork. There’s also a lovely circular pattern with geometrical black and grey shapes on the floor below the stairs.
Amusingly, the Kilshannig doll house is more advanced than the actual house, as the attic has been converted! The actual attic of Kilshanning House has not been converted. As the owner charmingly told me: “The two [bedrooms] in the dolls’ house are poetic license to give the owner of the dolls’ house the opportunity to decorate and fit it out bedrooms.”
We entered the library first. The current owner’s father, Commander Merry, and his wife, bought the house. With his DIY skills, the Commander installed the library shelves, acquired from a Big House built in the same period as Kilshannig. The room has another spectacular ceiling, which is deeply coved. The centre features a rondel with Diana and Apollo, and the corners have oval plaques depicting the Seasons. The cove features female portrait busts, eagles, standing putti and garlands. Christine Casey has noted the likeness of the cove to that formerly in the Gallery at Northumberland House in London, which was decorated by Pietro N. Lafranchini, perhaps in collaboration with his brother Filippo.
The next room is the Saloon, or Salon. It has a particularly splendid ceiling, also by Filippo Lafranchini, “combining emphatic late Baroque modelling with the refinement of small-scale ornament of a Rococo character” (Keohane):
“Joseph McDonnell has established that the figurative work is derived from an engraving of 1717 of a now lost ceiling painting by Antoine Coypel, the Assembly of the Gods, at the Palais-Royale in Paris. The centre depicts Bacchus and Araidne, with Pan and a sleeping Silenus, reclining on almost imperceptible clouds. The lavishly intricate border consists of six cartouches framing plaques depicting the Four Elements – Water (a dolphin), Air (an eagle), Earth (a lion), and Fire (a Phoenix) as well as Justice and Liberty. These are linked by a sinuous frame populated by charming putti with dangling legs. The corners feature trophies dedicated to Architecture, Painting, Music and Sculpture.” [12]
The final room we were shown was the dining room. Keohane writes that the stuccowork is by a different hand than the Lafranchini brothers. “The deep cove has four large oval cartouches of naturalistic foliage with masks depicting Bacchus, Ceres, Flora and Diana, the last framed by trophies of the chase and a rather insipid fox.” [13]
It was in the dining room under Bacchus that we stopped to consider how odd it was that a Quaker, as Abraham Devonsher was, had such an elaborate ceilings created in his home. Indeed, he was expelled from the Quaker community before he had the house built, in 1756, for “conformity to the world.” This was because he entered politics that year and became an MP for Rathcormac. [14] My husband Stephen, a Quaker, tells me that in order to serve as an MP, Devonsher would have had to swear an oath, and Quakers do not believe in swearing oaths – they believe that their word suffices (George Fox said: “My yea is my yea and my nay is my nay.”).
The borough was very small – in 1783 it had only seven electors. Devonsher won his seat by appealing directly to the electors, unseating the Barrys who had traditionally held the seat. He entertained grandly in order to woo the electors. He also served as High Sheriff for County Cork in 1762.
The Devonsher family had settled in Cork as merchants in the mid seventeenth century. [15] Abraham’s father Thomas married Sarah Webber in 1662. It was his father Jonas who acquired the land at Kilshannig. A portrait offered for sale in May 2025 by Fonsie Mealy auctioneers could portray Jonas or Thomas, and the seller speculates that it could be by Garret Morphey, as the painting bears many of the attributes of a work by Garret Morphey, an artist who had close connections with Ireland. Many of Morphey’s portraits were of members of families such as the Plunketts, Nettervilles, Talbots, Nugents and O’Neills, and he often depicted men wearing armour, as in his portrait of Sir Edward Villiers at Dromana House in Co. Waterford.
Possibly of a member of the Devonsher family of Kilshannig, attributed to Garret Morphey, provenance Kilshannig House, courtesy Fonsie Mealey Summer art sale 2025. The auctin house writes that “Judging by the style of thepainting and the costume, this portrait can be dated to around 1700.”
The article in Country Life tells us that toward the end of his life the sociable Abraham Devonsher “lives a recluse life with a Harlot.” He led a rather rakish life, apparently, and he died childless in 1783 – or at least left no legitimate heirs – and left the estate to a grand-nephew, John Newenham, of Maryborough, County Cork (now a hotel) who then assumed the name Devonsher.
John had a son, John (1763-1801), who inherited the house and passed it to his son, Abraham Newenham Devonsher. He ran into financial difficulties, and at some date before 1837, sold the estate to Edward Roche (1771-1855). [16]
Edward Roche used it as a winter residence, and lived the rest of the year in his other estate, Trabolgan (since demolished), as did his son, Edmond Burke Roche, who was raised to the peerage as 1st Baron Fermoy in 1856. He was also an MP and served as Lord Lieutenant for County Cork 1856-1874.
According to the Landed estates database, at the time of the Griffith Valuation, James Kelly occupied Kilshanning. The Griffith valuation was carried out between 1848 and 1864 to determine liability to pay the Poor rate (for the support of the poor and destitute within each Poor Law Union). The 1st Baron Fermoy’s sister, Frances Maria, married James Michael Kelly, another MP (for Limerick), of Cahircon, County Clare, and James Kelly was their son. According to the Landed Estates Database, in 1943 the Irish Tourist Association Survey mentioned that it was the home of the McVeigh family. Mark Bence-Jones adds that other owners were the Myles family, and Mr and Mrs Paul Rose. The property had a succession of owners until it was purchased in 1960 by Commander Douglas Merry and his wife.
When they purchased it, the cupolas had disappeared and one wing was ruinous and the rest in poor condition. Commander Merry set about restoring the house. His son Hugo has continued the work, partly with help from the Irish Georgian Society [17]. This work included repairing a sagging saloon ceiling, and restoring the pavilions and cupolas, recladding them in copper. The entire main house, arcades and both courtyards have been completely restored and re-roofed. One wing is used for self-catering and events, and the other contains stables. There are fourteen bedrooms in the wing, and six in the main house, Anne told us.
We did not explore the outside, and did not get to see inside the pavilions or wings. That will have to wait for another visit!
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[3] Palladian architecture is a style derived from the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508-1580). Palladio’s work was strongly based on the symmetry, perspective, and values of the formal classical temple architecture of the ancient Greeks and Romans. https://irishhistorichouses.com/2020/04/18/architectural-definitions/
[6] Hill, Judith. “Pot-Walloping Palladianism.” Country Life, June 15, 2016.
[7] Bence-Jones, Mark. 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.
[8] p. 465. Keohane, Frank. The Buildings of Ireland: Cork, City and County. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2020.
[15] Keohane writes that Abraham Devonsher’s parents are Thomas Devonsher and Sarah Webber. The website The Peerage says his mother was Sarah Morris. https://www.thepeerage.com/p30600.htm#i305998
See also the article in Country Life from June 15 2016, by Judith Hill, that is linked to the Kilshannig courtyard website. Hill says Abraham Devonsher’s father was named Jonas, and that his family began to acquire the land at Kilshannig from the 1670s.
Keohane says that John Newenham was Abraham’s nephew, the Peerage website has John as the great nephew: Abraham’s brother Jonas had a daughter Sarah who married Richard Newenham, and it was their son, John Newenham, who inherited Kilshannig.
The home of the Newenhams, Maryborough, is now a hotel:
Irish Historic Houses 