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Heywood House in County Laois burned in an accidental fire in 1950, but the demesne is maintained and open to the public. My father, who grew up in nearby Abbeyleix, was at a musical concert with his mother the night of the fire and saw the house burning! At the time, the house was owned by the Salesian order of priests.
The house was designed by its owner Michael Frederick Trench (1746-1836) in 1770s, with the help of his friend James Gandon who designed, among other buildings, Dublin Custom House. Trench was an amateur architect, and designed the parish church of Swords, as well as an addition to the Rotunda in Dublin. [1]
Michael Frederick Trench (1746-1836) by Hugh Douglas Hamilton, picture courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland, NGI.7773James Gandon (1743-1823), courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.
Robert O’Byrne tells us in his blog The Irish Aesthete that: “In the early 18th century, a younger son William Trench settled in Laois and acquired land there which was initially developed by his heir, the Rev. Frederick. The English antiquary Owen Brereton wrote of the property in 1763, describing it as ‘a sweet Habitation’ with ’24 Acres Walld round 10 feet high. The ground naturally in fine Slopes and Rising, large trees properly disperst, a River of very clear Water running through it. Pouring Cascades, upon which I counted near 100 Couple of rabbits & 100 of Brace of Hares which are in this Grounds…very extensive Views.’ Both the habitation and the grounds were enlarged by the Rev. Trench’s son Michael Frederick Trench…” [2]
The house was named after Trench’s mother-in-law, Mary Heywood (daughter of a Drogheda merchant). Michael Frederick Trench married Anna Helena Stewart who was the only daughter of Patrick Stewart and Mary Heywood of Killymoon in Co. Tyrone.
Mark Bence-Jones describes the house in his Irish Country Houses (1988):
“A house consisting of three storey four bay late C18 centre, with mansard roofed Victorian wings of the same height but in a totally different style. The C18 centre built 1773 by M.F. Trench, who is said to have been the only man who ever called a house after his mother-in-law…The dining room was one of the most accomplished interiors of the Adam period in Ireland, with delicate plasterwork on the ceiling and in panels on the walls.“
Information board at Heywood, County Laois.Heywood, County Laois, photograph by A.E. Henson, from Country Life, volume XLV, 1919.The dining room at Heywood House,ceiling probably by Michael Stapleton, photograph by A.E. Henson, from Country Life, volume XLV, 1919.Heywood, County Laois, photograph by A.E. Henson, from Country Life, volume XLV, 1919.Heywood, County Laois, photograph by A.E. Henson, from Country Life, volume XLV, 1919.Heywood, County Laois, photograph by A.E. Henson, from Country Life, volume XLV, 1919.Heywood, County Laois, photograph by A.E. Henson, from Country Life, volume XLV, 1919.Heywood, County Laois, photograph by A.E. Henson, from Country Life, volume XLV, 1919.Heywood, County Laois, photograph by A.E. Henson, from Country Life, volume XLV, 1919.
After Michael Frederick Trench built the house, he landscaped the area between his house and the village of Ballinakill, apparently moving hills, digging lakes (he made three artificial lakes), planting trees and placing follies. He created a picturesque garden. The idea of the picturesque first emerges as an idea in late Renaissance in Italy where the term pittoresco began to be used in writing about art. It means that the subject, in this case, the landscape, is “like a traditional picture”. In Holland in the early 17th century a new genre of landscape painting was often referred to as “painter-like” (schilder-achtig). [3] At roughly the same time, French artists Claude Lorraine and Nicholas Poussin painted Arcadian landscapes with classical elements such as ruined temples and mythological figures. These paintings inspired William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748), an architect, landscape architect and painter. Kent began a style of “natural” gardening that revolutionised the laying out of gardens and estates.
There’s a seat in the gardens called “Claud’s Seat” that may be a tribute to Claude Lorraine.
The landscape gardens designed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown (c. 1716-1783) and his followers were considered to be quintessentially picturesque.
“Capability” Launcelot Brown (1716-1783), Landscape gardener, painting by Nathaniel Dance (later Sir Nathaniel Holland, Bt), c. 1773, courtesy of National Portrait Gallery NPG 6049
The demesne includes parkland, woodland, a lake, some architectural features and a formal garden by Edwin Lutyens with a beautiful vista, which takes in seven counties!
The garden, set within a 250 acre demesne, is, Andrew Tierney claims, the best of its kind in Ireland: a blend of the Arcadian and the Picturesque, above which Edwin Lutyens later erected his walled terraces and enclosures. [4] One of the follies built by the Trenches may contain windows from nearby Aghaboe Abbey. My grandfather purchased property (house and farm) at Aghaboe but the family lost the property when the land was bought by compulsory purchase by the Land Commission in 1977, after my grandfather John Baggot died. I always thought we actually owned the Abbey but that may have been wishful thinking on my Dad’s part.
Michael Frederick’s daughter Helena married Compton Pocklington Domvile, 1st Baronet Domvile, of Templeogue and Santry, Dublin. They had several children, but the house was passed down via their daughter Mary Adelaide, who married Lt-Col William Hutcheson Poë (1848-1934) 1st Baronet.
A son of Michael Frederick Trench, this is Frederick Trench (1775-1859). Inscribed on a label on the back: General Sir Frederick Trench/late of Heywood/A prominent promoter of/The Thames Embankment/& other improvements in London. By Unknown artist circa 1827, courtesy National Portrait Gallery 5505. The panorama of the Thames Quay cascading from Trench’s desk appears to stop at St Paul’s and is therefore intended to represent his A Collection of Papers relating to the Thames Quay, with Hints for some further Improvements, illustrated with lithographs by C. M. Baynes and published in 1825, re-issued in 1827. This followed an unsuccessful Bill in Parliament introduced to obtain Treasury support for the project, but in spite of influential backing the plans were dropped and the Embankment was not begun until five years after Trench’s death, with his elegant colonnades omitted. The furnishing of his room includes on a bracket the marble bust by Matthew Wyatt (1826) of Trench’s patron, the Duchess of Rutland, now at Castle Howard. Manuscripts and a William Kent table point to his various antiquarian interests.
Heywood House was enlarged by Lt-Col William Hutchison-Poë in 1875. Around 1906, William Hutchison-Poë hired Edwin Lutyens to create a garden for Heywood.
Information board aboutHeywood, County Laois.
The website tell us that “The architect Sir Edwin Lutyens designed the formal gardens, which are the centrepiece of the property. It is likely that renowned designer Gertrude Jekyll landscaped them.
“The gardens are composed of elements linked by a terrace that originally ran along the front of the house. (Sadly, the house is no more.) One of the site’s most unusual features is a sunken garden containing an elongated pool, at whose centre stands a grand fountain.“
Heywood was bought by the Salesian Fathers in 1923, and it was during their time that the fire occurred. It was transferred to State ownership from the Salesian Fathers in November 1993 .
The OPW website tells us “The Heywood experience starts beside the Gate Lodge. Information panels and signage will guide you around the magical Lutyens gardens and the surrounding romantic landscape.“
Tierney describes the garden: “The gardens stretch from the principal gates for almost a kilometer and a half, incorporating a sequence of three adjoining lakes and a fourth, further east, and areas of rolling parkland skirted by woodlands. Trench named each part of his garden after Alpine scenery. Trench’s Gothic follies include the Abbeyleix gate, an arrangement of octagonal towers joined by a Tudor-arched gateway. The Trench coat of arms is visible to the right of the gateway arch. From this gate the winding drive opens to Trench’s valley. Nearby, marking a split in the road, is the Spire, a shaft raised in memory of Trench’s friend Andrew Caldwell. Further along is a sham castle. High up behind that is a bridge, and a ruin, on the other side, with the Aghaboe windows. Up the pathway is the Gothic Greenhouse, a brick construction with five lancets with hood mouldings. On the east side of the lake is a grotto or bath house. On the east side of the demesne is the Trench mausoleum.”. [see 4]
Heading toward the Lutyens sunken garden from the Orangerie displays the stunning view, over a lawn of perfect grass. Below the lawn, toward the river, is a trellised walkway, by Lutyens. The house was above. To the east of the house was an alley of “pleached” limes: pleaching means bending and weaving the branches of a row of trees to form a living wall.
Sean O’Reilly describes the Lutyens garden addition:
“Lutyens worked on the gardens from about 1906. He complemented the strong architectural framework with an informal planting style, following the same combination of structure and nature developed at Lambay and made popular with his associate – and Country Life author – Gertrude Jekyll. Laying out the garden in a series of terraces and stepped passageways exploding east and west from the falling southern terraces of the house itself, the architect shaped these spaces with a bewildering variety of retaining walls – vertical and battered, stepped and sheer – screen walls – straight and curved, large and dwarf – columns, steps and architectural artifacts.” [5]
The Tuatha website tells us that, sadly, in 1920, Poe’s car was set alight by Republicans when he was returning from a dinner party in Ballyroan. Poe left Heywood a month later, never to return. [6] Perhaps the website is incorrect and it was slightly later, which would make sense, as Poe served as a Senator in the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1925. Many senators had their houses burned by anti-Treaty forces, so burning his car may have occurred for that reason.
In 1941, the house and gardens at Heywood were broken up, and the Salesian Brothers purchased the property. The Salesians are a religious institute founded in the late-19th century by Italian priest, Saint Don Bosco, in order to help children suffering from poverty during the industrial revolution. The Salesians set up a novitiate at Heywood to a train aspirants to the priesthood. They utilised the glasshouses created by Poe to grow fruit and vegetables, with tomatoes, nectarines, peach trees and grape vines.
On the east side of the pond Luytens created a Pavilion with Portland stone dressings, terracotta tiled roof and saucer-domed interior, containing two Corinthian capitals rescued by Trench from the Parliament House in Dublin, which he was involved in remodelling. The north wall had busts of philosphers in oval niches, now replaced by urns.
Heywood, County Laois, photograph by A.E. Henson, from Country Life, volume XLV, 1919.
Behind and above the Sunken Garden are a series of “rooms” created by tall hedges and floral planting, stone structures and a suntrap of a seating area.
[1] p. 96. Sadleir, Thomas U. and Page L. Dickinson. Georgian Mansions in Ireland with some account of the evolution af Georgian Architecture and Decoration. Dublin University Press, 1915.
Carriglas Manor, County Longford, photograph by Robert French, [between ca. 1865-1914], Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
P. 58. “[Newcomen; Lefroy] Originally a manor of the (C of I) Bishops of Ardagh; left to Trinity College, Dublin in C17, and leased by Trinity in C18 to the Newcomen family. Magnificent stables were built here ca. 1790, to the design of James Gandon, extending round two courtyards, with pedimented and rusticated archways; as well as an entrance gateway to the park, also by Gandon. After the failure of the Newcomen bank – which caused the suicide of one member of the family – Carrigglas was leased to Chief Justice Lefroy, who later bought the freehold of the estate, and who rebuilt the house in Tudor-Gothic to the design of Daniel Robertson of Kilkenny, 1837/40. Symmetrical entrance front, with central gable and oriel over porch, flanked by two slender polygonal battlemented turrets. Gables and oriels with Gothic tracery on side elevation; orangery on garden front. Lower service wing. Square entrance hall opening into staircase hall lit by stained glass window; stairs with cast iron handrail. Drawing room, library and dining room en suite along garden front. Drawing room ceiling with plaster Gothic ribs and cornice of foliage, coloured pale blue and gold. Gothic panels to doors. Library with Gothic bookcases of oak. Dining room with Tudor-style ceiling, and cornice of foliage.”
Carriglas Manor, County Longford, photograph by Robert French, [between ca. 1865-1914], Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
This building has been vacant for a number of years and does not appear to be maintained. Most of the external fabric remains, but there are obvious signs of deterioration, particularly water penetration, slipped slates and vegetation growth. There is no immediate danger of collapse but the condition is such that unless urgent remedial works are carried out the building will sharply deteriorate.
Carriglass is an early 19th century Tudor revival house designed by Daniel Robertson and formerly the residence of the Lefroy Family. The late 18th century stable yard and main entrance gates are designed by James Gandon. There have been major residential developments proposed on the site in the past decade, however, it has largely stalled with only the first phase of housing having been constructed on the grounds. The use of main house and stables remains unresolved. According to a local newspaper the estate was sold to the Glennon Brothers in June 2014. This building urgently requires new uses to be identified to prevent further deterioration of its character.
Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.
Detached double-pile five-bay two-storey former country house on complex irregular plan, built between c. 1837 and c. 1845, having two-storey and single-storey wings and projections adjoining to the southwest. Comprises mainly symmetrical main five-bay block to northeast end with central gabled breakfront having castellated canted oriel window over projecting doorcase (on square-plan), flanked to either side at first floor by gabled half dormer bays (bay to the northeast is in the form of an oriel window), and terminated by three-stage towers (on octagonal-plan) having castellated parapets. Castellated three-bay canted projection to the centre of rear elevation (southwest), having two gabled half dormer window openings to either side at first floor level, castellated four-light single-storey box bay window to the southwest side of canted projection at ground floor level. Triple-light box bay window to northeast side elevation of main block having moulded cut stone tracery/mullions with cinquefoil heads and stained glass windows. Single-storey castellated canted bay adjacent to the northeast. Multiple-bay two-storey recessed wing to southwest of main entrance front (northwest) having gabled half dormer window flanked to the southwest by two-storey castellated canted projection, and then with a single-bay two-storey gable-fronted bay and terminated by castellated two-bay single-storey block. Three-bay two-storey block to the southwest end of rear elevation (southeast) of main block having central projecting gable-fronted bay flanked to either side by gabled half dormer openings at first floor level; single-bay two-storey advanced gable-fronted bay adjacent to the southwest. Rear elevation (southeast) terminated to southwest by canted five-bay single-storey conservatory/orangery having curvilinear wrought- and cast-iron roof, glass now missing. Castellated parapet to conservatory, screening roof. Single-storey block to southwest end is partially over basement surrounded and by limestone wall with cut limestone coping over. Pitched natural slate roofs with moulded limestone coping, cut stone kneeler stones and carved limestone finials to gable apexes of gabled bays. Single, double and clustered moulded limestone Tudor style chimneystacks having moulded string courses and cast-iron rainwater goods. Moulded cut limestone console brackets to roofline, between gabled bays and dormers. Ashlar limestone masonry walls over moulded chamfered plinth with moulded string courses between floors to main body of building and separating each stage of towers; carved limestone coats of arms to a number of gables. Engaged moulded limestone buttresses to number of canted bays and to corners of box bay windows, rising to finials over. Square-headed window openings to main block having chamfered limestone surrounds and sills, and having single, paired and multi-pane segmental-headed timber sliding sash windows. Square-headed window openings to service wing (southwest) having single, paired and multipane square-headed timber sliding sash windows. Replacement windows to some openings. Chamfered cut limestone mullions to paired and multi-pane window openings. Cut stone label mouldings over a number of window openings, particularly at ground floor level to main block. Square-headed window openings to towers (northwest elevation) having chamfered surrounds and sills, carved limestone label mouldings over, and segmental-headed tow-over-two-pane timber sliding sash windows. Tudor-arched door opening, set in square-headed limestone surround, to centre of entrance front (northwest) having quatrefoil motifs to head and carved, flanking shafts with label moulding having heraldic label stops, and with timber panelled double doors. Flight of limestone steps to entrance. Square-headed French door opening to central canted projection to rear of main block (southeast) having glazed timber doors. Doorway reached by flight of cut limestone steps flanked to either side by ashlar limestone plinth walls having moulded limestone coping over. Five-bay single-storey conservatory to rear (southeast) at the southwest end having remains of curvilinear cast-and wrought-iron roof with ornate console brackets. Castellated parapets with buttresses between bays rising to gabled finials over. Ashlar limestone masonry with moulded eaves course to castellated parapet. Wide Tudor-arched window openings, some with remains of multi-light timber window fittings. Located in an elevated site within extensive mature parkland grounds, and located to the northeast of Longford Town. Gateway to the southwest of house comprising a pair of outer ashlar limestone gate piers (on octagonal plan) having moulded limestone caps, inner tapered ashlar limestone screen walls having spear-headed cast-iron railings over, and terminating in pair of wrought- and cast-iron openwork piers with double leaf wrought-iron gates. Low ashlar limestone wall to the rear (southeast) of house having gateway comprising a pair of ashlar limestone gate piers (on octagonal-plan) having moulded limestone caps and wrought-iron double gates.
This rambling Tudor Revival or Elizabethan house, with its dramatic roofline of Tudoresque chimneystacks, turrets and gabled projections, is one of the finest houses of its type and date in the country. It is well-built using ashlar limestone masonry and is extensively detailed with carved and cut limestone of the highest quality (the main masonry contractor involved was William Dennin, while Andrew Coffey was responsible for the carved coats-of-arms and much of the detailing). The principal entrance front of the main elevation (northwest) is almost symmetrical, with its central gabled bay flanked to either side by three-stage towers on octagonal-plan, but the other elevations of the main block and to the ancillary wings are irregular, which creates an interesting plan with contrasting elevations and perspectives. Unusually for a country house of its size and date, the service wings are treated with the same architectural flair as the main house, and not hidden within a courtyard to the rear or in the basement as is more commonly encountered. The plan of the building is deceptively simple, the main block is essentially a plain rectangle, which through the addition of soaring towers and lofty Tudor style chimneystacks, acquires an almost theatrical façade. The Tudor Gothic theme culminates in the frivolous and playful conservatory/orangery to the rear. This conservatory, with its arcade of pointed arches, is reminiscent of the later French Gothic style with its towering gabled buttresses, tall wide window openings and thin walls. Carrigglas Manor is a fine example of the nineteenth century penchant for dramatic, sixteenth-century architecture given a romantic interpretation. Carrigglas Manor was built to designs by Daniel Robertson (died 1849), for Thomas Langlois Lefroy (1776 – 1869), Baron of the Court of Exchequer in 1841 and later the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland (from 1852). Reputedly, the character Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was based on the Thomas Lefroy (they met in England when Lefroy was attending college there). The architect of Carrigglas, Daniel Robertson, came to Ireland in 1829 after working on a number of Oxford colleges, buildings that are frequently built in the Tudor or Elizabethan style, which must have influenced Robertson’s Tudor-Revival designs of which he is a noted exponent. Robertson received many commissions following his arrival in Ireland, mainly for country house work (mostly in a Tudor style) in the south eastern counties, particularly in Counties Wexford and Carlow. Carrigglas is his only known commission in the north midlands. The present Carrigglas Manor is built on the site (or close to the site) of an earlier house (LF014-116—-). The estate (and house?) was originally a manor of the Church of Ireland Bishops of Ardagh. The estate was left to Trinity College, Dublin, in the seventeenth-century and was later leased by Trinity, c. 1695 (deed), to the Newcomen family (later the Gleadowe-Newcomen family). It appears to have been bought by the Newcomen family in 1772. The owner/resident at the turn of the nineteenth-century, Sir William Gleadowe-Newcomen, commissioned James Gandon (1742 – 1823), the architect responsible for a number of structures at Carrigglas (including the stables (13401415), to design a neoclassical villa for him at Carrigglas. However, he later went bankrupt, following the collapse of the Newcomen Bank, before work could start on this house/villa. The Newcomen family had lived in Longford, (at Mosstown, Keenagh, amongst other places) , from the early-seventeenth century. Carrigglas Manor was leased to, and later bought, by the above Thomas Lefroy, c. 1833 (newspaper). This fine house forms the centrepiece of an extensive collection of related structures at Carrigglas, which represents one of the most important demesnes in north Leinster. The estate remained in the possession of the Lefroy family until c. 2005.
Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.
Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.
Farmyard complex and stable block associated with Carrigglas Manor (13401414), built c. 1792 and c. 1800, comprising two courtyard enclosures, arranged along the same axis, with arched carriage arches. Complex of two-storey ranges to the northeast formerly in use as stableyard, complex of single-and two-storey outbuildings to the southwest formerly in use as agricultural yard. Two-storey workers houses to site. Currently out of use. Complex to the northeast comprises two-storey entrance range with central pedimented breakfront having round-headed carriage arch, hipped natural slate roof with rendered chimneystack. Coursed rubble limestone masonry walls to exterior, dressed ashlar limestone to interior. Pedimented breakfront consisting of ashlar limestone over chamfered impost course with rusticated limestone masonry to plinth. Chamfered pediment with carved dentils over sculpted limestone plaque (rectangular) having guttae to base. Round-headed groin-vaulted arch (brick) with timber panelled doors. Square-headed window openings to northeast side (exterior) having two-over-two timber sliding sash windows with limestone sills. Segmental-headed openings to interior of courtyard (southwest), ground floor having replacement timber windows with limestone sills and timber battened doors. Square-headed openings to first floor, some with two-over-two timber sliding sash windows and all retaining limestone sills. Multiple-bay two-storey ranges to the southeast and northwest sides of yard (northeast courtyard) having hipped natural slate roofs with brick chimneystacks to south-east range. Ashlar limestone masonry walls. Segmental-headed window openings to ground floors having six-over-six timber sliding sash windows, some with fixed glazed windows. Square-headed windows openings to first floor some with three-over-three timber sliding sash windows, all with limestone sills. Serliana/Venetian-type window openings to northeast side elevations of southeast and northwest ranges. Segmental-headed door openings to ground floors (main axis of southeast and northwest ranges, inner faces) with timber battened half doors having cut limestone thresholds. Round-headed openings to end-bays leading to flight of steps to first floor of southeast and northwest ranges. Two-storey range to southwest side of northeast courtyard (range dividing the two courtyards) comprising three-bay two-storey central block with pedimented breakfront flanked by single-storey recessed sections with round-headed openings and terminated to either side by two-bay two-storey end blocks. Hipped natural slate roofs with brick chimneystacks to outer blocks. Ashlar limestone masonry with string course and blank roundel to pediment. Square-headed window openings to breakfront at first floor level with six-over-three timber sliding sash windows having limestone sills. Three elliptical-headed carriage arches to central breakfront with ashlar voussoirs and projecting keystones, and having timber battened double doors. Middle range (range dividing two courtyards) rendered to southwest elevation with central pedimented half dormer opening above central carriage arch. Central block flanked to either side by three-bay two-storey blocks with hipped slate roofs, cut limestone eaves course and brick chimneystacks. Segmental-headed window and door openings at ground floor level to both blocks, square-headed window openings over, outer openings blocked. Single-storey ranges to northwest and southeast sides of courtyard (southwest courtyard) having three-bay pedimented breakfront s with lunette windows to pediments to centre of each range. Hipped corrugated-metal and natural slate roofs. Painted render over coursed rubble limestone masonry walls with ashlar quoins to corners and flush ashlar plinth. Lunette windows with rusticated limestone surrounds to west end-bay of southeast range over square-headed openings with ashlar block-and-start limestone surrounds having timber battened half doors, and with round-headed openings over with rusticated ashlar surrounds. Square-headed window openings to west end-bay of northwest range having replacement glazed windows with limestone sills. Square-headed door openings with ashlar block-and-start limestone surrounds, some retaining timber battened half doors. Central pedimented three-bay blocks having central round-headed openings with recessed ashlar limestone round-headed insets to ground floors with heavy limestone block-and-start surrounds. Flanked by round-headed openings having limestone block-and-start surrounds and continuous carved limestone impost course and ashlar quoins. Arcades to southwest end-bays of southeast and northwest ranges having round or elliptical-headed arches with ashlar limestone surrounds. Five-bay single-storey section to the northeast end of northwest range having square-headed door and window openings with ashlar surrounds and timber fittings. Five-bay single-storey section to the northeast end of southwest range having square-headed door and window openings with ashlar surrounds and timber fittings. Round-headed lunette openings over door openings having ashlar surrounds. Round-headed openings over with ashlar surrounds Southwest range comprising central three-bay two-storey breakfront with stepped ashlar limestone bellcote, flanked to either side by slightly recessed single-storey ranges with arcades of four elliptical-headed carriage arches with ashlar limestone surrounds. Hipped corrugated-metal roof to two-storey section, hipped natural slate roofs to single-storey sections to either side. Ashlar limestone round-headed openwork stepped bellcote with bell to centre of breakfront, above elliptical-headed entrance arch with ashlar limestone surrounds. Ashlar limestone masonry walls to ground floor with carved impost course and painted render over coursed rubble limestone masonry walls to first floor having limestone quoins to corners. Square-headed window openings at first floor level with limestone block-and-start surrounds having six-over-six timber sliding sash windows and limestone sills. Southwest range, southwest (outer) elevation comprises central single-bay block with projecting rusticated limestone masonry walls with carved impost course and recessed central elliptical-headed carriage arch with metal sheeted double doors. Single-storey rubble stone walls to either side. Located with the grounds of Carrigglas Manor, to the west of the main house, and to the northwest of Longford Town centre.
Appraisal
These two courtyards of outbuildings associated with Carrigglas Manor (13401414) represent one of the best examples of their type in Ireland. They were designed by James Gandon (1742 – 1823) and were constructed between c. 1792 and c. 1804. This complex comprises an elegantly proportioned walled rectangle divided into two courtyards with a stable block to the northeast and a more architecturally plain and rustic, but nevertheless, impressive, agricultural/farmyard complex to the southwest. The differing architectural treatment of the yards has been interpreted as a metaphor for the superior status of the horse over agricultural/farmyard activity (Craig 1982, 240). Casey and Rowan (1993, 180) suggest that the stableyard was constructed first, c. 1792 and that the farmyard was added later. Entrance to the yards is through arched gateways that act as a central focus to the complexes. The arched entrance to the central range dividing the two courtyards, formerly had a cupola over, now no longer extant. The highest quality materials have been used throughout the fabric of these structures and they survive in good condition despite being out of use for a considerable period, which is testament to the quality of the original construction. The classical language of Gandon’s architecture is given free reign in these functional yet highly refined structures. The entrance ranges are distinguished from the side ranges, which housed the stables, animal houses and possibly also accommodation for farm workers, by the austere pedimented breakfronts with limited ornamentation. The relative scarcity of decoration lends a force and gravity to Gandon’s architecture that is immediately apparent when compared to the picturesque and frivolous Carrigglas Manor, an Elizabethan or Tudor-Gothic revival house, designed by a leading proponent of the style, Daniel Robertson (died c. 1849) c. 1837. This complex was commissioned by Sir William Gleadowe-Newcomen, the owner of Carrigglas Demesne at the time of construction. Gleadowe-Newcomen also commissioned Gandon to design a neoclassical villa for him at Carrigglas. However, Gleadowe-Newcomen later went bankrupt, following the collapse of the Newcomen Bank, before work could start on this house/villa. This impressive complex forms an integral element of a group of related structures associated with Carrigglas Manor (13401414), which represents one of the most important demesnes in north Leinster.
Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.
“Typical of Gandon’s manner are the shallow mutules below the pediment cornice and the blank tablet with guttae set above the arch.” (Buildings of Ireland p. 180)
Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.
Casey, Christine and Alistair Rowan. The Buildings of Ireland: North Leinster. Penguin Books, London, 1993.
p. 179
“Two highly distinctive periods of Irish architecture and two of its most distinguished personalities are represented by the buidings at Carriglass. The stables, farmyard and triumphal arch entrance were designed by James Gandon between 1792 and 1804; and the house was built to the designs of Daniel Robertson from 1838-1845. Gandon is Ireland’s greatest classicist, and Robertson the undisputed master of the picturesque manor house. ..The estate, which appears as both Carrickglass and Kerryglass, belonged to the Gleadowe-Newcomen family. Gandon’s client in 1792 was Sir William Gleadowe-Newcomen, a banker whose buisiness kept him principally in Dublin and who, with characteristic practicality, developed the stabels, gardens and farm buildings of the estate before tackling the house. Gandon drew up plans for an unusal neoclassical villa,.. But the design was never built. His stables and farmyard capture something of the severe excellence promised in his villa scheme. They are laid out axially as two large interconnecting courtyards, with arched gateways set acress the longer central axis. The stable yard, at the north end, is of ashlar limestone, while the farmyard, to the south, uses a more rustic effect, with rendered, lime-washed walls, set off with dark limestone trim. This yard is surrounded by long low buildings, while the stableyard is of uniform two-storey blocks. The contrast probably means that the stables were built [p. 180] on their own around 1792, and that the farmyard was added later, certainly by 1804. The stylistic difference has also bee interpreted (by Maurice Craig and the Knight of Glin) as a metaphor for the superior status accorded to the horse over mere agricultural activity, a distinction which is carried through to the archways that give entrance to the yards. Teh stable arch is heroic, a cubic mass of stone pierced by a wide round-headed opening with a shallow pediment above. Typical of Gandon’s manner are the shallow mutules below the pediment cornice and the blank tablet with guttae set above the arch.”
Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.
Gateway serving Carrigglas Manor (13401414), built c. 1795, comprising central round-headed triumphal arch flanked to either side (east and west) by screen walls with integral pedestrian entrances and terminated by single-storey gate lodges. Now out of use. Triumphal arch constructed of ashlar limestone with carved limestone entablature having dentils and roundel motifs with sculpted swags. Projecting impost course over carved plaques and having round-headed niches to lower parts of piers. Double-leaf wrought- and cast-iron gates to archway. Gateway flanked to either side by ashlar limestone walls having cut limestone coping over and with square-headed pedestrian openings having single leaf wrought- and cast-iron gates. Three-bay single-storey gate lodges to east and west, aligned north to south with single-bay end elevation to front (south) having hipped natural slate roofs with brick chimneystacks. Ashlar limestone walls (dressed walls below string course, smooth finish over) over projecting ashlar limestone plinth with flush ashlar quoins to corners, cut limestone string course over window openings, and with cut limestone eaves course. Segmental-headed window openings having carved limestone sills, some openings with remains of six-over-six timber sash sliding windows. Segmental-headed door openings having remains of timber doors. Set back from the road to the northeast of Longford. Located to the southeast of Carrigglas Manor, at the start of long approach avenue to the house through wooded parkland.
Appraisal
This elaborate and impressive gateway, incorporating two gate lodges, constitutes the main entrance to Carrigglas Manor (13401414), and acts as a fitting prelude to this important demesne. The gateway is attributed to the renowned classical architect James Gandon (1742 – 1823), the architect responsible for the designs of a number of structures at Carrigglas (including the stables (13401415) built between 1792 and 1804, and designer of both the Custom House and the Four Courts in Dublin. Indeed the form of this gateway is quite similar in style to those found along the screens to the front of the Four Courts (Casey and Rowan 1993) and at the Custom House. The gateway makes a strong, formal architectural statement with its central triumphal arch surmounted by a heavy entablature having symmetrical, flanking walls. The decoration is secondary to the architecture of the structure, but is nonetheless refined and skillfully executed. The gateway retains its ornate double leaf wrought- and cast-iron gates and flanking single leaf gates, which are a fine examples of the quality of metal work being produced at the time. This gateway was built at the expense of Sir William Gleadowe-Newcomen, the owner of the Carrigglas Manor at the time of construction. He later went bankrupt, following the collapse of the Newcomen Bank, and before work could start on a neoclassical villa that Gleadowe-Newcomen commissioned Gandon to design. Carrigglas Manor was leased to, and later bought, by Thomas Lefroy, a distinguished lawyer, in the early-nineteenth century, and it was Lefroy who built the present Carrigglas Manor (13401414) from c. 1837. This gateway and the gate lodges forms part of an extensive collection of structures associated with Carrigglas Manor, which is one of the most important demesnes in north Leinster.
Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.
Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.
Detached three-bay two-storey former gardener’s house associated with Carrigglas Manor (13401414), built c. 1800, having lean-to single-bay single-storey extensions to either gable end (southwest and northeast), set flush with front elevation (southeast). Single-storey lean-to outbuilding attached to the rear (northwest). Now ruinous and out of use. Pitched natural slate roofs with raised tooled cut limestone verges and red brick chimneystacks to gable ends, cast-iron rainwater goods and having a tooled cut limestone eaves course. Constructed of red brick (Flemish bond). Square-headed window openings to first floor with semi-circular/lunette window opening to centre-bay, all having tooled limestone sills. Round-headed window openings to the ground floor set in round-headed recessed arches having tooled limestone sills. Remains of three-over-three pane timber sash windows at first floor level and round-headed timber sliding sash windows at ground floor level. Remains of three-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows to the rear elevation (northwest) at first floor level; ground floor openings to rear now blocked. Remains of panelled timber shutters to interior. Round-headed doorway to the centre of main elevation (southeast) set in round-headed recess having battened timber door with cast-iron fittings and the remains of timber fanlight over. Located within walled garden (13400913) formerly associated with Carrigglas Manor (13401414). Gateway to the east comprising a pair of dressed limestone gate piers (on square-plan) having moulded capstones and wrought-iron double gates.
Appraisal
This interesting, well-proportioned and sophisticated structure was probably originally built as a gardener’s house associated with the oval-shaped walled garden (13400913) in which it still forms the visual focus. Although ruinous and out of use, it retains its early form and character. The proportions and architectural language is classical, and it is unusually grand for a building of its type. The attention to detailing in its design is exhibited through features such as the shallow recessed window and door surrounds to the ground floor and the semi-circular/lunette window to the centre-bay at first floor level. The red brick front façade blends in with the surrounding brick-lined walled garden, which almost acts like quadrant walls/wings. This building originally served the Carrigglas Demesne and it forms part of an extensive collection of related structures associated with this country house. The accomplished classical architecture of this building suggests that it may have been built to designs by James Gandon (1742 – 1823), the foremost architect working in Ireland at the time, and the architect who designed the very fine complex of outbuildings and stable block (13401415) and the triumphal arch (13401409) at Carrigglas Manor for the Glendowe-Newcomen family (built between c. 1792 and 1804). This building, although now sadly ruinous, is an important element of the built heritage of Longford. The well-crafted gateway to the east adds to the setting.
Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.
Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.
Detached two-bay single-storey with attic storey former gate lodge serving Carrigglas Manor (13401414), built c. 1840, having castellated open porch with Tudor-arch to end-bay, front elevation (south), castellated bay window with mullions to west elevation (road) and flat roofed extension to rear elevation (north). Pitched natural slate roof with central rendered chimneystack (modern) and ornate timber bargeboards. Timber brackets under eaves. Ashlar limestone masonry walls over chamfered plinth course. Square-headed window openings having segmental-headed multi-pane timber sliding sash windows; chamfered limestone mullions, surrounds and sills, and with cut stone label mouldings over. Tudor-arched opening to open porch with chamfered ashlar limestone surround, and having chamfered string course to castellations. Square-headed entrance to west side of open porch with timber battened door. Gable end faces the road. Located adjacent to entrance gates (13401411) serving southwest entrance to Carrigglas Manor, and to the northeast of Longford Town.
Appraisal
This castellated gate lodge is situated at the southwest entrance to Carrigglas Manor (13401414), and is designed in the Tudor Revival or Elizabethan style, mirroring the architecture of the main house itself. This is a sophisticated interpretation of an essentially sixteenth-century style of architecture, constructed with fine ashlar limestone masonry and with good quality cut stone detailing throughout. The windows are in the Tudor style with limestone mullions complete with carved limestone label stops. The bay window with castellations, is another Tudor or Elizabethan motif which adds further interest to the gable end facing the road. This gate lodge is attributed to Daniel Robertson (died c. 1849), a Scottish architect who designed Carrigglas House in the Tudor Revival or Elizabethan style for The Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Thomas Langlois Lefroy, between 1837 and 1845. This appealing building forms part of a group of structures related to Carrigglas Manor, and forms part of a pair with the attendant gateway (13401411) to the south.
Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.Carrigglas Manor, County Longford, courtesy National Inventory.
Christine and Alistair Rowan. The Buildings of Ireland: North Leinster. Penguin Books, London, 1993.
p. 181. “The new house occupies an elevated site and is designed to group effectively from a variety of angles. In contrast to the late Georgian ideal, which sought to minimize the impact of the servants’ quarters, these rooms are now on a level with the rest of the house, not hidden underneath it, and are employed to add picturesque effects and incident to the design. The composition is clever, for though the principal facades are both intrinsically symmetrical, the silhouette of teh house is constantly changing, with a variety of intriguing patterns.
The key to the entrance front is the pair of tall octagonal turrets, 3 metres in diamter, at the corners of the facade.These would be common enough in many early C19 Tudor designs, but Robertson gives them dramatic impact by placing them, not at either end of a battlemented facade of much the same height, but as twin towers which rise a full storey above the slates of a low two-storey block. A gable containing the front door surmounted by an oriel window projects from the centre of the facade, with simple mullioned windows on either side and half-dormers above. One of these projects and the other is flush with the wall. The garden front uses dormers again, two on either side of a broad bay window, with large three-light mullioned windows below. Here absolute symmetry is avoided by projection the mullioned window, which lights the dining room on the west, while its pair, whigh lights the drawing room on teh east, is flush with the wall. The east, or end, elevation of the house is quite asymmetrical: two gables side by side, one projected and narrower than the other, with a square bay-window squashed against it and containing a large cupsed Perp window to light the landing of the stairs. The kitchen wing and offices extend as low gabled additions at the far end of the house. A four-bay Tudor-arched conservatory screens the service yard on the garden front.
p. 182. “the interiors have much of the charm of Regency Gothic continuing in the early Victorian age. Wide four-centred archways in the inner hall or gallery spring from cluster shafts with C16 profiles. The doors have Perp panelling and are set stilted square arches. The ceilings are flat, with plaster ribs, miniature bosses and cavetto cornices, filled appropriately with roses and lilac in teh drawing room, oakleaf and holly in the library, and grapes and vineleaves in the dining room. Stained glass fills the smaller panels in the windows. The chimneypieces are Perp-panelled, shallow late Gothic designs in marble. [note, p. 548:Perp (Perpendicular): historical division of English Gothic architecture covering the period from c. 1335-50 to c. 1530.]
in Irish Castles and Historic Houses by Brendan O’Neill
Irish Historic Houses, by Kevin O’Connor
Ownership, Mr. and Mrs J.G. Lefroy
The Irish seat of the Huguenot Lefroy family, Carriglas Manor was designed by Daniel Robertson [of Scotland] and built in 1837 for Thomas Lefroy, Lord Chief justice of Ireland, a youthful inamorato of Jane Austen. Indeed it is claimed by some of her biographers that she based Darcy on the dashing young Thomas Lefroy.
The exterior of the house is Tudor Gothic Revival in style, with gables, oriels and polygonal battlemented turrets in delighful profusion [oriel is a projecting window on an upper floor, carried on corbels, which are stone projections acting as support].
Inside, the three main reception rooms interconnect and all have ceilings adorned with plaster ribs and elaborate cornices of flowers and foliage. The drawing-room, which was the main target of recent burglary, has been refurnished with some fine, recently designed ‘Irish’ pieces replacing the magnificent collection of early 18th century continental furniture which was stolen in 1995.
The house is surrounded by 18th century parkland and a charming woodland water garden. The grand Georgian stable and farm yards were designed by James Gandon [in 1790 (architect of the Custom House and Four Courts) is the only surviving example of his agricultural work, and now houses a fascinating costume and lace museum – Brendan O’Neill]… The buildings extend around two courtyards with pedimented and rusticated archways.
[Irish Castles and Historic Houses. ed. by Brendan O’Neill, intro. by James Stevens Curl. Caxton Editions, London. 2002: The beautifully restored interiors of the house have some charming plasterwork ceilings with appropriate symbolism: grapes and vines – the symbol of a good table – in the dining-room; oak leaves for wisdom in the library; and roses and lillies in the drawing-room.
Carrigglas Manor House - Tudor Revival style manor house built with blue-grey limestone in 1837 by Thomas Langlois Lefroy of Huguenot descent and is still owned by the Lefroy family. The house is a private residence.
The main entrance gates to Carrigglas Manor, County Longford. These were designed c.1795 for the estate’s then-owner Sir William Newcomen whose family owned one of Ireland’s most successful private banks. The gateway was part of a large scheme for Carriglas commissioned from James Gandon, of which only this and the interlinked stable and farmyards were actually built. Sir William’s son, Sir Thomas Gleadowe-Newcomen lacked his father’s acumen and when the bank collapsed in 1825 he shot himself. Carrigglas then passed into the ownership of a clever lawyer, Thomas Lefroy, today best-remembered as the possible object of Jane Austen’s amorous intentions. His descendants remained at Carrigglas until 2005 when the estate was sold to a property company called Thomas Kearns Developments which proceded to wreak havoc on the place, cutting down large swathes of ancient woodland and throwing up cheap housing before – like Sir Thomas Gleadowe-Newcomen – going bust. Three years ago Carrigglas was bought by a local company, Glennon Brothers, but since then little seems to have happened other than that the existing buildings around the estate have deteriorated further. Such is the case with the entrance, a triumphal arch flanked by low walls that conclude in a pair of lodges: stylistically it has many similarities with the entrances to the Four Courts in Dublin, also designed by Gandon. Unfortunately neglect in recent years means the ashlar blocks are beginning to shift, thereby putting the entire ensemble at risk. The structure is, of course, listed for protection.
Almost big enough to serve as a punchbowl, this exquisitely simple piece of Irish silver dates from 1778 and was made in Dublin by Matthew West, a member of the family which continued operating as the country’s oldest jewellers until its Grafton Street premises closed two years ago. Due to be auctioned by Adam’s on Tuesday, the bowl is one of a number of lots coming from Carrigglas Manor, County Longford. Like a great many Irish houses, the Carrigglas estate has had what can best be described as a chequered history. Originally part of the estates of the Bishop of Ardagh, the lands were acquired by Trinity College, Dublin before passing into the hands of the Newcomen family who operated one of 18th century Ireland’s most successful banks; designed in 1781 by Thomas Ivory, its former premises still stands on Lord Edward Street, Dublin, albeit enlarged in size. Clearly the Newcomens appreciated fine architecture since they commissioned a range of new buildings on their Carrigglas estate from the greatest architect of the period, James Gandon, responsible for both the Custom House and the Four Courts in Dublin. Unfortunately, of Gandon’s designs only the main entrance gates and the double stable yard were completed before the Newcomen Bank went into decline; on its ignominious collapse in 1825, the institution’s head, Sir Thomas Gleadowe-Newcomen, 2nd Viscount Newcomen, shot himself in his office.
Following this catastrophe, Carrigglas was acquired by a successful Irish barrister called Thomas Lefroy. Today Lefroy is best remembered as the possible object of Jane Austen’s amorous attentions and, arising from this, as inspiration for the character of Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice; in the rather fanciful 2007 film Becoming Jane, Lefroy was played by James McAvoy. He certainly knew and saw a great deal of Austen in 1796, being mentioned several times in her letters and on one occasion was described by her as ‘a very gentlemanlike, good-looking, pleasant young man’ with whom she admitted to having flirted. However, the following year he became engaged to Mary Paul, sister of a college friend, marrying her on completion of his legal studies in 1799. Ultimately becoming Lord Chief Justice of Ireland in 1852, some fifteen years earlier Lefroy had requested architect Daniel Robertson to design a new house for him at Carrigglas in the Tudoresque idiom. This remained in the hands of successive generations of the family, finally being inherited in the mid-1970s by Jeffry and Tessa Lefroy. Like many other people in their position, they struggled with managing the place and trying to make it generate sufficient income. To this end, they opened the house to day visitors and paying guests. But by the start of the present millennium it was clear the battle for survival was never going to be won and in 2005 the Lefroys sold Carrigglas to a property company which trumpeted its intentions to preserve the estate. Writing in The Times in March that year, Tessa noted that many old Irish houses had been lost over the previous decades but ‘thankfully, Carrigglas’ future is secure: it is going to be turned into a country house hotel development with new homes in the grounds. The planning laws are now so strict that the house and yards must be restored to their former glory.’ Would that this had been the case. Far from taking care of the main house, stable yards and so forth, the only thing Carrigglas’ new owners, Thomas Kearns Developments, did was to strip large stretches of the parkland of trees and start throwing up rows of houses notable for their lack of sympathy with the surroundings. And before this work could be completed, the company ran into financial trouble; by autumn 2007 sub-contractors on the site had withdrawn their labour. The following spring the Bank of Ireland, which had advanced €35 million, called in accountants to assess the project’s viability. It was glaringly obvious this scheme had no future, especially after Thomas Kearns Developments went into liquidation and Carrigglas went into a limbo from which it may never emerge. Over the intervening four years, as these photographs make plain, the place has been allowed to suffer neglect, almost the only attention it receives coming from vandals.
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage classifies the complex of inter-related structures at Carrigglas as representing ‘one of the most important demesnes in north Leinster.’ This designation did not stop the authorities of Longford County Council from granting permission for the estate’s irrevocable despoilment with that addition of over 300 residential units, a hotel, spa and inevitable golf course. Nor, it would appear, have the same authorities shown much concern for the preservation of what remains, not least the important group of Gandon buildings which are without peer anywhere else in the country. The silver bowl being auctioned on Tuesday will no doubt find a new owner and be much cherished. Regrettably the same good fortune cannot be hoped for Carrigglas. To paraphrase Jane Austen, It is a truth universally acknowledged, that an estate in the possession of a receiver, must be in want of a saviour.
With thanks to Brendan Harte and Mary Morrissey for their photographs.
THE LEFROYS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY LONGFORD, WITH 4,229 ACRES
The LEFROYS are of Flemish extraction, and emigrated from Cambrai to England in the time of the Duke of Alva’s persecutions, settling at Canterbury, Kent.
The first settler, about 1559, was
ANTOINE LEFROY, a native of Cambrai, who settled in Canterbury ca 1587, where his descendants followed the business of silk dying.
His descendent in the fourth generation,
THOMAS LEFROY (1680-1723), of Canterbury, married Phœbe, daughter of Thomas Thomson, of Kenfield, by Phœbe his wife, daughter of William Hammond, of St Alban’s Court, Kent, and granddaughter of the Rt Hon Sir Dudley Digges, of Chilham Castle, Kent, Master of the Rolls, and had a son,
ANTHONY LEFROY (1703-79), of Leghorn and Canterbury, who married, in 1738, Elizabeth, sister of Benjamin Langlois MP, many years Under Secretary of State, and had (with one daughter, Phoebe, married to an Italian nobleman), two sons,
ANTHONY PETER;
Isaac Peter George.
The elder son,
ANTHONY PETER LEFROY (1742-1819), Lieutenant-Colonel, 9th Dragoons, married, in 1765, Anne, daughter of Colonel Gardiner, and had issue,
THOMAS LANGLOIS, of whom hereafter; Anthony, an army captain; Benjamin, ancestor of Jeremy John Elton Lefroy MP; Christopher; Henry (Rev), Vicar of Santry.
The eldest son,
THE RT HON THOMAS LANGLOIS LEFROY (1776-1869), of Carrigglas Manor, LORD CHIEF JUSTICE OF IRELAND, espoused, in 1799, Mary, only daughter and heir of Jeffry Paul, of Silver Spring, County Wexford, member of the younger branch of the family of Sir Robert Paul Bt, and had issue,
ANTHONY, his heir; THOMAS PAUL, succeeded his brother; Jeffry (Very Rev), Dean of Dromore; George Thomson; Jane Christmas; Anne; Mary Elizabeth.
Lord Chief Justice Lefroy, one of the most distinguished lawyers of his time, was called to the Bar in 1797, and appointed a Bencher of the King’s Inn, 1819.
He was MP for Trinity College, Dublin, from 1830 until his elevation to the Bench, which took place in 1841, when he was appointed a Baron of the Exchequer.
He was appointed Lord Chief Justice in 1852.
The eldest son,
ANTHONY LEFROY JP DL (1800-90), of Carrigglas Manor, MP for Trinity College, Dublin, 1858-70, County Longford, 1830-47, High Sheriff of County Longford, 1849, married, in 1824, Jane, eldest daughter of Robert Edward, 1st Viscount Lorton, and granddaughter of Robert, 2nd Earl of Kingston, and had issue,
Thomas, died an infant; Frances Jane; Mary Louisa.
Mr Lefroy was succeeded by his brother,
THOMAS PAUL LEFROY QC (1806-91), of Carrigglas Manor, County Court Judge of Down, Chancellor of the Diocesan Court of Down, Connor and Dromore, Bencher of the King’s Inns, who wedded, in 1835, the Hon Elizabeth Massy, daughter of Hugh, 3rd Baron Massy, and had issue,
THOMAS LANGLOIS HUGH, his heir; AUGUSTINE HUGH, successor to his brother; Anthony William Hamon (Rev); Charles Edward; George Henry; Alfred Henry; Margaret Everina; Mary Georgina; Millicent Elizabeth; Grace Elizabeth; Frances Anna.
Judge Lefroy was succeeded by his eldest son,
THOMAS LANGLOIS HUGH LEFROY JP DL (1836-1902), of Carrigglas Manor, High Sheriff of County Longford, 1892, Barrister, who espoused, in 1894, Dorothy Winifred, daughter of Robert Carreg DL, of Carreg, Carnarvonshire.
He dsp 1902, and was succeeded by his brother,
AUGUSTINE HUGH LEFROY JP DL (1839-1915), of Carrigglas Manor and The Lodge, Boxted, Colchester, Essex, High Sheriff of County Longford, 1909, who wedded, in 1878, Isabel Mary, eldest daughter of John Hebblethwaite, of St Clair, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and had issue,
HUGH PERCIVAL THOMSON, his heir; Augustine George Victor; Mary Elizabeth; Kathleen Grace.
The eldest son,
HUGH PERCIVAL THOMSON LEFROY DSO MC (1880-1954).
It is believed that Jeffry and Tessa Lefroy were the last of the family to live at Carrigglas.
They had moved in to the house in 1976 and opened to visitors in 1985.
Sadly, the cost of maintaining the mansion house was unsustainable and, after twenty-nine years, they sold the estate in 2005.
CARRIGGLAS MANOR, near Longford, County Longford, is one of the larger and more impressive country estates still extant in that county.
It features buildings from two distinct periods and in two different architectural styles.
The present manor house is built on, or close to, the site of an earlier house.
The estate was originally a manor of the Anglican Bishops of Ardagh.
It was left to Trinity College, Dublin, in the 17th century and was later leased by Trinity College, ca 1695, to the Newcomen family (later the Gleadowe-Newcomen family).
The estate appears to have been later bought by the Newcomens in 1772.
The owner or resident at the turn of the 19th-century, Sir William Gleadowe-Newcomen, commissioned the eminent neoclassical architect James Gandon (1742-1823) to design for him an unusual house/villa.
Gleadowe-Newcomen later went bankrupt, following financial troubles that led to the eventual collapse of the Newcomen Bank, before work could start on this house/villa.
However, a magnificent stable block and farmyard with central pedimented archways, and an elegant triumphal arch gateway incorporating gate lodges to either side, designed by Gandon were built at Carrigglas.
An unusual walled garden on oval-plan and a gardener’s house may also have been built to designs by Gandon.
Carrigglas was leased to, and later bought by, Thomas Lefroy (1776-1869) ca 1833.
Reputedly the character Mr Darcy in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was based on Judge Lefroy (they met in England when Lefroy was attending college there during the late-18th century).
Lefroy engaged the architect Daniel Robertson (d 1849) to design a new house for him at Carrigglas, ca 1837, demolishing the earlier country house to site.
Robertson designed the new house in an Elizabethan/Tudor architectural idiom, creating a highly picturesque building with a dramatic roof-line of tall Tudoresque chimney-stacks, crenellated turrets and gabled projections that ranks as one of the finest buildings of its type in Ireland.
Robertson was also an accomplished landscape architect, well-known for his work on the Italian gardens at Powerscourt, and he also carried out extensive landscaping at Carrigglas.
The Lefroy family remained at Carriglass Manor until about 2005, when they sold the estate and grounds.
Yesterday when I seen that Carriglass Manor was for sale it reminded of when I met the original owners of this house at my book signing in Slane Castle a few weeks ago.. The developer that purchased this estate a number of years ago has left the main house in a terrible condition with half built houses and a hotel in the grounds. This house is an architectural jewel and has connections with Jane Austin.
Back in 2004 it was unveiled as the site for a new €100m tourism project which would have been the largest of its kind in Longford. Now the 605-acre Carrigglas Demesne is being put up for sale in the hope that a leisure operator might come up with a new vision or a farmer might return it to its former glory.
About two-thirds of the land is in farmland, parkland or mature woodland with the remainder containing buildings or various stages of the development with its Retief Goosen designed golf course. Agents Lisney have not declared a guide price.
In May this year another large Longford estate, the 214-acre Ardagh Demesne, sold at auction for €1.36m or about €6,355 per acre.
That average price was below the average of €7,500 per acre which smaller tracts of good land made in the county last year.
However, it is higher than the €4,000 to €5,000 per acre quoted for marginal land in the county.
At an average round price of €5,100 for farmland, Carrigglas could generate bids of around €3m, but about a third of the land is in various stages of development which means the value really depends on the ambitions of possible buyers.
Carrigglas is located only 4km from Longford town and it benefits from an attractive 11-bedroom manor house.
Two of the other five houses are in reasonable condition, while three of them, gate lodges, need refurbishment.
A 96-bedroom wing for a proposed hotel has been partly-built, as have 37 courtyard houses beside the R194 route, 59 village houses and a 21-hole championship golf course.
Foundations have been laid for a golf clubhouse. It also benefits from stables designed by the famous architect Gandon.
Lisney has set December 7 as the closing date for expressions of interest.
Originally the Kearns family company, Kearns Developments, had envisaged the leisure attraction including a four-star hotel, a romantic woodland walkway and a selection of exclusive homes.
In 2006, the then Finance Minister Brian Cowen performed the sod-turning ceremony for what its developers hailed as “one of the most important developments ever to take place in Longford”.
Please click on the above link to see the current state of Carrigglass Manor in Co. Longford. The ancestral home of the Lefroy family. This weekend I was signing books at the Adams Country House Sale at Slane Castle and I had the pleasure of meeting its former owner Jeffery Lefroy who sold the estate in 2005. A number of items in the auction were some of the original contents of his former home in Longford which he was now reluctant to sell, however needs must. Jeffery was saddened by the current state of his former home which is now in the hands of Nama who are doing very little to protect the structure. The developer who purchased the property had the intention of developing a hotel in the house and building houses in the grounds of the estate. Neither of these enterprises succeeded and now the whole estate is a desolate place.
The once beautiful dining room that contains lots for sale in the Adams Auction
The Drawing Room
Located five kilometers north of Longford Town on the T15 stands stately Carrigglas Manor. A once beautiful Gothic Revival style Manor house built by Thomas Lefroy in 1837 and was the Lefroy family seat until 2005. Chief Justice Thomas Lefroy who built the house was a one time love of the novelist Jane Austen, it being frequently suggested that the character Darcy in Pride and Prejudice was modelled on him. Carrigglas Manor was built to designs by Daniel Robertson (died 1849). The stableblock situated near the house was designed by the famous architect James Gandon. However these structures are not protected by the state and are now falling into dereliction, how can this be allowed to happen. Have we not learned from the mistakes from previous generations, do we have to wait for Carriglass to be be a roofless ruin before we lament its loss? Action needs to be taken now.
Roslyn Park, also known as Sandymount Park, Sandymount, Co Dublin
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.
p. 246. “A late C18 villa designed by James Gandon for William Ashford, 1st President of the Royal Hibernian Academy; afterwards the seat of Capt W. Dillon. Now a school.”
“Emo Court is a quintessential neo-classical mansion, set in the midst of the ancient Slieve Bloom Mountains. The famous architect James Gandon, fresh from his work on the Custom House and the Four Courts in Dublin, set to work on Emo Court in 1790. However, the building that stands now was not completed until some 70 years later [with work by Lewis Vulliamy, a fashionable London architect, who had worked on the Dorchester Hotel in London and Arthur & John Williamson, from Dublin, and later, William Caldbeck].
“The estate was home to the earls of Portarlington until the War of Independence forced them to abandon Ireland for good. The Jesuits moved in some years later [1920] and, as the Novitiate of the Irish Province, the mansion played host to some 500 of the order’s trainees.
“Major Cholmeley-Harrison took over Emo Court in the 1960s and fully restored it [to designs by Sir Albert Richardson]. He opened the beautiful gardens and parkland to the public before finally presenting the entire estate to the people of Ireland in 1994.
“You can now enjoy a tour of the house before relaxing in its charming tearoom. The gardens are a model of neo-classical landscape design, with formal lawns, a lake and woodland walks just waiting to be explored.” [2]
We visited Emo during Heritage Week 2024 as some rooms were open to the public – finally! Despite the episode on television several years ago of “Great Irish Interiors” where the house was prepared to be open to the public, it is still not open to the public. And it is still not. Just a few rooms were open for Heritage Week. Major Cholmeley-Harrison will be tearing his hair out, if he has any left, in his grave – imagine giving the house to the state, and the state accepts it and then closes it for thirty years!
It was so exciting to go inside. My great uncle Father Tony Baggot was a novitiate there when the Jesuits owned the property.
Unfortunately I was not allowed to take photographs. I was not impressed by the reason given: it’s not finished yet. For goodness sake, who do the OPW think owns the house? We do! Apparently they had left it arranged as when owned Major Cholmeley-Harrison, opened it for a short while, and now they are removing traces of him from several areas. Poor Mr. Cholmeley-Harrison.
Mark Bence-Jones tells us that the 1st Earl of Portarlington was interested in architecture and was instrumental in bringing James Gandon to Ireland, in order to build the new Custom House. The name Emo is an Italianised version of the original Irish name of the estate, Imoe. [3]
The Emo Court website tells us of the history:
“John Dawson, 1st Earl of Portarlington [1744-1798] commissioned the building of Emo Court in 1790 although the house was not finally completed until 1870, eighty years later. Emo Court is one of only a few private country houses designed by the architect James Gandon. Others were Abbeyville, north Co. Dublin for Sir James Beresford [or is it John Beresford (1738-1805)? later famous for being the home of politician Charles Haughey] and Sandymount Park, Dublin for William Ashford. In addition, Gandon built himself a house at Canonbrook, Lucan, Co. Dublin.” [4]
Many of Gandon’s original drawings, plus those of his successors, are in the Irish Architectural Archive, 45 Merrion Square, Dublin. [5] The Emo Court website continues:
“James Gandon was born in London of Huguenot descent. He studied classics, mathematics and drawing, attending evening classes at Shipley’s Academy in London. At the age of fifteen, James was apprenticed to the architect Sir William Chambers and about eight years later, set up in business on his own. His first connection with Ireland was in 1769 when he won the second prize of £60 in a competition to design the Royal Exchange in Dublin, now the City Hall. He was invited to build in St Petersburg, Russia, by Princess Dashkov, and offered an official post with military rank. However, he chose instead to accept an offer from Sir John Beresford and John Dawson, Lord Carlow, later 1st Earl of Portarlington, to come to Dublin to build a new Custom House. This was begun in 1781. The following year, Gandon was commissioned to make extensions to the Parliament House, originally designed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce. Here he added a Corinthian portico as entrance to the Lords’ Chamber. After the Act of Union in 1801, the building became the Bank of Ireland. In 1785, Gandon was commissioned to design the new Four Courts. The third of his great Dublin buildings was the King’s Inns, begun in 1795. His few private houses were designed for patrons and friends.” [see 4]
The website continues: “In the early 18th century, Ephraim Dawson [1683-1746], a wealthy banker, after whom Dawson Street in Dublin is named, purchased the land of the Emo Estate and other estates in the Queen’s County (Co. Laois). He married Anne Preston, heiress to the Emo Park Estate and fixed his residence in a house known as Dawson Court, which was in close proximity to the present Emo Court. His grandson, John Dawson, was created 1st Earl of Portarlington in 1785. Three years later, he married Lady Caroline Stuart, daughter of the [3rd] Earl of Bute, who was later Prime Minister of England. John Dawson commissioned Gandon to design Emo Court in 1790.“
Stephen’s ancestor Earl George Macartney married another daughter of the 3rd Earl of Bute! Their mother was the wonderful Lady Mary Wortley-Montague whose husband was a diplomat and she wrote memoires of their travels. She even visited a harem.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1718-1794), Wife of John Patrick Crichton Stuart 3rd Earl of Bute, print after Christian Friedrich Zincke, 1830s, courtesy of National Portrait Gallery of London, NPG D34619.George, 1st Earl Macartney wearing the Order of the Bath by Thomas Hickey courtesy Christie’s China Trade Paintings selections from the Kelton Collection.
“After Gandon died in 1823, to be buried in Drumcondra churchyard, the 2nd Earl of Portarlington, also John Dawson, engaged Lewis Vulliamy, a fashionable London architect, who had worked on the Dorchester Hotel in London and A. & J. Williamson, Dublin architects, to finish the house. In the period, 1824-36, the dining room and garden front portico with giant Ionic columns were built, but on the death of the 2nd Earl in 1845, the house still remained unfinished. It was not until 1860 that the 3rd Earl, Henry Ruben John Dawson [or Dawson-Damer, the son of the 2nd Earl’s brother Henry Dawson-Damer, who had the name Damer added to his name after the family of his grandmother, Mary Damer, who married William Henry Dawson, 1st Viscount Carlow] commissioned William Caldbeck, a Dublin architect, and Thomas Connolly, his contractor, to finish the double height rotunda, drawing room and library.” [see 4] Caldbeck also added a detached bachelor wing, joined to the main block by a curving corridor.
Emo Court, Photograph by Liam Murphy 2016 for Fáilte Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool [6]. The windows in the single bay pavilions are pedimented and set in relieving arches.Mary Seymour, who according to Mealy’s sales catalogue married John Dawson 1st Earl of Portarlington of Emo Court, by Thomas Heaphey, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy auction; I think she married George Lionel Dawson-Damer, son of 1st Earl.
Although it was not built during Gandon’s time, most of the house is as it was designed by Gandon, with some additions or changes. Mark Bence-Jones describes the house:
“Of two storeys over a basement, the sides of the house being surmounted by attics so as to form end towers or pavilions on each of the two principal fronts. The entrance front has seven bay centre with a giant pedimented Ionic portico; the end pavilions being of a single storey, with a pedimented window in an arched recess, behind a blind attic with a panel containing a Coade stone relief of putti; on one side representing the Arts, on the other, a pastoral scene. The roof parapet in the centre, on either side of the portico, is balustraded. The side elevation, which is of three storeys including the attic, is of one bay on either side of a curved central bow.” [see 3]
Bence-Jones continues: “The house was not completed when the 1st Earl died on campaign during 1798 rebellion; 2nd Earl, who was very short of money, did not do any more to it until 1834-36, when he employed the fashionable English architect, Lewis Vulliamy; who completed the garden front, giving it its portico of four giant Ionic columns with a straight balustraded entablature, and also worked on the interior, being assisted by Dublin architects named Williamson. It was not until ca 1860, in the time of 3rd Earl – after the house had come near to being sold up by the Encumbered Estates Court – that the great rotunda, its copper dome rising from behind the garden front portico and also prominent on the entrance front, was completed; the architect this time being William Caldbeck, of Dublin, who completed the other unfinished parts of the house and added a detached bachelor wing, joined to the main block by a curving corridor.” [see 3]
The website continues: “Emo court remained the seat of the Earls of Portarlington until 1920, when the house and its vast demesne of over 4500 ha, (11,150 acres), was sold to the Irish Land Commission. After the Phoenix Park in Dublin, Emo Court was the largest enclosed estate in Ireland. The house remained empty until 1930 when 150 ha., including the garden, pleasure grounds, woodland and lake were sold to the Society of Jesus for a novitiate. The Jesuits made several structural changes to the building to suit their purposes, including the conversion of the rotunda and library as a chapel. The distinguished Jesuit photographer, Fr Frank Browne lived at Emo Court from 1930-57. [7] A notable novitiate was the Irish author, Benedict Kiely.
“The Jesuits remained at Emo until 1969 and the property was eventually sold to Major Cholmeley Dering Cholmeley-Harrison. He embarked upon a long and enlightened restoration, commissioning the London architectural firm of Sir Albert Richardson & Partners to effect the restoration.
“In 1994, President Mary Robinson officially received Emo Court & Parklands from Major Cholmeley-Harrison on behalf of the Nation.” [see 4]
Unfortunately Emo Park house has been closed to the public for renovation for several years, and was closed on the day we visited in July 2021. I am looking forward to seeing the interior, which from photographs and descriptions I have seen, look spectacular. From the outside we gain little appreciation of the splendid copper dome.
In the meantime, you can read more about Emo and see photographs of its interiors on the wonderful blog of the Irish Aesthete Robert O’Byrne. [8]
There are beautiful grounds to explore, however, on a day out at Emo, including picturesquely placed sculptures, an arboretum, lake, and walled garden. Here is a link to a beautiful short film by poet Pat Boran, about the statues at Emo Park, County Laois. https://bit.ly/35uXPO1
[3] p. 119. 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.
Canonbrook, Lucan: “Detached multiple-bay two-storey over basement house, c.1800, on an L-plan. A handsome, substantial rural Georgian house which, though altered, retains its imposing form and feel, and is situated in mature grounds. Historically important as the former home of James Gandon.”Gandon is also said to have designed Primrose Hill House in Lucan, which is a section 482 property.
The present work, a portrait of the second Arthur Guinness (1768-1855), was exhibited at the RHA in 1827 and is also listed in Strickland. Arthur was the second son of Guinness founder, Arthur Guinness (1725-1803) and is credited with greatly developing the business at a time of great change economically and politically. He also extended the operations of the family into such areas as flour milling and banking. Arthurs interest in banking led him to being appointed to the Court of Directors of the Bank of Ireland and later becoming its Govenor. He was also chairman of Dublin Chamber of Commerce and was elected a member of Dublin Corporation. He married Ann Lee in 1793 and had nine children, including Benjamin Lee Guinness who was born in 1798. The letter held by the sitter identifies him and is addressed at Beaumont House, his childhood home, which is now part of Beaumont Hospital on the north side of Dublin. Views of Beaumont House were drawn by his daughter, Mary Jane after some remodeling in the 1850s (see Painting Ireland, Topographical Views from Glin Castle, ref. nos.143 & 144).
Benjamin Lee Guinness by Stephen Catterson Smith Jr courtesy of Adam’s auction 13 Oct 2015, Provenance: St. Annes, Clontarf, and by descent in the family. Born in Dublin in 1849, Stephen was eldest son of portrait painter Stephen Catterson Smith, PRHA and Anne Wyke, herself an artist who exhibited occasionally at the RHA. Stephen Jun. had intended to join the army but owing to financial issues he was unable to enter that profession and instead settled down as a painter in his fathers studio. He is listed in the RHA records as having first exhibited there in 1871 with a Portrait. His father died the following year and he effectively took over the practice and continued the family tradition of painting the great and the good of Irish society. He was a regular visitor to Scotland and it was whilst there in 1905 that he caught a severe cold which permanently affected his health. He died on November 24th 1912, at his home, 42 St. Stephens Green in the same room in which he was born. Walter Strickland notes that Smith Jun. made a number of copies of pictures painted by his father, including portraits of the present Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness and his wife Lady Guinness, which were done, we must presume, for Lord Ardilaun. The original portrait of Benjamin Lee Guinness was painted in 1862/3 and exhibited at the RHA in 1863.
Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, 1st Baronet (1798 – 1868) was the third son of Arthur Guinness II and his wife Anne Lee and grandson of the first Arthur Guinness, founder of the eponymous brewery. While his father had developed the family business and had extended the familys range of commercial interests, it was Benjamin Lee that brought the brewery onto a different level altogether. By the time of his fathers death in 1855, he had become Irelands richest man by developing a huge export trade.
He enjoyed a successful political career, being elected Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1851 and taking a seat in the House of Commons in 1865, a position he retained until his death. His philanthropy was well known, particularly in his home city of Dublin. He undertook in the 1860s the restoration of St. Patricks Cathedral and is reported as having spent the enormous sum of £150,000 on the enterprise. His Dublin home was what is now known as Iveagh House at 80, St. Stephens Green and in 1852 he purchased Ashford Castle in Co.Mayo adding two large Victorian extensions to the castellated mansion. An avid gardener, he extended the estate to 26,000 acres and planted many thousands of trees and oversaw the development of the massive woodlands. On his death in 1868, he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son, Arthur (later Lord Ardilaum) who took over the brewery with his brother Edward (later Lord Iveagh). His daughter, Anne (1839 – 1889) married William, Lord Plunket in 1863. He is buried in the family vault in Mount Jerome Cemetery in Dublin.
James Gunning of Castle Coote, County Roscommon (d.1767), Father of the Celebrated beauties, Elizabeth, Maria and Catherine, with Medallion Portrait of his Daughter, Maria Date/ c.1760 Engraver Richard Houston, Irish, 1721/22-1775, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.Elizabeth Gunning (1733-1790) was a famous Irish beauty who married the 6th Duke of Hamilton in 1752. She then married John Campbell, the future 5th Duke of Argyll.Elizabeth, Duchess of Hamilton and Brandon (née Gunning), (1734-1770) Engraver Richard Houston, Irish, 1721/22-1775 After Francis Cotes, English, 1726-1770, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.She was the daughter of Colonel John Gunning (1700-1767) of Castle Coote, County Roscommon and of Bridget Bourke (1716-1779), daughter of Theobald Bourke (1681-1741) 6th Viscount of Mayo.Elizabeth married James Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton of Scotland.Photograph courtesy of Glin castle website.The portrait is Margaretta Maria Gwyn (1769-1801), wife of John Bateman Fitzgerald (1765-1803) 23rd Knightof Glin, I believe.
Today I am continuing to publish the portraits I have gathered so far. I’ll be adding to this list as I go. Eventually I hope to create a new website with a virtual gallery of portraits. Maybe we can find a home for an in-person museum at some point! Wouldn’t the Bank of Ireland on College Green, the former Parliament House, make a wonderful building for a National Portrait Gallery?
Also, I notice that we can welcome a new property to the Section 482 list:
Millbrook House Kilkea, Beaconstown, Castledermot, Co. Kildare R14Y319 Open dates in 2024: May 17- 31, Aug 12-31, Sept 7-16, Dec 17-31, 9am-1pm Fee: Adult €8, student/OAP/groups €5
I look forward to visiting!
I usually like to publish a new post every Thursday, but I’m publishing one today as I’ll hopefully publish another tomorrow! I still have eighteen properties I have already visited to write up, so I’m working away. Also I’m gearing up for Heritage week August 12-20th when I hope to visit as many properties as possible. All of the Section 482 properties, except those listed as “Tourist Accommodation” should be open, so I hope you get to visit some as well!
F
Mary Rosse, Countess of Rosse (née Mary Field) (1813-1885), painter unknown, photograph from Birr Archives, courtesy wikimedia commons.Mary Rosse, Countess of Rosse (née Mary Field) (1813-1885), painter unknown, photograph from Birr Archives, courtesy wikimedia commons.Edward Fitzgerald of New Park, County Wexford (1770-1807), Revolutionary Engraver W.T. Annis After Thomas Nugent, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.Gerald Fitzgerald (1487-1534) 9th Earl of Kildare, courtesy of Bodleian Libraries.
Gerald Fitzgerald (1487-1534) 9th Earl of Kildare was the son of Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare and Alison Eustace. He married, first, Elizabeth Zouche (d. 1517).
Their daughter Catherine married Jenico Preston, 3rd Viscount Gormanston, and secondly, Richard St. Lawrence 6th Baron Howth. Their daughter Cecilia married Cahir Mac Art Boy Kavanagh, Baron of Ballyanne, The MacMorrough. Their daughter Ellis married James Fleming 9th Lord Slane. Their son Thomas Fitzgerald (1513-1536/7) became 10th Earl of Kildare.
Thomas FitzGerald (1513-1536/7) 10th Earl of Kildare, “Silken Thomas,” c. 1530 attributed to Anthony Van Dyck.He had no offspring.
Gerald Fitzgerald (1487-1534) 9th Earl of Kildare married secondly Elizabeth daughter of Thomas Grey 1st Marquess of Dorset, and they had several more children. Their daughter Elizabeth (1528-1589/90) married first Anthony Browne, Joint Keeper of Windsor Great Park on 29 January 1528/29, with his brother 1st Earl of Southampton. She married secondly Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln. Gerald 9th Earl and Elizabeth had a son Gerald FitzGerald (1525-1585) who became 1st/11th Earl of Kildare. He was called ‘The Wizard Earl’. He held the office of Master of Horse to Cosimo de’ Medici, Duke of Florence.
A younger brother of the Wizard Earl, Edward (1528-1590), was the father of Gerald FitzGerald (d. 1611/12) 14th Earl of Kildare.
The 11th Earl, the Wizard Earl, married his cousin Mabel Browne. Their daughter Elizabeth (d. 1617) married Donough O’Brien 3rd Earl of Thomond. The 11th Earl’s daughter Mary (d. 1610) married Christopher Nugent 5th Baron Delvin.
A son of the 11th Earl, Henry (1562-1597) became the 12th Earl and was also known as “Henry of the Battleaxes.” He had only daughters so his brother became the 13th Earl. The 12th Earl’s daughter Elizabeth married Lucas Plunkett 1st Earl of Fingall. His daughter Bridget married first Ruaidhri O’Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, then Nicholas Barnewall, 1st Viscount Barnewall of Kingsland.
William FitzGerald (d. 1599) 3rd/13th Earl of Kildare was another son of Gerald FitzGerald, 1st/11th Earl of Kildare. He died circa April 1599, lost at sea while crossing from England to Ireland, unmarried. The title went to his uncle Edward’s (1528-1590) son Gerald FitzGerald (d. 1611/12) who became 14th Earl of Kildare.
Gerald FitzGerald (d. 1611/12) 14th Earl of Kildare married Elizabeth daughter of Christopher Nugent, 5th Baron Delvin, who gave birth to Gerald FitzGerald (1611-1620) who became 15th Earl of Kildare. The 15th Earl died young. The title passed the 14th Earl’s younger brother’s son, George FitzGerald (1611/12-1660) who became 16th Earl of Kildare.
The 16th Earl married Joan Boyle (1611-1656/7), daughter of Richard Boyle 1st Earl of Cork. Their daughter Elizabeth (d. 1697/98) married Callaghan MacCarty, 3rd Earl of Clancarty. Their daughter Eleanor (d. 1681) married Walter Borrowes, 2nd Bt of Grangemellon, County Kildare. Their son Wentworth FitzGerald (1634-1663/64) became 17th Earl of Kildare.
The 17th Earl married Elizabeth daughter of John Holles, 2nd Earl of Clare.
Elizabeth FitzGerald, née Holles, Countess of Kildare, 1660, by John Michael Wright, wife of Wentworth Fitzgerald 17th Earl of Kildare.
Elizabeth and the 17th Earl of Kildare had a son, John FitzGerald (1661-1707) who became 18th Earl of Kildare. The 18th Earl married Mary O’Brien (1662-1683), daughter of Henry O’Brien (d. 1678) , MP for Clare. She gave birth to a son but he died in his first year. The 18th Earl then married Elizabeth daughter Richard Jones, 1st and last Earl of Ranelagh but they had no children.
Elizabeth née Jones (d. 1758), Countess of Kildare wife of 18th Earl, daughter of Richard Jones 1st Earl of Ranelagh by Peter Lely.Traditionally identified as Lady Elizabeth Jones, Countess of Kildare (1665-1758), English school c. 1680 courtesy Christies Irish Sale 2003
The title passed to a cousin, Robert Fitzgerald (1675-1744), who became 19th Earl of Kildare. He was the son of Robert Fitzgerald (d. 1697/98), a younger son of George Fitzgerald 16th Earl of Kildare. The 19th Earl’s sister Mary (1666-1697) married John Allen, 1st Viscount Allen of County Kildare.
Robert, 19th Earl of Kildare (1675-1744) after Frederick Graves, courtesy of Adam’s auction 15th Oct 2019. Robert FitzGerald was married to Mary O’Brien, daughter of William O’Brien 3rd Earl of Inchiquin. They had 12 children but only 2 survived to majority. They had lived quietly at Kilkea Castle, near Athy, but in 1739 Robert bought back the lease of Carton, in Maynooth, for £8,000. He commissioned Richard Castle, the eminent architect, to reconstruct the existing house. In the pediment over the South front, previously the main entrance, is the coat of arms of Robert FitzGerald and his wife Mary O’Brien. Robert also employed the La Franchini brothers to construct the wonderful ceiling in the Gold Salon. The additions to Carton were not finished when Robert died in 1744 but he left instructions in his will to finish the restoration according to his plans. A monument dedicated to Robert FitzGerald is situated in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.(This portrait hung in Carton until 1949 when the Fitzgerald family sold the estate. It hung in Kilkea Castle until 1960. It was in the FitzGerald family collection in Oxfordshire until 2013.)
Robert FitzGerald 19th Earl of Kildare married Mary O’Brien, daughter of William O’Brien 3rd Earl of Inchiquin. Their daughter Margaretta (d. 1766) married Wills Hill, 1st Earl of Hillsborough, Co. Down, 1st Marquess of Downshire.
Margaretta Fitzgerald (d. 1766) Countess of Hillsborough, daughter of Robert Fitzgerald, 19th Earl of Kildare, attributed to Charles Jervas, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy auction.She married Wills Hill, 1st Earl of Hillsborough, Co. Down, 1st Marquess of Downshire.
A son of Robert 19th Earl and Mary was Richard Fitzgerald who lived at Mount Ophaly in County Kildare and married Margaret (d. 1763) daughter of James King, 4th Baron Kingston. Their other son was James FitzGerald (1722-1773) who became 20th Earl of Kildare and later, 1st Duke of Leinster.
James Fitzgerald (1722-1773) 20th Earl of Kildare later 1st Duke of Leinster married Emilia Mary née Lennox (1731-1814), daughter of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond. They had many children, including William Robert Fitzgerald (1749-1804), 2nd Duke of Leinster.
Thomas Fitzgerald (d. 1730/31) was the son of Gerald Fitzgerald (d. 1689) 17th Knight of Glin and Joan daughter of Donough O’Brien of Carrigogunnell Castle, County Limerick. Gerald 17th Knight held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Limerick City in 1661, and High Sheriff of Limerick in 1680. He fought in the Battle of Windmill Hill in 1689, after the Siege of Derry. He was Member of Parliament (M.P.) for County Limerick in 1689, in King James II Patriot Parliament.
Thomas Fitzgerald (d. 1730/31) 18th Knight of Glin obtained a Certificate in 1701 for not having taken part in the wars of King James II, although he was an active supporter of Jacobite cause. In 1713/14 he was one of the Catholic nobility of Ireland licensed to carry arms. [1] His wife Mary née Fitzgerald of Ballymartyr gave birth to, among other children, the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd Knights of Glin. A daughter, Catherine (d. 1759) married first Thomas Freke Crosbie and second, Robert Fitzgerald, 17th Knight of Kerry.
John Fitzgerald (d. 1737) 19th Knight of Glin courtesy of The Knights of Glin: A Geraldine family, by J. Anthony Gaughan (1978).Edmond Fitzgerald (d. 1763) 20th Knight of Glin, a brother of the 19th, 21st and 22nd Knights of Glin.Richard Fitzgerald (1710-1775) 21st Knight of Glin, by Heroman Van Der Mijn, photograph courtesy of Glin Castle website.He conformed to the Protestant faith. He had only daughters so the title passed to his brother.Thomas Fitzgerald, 22nd Knight of Glin By Philip Hussey courtesy ofhttps//:theirishaesthete.com/tag/knight-of-glin/, Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81941595
Thomas Fitzgerald (d. 1781) 22nd Knight of Glin married Mary Bateman. She gave birth to his heir, John Bateman FitzGerald (d. 1803) who became 23rd Knight of Glin. His wife Margaretta Maria Gwyn (d. 1801) gave birth to their heir, John Fraunceis FitzGerald (1791-1854) 24th Knight of Glin.
Glin Castle, photograph courtesy of Glin Castle website.The picture of Colonel John Bateman FitzGerald (1765-1803) the 23rd Knight of Glin, the builder of the house, wearing the uniform of his volunteer regiment the Royal Glin Artillery. In his portrait, which hangs over the Portland stone chimneypiece, he is proudly pointing at his cannon.Photograph courtesy of Glin castle website.The portrait is Margaretta Maria Gwyn (1769-1801), wife of John Bateman Fitzgerald (1765-1803) 23rd Knightof Glin, I believe.John Fraunceis Fitzgerald (1803-1854), “Knight of the Women,” the 24th Knight, photograph courtesy of the castle website.
As well as the Earls of Kildare, who became Dukes of Leinster, and Knights of Glin, Fitzgeralds were also Lords of the Decies, and Knights of Kerry, and Earls of Desmond.
Maurice FitzGerald (d. 1729) 14th Knight of Kerry fought for King James II in the Battle of the Boyne. He married Elizabeth Crosbie, who gave birth to their heir, John FitzGerald (d. 1741) who became 15th Knight of Kerry.
John FitzGerald (d. 1741) 15th Knight of Kerry had a son Maurice (d. 1780) who became 16th Knight of Kerry, and a daughter Elizabeth who married Richard Townsend of Castletownshend in County Cork.
Maurice (d. 1780) 16th Knight of Kerry married Anna Maria, daughter of William FitzMaurice, 2nd Earl of Kerry. They did not have children, and Maurice’s uncle Robert (1716-1781) became the 17th Knight of Kerry.
Just to finish up my entries about Office of Public Works properties: Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow are the counties that make up the Leinster region.
Carlow:
1. Altamont Gardens
Kildare:
2. Castletown House, County Kildare
3. Maynooth Castle, County Kildare
Carlow:
1. Altamont House and Gardens, Bunclody Road, Altamont, Ballon, County Carlow:
Altamont House and Gardens, photograph by Sonder Visuals, 2015, for Tourism Ireland, from Ireland’s Content Pool. [1]
“A large and beautiful estate covering 16 hectares in total, Altamont Gardens is laid out in the style of William Robinson, which strives for ‘honest simplicity’. The design situates an excellent plant collection perfectly within the natural landscape.
“For example, there are lawns and sculpted yews that slope down to a lake ringed by rare trees and rhododendrons. A fascinating walk through the Arboretum, Bog Garden and Ice Age Glen, sheltered by ancient oaks and flanked by huge stone outcrops, leads to the banks of the River Slaney. Visit in summer to experience the glorious perfume of roses and herbaceous plants in the air.
“With their sensitive balance of formal and informal, nature and artistry, Altamont Gardens have a unique – and wholly enchanting – character.” [2]
From “In Harmony with Nature, The Irish Country House Garden 1600-1900” in the Irish Georgian Society, July 2022, curated by Robert O’Byrne.Altamont, photograph by Sonder Visuals 2017 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. [see 1]
From Living Legacies: Ireland’s National Historic Properties in the care of the OPW, Government Publications, Dublin, 2018:
“Altamont House was constructed in the 1720s, incorporating parts of an earlier structure said to have been a medieval nunnery. In the 1850s, a lake was excavated in the grounds of the house, but it was when the Lecky-Watsons, a local Quaker family, acquired Altamont in 1924 that the gardens truly came into their own.
“Feilding Lecky-Watson had worked as a tea planter in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) where he nurtured his love of exotic plants, and of rhododendrons in particular. Back in Ireland, he became an expert in the species, cultivating plants for the botanical gardnes at Glasnevin, Kew and Edinburgh. So passionate was he about these plants that when his wife, Isobel, gave birth to a daughter in 1922, she was named Corona, after his favourite variety of rhododendron.” [3]
Altamont House and Gardens lake, photograph by Sonder Visuals, 2015, for Tourism Ireland, from Ireland’s Content Pool. [see 1]
Around the lake are mature conifers that were planted in the 1800s, including a giant Wellingtonia which commemorates the Battle of Waterloo. [3] Corona continued in her father’s footsteps, planing rhododendrons, magnolia and Japanese maples. Another feature is the “100 steps” hand-cut in granite, leading down to the River Slaney. There are red squirrels, otters in the lake and river, and peacocks. Before her death, Corona handed Altamont over to the Irish state to ensure its preservation.
The Temple,Altamont House and Gardens, photograph by Sonder Visuals, 2015, for Tourism Ireland, from Ireland’s Content Pool. [see 1]
Kildare:
2.Castletown House and Parklands, Celbridge, County Kildare.
Castletown House, County Kildare, Photo by Mark Wesley 2016, Tourism Ireland, from Ireland’s Content Pool. [see 1]
The Obelisk, or Conolly Folly, was reputedly built to give employment during an episode of famine. It was restored by the Irish Georgian Society in 1960.
“This majestic stone castle was founded in the early thirteenth century. It became the seat of power for the FitzGeralds, the earls of Kildare, as they emerged as one of the most powerful families in Ireland. Garret Mór, known as the Great Earl of Kildare, governed Ireland in the name of the king from 1487 to 1513.
Maynooth Castle was one of the largest and richest Geraldine dwellings. The original keep, begun around 1200, was one of the largest of its kind in Ireland. Inside, the great hall was a nerve centre of political power and culture.
Only 30 kilometres from Dublin, Maynooth Castle occupies a deceptively secluded spot in the centre of the town, with well-kept grounds and plenty of greenery. There is a captivating exhibition in the keep on the history of the castle and the family.“
Gerald Fitzgerald (1487-1534) 9th Earl of Kildare, courtesy Bodleian Library.
[3] p. 8, Living Legacies: Ireland’s National Historic Properties in the Care of the OPW. Government Publications, Dublin 2, 2018.
[4] p. xiii, Jennings, Marie-Louise and Gabrielle M. Ashford (eds.), The Letters of Katherine Conolly, 1707-1747. Irish Manuscripts Commission 2018. The editors reference TCD, MS 3974/121-125; Capel Street and environs, draft architectural conservation area (Dublin City Council) and Olwyn James, Capel Street, a study of the past, a vision of the future (Dublin, 2001), pp. 9, 13, 15-17.
[7] p. 75. 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. 129. Great Irish Houses. Forewards by Desmond FitzGerald, Desmond Guinness. IMAGE Publications, 2008.
Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow are the counties that make up the Leinster region.
I have noticed that an inordinate amount of OPW sites are closed ever since Covid restrictions, if not even before that (as in Emo, which seems to be perpetually closed) [these sites are marked in orange here]. I must write to our Minister for Culture and Heritage to complain.
Laois:
1. Emo Court, County Laois – house closed at present
2. Heywood Gardens, County Laois
Longford:
3. Corlea Trackway Visitor Centre, County Longford
Louth:
4. Carlingford Castle, County Louth
5. Old Mellifont Abbey, County Louth – closed at present
Meath:
6. Battle of the Boyne site, Oldbridge House, County Meath
7. Hill of Tara, County Meath
8. Loughcrew Cairns, County Meath – guides on site from June 16th 2022
9. Newgrange, County Meath
10. Trim Castle, County Meath
Offaly:
11. Clonmacnoise, County Offaly
donation
Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!
“Emo Court is a quintessential neo-classical mansion, set in the midst of the ancient Slieve Bloom Mountains. The famous architect James Gandon, fresh from his work on the Custom House and the Four Courts in Dublin, set to work on Emo Court in 1790. However, the building that stands now was not completed until some 70 years later [with work by Lewis Vulliamy, a fashionable London architect, who had worked on the Dorchester Hotel in London and Arthur & John Williamson, from Dublin, and later, William Caldbeck].
“The estate was home to the earls of Portarlington until the War of Independence forced them to abandon Ireland for good. The Jesuits moved in some years later [1920] and, as the Novitiate of the Irish Province, the mansion played host to some 500 of the order’s trainees.
“Major Cholmeley-Harrison took over Emo Court in the 1960s and fully restored it [to designs by Sir Albert Richardson]. He opened the beautiful gardens and parkland to the public before finally presenting the entire estate to the people of Ireland in 1994.
“You can now enjoy a tour of the house before relaxing in its charming tearoom. The gardens are a model of neo-classical landscape design, with formal lawns, a lake and woodland walks just waiting to be explored.” [2]
[1] p. 336. Tierney, Andrew. The Buildings of Ireland: Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2019.
“The entrancing eighteenth-century landscape at Heywood Gardens, near Ballinakill, County Laois, consists of gardens, lakes, woodland and some exciting architectural features. The park is set into a sweeping hillside. The vista to the south-east takes in seven counties.
“The architect Sir Edwin Lutyens designed the formal gardens [around 1906], which are the centrepiece of the property. It is likely that renowned designer Gertrude Jekyll landscaped them.
“The gardens are composed of elements linked by a terrace that originally ran along the front of the house. (Sadly, the house is no more.) One of the site’s most unusual features is a sunken garden containing an elongated pool, at whose centre stands a grand fountain.
“The Heywood experience starts beside the Gate Lodge. Information panels and signage will guide you around the magical Lutyens gardens and the surrounding romantic landscape.“
Longford:
3.Corlea Trackway Visitor Centre, Kenagh, County Longford:
Corlea Trackway Visitor Centre, Co. Longford, photograph by Chris Hill 2018 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. [see 6]Corlea Trackway Visitor Centre, Co. Longford, photograph by Chris Hill 2018 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. [see 6]
“Hidden away in the boglands of Longford, not far from Kenagh village, is an inspiring relic of prehistory: a togher – an Iron Age road – built in 148 BC. Known locally as the Danes’ Road, it is the largest of its kind to have been uncovered in Europe.
“Historians agree that it was part of a routeway of great importance. It may have been a section of a ceremonial highway connecting the Hill of Uisneach, the ritual centre of Ireland, and the royal site of Rathcroghan.
“The trackway was built from heavy planks of oak, which sank into the peat after a short time. This made it unusable, of course, but also ensured it remained perfectly preserved in the bog for the next two millennia.
“Inside the interpretive centre, an 18-metre stretch of the ancient wooden structure is on permanent display in a hall specially designed to preserve it. Don’t miss this amazing remnant of our ancient past.“
Carlingford Castle, also known as King John’s Castle (not to be confused with the one in Limerick), County Louth, photograph by Brenda Harris 2021 for Fáilte Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. [see 6]
“Carlingford lies in the shade of Slieve Foye, a mountain that in legend takes its form from the body of the sleeping giant Finn MacCumhaill. The castle dominates the town and overlooks the lough harbour. It was a vital point of defence for the area for centuries.
“Carlingford Castle was built around 1190, most likely by the Norman baron Hugh de Lacy. By this time Hugh’s family had grown powerful enough to make King John of England uneasy. John forced them into rebellion and seized their property in 1210. He reputedly stayed in his new castle himself. It is still known as King John’s Castle.“
Carlingford Castle, County Louth
“The Jacobites fired on the castle in 1689; William of Orange is said to have accommodated his wounded soldiers there following the Battle of the Boyne.
“Carlingford Lough Heritage Trust provides excellent guided tours of this historic Castle from March to October.“
By 1778 the building was ruinous. The task of repair and preservation was begun by the Henry Paget the 1st Marquess of Anglesey in the later nineteenth century (he served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1848, and as Master General of the Ordinance), and has been continued by the OPW. [13]
Carlingford Castle Co Louth National Library of Ireland by Robert French, Lawrence Photograph Collection.Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey (1768-1854), Viceroy in 1828 and 1830.
5. Old Mellifont Abbey, Tullyallen, Drogheda, County Louth:
Old Mellifont Abbey, photograph by Eilish Tierney, 2020 for Fáilte Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. [see 6]Mellifont Abbey from National Library of Ireland Lawrence photograph collection, flickr constant commons.
General enquiries: 041 982 6459, mellifontabbey@opw.ie. Mellifont means “fountain of honey.”
“Mellifont Abbey was the first Cistercian monastery in Ireland. St Malachy of Armagh created it in 1142 with the help of a small number of monks sent by St Bernard from Clairvaux [and with the aid of Donough O’Carroll, King of Oriel – see 14]. The monks did not take well to Ireland and soon returned to France, but the abbey was completed anyway and duly consecrated with great pomp.
“It has several extraordinary architectural features, the foremost of which is the two-storey octagonal lavabo [the monk’s washroom].
“The monks at Mellifont hosted a critical synod in 1152. The abbey was central to the history of later centuries, too, even though it was in private hands by then. The Treaty of Mellifont, which ended the Nine Years War, was signed here in 1603, and William of Orange used the abbey as his headquarters during the momentous Battle of the Boyne.“
Mellifont Abbey ruins, the octagonal lavabo, built in around 1200, photograph by Brian Harte, 2015 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. [see 6]
The ruins contain the medieval gatehouse, parish church, chapter house and lavabo. The octagonal lavabo was designed as a freestanding structure of two storeys, with an octagonal cistern to supply the water located at the upper level over the wash room. Wash basins were arranged around a central pier, now gone, which supported the weight of the water above. [14] The entire monastery was surrounded by a defensive wall. After the dissolution of the monasteries, Mellifont was acquired in 1540 by William Brabazon (died 1552), Vice Treasurer of Ireland, and passed later to Edward Moore (Brabazon’s wife Elizabeth Clifford remarried three times after Brabazon’s death, and one of her husbands was Edward Moore), who established a fortified house within the ruins around 1560. His descendents (Viscounts of Drogheda) lived there until 1727 (until the time of Edward Moore, 5th Earl of Drogheda), after which the house, like the abbey, fell into disrepair.
Garret Moore, 1st Viscount of Drogheda, hosted the negotiations which led to the Treaty of Mellifont in 1603.
Mellifont Abbey ruins, photograph by Chris Hill, 2014 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. [see 6]
“The Loughcrew cairns, also known as the Hills of the Witch, are a group of Neolithic passage tombs near Oldcastle in County Meath. Spread over four undulating peaks, the tombs are of great antiquity, dating to 3000 BC.
“Cairn T is one of the largest tombs in the complex. Inside it lies a cruciform chamber, a corbelled roof and some of the most beautiful examples of Neolithic art in Ireland. The cairn is aligned to sunrise at the spring and autumn equinoxes and at these times people gather there to greet the first rays of the sun.“
8. Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre, Newgrange and Knowth, County Meath.
Newgrange, seen from the top of another nearby tumulus, Dowth. Newgrange is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and dates to some 5,000 years ago…Photograph by Dave Walsh, 2004 for Tourism Ireland. [see 6]
General Information: 041 988 0300, brunaboinne@opw.ie
“The World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne is Ireland’s richest archaeological landscape and is situated within a bend in the River Boyne. Brú na Bóinne is famous for the spectacular prehistoric passage tombs of Knowth, Newgrange and Dowth which were built circa 3200BC. These ceremonial structures are among the most important Neolithic sites in the world and contain the largest collection of megalithic art in Western Europe.“
Hill of Tara, County Meath, photograph by macmillan media 2015 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. [see 6]Diorama of Tara in the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin, 2022.Key: 2. Rath/Fort of the Kings, a hilltop enclosure; 3: Royal Seat, a barrow; 4. Cormac’s House, a ringfort; 5. Stone of Destiny, Liah Fail, a standing stone; 6. Mound of the Hostages, a passage tomb; 7. Rath of the Synods, an enclosure; 8. Banqueting Hall, a linear earthwork.
General information: 046 902 5903, hilloftara@opw.ie
From the OPW website:
“The Hill of Tara has been important since the late Stone Age, when a passage tomb was built there. However, the site became truly significant in the Iron Age (600 BC to 400 AD) and into the Early Christian Period when it rose to supreme prominence – as the seat of the high kings of Ireland. All old Irish roads lead to this critical site.
“St Patrick himself went there in the fifth century. As Christianity achieved dominance over the following centuries, Tara’s importance became symbolic. Its halls and palaces have now disappeared and only earthworks remain.
“There are still remarkable sights to be seen, however. Just one example is the Lia Fáil – the great coronation stone and one of the four legendary treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann – which stands proudly on the monument known as An Forradh.
“Guided tours of the site will help you understand the regal history of this exceptional place and imagine its former splendour.“
Trim Castle and the River Boyne, photograph by Brian Morrison, 2015 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. [see 6]Trim Castle and the River Boyne, photograph by macmillan media, 2015 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. [see 6]
General information: 046 943 8619, trimcastle@opw.ie
“Few places in Ireland contain more medieval buildings than the heritage town of Trim. Trim Castle is foremost among those buildings.
“In fact, the castle is the largest Anglo-Norman fortification in Ireland. Hugh de Lacy and his successors took 30 years to build it.
“The central fortification is a monumental three-storey keep. This massive 20-sided tower, which is cruciform in shape, was all but impregnable in its day. It was protected by a ditch, curtain wall and water-filled moat.
“Modern walkways now allow you to look down over the interior of the keep – a chance to appreciate the sheer size and thickness of the mighty castle walls.
“The castle is often called King John’s Castle although when he visited the town he preferred to stay in his tent on the other side of the river. Richard II visited Trim in 1399 and left Prince Hal later Henry V as a prisoner in the castle.” I never knew we had such a link to King Henry V and Shakespeare’s play, Henry IV!
Trim Castle and the River Boyne, photograph by Brian Morrison, 2006 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. [see 6]
Patrick Comerford gives an excellent history of Trim Castle in his blog. [18] The castle stands within a three acre bailey, surrounded by a defensive perimeter wall. The curtain wall of the castle is fortified by a series of semicircular open-back towers. There were two entrances to Trim Castle, one, beside the car park, is flanked by a gatehouse, and the second is a barbican gate and tower. [19]
We visited in May 2022, after visiting St. Mary’s Abbey (also called Talbot’s Castle) – more on that soon. We were late entering so the entry to inside the castle was closed, unfortunately – we shall have to visit again!
The information board tells us that in 1182 when Hugh de Lacy was granted the Liberty of Meath, he occupied this site bounded by the River Boyne to the north and marshy ground to the south. By 1175 his original wooden fortification had been replaced by this unusual keep, later surrounded by curtain walls with a simple gate to the north and a bridge across the moat. The south curtain wall with its D shaped buildings was completed by 1200, when new siege tactics forced a change in the design of castles. Later, the forebuildings and plinth were built, protecting the entrance and base of the keep.
Trim Castle, May 2022.
Sometime before 1180, Hugh de Lacy replaced the timber palisade fence enclosing the keep with a stone enclosure. The fore-court enclosed stables and stores and protected the stairway and door to the keep. The new entrance was on the north side of the enclosure and had a drawbridge over the deepened ditch.
With the development of the curtain walls, the inner enclosure became obsolete.
The ditch was filled and three defensive towers – two survive – were built on its site. The drawbridge was replaced by a stone causeway leading to an arched gate and entrance stairway. A reception hall was built to accommodate visitors before they entered the Keep.
As the town and approach roads developed, the barbican gate provided a new entrance from the south. After the siege of 1224, the north curtain walls, towers and Trim gate required major repairs. During a period of prosperity in the second half of the 13th century, the great hall and solar were constructed on the site of the north curtain wall and tower. Trim and its abbeys and the Cathedral and borough of Newtown developed in the security of the castle.
The Boyne was used for transport of goods to the river gate. Stores, workshops and kitchens were built in the castle yard.
Though the castle buildings were often adapted to suit changing military and domestic needs, much of the fabric of Trim Castle has remained unchanged since the height of Anglo-Norman power in Ireland.
The information board tells us that courts, parliaments, feasts and all issues relating to the management of the Lordship were discussed at meetings in the Great Hall. After 1250, the great public rooms in the Keep were considered unsuitable for such gatherings, so this hall was built, lit by large windows with a view of the harbour and the Abbey of St. Mary’s across the river. The hall had a high seat at the west end, with kitchens and undercroft cellars to the east. Ornate oak columns rising from stone bases supported the great span of the roof.
The hall was heated from a central hearth and vented by a lantern-like louvre in the roof.
Early in the 13th century the weirs were completed on the Boyne, allowing the moat to be flooded, and the Leper River was channelled along the south curtain wall. A new gate was constructed guarding the southern approaches to the castle. This gatehouse, of a rare design, was built as a single cylindrical tower with a “barbican,” defences of a forward tower adn bridge. An elaborate system of lifting bridges, gates and overhead traps gave the garrison great control over those entering the castle. The arrangement of plunging loops demonstrates the builders’ knowledge of the military requirements of defending archers.
By the middle of the 13th century, the design of castle gates was further developed and a twin tower gatehouse with a passage between the two towers became standard.
“St Ciarán founded his monastery on the banks of the River Shannon in the 6th Century. The monastery flourished and became a great seat of learning, a University of its time with students from all over Europe.
“The ruins include a Cathedral, two round Towers, three high crosses, nine Churches and over 700 Early Christian graveslabs.
“The original high crosses, including the magnificent 10th century Cross of the Scriptures area on display in a purpose built visitor centre adjacent the monastic enclosure.
“An audiovisual presentation will give you an insight into the history of this hallowed space.“
[3] p. 119. 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.
Canonbrook, Lucan: “Detached multiple-bay two-storey over basement house, c.1800, on an L-plan. A handsome, substantial rural Georgian house which, though altered, retains its imposing form and feel, and is situated in mature grounds. Historically important as the former home of James Gandon.”Gandon is also said to have designed Primrose Hill House in Lucan, which is a section 482 property.
[9] p. 96. Sadleir, Thomas U. and Page L. Dickinson. Georgian Mansions in Ireland with some account of the evolution af Georgian Architecture and Decoration. Dublin University Press, 1915.
[10] p. 356. Tierney, Andrew. The Buildings of Ireland: Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2019.
[11] p. 61. O’Reilly, Sean. Irish Houses and Gardens. From the Archives of Country Life. Aurum Press Ltd, London, 1998.
[13] p. 175, Casey, Christine and Alistair Rowan. The Buildings of Ireland: North Leinster: the counties of Longford, Louth, Meath and Westmeath. Penguin Books, London, 1993.
[14] p. 387, Casey, Christine and Alistair Rowan. The Buildings of Ireland: North Leinster: the counties of Longford, Louth, Meath and Westmeath. Penguin Books, London, 1993.
[19] p. 511, Casey, Christine and Alistair Rowan. The Buildings of Ireland: North Leinster: the counties of Longford, Louth, Meath and Westmeath. Penguin Books, London, 1993.
I have noticed that an inordinate amount of OPW sites are closed ever since Covid restrictions, if not even before that (as in Emo, which seems to be perpetually closed) [these sites are marked in orange here]. I must write to our Minister for Culture and Heritage to complain.
I have written to Minister for Tourism Catherine Martin and received a response in June 2022:
“I wish to acknowledge receipt of your recent correspondence to Catherine Martin, TD. Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in connection with OPW Sites.
OPW Sites would fall under the remit of Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan and the Department of Office of Public Works. Minister of State O’Donovan’s office can be reached at ministersoffice@opw.ie and should be able to assist you with your query.“
Well, I have another email to write! I’ll keep you posted…
Dublin:
1. Aras an Uachtarain, Phoenix Park, Dublin
2. Arbour Hill Cemetery, Dublin
3. Ashtown Castle, Phoenix Park, Dublin
4. The Casino at Marino, Dublin
5. Customs House, Dublin
6. Dublin Castle
7. Farmleigh House, Dublin
8. Garden of Remembrance, Dublin
9. Government Buildings Dublin
10. Grangegorman Military Cemetery, Dublin
11. Irish National War Memorial Gardens, Dublin
12. Iveagh Gardens, Dublin
13. Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin
14. National Botanic Gardens, Dublin
15. Phoenix Park, Dublin
16. Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin
17. Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin – historic rooms closed
18. St. Audoen’s, Dublin
19. St. Enda’s Park and Pearse Museum, Dublin
20. St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin
donation
Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!
“Áras an Uachtaráin started life as a modest brick house, built in 1751 for the Phoenix Park chief ranger. It was later an occasional residence for the lords lieutenant. During that period it evolved into a sizeable and elegant mansion.
“It has been claimed that Irish architect James Hoban used the garden front portico as the model for the façade of the White House.
“After independence, the governors general occupied the building. The first president of the Republic of Ireland, Douglas Hyde, took up residence here in 1938. It has been home to every president since then.” [1]
General enquiries: (01) 821 3021, superintendent.park@opw.ie
From the OPW website:
“The military cemetery at Arbour Hill is the last resting place of 14 of the executed leaders of the 1916 Rising. It is therefore a place of pilgrimage for students and aficionados of this tempestuous moment in Irish history.
“There is an adjoining church, the chapel for Arbour Hill Prison. At the rear of the church lies the old cemetery, containing fascinating memorials to British military personnel.
“The clear focus of Arbour Hill, however, is the legend of the rising. Among those buried here are Patrick Pearse, James Connolly and Major John MacBride. Their bodies were put into an unmarked pit and covered with quicklime, but their grave has now been saved from obscurity with an impressive memorial inscribed in English and Irish.
“Arbour Hill Cemetery is at the rear of the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, where you can currently find a large display of 1916-related material.“
3. Ashtown Castle, Phoenix Park, Dublin:
Ashtown Castle is in the Phoenix Park. The OPW are currently running one tour per day. From the OPW website:
“Ashtown Castle is a tower house that probably dates from the seventeenth century, but may be as early as the fifteenth.
“For years it was completely hidden within the walls of a Georgian mansion once occupied by the under-secretary for Ireland. When that house was demolished in the late 1980s, the castle was rediscovered. It has since been fully restored and now welcomes visitors.”
General enquiries (01) 833 1618, casinomarino@opw.ie
From the website:
“The Casino is a remarkable building, both in terms of structure and history. Sir William Chambers designed it as a pleasure-house for James Caulfeild, first earl of Charlemont, beside his residence in what was then the countryside. It is a gem of eighteenth-century neo-classical architecture. In fact, it is one of the finest buildings of that style in Europe.
“The term ‘casino’ in this case means ‘little house’, and from the outside it gives an impression of compactness. However, it contains 16 rooms, each of which is finely decorated and endlessly rich in subtle and rare design. The Zodiac Room, for example, has a domed ceiling which represents the sky with astrological symbols modelled around its base.“
Custom House, Dublin, by James Gandon, 1781-91. Photograph by Chris Hill, 2014, for Tourism Ireland. Ireland’s Content Pool. [2]
General enquiries: 086 606 2729, customhousevc@opw.ie
From the website:
“This architectural icon stands on the Liffey quays, which were once Ireland’s major trade route to the wider world. The architect James Gandon completed the building, a masterpiece of European neoclassicism, in 1791. Admire the decorative detail of Edward Smyth’s beautifully executed stonework carvings on the exterior and the famous carved keystones depicting the terrible heads of the river gods. There are 14 of these – one for every major river of Ireland.
“The Custom House witnessed not only the development of a great city, but also some of the most turbulent milestones in its history. The building was destroyed by burning in 1921 and later restored to its former splendour.
“The stories of the building, burning and restoration of Dublin’s Custom House are now brought to life in a new and fascinating exhibition, revealing a rich, many-layered story that spans over 200 years.“
A previous Custom House was located further up the river at Essex Quay, built in 1707. By 1780 it was judged to be unsafe for ships to come all the way up the river to that point, where the Clarence Hotel is now located, and a new building was required. John Beresford (1738-1805) determined position for the new Custom House against much objection as its position affected property prices – raising prices in the area and lowering the value of properties nearer the previous Custom House. Beresford sought to move the city centre eastwards from the Capel Street-Parliament Street axis towards College Green. The new Custom House was built on land reclaimed from the estuary of the Liffey. He wanted to shift the city near to his developer brother-in-law’s estate, the Gardiner estate, where Luke Gardiner Ist Viscount Mountjoy had developed an exclusive area for the gentry to inhabit. Both Luke Gardiner and John Beresford married sisters, daughters of William Montgomery of Magbiehill, 1st Baronet of England, who served as an MP in Ireland.
John Beresford, (1738-1805), First Commissioner of Revenue in Ireland G. Cowen, Dublin and at T. Macklin’s, London, 1st November 1790, Engraver Charles Howard Hodges, English, 1764-1837 After Gilbert Stuart, American, 1755-1828. Photograph courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.Barbara Montgomery (?1757-1788), second wife of John Beresford (1738-1805) by Hugh Douglas Hamilton, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland P5547. His first wife was Anne Constantia Ligondes.Montgomery sisters, Barbara, Elizabeth and Anne, as Three Ladies Adorning a Term of Hymen, 1773 by Joshua Reynolds courtesy of Tate Gallery, London. Elizabeth married Luke Gardiner 1st Viscount Mountjoy.John Beresford was related to Luke Gardiner who developed the Gardiner estate.
John Beresford was the son of Marcus Beresford 1st Earl of Tyrone and Catherine De la Poer of Curraghmore in County Waterford.
James Gandon was an English-born architect who settled in Dublin in 1781 and was responsible for three major public buildings there – the Custom House, the Four Courts, and the King’s Inns – as well as for Carlisle Bridge and for extensions to the Parliament House. He also designed Emo in County Laois for John Dawson, 1st Earl of Portarlington (formerly 2nd Viscount Carlow). He was apprenticed to William Chambers, who designed on the Casino at Marino.
James Gandon, (1743-1823), Architect, against the Custom House, Dublin, photograph courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.
The Custom House has four different but consistent facades, linked by corner pavilions. The south facade is of Portland stone, the others of mountain granite. The exterior is adorned with sculptures by Thomas Banks, Agnostino Carlini and Edward Smyth. Smyth carved the series of sculpted keystones symbolising the rivers of Ireland: the Bann, Barrow, Blackwater, Boyne, Erne, Foyle, Lagan, Lee, Liffey, Nore, Shannon, Slaney and Suir. On the north face are personifications of the four continents of world trade: Africa, America, Asia and Europe. [4]
During the Irish Civil War, the buildings was engulfed in flames and the interior destroyed. The dome was rebuilt with Ardbraccan limestone instead of Portland stone.
Custom House photograph taken 1971, Dublin City Library archives. [see 5]
General Enquiries: 01 645 8813, dublincastle@opw.ie
From the website:
“Just a short walk from Trinity College, on the way to Christchurch, Dublin Castle is well situated for visiting on foot. The history of this city-centre site stretches back to the Viking Age and the castle itself was built in the thirteenth century.
“The building served as a military fortress, a prison, a treasury and courts of law. For 700 years, from 1204 until independence, it was the seat of English (and then British) rule in Ireland.
“Rebuilt as the castle we now know in the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Dublin Castle is now a government complex and an arena of state ceremony.
“The state apartments, undercroft, chapel royal, heritage centre and restaurant are now open to visitors.“
What is called “Dublin Castle” is a jumble of buildings from different periods and of different styles. The castle was founded in 1204 by order of King John who wanted a fortress constructed for the administration of the city. By the beginning of the seventeenth century, the castle contained law courts, meeting of Parliament, the residence of the Viceroy and a council chamber, as well as a chapel.
The oldest parts remaining are the medieval Record Tower from the thirteenth century and the tenth century stone bank visible in the Castle’s underground excavation.
The Chapel Royal, renamed the Church of the Most Holy Trinity in 1943, was designed by Francis Johnston in 1807. It is built on the site of an earlier church which was built around 1700.
The Drawing room was largely destroyed in a fire in 1941, and was reconstructed in 1968 in 18th century style. It is heavily mirrored with five large Waterford crystal chandeliers.
The Throne Room, originally known as Battleaxe Hall, has a throne created for the visit of King George IV in 1821. The walls are decorated with roundels painted by Gaetano Gandolfi, depicting Jupiter, Juno, Mars and Venus. The Throne Room was created by George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham, the viceroy of the day.
General enquiries: (01) 821 3021, superintendent.park@opw.ie
From the OPW website:
“This beautiful garden in the centre of the city was designed by architect Dáithí Hanly and dedicated to the memory of ‘all those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish freedom’.
“The garden was officially opened on the fiftieth anniversary of the 1916 Rising.
“The focus point is a magnificent sculpture by Oisín Kelly, based on the legend of the Children of Lir, in which four children are transformed into swans and remain so for 900 years before becoming human again. A poem by Liam Mac Uistin is inscribed on the wall behind the sculpture. It concludes: ‘O generations of freedom remember us, the generations of the vision.’
“The garden is intended as a place of quiet remembrance. It is a perfect place to enjoy some respite from the clamour of the city.“
Garden of Remembrance, Dublin, photo by Anthony Woods, 2021 for Failte Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool.
and
“In the eighteenth century, it was the location of pleasure gardens which were intended to raise funds for the maternity hospital to the front of Rutland (now Parnell) Square. In the late nineteenth century, thesegardens contained a large temporary building which was used as a hall, and called Rotunda Rink.
“It was at Rotunda Rink in 1913 that the Irish Volunteers were formed, at a meeting reportedly attended by around 7,000 people. In 1916, the Rotunda gardens were also where many of the leaders of the Easter Rising were held, before being taken to Kilmainham Gaol for execution. The site for the Garden of Remembrance was bought from the hospital in 1939, and a competition for its design was announced the year after.” [15]
“Architect Daithí Hanly (1917-2003) was responsible for the design of the Garden. The centre of the plan contains a large cross-shaped pool, with a tiled mosaic pattern as its base. The tiles show a picture of swords, shields, and spears thrown beneath waves; this is a nod to the Celtic custom of casting weapons into water once a battle had ended. Important objects from the history of prehistoric and medieval Ireland were woven into the structure of the Garden elsewhere; in the railings can be seen the shapes of the Trinity College (Brian Boru) harp, the Loughnashade trumpet, and the Ballinderry sword.” [15]
Commemorated by the Garden of Remembrance are:
the 1798 rebellion of the Society of United Irishmen
Irish Government Buildings, Dublin, housing the office of the Prime Minister or Taoiseach, as well as the Department of Finance. Photograph by Dave Walsh, 2009, for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. (see [2])Government buildings, Photograph by Jeremy Hylton, June 2022.
General Inquiries: 01 645 8813
From the OPW website:
“The imposing complex of Government Buildings on Upper Merrion Street, next door to Leinster House, was the last major public building the British constructed in Ireland. It was intended as accommodation for the Royal College of Science and various departments of the administration.
“Fortuitously, it was complete by 1922. When independence dawned, the new Free State government moved in.
“In more recent times, Taoiseach Charles Haughey converted and entirely refurbished the building to form state-of-the-art accommodation for a number of departments, including the Department of the Taoiseach, the Department of Finance and the Office of the Attorney General. Despite criticism of the expenditure involved, the renovated building won awards for its architectural design when it opened in the 1990s.
“There are free guided tours every Saturday, although they are subject to occasional cancellation for urgent government business.“
The building was constructed between 1904 and 1922 as a combination of Government offices and Royal College of Science, which occupied the centre block. My father went to college there! The function is represented by statues of William Rowan Hamilton, a mathematician, and Richard Boyle, the scientist, in niches flanking the entrance. The architects were Sir Aston Webb of London (who also designed Admiralty Arch in London’s Trafalgar Square) and Sir Thomas Manley Dean, from Cork. 1,000 people were at the opening ceremony. George V knighted the Architects on the day.
Internally the building was one of the most modern of its day. The floors were made of concrete and all the corridors were paved with marble tiles. Many rooms were fitted with fireplaces but it was mainly central heating that was used. Electricity was installed throughout and there was also a lift. Fans ventilated the rooms. It was one of the first colleges to admit women to its privileges.
The College was taken over by University College Dublin in 1926. In 1989 U.C.D. vacated the premises and moved to Belfield. Between January December 1990 and December 1991 the building was renovated by architects of the Office of Public Works to house the Department of the Taoiseach which had previously occupied as side wing. It was occupied by the Department in January 1991.
Stephen and I took the tour of the buildings in 2020 but one is not allowed to take photographs. We were excited to stand in the Office of the Taoiseach – who was Leo Varadkar at the time.
1947, photograph from Digital Repository, Dublin City Archives and Library, for Failte Ireland. [see 5]
10. Grangegorman Military Cemetery, Blackhorse Avenue, Dublin 7:
General enquiries: (01) 821 3021, superintendent.park@opw.ie
From the OPW website:
“The largest military cemetery in Ireland, Grangegorman is a stone’s throw from the landmark Phoenix Park.
“The graveyard was opened in 1876 as a resting place for service personnel of the British Empire and their families. It contains war graves from both world wars, as well as the graves of some of the British soldiers who lost their lives during the 1916 Rising.
“A simply designed screen-wall memorial, built of Irish limestone and standing nearly 2 metres high, commemorates those war casualties whose graves lie elsewhere in Ireland and can no longer be maintained.
“Mature trees and well-maintained lawns cast a sombre and reflective atmosphere over this restful place.” [16]
The cemetery adopts the “garden cemetery” styple promoted by J.C. Louden, the Victorian botanist and garden designer.
11. Irish National War Memorial Gardens, Islandbridge, Dublin:
General enquiries: (01) 475 7816, parkmanager@opw.ie
From the OPW website:
“These gardens in Islandbridge, a Dublin suburb, are one of the most famous memorial gardens in Europe. They are dedicated to the memory of the 49,400 Irish soldiers who died in the First World War. The name of every single soldier is contained in the sumptuously illustrated Harry Clarke manuscripts in the granite bookrooms.” They were created in the 1930s, with the stipulation that labour would be divided with fifty percent coming from ex-soldiers of the British army and fifty percent from ex-soldiers of the Irish army.
“These gardens are not only a place of remembrance; they are also of great architectural interest and beauty. The great Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) designed them. Lutyens was a prolific garden designer, especially of war memorials, but nonetheless lent his expertise to only four gardens in Ireland.
“Sunken rose gardens, herbaceous borders and extensive tree-planting make for an enjoyable visit in any season. The solemn, serene atmosphere of this elegant garden makes it a perfect place in which to relax and reflect.“
“The site chosen for the Gardens lies on the banks of the River Liffey, and was known as Longmeadows. It is around fifty acres in size. Its location next to this section of the Liffey meant that it was an important ancient and medieval fording point. The earliest Viking burials were discovered in the vicinity in the early nineteenth century. The most recent excavations in 2008 uncovered a grave which contained a sword, spearhead, and ringed pin. In an era when the Liffey was unconstrained by its modern quays, and spread far wider than it does today, Islandbridge was the first navigable point. The Irish National War Memorial Gardens therefore occupy a space that was important at many different points in Irish history.
“Today, the location of the Gardens mean that they are a popular recreational destination for both the local community and international visitors alike. The pathways between the rose gardens, tree avenues, and herbaceous borders allow for pleasant walking. The presence of many boatclubs, mainly along the north side of the Liffey, mean that the park is a significant hub for rowing, and other water sports, in Dublin. The 250m-long weir, dating to the 13th century, attracts a steady stream of anglers who fish its salmon and trout.” [17]
12.Iveagh Gardens, Clonmel Street, Dublin 2:
Iveagh Gardens, Dublin, October 2021.
General Enquiries: 01 475 7816, parkmanager@opw.ie
From the OPW website:
“Tucked away behind the National Concert Hall, the Iveagh Gardens are among the finest, but least known, of Dublin’s parks and gardens.
“They were designed by Ninian Niven in 1865 as the grounds for the Dublin Exhibition Palace – a space ‘where the citizens might meet for the purposes of rational amusement blended with instruction’.
“The gardens contain a unique collection of features, which include rustic grottos, sunken formal panels of lawn with fountain centrepieces, woodlands, a maze, a rosarium, the American garden, rockeries and archery grounds.
“This oasis of tranquillity and beauty, just a stone’s throw from the city centre, can justly claim to be the capital’s best-kept secret.“
The website gives us a wonderfully informative history of the garden:
“In 1777, Harcourt Street was built southwards from the south-west corner of St Stephen’s Green. The following year, its first residence was completed – Clonmel House – now number 17 Harcourt street. The proprietor was John Scott (1739 – 1798), 1st Earl of Clonmell, whose country estate was Temple Hill House in Blackrock, Co Dublin. A lawyer by profession, Scott was a friend, collaborator, and fellow-scoundrel of the infamous ‘Buck’ Whaley (whose house at number 85 St Stephen’s Green backed onto Leeson’s Fields).” John Scott, or “Jack,” was the original “Copper Faced Jack,” so called because of his face red from alcohol.
John Scott, 1st Earl of Clonmel, (1739-1798), Chief Justice of the King’s Bench in Ireland Date after 1798 by Engraver Pierre Condé, French, fl.1806-after 1840 After Richard Cosway, English, 1742-1821, photograph courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.
“Scott bought eleven acres of Leeson’s Fields as a garden for Clonmel House. Because Harcourt Street separated the two, a subterranean passage was built (believed to be extant), from one of the now-demolished wings of Clonmel House, with two entrances in the garden. In a map of 1789 this site is named ‘Lord Earlsfort’s Lawn’ after Scott’s first title Baron Earlsfort. In the 1790s he became Earl of Clonmell, to which he added an ‘L’ (Clonmell).
“In 1817 this private land was leased, made public, and renamed the ‘Cobourg Gardens’, a name probably suggested by recent events on the Continent. For a brief period the Cobourg Gardens, barely altered from their time as the lawn of Clonmell House, enjoyed a very fashionable position among Dublin’s upper-class society…“
Iveagh Gardens 2014, photograph by James Fennell for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. (see [2])
“By the 1830s the popularity of the Cobourg Gardens had declined sharply. In 1836, the ground reverted to Thomas, Earl of Clonmell, who seems to have encouraged plans to build a new street across the Garden, parallel to St Stephen’s Green to be called Clonmel Street.
“The gardens … were badly neglected until bought by Benjamin Lee Guinness from John Henry, [3rd] Earl of Clonmell, in 1862.
“Benjamin Lee Guinness acquired the land to act as a garden for his town house mansion Iveagh House (numbers 80 and 81 St Stephen’s Green), which he acquired in 1856. Being characteristic of his conscientious and philanthropic family, he became a trustee of the Dublin Exhibition Palace and Winter Garden Company, established in 1862.
“He sold the land bordered by Harcourt Street, St Stephens Green south, Earlsfort Terrace and Hatch Street, to the Company for the price he had paid for it. This was to be the location of the Company’s planned recreational and cultural centre for Dublin’s citizens…
“Meanwhile, considerable labour was required in the pleasure grounds of the Exhibition Palace. Ninian Niven, famed landscape gardener and former Director of the Botanic Gardens Glasnevin (1834 – 1838), designed the layout…” [you can see a picture of the Exhibition building on the OPW website]. The gardens combined the “French formal” style with “English landscape.” Niven also designed the gardens at a Section 482 property, Hilton Park in County Monaghan, as well as the National Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin at gardens at Aras an Uachtarain.
Iveagh Gardens 2014, photograph by James Fennell for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. (see [2])
“The heir to the throne, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, to rapturous enthusiasm, performed the grand opening, on 9 May 1865. In all a huge 930,000 visitors attended the Exhibition between 9 May and 9 November. The Company arranged special railway and other concessions and the Palace was equipped with a telegraph centre, post office branch, railway office, and facilities for a large number of international newspapers.“
The gardens remained open to the public until the exhibition building was sold and then, the land made private again in 1883. They opened again to the public in 1941, first as part of University College Dublin.
“The Gardens feature a unique collection of landscape features, which include a Rustic Grotto and Cascade, sunken formal panels of lawn with Fountain Centre Pieces, Wilderness Woodlands, a Maze, Rosariurn, American Garden, Archery grounds, Rockeries and Rookeries. Happily, many of these features were still visible when the gardens transferred into State care in 1991.
“Accordingly, a plan was put in place immediately to undertake restoration and conservation works to the gardens. Looking around the gardens the fruits of this work are visible, in features such as the Yew maze and the Rosarium with its period collection of roses pre-dating 1865. The two fountains, restored in 1994, form a magnificent centerpiece in the gardens.” [18]
Legend tell us that an elephant is buried near the sunken lawn. It may have been used for dissection in the medical school or by a veterinarian, or else could have died in Dublin zoo. However, no remains have ever been found so its presence may be an urban myth.
General Enquiries: 01 453 5984, kilmainhamgaol@opw.ie
from OPW website:
“Kilmainham Gaol is one of the largest unoccupied gaols in Europe. It opened in 1796 as the new county gaol for Dublin and finally shut its doors as such in 1924. During that period it witnessed some of the most heroic and tragic events in Ireland’s emergence as a modern nation.
“Among those detained – and in some cases executed – here were leaders of the rebellions of 1798, 1803, 1848, 1867 and 1916, as well as members of the Irish republican movement during the War of Independence and Civil War.
“Names like Henry Joy McCracken [founder of the United Irishmen. He entered the Gaol on the 11th of October 1796 and was hanged two years later], Robert Emmet [United Irishman, hung in 1803], Anne Devlin [friend of Robert Emmet, spent two years in Kilmainham Gaol] and Charles Stewart Parnell [leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party at Westminster, and many of his fellow MPs were detained in Kilmainham after their open rejection of the Land Act introduced by the British government in 1881. Parnell was imprisoned in Kilmainham from October 1881 to May 1882] will always be associated with the building. Not to be forgotten, however, are the thousands of men, women and children that Kilmainham held in its capacity as county gaol.
“Kilmainham Gaol is now a major museum. The tour of the prison includes an audio-visual presentation.“
The Gaol was closed as a convict prison in 1910 and handed over to the British Army. It was closed for good as a prison in 1924.
“The Easter Rising of 1916 was devised to take place at a time when the British were distracted by fighting the Great War on the continent. Led by members of the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, with support from the Irish Citizen Army, the Irish Volunteers, and Cumann na mBan, the rebels seized key sites in Dublin on the 24th of April 1916. It began with a reading of the Proclamation of the Republic by Patrick Pearse. Fighting lasted for six days, until the British Army suppressed the rebellion and Pearse surrendered.
“James Connolly was badly wounded and brought to Dublin Castle. Patrick Pearse was brought to Arbour Hill, before transferring to where the rest of the leaders were located, in Richmond Barracks. There they were court-martialled and sentenced to death. They were transferred to Kilmainham Gaol. Here, they were visited by loved ones, and wrote their final goodbyes. It was also here that another leader, Joseph Plunkett, married Grace Gifford in the Gaol chapel the night before he was shot. Between the 3rd and 12th of May 1916, fourteen men were executed by firing squad in the Stonebreakers’ Yard of Kilmainham Gaol. Seven of them had been the signatories of the Proclamation. These were Thomas Clarke, Seán Mac Diarmada, Thomas MacDonagh, Patrick Pearse, Éamonn Ceannt, James Connolly, and Joseph Plunkett.” [23]
General enquiries: (01) 804 0300, botanicgardens@opw.ie
From the OPW website:
“The National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, just 3 kilometres from Dublin city centre, are renowned for the exquisite plant collections held there. They are home to over 15,000 plant species and cultivars from a variety of habitats from all around the world.
“The jewel in the gardens’ crown is a set of exquisitely restored and planted historic glasshouses. Most notable among these are Richard Turner’s Curvilinear Range and the Great Palm House, both winners of an award for excellence in conservation architecture.
“Conservation plays an important role in the life of the gardens and Glasnevin is home to over 300 endangered plant species, 6 of which are already extinct in the wild.
“The gardens have been closely associated with their counterpart in Kilmacurragh, County Wicklow, since 1854. Unlike the Wicklow branch, though, they provide a calm and beautiful green space in the midst of the nation’s capital.“
“In 1790, the Irish Parliament, with the active support of the Speaker of the House, John Foster, granted funds to the Dublin Society (now the Royal Dublin Society), to establish a public botanic garden.
“In 1795, the Gardens were founded on lands at Glasnevin…The original purpose of the Gardens was to promote a scientific approach to the study of agriculture. In its early years the Gardens demonstrated plants that were useful for animal and human food and medicine and for dyeing but it also grew plants that promoted an understanding of systematic botany or were simply beautiful or interesting in themselves.
By the 1830s, the agricultural purpose of the Gardens had been overtaken by the pursuit of botanical knowledge.
“This was facilitated by the arrival of plants from around the world and by closer contact with the great gardens in Britain, notably Kew and Edinburgh and plant importers such as Messrs. Veitch. By 1838, the basic shape of the Gardens had been established. Ninian Niven as Curator had, in four years, laid out the system of roads and paths, and located many of the garden features that are present today. [Niven had formerly been head gardener at the Chief Secretary’s Lodge in the Phoenix Park, now the residence of the American Ambassador to Ireland).
“The ever increasing plant collection, and especially plants from tropical areas, demanded more and more protected growing conditions and it was left to Niven’s successor, David Moore, to develop the glasshouse accommodation. Richard Turner the great Dublin iron-master, had already supplied an iron house to Belfast Gardens, and he persuaded the Royal Dublin Society that such a house would be a better investment than a wooden house. So indeed it has proved.
“…Moore used the great interest in plants that existed among the estate owners and owners of large gardens in Ireland to expand trial grounds for rare plants not expected to thrive at Glasnevin. The collections at Kilmacurragh, Headford, and Fota, for example, attest to this.
“It was David Moore who first noted potato blight in Ireland at Glasnevin on 20th August 1845, and predicted that the impact on the potato crop would lead to famine in Ireland….
A development plan for the Gardens, published in 1992, led to a dramatic programme of restoration and renewal.
“Primary amongst these was the magnificent restoration of the Turner Curvilinear Range of glasshouses completed for the bicentenary of the Garden in 1995. A new purpose-built herbarium/library was opened in 1997. The 18th century Director’s House and the Curator’s House have been refurbished. New service glasshouses and compost storage bays have been built. Additional lecture rooms for the Teagasc Course in Amenity Horticulture were opened in 1999. Improved visitor and education facilities have been provided in a new Visitor Centre. In tandem with the restoration and expansion of the buildings, upgrading of the collections and displays has also been in progress. The work of plant identification and classification, of documenting, labelling and publishing continues, as does that of education and service to the visiting public.
“The Botanic Gardens came into state care in 1878 and since then have been administered variously by the Department of Art and Industry, the Department of Agriculture, Dúchas the Heritage Service of the Department of Arts, Heritage the Gaeltacht and the Islands, and the Office of Public Works (OPW), which currently has responsibility for the Gardens.” [20]
The gardens include an extensive arboretum as well as rockery, herbaceous border, alpine house, rose garden and woodland garden.
Phoenix Park in snow, 1969, photograph from Dublin City Library archive. [see 5]
General Enquiries: 01 821 3021, superintendent.park@opw.ie
One would think it was named for the bird that rose from the flames, but in fact its name comes from the Irish phrase “Fionn Uisce” meaning “clear water.”
A neolithic burial chamber was discovered in the park in 1838, and the grave of a Viking woman.
“It was originally formed as a royal hunting Park in the 1660s [by James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, for King Charles II] and opened to the public in 1747. A large herd of fallow deer still remain to this day. The Park is also home to the Zoological Gardens, Áras an Uachtaráin, and Victorian flower gardens. The Phoenix Park is only a mile and a half from O’Connell Street. Both passive and active recreational pursuits may be viewed or pursued such as walking, running, polo, cricket, hurling, and many more. The Glen Pond is set in very scenic surrounds in the Furry Glen. There are many walks and cycle trails available to the public.“
“The Phoenix Park is open 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week, all year round.”
“The 4th Earl of Chesterfield [Philip Stanhope] was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in January 1745, and is credited with initiating a series of landscape works, many of which were probably not completed until after his short tenure, having been recalled to London more than a year later. These included considerable replanting of the Park as well as planting of trees on either side of the main avenue and the erection of the Phoenix Column in 1747. He is also credited with opening the Park to the public.
“The dominant eighteenth-century managerial and infrastructural characteristics of the Phoenix Park were reflected in the extensive use of the Park by the military and the number of lodges used by government officers and other lesser officials involved in Park management. Apart from the use of the Park for military manoeuvres and practices, there were also a number of military institutions which included the Royal Hibernian Military School (1766) for children who were orphaned, or whose father was on active military service abroad. The Magazine Fort, constructed in 1736 with additions in 1756, was a major military institution from which small arms, munitions and gunpowder were distributed to other military barracks in the Dublin area. Mountjoy Cavalry Barracks (formerly the home of Luke Gardiner, one of the Keepers of the Park) and the Royal Military Infirmary were two further buildings constructed during the eighteenth century, in 1725 and 1786 respectively. The role of the Salute Battery (for firing cannon on Royal and other special occasions), situated in the environs of the Wellington Testimonial, was discontinued, and the lands it occupied within the Park subsequently became known as the Wellington Fields, and on which the Wellington Testimonial was erected.
“All the important lodges and accompanying demesnes, which were originally occupied by Park Rangers or Keepers, were purchased for Government use as private dwellings for the chief officers of state. These included the Viceregal Lodge for the Lord Lieutenant (now Áras an Uachtaráin), the Chief Secretary’s Residence (now the residence of the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland [called Deerfield]) and the Under-Secretary’s Residence (subsequently the Papal Nunciature and now the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre [Ashtown Castle, next to a Victorian walled kitchen garden]).
“The beginning of the nineteenth century saw the Park in a much-neglected state with poor drainage, the roads in bad order, and most of the trees very old and/or in a state of decay. However with the Commissioners of Woods and Forests taking over the management of the public areas of the Park and the employment of the renowned architect/landscape architect, Decimus Burton, all this was about to change. Burton produced a master plan for the Park which included the building of new gate lodges, the removal and levelling of old hedgerows and shooting butts, tree planting in strategic locations, drainage, the restoration of the boundary wall, creation and realignment of the Park roads, which included Chesterfield Avenue. This latter project involved the relocation of the Phoenix Column on the main avenue. Burton’s involvement for nearly two decades represents the greatest period of landscape change since the Park’s creation by the Duke of Ormond.
“…From the 1830s and particularly after the 1860s, sporting and recreational activities became prominent. The Royal Dublin Zoological Society opened Dublin Zoo in 1830. The Promenade Grounds opened in 1840 (later to be known as the People’s Garden) and were considerably improved in the 1860s with the addition of a Head Gardener’s House, rock garden, and horticultural facilities to allow for flower production for planting in the Gardens. Between the People’s Garden and Dublin Zoo, a bandstand and tearooms were built in the final decade of the nineteenth century.” [21]
Phoenix Park People’s Garden, 1971, photograph from Dublin City Library archive. [see 5]
Next to the visitor’s centre is a Victorian Walled Garden.
An area in the park is designated as People’s Flower Garden:
“A 9-hectare section of the massive Phoenix Park is given over to this enclosed and immaculately manicured Victorian flower garden.
“The garden was laid out and opened in the mid-nineteenth century as the Promenade Grounds. It provides an opportunity to enjoy the horticulture of that era at its best. A large ornamental lake with various fowl, a children’s playground, picnic areas and Victorian bedding schemes are just some of the attractions you will come across here.
“Whether you’re looking to relax in the sun, have a picnic or simply take a pleasant walk, don’t miss this enchanting portion of the capital’s largest green space.“
Phoenix Park People’s Garden, 1959, photograph from Dublin City Library archive. [see 5]
General Enquiries: 01 493 9462, rathfarnhamcastle@opw.ie
From the OPW website:
“The castle at Rathfarnham dates back to the Elizabethan period. It was built [around 1583] for Adam Loftus, a Yorkshire clergyman and politician [1533-1605]. Loftus was ambitious and eventually rose to become Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
“Loftus’s castle, with its four flanker towers, is an excellent example of the Elizabethan fortified house in Ireland. In the late eighteenth century, the house was remodelled on a splendid scale employing some of the finest architects of the day including Sir William Chambers and James ‘Athenian’ Stuart. The collection includes family portraits by Angelica Kauffman, Sir Peter Lely, and Hugh Douglas Hamilton.“
In Irish, ‘Kil Maignenn’ means Maignenn’s church, and the area takes its name from that saint, who established a church and monastery here around AD 606. After Strongbow’s arrival in Ireland, the land was granted to the Knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem, who established a priory here.
From the OPW website:
“The building as we know it today was begun in 1680. Leading architects such as William Robinson, Thomas Burgh and Francis Johnson made it the starting point for Dublin’s development into a city of European standing.
“Inspired by Les Invalides in Paris, the building was to be a retirement home for old soldiers. Over the next 247 years, thousands of army pensioners lived out their final days within its walls.
“In 1991, the Royal Hospital Kilmainham became home to the Irish Museum of Modern Art.” [22]
General Enquiries: 01 677 0088, staudoenschurch@opw.ie
From the OPW website:
“Nestled in the heart of the walled medieval city of Dublin, St Audoen’s Church is the only remaining medieval parish church in the capital. It is dedicated to the seventh-century bishop of Rouen and patron saint of Normandy.
“St Audoen’s Church was crucial to the life of the medieval city. Here papal bulls were pronounced and public penances carried out. The Guild Chapel of St Ann houses an award-winning exhibition on the importance of St Audoen’s to medieval Dublin.
“Visitors to St Audoen’s can examine the part of the church still in use by the Church of Ireland. They can also view the stunning fifteenth-century tomb to Baron Portlester and his wife.“
The church is dedicated to St Ouen the 7th century bishop of Rouen and patron saint of Normandy, and was built in 1190 to replace an earlier structure. It is said to have the oldest bells in Ireland with three bells dating from 1423 hanging in the tower. In the main porch is stored an early Christian gravestone known as the Lucky Stone which has been kept here since 1309.
The OPW restored and re-roofed St Anne’s Guild Chapel, which had been without a roof since 1826. This chapel dates back to the time of Henry VI of England, who in 1430 authorised the erection of a chantry here, to be dedicated to St. Anne. The story of this Guild is fascinating as it had most of Dublin’s most important businessmen as its members. After Henry VIII made Protestantism the state religion, the Catholic members of St Anne’s Guild had to have meetings and Catholic masses in secret. They held much property, as wealthy patrons gave land to the church and guild as a way to curry favour in heaven, and so Guild members took to hiding the property deeds to the St Anne’s Guild.
An article written for the OPW tells us more about St. Anne’s Guild:
“Medieval Christians believed that only the truly saintly would enter heaven after death. Others had to spend time in purgatory to purify their souls. The idea of purgatory became widely accepted after 1290, when a chantry house or lay religious guild was established after the death of Queen Eleanor of Castile to pray for her soul. Masses sung or said for a person after death, especially on the anniversary of their death, would speed the journey through purgatory and into heaven. People regularly left money in their wills to provide for these masses.
“Christians came together in sodalities and fraternities to support each other in praying for their dead relatives. St Anne’s Guild, based in St Audoen’s Church, grew out of this movement. There were about six religious guilds in medieval Dublin. St Anne’s is the most well known and probably the most long lived of these.The guild was formally established by charter in 1430, but property deeds relating to the work of the guild go back as far as 1285. The purpose of the guild was to fund chaplains in St Audoen’s church to pray for dead guild members’ souls. Financial support for St Anne’s guild during a person’s lifetime or in their will, was a form of spiritual insurance; your soul would be cared for after your death...
“…All masters and wardens were drawn from the elite of medieval Dublin; Mayors of Dublin, Alderman of Dublin Corporation, Recorders of Dublin (chief magistrates), freemen, citizens, chaplains, knights or merchants. This connection to powerful people was one of the factors that enabled the guild to survive and thrive even through the Reformation.
“…Some of the wealthier members of the guild paid fees to St Audoen’s church so that they could be buried within the walls of the church.
“…Perhaps the most well know endowment at St Audoen’s church was from Sir Roland FitzEustace, Lord of Portlester in 1482. He funded a private chapel to the south east of the church, which was named the Portlester Chapel. FitzEustace was Lord Chancellor of Ireland and it is said he made the donation in thanks for being saved during a perilous sea journey. He also bequeathed a life size cenotaph of himself and his wife Margaret, least anyone forget his generosity. Probably as a gesture of appreciation, St Anne’s guild granted him a messuage; this medieval term referred to a property with buildings, outbuildings, a garden and an orchard. It was located close to St Audoen’s Church and was granted for his and his son’s lifetime.” [23]
The roof of the Portlester Chapel was removed in the 17th century, and the tomb was removed and can be seen in the main porch. The church still holds a weekly Church of Ireland service.
“In 1534, the guild acquired Blakeney’s Inn, located to the east of St Audoen’s Church. The guild purchased the Inn from James Blakeney of Rykynhore in exchange for cash and lands at Saucereston, near Rykynhore in the parish of Swords. The Inn is described as having a garden and a turret. It had been the home of the Blakeney family whose ancestors John and James Blakeney had been among the founders of the guild over a hundred years before. The building was renamed the College of St Anne and was used as accommodation for the guild chaplains. Parts of the College were also rented out to raise income.
“The building is long gone and St Audoen’s Catholic church stands in its place today.
“…From 1541, the new Protestant religion was promoted in Ireland. Henry VIII abolished lay religious guilds across England. Many in Ireland, including St Anne’s Guild, managed to survive. The new Protestant religion, with King Henry VIII at its head, rejected the doctrine of purgatory. This had been a core part of the existence of St Anne’s Guild. Many of the rituals at the core of St Anne’s Guild, such as veneration of shrines, were called into question by the new religion. With the dissolution of the monasteries (1536-41), St Anne’s guild lost some of its properties, such as the lands rented from St Mary’s Abbey. However, they did manage to salvage some lands in Kilmainham that were leased out to the prior of the Hospital of St John.
“Wealthy parishioners continued to support St Anne’s guild and leave money and property in their wills. Chaplains continue to be appointed each year and the property portfolio continued to grow. Affiliation to St Anne’s guild was initially able to transcend the differences between Catholics and Protestants; the guild was able to accommodate both. St Audoen’s Church had been appropriated for Anglican services after 1540s and Catholic services were fully transferred to St Anne’s College by 1611. St Anne’s College was later appropriated by the St Audoen’s Protestant parish clergy and renamed St Audoen’s College.“
“..Conscious that they were coming under attack from the state and established church, the guild recorded the minutes of their meetings meticulously. From 1591, measures were taken to secure all the property deeds of the guild. They were put in a stout chest locked with three keys. The keys were held by the wardens and a senior guild member; all three needed to be present to open it...
“There were many Catholics and recusants, those who refused to adopt the new state Protestant religion, among the membership of the guild. Walter Sedgrave, guild master in 1593, had been arrested for supporting the rebellion of Viscount Baltinglass in the early 1580s and was known to protect priests in his home. Michael Chamberlain, guild master from 1598, and Matthew Handcock, guild warden in 1593, were imprisoned for their recusancy in 1605-6, having refused an order to accompany the governor to Protestant divine service. Catholics Edmund Malone and Nicholas Stephens held guild wardenships from 1605. Stephen’s execution was ordered in 1613 for his leading role in the riot in Dublin after the overturning of the parliamentary election. He was reprieved. Handcock, Malone and Stephens spent the early months of 1606 in prison in Dublin Castle. Guild member, William Talbot, lost his position as Recorder of Dublin because of his refusal to take the Oath of Supremacy. All of these attacks on guild members hindered the administration of the guild. As the guild came under attack, they employed the services of the Lawyer, Henry Burnell. Burnell was also recusant.
“…The decision to refurbish the guild altar in St Audoen’s in 1597 and again in 1605, shows that the shrine was still important to guild members. The hall of St Anne’s college was refurbished in the following years and in 1618 it was said that masses were conducted there – despite being outlawed by the state. Masses were also said in the houses of guild members. It is likely that money paid to Catholic priests was not recorded in the guild accounts. Members of the Sedgrave, Browne and Malone families worked as priests in the Dublin area from 1600-1630 and all had kinfolk in the guild.
“In 1611, the state brought proceedings against the continued existence of St Anne’s Guild, with a view to acquiring the guild’s extensive property portfolio. John Davis, the Attorney General, filed a case against Mathew Hancock, Master, and Nicholas Stephens and Edmond Malone, wardens of St Anne’s Guild. Davis was challenging the practices of St Anne’s Guild; demanding to know the legal basis on which they were founded and challenging their corporate status. The guild successfully relied on the original 1430 charter to defend its right to exist, arguing these rights had been exercised uninterrupted since 1430. The Attorney General argued that this was insufficient to protect their property being seized by the King. But the case seemed to rest there and no action was taken.
“…The argument that the guild was being used to support Catholic members, Catholic priests and ultimately a restoration of the Catholic religion was revived in 1634 when the Anglican Vicar of Christchurch, Reverend Thomas Lowe presented his case to the Archbishop of Dublin. Lowe claimed that a Papal Bull from Pope Pius V dating to 1568-9 was found in the papers of Richard and Christopher Fagan; directing the assets of St Anne’s guild be applied only to the benefit of Catholics. He revived the argument that the guild assets were being divided between its own members, Jesuit priests and popish friars. He also accused the guild of swallowing up all the church means to the detriment of the parish church that was in need of funds.
“Lowe delivered the documents as proof of wrong-doing to The Lord Deputy of Ireland, Thomas Wentworth, in Dublin Castle. Wentworth had already been involved in a wholesale attempt to seize the assets of Irish Catholics. He sought to have these ‘secret misappropriated livings’ returned to the Anglican church. He ordered that the records of the guild be inspected to investigate their expenditure since 1603. The records showed that St Anne’s guild had investments worth over 800 pounds and were only giving a small part of that to the parish church. They attempted to seize some of the guild property for use by the parish church and imposed thirty Protestant luminaries as members of the guild. They also seize the property of St Anne’s College for the use of Anglican priests and renamed it St Audoen’s College. This attempted coup of St Anne’s Guild failed, probably because of the religious upheaval throughout the country at the time. While this attempt to close the guild failed, the membership was now mostly Protestant.
“Lord Deputy Wentworth was recalled to London for ‘high misdemeanours’ and the charges against him specifically refer to his treatment of St Anne’s Guild. Within months, he was taken to the Tower of London where he was executed on the 12th May 1641. Despite the fate of Lord Deputy Wentworth, Reverend Lowe continued his persecution of St Anne’s Guild.“
Thomas Wentworth, the 1st Earl of Strafford (1593-1641).
“…After 1690, Catholics were excluded from holding the roles of master or warden of the guild. In 1695, the assets of the guild were handed over to four trustees; Archbishop Narcissus Marsh, Rev. John Finglass, William Molyneux and Christopher Usher. The trustees later sold a large part of the property portfolio to the Wide Streets Commission for clearance prior to the layout of new wider streets in Dublin.
“The Charitable work continued through this time with funds used for the relief of poverty, the upkeep of the Blue Coat school, the upkeep of the church and the freeing of Christian slaves in Algeria and the Turkish Empire.
Blackhall Place, Dublin, or The Blue Coat School, by Thomas Ivory, 2019.
“Throughout the 18th century, the guild continued its charitable works under the watchful eye of the prebend of St Audoen’s Church. They met every year on the 26th July for their members banquet. Membership remained principally Protestant, although some small number of Catholic families continued to be members. The bonds of friendship between the families still in the guild remained strong and they continued to dispense relief from poverty and distress in a spirit of civic welfare and solidarity.
“The Accounts of the Guild of St Anne shows that guild members continued to collect rents and pay out grants up to 1779. The final property transaction in their records dates to 1817, although some small number of their properties were retained by St Audoen’s Church right up to recent years. In 1773, the parish clergy ordered the removal of the roof at the east side of the chapel, including the Portlester Chapel; the cost of maintaining the building was beyond the means of the church. In 1820, they removed the roof from St Anne’s Chapel for the same reason. In 1835, an act of parliament abolished what remained of the medieval guilds but by then St Anne’s had already ceased operation.” [23]
Photograph from the National Library of Ireland.The arch and old city walls, St. Audoen’s, 1954 photograph from Dublin City Library and Archives. [see 5]
Pearse Museum, St Enda’s Park, Dublin, photograph 2021 by Aoife O’Neill_Aidona Photography for Fáilte Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. (see [2])
General Enquiries: 01 493 4208, pearsemuseum@opw.ie
From the OPW website:
“The Pearse Museum in St Enda’s Park is where the leader of the 1916 Rising, Patrick Pearse, lived and operated his pioneering Irish-speaking school from 1910 to 1916.
“Set in nearly 20 hectares of attractive parkland in Rathfarnham, Dublin, the museum tells the story of Patrick Pearse and his brother Willie, both of whom were executed for their part in the 1916 Rising. Here you can peruse a fascinating exhibition on Pearse’s life and wander through the historic rooms where he, his family and his students once lived and worked.
“The romantic landscape surrounding the museum contains a wild river valley, forested areas and some enchanting eighteenth- and nineteenth-century follies.” The follies were built by two generations of the Hudson family.
and
“Edward Hudson, the State Dentist and a Doctor of Physic, signed a lease on the lands known as the ‘Fields of Odin’ in Rathfarnham which were owned by Thomas Connolly of Castletown House in Co. Kildare on 2 April, 1786. He had a home and business premises on St. Stephen’s Green but he also built the house which now houses the Pearse Museum as a country retreat and appropriately named it ‘The Hermitage’.“
We stayed in the country house of Edward Hudson in Cork in 2020, Glenville Park, which later became the home of Mark Bence-Jones.
“Across the road was The Priory, the home of the famous lawyer John Philpot Curran. His daughter, Sarah, was the sweetheart of the rebel Robert Emmet. Legend has it that Hudson allowed the two young lovers to meet in the grounds of the Hermitage away from the disapproving stares of her father. It was this story which first drew Pearse to this area of Rathfarnham in the summer of 1910.
“Edward Hudson was a very learned man with a passionate interest in science and the ancient past. This interest is reflected in the garden monuments and follies which are dotted around the park, many of which were built in imitation of ancient Irish field monuments, including the ogham stone which bears his name. His son William Elliot shared his father’s fascination with Irish history, and in particular the Irish language. He was a founder of the Celtic Society and was a friend of Thomas Davis. He was a lawyer and was involved in the defence of the Young Irelanders, Thomas Francis Meagher and William Smith O’Brien, following their rebellion in 1848. He sold The Hermitage to a legal colleague, Justice Richard Moore, in 1847. Ironically it was Moore who eventually passed sentence on Meagher and Smith O’Brien.
“From Justice Moore the property came into the ownership of Major Richard Doyne, a veteran of the Crimean War, who purchased it in 1859. It was then inherited by his son, Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Kavanagh Doyne, who spent much of his life serving with the British Army in India. In 1898, two years before his death, he sold The Hermitage to William Woodbyrne who had made his fortune in the diamond mines of South Africa. Woodbyrne made many improvements to the grounds, including the creation of the ornamental lake. He never lived in the house as his wife contracted tuberculosis and they had to move to a warmer climate. Instead he rented the house to a series of tenants, including Pearse.
“One other tenant of particular note was Sir Neville Chamberlain, a former officer in the British army in India and the person credited with the invention of the game of snooker. He moved into The Hermitage in 1900 when he was appointed Chief Inspector of the Royal Irish Constabulary, the police force of Ireland at the time. In an amazing historic coincidence, Sir Neville was head of the RIC in 1916 when Pearse led the Rising against British rule in Ireland!
“Surrounded by fifty acres of landscaped parkland, the museum is located in the former home and school of Patrick Pearse, the leader of the 1916 Rising. He founded his school, Scoil Éanna, in 1908 in Cullenswood House, Ranelagh. His initial interest in education stemmed from his involvement in the Gaelic League and the Irish language movement. However he very quickly became passionate about education and its possibilities. His ideas were progressive and radical and he had little time for the exam-focused education system of the time. He felt that schools should nurture the talents of all their pupils, even if those talents lay outside the traditional school subjects.
“For Pearse the key to real learning was inspiration, and he felt that to be a success his school needed a suitably inspiring setting. He was anxious to find a home for his school which would allow his pupils direct access to the natural world. He discovered The Hermitage in Rathfarnham in 1910 while on a historical pilgrimage of sites associated with the revolutionary Robert Emmet. Nestled in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains, it was the ideal location for his school.
“The house was also Patrick Pearse’s family home. His mother, brother and sisters all assisted in the running of the school. In 1916 he and his brother William left to fight in the 1916 Rising, never to return. Pearse was the leader of the uprising and the author of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. He also oversaw the surrender once all hope of victory was lost. While revolution was raging in Dublin, his mother and sisters waited for news in Rathfarnham. It was there that they heard that both brothers were to be executed. His mother and eldest sister lived on in the house and ran the school there until 1935. Following the death of Pearse’s last surviving sister in 1968, the house and grounds were handed over to the state with the provision that they be used as a memorial to the lives of Patrick and William Pearse. The Pearse Museum was then opened to the public in 1979.” [25]
General Enquiries: 01 475 7816, info@heritageireland.ie
from the OPW website:
“In the very centre of Dublin’s shopping district lies one of Ireland’s best-known public parks.
“Lord Ardilaun [Arthur Edward Guinness, 1st and last Baron Ardilaun of Ashford (1840-1915)] opened it for the citizens of the city in 1880. This 9-hectare green space has been maintained in its original Victorian layout, with extensive tree and shrub planting and spectacular spring and summer bedding. The herbaceous border provides vibrant colour from early spring to late autumn.
“It boasts over 3.5 kilometres of accessible pathways. The waterfall and Pulham rockwork on the western side of the green are well worth a visit. So is the ornamental lake, which provides a home for waterfowl. Several sculptures are located throughout the green, including the James Joyce Memorial Sculpture and a fine specimen by Henry Moore.
“A children’s playground in the park is always popular and, if you visit at lunchtime during the summer months, you might even catch a free concert.”
“The name St Stephen’s Green originates from a church called St Stephen’s in that area in the thirteenth century. Attached to the church was a leper hospital. Around this time the area was a marshy piece of common ground, which extended as far as the River Dodder and was used by the citizens of the city for grazing livestock.
“In 1663 the City Assembly decided that the plot of ground could be used to generate income for the city and a central area of twenty-seven acres was marked out which would define the park boundary, with the remaining ground being let out into ninety building lots. Rent generated was to be used to build walls and paving around the Green. Each tenant also had to plant six sycamore trees near the wall, in order to establish some privacy within the park. In 1670 the first paid gardeners were employed to tend to the park.“
“The Green became a particularly fashionable place during the eighteenth century, owing mainly to the opening of Grafton Street in 1708 and Dawson Street in 1723, and the construction of desirable properties in and around this area. The Beaux Walk situated along the northern perimeter of the park became a popular location for high society to promenade. Lewis’ Dublin Guide of 1787 describes the Beaux Walk as being a scene of elegance and taste. Other walks found in the park included the French Walk found along the western perimeter of the park, and Monk’s Walk and Leeson’s Walk located along the eastern and southern boundaries of the park respectively.
“By the nineteenth century the condition of the park had deteriorated to such an extent that the perimeter wall was broken, and many trees were to be found in bad condition around the park. In 1814 commissioners representing the local householders were handed control of the park. They replaced the broken wall with ornate Victorian railings and set about planting more trees and shrubs in the park. New walks were also constructed to replace the formal paths previously found in the park. However with these improvements, the Green then became a private park accessible only to those who rented keys to the park from the Commission, despite the 1635 law which decreed that the park was available for use by all citizens. This move was widely resented by the public.“
“Sir Arthur Guinness, later known as Lord Ardilaun, grew up in Iveagh House located on St Stephen’s Green, and came from a family well noted for its generosity to the Dublin public. In 1877 Sir Arthur offered to buy the Green from the commission and return it to the public. He paid off the park’s debts and secured an Act which ensured that the park would be managed by the Commissioners of Public Works, now the OPW.
“Sir Arthur’s next objective was to landscape the park, and provide an oasis of peace and tranquility in the city. He took an active part in the design of the redeveloped park, and many of the features in the park are said to have been his suggestions. The main features of the redeveloped park included a three-acre lake with a waterfall, picturesquely-arranged Pulham rockwork, and a bridge, as well as formal flower beds, and fountains. The superintendent’s lodge was designed with Swiss shelters. It is estimated the redevelopment of the park cost £20,000.
“After three long years of construction work, and without a formal ceremony the park reopened its gates on 27th of July 1880, to the delight of the public of Dublin.” [26]
[6] p. 8, Marnham, Niamh. An Introduction to the Architectural Heritage of Dublin South City. Published by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, 2017.
[8] p. 6, Marnham, Niamh. An Introduction to the Architectural Heritage of Dublin South City. Published by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, 2017.
[10] p. 9, Marnham, Niamh. An Introduction to the Architectural Heritage of Dublin South City. Published by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, 2017.
Bibliography: Berry, H. (1904) History of the Religious Guild of St Anne in St Audoen’s Church Dublin 1430- 1740, Taken from its records in the Haliday collection, R.I.A. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature. Volumn 25 (1904/1905) pp. 21- 106. Empey, A. (2002) The layperson in the parish: the medieval inheritance, 1169-1536 , in The Laity and the Church of Ireland 1000-2000 eds. Gillespie,R. and Neely, W.G. Four Court Press, Dublin Lennon, C. (2017) Charitable Property: The Manuscripts of St Anne’s Guild, Dublin. RIA lecture available: https://www.ria.ie/charitable-property-manuscripts-st-annes-guild-dublin Lennon, C. (2011) ‘The Fraternity of St Anne in St Audoen’s parish, Dublin’, in Salvador Ryan & Brendan Leahy (eds), Treasures of Irish Christianity: people and places, images and texts (Dublin: Veritas, 2012), pp 116–18. Lennon, C. (1990) The Chantries in the Irish Reformation: the case of St Anne’s Guild, Dublin, 1550-1630 in Comerford, R.V., Cullen, M, Hill, J and Lennon, C. Religious Conflict and Coexistence in Ireland, 1990 published by Gill and Macmillian Ltd. Dublin McMahon, M (2006) St Audoen’s Church, Cornmarket, Dublin: Archaeology and Architecture. The Stationary Office, Dublin ‘The Case of St Anne’s Guild’ from National Library of Ireland LO2337
Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!
€15.00
Very Top of Primrose Lane, Lucan, Co. Dublin, eircode K78C1W9
Open dates in 2026: Feb 1-28, June 1-30, July 1-7, Aug 15-23, 2pm-6pm
The Revenue Section 482 list is still not published for 2025! However, Primrose Hill in Dublin, one of the properties that has been on the list in previous years is open to the public this month, February 2025, as I saw it mentioned in the Irish Times. Robin Hall, the owner, opens his gardens in February to share his snowdrop collection. Plants are also available for sale.
Stephen and I planned to visit yesterday, and Stephen took the day off work, but it was too cold and windy! We didn’t feel like braving the elements. But we visited this property during Heritage Week in 2013. I went with my husband Stephen and my late father Desmond.
We were not allowed in to the house, but just the gardens. In recent years, the house should have been open to visitors as it was on the Section 482 list. Perhaps it will be on again this year, so we can visit later in the year.
The house was built some time around 1790. It is a five bay two-storey villa with a full-height three-sided bow front that contains the central three bays. It has two-storey bowed projections on north-east and south-east elevations. [1]
The windows are timber sash windows with stone sills. The panelled door has a pretty leaded fanlight and side lights, set into a simple round-headed stone archway with prominet keystone.
Primrose Hill, courtesy National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
To my surprise, the National Inventory tells us that several of the architectural features present have been attributed to James Gandon! The features include the front bay addition to the north-west with an original staircase. It may indeed be the case, as Gandon lived in Lucan after he moved to Dublin to build the new Custom House.
James Gandon (1743-1823), courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.
James Gandon (1742-1823) was an English architect who had been apprenticed to William Chambers (who designed the Casino in Marino, Dublin). Gandon travelled to Ireland at the request of John Beresford and John Dawson, 2nd Viscount Carlow (afterwards Earl of Portarlington) to design a new Custom House (see my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/01/21/office-of-public-works-properties-dublin/ ).
Custom House photograph taken 1971, Dublin City Library archives.
Gandon brought his family and he remained in Ireland for the rest of his life apart from a brief absence during the troubled times of 1798-99, when he thought it safer to remove his household to London. The family first lived in a house on Mecklenburgh Street in Dublin, and later, he moved to Canonbrook in Lucan, outside the city of Dublin. [2]
Gandon also designed the Four Courts in Dublin. Like Edward Lovett Pearce, he favoured Palladian and neoclassical design. One of his most prestigious commissions, which came in 1785, was to extend Pearce’s Houses of Parliament. He built the curved screen wall which links his new Corinthian portico for the House of Lords facing College Street to Pearce’s original building.
Gandon worked for the Wide Street Commissioners and designed the facades for the shops at ground floor of D’Olier Street, Burgh Quay and some surrounding streets.
Gandon designed several private houses in Ireland, including Abbeville in County Dublin (later home to politician Charles Haughey), for John Beresford. In Dublin he designed Emsworth in Malahide in 1794 for James Woodmason, a London stationer who became involved in banking in Dublin, and Roslyn Park for the painter William Ashford.
Emsworth in Malahide, designed by James Gandon in 1794.Abbeville, Malahide, County Dublin, courtesy of Sherry Fitzgerald and TheJournal.ie
Primrose Hill was part of the Lucan House demesne. South Dublin City Council recently purchased Lucan House, which was formerly the residence of the Italian ambassador.
Lucan House, photograph courtesy of South Dublin City Council.Primrose Hill is part of its original demesne.Agmondisham Vesey acted as his own architect, while consulting with Sir William Chambers, and also James Wyatt and Michael Stapleton, with regard to the interior.
In the early part of the last century, the house was known as The Manse, and was home to the local Presbyterian Minister, one notable tenant being Dr. James Irwin – a friend of DeValera’s, who had a considerable input in the Irish Constitution. [3]
Kenneth and Cicely Hall purchased Primrose Hill in 1958, and it is now owned by their son Robin Hall. The Gardens of Ireland website tells us about Primrose Hill:
“The 2.5 ha garden has been created by Robin Hall and the late Cicely Hall, and is more of a botanical garden with a strong sense of design and subtle colour schemes. The plant collection has been created from gardens past and present with an eye to growing plants with a challenge. There is also a spring garden with one of the finest collections of plants in Ireland, excluding trees and shrubs and is particularly recommended to see in the three months we are open which are February, June and July.
“The gardens are flanked with fields with a developing arboretum and there is a very pretty driveway with mature trees leading to the house.
“There have been four generations of keen gardeners in the family and some of the plants at Primrose Hill have been in the family for over 100 years.” [4]
We had a lovely afternoon wandering in the gardens. An article in the Irish Times from 1997 by Jane Powers tells us more about the garden:
“Robin’s interest in snowdrops was kindled by visits to Beech Park – the garden of the great plantsman, David Shackleton – when he was a boy. “It was during its heyday then and I became very excited when I saw the bulbs.” Later, in his early teens, a bout of middle ear trouble kept him out of school. “We sent him outside to recover,” remembers his mother. “Fresh air was the cure for everything in those days.”
“And so in the fresh air, the young Robin began to amass his little flotillas of trembling white bells. The first of these, came, naturally, from David Shackleton. And from Straffan House on the banks of the Liffey in Kildare came the Irish hybrid “Straffan”, a remarkable plant which produces two flower stalks instead of the customary one.” [5]
Jane Powers’s article concludes: “there is no more dramatic place to view [the snowdrops] than along the drive to the house where hundreds of the common snowdrop are naturalised in the grass under a canopy of beech trees.“
Irish Historic Houses 