The castle at Laragh is possibly one of the many Geoghegan castles in the area. However very little of it remains. A two-storey wall running approximately E-W stands on top of a rocky outcrop at a bend in the road. A small portion of an attached wall projects northwards at the west end of the main ruin. The main wall has two irregular openings, possibly windows, at the upper level, and one opening, possibly a doorway, at the lower level. All worked stone has been removed. There is a great deal of rubble lying between the ruin and the edge of the outcrop. It is possible that removal of part of the outcrop due to construction of the roadway may have contributed to the collapse of part of the castle.
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. 273. “A three bay C18 house with a pedimented breakfront and a high roof.”
Tinnakill House is owned by Dermot Cantillon and Meta Osborne and managed by Ian Thompson.
We keep a resident band of 40+ broodmares and sell foals, yearlings and breeding stock at all the main Irish, UK and French sales.
The farm extends over 215 acres and is situated in a beautiful part of rural Co Laois. We look out on the Slieve Bloom mountains and yet are only 15 minutes from the M9 motorway, with ready access to all the major Irish stallion farms.
We have 53 boxes, (plus a 3-stall isolation unit) 14 all-weather paddocks, lunge ring, horse walker and extensive sheltered paddocks.
Detached three-bay two-storey Georgian house with dormer attic, built c.1770, with pedimented central breakfront and two-storey return to rear. Now in ruins. No roof, originally double-pitched and hipped, with nap rendered brick chimneystack and ashlar coping to pediment. Nap rendered rubble limestone walls with ashlar bands to eaves and to pediment; inscribed plaques/datestones, dated 1874 and 1987. Square-headed window openings with limestone sills, red brick dressings and remains of six-over-six timber sash windows. Round-headed window opening to first floor central breakfront and oculus to pediment. Round-headed door opening with limestone block-and-start doorcase and timber panelled door with fanlight. Interior retains timber panelled internal shutters to window openings; fireplace to first floor with cast-iron hood and stone mantle over. House set back from road in own grounds; semi-circular stone steps to entrance. Group of detached single- and two-storey rubble stone outbuildings to site.
Beside Athlumney are the ruins of Athlumney castle which has a 17th century house attached. It was built in two periods. The older part is a Tower House built in the 15th century. It has three storey and its thick walls and slit windows speak of a time when castles were used for defence and not for comfort. Inside is a spiral staircase with little rooms opening off it. Holes for floor beams remain on the first floor level. The newer part of the castle is attached to the tower to its left. This was built in the late 16th century or early 17th century. It is three storey manor house with four sets of widely spaced mullioned windows. It had large corridors and its ground floor kitchen provided heat for the first floor rooms where the Lord lived. The doorway is cut limestone and there is an oriel window on its eastern wall.
In 1649 when Cromwell was attacking Drogheda, the Maguires who occupied the castle set fire to it to thwart Cromwell. Nearby are the ruins of a 14th century manorial church with triple belfry. In the vicinity there is a motte and bailey.
This is a settlement complex where one can trace the changing forms of a manorial building in Meath since the Norman conquest, it features a motte or artificial hill of the first settlement in the late 12th century.
Athlumney Castle, County Meath, Eason Photographic Collection c. 1912, NLI ref EAS_1732.
Constructed over several centuries – the classic form of the fortified Irish tower house visible as part of the Jacobean mansion. The mid-fifteenth-century tower house, built by the Dowdall family, was considerably enlarged around 1630 by a long, narrow gabled mansion with large mullioned windows and a fine oriel window.
The tower house has four storeys, with an attic and four projecting corner turrets of different sizes containing the stair, latrines and small chambers.
The house was now occupied by the Maguires who in 1649 set fire to the building rather than surrender it to Cromwell’s forces who were scouring the area razing all in their path to the ground. The Castle was again set alight around the time of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and has remained a ruin since.
Three-stage tower house, c.1500. Four-bay three-storey extension, c.1650, with mullioned windows and gables. Burnt in 1649. Now in ruins. Double-pitched roof with tall chimney stacks to extension. Rubble stone walls. National Monument in state care.
‘Immediately approaching Navan, the river [Boyne] makes a bold sweep round the foot of the hill, from which rise up the ruins of Athlumney Castle, the dilapidated towers and tall gables of which shoot above the trees that surround the commanding eminence on which it is placed, while glimpses of its broad, stone-sashed and picturesque windows, of the style of the end of the sixteenth century, are caught through the openings in the plantation which surrounds the height on which it stands. This beautiful pile consists of a large square keep, with stone arched floors and passages rising into a tower, from which a noble view can be obtained on a clear day; and a more modern castellated mansion, with square stone-mullioned windows, tall chimneys and several gables in the side walls.’
‘Of the history of the castle of Athlumney and its adjoining church, there is little known with certainty; but, standing on the left bank of the Boyne, opposite this point, we cannot help recalling the story of the heroism of its last lord, Sir Launcelot Dowdall, who, hearing of the issue of the battle of the Boyne and the fate of the monarch to whose religion and politics his family had been so long attached, and fearing the approach of the victorious English army, declared on the news reaching him, that the Prince of Orange should never rest under his ancestral roof. The threat was carried into execution. Dowdall set fire to his castle at nightfall and, crossing the Boyne, sat down upon its opposite bank, from whence, as tradition reports, he beheld the last timber in his noble mansion blazing and flickering in the calm summer’s night, then crash amidst the smouldering ruins; and when its final eructation of smoke and flame was given forth, and the pale light of morning was stealing over that scene of desolation, with an aching and despairing heart he turned from the once happy scene of his youth and manhood, and, flying to the continent, shortly after his royal master, never returned to this country. All that remained of this castle and estate were forfeited in 1700. Many a gallant Irish soldier lost his life, and many a noble Irish gentleman forfeited his broad lands that day. We wish their cause had been a better one, and the monarch for whom they bled more worthy such an honour.’
‘Tradition gives us another, but by no means so probable story about Athlumney Castle, which refers to an earlier date. It is said that two sisters occupied the ancient castles of Athlumney and Blackcastle, which latter was situated on the opposite bank of the river; and the heroine of the latter, jealous of her rival in Athlumney, took the following means of being revenged…’
‘…She made her enter into an agreement, that to prevent their mansions falling into the hands of Cromwell and his soldiers, they should set fire to them at the same moment, as soon as the news of his approach reached them, and that a fire being lighted upon one was to be the signal for the conflagration of the other. In the mean time, the wily mistress of Blackcastle had a quantity of dry brush-wood placed on one of the towers of the castle which, upon a certain night, she lighted; and the inhabitants of Athlumney perceiving the appointed signal, set fire to their mansion and burned it to the ground. In the morning the deception was manifest. Athlumney was a mass of blackened, smoking ruins; while Blackcastle still reared its proud form above the woods, and still afforded shelter to its haughty mistress.’
Extracts from The Beauties of the Boyne, and its Tributary, The Blackwater by Sir William Wilde (1850)
This is a 15th century tower-house with four storeys plus attic. There are projecting corner towers. The castle has a barrel vault above the ground floor and access to this level is through a modern doorway in the S wall. The original entrance was in the W wall and was protected by a murder-hole leading from a small room below the first floor level.
Access to the upper floors is by a spiral stairway in the NW corner. There is a gallery in the N wall at the upper level of the vault. There is a fireplace at the first floor and a garderobe at the SE corner. A mural stairway in the S wall leads down to the small room from which the murder-hole leads. A mulit-gabled three-storey house is attached at the S and W. It is four bays long with fine mullioned windows and probably dates from the early 17th century. The large fireplace in the S wall is flanked by ovens and there is another oven near the N wall. A projection in the W wall near the S end housed the stairs.
There is an oriel window in the S wall at the first and second floors. The doorway in the E wall has pecked decoration and a small carved knot. The castle ws burned in 1649 by the Maguires to prevent its capture by Cromwell and again in 1690 after the Battle of the Boyne to deny William of Orange.
Athlumney House, dates from the eighteenth century and sits on the east bank of the Boyne, just south of Navan. The Metge family were Huguenot refugees fleeing the persecution of Catholics in France. Peter de la Metgee was the first of the family to arrive in Ireland. Settling at Athlumney he married Joyce Hatch and had four daughters and a son. He died aged 70 in 1735 and was succeeded by his son Peter.
Peter held lands at Athlumney and Warrenstown, Dunboyne. Peter was married to Ann Lyon, a family from which a Queen Mother in England was to descend. On the staircase of Athlumney there were some carved oak ornaments brought over from Glamis Castle by Janet Lyon. They had four sons and eight daughters. Peter Metge died in 1774. Two of his sons served as MPs in the Irish House of Parliament.
Peter Merge, eldest son of Peter Metge of Athlumney, was MP for Ratoath 1783-4 and also served as magistrate and portreeve (Mayor) of Navan. Peter was a lawyer. He served as M.P. for Boyle and became Baron of the Exchequer. Baron Metge was a local commissioner appointed to supervise the Boyne Canal in 1787.
John Metge, second son of Peter Metge of Athlumney, was MP for Ratoath 1784-90. A captain in the 4th Dragoons he acted as Henry Grattan’s second in his famous duel with Corry in 1800. Peter became deputy auditor general of the Irish Treasury. John later went on to represent Dundalk in the parliament in Westminister on three separate occasions. He served as a seatwarmer for the Earl of Roden who was patron of Dundalk. John also acted as a representative for Lord Roden and signed deeds on his behalf.
John inherited Athlumney on the death of his brother, Peter and he was succeeded by his son, Peter Ponsonby. In 1830s Athlumney was home to Peter Ponsonby Metge and was described as “beautifully situated on the banks of the Boyne, commanding some pleasing views and the demesne is well planted and tastefully embellished.” In the 1800s an underground passage, a souterrain, was discovered at Athlumney and featured in many learned books of the era.
In 1876 Peter Ponsonby Metge of Athlumney held 788 acres in county Meath. Peter’s brother, John Charles, settled at Sion and in 1876 J. C. Metge of Sion, Navan held 968 acres in Westmeath.
Peter Ponsonby died in 1873 and was succeeded by his nephew, Robert Henry Metge.
Robert Henry Metge was M.P for Meath from 1880 to 1884. He married Frances Lambart, daughter of Rev. Charles Lambert, rector of Navan and grand-daughter of Gustavus Lambert of Beauparc. Robert Henry died in 1900 and was succeeded by his son, Robert Henry. Another son Captain Rudolph Cole Metge died as a results of wounds suffered during the first World War.
Robert Henry was born in 1875 and married Mary Galway Creagh of Mallow in 1914. Major Robert Henry Metge, fought in the Boer War and was a survivor of the siege of Ladysmith. He served as a captain in the Welsh regiment and was major in the Leinster regiment. When he returned to Athlumney he fished regularly in the Boyne. In 1930 he wrote a letter to the Irish Times complaining of the decline in the fishing stock in the Boyne and its tributaries. Major Metge came into possession of the seal of the corporation of Navan. He lent it to the National Museum but it was later acquired by Randolph Hearst. Metge supported the efforts of Sir Nugent Everard in promoting the growing of tobacco in the county. He also bred pedigree British Berkshire pigs. Major Metge was a member of the Navan branch of the British Legion. His wife died in May 1939.
In the early 1900s Athlumney was leased to a Mr. Collier, owner of Collier’s Weekly and New York magazine. The Duc d’Orleans visited Mr. Collier there. The Duke was the pretender to the throne of France. Some of the Metge Estate was purchased under the 1923 Land Act. Later the house was occupied by the McEntegart and Farrell families.
Metge’s Lane in the centre of Navan commemorates the family today.
Macmine Castle, County Wexford entrance front c. 1900. collection: P.A. Crane, photograph: David Davison, Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 198. (Richards/LGI1912) A C19 castle incorporating an old tower-house…. Now a ruin.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
Tudenham Park (formerly Rochfort), Mullingar, Co Westmeath
Tudenham Park, County Westmeath entrance front 1961, photograph: Hugh Doran, Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.Tudenham Park, County Westmeath, courtesy of Sherry FitzGerald Davitt & Davitt Mullingar.
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. 26. “(Rochfort, sub Belvedere, E/DEP; Hopkins, Bt, of Athboy/PB1860; Tottenham/IFR) p. 26. “(Rochfort, sub Belvedere, E/DEP; Hopkins, Bt, of Athboy/PB1860; Tottenham/IFR) A large three storey block of ca 1742 by the side of Lough Ennell; attributed by the Knight of Glin to Richard Castle. Built for George Rochfort, brother of 1st Earl of Belvedere, who lived alongside him at Belvedere; and who, having quarrelled with him, built a large sham ruin to shut out the view of his brother’s house. Faced with ashlar which appears to have been re-pointed mid-C19. Entrance front with central niche and oculus above a Doric columned doorcase. Side elevations with central curved bows. Large hall with a fireplace on either side; large and lofty reception rooms, some with covered cornices in the style of Robert West. Two storey upper hall with well gallery and glass dome which, like the staircase widow, was reglazed with stained glass. Terrace near house overlooking the water. Immense Victorian entrance gates, railing and lodge. Sold ca 1836 to Sir Francis Hopkins, 2nd Bt, who left it to his sister, Anna Maria, wife of N.L. Tottenham; its name was subsequently changed from Rochfort to Tudenham Park. Used as a hospital during WWI, and occupied by the military in WWII. Stood empty and derelict for some years, demolished ca 1957, now a shell.”
Tudenham Park, Co Westmeath, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 144. “A large three storey house of very high quality built c. 1742 for George Rochfort and attributed to Richard Castle. Very fine interior which included a large entrance hall with screens of columns at both ends. Some reception rooms and the main staircase were altered c. 1790 and had good neo-classical plasterwork. The house was stripped c. 1957-58 and is now a ruin which should be preserved.”
In Blake, Tarquin. Abandoned Mansions of Ireland. Collins Press, Cork, 2010.
Detached seven-bay three-storey over basement country house, built c.1743, with projecting full-height bows to the centre of the west and east side elevations. Later return to rear (south). Later in use as a military hospital (1914-1919). Now out of use and a roofless overgrown shell. Shallow hipped natural slate roof, now collapsed, having a pair of cut limestone chimneystacks to the centre, aligned parallel with former roof ridge, having moulded ashlar cornices over. Constructed of ashlar limestone with extensive cut limestone detailing, including a heavy moulded eaves cornice, raised quoins to the corners and a string course at first floor level. Square-headed window openings, diminishing in size towards eaves, with moulded cut stone architraved surrounds and cut stone sills. Central round-headed pedimented tripartite Doric doorcase to south façade having four columns supporting entablature and pediment over. Fittings to all openings now gone. Round-headed niche flanked by Ionic pilasters over central doorcase at first floor level with a circular/oculus niche over to second floor having a scrolled console bracket to base. Interior now gutted but retaining some fragments of original plasterwork to ground floor walls. Located in extensive grounds on the western shores of Lough Ennell to the south of Mullingar. Remains of former outbuildings to the northeast and former main entrance gates and attendant gate lodge (15402616) to the east.
Appraisal
Though Tudenham Park sadly now survives only as a roofless shell, this building is of high architectural and artistic significance and retains good quality cut stone detailing throughout. This enormous Palladian edifice was built for George Rochfort, a brother of Robert Rochfort of Belvedere House (15402615), and was designed by the same architect as Belvedere, namely Richard Castle. Tudenham Park shares with Belvedere the bow projections to the side elevations, but it is built on a much larger scale than its neighbour to the north and does not display as much ingenuity in its design. The regularity of the main façade is only broken by the central arrangement of architectural motifs to the centre of the main façade, namely the tripartite doorcase with a blank Venetian niche over and the oculus opening to the second floor. This central arrangement is a typical feature of much of Castle’s work and of Palladian architecture in this part of Ireland in general. Tudenham Park played an important role in the development of the planned landscape at Belvedere to the north and its scale probably pre-empted the erection of ‘The Jealous Wall’ (15402614) to the north, which was built to shield Robert Rochfort’s view of his brother’s enormous pile to the south. Tudenham House was later sold to Sir Francis Hopkins, c.1837 and to the Tottenham Family c.1870. It was later used as a hospital during World War I and was still in military ownership until after 1945 and was gutted and de-roofed in 1957. Although the building is badly overgrown it is pleasing to find surviving fragments of plaster panelling to the interior. In addition the remnants of the former service buildings to the rear are of note and have some good examples of brick vaulting. Tudenham Park is beautifully sited on the shores of Lough Ennell and is an important part of the architectural heritage of Westmeath.
Detached three-bay single-storey former gate lodge on cruciform plan, dated 1865, with a projecting open two-bay porch to the north side. Originally served Tudenham Park (15402617) to the west and now in use as an office for the Fisheries Board. Later return to rear (south). Shallow hipped natural slate roof hidden behind a raised moulded limestone parapet perforated with circular openings. Constructed of bush-hammered dressed limestone over a moulded ashlar plinth with extensive ashlar limestone trim, including a string course, eaves cornice and garland panels. Round-headed window openings having cut limestone surrounds with projecting keystone detail over, moulded sills to west and east elevations and one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows. Paired round-headed openings to east elevation with replacement windows. Paired round-headed openings to porch on north elevation, supported by a central shared cut stone column with a foliate capital over. Further paired cut stone pillars on square plan to east and west ends of porch (north). Central recessed square-headed doorcase to porch having a timber panelled door with a cut limestone surround having rounded corners to head and flanked to either side (east and west) by narrow window lights with cut stone surrounds. Cut limestone datestone over centre of porch with polychrome tiles to porch floor. Located adjacent to attendant gates (east), erected 1865, comprising five moulded ashlar limestone gate piers with cornices and recessed panels, linked by sections of ashlar limestone plinth walling with decorative cast-iron railings over. Gate piers to the north of the lodge support cast-iron double gates. Located to the east of Tudenham Park (15402617) and to the south of Mullingar.
Appraisal
A highly appealing and well-executed Italianate gate lodge and associated main entrance gates serving Tudenham Park (15402617). The building and associated gates are richly decorated with cut stone and cast-iron work of a high artistic standard and value. The juxtaposition of the bush hammered stonework and the smooth ashlar dressings, offers a pleasant textural contrast to the façade of this robust structure. Of good proportions and embellished with a full decorative scheme, this building contrasts sharply with a number of the more modest former gate lodges to the north. The Italianate style of this gate lodge also contrasts appealing with the more rigid form of the earlier Palladian style used at Tudenham Park itself. It is now rare to find a gate lodge in such good condition, which retains its original ground plan and which has not been altered significantly to accommodate new owners or a new use. This fine lodge and its attendant gateway replaced an earlier gateway and lodge to the south, now demolished, and forms part of an important group of related structures with Tudenham Park (15402617), representing an integral element of the architectural heritage of Westmeath.
As mentioned a few days ago, in the mid-18th century the first Earl of Belvedere quarreled with his brother George Rochfort and so built the ‘Jealous Wall’, a sham folly that obscured the view of the younger man’s house further south on Lough Ennell. Here is the property in question, Tudenham Park, which, like Belvedere itself, is believed to have been designed by Richard Castle. However, whereas Belvedere is really a villa, this is a proper country house, of three storeys over basement with bowed projections on either side and a seven-bay entrance front, its plainness relieved by the pedimented tripartite Doric doorcase with round-headed niche above and then a circular bracketed niched below the parapet. Occupied by successive families until the early 20th century, Tudenham Park then became a hospital and was in military ownership until the 1950s when unroofed and left a shell. Some 15 or so years ago, plans were hatched to rescue the building and restore it to use but these came to nothing, so it remains the ruin seen in these pictures.
Summary 18th Century period house on 2.33 Hectares 24.06 Hectares of Grassland with 2km of lake frontage Description This 18th century estate on 65 acres of grass land on the banks of Lough Ennell is a unique chance to own a piece of history. Located beside the Belvedere House estate and separated by the “Jealous Wall.” The house is three storeys over a basement and is in need of renovation, with the roof having been removed in 1957. The land comes with 2km approx. of lake frontage and a boathouse. History Tudenham Park House, originally called Rochfort House, is an 18th-century Palladian limestone country house located in Tudenham Park on the Rochfort Demesne near Belvedere House and Gardens beside Lough Ennell, County Westmeath, Ireland. The construction on the house began in 1717, and it was completed in 1742 for George Rochfort. It was purchased by Sir Francis Hopkins in 1836, and the name was subsequently changed from Rochfort to Tudenham Park. The house is known for being involved in an ordeal with Robert Rochfort’sbrother, George, which resulted in Robert constructing The Jealous Wall so he would not have to look at his brother’s grander house. During World War II, the house was used as a convalescent home for army officers. Special Features & Services – 18th Century Period House – 26.39 Hectares / 65.2 acres approx – 2km of Lake Frontage – Beside Belvedere House – Overlooking Lough Ennell – House In Need of Renovation – Exceptional Development Potential Joint Agents: Property Partners McDonnell Contact David McDonnell 086 2586403 Sherry Fitzgerald Davitt & Davitt contact Alan Bracken 087 9257346
Features
on c.65 acre Lakeside farmland overlooking Lough Ennell.
Rosmead, County Westmeath entrance front, photograph: Lord Rossmore, Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 246. ““A large three storey Georigan bloc, once the seat of the Wood family, now a ruin. Columns form it were used in the rebuilding of Balrath Bury. Seven bay front, with three bay breakfront centre. At the entrance to the demesne is an elegant triumphal arch with Corinthian pilasters and large urns on the flanking walls; this was brought here from Glananea.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 144. Large three storey late 18C house. Seat of W.H. Wood in 1814. Now a ruin.
Casey, Christine and Alistair Rowan. The Buildings of Ireland: North Leinster. Penguin Books, London, 1993.
Detached seven-bay three-storey country house, built c.1780 and extended to the rear c. 1860, having advanced three-bay breakfront to the centre of the southeast elevation. Possibly incorporating the fabric of an earlier house(s) to site, built c. 1700. Possibly converted to ‘ecclesiastical’ use c. 1933. Now in a ruinous and overgrown condition. Roof now collapsed, probably originally shallow hipped, having raised parapet with limestone eaves cornice and blocking course. Coursed rubble limestone walls with ashlar limestone trim, including string course above ground floor level. Square-headed window openings, diminishing in size towards eaves, no longer retaining any fittings. Cut stone sills and cut stone lintels over the openings. Square-headed door opening to the centre of the three-bay breakfront, fittings now removed. Southwest elevation formerly served a tetrastyle entrance porch, possibly erected c. 1860, now removed. Extensive complex of ruinous outbuildings to the northwest and a triumphant arch gateway to the southwest (15400904). Set well back from road to the northwest of Delvin and to the southwest of Clonmellon.
Appraisal
The impressive ruins of a very large, well-proportioned and imposing Georgian country house, now forming a picturesque shell, of some romantic quality, in the landscape to the northeast of Delvin. This former great house originally had two principal entrance fronts, the southeastern elevation with the breakfront and the southwest elevation, which originally was served by a tetrastyle entrance porch. This porch was removed in 1942 and used in the rebuilding Balrath Bury House, near Kells, Co. Meath. The roof was probably removed at the same time and the house sadly left to decay. Rosmead House was originally built by the Wood Family, who had their home here since c.1700 and possibly as far back as mid seventeenth century (A John Wood of Rosemead, County Westmeath died 1710 aged 82). The form of the present structure suggests that it was rebuilt c. 1780 although it may containfabric from an earlier house or houses to site. Rosemead was the residence of a Hans Wood in 1787 and in 1837 it was the home of H. W. (Henry Widman) Wood, Esq., and was described as being ‘surrounded by fine plantations’ at this time (Lewis 1837). Admiral Hercules Robinson Senior married Frances Elizabeth Wood, daughter and heir of H.W. Wood and they lived at Rosmead until 1849. Their son, Hercules Junior left Ireland and in 1854 became President Administrator of the Government of Montserrat later followed by many more important appointments including Governor of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), New South Wales and New Zealand. In 1864(?) he was made a baronet and chose the title ‘Baron of Rosmead’. Lord Vaux took over Rosmead Estate in 1856, and later carried out ‘alterations and additions to the house (IAA), which were completed by Francis Nulty, builder, of Kells, in 1858 (IAA). Improvements may also have been carried out to the ‘offices’ at Rosmead in 1852 to designs by Matthew Price (drawing in IAA). Rosemead was in the ownership of Lord Greville (of nearby Clonyn Castle) in 1881 (Slater’s Directory) and was later the home of Charlotte Mildred Marquise de la Bedoyere (daughter of Lord Greville) who died in 1906. The house may have been altered for ‘religious use’ to designs by the prolific and esteemed architect Ralph Henry Byrne (1877 – 1946) in 1933 (IAA). However, the house was derelict and the porch removed in 1942 (see above) so it is probable that no works were carried out by Byrne in the 1930s. An extensive collection of attendant outbuildings to the rear enhance the group and setting values of the site, and help provide an historical insight into the extensive resources required to maintain a country estate of this importance during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Rosmead House, CAVESTOWN AND ROSMEAD, County Westmeath
Triumphant arched gateway serving Rosmead House (15400921), erected c.1795. Comprises round-headed carriage arch flanked by giant order Corinthian pilasters supporting entablature and cornice over and terminated by square-piers, originally topped by urn finials (now removed). Arch supports pair of wrought-iron gates. Constructed of ashlar limestone with extensive ashlar trim. Keystone, masks and Corinthian capitals executed in Coade stone. Gate flanked to either side by low rendered walls terminated by gate piers on square plan. Located to the south of Rosemead House and to the north of Delvin.
Appraisal
An important, elegantly-composed triumphant arch gateway serving Rosmead House (15400921). These spectacular entrance gates are very well-built using high quality ashlar limestone and are extensively embellished using ashlar and Coade Stone detailing. Coade stone was a type of ‘artificial stone’ first created by Mrs. Eleanor Coade (1733-1821), andsold commercially from 1769 to 1833. It was commonly used for decorative elements of Georgian buildings in England, particularly in the southeast, but is rare material in Ireland. These gates were originally designed by the renowned architect Samuel Woolley to serve a neighbouring estate, Glananea House (15305003), near Drumcree. These gates were later dismantled and moved to Rosemead in the early nineteenth-century after the owner of Glananea House, a Ralph Smyth, got tired of been called ‘Smyth with the gates’. However, his plan backfired slightly and flowing the moving of these elaborate gates he was later known locally as ‘Smyth without the gates’, much to his chagrin. Apparently, the statues and urns that originally formed part of this gateway are now in a private collection in Northern Ireland. These gate now form a highly appealing and visual pleasing artefact in the landscape to the north of Delvin and acts as an historical reminder of Rosmead House, now derelict to the north.
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. 113. “(Cooper.IFR) A house of early to mid C19 appearance, of two storeys over a basement and square in plan; with five bay front and side elevations. Porch with engaged columns; entablature over windows.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 141. Large two storey late Georgian house with single storey Doric portico. Now a ruin. Stables converted to a house.
Detached five-bay two-storey over basement country house, built c.1815 and remodelled c.1860, having a two-storey service wing attached to the east side. Now in ruins and overgrown. Roof now gone, originally shallow hipped, with a central pair of chimneystacks and a moulded cut stone cornice to the eaves. Moulded cut stone plinth over basement. Constructed of coursed rubble stone with roughcast rendered finish over. Square-headed window openings with cut stone sills and dressed stone surrounds. A number of window openings retain cut stone scrolled brackets supporting entablatures over. Main entrance to the centre of the north elevation, originally having a porch with engaged columns. Set back from road in extensive mature grounds with a complex of outbuildings/stable block (15403306) to the northeast, main entrance gates to the west (15403305), The Cooper Mausoleum (15403304) to the south and sections estate wall (15402625) running around former demesne boundary. Located to the south of Mullingar and to the northwest of Rochfortbridge.
A once grand and refined early nineteenth-century neoclassical country house, which now survives as a picturesque ruin in the rural landscape. It was reputedly remodelled by Sandham Symes (1807-98), c.1860. This house was well-built and proportioned and retains a number of fine cut stone details that hint at its former splendour. This house was built by the Cooper Family (of Markee Castle, Co. Sligo) and may have replaced (or be the extensive remodelling) of an earlier house on or near this site. It was in the ownership of an R. W. Cooper in 1837 and of a Colonel Joshua Henry Cooper c.1870, who owned 1,785 acres in the area at this time. It forms the centerpiece of an interesting and extensive collection of related structures along with the extensive stable block to the northeast (15403306), the curious Cooper Mausoleum (15403304) to the south, the main gates (15403305) to the west and the boundary wall (15402625) surrounding this extensive demesne. This house is now halfway to becoming an archaeological site but is an important architectural and historical document, adding interest to its pleasant rural location.
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. 87 “(Nugent, sub Westmeath, E/PB and LG1863; Palmer, LGI1912) A tall Georgian block with a central pedimented attic. Now a ruin.
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary, entrance front 1917, photograph: Miss Moira Lysaght, Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.Thomastown, County Tipperary, entrance front c. 1969, photograph: Christopher Tynne, Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 272. “(Mathew/IFR; Daly/IFR) Originally a long two storey house of pink brick built from 1670 onwards by George Mathew, half-brother of the great Great Duke of Ormonde; with a centre one room deep consisting of a great chamber or gallery above a rusticated arcade, and projecting wings; a massive oak staircase led up from the arcade to the first floor. It was probably by the same builders who worked for the Duchess of Ormonde at Dunmore House, near Kilkenny; while Dr Loeber suggests that the arcade may have been a design by Sir William Robinson. The Mathews grew richer through heiress marriages, and the grandson of the builder of the house, another George, who inherited 1711, carried out various additions and improvements…This George Mathew was known as “Grand George” and renowned for his hospitality; people could come uninvited to Thomastown and use it as though it were an inn; many legends have grown up about him, though he has become somewhat confused, in local legend, with “Big George,” Earl of Kingston (see Mitchellstown Castle). In 1812, Francis Mathew, 2nd Earl of Llandaff, called in Richard Morrison to enlarge the house and transform it into a castle. Morrison’s transformation was literally skin-deep; he refaced the house in cement, which was originally painted the rather surprising shade of pale blue’ a mask of Gothic openings was applied to the front of C17 arcade which was glazecd and turned into a “Gothic Hall” with a Gothic chimneypiece of plaster and other Gothic plasterwork. Slender turrets, square and polygonal, were added to the entrance and garden fronts, which remained symmetrical; the two on either side of the entrance have pinnacles like rockets or darts growing out of them; from a distance they look like rabbit ears. Thr office wing to the right of the entrance front was enlarged into a vast Gothic kitchen court and stables; a detached entrance tower was also built. The great upstairs room became a Gothic library; the drawing room remained Classical and was adorned with scagliola columns. Fr Theobald Mathew, the “Apostle of Temperance,” grew up here, his father having been a cousin of 1st Earl of Landaff who more or less adopted him and made him his agent. Lady Elizabeth Mathew, sister of 2nd Earl, left Thomastown to her cousin on her mother’s side, the Visomte de Rohan Chabot, son of the Comte de Jarnac. It eventually passed to the Daly family, but from ca 1872 onwards it was allowed to fall into disrepair; it is now one of the most spectacular ruined Gothic castles in Ireland, much of it submerged beneath the ivy which grows here with an unbelievable luxuriance. In 1938 the ruin was bought by Archbishop David Mathew, the historian, in order to keep it in the family and to save it from destruction.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 136. A large Tudor Revival house designed by Richard Morrison in 1812 for Thomas Mathew 2nd Earl of Llandaff incorporating a late 17C house which may have been designed by Sir William Robinson. Very fine interiors some of which were classical. Now a ruin.
Detached multiple-bay two-storey country house, incorporating seventeenth-century house, enlarged 1812, now in ruins. Comprising central block with office wing to west having square and polygonal towers to front elevation and incorporating an earlier seventeenth-century house. Courtyard with outbuildings to north. Crenellations with machicolations to roofline. Lined-and-ruled render over brick walls with rendered string course to office wing. Ashlar limestone masonry plinths to towers. Projecting entrance bay, in ruins. Square-headed window openings with carved limestone label mouldings having ornate label stops to front. Pointed arch window openings to office wing. Two-storey gate lodge to east having crenellations with machicolations. Rendered brick walls with blank cross-loops to first floor and buttresses to ground floor. Square-headed opening with render hood moulding over pointed arch entrance. Three-stage polygonal tower to east elevation with crenellations and arrow slit windows with hood-mouldings. Coursed rubble limestone walled gardens to north.
Appraisal
This former country house was built by the Matthew family, the earliest house on this site, built by George Matthew dating to c. 1670. The house in its present form was enlarged in the Gothic style by Francis Matthew, II Earl of Llandaff in 1812. Richard Morrison designed the house incorporating a veneer of Gothic openings including the ornate polygonal and square towers to front elevation. The office wing to the right was also enlarged in the Gothic style. From 1870 the house fell into disrepair to become the impressive and spectacular ruin it is today. Much of the original seventeenth-century house survives in the interior of the building. The arched gate lodge to the east mirrors the architecture of the main house and retains many fine details such as the cross loops and hood mouldings. The walled gardens provide an example of the many demesne related activities thereby contributing context to the site.
Built in 1812 for the 2nd Earl of Landaff, the large Tudor Revival castle incorporated a previous 17th century house, thought to have been designed by Sir William Robinson. Now a ruin, the castle was the victim of the decline of the family’s fortunes and was largely closed up in the early part of the 20th century. Now a spectacular ruin.
The original building was a two storey house of pink brick built in the 1670s by George Mathew with early 18th additions. Wilson decribed it in 1786 as “an ancient but handsome edifice”. In the second decade of the 19th century it was enlarged and transformed into a Gothic castle, designed by Richard Morrison for the 2nd Earl of Llandaff. Viscount Chabot is recorded as the occupier in the mid 19th century. He held the property in fee and the buildings were valued at £100. Bence Jones writes that it later was in the possession of the Daly family but from the mid 1870s it began to decay. William Daly was the occupier in 1906 when the buildings were valued at £61.
The family of MATHEW originated from Wales, where at Radyr, Glamorganshire, they long resided; and possessed the town of Llandaff in that county.
SIR DAVID MATHEW (1400-84), Knight, was Standard-Bearer of EDWARD IV, whose monument is still to be seen in Llandaff Cathedral, Glamorganshire.
EDWARD MATHEW, of Radyr, was possessed, in 1600, of the town of Llandaff, and other estates, which his ancestors enjoyed for time immemorial.
At his decease he left an only son,
GEORGE MATHEW, the first of the family in Ireland, who became seated at Thurles, County Tipperary, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Poyntz MP, of Iron Acton, Gloucestershire, and widow of Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles (who died before his father Walter, 11th Earl of Ormond).
Mr Mathew died in 1636, leaving two sons and a daughter, and was succeeded by the elder son,
THEOBOLD MATHEW, of Thurles, who married Margaret, eldest daughter of Sir Valentine Browne Bt, and was succeeded by his elder son,
GEORGE MATHEW, of Thurles, who wedded Eleanor, second daughter of Edmond, 3rd/13th Baron Dunboyne, and was succeeded by his son,
GEORGE MATHEW, who erected a splendid mansion upon his estate at Thurles, containing forty bedrooms, and ample corresponding accommodation for as many guests.
This gentleman distinguished himself by hospitality upon an unprecedented and almost boundless scale.
He fitted up his sumptuous residence as a guest house of the first magnitude, and his guests were informed upon their arrival, that as such they were to regard it, and to consider themselves, in every sense of the word, quite at home.
They might either live in their own suite of rooms, or at the table d’hôte, as they pleased.
There was a coffee-room, tavern, billiards-room, etc, and Mr Mathew himself appeared only as one of the guests.
This highly accomplished and celebrated person had the degree of LL.D conferred upon him, 1677, by his half-brother James, 1st Duke of Ormond, Chancellor of the University of Oxford.
Mr Mathew wedded firstly, Catherine, third daughter of Sir John Shelley, 3rd Baronet, by Mary, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Gage Bt, of Firle, East Sussex, and had issue, an only child,
GEORGE, his heir.
He espoused secondly, in 1716, Ann, widow of James, 3rd Earl of Tyrone, by whom he no issue, and at his decease, the estates devolved upon his brother-in-law,
GEORGE MATHEW, married his cousin, Mary Anne Mathew, and had issue,
George (1733-8); Elizabeth.
On the failure of male issue in this branch, the estates devolved to
GEORGE MATHEW, of Thomastown, who wedded firstly, Margaret, fourth daughter of Thomas Butler (grandson of the Lord Richard Butler, younger son of James, 1st Duke of Ormond, by the Lady Margaret Burke, eldest daughter of William, 7th Earl of Clanricarde, and widow of Bryan Magennis, Viscount Iveagh, and had issue, a daughter.
Mr Mathew espoused secondly, Isabella, fourth daughter of William Brownlow, of Lurgan, County Armagh (by the Lady Elizabeth Hamilton, eldest daughter of James, 6th Earl of Abercorn), and had issue, a son, who died in infancy, when the estate devolved upon a junior branch of the family,
THOMAS MATHEW, of Thurles, and subsequently of Thomastown, who married, in 1736, Miss Mary Mathews, of Dublin, and had issue,
FRANCIS, his heir; Catherine Ann Maria.
The only son and heir,
FRANCIS MATHEW (1738-1806), wedded firstly, in 1764, Ellis, second daughter of James Smyth (son of the Rt Rev Edward Smyth, Lord Bishop of Down and Connor), and had issue,
FRANCIS JAMES, his heir; Montague James, Lieutenant-General in the Army; George Toby Skeffington; Elizabeth.
He espoused secondly, in 1784, the Lady Catherine Skeffington; and thirdly, in 1799, ______ Coghlan, second daughter of Jeremiah Coghlan.
Mr Mathew, MP for Tipperary, 1768-83, High Sheriff of County Tipperary, 1769, was elevated to the peerage, in 1783, as Baron Landaff, of Thomastown, County Tipperary; and was advanced to a viscountcy, in 1793, as Viscount Landaff, of Thomastown, County Tipperary.
His lordship was further advanced to the dignity of an earldom, in 1797, as EARL LANDAFF.
He was succeeded by his eldest son,
FRANCIS JAMES, 2nd Earl (1768-1833), MP for County Tipperary, 1801-6, Knight of St Patrick, 1831, who married, in 1797, Gertrude Cecilia, daughter of John La Touche, of Harristown, County Kildare, though the marriage was without issue.
His lordship died of syncope in Dublin, on 12 March 1833, aged 65, when the titles expired.
Dying intestate, his estates went to his sister, the Lady Elizabeth Mathew, who died in 1842, leaving the estates to a cousin, the Vicomte de Chabot, the son of her mother’s sister, Elizabeth Smyth.
THOMASTOWN CASTLE, Golden, County Tipperary, was built by George Matthew and dated from ca 1670.
It comprised a long, two-storey house of pink brick.
The house in its present form was enlarged in the Gothic style by Francis, 2nd Earl Landaff, in 1812.
(Sir) Richard Morrison designed the house incorporating a veneer of Gothic openings, including the ornate polygonal and square towers to the front elevation.
The office wing to the right was also enlarged in the Gothic style.
From ca 1872 the great mansion fell into disrepair to become the impressive and spectacular ruin it is today.
Father Theobald Mathew, the famous temperance reformer whose father was a cousin of the 1st Earl, grew up at the Castle.
The 2nd Earl’s sister, Lady Elizabeth Mathew, bequeathed Thomastown to her maternal cousin, the Vicomte de Rohan-Chabot, son of the Comte de Jarnac.
The estate later passed to the Daly family.
The ruinous building was purchased in 1938 by the Rt Rev David Mathew, the historian, who wished it to be kept in the family and saved from destruction.
This expectation proved to have been in vain.
The arched gate lodge to the east reflects the architecture of the main house and retains many fine details, such as the cross loops and hood mouldings.
The walled gardens provide an example of the many demesne-related activities thereby contributing context to the site.
The Tipperary Gentry. Volume 1. By William Hayes and Art Kavanagh. Published by Irish Family Names, c/o Eneclann, Unit 1, The Trinity Enterprise Centre, Pearse St, Dublin 2, 11 Emerald Cottages, Grand Canal St, Dublin 4 and Market Square, Bunclody, Co Wexford, Ireland. 2003.
Matthew of Thomastown, Annfield and Thurles
p. 135. Viscount Thurles was Thomas Butler the eldest son of Walter the 11th Earl of Ormonde. Thomas’s wife was Elizabeth the daughter of Sir John Poynz of Acton, Gloucester, and she was a Catholic. Thomas died tragically in a drowing accident when he was travelling to Ireland from England in 1619. His widow, Elizabeth, had three sons and four daughters. Elizabeth’s eldest son became the 12th Earl of 1st Duke of Ormonde. She did not remain a widow for long. She married George Mathew of Llandaff, Glamorgan, in 1620. [This enterprising lady managed to save Thurles during the Cromwellian wards by telling Cromwell taht she had refused to allow a Royalist company under Colonel Brian O’Neill to occupy the town and sought Cromwell’s help. This action saved the town of Thurles from being despoiled and saved the Mathew family from being dispossessed.]
George and his widow, Elizabeth, had two sons, Theobald, who founded the Thurles adn Annfield dynasties of Mathew, and George Reihill, later of Thomastown, who managed the estates of the Ormondes in Tipperary [The Peerage has him as the son of Theobald]. In the process George succeeded in acquiring substantial properties himself. The fact that George Reihill married Eleanor Butler, the [p. 136] daughter of Lord Dunboyne and widow of Lord Cahir (another Butler) helped considerably. George raised her young son the 4th Lord Cahir and when he was of age married him off to his niece, Elizabeth. George Reihill was the ancestor of the Thomastown Mathews. [George surrendered Cahir Castle to Cromwell in 1649. Apparently he was warned by his mother, Elizabeth, to follow that course of action as she had done in Thurles]. [ note: the Mathew family of Llandaff adopted “Mathews” with an ‘s’ in the mid 17th century]
When the Duke and Duchess of Ormonde were away in England or in Dublin the maintenance of Kilkenny Castle was the provenance of Captain George Reihill Mathew, their relation. The Duchess bombarded him with orders, “my Lord and I doe so much apprehend the danger to the roof of the old hall of the castle of Kilkenny and he desires it may be secured, repaired and mended with as much speed as may be.” “I desire you will furnish the castle of Kilkenny to be in readiness to receive me, my son and his family in the middle of next month.”
p. 137. When the Lady Cahir died George married another widow, who brought with her a dowry of £10,000. She was the widow of the last Earl of Tyrone [ on my family tree I have her as Anne Rickard (1665-1729) but she is married to his son, George Mathew *. She was married to James de la Poer, 3rd Earl of Tyrone (1666-1704), and they had a child, Catherine de la Poer, Baroness de la Poer (1701-1769)].
She had no children [Anne Rickard, according to this book] and when George died in 1689 she became somewhat isolated in Thomastown. [Thomastown was built around 1670 by George Reihill. Prior to that he had lived in Cahir Castle]. She fled to London in 1690 whre she petitioned the government for help, stating that she, a Protestant, had been driven out of Ireladn by her in-laws who were Catholic. [see Marnane, Land and Violence in West Tipperary].
George Reihill was succeeded by his second son, Theobald, who was also twice married. [the eldest son, George, was educated in England and died on the way home from England in 1666]. He died in 1711. Theobald’s son, George, known as “Grand” George, inherited the estate of Thomastown. In his will, Thomas left several bequests including monies to be put in trust and managed for his three daughters until they got married or reached the age of 21. [The ladies in question were Elizabeth, who married Christopher O’Brien of County Clare, Frances, who married John Butler of Co Tipperary, and Elinor who married Kean O’Hara of County Sligo]. He expected a return of 8% on his money. He left money to the youngest son, Bartholomew, and to his “dear cousin” Major George Mathew of Thurles…
The problem of succession in the Catholic Mathew families contrasts with the almost smooth successions achieved by the families of the Butlers of Cahir and the Ryans of Inch.
p. 138. The Thurles Mathews were fortunate that there were three single male heirs following the death of Theobald Mathew in 1699. This meant that no stratagem had to be used to avoid carving up the estate. However, a failsafe plan was put in place in the event that the male heirs were not forthcoming. In 1713 a settlement was put in place, which ensured that in default of male heirs the estate would go to the Annfield and Thomastown branches successively. Similar plans must have been put in place in the other Mathew properties because in 1738 the Thurles and Thomastown estates were joined because of the failure of direct heirs in Thomastown. It should be noted that “Grand” George Mathew who died in 1738 had converted in the early years of the 18th century. This inheritance did put a strain on the Thurles owner, George Mathew, who felt it incumbent to change his religion in 1740.
p. 138. Theobald of Thurles (who died in 1699) did in fact have several sons and daughters himself. He was married three times. By his first wife, Margaret the daughter of Sir valentine Browne he had three sons, George, known as Major George who inherited in 1699, Edmund who died young and James who married Elizabeth Bourke, daughter of the 3rd Baron Brittas. [he is acknowledged to be the father of James Mathew of Thomastown and later of Rathclogheen, who was adopted by his cousin and guardian the 1st Earl of Llandaff. James of Rathclogheen is the ancestor of the modern day Mathews] James had no family. He also had two daughters – Elizabeth who married the 4th Lord Cahir, and Anne who married Viscount Galmoy [ 3rd]
By his second marriage to the heiress, Anne Salle of Killough Castle, County tipperary, he had one son….[see tree]
The Annfield branch of the family found life a little more complicated in that Theobald of Annfield, who inherited in 1714 had two brothers. However there is no record on any legal pressure being applied to compel the family to comply with the penal laws of inheritance.
p. 139. When Theobald died in 1745 the estate went to his son Thomas Mathew. [Thomas had three sons and two daughters, one of whom, Mary, married John Ryan of Inch. The sons were Theobald, who inherited in 1714, Edmund who died in 1772 and James of Borris who married the heiress Anne Morres. They had one daughter who married her cousin Charles Mathew.]
Again there does not seem to have been any pressure put on Thomas to divide the estate. Howver, in 1755 just prior to Parliament considering framing anti-Catholic laws Thomas decided to convert. The fact that his relation, George Mathew of Thurles, who had inherited Thomastown, was now elderly and had no male heir may have been a contributory factor also. George died in 1760 and Thomas Mathew of Annfield now became the sole owner of all the Mathew properties.
p. 141. Thomastown had been repaired and reconstruction began in 1711. [ W. Nolan in Tipperary History and Society] It was reported that “Grand” George Mathew and his family lived ‘frugally’ on the continent for seven years on £600 a year in order to devote his £8,000 rental to the laying out of his 1500 acre demesne and the fitting out of the house with forty bedrooms. [T. Power in Land, Politics and Society in 18th Century Tipperary]…
“Grand” George of Thomastown turned Protestant in the early decades of the 18th century and was elected an MP for County Tipperary. George sat as a Tory and a supporter of the 2nd Duke of Ormonde. He was also elected MP for the period 1727-1736. He died two years later. This was the same George Mathew who was visited by Dean Swift in 1719. In 1704 he was one of nine Catholics in the country who were given licenses to carry arms. However this situation changed after 1715 when the government ordered the seizure of Catholics horses and arms. At some stage in th following years George adn his son were apprehended and searched for arms.
The other two branches of the family remained Catholic. When Lady Thurles died she left her second son Theobald the town and manor of Thurles and an estate of four thousand acres. He was married three times and his second wife was Anne Sall, an heiress. Theobald gave her esate to his second son Thomas and so began the Annfield family. The changes in land ownership, which was effected by the necessity of the Ormonde Duke to reduce his overwhelming debts, benefited many landowners in Tipperary, including the Mathew famiy. They used the opportunity to consolidate and expand their holdings. [other families to benefit were Sadleir, Coote, Langley, Baker, Cleere, Dawson, Dancer and Harrison – T. Power in Land, Politics and Society in 18th C Tipperary]
p. 142. The Mathew family owned Thurles town and because of their patronage the Catholic Butler bishop was allowed to live there. [Whelan in Tipperary society and history]. In addition the Mathew family of Annfield built Inch and Thurles chapels. A plaque on the wall of the chapel, which was built in 1730 in Thurles, stated that it was built by “Big” George Mathew. He was the George Mathew of thurles who married his stepsister Martha Eaton. He was also the son of the Major mentioned above.
The Thomastown dynasty came to an abrupt end with the death of “Grand” George and his grandson who both died in 1738. “Grand” George’s son, Theobald, had died two years earlier in 1736. He was married to a cousin from Thurles, Mary Ann Mathew. Her brother, George of Thurles inherited Thomastown at this time. As George of Thurles had no sons the Thomastown and Thurles estates passed into the ownershop of Thomas of Annfield in 1760. The will, transferring the ownership, was contested unsuccessfully by Margaret the daughter of George of Thurles.
Thomas had converted to the Church of Ireland in 1755 and he was returned an MP for Tipperary in 1761. In the turbulent political climate of the times, his election was seen as a triumph for the pro Catholic interest in the county. Thomas was perceived as being of dubious conformity himself. He conformed again in 1762. He was elected MP again [p. 143] in 1768 but by a very small margin of 25 votes. On petition the result was overturned. Unlike the Pritties who were very widely connected with teh Protestant landowning classes, Thomas Mathew had to rely on his own voters and whatver support he could must from among the more liberal gentry.
…Thomas Mathew’s son Francis was perceived as being a closet Catholic. However, he was fortunate in that he had John Scott (later Lord Clonmell) as his brother-in-law. Scott became solicitor-general and was very influential in government circles. Through his influence, Francis, formerly an opposition MP, became a government supporter and this led to his elevation to the peerage as Lord Llandaff in 1784. Though he had, to some extent, changed his allegiance, he still championed the Catholic cause right up to the end of the century and beyond.
The Act of 1778, which gave an enormous measure of relief to the Catholics, was widely welcomed by the Catholics in Tipperary. The men most associated with the carriage of the Act were Francis Mathew of Thomastown, Lord Clonmel (John Scott, brother in law of Francis, Sir William Osborne and John Hely-Hutchinson. [This close association between Lord Clonell and Francis Mathew wasn’t always harmonious. According to Barrington, in his Reminiscences, Lord Clonmell fought duels with Lord Llandaff, Lord Tryawley and others.] p. 144. The main features of the Act were (1) the removal of the requirement that Catholic property had to be divided among the surviving sons (2) leases could now be given for more than 31 yers (3) the removal of the decree that a son who converted would get immediate possession making his parent a tenant for life only. The Act would only apply to people who took the Oath of Allegiance. …
That is not to say that Francis favoured any change in the status quo with regard to property rights. During the heyday of Whiteboyism he stood four square with the landlords. After the murder of Ambrose Power, a landlord, in 1775, over sixty of the leading figures in Tipperary including Francis Mathew nd Thomas Maude, pledged their lives and fortunes to suppress Whiteboyism.
With the re-emergence of considerable agrarian unrest, the American war of Independence and threatened French invasions, Volunteer Corps were founded all over Ireland. ..Each corps ws comprised of about forty rank and file members drawn from the head tenantry or from friends or associates of the Colonel. Francis Mathew had three corps, one in each of his main holdings at thomastown, Annfield and Thurles.
…p. 145. Francis was made Baron Llandaff of Thomastown in 1783 and he was later made Earl of Llandaff in 1797. The Earl lived the life of a Lord and entertained and was entertained royally. ..
In 1812 Francis the 2nd Earl employed the architect Richard Morrison to “throw a Gothic cloak over the earlier house” (at Thomastown)…
Fortuitous marriages brought additional wealth to the Mathew family starting with George the first Mathew to arrive in Tipperary, who married the widow of Viscount Thurles. His soon George Reihill married the widow of Lord Cahir who was also the daughter of Lord Dunboyne. “Grand” George Mathew, a grandson of George Reihill, married as his second wife Lady Ann Hume who brought him an estate worth £10,000 in the 1680s. He converted the title to his own use and that of his heirs and used the money to make further land purchases. Francis Mathew the 1st Earl received £10,000 with Ellis Smyth of Wicklow when they married in 1764.
…Francis was in serious debt when he inherited in 1777 due largely to marriage payments and unpaid debts from previous generations. Trustees were appointed by Parliament to unravel his affairs and lands had to be disposed of.
When he died in 1806 the estate was still very much in debt for a variety of reaons one of which was his sponsoring a bill to bring a water supply to Thomastown Castle.
p. 147. Francis teh 2nd Earl died in 1833. He had been predeceased by his brother Montague in 1819. His second brother George was insane and had died in 1832, so teh estates passed to Elizabeth his sister. She too died unmarried in 1841.
While the main branch of the family disappeared the Mathew name was kept aloive…For example, Francis Mathew of Rockview House who was mentioned in the will of Elizabeth was married twice and had four sons and two daughters. ..
Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Many people in Ireland will be familiar with the name of Theobald Mathew, a 19th century Roman Catholic priest who became known as the Apostle of Temperance. A member of the Capuchin order, in 1838 Fr Mathew, witnessing the problems arising from excessive consumption of alcohol, founded the Total Abstinence Society in Cork city, where he was then living. Within nine months some 150,000 persons had enrolled in this organisation and at its height during the late 1840s it is estimated that half the population of Ireland were members. What may be less well known is that Theobald Mathew was related to a wealthy, and Protestand, landed family and grew up at Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary where his father acted as agent to a cousin, the first Earl of Landaff. Now a striking ruin, Thomastown was for several centuries the seat of the Mathew family. Of Welsh origin (hence the choice of name for their title), they were connected through marriage to the Butlers, and thus acquired land in this part of the country. As was so often the case, a series of judicious marital alliances made them exceedingly rich, allowing the construction of a large residence in the late 17th/early 18th centuries. In Town and Country in Ireland under the Georges (1940) Constantia Maxwell provides an excellent account of life there in the years after the house had been built by Thomas Mathew. The building was ‘surrounded by gardens adorned with terraces, statuary, and fish ponds, and by a park of some two thousand acres stocked with deer. Mr Mathew, besides being very rich, was held to be one of the finest gentlemen of the age, and, having travelled much on the Continent and lived in London and Dublin, had a large circle of friends. Nothing gave him so much pleasure as to invite these to Thomastown, where he had no less than forty guest-rooms, besides handsome accommodation for servants. The guests in his house were invited to order anything they might wish for, as at an inn; they might seat themselves at the dining-room table without paying irksome respect to rank, or, if they preferred it, dine with chosen companions in their own rooms. A large room was fitted up as a city coffee-house with newspapers and chessboards, where servants had been ordered to bring refreshments at any time of the day. For those who liked sport fishing tackle was provided, as well as guns and ammunition, while hounds and hunters were available in the stables. But, although everything at Thomastown was on such a lavish scale, there was no disorder or waste, for Mr Mathew rose early every morning to look over the accounts, and his servants were well paid, and forbidden to take tips.’ A description of life at Thomastown was provided by Thomas Sheridan in his biography of Jonathan Swift described how the later was so delighted with Thomas Mathew’s hospitality that instead of staying for a fortnight, as originally intended, he remained there for four months.
Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
As mentioned, the house at Thomastown was once surrounded by splendid gardens. Writing in 1778, Thomas Campbell noted that not only was the setting perfect, with the Galtee Mountains ‘set at such a due distance that they are the finest termination for a prospect a painter could desire’ but ‘behind the house is a square parterre, with flowers, with terraces thickly studded with busts and statues; before it, a long and blind avenue, planted with treble rows of well-grown trees, extends its awkward length. In the centre of this, and on the acclivity of the hill, are little fish ponds, pond above pond. The whole park is thrown into squares and parallelograms, with numerous avenues fenced and planted.’ By the time Campbell visited, this style of garden had fallen out of fashion, so he tut-tutted that ‘if a hillock dared to interpose its little head, it was cut off as an excrescence, or at least cut through; that the roads might be everywhere as level as they are straight. Thus was this delightful spot treated by some Procrustes of the last age.’ A few years later, Joseph Cooper Walker was just as critical of Thomastown’s gardens. ‘They lie principally on the gentle declivity of an hill,’ he explained, ‘resting on terraces, and filled with “statues thick as trees”. A long fish pond, sleeping under “a green mantle” between two rectilineous banks, appears in the midst. And in one corner stands a verdant theatre (once the scene of several dramatic exhibitions) displaying all the absurdity of the architecture of gardening. Thus did our ancestors, governed by the false taste which they imbibed from the English, disfigure, with unsuitable ornaments, the simple garb of nature.’ Not much later, perhaps when the second Earl of Landaff, who inherited title and estate on his father’s death in 1806, transformed the house, these by-now old-fashioned gardens were largely swept away in favour of open parkland.
Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Thomastown, as previously mentioned, was originally a late 17th/early 18th century house of two storeys, the centre just one room deep with projecting wings forming a short entrance courtyard. However, it appears that the generous Thomas Mathew enlarged the house by filling in the space between the wings to create a dining room, some 50 feet long and 20 feet deep, no doubt to feed all the guests he entertained. Several generations later, the second Earl of Landaff decided to alter the building’s appearance by giving it a Gothick makeover. In 1812 the architect Richard Morrison was commissioned to come up with a design for the place. The original entrance arcade was now glazed to create a Great Hall, while the first-floor gallery became a gothic-style library. However, the drawing room retained its classical decoration, with screens of scagliola columns at either end, a typical Morrison flourish which can still be seen in the library at Ballyfin, County Laois. Meanwhile, the exterior was ornamented with a crenellated parapet and a series of octagonal turrets topped with dart-like finials. As Mark Bence-Jones noted, from a distance these look like rabbits’ ears. A kitchen and service wing at right-angles to the house was also thoroughly dressed in Tudor-Gothic decoration, although a stone tower at the corner of the range is in Norman style. The entire building was covered in stucco, which was then rather oddly painted pale blue. An engraving of the completed work made by John PrestonNeale in 1819 although this included an unexecuted family wing and a more simple service range than that actually constructed. The second earl had no children and following his death, Thomastown passed to a sister Lady Elizabeth Mathew who in turn left the estate to a cousin of her mother, the Vicomte de Chabot. Before the end of the 19th century, it had come into the possession of the Dalys of Dunsandle, County Galway but seemingly by then the house was already falling into ruin. And so it has remained, with much of the central block, where those hospitable dinners were once given, long since collapsed. Today the only diners seen here are cattle.
Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Thomastown Castle gate tower, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Thomastown Castle gate tower, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
After Monday’s post explaining the history of Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary, these pictures might be of interest since they show the gate tower that formerly gave access to the main house. It dates from around 1812 and was likewise designed by Richard Morrison: note the Mathew family coat of arms prominently displayed over the gateway. Aside from this detail, the building is almost identical to a similar gate tower at the entrance to the demesne of Borris House, County Carlow. This was also designed by Morrison and at the same date: one wonders if the estates’ respective owners ever noticed or remarked on the duplication?
Thomastown Castle gate tower, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Thomastown Castle gate tower, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
In recent days, I have been writing about tangled family trees and difficult marriages that led to questions about the inheritance of titles and estates in the Townshend familyand the Leeson family.
In the Townshend family, scandals and a bigamous marriage threatened the succession to both the title of Marquess Townshend and the ownership of Tamworth Castle. In the Leeson family, a tangled family tree led to the loss of Russborough House in Co Wicklow and the disappearance of the title of Earl of Milltown.
Similar stories are told about the Mathew family of Thomastown, Co Tipperary, and the claims to the title of Earl Landaff.
The Mathew family claimed descent from a branch of the Matthew family of Radyr in Glamorgan, in south Wales. There are three 15th and 16th century Mathew family effigies In Llandaff Cathedral.
George Mathew sold his estate at Radyr in the mid-17th and moved to Co Tipperary. He became the owner of Thomastown Castle, near Thurles, when he married Elizabeth Poyntz (1587-1673), Lady Thurles, widow of Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles.
It was a marriage that brought George Mathew into a powerful and influential family circle, and he was the stepfather of James Butler (1610-1688), 1st Duke of Ormond.
George Mathew died in 1638, but the Mathew family maintained close connections with the Ormond Butlers in the generations that followed. In 1666, George Mathew was granted a large estate in Co Tipperary, including part of Thomastown. The original Thomastown Castle was a two-storey house of pink brick built in the 1670s by George Mathew with early 18th additions.
Thomastown Castle was the birthplace and early home of Father Mathew, the ‘Apostle of Temperance,’ and his father was a cousin of Thomas Mathew and worked for him as his agent.
Thomas Mathew of Annefield succeeded to the Mathew estates of Thomastown and Thurles in 1760. Wilson described Thomastown Castle in 1786 as ‘an ancient but handsome edifice.’ Thomas was succeeded by his son Francis Mathew in 1777 who was given the title of Earl Landaff in 1797.
Francis Mathew (1738-1806), 1st Earl Landaff, had been MP for Tipperary in the Irish House of Commons in 1768-1783, and was High Sheriff of Tipperary. He was made a member of the Irish House of Lords in 1783 with the title of Baron Landaff, of Thomastown, in Co Tipperary. In 1793, he received the higher title of Viscount Landaff, and in 1797 he was made Earl Landaff.
The Earls Landaff used the invented courtesy title Viscount Mathew for the heir apparent. Despite their territorial designations, the misspelling of Llandaff as Landaff, and the fact that the titles were in the Irish Peerage, the titles all referred to the place in Glamorgan now spelt Llandaff. After the Act of Union, Lord Landaff was elected as one of the 28 Irish peers to the British House of Lords.
This Lord Landaff was married three times. On 6 September 1764, he married Elisha Smyth (1743-1781) in Bellinter, Co Meath. She was a sister of Sir Skeffington Smyth of Tinney Park, Co Wicklow. They had four children, three sons and two daughters: Francis James Mathew, later 2nd Earl of Landaff; General Montague Mathew (1773-1819); the Hon George Toby Skeffington Mathew (died 1832); and Lady Elizabeth Mathew (died 1842).
In 1784, he married his second wife, Lady Catherine Skeffington (1752-1796), a daughter of Clotworthy Skeffington, 1st Earl of Massereene. They had no children, and in 1799 he married his third wife, a woman named Coghlan from Ardo, Co Waterford.
When he died in 1806, he was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son from his first marriage, Francis James Mathew (1768-1833), 2nd Earl Landaff, who had been known by the courtesy title of Viscount Mathew. He was MP for Tipperary in the Irish House of Commons (1790-1792), Callan (1796) and again for Tipperary (1796-1801). As Earl Landaff, he also took his father’s place as an Irish representative peer in the House of Lords.
He opposed the Act of Union, supported Catholic Emancipation, and was seen as ‘a personal enemy of George IV’ when he gave evidence in favour of Queen Charlotte regarding her conduct at the Court of Naples during her famous trial.
Thomastown Castle was enlarged in the early 19th century, and transformed into a Gothic castle, designed by Richard Morrison for Francis James Mathew, the 2nd Earl Landaff.
Lord Landaff married Gertrude Cecilia La Touche, a daughter of John La Touche, of Harristown, Co Kildare. They had no children, and he died in Dublin on 12 March 1833, aged 65.
Lord Landaff’s next brother, Lieut-Gen Montague James Mathew (1773-1819), had died 14 years earlier, on 19 March 1819, and so the family titles became extinct. General Mathew was MP for for Ballynakill in the Irish Parliament until 1800, and MP for Co Tipperary in Westminster in 1806-1819. He was a Whig and a supporter of Catholic Emancipation.
Their youngest brother, the Hon George Toby Skeffington Mathew, also died in 1832. So, when the second earl died, the family titles became extinct, and the estates passed to his sister, Lady Elizabeth Mathew. The Ordnance Survey Name Books record Lady Elizabeth Mathew owned townlands in the parish of Kilfeacle, barony of Clanwilliam, in 1840.
When she died in 1842, she left the family estates and fortune to a cousin, the Vicomte de Chabot, the son of her mother’s sister Elizabeth Smyth. Viscount Chabot was living at Thomastown Castle in the mid-19th century. Later it was owned by the Daly family, but from the mid-1870s it began to decay from the mid-1870s. William Daly was living there in 1906.
As Thomastown Castle crumbled and decayed, a number of pretenders came forward, claiming they were the rightful holders of the title Earl Landaff and heirs to the castle. The most outrageous of these pretenders was Arnold Harris Mathew (1852-1919), self-styled de jure 4th Earl Landaff, also self-styled Count Povoleri di Vicenza.
Mathew was also the founder and first bishop of the self-styled Old Roman Catholic Western Orthodox Church in Great Britain, an Old Catholic Church. His episcopal consecration was declared null and void by the Union of Utrecht’s International Old Catholic Bishops’ Conference. In addition, he was excommunicated by Pope Pius X for illicitly consecrating two priests as bishops which led a London jury to find that ‘the words were true in substance and in fact’ that he was a ‘pseudo-bishop.’
He claimed his father, Major Arnold Henry Ochterlony Mathew, who died in 1894, was the third Earl Landaff, and the son of Major Arnold Nesbit Mathew, of the Indian Army. According to these claims, this Major Arnold Mathew was, in turn, the eldest son of the 1st Earl Landaff, born in Paris five months after his parents married.
This claim was later shown to be based on invented and fictitious information. Arnold Nesbit Mathew originally used the name Matthews, as did his son. He was, in fact, the son of William Richard Matthews and his wife Anne, of Down Ampney in Gloucestershire. Incidentally, Down Ampney was also the home village of the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958(, who composed the tune ‘Down Ampney’ for the hymn ‘Come down, O love divine’
Arnold Harris Mathew put forward his claim to the Garter Principal King of Arms for the title of 4th Earl Landaff of Thomastown, Co Tipperary, in 1890, and placed his creative pedigree on the official record at the College of Arms.
John H Matthews, Cardiff archivist, said in 1898 that the number of claimants to the dormant or extinct earldom was ‘legion.’ In his opinion, Arnold Henry Mathew’s pedigree was ‘too extra-ordinary to commend itself to an impartial mind.’
Nevertheless, Arnold Henry Mathew presented his petition to the House of Lords in 1899, claiming a right to vote with the Irish peers for representative peers in the House of Lords. In his petition, he did not repeat other exuberant claims, including one that his grandmother was Eliza Francesca Povoleri, was an Italian countess and the daughter of a Papal marchese.
His petition was read and referred to the Lord Chancellor, Lord Halsbury, who reported in 1902 that Mathew’s claim ‘is of such a nature that it ought to be referred to the Committee for Privileges; read, and ordered to lie on the Table.’
Mark Bence Jones in a feature in Country Life says Archbishop Mathew also bought the ruins of Thomastown Castle and 20 acres surrounding it to save it from destruction.
Mathew’s aristocratic pretensions, like his life as a ‘wandering bishop,’ were fantasies that continue to resurface in the claims of fantasists and pretenders in many walks of life.
When he died on 19 December 1919, the claims to the Mathew title did not come to an end.
As recently as 1987, a mural memorial was erected in Llandaff Cathedral, claiming it was: ‘In memory of Thomas James Mathew son and heir of Francis James Mathew second Earl of Landaff born in London 1798 died in Cape Town 1862.’ The memorial includes a full display of the coat of arms of the Mathew family of Co Tipperary as Earls Landaff, and the misspelling of Llandaff as Landaff.
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. 238. (Willington.LGI1958) a C18 house of three storeys over basement, 5 bays…now a ruin.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
Outbuildings of now-demolished Rapla House, built c. 1760, comprising central courtyard with ranges to north, west and south. Pitched and hipped slate roofs with rubble limestone walls. Multiple-bay two-storey north range, now partly in use as house. Building has rendered chimneystacks and square-headed openings having replacement timber windows, cut limestone sills and dressed limestone voussoirs, and timber panelled door with carved limestone surround with keystone. Building has advanced three-bay part to west containing integral carriage arch converted to window. Single- and two-storey west range has rendered rubble limestone walls, brick and dressed limestone carriage arches and doorways with cut limestone surrounds with keystones and timber matchboard doors. South range has rendered rubble walls. Dressed limestone piers to entrance gateway having cast-iron gates. Cut stone piers to road entrance with wheel guards.
Appraisal
These former stables set around a central courtyard retain their original form and structure. The buildings are enhanced by the retention of original features and materials such as the slate roof and limestone sills. The outbuildings are of apparent architectural design, which create a picturesque ferme ornée. The limestone surrounds to the doorways are skillfully carved and are clearly the work of competent craftsmen. The decorative scheme is understated, unified and of high quality. This group of stables form part of a group of demesne structures, which includes an icehouse related to the now demolished Rapla House.
Irish Historic Houses 