Drumbaragh, County Meath, 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.
supplement.
p. 296. “Woodward/LG1875) A tall three storey three bay C18 block. Central chimneystack; C19 pillared porch and window surrounds.”
Not in National Inventory
Record of Protected Structures:
Drumbaragh House, townland: Drumbaragh.
Three storey over basement house built c. 1800, attributed to designs by Francis Johnston, remodelled in late 1860s by William Caldbeck, extended to the rear c.1900. Includes gate lodge, walled garden.
Drumbaragh, also spelled Drumbarrow, is located on the Oldcastle Road from Kells. Drumbaragh house is a three storey house with a large central chimneystack, erected about 1800, possibly to the design of Francis Johnston. The house was remodelled in the 1860s by architect, William Caldbeck. The house was extended at rear by architect, L.A. McDonnell, about 1900. The 1800s interiors have survived. The house was a distance from the public road with the farmyard between the house and the road. A gate lodge was erected for Robert Woodward to the design of his cousin the noted architect, Benjamin Woodward.
Drumbaragh was the seat of the Woodward family. Benjamin Wodward was confirmed in his lands at Drumbarrow in 1668 following their confiscations from the Hill and Plunkett families by Cromwell. Benjamin’s son, Joseph, died in 1702 leaving a son, Charles who married three times. By his second wife he had a son, Benjamin, born in 1710. Benjamin married Judith Meredyth of Newtown in 1733. Benjamin died in 1761 and was succeeded at Drumbarrow by his second son, Charles. Charles was born in 1740, entered the church. Rev. Charles Woodward was rector of Ardee. He died in 1793 and there is a memorial to him and his family in Kells Church of Ireland church. His first wife, Esther Wade of Clonabreany, died in 1776 and his second wife Elizabeth Minchin died in 1778. Henry, son of Benjamin and Esther, succeeded to Drumbarrow. The present house at Drumbaragh was constructed in 1800 for Henry Woodward.
In 1835 Drumbarrow House was described as the residence of Mr. Woodward. Drumbarrow was described as a neat house of two storeys and basement, surrounded by a well cared small demesne. There were considerable offices. A school house stood not far from the house in the 1830s. The famous Victorian architect, Benjamin Woodward, spent his childhood at his uncle’s home in Drumbarragh
Henry married Sarah-Catherine Wade of Clonabreany in 1800. Their second son, Robert, inherited Drumbarrow in 1838. Born in 1805, Robert entered Trinity College and was called to the Irish bar in 1829. His brother, Henry Thomas, emigrated and settled in Illinois, U.S.A. Robert died in 1864.
Drumbaragh was purchased by the Sweetman family in 1859 and it remained in the family’s hands until 1958. John Sweetman was the eldest son of a Dublin brewer. He took an active interest in nationalistic politics. In the mid to late 1870s he took over the full running of Drumbaragh from his mother. He joined the Irish Land League and proposed the MP for Meath, Charles Stewart Parnell for the position of President. He was one of the first Meath landowners to dispose of his estate under the 1903 land act. In 1880 Sweetman visited America and became involved in a scheme to settle poor Irish farmers in a colony in Minnesota. The family brewery in Dublin was sold to Arthur Guinness & Sons in 1891 and Sweetman decided to enter full time into politics. He was elected as an anti-Parnellite Irish Parliamentary Party MP for East Wicklow in 1892. In the general election of 1895 he stood for Meath North and was narrowly defeated. On 11 September 1895 Sweetman married Agnes, daughter of John P. Hanly of Navan.
In 1899 Sweetman was elected to Meath County Council and served as chairman 1902-8. He was one of the founders and financial backers of Sinn Féin in 1905, succeeding Edward Martyn to be the second President of the party in 1908. Arthur Griffith took over as the third President later in the year. He was arrested at his home in Meath followin the 1916 Rising in which he did not apparently play any active part, and was taken to prison in England. Sweetman was an opponent of women’s suffrage, and was criticised for endowing a UCD scholarship on condition that female students should be excluded from competing for it. He supported the Pro-Treaty side in the Civil War but changed his allegiance to Fianna Fail after 1927. He died in 1936. There is an article on Sweetman in the Dictionary of Irish Biography, written by Patrick Maume. The Sweetman family papers are in the National Library. John Walter Sweetman, the eldest son of John and Agnes Sweetman, married Olivia Dudley, and inherited the Drumbaragh estate after the death of his father. John Walter died in 1961.
St. Austin’s Abbey, County Carlow, c. 1860. Gillman Collection. 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. 303. “(Doyne/IFR) A High Victorian house, rather similar to Derrylahan Park, built ca 1858 by Charles Henry Doyne, younger son of Robert Doyne, of Wells, to the design of sir Thomas Newenham Deane and Benjamin Woodward. Burnt ca 1920.”
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. 35. Designed by Sir Thomas Newenham Deane and Benjamin Woodward 1858-1859 for Charles Henry Doyne. The house was burnt c. 1921 and the ruin has since been partly demolished. The stable block and some fragments of the house still remain.
Remains of detached French Gothic style country house, c. 1856. Burnt down c. 1921. Now in ruins. Designed by Benjamin Woodward. Group of detached outbuildings to site.
Detached three-bay single-storey gate lodge with dormer attic, c. 1856, with hipped roof. Designed by Benjamin Woodward. Renovated and refenestrated, c. 1990.
Record of Protected structures:
Gatelodge of St. Austin’s Abbey, Tullow. Townland: Tullowbeg.
The gate lodge to St Austin’s Abbey dates from circa 1856 and was designed by Deane and Woodward. It is built of large, squared blocks of granite placed at random. It has a single storey of three bays with an enclosed porch and an exceptionally, high-pitched roof of natural slate, with granite brackets under the eaves, granite dormer windows with high-pitched roofs and exceptionally tall, granite stacks. The ground-floor windows have single granite mullions. uPVC windows have been inserted recently. The building is in a French gothic revival style very similar to St. Ann’s Schools in Molesworth Street, Dublin which were demolished in the 1970s.
Importance: regional, architectural, artistic.
St. Austins Abbey,
Tullow . townland: Tullowbeg
The house was designed by the partnership of Deane and Woodward circa 1856 and burnt in 1921. It is Venetian gothic in style and built of squared blocks of randomly set granite ashlar. It is increasingly being covered with ivy which is obscuring the finely carved granite details including a balcony, pointed windows and the remains of a granite staircase. Though a ruin this is a very important architectural site.
St. Austin’s Abbey was built in the 1850’s by Charles Henry Doyne youngest son of Robert Doyne. The architects were Sir Thomas Newenham Deane and Benjamin Woodward. The house was gutted by fire in 1922 and mostly demolished
Jimmy O’Toole, The Carlow Gentry: What will the neighbours say! Published by Jimmy O’Toole, Carlow, Ireland, 1993. Printed by Leinster Leader Ltd, Naas, Kildare.
Chapter: Doyne of St. Austin’s Abbey.
p. 89. Only three houses were torched by the IRA , and two of them had more to do with preventing unoccupied houses being used as bases by the Black and Tans, and later by the Free State Army, rather than any vindictiveness against landlords.
Two of the houses destroyed – St. Austin’s Abbey in Tullow, and Kellistown House – were owned by the Doyne family, while Myshall Lodge was the former seat of the Cornwall-Bradys. The houses in Tullow and Myshall had been unoccupied for several years before the outbrea, of the War of Independence, while Kellistown House was rented by the spinster Pack- Beresford sisters, Annette and Elizabeth. The burning of Kellistown, the only one of the three to be rebuilt, was the result of an attempt by the sisters to alert the RIC about the presence of an IRA unit resting up while on active service. The burned-out shell of St. Austin’s remains, while the ruin of Myshall Lodge was demolished.
Far from having any concerted plan to destroy the homes of landlords, the IRA in County Carlow at any rate, concentrated their attacks on military and police installations, and the disruption of communications involving the blowing up of roads and bridges. A small number of houses are known to have been targeted, but in the face of stringent opposition by locals, plans to burn these houses were scrapped. The most celebrated case was a plan by the IRA flying squad to burn Borris House. Once news of the planned attack became known in the village, senior IRA officers were told that such an action against the Kavanaghs would be unacceptable among villagers.”
p. 90. St. Austin’s Abbey was occupied by Free State soldiers in 1922, and they left after a plea from a Bishop, who feared bloodshed in the event of an engagement with the IRA. After the soldiers left the IRA burned St. Austin’s. The Doynes were by no means popular landlords but the burning of two of their houses was purely co-incidental and never regarded as acts of reprisal.
Towards the end of 18C, as the full force of the Penal Laws began to ease, relations between Catholics and Protestants remained bitter. The Doynes, along with their neighbours the Wolseleys, successfully frustrated efforts to site a Catholic seminary in the town, forcing the Bishop to find a site in Carlow.
In the aftermath of the 1798 Rebellion, the widows of 28 men who lost their lives during the battle of Carlow were evicted from part of Doyne’s land.
Charles Doyne, nicknamed “Silky Charlie,” who lived in Dublin, was agent for the Kavanaghs of Borris and the Beresford estate in Fenagh. His tough stand against tenants who refused to support their landlords during the elections between 1831-1841, in contest with Daniel O’Connell’s repeal candidates and the Liberals, did nothing to redress the tarnished image of the Doynes as landlords.
p. 91. The Doynes, originally O’Duinn, were an ancient Irish sept, whose chieftains ruled County Laois…
p. 93. Robert Doyne (1651-1733) became Lord Chief Justice of Common Pleas in Ireland and later Lord Chief Baron. His eldest son, Philip Doyne (1685-1754) married Mary Burton, daughter of Benjamin Burton, the Dublin banker, and he established the family seat at Wells, Co Wexford, where they had 7000 acres. His grandson, Benjamin Burton Doyne, who lived at Altamont House, was High Sheriff of Co Carlow in 1775, and he died in 1787. It was during the reign of Queen Anne (1703-1713) that the Doynes were granted estates of 3,200 acres in County Carlow, and St. Austin’s was built in the 1850s by Charles Henry Doyne (1806-1867), youngest son of Robert Doyne (1782-1850) of Wells. The architects were Sir Thomas Newenham Deane, and Benjamin Woodward. … Charles Henry, who died 1867, had no male heir and his two daughters, Mary and Annette, died unmarried. His nephew, James Walter Doyne, who inherited St. Austin’s, was High Sheriff for County Carlow in 1881, and he died unmarried in 1898, aged 47.”
St. Austin’s was inherited by James Walter’s nephew, Dermot Henry Doyne, who married Alice Gertrude Brook of Ardeen, Shillelagh, in 1905. They had one son, Charles Hastings Doyne, born 1906. They had left Tullow a few years before the outbreak of the War of Independence. Dermot Doyne, DL, JP and High Sherif for Carlow in 1902, died 1942. His widow lived subsequently at Germaines, Rathvilly and Charles Hastings Doyne inherited Wells. St. Austin’s was purchased from the Doyne estate by James Neale and after his death, hisnephew Evan Hadden of Tinahely, sold St. Austin’s and the adjoining farm to local businessman Joe O’Neill in 1977. The gat lodge is thehome of his son Joseph O’Neill.
Kellistown, a former glebe house, was purchased in 1880 by Charles Mervyn Doyne of Wells, from the Representative Church Body for £1899. He subsequently purchased an adjoining 20acres of church land. When his son, Dermot Henry Doyne, sold the house and land to James Hughes in 1927 – the house was in ruins -the price was £1,500.”
St. Austin’s Abbey (now in ruin) was built in the 1850’s by Charles Henry Doyne youngest son of Robert Doyne. The architects were Sir Thomas Newenham Deane and Benjamin Woodward.” When Charles Henry died in 1867 with no male heirs St. Austin’s Abbey passed to his nephew James W.C. Doyne.
Jimmy O’Toole in his excellent book “The Carlow Gentry” tells us more of the Doyne family history. “It was during the reign of Queen Anne (1703 – 1713) that the Doynes were granted estates of 3,200 acres in County Carlow including St. Austin’s Abbey.
The Doyne family, originally O’Duinn, an ancient Irish family from Laois, were granted 3,200 acres in Co. Carlow during the reign of Queen Anne (1703- 1713). In the 1850s Charles Henry Doyne (1806 – 1867) built St. Austin’s Abbey House.[13] Dermot and Alice Doyne left St. Austin’s before the outbreak of the War of Independence. St. Austin’s was burned own during the Civil War in 1922.[14]
St Austin’s Abbey House, Tullow, burned by anti-treaty forces 1922 (Courtesy: Jimmy O’Toole)The Abbey farm and gate house are now owned by the O’Neill family
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. 87. “A delightful Ruskinian Gothic villa, almost certainly by Sir Thomas Newenham Deane, and possibly designed by his brilliant younger partner, Benjamin Woodward. Built 1860-2 for James Lawson, a lawyer. Of two storeys, or, more precisely, a basement and an attic; the principal rooms being in the attic, which is in fact a piano-nobile, rising into a very high roof, and lit by trefoil-headed windows in the gables; Dr Girouard sees this arrangement as that of the familiar singe-storey-over-basement late-Georgian Dublin villa translated into High-Victorian Gothic. Of stone, with a certain amount of brick polychromy. Main entrance under wooden trellised veranda. Long conservatory with twisted Gothic columns of cast iron. High rooms, with sloping beamed ceilings under the roofs; the walls of the principal rooms frescoed by John Hungerford Pollen 1862, with pre-Raphaelite scenes of a knight and his lady, and The Seven Ages of Woman. Pollen also painted the spaces between the beams with birds, flowers and foliage, with backgrounds of blue and terracotta. Sold by the Lawsons earlier this century, subsequently the home of Judge Quinn.”
Carrigrohane, County Cork, photograph by Robert French, [between ca. 1865-1914], Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
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. 59. “[Wallis, Hoare, Bt of Annabella] A C19 castellated house incorporating part of an old castle of the Barrett family on a crag above the River Lee. The estate was subsequently owned by the Wallis family, from whom it passed by marriage to the Hoares in late C18; the castle was a ruin for many years before it was built into the present house; which has a front of 3 storeys behind the battlements; and large mullioned windows with round-headed lights. Carrigrohane Castle features in a recent book of highly evocative reminiscences, The Road to Glenamore, by M. Jesse Hoare.”
The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Frank Keohane. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.
The fortified houses of the late C16 and early C17 constitute a bridge between the medieval tower house and the modern mansion. They were built by old Norman families, at Castle Lyons and Ightermurragh (Ladysbridge); by city merchants, such as the Archdeacons at Monkstown; by English settlers, at Baltimore, Coppinger’s Court (Rosscarbery) and Mallow; and by Gaelic chiefs, at Coolnalong (Durrus), Mount Long (Oysterhaven), Kanturk, Dromaneen (Mallow) and Reendiseart (Ballylickey). Twenty-two such houses survive in Cork.
In comparison to tower houses, these houses are better lit, have thinner walls, lack vaults, and feature timber floors and staircases as well as integral fireplaces. They are also notably symmetrical in plan and elevation, and some, such as Kanturk, incorporate proto-classical features. They generally retain some defensive features, such as door yetts, gunloops, bartizans and crenellated parapets, [p. 18] although their wall-walks were not all continuous, and in cases such as Mount Long and Monkstown were barely accessible. The other notable feature is the use of towers or turrets, influenced no doubt by the Elizabethan fashion for a quasi-military appearance derived from an earlier chivalric age. The arrangement of the towers gives rise to distinctive plan-forms: U plan (Coolnalong), Y-plan (Mallow and Coppinger’s court), L-plan (Dromaneen (Mallow) and Mossgrove (Templemartin), cross-plan (Kilmaclenine, Ightermurragh), X-plan (Kanturk, Monkstown, Mount Long, Aghadown), Z-plan (Ballyannan (Midleton), and T-Plan (Reendiseart). Baltimore, Carrigrohane, Castle Lyons, Myrtle Grove (Youghal) and Castlemartyr aer simple rectangular blocks. A number of Jacobean bawns with circular corner towers also survive, at Ballinterry (Rathcormac), Dromiscane (Millstreet), Dromagh, Clonmeen (Banteer) and Mossgrove.”
[no image] Detached four-bay three-storey over basement and with dormer attic house, built c.1850, incorporating fabric of an earlier building. Five-bay north elevation. Pitched slate roofs with battlements, gabled dormers, gablets and rendered chimneystacks. Ashlar limestone and rendered walls having string courses and corner bartizans to south-west and north-east corners. Square-headed openings with carved limestone tracery and label mouldings. Pair of timber panelled doors with strap hinges, approached by flight of limestone steps.
Appraisal
Dramatically sited on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Lee Valley, this building is an eye-catching addition to the surrounding landscape. Built on the site of an early seventeenth century fortified house built by the Barrett family, Windele noted in the early 1840s that only its walls remained. It is thought to have been restored by Deane and Woodward from 1849-50. It was occupied at the time by the McSwiney family, a local mill owning family who due to financial constraints, were soon forced to return the fully restored castle to the owners, the Hoare family.
A fortified house that came into the possession of the Hoare family through marriage with a member of the Baker family in the 1770s. In 1786 Wilson refers to Carrigrohan as the seat of Mr. Colthurst. Reconstructed in the 1830s by Augustus Robert McSweeny, a corn merchant, who also leased the floor mills nearby. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation Jane McSweeny was resident. The Castle later reverted back to the Hoares who owned it until the 1940s. They are mentioned by the Irish Tourist Association survey as resident there. It is still extant and was sold in 2017.
Carrigrohane Castle, the Co Cork former childhood family home of convicted fraudster Breifne O’Brien, has been put up for sale, ending more than 40 years of occupation by the O’Brien family.
The 400-year-old Tudor-style castle at the end of the Carrigrohane Road appeared without fanfare on a property website at the weekend, with a ‘price on application’ legend attached to its briefest of descriptions.
It is likely to be floated at about €2.5m, according to sources, though its named selling agent Michael Burns yesterday declined to comment publicly on the family’s plans for its sale.
It has been owned since the early 1970s by businessman and property investor Leo O’Brien and his wife Mary, who reared their children — including sons Breifne and broadcaster/journalist Daire O’Brien — within its walls and around its woodland walks.
Mr O’Brien owned valuable building investments on South Mall and Academy Street (now part of Opera Lane).
It’s understood that disgraced investor Breifne O’Brien held his wedding at Carrigrohane Castle to Dublin PR adviser and society figure Fiona Nagle in the in the mid-2000s, just before he was exposed in 2008 as having conned friends and family out of millions of euro to fund his extravagant lifestyle and run his own mansion homes.
Historic Carrigrohane Castle was brought back from a ruin in the 1830s and was largely rebuilt and maintained since. It is possibly the most dramatically-sited home in and around Cork City, on a high cliff overlooking the River Lee, between Ballincollig and the city.
For centuries, it dominated the skyline, looking out towards Muskerry, imperial over all it surveyed. At one stage, the demesne lands associated with the castle would have run to 1,500 acres, from the Model Farm Road to the eastern end of Ballincollig.
Now, the castle stands on a still-impressive and private 16 acres, half of it shielding woodland, and half in pasture and let out for farming use. The land and property offered for sale includes an entrance lodge by St Peter’s Church on Churchill Hill, and a guest house by a tennis court within the grounds.
The daft.ie property web listing says the castellated home has 6,500sq ft, with six bedrooms, and three bathrooms, and has all of the sort of features one would expect in a proper castle, with battlements, stone carvings, enormous fireplaces (but also oil central heating), gabled dormers, hefty internal beams and dark timbers, slate roof and look-out vantage points.
At one stage, the Muskerry tram would have passed under this craggily-set Corkleo castle, and a rockfall about 35 years ago on a section of cliff face caused the closure of the Carrigrohane Road for a period.
“Lough Rynn Castle Hotel Estate & Gardens is one of the top luxury castle hotels to stay in. Located in County Leitrim, Lough Rynn Castle exceeds expectations as one of the most preferred hotels in Ireland.
“It is the ancestral home of the Clements family and the legendary Lord Leitrim. Our magical Irish castle hotel has been transformed from an incredible ancestral home into a place where old world elegance mixes seamlessly with unimaginable modern hotel luxury.
“Staying in a luxurious Castle Hotel in Ireland is a once in a lifetime experience and one that deserves to take place at a location full of history, luxury and charm. Take a step back in time as you approach imposing entrances at Lough Rynn Castle which offers acres of breathtaking scenery, historical sites and walled gardens. Our entire Irish castle hotel’s estate comprises of over 300 acres of land that is idyllic, rich in history and charmed with natural beauty. Take a romantic walk in our walled gardens overlooking our lough and come back to the castle hotel for some exquisite dining in our restaurant or drinks at the Dungeon Bar. Relax and take in the authentic Irish castle atmosphere in the Baronial Hall or in the John McGahern Library.“
Mac Raghnaill family (1210 –1621)
“The current Lough Rynn estate is built on the ancestral lands of Clan Maelsechlainn-Oge Mac Raghnaill, the pre-Conquest rulers of this part of County Leitrim known as Muintir Eolais. The Annals of Loch Cé and Annals of Connacht refer to “the crannóg of Claenloch” (Lough Rynn) in the High Middle Ages, 1247AD, with the structure marked on some maps as “Crannoge” or “Crane Island”, while the medieval Mac Raghnaill‘s Castle is mentioned in 1474AD.
“The ruins of the Mac Raghnaill‘s Castle are located close to the lake and some 500 meters from the existing Lough Rynn Castle. The historian, Fiona Slevin, describes the structure of the Mac Raghnaill castle as “fairly standard for the time, but it did have a few unusual – and clever – features. Although a square shape, the castle had rounded corners that made it more impervious to artillery attacks and it had a straight stairway carved into the hollow of a wall, rather than the more usual spiral stair in one corner.”
“The Mac Raghnaill family had played an important role in the Nine Years War on the side of Aodh Mór Ó Néill resisting the English conquest of Ireland.
Crofton family (1621–1750)
“In the English Plantation of 1621, the Mac Raghnaill lands in Lough Rynn were confiscated and granted to an English family named Crofton. The Croftons brought British Protestant settlers with them and in the 1620s and 1630s the native Irish were gradually removed from the land.
“In 1749, a wealthy landowner named Nathaniel Clements purchased around 10,000 acres in the Mohill area of County Leitrim. Upon doing so, his son Robert became the 1st Earl of Leitrim. On their new estate, the Clements family took up residence in a modest dwelling already on the estate. However, they had their eyes on building a far more impressive residence worthy of their name and their stature – a magnificent castle.
Robert Clements, later First Earl of Leitrim, by Pompeo Batoni, about 1753–1754, Hood Museum of Art.Robert Clements (1732-1804) 1st Earl of Leitrim by Gilbert Stuart courtesy of Christie’s Irish Sale 2001.
“By the start of the 19th century, work had begun on the Clements family’s new home under the watchful eyes of the Earl. Sometime in 1839, Robert Clements died both suddenly and young, which passed the management of the estate to his brother William Sydney Clements. Although Sydney worked with his brother managing the build of Lough Rynn, as a second son, he never expected to inherit the lands or titles. However, in 1854, that’s exactly what he did, taking full ownership of the estate on the death of his father, thus becoming the 3rd Earl of Leitrim or Lord Leitrim as he preferred.
Clements family (1750–1978)
“In 1750 the Croftons were replaced by another English family named the Clements. Daniel Clements, an officer in Oliver Cromwell‘s army, had been granted land in County Cavan which had been confiscated from the Irish following the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. In 1750 Nathaniel Clements acquired the Lough Rynn estate, while remaining on his lands in Cavan. Nevertheless, the Clements started to become more involved in political life in Leitrim with Robert Clements becoming sheriff for the county in 1759. In 1795 Robert Clements became the first Earl of Leitrim. In 1833, Robert Bermingham [Clements (1805-1839)], Viscount Clements [grandson of the 1st Earl of Leitrim], built a mock Tudor revival house overlooking Lough Rynn. It is this property which is the basis for the current Lough Rynn Castle.
“Upon Robert’s death in 1839, management of Lough Rynn estate passed to his brother, William Sydney Clements [(1806-1879) 3rd Earl of Leitrim]. In 1854, when their father Nathaniel Clements, 2nd Earl of Leitrim, died William Sydney Clements became the 3rd Earl of Leitrim. He inherited an estate of a massive 90,000 acres which stretched across four counties. From around this time Sydney Clements asserted his control over the estate in an authoritarian manner which won him many opponents among the tenantry. He was unpopular in the locality and in Ireland, his assassination received widespread publicity in Ireland and abroad, with proponents of land reform using it as evidence of the need to protect tenants from the abuses of tyrannical landlords. His funeral in Dublin was marked by further riots, while none of the three assassins were convicted of his death.
“The inheritor of the Lough Rynn estate was Sydney Clements’ English-educated cousin who lived in Cavan, Colonel Henry Theophilus Clements [1820-1904], rather than the heir presumptive to the title who lived in England. This Colonel Clements embarked on an extensive expansion and refurbishment of the castle. He added a new wing, built a Baronial Hall designed by Thomas Drew with heavy plaster cornices, a large ornate Inglenook fireplace, and a fretted ceiling and walls wainscoted in solid English oak. Upon its completion in 1889, the principal floor of the house contained a main hall, Baronial Hall, chapel, reception room, living room and dining room. Two pantries, a kitchen, study, smokehouse and store were accessed by a separate entrance. In the basement there were stores and a wine cellar. There were fourteen bedrooms and four bathrooms upstairs.
“By 1952, when Marcus Clements took over the Lough Rynn estate, most of it had been sold off to former tenants under the land acts of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Clements lived there until the 1970’s. The estate remained largely empty until 1990 when it was purchased by an Irish-American investor, for a short time it was open to visitors but it was still in need of more investment and care.
Hanly Family (2001- Present)
“In 2001 Lough Rynn estate was purchased by the current owners, the Hanly family. They invested substantially in the castle and the grounds. In September 2006 when Lough Rynn Castle finally opened as a hotel, the estate extended to three hundred acres. Local father and son Alan and Albert Hanly purchased the castle and grounds. Over the seven years that followed, they lovingly brought it back to its former glory, so that it’s magic, luxury and history could be embraced.
Lough Rynn, County Leitrim, Irish Tourist Collection NLI ref NPA ITA 1377 (Box VII).
“A secluded location, standard-setting craftsmanship, breathtaking views and the perfect blend of old-world elegance and new-world luxury, has turned Lough Rynn Castle into a truly magical destination.“
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. 193. “(Lucas-Clements/IFR; Clements/IFR) A simple two storey Tudor-Revival house of cut stone, with gently sloping gables, mullioned windows, hood-mouldings and tall chimneys; built 1833 for Robert, Viscount Clements, probably to the design of William Burn; to which a wing in the same style but higher, and on a grander scale, was added 1889 to the design of Sir Thomas Drew for Col H.T. Clements, who inherited the estate from his cousin, William Clements, 3rd Earl of Leitrim. The 1833 range contains pleasant rooms with simple late-Georgian cornices, the later wing contains an oak panelled hall and a very large and impressive drawing room or ballroom in the Norman Shaw style; with oak panelling, a heavy plaster cornice, a fretted ceiling and a vast and ornate inglenook fireplace. Stables with high pitched roofs om French Renaissance style also by Drew. Heavily wooded demesne extending round the lough from which the estate takes its name. Walled garden with terrace above the water’s edge, the parapet adorned with urns and sculpture.”
Lough Rynn, County Leitrim, photograph courtesy of Mark Bence-Jones, A Guide to Irish Country Houses.
Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.
Detached seven-bay two-storey over basement Tudor Revival country house of irregular plan, built in 1832, extended to east in 1889. Multiple pitched slate roofs with cut stone chimneystacks to eastern block, cut stone finials to gables, cast-iron and lead rainwater goods. Cut limestone walls with string courses. Square-headed chamfered mullioned windows with label mouldings. Drew’s addition contains floor to ceiling windows to ground floor containing much elaborate stained glass. Canted-bay window to garden elevation. Gable-fronted entrance porch with segmental-headed opening, tooled moulded stone surrounds, date ‘1889’ above door in decoratively carved panels, surmounted by finely carved crest containing word ‘Salve’. Timber door with iron studs and wrought-iron handle. Limestone slabs to entrance. Doorbell set within carved circular panel. Limestone steps to entrance landing. Original round-headed entrance with block-and-start tooled moulded surround, timber battened door and stone steps to entrance. Cut stone wall to east with terracotta railings and decorative wrought-iron gates. House abutted by cut stone outbuildings to west.
Appraisal
This substantial house, designed by William Burn and extended by Sir Thomas Drew is situated within a large estate containing many buildings and features of notable architectural quality such as stables, coachyard, farmyard, boathouse, walled gardens, viewing tower as well as church, school, dispensary and a number of lodges and estate cottages. These buildings combine to form an estate of major significance within Leitrim and indeed Ireland.
Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.
Detached eight-bay two-storey stable block, built in 1833, with stone walls surrounding yard. Currently disused. Pitched slate roof with dormer window below eaves and stone coping to gable ends. Coursed squared cut stone walls with square-headed window and door openings. Timber casement windows with stone sills. Timber and glazed doors with overlights. Pair of segmental-headed carriage openings. Red brick structure with corrugated lean-to roof to north. Cut stone slabs in circular pattern surrounding former well. Random coursed stone wall to garden. Cut stone piers with cast-iron gates give access to site. Subsequent stable block to west.
Appraisal
This stable yard, which appears to date to the first period of construction at Lough Rynn is of a pleasant design and retains many original features and materials. It forms an interesting group with the related demesne structures comprising Lough Rynn Estate. This group exhibits varied architectural styles, features and materials that are representative of nineteenth-century demesne architecture.
Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.
Detached multiple-bay two-storey L-plan former stable block, built in 1858. Currently disused. Steeply-pitched roofs with gabled dormers, cut stone chimneystacks, stone coping to gables with wrought-iron finials. Random coursed stone walls with cut stone detailing to opening surrounds. Variety of window openings with timber sash and casement windows with stone sills. Slate canopy over four-centred integral carriage arches with timber and glass double doors. Buttress to rear supporting chimneystack. Site bounded by random coursed stone walls with cut stone piers and cast-iron gates. Cast-iron piers with wrought-iron gates situated to west of stable block. This stable block lies to the west of another.
Appraisal
This stableyard, designed by Benjamin Rogers, forms part of an impressive group of demesne-related structures that comprise Lough Rynn Estate. The stunning design of these buildings reflects a standard set amongst the various other structures in the estate. These stables and associated demesne structures are important contributors to the architectural heritage of County Leitrim.
Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.
Walled garden complex, built in 1859 to a design by the firm of Deane and Woodward, comprising four separate gardens, terraced towards Lough Rynn and bounded by random coursed stone walls. Access to first garden through cut stone piers with hipped slate canopy supported on timber brackets with limestone corbels. Garden contains stone outbuildings with slate roofs to south wall. Entrances in south wall to remaining three gardens. Pointed-arched openings with sandstone voussoirs and block-and-start surrounds. South-west garden contains glass house with castellated stone plinth walls. Three southern gardens have limestone steps leading between them descending westwards. Two-storey octagonal viewing turret or summer house, built in 1867 at north-west corner of south-east garden. Slate roof with cast-iron weather vane. Random coursed stone walls. Pointed-arched openings with dressed stone surrounds. Two cast-iron balconies. Steps leading from gardens to lakeside terminating in pointed-arched and segmental-headed openings with timber battened doors.
Appraisal
These walled gardens are a reminder of the past horticultural traditions associated with country houses. Their scale and the views they command over the lake make them a notable part of the estate. The glass house would have represented a significant technical achievement in its time. The summer house, which was designed by J.E. Rogers, is an appealing design with its finely executed stonework and cast-iron balconies adding artistic interest to the site. The notice board on site indicates that the garden designs were by Deane and Woodward.
Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.
Farmyard complex, built c.1840 and extended in 1858. Currently disused. Comprises four detached outbuildings around central courtyard, with further enclosed courtyard to north-west, accessed through cast-iron gates. Pitched slate roofs with cut stone chimneystacks, cast-iron rainwater goods and dormer windows and rooflights. Random coursed limestone walls with dressed quoins. Block-and-start surrounds to windows and some doors. Timber sash and casement windows with block-and-start surrounds. Variety of timber doors. Cut stone bellcote to gable of north-west range with cast-iron weathervane. Complex bounded by random coursed cut stone walls with cut stone piers and cast-iron gates. Further cast-iron gates lead to a walled garden.
Appraisal
This farmyard is one of a group of structures that form the immediate setting of Lough Rynn House. Extended in 1858 by renowned architects Deane and Woodward the buildings display well-executed stonework which enhances their appeal as an aesthetic as well as functional complex.
Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.
Detached two-pile two-bay one-storey with attic former estate office, built c.1850, recently used as restaurant but now disused. Pitched slate roofs with brick chimneystacks, timber bargeboards, cast-iron rainwater goods and cast-iron finials to gables. Random coursed cut stone walls with dressed limestone quoins. Timber casement windows with brick surrounds and limestone sills. Sash windows to first floor. Timber battened door with pointed arch brick surround and limestone keystone to north. Dormer and oriel windows to east elevation. Glazed timber porch with monopitched slate roof to south elevation. Set at edge of farmyard with stone walls separating.
Appraisal
This former estate office, designed by Mathew Digby Wyatt in the 1850s, is embellished by varied colourful materials such as finely-executed stone walls and dressings, yellow brick surrounds and painted timber bargeboards. It forms an attractive part of the farmyard of the Lough Rynn Estate.
Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.
Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.
Detached three-bay two-storey former forge, built c.1840, with two-bay single-storey extension to east. Now disused. Pitched slate roof with stone and rendered chimneystacks to rear, timber bargeboards and some cast-iron rainwater goods. Random coursed cut stone walls. Block-and-start surrounds to timber windows with limestone sills. Block-and-start surrounds to square-headed integral carriage arches with cut stone voussoirs. This building is separate from the main outbuilding complex of estate. Adjacent to forge is a stone lined well with cut stone cover with remains of stone mortice.
Appraisal
This former forge forms part of a complex constituting the utilitarian buildings of Lough Rynn Estate. This simple structure is enhanced by the quality of its stonework, a prevailing feature of the buildings on the estate, especially those closest to the main house. The survival of many original features further enhances this structure, which contributes to the striking group of structures comprising Lough Rynn Estate.
Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.
Detached four-bay single-storey former dispensary, built c.1850, now derelict. Hipped slate roof with red brick chimneystacks. Random coursed stone walls with tooled quoins. Timber casement windows with limestone sills, lintels and block-and-start surrounds. Projecting gable-fronted ashlar porch with decorative timber bargeboard and shouldered-arched opening. Timber battened door with limestone steps. Random coursed stone outbuilding to rear. Site bounded by rubble stone wall.
Appraisal
This former dispensary forms part of a group of demesne-related structures associated with Lough Rynn Estate. Though fallen into disrepair, this building has retained its original form, features and materials. It is similar in design and detail to various lodges, houses and other structures on the estate, while the quality of craftsmanship maintains the same high level. This former dispensary is a socially- and architecturally-significant structure within the estate.
Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.
Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.
Detached four-bay single-storey with attic former primary school, built c.1870, now in domestic use. Pitched slate roof with decorative timber bargeboards and brick chimneystacks. Random coursed stone walls with cut stone quoins. Window openings to gable end with red brick surrounds. Stone and timber lintels to façade and rear elevation with replacement uPVC windows. Projecting gable-fronted porch to façade with shoulder-arched opening, brick surround and stone steps to entrance. Replacement uPVC door. Original entrance to site was over single-span stone bridge.
Appraisal
This former school, possibly by the architect Sir Andrew Drew, is an attractive and decorative building situated on the Lough Rynn Estate. Similar in style to various lodges and estate workers cottages, with its finely-tooled shoulder-arched openings and gable windows with brick surrounds, the school is an architecturally- and socially-significant structure within the estate.
Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.
Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.
Detached two-bay single-storey with attic gable-fronted former gate lodge, built c.1850, now in domestic use. Pitched slate roof with decorative timber bargeboards, oversailing eaves and catslide roof to porch. Cut stone chimneystack with terracotta pots. Random coursed stone walls with cut stone quoins. Square-headed window openings with yellow brick surrounds having chamfered reveals and chamfered tooled limestone sills. Casement windows and side-sliding timber sash windows. Shouldered-arched opening to entrance with timber battened door and stone steps. Stone outbuilding to rear of site with pitched slate roof. Site bounded by random stone wall with tooled stone piers.
Appraisal
This attractive lodge is one of three very similar lodges giving access to Lough Rynn Estate. The finely-tooled stonework to the shouldered-arched entrance and the window to the front gable with its brick dressings are found on various structures throughout the estate, echoing the architecture of Lough Rynn House.
Lough Rynn Castle, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.
Detached single-bay single-storey with attic gable-fronted former lodge, built c.1850, now a house. Pitched slate roof with catslide roof to porch and oversailing eaves, timber bargeboards to gables and cut-stone chimneystacks. Random coursed limestone walls with sandstone foundation. Side-sliding timber sash windows with tooled limestone lintels, sills and brick surrounds. Porch to east with shouldered-arched opening and brick surround with timber panelled door. Set behind random coursed limestone wall with soldier course forming coping at entrance to Lough Rynn Estate.
Appraisal
This attractive former gate lodge is one of three similar lodges dotted around the periphery of Lough Rynn Estate. The similar plan of these lodges is highlighted by subtle decorative features which vary between the individual structures. The finely-tooled shouldered-arched entrance mirrors that of other structures found within Lough Rynn. Further decorative enrichments include the dressed lintels, brickwork and treatment of the roof.
Detached two-bay single-storey with attic gable-fronted former gate lodge, built c.1850, now vacant. Pitched slate roof with oversailing eaves, cut stone chimneystack and decorative timber bargeboards. Random coursed stone walls. Tooled limestone lintels to side-sliding timber sash windows with limestone sills and brick surrounds. Projecting lean-to entrance porch to east with shouldered-arched opening with cut stone lintel, red brick surround and timber battened door. Stone outbuilding with pitched slate roof to north-west. Set behind random coursed stone wall with rock-faced cut stone piers to estate.
Appraisal
This former gate lodge is one of three such giving access to Lough Rynn Estate. The lodges follow a similar plan with subtle decorative features distinguishing them from one another. The style echoes the architecture and skilled craftsmanship visible around Lough Rynn. The red brick to the window openings here add an interesting deviation and some colour to an otherwise stone façade.
Detached four-bay single-storey with attic former estate worker’s house, built c.1860, with return and extension to rear. Now in domestic use. Pitched slate roof with rebuilt chimneystack and rooflights. Random coursed sandstone walls with dressed quoins. Block-and-start window surrounds to replacement windows. Projecting stone porch with catslide roof and replacement timber battened door. Stone outbuilding to east side, now connected to house.
Appraisal
This attractive former estate worker’s cottage displays well-executed stonework mirroring the standard set amongst other buildings on the estate. Although modernised it is similar in style to these other buildings and forms a charming addition to Lough Rynn.
Detached three-bay two-storey T-plan former steward’s house, built c.1850 in a Tudor Gothic style. Now used as a private house. Multiple pitched slate roofs with cut stone, rendered and brick chimneystacks. Cut stone coping to gables. Random coursed cut stone walls with plinth. Projecting entrance porch with monopitched slate roof. Square-headed and Tudor-arched window openings with tooled stone surrounds, timber casement and uPVC windows. Gablet window to rear elevation. Tudor-arched door openings with tooled stone surrounds, timber panelled door to porch and replacement battened door, sidelight and overlight to rear. Stone and timber sheds to rear of site. Site bounded by random rubble wall and set within mature gardens. Lead water tank to rear of site.
Appraisal
This steward’s house, located near the farm complex, is a highly attractive structure, designed by the architect M.D. Wyatt. Situated on an elevated position, the fine dwelling retains much original fabric and character. This house is an important and imposing structure within Lough Rynn Estate.
Lough Rynn was built in the early 1830s by Robert, Viscount Clements, heir to the 2nd Earl. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation it was valued at £40. In 1906 it is recorded as the property of Col. H.T. Clements and has a valuation of £100. It is still extant. In 2006 it opened as a luxury hotel. For more information see http://www.loughrynn.ie and http://www.loughrynn.net.
Lough Rynn, one of Ireland’s most luxurious castle hotels, was once the ancestral home of the Clements family and the legendary Lord Leitrim. This secluded lakeside retreat offers you contemporary luxury steeped in history. Set inside a 300-acre estate, Lough Rynn offers you breathtaking scenery, lush green pastures, ancient forests and a magnificent Victorian walled garden. Lough Rynn Castle retains a splendour befitting its history. Dine in the 2AA Rosette awarded Sandstone Restaurant where a menu lovingly prepared, focuses on home-grown produce. A simply magical experience awaits you.
Lough Rynn Castle, Restored Castle. Now a luxury castle hotel on the shores of Lough Rynn situated on the historic grounds of the medieval castle and estate of the Mac Raghnaill family of Muintir Eolais. The current Lough Rynn estate is built on the ancestral lands of the Mac Raghnaill family. See Mac Raghnaill’s Castle below. In the English Plantation of 1621, the Mac Raghnaill lands in Lough Rynn were confiscated and granted to an English family named Crofton. The Croftons brought British Protestant settlers with them and in the 1620s and 1630s the native Irish were gradually removed from the land. In 1750 the Croftons were replaced by another English family named the Clements. Daniel Clements, an officer in Oliver Cromwell’s army, had been granted land in County Cavan which had been confiscated from the Irish following the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. In 1750 Nathaniel Clements, 2nd Earl of Leitrim KP PC acquired the Lough Rynn estate, while remaining on his lands in Cavan started to become more involved in political life in Leitrim with Robert Clements becoming sheriff for the county in 1759. In 1795 Robert Clements became the first Earl of Leitrim. In 1833, Robert Bermingham, Viscount Clements, built a mock Tudor revival house overlooking Lough Rynn, which is the basis for the current Lough Rynn Castle. When Robert died management of Lough Rynn passed to his brother, William Sydney Clements, 3rd Earl of Leitrim. In 1854, when their father Nathaniel Clements, 2nd Earl of Leitrim, died William Sydney Clements became the 3rd Earl of Leitrim. He inherited an estate of 90,000 acres which stretched across four counties. The inability of tenants to pay rent during and after An Gorta Mór provided him with an opportunity to clear his estate and introduce more productive farming practices. In 1858, in a nationally reported event, Clements assembled one thousand armed military and police to repossess the local Gortletteragh Church for non-payment of rent, (his liberally-minded father had refused to take rent). About six thousand men turned up from Longford, Westmeath, Roscommon and across Leitrim to defend the church, forcing Clements to back down. By 1860 Sydney Clements had become a staunch supporter of the Conservatives. In 1870 he spoke out vehemently against William Gladstone’s first Irish Land Act, believing it to be an encroachment on the rights of property owners. During the 1860s hatred towards Sydney Clements grew in the surrounding area and stories began to be told of his mistreatment of the wives and daughters of local men. In September 1860 James Murphy from Mohill fired a loaded pistol at him, two days after sending him a note challenging him to a duel to ‘take satisfaction for your ruffianly conduct towards my wife’. An additional attempt to shoot him followed in the 1860s. In 1878 Sydney Clements engaged in a wholesale eviction of his tenants in County Donegal, many of whom were starving as a result of the famine. On 2 April 1878 three men, Michael Heraghty, Michael McElwee and Neil Sheils, ambushed and killed William Sydney Clements, 3rd Lord Leitrim, at Cratlagh Wood near Milford, County Donegal. His funeral in Dublin was marked by further riots, while none of the three assassins were convicted of his death. Lough Rynn Castle Hotel now has forty-two bedrooms, a baronial hall, a library named after John McGahern, drawing room, piano room, bar, the award-winning Sandstone restaurant, as well as conference, bar and wedding facilities for up to three hundred guests in an adjoining function room.
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1.Dunmore Cave, Mothel, Ballyfoyle, Castlecomer Road, County Kilkenny:
General information: 056 776 7726, dunmorecaves@opw.ie
“Dunmore Cave, not far from Kilkenny town, is a series of limestone chambers formed over millions of years. It contains some of the most impressive calcite formations found in any Irish underground structure.
“The cave has been known for many centuries and is first mentioned in the ninth-century Triads of Ireland, where it is referred to as one of the ‘darkest places in Ireland’. The most gruesome reference, however, comes from the Annals of the Four Masters, which tells how the Viking leader Guthfrith of Ivar massacred a thousand people there in AD 928. Archaeological investigation has not reliably confirmed that such a massacre took place, but finds within the cave – including human remains – do indicate Viking activity.
“Dunmore is now a show cave, with guided tours that will take you deep into the earth – and even deeper into the past.“
“Founded in the 12th century, Jerpoint Abbey is one of the best examples of a medieval Cistercian Abbey in Ireland. The architectural styles within the church, constructed in the late twelfth century, reflect the transition from Romanesque to Gothic architecture. The tower and cloister date to the fifteenth century.
“Jerpoint is renowned for its detailed stone sculptures found throughout the monastery. Dating from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries these include mensa [table] tombs from the O’Tunney school, an exquisite incised depiction of two 13th century knights, the decorated cloister arcades along with other effigies and memorials.
“Children can explore the abbey with a treasure hunt available in the nearby visitor centre. Search the abbey to discover saints, patrons, knights, exotic animals and mythological creatures.
“A small but informative visitor centre houses an excellent exhibition.“
General information: 056 772 4623, jerpointabbey@opw.ie
From the OPW website:
“Kells Priory owes its foundation to the Anglo-Norman consolidation of Leinster. Founded by Geoffrey FitzRobert, a household knight and trusted companion of William Marshal the priory was one element of Geoffrey’s establishment of the medieval town of Kells.
“Although founded in c. 1193 extensive remains exist today which include a nave, chancel, lady chapel, cloister and associated builds plus the remains of the priory’s infirmary, workshop, kitchen, bread oven and mill. The existence of the medieval defences, surrounding the entire precinct, underline the military aspect of the site and inspired the priory’s local name, the ‘Seven Castles of Kells’.“
4. Kilkenny Castle, County Kilkenny:
Kilkenny Castle, photograph by macmillan media 2016 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. It sits on the banks of the River Nore. [1]
General information: 056 770 4100, kilkennycastleinfo@opw.ie
From the OPW website:
“Built in the twelfth century, Kilkenny Castle was the principal seat of the Butlers, earls, marquesses and dukes of Ormond for almost 600 years. Under the powerful Butler family, Kilkenny grew into a thriving and vibrant city. Its lively atmosphere can still be felt today.
“The castle, set in extensive parkland, was remodelled in Victorian times. It was formally taken over by the Irish State in 1969 and since then has undergone ambitious restoration works. It now welcomes thousands of visitors a year.“
Kilkenny Castle, photograph by unknown 2014 for Failte Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. [see 1]
Kilkenny Castle has been standing for over eight hundred years, dominating Kilkenny City and the South East of Ireland. Originally built in the 13th century by William Marshall, 4th Earl of Pembroke, as a symbol of Norman control, Kilkenny Castle came to symbolise the fortunes of the powerful Butlers of Ormonde for over six hundred years. [2]
In 1967 James Arthur Norman Butler (1893-1971), 6th Marquess and 24th Earl of Ormonde sold the Castle to the Kilkenny Castle Restoration Committee for £50. Two years later it went into state ownership.
Kilkenny Castle, photograph by unknown 2014 for Failte Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool. [see 1] The National Inventory describes: Random rubble stone walls with sections of limestone ashlar construction (including to breakfront having full-height Corinthian pilasters flanking round-headed recessed niches with sills, moulded surrounds having keystones, decorative frieze having swags, moulded course, modillion cornice, and blocking course with moulded surround to pediment having modillions), and limestone ashlar dressings including battlemented parapets (some having inscribed details) on corbel tables. The classical frontispiece was designed for James Butler, Second Duke of Ormonde possibly to designs prepared by Sir William Robinson.
“The magnificent Picture Gallery is situated in the east wing of Kilkenny Castle.This stunning space dates from the 19th century and was built primarily to house the Butler Family’s fine collection of paintings.“
“This church was built in the late thirteenth century as a collegiate church and was served by a college – clerics who lived in a community but did not submit to the rule of a monastery.
“The church was patronised by the Butler family and many early family members are commemorated here with elaborate medieval tombs. The impressive ruins were decorated by the Gowran Master whose stone carvings are immortalised in the poetry of Nobel Laureate Séamus Heaney.
“The once medieval church was later partly reconstructed in the early 19th century and functioned as a Church of Ireland church until the 1970s when it was gifted to the State as a National Monument. Today the restored part of the church preserves a collection of monuments dating from the 5th to the 20th centuries.“
St. Mary’s church, Gowran, June 2023.
We visited it on the way home from Shankill Castle in County Kilkenny in June 2023. Our tour guide was an enthusiastic font of information and we shared what we knew also and we would have happily spent longer but had to head off as we were visiting a friend in Thomastown.
I was excited to see the tombs of the early Butlers of Ormond. The website tells us that the pair of effigial tombs belong (1467-1539) (d. 1487) to Butler knights. The more elaborate of them is believed to belong to Sir James Butler of Polestown, father of the eighth earl of Ormond, Piers Rua.
The sides of this tomb are skilfully decorated with carvings of the Apostles, St Brigid, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and possibly St Thomas à Becket. This tomb is believed to be the work of the renowned O’Tunneys of Callan. James became the Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1464. He married Sabh Kavanagh, daughter of Donal Reagh MacMurrough-Kavanagh, the King of Leinster.
Irish Historic Houses 