My page of portraits for C and D is too long so I am splitting into two pages.
2025 Diary of Irish Historic Houses (section 482 properties)
To purchase an A5 size 2025 Diary of Historic Houses (opening times and days are not listed so the calendar is for use for recording appointments and not as a reference for opening times) send your postal address to jennifer.baggot@gmail.com along with €20 via this payment button. The calendar of 84 pages includes space for writing your appointments as well as photographs of the historic houses. The price includes postage within Ireland. Postage to U.S. is a further €10 for the A5 size calendar, so I would appreciate a donation toward the postage – you can click on the donation link.
€20.00
donation
Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!
€10.00
Donation towards accommodation
I receive no funding nor aid to create and maintain this website, it is a labour of love. I travel all over Ireland to visit Section 482 properties and sometimes this entails an overnight stay. A donation would help to fund my accommodation.
€150.00
D
I have some editorial decisions to make here – let me know if you have an opinion on it. There are names such as “De Burgh” and “De la Poer.” Do I put them under the letter “D”? I am doing so. It gets more confusing, however, when someone can be called, interchangeably, “De Burgh” or “Bourke.” In this case, I’m putting them under both names! I’m more confused about the De La Poer Beresfords. Do I put them under “D” or “B” for Beresford? I’m not sure if “De la Poer” is actually part of the surname. Let me know if you know! For now, I am counting it as part of the surname.
Richard Bourke (d. 1635) was 4th Earl of Clanricarde and he married Frances Walsingham.
They had a son, Ulick de Burgo or Bourke, 5th Earl of Clanricarde (d. 1657) who was created 1st Marquess of Clanricarde. He was succeeded by his cousin, Richard Bourke (d. 1666) 6th Earl of Clanricarde.
Richard Bourke (d. 1666) 6th Earl of Clanricarde married Elizabeth Butler, daughter of Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond. They had daughters so his brother William (d. 1687) succeeded as 7th Earl of Clanricarde.
William the 7th Earl married Lettice Shirley who gave birth to Richard Bourke (d. 1709) 8th Earl of Clanricarde, who had only daughters, and then John Bourke (1642-1722) who became 9th Earl of Clanricarde.
The 7th Earl married a second time, to Helen MacCarty (d. 1732) who was daughter of Donough MacCarty 1st Earl of Clancarty. They had a daughter, Honora Bourke (d. 1697/8) who married James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick-upon-Tweed, illegitimate son of King James II.
The 9th Earl married and had many children, including Michael Bourke (d. 1726) 10th Earl of Clanricarde. He married Anne Smith, daughter of John Smith, Chancellor of the Exchequer, widow of Hugh Parker of Meldford Hall, Sussex, whose income helped to restore the family fortunes, and she gave birth to John Smith de Burgh (1720-1782) who became 11th Earl of Clanricarde. In 1752 his name was legally changed to John Smith de Burgh by Royal License.
John Smith de Burgh (1720-1782) 11th Earl of Clanricarde married Hester Amelia Vincent. He changed his surname from Bourke to De Burgh. They had a son, Henry de Burgh (1742-1797) who was created 1st (and last, as he had no children) Marquess of Clanricarde.
Henry de Burgh, 12th Earl and 1st Marquess of Clanricarde (1742 – 1797), Attributed to John Smart (British, 1741-1811) courtesy of https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6249637Henry de Burgh, (1743-1797) 1st Marquess of Clanricarde (2nd creation), as Knight of St. Patrick, by Robert Hunter.
When he died his brother earned the title, as General John Thomas de Burgh (1744-1808) 13th Earl of Clanricarde. He was created 1st Earl of Clanricarde, co. Galway [Ireland] in 1800, with special remainder to his daughters. His daughter Hester Catherine de Burgh married Howe Peter Browne, 2nd Marquess of Sligo. His daughter Emily married Thomas St. Lawrence, 3rd Earl of Howth.
John Thomas De Burgh (1744-1808) 13th Earl of Clanricarde was created 1st Earl of Clanricarde, Co. Galway.
His son Ulick John de Burgh (1802-1874) was created 1st Marquess of Clanricarde. He married Harriet Canning, daughter of Prime Minister George Canning. Ulick was described as being immensely rich.
Thomas Swift (d. 1803) of Lynn, County Westmeath married Frances Dennis. She was the sister of James Dennis (d. 1782) Baron Tracton of Tracton Abbey, Co. Cork. Lord Tracton bequeathed his estates in County Kerry to his eldest nephew and heir-at-law, Reverend Meade Swift, and those in counties Cork and Dublin to his other nephew John Swift. They both took the surname “Dennis” then.
Reverend Meade Swift, now Dennis (1753-1837) married Delia Sophia Saunders, daughter of Reverend Morley Pendred Saunders and Martha, daughter of John Stratford, 1st Earl of Aldborough and Martha O’Neale.
John Stratford (1698-1777) 1st Earl of Aldborough, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy sale, Fortgranite.Martha Stratford née O’Neale (d. 1796), 1st Countess of Aldborough, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy Fortgranite auction.
Reverend Meade Swift, now Dennis (1753-1837) and Delia Sophia Saunders had a son, Thomas Stratford Dennis (1781-1870).
Portrait of Thomas Stratford Dennis Esq. (1781-1870), of Fortgranite, by Ethel Dennis, Irish 19th Century School, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy Fortgranite auction.Portrait of Katherine Martha Maria Dennis (1781-1825) daughter of Morley Saunders Esq. of Saundersgrove, Co. Wicklow, and wife of Thomas Stratford Dennis Esq. of Fortgranite, by Ethel Dennis, 19th Century Irish School, courtesy Fonsie Mealy Fortgranite auction.Her father Morley Saunders was the brother of Delia Sophia Saunders who married Reverend Meade Swift Dennis (1753-1837).Portrait of Ellen Louisa Sandes née Dennis, daughter of Thomas Stratford Dennis Esq. (1781-1870), of Fortgranite, by Ethel Dennis, 19th Century Irish School, courtesy Fonsie Mealy Fortgranite auction.Morley Stratford Tynte Dennis, Lieutenant Colonel of the 76th F. Duke of Wellingtons Regiment, he married in 1866 to Anne Baker, daughter of Hugh Baker of Lismacue, courtesy Fonsie Mealy Fortgranite.He was son of of Thomas Stratford Dennis Esq. (1781-1870), of Fortgranite.“Mrs. M.C. Dennis” courtesy of Fortgranite Fonsie Mealy auction.I think this must be Margaret Catherine Crosbie, daughter of Pierce Crosbie (b. 1792) of Ballyheigue, County Kerry, and his wife Elizabeth Sandes. Margaret Catherine was married to Meade Caulfield Dennis (1810-1891) of Fortgranite, son of Thomas Stratford Dennis(1781-1870).Edward Denny (1547-1600), who was granted land in Tralee County Kerry after the Desmond Rebellions photograph courtesy of the Roaringwaterjournal website.Edward Denny (1796-1889) 4th Bt , Poet and hymn writer, by Camille Silvy, 1862, National Portrait Gallery of London, Ax57667.Walter Devereux (1541-1576), 1st Earl of Essex.Robert Devereux (1565-1601), 2nd Earl of Essex.Oil painting on panel, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (1566-1601) by Marcus Geeraerts the younger (Bruges 1561/2 – London 1635/6) and Studio, dated, top left: 1599.. From a full-length portrait at Woburn Abbey (Duke of Bedford), courtesy of National Trust.Portrait of Frances Walsingham (1567-1633), along with her husband Robert Devereux (1566-1601) 2nd Earl of Essex, and in the small picture, Sir Philip Sydney(1554-1586), her first husband. Her third husband was Richard Bourke (1572-1635) 4th Earl of Clanricarde.Simon Digby, Bishop of Elphin and Adare, Irish School 18th C courtesy Chrisites Irish Sale.Frances (nee Savage) wife of John Doyle of Ushers Island, Dublin, attributed to Thomas Pope-Stevens c.1780, courtesy of Adam’s auction 11 Oct 2011.
Fee: adult/OAP/student €6, child free with an adult
2026 Diary of Irish Historic Houses (section 482 properties)
To purchase an A5 size 2026 Diary of Historic Houses (opening times and days are not listed so the calendar is for use for recording appointments and not as a reference for opening times) send your postal address to jennifer.baggot@gmail.com along with €20 via this payment button. The calendar of 84 pages includes space for writing your appointments as well as photographs of the historic houses. The price includes postage within Ireland. Postage to U.S. is a further €10 for the A5 size calendar, so I would appreciate a donation toward the postage – you can click on the donation link.
€20.00
donation
Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!
The website tells us that the site of Dún na séad Castle has been fortified for a very long time. The first fortification might have been a ring fort. After that an Anglo-Norman castle was built here in 1215. In 1305 that castle was taken and destroyed by the MacCarthys. Subsequently the O’Driscolls took possession of the site and built a castle.
Baltimore Castle, April 2021.
The website tells us that the present Dún na séad Castle was built in the 1620s by the O’Driscolls, but Frank Keohane writes that it was built by Thomas Crooke before 1610 near an earlier O’Driscoll castle. Frank Keohane writes in his The Buildings of Ireland: Cork City and County:
“Baltimore or Dunasead Castle. Early C17 two-storey gable-ended block with an attic, set on a rock overlooking Baltimore Harbour. An O’Driscoll castle NE of the present building was occupied by an English force in 1602 after the Battle of Kinsale, during which it was substantially demolished. Sir Fineen O’Driscoll then leased Baltimore and its ‘castle’ to Thomas Crooke and William Coppinger. Crooke, who established an English settlement, appears to have built the present castle before 1610, possibly incorporating features such as the window surrounds from the O’Driscoll castle.” [1]
Keohane tells us: “[Baltimore is] a small pretty village… overlooking a broad deep bay sheltered from the Atlantic by Sherkin Island. An English settlement was first established here in the early C17 by Sir Thomas Crooke, later passing to Sir Walter Coppinger. By 1629 English settlers had built sixty houses here.“
Between 1997 and 2005 the ruined castle was rebuilt as a private residence. At present it is a small museum. The owners, the McCarthys, have done an amazing job restoring the castle and it is also their home.
Keohane continues: “Restored as a dwelling in 1997-2003. The contemporary interventions are well considered, with minimal conjecture and cleanly distinct materials….The castle is approached across a small enclosed bawn on the east or landward side. The lower floor served as stores, with living quarters above. Wall-walks behind parapets are provided on the long sides. These give access to a square bartizan over the SW corner; another bartizan was probably provided on the opposing NE corner. The West side is blind at the ground level but has generous two and three light first floor windows (all now missing mullions and transoms), with ogee heads, sunken spandrels and curious curved hoodmould terminals similar to those at Clodagh Castle (Crookstown). On the east side, two great reconstructed chimneystacks sit on corbels at first-floor level. Here, small rectangular lights serve the ground-floor rooms, while the first-floor rooms have wider windows. A narrow first-floor door at the south end led to a now destroyed garderobe turret. The upper rooms were approached by an internal stair rather than a forestair. Markings in the plaster suggest that there were three major rooms, divided by partitions, with attics at each end. The central “hall” had good sandstone window dressings with neat roll mouldings, and a fireplace with remains of a moulded and chamfered limestone jamb. A solar or parlour was provided to the south. The north room has a bread oven and a slop stone in addition to its fireplace, indicating use as a kitchen.”
But let us backtrack to the Castle’s fascinating history.
Information board in Baltimore Castle.
The information boards tell us that in 1215 Robert de Carew, Lord Sleynie, built the castle, and that his mother was a daughter of the chieftain Dermod MacCarthy of Cork.
Information board in Baltimore Castle.
After the Battle of Callan, the O’Driscoll family took possession of the castle at Baltimore. The O’Driscolls were fishermen and pirates.
Information board in Baltimore Castle.Information board in Baltimore Castle.Information board in Baltimore Castle.
The website tells us that the O’Driscolls were constantly under pressure from encroachments by Anglo-Norman settlers and rival Gaelic clans on their territory and trade interests, which resulted in the castle being attacked and destroyed numerous times in the following centuries.
The O’Driscolls imposed taxes on harbour trade and traffic in order to support their opulent lifestyle. They had no authority from the crown to impose such taxes, so in 1381 King Richard II appointed admirals for the ports of county Cork in an attempt to deal with the pirate menace to merchant shipping in the area. The admirals were commissioned to deal in particular with the O’Driscolls of Baltimore “who constantly remained upon the western ocean, preying in passing ships.” [2]
Information board in Baltimore Castle.Information board in Baltimore Castle.Information board in Baltimore Castle.
In the early 1600s Fineen O’Driscoll of Dún na Séad castle pledged loyalty to the Crown of England. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I.
In 1606 Thomas Crooke (b. 1574) was granted Baltimore Castle and the town of Baltimore as well as lands and islands formerly belonging to the O’Driscolls, in order to secure the area for the Crown and establish a Protestant colony. Bernie McCarthy tells us in her book that there is no evidence of the relationship between Fineen O’Driscoll and Thomas Crooke, and we do not know if the O’Driscolls stood aside willingly or whether Crooke had to engage in force to obtain the property. The portrait in the information board is not of Thomas Crooke but is of typical attire of an English planter at the time.
Crooke was meant to represent the Crown but he became involved in piracy, co-operating with English and Flemish pirates and profiting from their spoils.
There was, however, a system the Crown used for legitimising piracy by a system of “privateering” which was sanctioned by the State. A Privateer obtained a license, or letter of “Marque” to use their ships as a man-o-war against the State’s enemies in times of war. The marque permitted vessel owners to seize Crown enemies, acquire their cargo and make a profit. The captured ships were taken before the Prize Court and the captured cargo was referred to as the “prize,” and the privateer was awarded 90% of the prize, with 10% of the value going to the National Prize Fund. [3] Privateers took advantage of this legitimacy to capture illegitimate bounty, but in the case of Crooke, his work establishing a colony made the Crown turn a blind eye to his piracy.
Pirates would dock in Baltimore to repair ships or gather supplies, and this led to proliferation of taverns and brothels in Baltimore. A list of goods brought to Baltimore around 1615 by the pirate Campane includes wax, pepper, 100 Barbary hides, a chest of camphor, tobacco, cloves, elephants’ teeth (probably tusks), Muscovy hides, a chest of chenery roots and canopies of beds from the Canary Islands. [4]
In 1613, Baltimore was enabled by charter to send two MPs to the Dublin Parliament. Thomas Crooke was elected MP. Ironically, it was this parliament which introduced the Irish Statue against piracy.
Information board in Baltimore Castle.
By 1626, Crooke feared the consequences of foreign pirates, and he petitioned the House of Lords for protection of Baltimore. Unfortunately, any protection proved inadequate.
In 1631 a band of pirates from Algiers took 107 captives to a life of slavery in North Africa. Bernie McCarthy of Baltimore Castle has written a book called Pirates of Baltimore from the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth Century, Baltimore Castle Publications, 2012, which informs the educational material in the museum. [see 2]
Information board in Baltimore Castle.Information board in Baltimore Castle.Information board in Baltimore Castle.Information board in Baltimore Castle.Information board in Baltimore Castle.Information board in Baltimore Castle.Information board in Baltimore Castle.
At the time of the raid, Baltimore Castle was occupied by Thomas Bennett. He wrote to James Salmon of Castlehaven, County Cork, in an effort to send a ship from there to try to intercept the captives, and the Lord President of Munster ordered two of the king’s ships of war, the Lions Whelps, which were in Kinsale at the time, to go to the rescue, but none of the attempts were successful. [5]
In 1624 the House of Lords in London instructed the House of Commons to grant Letters Patent for a collection to be made for the redemption of English captives, and an “Algerian Duty” was set aside from Customs tax. There were also ransom charities, but at the same time, it was feared that paying ransoms would encourage the taking of captives. An account of Barbary pirates was written by a French priest who worked in Algeria trying to negotiate the release of captives, Pierre Dan, “Histoire de Barbarie et de ses corsairs.” He worked for the Catholic charity the Order of the Holy Trinity and Redemption of Slaves.
Courtesy of DePaul University, Chicago [6]
The website tells us that in the 1640s the castle was surrendered to Oliver Cromwell’s forces and passed to the Coppingers. In 1642 the O’Driscolls attempted to recover the castle by force. In the 1690s the Coppingers had to forfeit their property. After the 17th century the castle fell to ruin.
According to the information board in the castle, Percy Freke obtained the castle in 1703 from the investment company the Hollow Sword Blade Company. This company also owned Blarney Castle in County Cork for a period.
The Landed Estates database tells us:
“The Hollow Sword Blades Company was set up in England in 1691 to make sword blades. In 1703 the company purchased some of the Irish estates forfeited under the Williamite settlement in counties Mayo, Sligo, Galway, and Roscommon. They also bought the forfeited estates of the Earl of Clancarty in counties Cork and Kerry and of Sir Patrick Trant in counties Kerry, Limerick, Kildare, Dublin, King and Queen’s counties (Offaly and Laois). Further lands in counties Limerick, Tipperary, Cork and other counties, formerly the estate of James II were also purchased, also part of the estate of Lord Cahir in county Tipperary. In June 1703 the company bought a large estate in county Cork, confiscated from a number of attainted persons and other lands in counties Waterford and Clare. However within about 10 years the company had sold most of its Irish estates. Francis Edwards, a London merchant, was one of the main purchasers.” [7]
As well as her work on the Pirates of Baltimore, Bernie McCarthy has published a book about Baltimore Castle which we did not purchase, unfortunately. Called Baltimore Castle, An 800 Year History, I would love to read it, as I’d love to know more about how the McCarthys rebuilt the ruin. I will purchase a copy next time we are in the area!
Percy Freke’s son Ralph (1675-1718) gained the title of 1st Baronet Freke, of Rathbarry, County Cork. The property then passed to Ralph’s daughter Grace who married John Evans, and their son was John Evans-Freke (1743-1777), who became 1st Baronet Freke of Castle Freke, County Cork. He married Elizabeth Gore, daughter of Arthur Gore (1703-1773) 1st Earl of Arran, 3rd Baronet of Newtown, Viscount Sudley.
John and Elizabeth had a son named also named John Evans-Freke (1765-1845), who succeeded as 6th Baron Carbery. This John Evans-Freke married Catherine Charlotte Gore, daughter of Arthur Saunders Gore, 2nd Earl of Arran of the Arran Islands. John Evans-Freke was MP for Donegal from 1784-1790 and MP for Baltimore 1790-1800. He had Catherine Charlotte did not have surviving children and the title passed down to his nephew, son of his brother Percy Evans-Freke. I don’t think the castle was inhabited after Cromwell’s time, however. The 6th and 7th Barons of Carbery (George Patrick Percy Evans-Freke) did make some improvements to the town, Frank Keohane tells us.
Finally the castle was purchased by Patrick and Bernadette McCarthy, who restored it.
The castle now houses the museum and it contains wonderful artefacts and pieces of furniture. You can also go up to the ramparts and outside for beautiful views of the sea and of Baltimore.
Finally, I always assumed that Baltimore in Maryland was named after Baltimore in Cork. It turns out that this is not the case! It is indeed named after a Lord Baltimore who had ties with Ireland, but his title was for a property in County Longford!
Baltimore Castle 16 August 2023.The 1st Lord Baltimore was George Calvert (1582-1632).I lived on Calvert Street in Baltimore, Maryland, from 2003-2005!He was granted an Irish peerage but it was named not after Baltimore in Cork but Baltimore Manor in County Longford.George Calvert (1582-1632), 1st Baron Baltimore, Baltimore Castle 16 August 2023.
[1] p. 243. Keohane, Frank. The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.
[2] p. 5, McCarthy, Bernie. Pirates of Baltimore from the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth Century, Baltimore Castle Publications, 2012. Footnoted reference is to Timothy O’Neill, Merchants and Mariners in Medieval Ireland, p. 30.
“Legend has it that from 1605 to 1607 when St. Vincent de Paul was a young priest he was captured by Algerian corsairs and sold to different masters before making a daring escape with one of his captors, a French renegade who wished to be reconciled with the Church. Although the account of Vincent’s captivity came from letters he wrote at the time to explain his two year disappearance, most historians today doubt the veracity of the account and speculate that the young Vincent had dropped out of sight because of his heavy debts, and the failure of his attempts to gain an ecclesiastical benefice. Nonetheless, the Vincentian (Lazarist) order also had missions in Algiers and Tunis to bring relief or freedom to captured Christians.
Fast fact: Between 1575 and 1869, there were 82 redemption missions where friars bought the freedom of an estimated 15,500 captives.“
2025 Diary of Irish Historic Houses (section 482 properties)
To purchase an A5 size 2025 Diary of Historic Houses (opening times and days are not listed so the calendar is for use for recording appointments and not as a reference for opening times) send your postal address to jennifer.baggot@gmail.com along with €20 via this payment button. The calendar of 84 pages includes space for writing your appointments as well as photographs of the historic houses. The price includes postage within Ireland. Postage to U.S. is a further €10 for the A5 size calendar, so I would appreciate a donation toward the postage – you can click on the donation link.
€20.00
Donation towards accommodation
I receive no funding nor aid to create and maintain this website, it is a labour of love. I travel all over Ireland to visit Section 482 properties and sometimes this entails an overnight stay. A donation would help to fund my accommodation.
€150.00
Happy holiday season to all my readers!
Even before I embarked upon this project, I loved visiting historic houses and kept an eye out for Big Houses open to the public, places to visit during Heritage Week and Open House. See the entry that I wrote at the end of 2022 summarising our travels thus far, https://irishhistorichouses.com/2022/12/09/a-summary-of-2022-and-previous-years/
In 2019 I read an article in the Irish Times about the Section 482 scheme, and with the support of my husband, we began to visit Section 482 properties and I began to write about it.
There are generally about 180 properties on the Revenue Section 482 list every year and the properties stay on the list for at least five years in order to obtain state aid by subtracting a percentage of maintenance costs from income tax.
I have been working out a rough schedule at the beginning of each year in order to maximise efficiency of visiting! I plan our holidays around visits to properties that are open.
In 2019 we visited 27 properties. We stayed in County Waterford in May and in Castle Leslie in November for Stephen’s birthday. [1]
In 2021 we visited 14 properties. We visited Stephen’s mum in County Donegal in July and headed to County Sligo and Mayo for Heritage Week then over to Counties Westmeath, Kilkenny and Carlow. In November 2021 we treated ourselves to a stay in Wilton Castle in County Wexford. [3]
In 2022 we visited an impressive 26 properties, making up for the slowing down during the Covid pandemic. We took a holiday in May to Cork, travelled to County Donegal in July then during Heritage Week travelled to Counties Limerick, Galway and on up to Roscommon, Sligo and Leitrim and home via County Monaghan! [4]
This year, 2023, continuing the pace, we visited 25 more Section 482 properties. In February for my 2022 Christmas present we treated ourselves to a stay in Kinnitty Castle hotel in County Offaly and visited some Section 482 properties from there, and the following month, in March, we drove down to County Kerry to visit Section 482 gardens during a month in which not many Section 482 properties are open. In May we travelled to County Clare and then to County Wexford. Finally in 2023 during Heritage Week we visited Counties Waterford, Tipperary, and Cork.
2023 Gloster House, Brosna, Birr, Co. Offaly – 9th Feb 2023 Corolanty House, Shinrone, Birr, Co. Offaly – 10th Feb 2023 Huntington Castle, County Carlow – 9th Aug 2016 and 25th March 2023 Ballyseede Castle, Ballyseede, Tralee, Co. Kerry – 28 to 30 March 2023 Derreen Gardens, Kenmare, Co. Kerry (garden) – 29th March 2023 Kells Bay House & Garden, Caherciveen, Co. Kerry (garden) – 30th March 2023 Loughcrew House, Co. Meath (accommodation) – 21st May 2010 and 15th April 2023 Killruddery House & Gardens, Co. Wicklow – 24th May 2013 and 18th June 2015 and 12th July 2020 and 24th April 2021 and 30th April 2023 Barntick House, Clarecastle Co. Clare – 6 May 2023 Kilmokea Country Manor & Gardens, Co. Wexford (accommodation) – 10th and 11th May 2023 Sigginstown Castle, Co. Wexford – 12th May 2023 Woodville House, New Ross, Co. Wexford – 19th May 2023 Shankill Castle, Paulstown, Co. Kilkenny – 3rd June 2023 Turbotstown, Coole, Co. Westmeath – 29th July 2023
Cappagh House (Old and New), Dungarvan, Co. Waterford – 14th Aug 2023
Ballynatray Estate, Co. Waterford (garden) – 19th Aug 2023
Kilcascan Castle, County Cork – 15th Aug 2023
Bantry House, County Cork – 15 and 16th Aug 2023
Dún Na Séad Castle, Baltimore, Co. Cork – 16th Aug 2023
Drishane Castle & Gardens, Co. Cork – 17th Aug 2023
Burton Park, Churchtown, Mallow, Co. Cork – 17th Aug 2023
Clashleigh House, Clogheen, Co. Tipperary – 19th Aug 2023
Grenane House, Tipperary, Co. Tipperary – 19th Aug 2023
Clonskeagh Castle, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14 – Monday 2nd Dec 2023 Gravelmount House, Navan, Co. Meath – Sat 14th Dec 2023
I am now working out our travel and visiting plans for 2024! We still have 64 properties to visit on the 2023 Revenue Section 482 list, and I assume the 2024 list will be much the same, and that does not include the properties listed as Tourist Accommodation: there are 11 properties we could stay in but some are only available as “whole house” rental so we will probably never get to see them, and most of the others are prohibitively expensive on our budget! [5]
With the properties scattered all over the country open at different times of year, we’d have to take a lot of holidays and drive quite a distance to see as many houses as I would like in 2024! I have worked out that to organise our trips away to see the most houses, assuming that 2024’s list will be similar to 2023, we would need at least six overnight holidays!
In reality, we may take one or two short breaks, which leaves us plenty of years ahead for more Section 482 property holidays. For my birthday this year Stephen has given me a few nights in Kilronan Castle in County Roscommon, so we can visit, or revisit, a few properties near there. For Heritage week I’d like to return to Counties Sligo and Mayo, although there are still several properties within an hour of Dublin so we could stay at home.
In an ideal world of unlimited resources, I have plotted a dream schedule of Tipperary in the beginning of May and Limerick toward the end of May, then Galway and Clare in July. There are still a couple of properties we haven’t visited in County Donegal, so another trip in September could take in a few more places, while the weather is still warm!
Below I am sharing my Ideal World schedule for seeing as many Section 482 properties in 2024, using the 2023 listing assuming that 2024 listings will be similar.
The Presentation Convent Waterford Healthpark, Slievekeel Road, Waterford www.rowecreavin.ie
Kilcarbry Mill Engine House, Sweetfarm, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford
December 2024
Cillghrian Glebe now known as Boyne House Slane – Chapel Street, Slane, Co. Meath C15 P657 www.boynehouseslane.ie
[1] 2019 Slane Castle, Slane, Co. Meath – 27th April 2019 Salterbridge, County Waterford – 3rd May 2019 – no longer 482 Tourin House & Gardens, Co. Waterford – 3rd May 2019 Curraghmore House, Portlaw, Co. Waterford – 5th May 2019 Dromana House, Cappoquin, Co. Waterford – 5th May 2019 and 15th Aug 2020 Charleville, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow – 18th May 2019 Moone Abbey House & Tower, County Kildare – 18th May 2019 Loughton, Moneygall, Birr, Co. Offaly – 29th May 2019 Altidore Castle, Kilpeddar, Greystones, Co. Wicklow 31 May 2019 Leixlip Castle, Leixlip, Co. Kildare – 14th June 2019 Moyglare House, Moyglare, Co. Meath – 18th June 2019 Dunsany Castle, Dunsany, Co. Meath – 30th June 2019 and 16th July 2022 Dardistown Castle, Co. Meath – 13th July 2019 Borris House, Borris, Co. Carlow – 23 July 2019 Ballymurrin House, Kilbride, Co. Wicklow 27 July 2019 Clonalis House, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon (accommodation) – 3rd Aug 2019 Tullynally Castle & Gardens, Co. Westmeath – 4th Aug 2019 and 21st Aug 2021 Tankardstown House, Rathkenny, Slane, Co. Meath – 9th Aug 2019
Blackhall Castle, Calverstown, Kilcullen, Co.Kildare – 22 Aug 2019 Harristown House, Brannockstown, Co. Kildare – 22nd Aug 2019
Rokeby Hall, Grangebellew, Co. Louth – 7th Sept 2019 Coolcarrigan House & Gardens, Naas, Co. Kildare – 21st Sept 2019 Castle Howard, Avoca, Co. Wicklow – 28th Sept 2019 Barmeath Castle, Dunleer, Drogheda, Co. Louth – 15 Oct 2019 Colganstown House, Newcastle, Co. Dublin – 23rd Nov 2019 Castle Leslie, Co. Monaghan (accommodation) – 27 to 29 Nov 2019 Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, Dublin 2 – 8th Dec 2019 and 21st March 2020 and 3rd Nov 2022 and 24th Nov 2022
[2] 2020 Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, Dublin 2 – 8th Dec 2019 and 21st March 2020 and 3rd Nov 2022 and 24th Nov 2022 The Odeon, Dublin 2 – 13th April 2020 Killruddery House & Gardens, Co. Wicklow – 24th May 2013 and 18th June 2015 and 12th July 2020 and 24th April 2021 and 30th April 2023 The Old Rectory Killedmond, Borris, Co. Carlow – 1st July 2020 and 23rd Aug 2021 Corravahan House & Gardens, Co. Cavan – 24th July 2020
Kilshannig House, Rathcormac, Co. Cork – 14th Aug 2020 Cappoquin House & Gardens, Co. Waterford – 15 Aug 2020 Dromana House, Cappoquin, Co. Waterford – 5th May 2019 and 15th Aug 2020 Swainstown House, Kilmessan, Co. Meath – 19th Aug 2019 Drishane House, Castletownshend, Co. Cork – 20th Aug 2020
Cabra Castle (Hotel), Co. Cavan – 23 Dec 2020
[3] 2021 Killruddery House & Gardens, Co. Wicklow – 24th May 2013 and 18th June 2015 and 12th July 2020 and 24th April 2021 and 30th April 2023 Mount Usher Gardens, Ashford, Co. Wicklow (garden) – 6th June 2021 Stradbally Hall, Stradbally, Co. Laois – 7th June 2021 Birr Castle, Birr, Co. Offaly – 21 June 2021 Burtown House and Garden, Athy, Co. Kildare – 23 June 2021 Salthill Garden, Mountcharles, Co. Donegal – 30th July 2021
Markree Castle, Collooney, Co. Sligo – 16th Aug 2021 Newpark House and Demesne, Co. Sligo – 16th Aug 2021 Enniscoe House & Gardens, Ballina, Co. Mayo (accommodation) – 17th Aug 2021 Coopershill House, Riverstown, Co. Sligo (accommodation) – 18th Aug 2021 Tullynally Castle & Gardens, Co. Westmeath – 4th Aug 2019 and 21st Aug 2021 Kilfane Glen & Waterfall, Co. Kilkenny (garden) – 23rd Aug 2021 The Old Rectory Killedmond, Borris, Co. Carlow – 1st July 2020 and 23rd Aug 2021
Wilton Castle, Bree, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford (accommodation) – 2nd and 3rd Nov 2021
[4] 2022 Springfield House, Co. Offaly – 8th January 2022 Ballysallagh House, Co. Kilkenny – 12 Feb 2022 Bewley’s, Grafton Street, Dublin 3 – 6 March 2022 Powerscourt House & Gardens, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow – 11th Dec 2009 and 20th June 2012 and 12th March 2022 Beauparc House, Beau Parc, Navan, Co. Meath 15 March 2022 Martello Tower, Portrane, Co. Dublin – 23rd April 2022 Larchill, Kilcock, Co. Kildare – 8th May 2022 St. Mary’s Abbey, High Street, Trim, Co. Meath – 21st May 2022 Kildrought House, Celbridge Village, Co. Kildare – 28th May 2022 Hibernian/National Irish Bank, Dublin 2 – 25th June 2022 Blarney Castle & Rock Close, Blarney, Co. Cork – 7th June 2022 Blarney House & Gardens, Blarney, Co. Cork – 7th June 2022 Bantry House & Garden, Bantry, Co. Cork – 8th June 2022 Riverstown House, Riverstown, Glanmire, Co. Cork – 10th June 2022 The Church, Mary’s Street/Jervis Street, Dublin 1 – 25th June 2022 Oakfield Park, Oakfield Demesne, Raphoe, Co. Donegal (garden) – 2nd July 2022 Killineer House & Garden, Drogheda, Co. Louth – 16th July 2022 Dunsany Castle, Dunsany, Co. Meath – 30th June 2019 and 16th July 2022 St. George’s, Killiney, Co. Dublin – 6th Aug 2022
Ash Hill, Kilmallock, Co. Limerick (accommodation) – 12-15 Aug 2022 Beechwood House, Co. Tipperary – 13 Aug 2022 The Turret, Rylanes, Ballingarry, Co. Limerick – 13th Aug 2022 Glenville House, Glenville, Ardagh, Co. Limerick – 14th Aug 2022 Mount Trenchard House and Garden, Co. Limerick – 14th Aug 2022 Claregalway Castle, Claregalway, Co. Galway (accommodation) – 15th Aug 2022 Oranmore Castle, Oranmore, Co. Galway – 15th Aug 2022 Strokestown Park House, Co. Roscommon – 16 and 17th Aug 2022 King House, Boyle, Co. Roscommon – 18th Aug 2022 Lissadell House & Gardens, Co. Sligo – 19th Aug 2022 Manorhamilton Castle (Ruin), Co. Leitrim – 20th Aug 2022 Hilton Park House, Co. Monaghan (accommodation) – 21st Aug 2022
Fahanmura, 2 Knocksina, Foxrock, Dublin 18 – 11th Oct 2022 Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, Dublin 2 – 8th Dec 2019 and 21st March 2020 and 3rd Nov 2022 and 24th Nov 2022 39 North Great George’s Street, Dublin 1 – 10 Nov 2022 Hamwood House, Dunboyne, Co. Meath – 14th Nov 2022 Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, Dublin 2 – 8th Dec 2019 and 21st March 2020 and 3rd Nov 2022 and 24th Nov 2022
[5] ACCOMMODATION not yet visited: Unfortunately the accommodation is mostly too expensive for my budget! The Old Rectory Lorum, Co. Carlow (accommodation) Ballyvolane House, Castlelyons, Co. Cork (accommodation) Lambay Castle, Lambay Island, County Dublin (accommodation) Lisdonagh House, Caherlistrane, Co. Galway (accommodation) Owenmore, Garranard, Ballina, Co. Mayo (accommodation) Killeen Mill, Clavinstown, Drumree, Co. Meath (accommodation) The Maltings, Castle Street, Birr, Co. Offaly (accommodation) Temple House, Ballymote, Co. Sligo (accommodation) Lismacue House, Bansha, Co. Tipperary (accommodation) The Rectory, Cahir, Co. Tipperary (accommodation) Woodbrook House, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford (accommodation)
Open dates in 2026: Aug 1-31, Sept 1-30, 9.30am-1.30pm Fee: Free
202 Diary of Irish Historic Houses (section 482 properties)
To purchase an A5 size 2025 Diary of Historic Houses (opening times and days are not listed so the calendar is for use for recording appointments and not as a reference for opening times) send your postal address to jennifer.baggot@gmail.com along with €20 via this payment button. The calendar of 84 pages includes space for writing your appointments as well as photographs of the historic houses. The price includes postage within Ireland. Postage to U.S. is a further €10 for the A5 size calendar, so I would appreciate a donation toward the postage – you can click on the donation link.
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We contacted the owner of Kilcascan Castle, Alison Bailey, before heading across Cork during Heritage Week. She welcomed us to her home, which has been a work in progress for three decades for the family and is still undergoing a lot of renovation. Many family members have added their work to the process.
Kilcascan was built for the Daunt family and they owned it until it was sold to the current owners. Alison told us that members of the Daunt family fought with William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and held a large estate in Gloucestershire until modern times. Two of the younger descendant sons came to Ireland in the 16th century and ultimately established a large house (recently demolished) and estate at Gortnegrenane near Kinsale. A descendant came c. 1712 and built a residence at Kilcascan.
The current house, or castle, replaces an earlier house, and is thought to have been built in the early decades of the nineteenth century (around 1820) around the time of the second wedding of Joseph Daunt (1779-1826). Alison told us that there had been a Georgian house nearby, which was demolished in the 1960s.
According to Burke’s Irish Family Records Joseph Daunt (1702-1783) married Sarah Rashleigh in 1729. Their son William (1750-1809) inherited Kilcascan and married Jane Gumbleton (d. 1830), daughter of Richard (1721-1776) who was High Sheriff of County Waterford in 1772 and lived in Castlerichard, otherwise known as Glencairn Abbey in County Waterford. Jane’s mother was Elizabeth Conner.
William Daunt and Jane née Gumbleton had several children, including Richard, Robert and Joseph (1778-1826).
It was Joseph (1778-1826) who inherited Kilcascan, and who built the current house, at the time of his second marriage. His first marriage was to Jane Wilson, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Wilson, Rector of Ardstraw, County Tyrone, but she died in 1816, after giving birth to at least five children. Secondly he married Jane Gumbleton from Fort William in County Waterford, daughter of Robert Warren Gumbleton, in 1822.
It has been suggested that Kilcascan was designed by the Pain brothers, James and George Richard. We know that Kilcascan was under construction before 1819 because when a ground floor ceiling collapsed around 1990 a date of 1819 was discovered carved on a ceiling joist. This would make it, Alison told me, the earliest country house constructed to a design by the Pains.
James (1779–1877) and his brother George Richard Pain (ca. 1793-1838) worked in close partnership and together established a highly successful architectural practice in the south of Ireland. They were pupils of John Nash. They were commissioned to work for the Board of First Fruits in Ireland so designed many churches and glebe houses. A building they designed which has many similarities to Kilcascan is the larger Strancally Castle in County Waterford, built around 1830. The triple arch on the Kilcascan facade is repeated on the garden front at Strancally as a veranda.
Strancally Castle in County Waterford, by the Pain brothers.Lough Cutra castle, County Galway, courtesy of National Library of Ireland.Frank Keohane writes of Kilcascan that “At one end is a geometric stair with arcaded balustrading in a round tower which rises above the rest of the house; an arrangement similar to John Nash’s Lough Cutra castle, County Galway, as supervised by James and George R. Pain, whose work this may be.”
Frank Keohane writes that nearby Manche House in County Cork, built for a cousin of the Daunts, Daniel Conner, was designed around 1824 by George R. Pain. Keohane writes that the builder was Jeremiah Calnan of Enniskeane, who may have also worked on Kilcascan. [2]
Kilcascan is a five bay two storey house with the two end bays projecting and joined by a battlemented cloister, as Mark Bence-Jones describes it, or colonnade, of three Tudor-shaped arches. It was hard for me to make out the plan of the house as it nestles into its setting.
We approached the house from the side and were greeted at a side door in a one storey castellated hallway next to a three storey square tower and then a two-storey round tower. From this side the house looks very higgeldy piggeldy.
I admired the garden at this side of the house, a profusion of flowers, with a pond. Like the castle itself, the garden is laid out on different levels, with steps between.
We walked through the house, which is a maze of different floor levels and stairways. We then walked around the house to see the more symmetrical entrance front. The house has beautiful Gothic windows and stone mouldings over the windows. There’s a limestone stringcourse under the level of the eaves. The pilasters of the colonnade are topped with square bartizans.
Unfortunately, Joseph Daunt was killed in a duel in 1826, shot by his cousin Daniel Connor from Manch House. The duel was fought over a case brought to court by Joseph Daunt which Daniel Connor dismissed, saying it was ungentlemanly of Daunt to pursue a poor woman for the price of a cow. Enraged at the insult, Daunt wanted to challenge Connor to a duel.
However, duels were illegal and to kill a man in a duel would count as murder. Despite this, many cases against men who had killed their opponent in a duel did not result in harsh sentencing, because the jury consisted of gentry peers, and they often judged that the death was the unfortunate result of a “fair fight between gentlemen.” In other words, there had to be a good reason to kill someone in a duel, and if the jury felt that this was the case, punishment was extremely light. Daunt knew that if he challenged a judge to a duel over a judgement made by the judge in court, and he killed the judge, he would receive punishment as a murderer. Therefore, Alison told us, Daunt arranged the distribution of a scurrilous article defaming Connor’s wife, thus forcing Connor to issue the challenge.
Though Connor killed Daunt, he was judged not guilty of murder.
The house was inherited by Joseph’s son William Joseph O’Neill Daunt (1807-1894) when he was just 19 years old.
Young William O’Neill Daunt was raised Protestant, but he converted to Catholicism. The Dictionary of Irish Biography tells us that he was influenced by the Conners of Connerville, especially Feargus O’Connor (Feargus’s father Roger officially changed his name from Conner to O’Connor).
William O’Neill Daunt sought repeal of the Act of Union that had abolished the Irish Parliament. Together with Daniel O’Connell he was one of the founders of the Repeal Association and he was its director for Leinster. He was also opposed to tithes that all people had to pay to the Protestant church.
He served as MP for Mallow in 1832-33 but was unseated by a petition. He married Ellen Hickey in 1839.
Daniel O’Connell appointed him to be his secretary when O’Connell was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1841.
Despite his active political work for the Home Rule movement, travelling around Ireland and to Scotland seeking support for repeal of the union, he managed to spend most of his time at Kilcascan.
Daunt kept a diary, which the National Biography describes “Though excessively gossipy, the diary reveals much of the life of an Irish country gentleman and of Irish politics viewed from County Cork.” He also wrote Catechism of the history of Ireland (1844), Ireland and her agitators (1845; new edition 1868), Eighty-five years of Irish history (1886) and Personal recollections of the late Daniel O’Connell (1848). Under the nom-de-plume Denis Ignatius Moriarty, he wrote five novels. One novel, The Wife Hunter, features a hero based on Feargus O’Connor.
William and Ellen had a son, Achilles Thomas, who inherited Kilcascan, and a daughter who edited Daunt’s diary and never married. [3]
Achilles Thomas Daunt (b. 1849) married Anna Maria Corballis, daughter of Bartholomew Corballis who was a proponent of Catholic Emancipation and Chair of the Catholic Association of Ireland between 1827 and 1832. Achilles Thomas served as Justice of the Peace.
Achilles and Anna Maria had two surviving sons and two daughters. The daughters did not have children. Both sons emigrated, Reginald to Africa and Achilles Thomas Wilson O’Neill (b. 1880) to Canada.
The son Achilles married Elizabeth Dey from Canada, and they had several children. Current owner Alison told us that Achilles wrote Boys Adventure books!
The Landed Estates database tells us that The Irish Tourist Association Survey of 1944 referred to Kilcascan as the residence of Miss M. O’Neill-Daunt, probably Mary Dorothea, born in 1910, the daughter of Achilles. Alison and her husband bought Kilcascan from a son of Achilles, Tom, in 1988. A second son, also named Achilles, was killed in WW2.
The house has not yet been completely renovated, but some rooms are finished, including a lovely drawing room.
A lateral corridor at the back of the house has a surprisingly ornate groin-vaulted ceiling with foliate bosses.
Upstairs has interesting Gothic decorative carving in the hallway, and one bedroom has lovely wood panelling on the ceiling and an impressive Gothic window.
The east side of the house, including the staircase, is still a work-in-progress. The work is, excuse the pun, “daunting”! The house sits in one hundred acres of farmland with sixty acres of woodland. Alison told us that descendants of the Kilcascan Daunts have visited the house. It’s great to see the house being preserved.
contact: Charles and Claire Chavasse Tel: 087-8290860, 086-8387420 www.cappaghhouse.ie
Open dates in 2025: April 1-4, 7-11, 14-18, 21-25, 28-30, May 1-31, June 1-7, Aug 16-24, 9.30am-1.30pm
Fee: adult €10, OAP/student €5, child free
Fee: adult/OAP/student/€5, child under 12 free
2025 Diary of Irish Historic Houses (section 482 properties)
To purchase an A5 size 2025 Diary of Historic Houses (opening times and days are not listed so the calendar is for use for recording appointments and not as a reference for opening times) send your postal address to jennifer.baggot@gmail.com along with €20 via this payment button. The calendar of 84 pages includes space for writing your appointments as well as photographs of the historic houses. The price includes postage within Ireland. Postage to U.S. is a further €10 for the A5 size calendar, so I would appreciate a donation toward the postage – you can click on the donation link.
€20.00
donation
Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!
The present Cappagh House, the “new” house, was built in 1874 for Richard John Ussher (1841-1913). Anyone who went to Trinity College in Dublin will be familiar with the name of Ussher as one of the lecture theatres is named after one of the family. Archbishop James Ussher (1581-1656) famously but incorrectly calculated the moment of the Earth’s creation: around 6pm on 22 October 4004 BC. He was from a different branch of the Ussher family.
Cappagh House, photograph courtesy of Claire Chavasse.Richard John Ussher (1841-1913), who built “new” Cappagh House, courtesy of The Irish Naturalist volume 22 (1913). [1] Archbishop James Ussher (1581-1656), from a different branch of the Ussher family.
A previous, “Old Cappagh” house, still stands, albeit currently derelict, by the stable yards, with a view overlooking a lake. Current owners attribute it to Richard John’s father Richard (1778-1854).
The lands were originally acquired by the Ussher family in the early eighteenth century through a marriage settlement. Beverly Ussher (d. 1683), son of Arthur Ussher and Judith Newcomen, married first Joan Smyth, daughter of Percy Smyth of Ballynatray in County Waterford (another section 482 property – write up coming soon!). Joan Smyth’s mother was a sister of Beverly’s so he seems to have married his niece!
Beverly and Joan had a daughter Mary, and then Joan died and Beverly remarried. It was through his second marriage that the land at Cappagh and also Camphire came into the Ussher family. He married Grace Osborne, daughter of Richard, 2nd Baronet Osborne, of Ballintaylor and Ballylemon, County Waterford. The Osbornes originally had their family seat in Cappagh in County Tyrone, which explains the name.
It was one of Beverly Ussher’s younger sons, Arthur (1683-1768), who came into ownership of Cappagh in County Waterford. He married Lucy Taylor of Askeaton, County Limerick.
The lake is part of an area called “The American Grounds.” The lake was dug around 1840, and formal grounds were laid out around the lake, and ruins of an early sixteenth century fortified house were partially restored as a folly. The work was reputedly overseen by an American which led to the unusual name for the area.
The American Grounds at Cappagh House, County Waterford August 14, 2023.
Arthur and Lucy’s son John (1743-1787) inherited Cappagh.
John married Elizabeth Musgrave, daughter of Christoper Musgrave (1715-1787) of Tourin, County Waterford, another section 482 property. Elizabeth’s mother was Susannah Ussher, a granddaughter of aforementioned Beverly Ussher (d. 1683)! A son of John and Elizabeth, Arthur (1764-1820) inherited Camphire, County Waterford. Elizabeth née Musgrave died and John married Elizabeth Paul. Richard (1778-1854) who inherited Cappagh and built Old Cappagh house in the early 1800s was a son of the second marriage.
The family increased the size of the Cappagh estate to around 5,000 acres, most of which was farmed by tenant farmers and about 300 acres of which was farm and woodland managed by the Ussher family. The family held the estate for six generations, although it was much reduced in size after the land acts of the late nineteenth and early 20th century.
The Ussher Memoirs by Reverend William Ball Wright, published in Dublin and London in 1889, tells us more about Richard Ussher:
“Richard Keily Ussher, born 4th Feb, 1778, of Cappagh, Freeman of Waterford. 1st Dec, 1800 he entered the Royal Navy at the age of twelve, and when only sixteen, while going out to the West Indies such storms were encountered that his senior officers were all incapacitated by over-work, and he had to take the command, and work the ship. He was engaged in the capture of St. Lucia and Martinique from the French; while in the West Indies he nearly died of yellow fever.
“On his brother William’s death in 1796 (Thomas Paul Ussher having died in 1794), Richard succeeded to his estate, and left the Navy.“
“When Richard Ussher came into possession of the Cappagh estate, the old castle or house that his grandfather, Arthur, had lived in sixty years before was a ruin, and there was no house fit for him to live in, the property being held by a large number of small tenants. No trees stood on it, all the timber having been previously cut down. Where Cappagh Demesne now exists there were bare furze-covered hills above, and an undrained morass in front, that gave rise annually to fever and ague, while the property was financially encumbered by the mortgage of 1786 and subsequent incumbrances, to so large an amount that, with the lawlessness prevailing among the lower classes, Richard Ussher could hardly realize more than agent’s fees on the nominal rental at first.
“He built a house at Ballynahemery where he lived for a time.“
“In the early part of this century there were no police in Co. Waterford, and it was abandoned to lawlessness, murderers and robbers keeping the population in a state of terrorism, the frequent outrages by day as well as by night being by no means exclusively or even generally of an agrarian character while those who denounced outrages to the authorities were visited by death. It was dangerous even to sit in one’s house without bullet-proof shutters. Faction fights on a large scale were customary at certain fairs. The gentry had all quitted the country and Richard Ussher, with his brother- in-law, George Hewetson, and one other were the only magistrates who could be got to execute the laws. They had to perform the functions of police, and made many an expedition by night to the houses of criminals in mountainous parts of the country, whom they brought prisoners to Cappagh, where they had to keep them until they could be sent for trial to Waterford. In the detection and apprehension of criminals Richard Ussher was indefatigable and successful. He was said by his poorer neighbours to have been ” the friend of every honest man,” while he inspired a terror in criminals that seemed to render them powerless when in his hands.
“While he lived at Ballynahemery his out-offices were burned and his cows ripped open with reaping-hooks. He subsequently left it, and built the older house at Cappagh, which with its offices formed a quadrangle closed by two strong gates in archways. For some time he and his wife inhabited the upper rooms, the lower windows being built up and loop-holed for defence.
“Richard Ussher throughout his life at Cappagh continued to improve it. He built extensive farm-offices in connection with the house he had erected, reclaimed upland tracts of the property and made plantations along the hills, as well as about the demesne and lakes. These he excavated gradually by raising turf with boats in the morass, which being thereby drained ceased to produce ague. He consolidated the holdings and encouraged a more substantial tenantry.
“At the same time, while continually entertaining his numerous relations and those of his wife (to all of whom his house was open) he gradually paid off all the incumbrances on the estate which at his death was left perfectly clear, his 2nd wife’s fortune having enabled him to do this.” [2]
Richard married first Martha Hewetson but she died and he married Isabella Grant, daughter of Colonel Jasper Grant who had been Lieutenant Governor of Canada, and of Isabella Odell.
The Memoir tells us: “His first wife was a herbalist, and in the absence of medical charities she effected innumerable cures among the peasantry, carried on various household arts, such as weaving and spinning, candle making, etc., now not thought of in private homes. She, as well as Elizabeth Ussher, his mother, and all his sisters joined the Society of Friends who carried on an intense religious movement in the South of Ireland, the Church being then in a very dead state… Richard Ussher, though he did not conform to the Society of Friends, imbibed their conscientious objections to take or administer oaths, and accordingly ceased to act as a magistrate.” [2]
Richard and Isabella had a son, Richard John Ussher (1841-1913). It is he who built the newer Cappagh House, in 1874.
The newer Cappagh house was built on an elevated site near the older house. It is a two storey Victorian house with basement, built to the design of James Otway (1843-1906) and Robert Graeme Watt, who constructed the railway from Cork to Rosslare. Otway and Watt also prepared drawings for the building of Corbally More, Summerville in County Waterford for Dudley Fortescue, built few years later than the new Cappagh house, in 1878. They are not the first engineers whom we have come across who also designed houses.
The older house was subsequently used as outbuildings. The windows on the upper storey are “camber-headed” i.e. they form an arch, these ones have a keystone, and the windows interrupt the string course at this level. [3] The front has a one storey curved porch with pilasters and a balustrade. The front and back doors look unusually tall.
The south side has a double height bow, and a doorframe with stone arched pediment and carved corbels and decorative frieze over the fluted architrave.
A biography of Richard John Ussher by William Fraher, from the Waterford County Museum website tells us:
“In 1863 Richard John Ussher (1841-1913) was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Co. Waterford. On 20 January 1866 he married Elizabeth, daughter of John William Finlay of Corkagh House, Co Dublin. They had four boys and a girl.
“In 1875 he built a new house at Cappagh just above the old one which still survives. The new house was designed by James Otway and Robert Watt, railway engineers. He developed an interest in ornithology and became obsessed with collecting bird’s eggs. He later joined the Irish Society for the Protection of Birds. He began to study rare bird species and also explored caves for fossil remains of birds. He is said to have found remains of the Great Auk in the sand dunes at Tramore. In 1906 he was the co-author of an important book – Birds of Ireland. Towards the end of his life he spent much time excavating caves in Waterford, Cork, Sligo and Clare. His excavation results were published in various archaeological and natural history journals.” [3]
He was also High Sheriff and Deputy Lieutenant of County Waterford.
The house was occupied by three generations of Usshers before Arland Ussher sold it to Oonah and Kendal Chavasse in 1944. The house passed to Beverley Grant Ussher (1867-1956) and then to his son Percival Arnold “Arland” Ussher (1899-1980).
Beverley Ussher worked as a schools inspector for the Board of Education in England. The family lived in England until he retired in 1914, and they then moved to Ireland and lived at Cappagh House.
Arland Ussher wrote the books Postscript on Existentialism, The Face and Mind of Ireland, and Three Great Irishmen, a comparative study of Bernard Shaw, W.B. Yeats and James Joyce. He also taught himself Irish and translated The midnight court (1926), by Brian Merriman. With his interest in Existentialism, he wrote A journey through dread (1955), an account of Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Sartre. He farmed at Cappagh until he sold it, claiming, according to the Dictionary of Irish Biography, that farming bored him. [4]
A collection of photographs (August 1922) illustrates the occupation of Cappagh House by the West Waterford Flying Column of the Irish Republican Army during “The Troubles” (1919-23). [5]
Claire told us that Oonah Chavasse, daughter of Henry Spencer Perceval-Maxwell of Moore Hill, Tallow, County Waterford, dreamed for three nights in a row that she would live at Cappagh House. She contacted her sister-in-law in Tallow who told her that indeed the house was for sale! The following week Oonah caught the train from West Cork and arrived at Cappagh train station just in time for the auction.
Oonah’s husband Kendal (“the Colonel”) was from Castletownshend in West Cork. He took up farming after he returned from the second world war, and was a founder member of the Irish Farmers’ Association. He was also secretary of the West Waterford Hunt. Kendal’s grandmother Anna Georgiana née Coghill’s husband died young and she took her children to live in Castletownshend. Her sister married Thomas Henry Somerville of Drishane, Castletownshend (another section 482 property).
The current owners Charlie and Claire are the third generation of Chavasses to live at Cappagh.
The spacious front hall of Cappagh House, photograph courtesy of Claire Chavasse.
The front door leads into a spacious hallway. Ahead lies the drawing room and beside that, the dining room, which was formerly the “morning room.” The original dining room was in the northeast corner facing the front of the house, and is now the kitchen. Previously the kitchen would have been in the basement.
Claire then brought us down to the basement. She showed us the service bells, which unfortunately no longer work although one can see the bell-pulls on either side of the fireplaces upstairs.
We then walked over to Old Cappagh and the stable yards. The Chavasses have some self-catering options, it would be a lovely base from which to explore more of County Waterford!
Access to the stable yards at both ends is through sandstone carriage arches. Claire and her husband renovated living quarters in the red barn and there’s also a small cottage next to the old mill. At the mill a mill wheel remains. A “leet” or channel of water travels from a stream over a mile away and was used to power the mill wheel and to provide water for the house. Over the mill wheel you can see a bell tower, the bell would have called farm workers from the fields at the end of the day.
Old Cappagh is situated by the stableyard. It must have been started but not completed, as the end bays are taller than the house attached! The end bays are two storeys, one bay across and two bays deep, and the middle section of the house is one storey, five bays across. It is split-level however, as the back of the house rises to two storeys and the staircase is in a bow visible at the back of the house.
Old Cappagh house has a fine central doorcase with fanlight and sidelights. The back of the house has a central rounded bow, visible from the stableyard.
[3] p. 56, Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses published by Constable and Company Limited, London, 1988, previously published by Burke’s Peerage Ltd as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses, vol. 1 Ireland, 1978.
2025 Diary of Irish Historic Houses (section 482 properties)
To purchase an A5 size 2025 Diary of Historic Houses (opening times and days are not listed so the calendar is for use for recording appointments and not as a reference for opening times) send your postal address to jennifer.baggot@gmail.com along with €20 via this payment button. The calendar of 84 pages includes space for writing your appointments as well as photographs of the historic houses. The price includes postage within Ireland. Postage to U.S. is a further €10 for the A5 size calendar, so I would appreciate a donation toward the postage – you can click on the donation link.
€20.00
donation
Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!
Postal address: Huntington Castle, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford www.huntingtoncastle.com Open dates in 2023, but check website as closed for special events: Feb 4-5, 11-12, 18-19, 25-26, Mar 4-5, 11-12, 18-19, 25-26, Apr 1-2, 7-10, 15-16, 22-23, May 1-31, June 1-30, July 1-31, Aug 1-31, Sept 1-30, Oct 1, 7-8, 14-15, 21-22, 28-29, 31, Nov 4-5, 11-12, 18-19, 25-26, Dec 2-3, 9-10, 16-17, 11am-5pm
Fee: house/garden, adult €12, garden €6, OAP/student, house/garden €10, garden €5, child, house/garden €6, garden €3, group and family discounts available
Open for accommodation: all year Althugh listed under Accommodation Facility they have a fee on this listing so if you contact them in advance perhaps they will give you a tour: adult €5, family €15
Ballyvolane, County Cork, photo taken 2014 for Tourism Ireland, Ireland’s Content Pool.
5. Blarney Castle & Rock Close, Blarney, County Cork
Open dates in 2023: Mar 30-31, Apr 1-2, 5-10, 12-16, 19-23, 26-30, May 1, 3-7, 10-14, 17-21, 24-28, 31, June 1-30, July 1-31, Aug 1-31, Sept 1-3, 6-10, 13-17, 20-24, 27-30, Oct 7-8, 14-15, Nov 29-30, Dec 1-23, Mar, Apr, May, Sept, Oct, 12 noon-6pm, June, July, Aug, 11am-6pm, Nov, Dec, 4pm-10pm,
Fee: adult €9, child €6, family and season passes under 3 years free
13. The Odeon(formerly the Old Harcourt Street Railway Station), 57 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2 www.odeon.ie Open in 2023: all year Tue-Sat, National Heritage Week, Aug 12-20, 12 noon to 12 midnight
Open dates in 2023: Feb 2-6, Mar 6-10, Apr 6-10, May 1-10, June 1-10, July 1-10 August 12-21, Nov 2-5, Dec 2-6, 2pm-6pm Fee: adult/OAP €6, child/student €3
Clonskeagh Castle, photograph courtesy of myhome.ie
Open in 2023: Jan 1-8, 9.30-4.30, Feb 8-Dec 20, 28-31, Feb-Dec 9.30am-5pm Fee: adult/OAP €8.50, child/student €6, student €6 up to 17 years, group discount €10 for >20 visitors, family ticket €26, 2 adults + up to 3 children
23. Farmersvale House, Badgerhill, Kill, Co. Kildare W91 PP99 Open dates in 2023: Jan 3-16, July 29-31, Aug 1-31, Sept 4-9, Dec 4-9, 9.30am-1.30pm Fee: adult €5, student/child/OAP €3, (Irish Georgian Society members free)
24. New entry: Millbrook House Kilkea, Beaconstown, Castledermot, Co. Kildare R14Y319 Open dates in 2023: May 17- 31, Aug 12-31, Sept 7-16, Dec 17-31, 9am-1pm Fee: Adult €8, student/OAP/groups €5
CountyKilkenny
25. Kilkenny Design Centre, Castle Yard, Kilkenny www.kilkennydesign.com Open dates in 2023: Jan 3-Dec 24, 28-31, Jan 10am-7pm, Feb-Mar, Oct- Dec, 9am-8pm, Apr-Sept, 9am-9am Fee: Free
CountyLaois
26. Ballaghmore Castle, Borris in Ossory, Co. Laois www.castleballaghmore.com Open dates in 2023: all year except Christmas Day, 10am-6pm
Fee: adult €15, child/OAP/student €5, family of 4, €25 with guide
Open dates in 2023: May 1-31, June 1-30, July 1-31, Aug 1-31, Sept 1-30, Oct 1-31, Nov 1-5, 8-12, 15-19, 22-26, 29-30, Dec 1-3, 6-10, 13-17, 20-23, 9am-4pm Fee: adult/OAP €5, child free
29. Cillghrian Glebe now known as Boyne House Slane, Chapel Street, Slane, Co. MeathC15 P657(hotel) www.boynehouseslane.ie Open dates in 2023: all year, National Heritage Week, Aug 12-20, 9am-1pm
Fee: Free
“Boyne House Slane boasts 6 tastefully appointed luxury ensuite Heritage Bedrooms in the Main House along with 4 additional Bedrooms in the Coach House, offering luxurious accommodation and private rental in the heart of Slane village.” Photograph courtesy of website.
30. Loughcrew House, Loughcrew, Old Castle, Co. Meath Tourist Accommodation Facility– house not open to the public
See my entry: https://irishhistorichouses.com/2019/07/19/slane-castle-county-meath/ www.slanecastle.ie Open dates in 2023: Mar 18-19, 25-26. April 1-2, 8-9, 15-16, 22-23, May 5-7, June 23-25, July 1-2, 7-9, 14-16, 21-23, 28-30, Aug 4-6, 12-20, 25-27, Sept 2-3, 9-10, 16-17, 23-24, 30, Oct 1, 7-8, 14-15, 21-22, 28-29, Nov 4-5, 11-12, 18-19, 25-26, Dec 2-3, 9-10, 16-17, 23-24, 30-31, tours 11am, 1pm, 3pm
Fee: adult €14, OAP/student €12.50, child €8.40, concession family ticket (2 adults and 2 children €39, additional adults €1, additional children €6, concession group discounts available for over 3 guests, starting from 10%-32% for up to 25 guests
Slane Castle County Meath, photograph by Nomos Productions 2022 courtesy Failte Ireland.
Open dates in 2023: Jan 1-6, 1pm-5pm, Feb 11-13, April 9-13, May 6-8, 18-21, June 9-11, 16-18, 30, July 1-2, 7-9, Aug 12-31, Sept 1, 2pm-6pm, Dec 26-31, 1pm-5pm Fee: Free
Open for accommodation in 2023: April 1-December 31
CountyWaterford
40. The Presentation Convent, Waterford Healthpark, Slievekeel Road, Waterford Open in 2023: Jan 1-Dec 31, excluding Bank Holidays, National Heritage Week, Aug 12-20
8.30am-5.30pm Fee: Free
CountyWestmeath
41. Turbotstown, Coole, Co. Westmeath Open dates in 2023: July 22-31, Aug 1-31, Dec 1-20, 9am-1pm
42. Kilcarbry Mill Engine House, Sweetfarm, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford Open dates in 2023: Jan 1-2, Feb 10, 12-13, Mar 13-17, Apr 20-21, May 10-13, June 16-18, July14-16, Aug 1-30, Oct 26-28, Nov 30, Dec 1, 20-23, 12 noon-4pm Fee: adult €10, student/OAP €5
44. Back on again: Knockanree Garden Avoca, Co. Wicklow https://knockanree-gardens.business.site/?m=true Open dates in 2023: May 21- July 6, Sun-Thurs, August 12-20 National Heritage Week, Nov 27- Dec 21 Mon-Thurs, 9.30am-1.30pm Fee: Free
45. Mount Usher Gardens, Ashford, Co. Wicklow A67 VW22 – garden only
www.avoca.com/en Open dates in 2023: all year, except Christmas Day and St. Stephens Day, Jan-Mar, Nov-Dec, 10am-5pm, Apr-Oct, 10am-6pm Fee: adult €10, student/OAP €8, child €5, groups €7.50
See my entry: https://irishhistorichouses.com/2020/04/26/powerscourt-house-gardens-enniskerry-county-wicklow/ www.powerscourt.ie Open dates in 2023: Jan I-Dec 24, 27-31, house and garden, 9.30am-5.30pm, ballroom and garden rooms, 9.30am-1.30pm Fee: Mar-Oct, adult €12.50, OAP €9.50, student €9, child €5, family ticket 2 adults and 3 children under 18 years €28, Nov-Dec, adult €9, OAP €8, student €7.50, child €4, family ticket 2 adults and 3 children under 18 years €20
OPENING TIMES: Check website for booking details of annual events programme. Group booking available at other times of the year.
Open dates in 2026: Feb 7-8, 14-15, 21-22, 28, Mar 1, Apr 3-5, 10-12, 17-19, 24-26, May 1-3, 8-10, 15-17, 22-24, 29-31, June 5-7, 12-14, 19-21, 26-28, July 3-5, 10-12, 17-19, 24-26, 29, 31, Aug 1-2, 7-9, 14-23, 28-30, Sept 4-6, 11-13, 18-20, 25-27, Oct 2-4, 9-11, 16-18, 23-25, 30-31, 11am-5pm
Fee: adult €14 house & garden, €6 garden, OAP/student €10 house & garden, €4 garden, child house & garden €6, €3 garden
2026 Diary of Irish Historic Houses (section 482 properties)
To purchase an A5 size 2026 Diary of Historic Houses (opening times and days are not listed so the calendar is for use for recording appointments and not as a reference for opening times) send your postal address to jennifer.baggot@gmail.com along with €20 via this payment button. The calendar of 84 pages includes space for writing your appointments as well as photographs of the historic houses. The price includes postage within Ireland. Postage to U.S. is a further €10 for the A5 size calendar, so I would appreciate a donation toward the postage – you can click on the donation link.
€20.00
donation
Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!
Shankill Castle is now a family home for the Cope family, since 1991. It was first built as a Butler tower house beside the ruins of a pre-reformation church – you can still see the ruins of the church in the grounds. The Copes give tours of their home and there are lovely gardens to wander and a café
The website tells us that “Elizabeth, a painter, and Geoffrey, a historian, have hosted many creative people in their home over the last twenty-five years. They have shared with them their unique and beautiful setting in Ireland’s Ancient East and have dedicated Shankill Castle to the arts and culture.“
In 1708 the Castle was rebuilt and in the nineteenth century it was enlarged and castellated, adding a stable yard and the castellated entrance to the demesne. The stableyard and the castellated entrance to the demesne are attributed to Daniel Robertson. Other additions to the house include a Gothic porch bearing the Aylward crest and a conservatory.
In the garden there are remnants of an eighteenth century lime walk, nineteenth century laurel lawns and some trees that were favourites in the Victorian age such as giant Sequoias.
Shankill Castle County Kilkenny 3rd June 2023.
The website tells us that “In 1708, it was rebuilt by Peter Aylward who bought the land from his wife’s family. The new Shankill Castle was constructed as a Queen Anne house, set in a formal landscape, vista to the front and canal to the rear.“
Peter Aylward was a Roman Catholic who fought in the Jacobite army in 1688-90. For this he was was outlawed, but he later conformed to the established Protestant church. [1]
The house has battlemented full-height corner piers having slit-style blind apertures. The windows have hood mouldings. The house is delightfully higgeldy piggeldy with its enlargements and additions.
Elizabeth Butler’s family owned Paulstown Castle, which was rebuilt in 1828 but is now a ruin.
Paulstown Castle, County Kilkenny, courtesy of National Inventory.
Peter Aylward and Elizabeth Butler had a son, Nicholas (d. 1756). He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Thomastown and Sheriff of County Kilkenny in 1742. A website about landed families tells us that he was brought up Catholic but conformed to the established church in 1711. [see 1]. In August 1719 he married Catherine, second daughter of Maurice Keating of Narraghmore, Co. Kildare.
Their son, also named Nicholas (d. 1772), inherited Shankill Castle in 1756. That year, he married Mary Kearney, daughter of Benjamin Kearney of Blanchville (Co. Kilkenny). He held the office of High Sheriff in 1757. He died while his children were still young, and their mother had died in 1767, so the children were made wards of the Irish Court of Chancery, which in 1772 appointed their grandfather, Benjamin Kearney (d. 1784), as their guardian.
After Mary née Kearney died, Nicholas married Susanna (d. 1775), widow of Edmund Waring. Susanna married a third time after Nicholas’s death, in October 1772, Rev. Henry Candler, and she died 4 August 1775.
Nicholas and Mary née Kearney’s eldest son, Peter (1758-92), came of age in 1779. It is said that he was “of weak mind” and that his Guardian exercised a large influence over him. In 1780 he married Anne Kearney of New Ross (Co. Waterford). They had a son, Nicholas John Patrick Aylward (1787-1832).
This son was only five years old when his father died and he inherited Shankill Castle. He was educated at Kilkenny and Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1804). [see 1] In 1805 at the age of just 18 he married Elizabeth (d. 1851), eldest daughter of James Kearney of Blanchville (Co. Kilkenny). This James was son of Benjamin Kearney (d. 1784), the guardian of Nicholas John Patrick’s father, so this was probably an influencing factor. He came of age three years later in 1808. He was High Sheriff of Co. Kilkenny, 1816-17. In the 1820s, he remodelled Shankill Castle, hiring William Robertson.
A watercolour probably dating from the 1820s attributed to William Robertson shows a design proposal for alterations. For this reason, the changes to the house which were made for Nicholas Aylward (d. 1832) in the 1820s are attributed to William Robertson, although the proposal in the watercolour were not executed exactly as pictured. The end bays were crenellated and linked by a Gothic porch, and one was raised to look like a tower. A new dining room running from the front of the house to the back was added on the left, and a castellated office wing on the right, effectively breaking up the symmetry of the original design. The back of the house, which is more irregular, is treated in much the same way, and adorned with a Gothic conservatory on the level of the half-landing of the stairs, carried on a stone arcade. [1]
The National Inventory describes it:
“An impressive large-scale house built c. 1825 to designs prepared by William Robertson (1770-1850) for the Aylward family forming a picturesque landmark of Romantic quality in the landscape. The complex form and massing of the composition attests to the evolution of the site over a number of centuries with the present house incorporating the fabric of an early eighteenth-century range together with a medieval tower house, thereby representing the continuation of a long-standing presence on site.” [2]
The architect William Robertson was born in Kilkenny in 1770. The Dictionary of Irish Architects tells us he was probably a son or close connection of the nurseryman, William Robertson, who traded as ‘William Robertson and Son’ in Kilkenny. [3] The Dictionary adds that identifying his works is complicated by the fact that the names ‘Robertson’ and ‘Robinson’ are often confused, but it is possible that he may already have received at least one architectural commission as early as 1794, for stables at Woodstock, Co. Kilkenny. He seems to have worked in London for a time then moved back to Kilkenny.
The Dictionary of Irish Architects tells us of William Robertson:
“Robertson was back in Kilkenny by 1801, when he was entrusted with the design of the new county gaol. In Kilkenny he developed a busy architectural practice. It appears that he may have had the Earl of Ormonde as a client as early as 1802 and that he was working with a partner named Wylie for a time circa 1804. Joseph Bourke, Dean of Ossory, suggesting to William Gregory in 1813 that Robertson might be employed to enlarge the barracks at Kilkenny, describes him, perhaps with some exaggeration, as ‘a very eminent architect in this part of the world, who has had the building of most of the public Edifices in the South, &c.’. In the same year Robertson reported to the Dean and Chapter of St Canice’s Cathedral on the fabric of the cathedral.
William Robertson died at Rosehill, the house which he had built for himself on the Callan road, in May 1850.” [4]
The history of Shankill Castle and Blanchville were further linked in the next generation. Nicholas John Patrick Aylward and Elizabeth née Kearney had a son, James Kearney Aylward (later Kearney-Aylward) (1811-84). He assumed the additional name of Kearney in 1876, on succeeding to a part of the estates of his cousin James Charles Kearney of Blanchville.
Blanchville, County Kilkenny, courtesy National Inventory.
Blanchville still stands and it has notable Tudor Revival stable building, built 1834, in the style of Daniel Robertson, which are now available for accommodation (see https://blanchville.ie/ ). Daniel Robertson built a memorial for Captain James Kearney, sometime between 1834-47, according to the National Inventory.
Single-bay four-stage Tudor Gothic-style bell and clock tower, built 1834/47, on a square plan, set back from road in grounds shared with Blanchville House, County Kilkenny. Built for Captain James Kearney, to designs prepared by Daniel Robertson, reputedly citing Sir Christopher Wren’s (1632-1723) Saint Mary’s Church (1670), Aldermanbury. Courtesy National Inventory.
The Heritage Council provided a grant to restore the tower in 2004.
Tudor Gothic-style bell and clock tower, built 1834/47, on a square plan, set back from road in grounds shared with Blanchville House, County Kilkenny. Built for Captain James Kearney, to designs prepared by Daniel Robertson. Photograph courtesy National Inventory.Tudor Gothic-style bell and clock tower, built 1834/47, on a square plan, set back from road in grounds shared with Blanchville House, County Kilkenny. Built for Captain James Kearney, to designs prepared by Daniel Robertson. Photograph courtesy National Inventory.Tudor Gothic-style bell and clock tower, built 1834/47, on a square plan, set back from road in grounds shared with Blanchville House, County Kilkenny. Built for Captain James Kearney, to designs prepared by Daniel Robertson. Photograph courtesy National Inventory.Tudor Gothic-style bell and clock tower, built 1834/47, on a square plan, set back from road in grounds shared with Blanchville House, County Kilkenny. Built for Captain James Kearney, to designs prepared by Daniel Robertson. Photograph courtesy National Inventory.
James Kearney Aylward held roles as Sheriff, Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace. In 1853 he married Isabella Forbes. She was the widow of Beauchamp Bartholomew Newton (1798-1850) of Rathwade, County Carlow (a house attributed to Daniel Robertson). However, she did not have children by either of her marriages.
Rathwade, County Carlow, attributed to Daniel Robertson, courtesy of Colliers estate agents and myhome.ie
Therefore when James Kearney-Aylward died in 1884, Shankill Castle passed to his nephew, Hector James Charles Toler (1839-1918, later Toler-Aylward). [see 1] Hector was the son of James Kearney-Aylward’s sister Mary (d. 1880) who had married Reverend Peter Toler (d. 1883) of Bloomfield, County Roscommon.
Before James Kearney-Aylward died, he undertook further renovations of Shankill Castle, under the direction of William Deane Butler. The Archiseek website tells us that William Deane Butler (1793-1857) studied at the Dublin Society Schools and was a founding member of the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland as well as the Society of Irish Artists, and he was also an engineer. Among his most important works are Amiens Street Station (now called Conolly Station) in Dublin, Kilkenny’s Catholic Cathedral, and Sligo Asylum. [5]
A conservatory attributed to Richard Turner or Joseph Paxton was added, but this has been removed.
An old postcard of Shankill Castle, with the original conservatory, which was removed.
The National Inventory continues: “Meanwhile the traces of renovation works carried out under the direction of William Deane Butler (c.1794-1857) together with accounts of a conservatory (post-1859; dismantled, post-1902) attributable to Richard Turner (1798-1881) indicate the continued development of the house well into the latter half of the nineteenth century. A riot of advanced and recessed bays, battlements, crow-stepped gables, and so on are carefully orchestrated to disguise the earlier disparate ranges in a cohesive architectural skin while supplementary fine details further embellish the architectural design value of the composition. Having been well maintained the house presents an early aspect with most of the historic fabric surviving in place both to the exterior and to the interior where it is believed that an original decorative scheme of artistic significance survives largely intact.” [2]
The front porch was in place when the original conservatory was still at the side of the house, as in the old postcard.
Mark Bence-Jones writes in his A Guide to Irish Country Houses (1988):
“(Toler-Aylward/IFR) ….This early C18 house appears to have had a recessed centre and projecting end bays. Some time ante 1828, the end bays were crenelated, one of them being raised to look like a tower; and they were joined by a Gothic porch. The front was extended by one bay to the left, so as to provide a new drawing room running from the front of the house to the back; and by a castellated office wing to the right. The back of the house, which is more irregular, is treated in much the same way, and adorned with a delightful Gothic conservatory on the level of the half-landing of the stairs, carried on a stone arcade.” [6]
The early conservatory was removed but one was later added to the back of the house.
Hector James Charles Toler (1839-1918) who inherited Shankill Castle in 1884 from his uncle, then assumed the additional surname of Aylward to become Toler-Aylward. He served as High Sheriff, Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace of County Kilkenny. He married Emily Mary Eliza Butler (1853-1934), daughter of James Butler of Verona, Monkstown, County Dublin. Hector undertook further redecoration at Shankill in 1894.
They had a son, Hector James Toler-Aylward (1895-1974). He inherited the Shankill Castle estate from his father in 1918. He married Zinna Ethel Knox from Greenwood Park, Crossmolina, County Mayo (now a ruin). They had three daughters. At his death Shankill Castle passed to his widow, and on her death in 1980 to his elder daughter, who sold it in 1991.
The interior of the house retains much of its early 18th century character. The central hall on the entrance front has wood panelling and a handsome black Kilkenny marble chimneypiece. The house is full of the art work of Elizabeth Cope.
The hall is flanked by smaller rooms with corner fireplaces, which were the original dining and drawing rooms and are part of the old towerhouse.
William Deane Butler refitted the hall with floor-to-ceiling timber panelling while the room beyond, previously a saloon, became the new dining room and was given a large Tudor-headed buffet niche and a new Gothic bay window. Surviving plans show that the room to the north of the hall was intended as a billiard room while a study was provided in the new wing. [see 1]
Mark Bence-Jones describes the interior in his Guide to Irish County Houses (1988): “Late-Georgian staircase hall with graceful wooden stairs and walls marbled Siena 1894. Dining room with Gothic plasterwork in ceiling and Gothic pelmet. The drawing room is charmingly Victorian, with flowered paper and curtains of faded gold dating from 1894 and an Italian white marble chimneypiece brought back from Milan ca. 1860 by James Aylward. It formerly opened into a conservatory built 1861 to the design of Sir Joseph Paxton, but this was removed 1961. The entrance front faces along an avenue of trees to a Claire-voie [“clear view”] with rusticated stone piers which was part of C18 layout.”
William Deane Butler transformed the dining room into a Victorian drawing room featuring an impressively-carved white marble chimneypiece which James Kearney-Aylward purchased in Milan in 1860.
The Landed family website further describes the interior:
“The principal and secondary staircases occupy the space behind the original tower, and while the main staircase was renewed in the late 18th century, the secondary stair remains largely in its original form. Beyond the hall a saloon overlooked the grounds to the rear of the house. On the first floor, a transverse corridor down the middle of the house gives access to the principal bedrooms.” [see 1]
The website adds: “Steeped in such culture and heritage, Shankill Castle and Gardens has been a place of inspiration for artists for the past twenty-five years. The Cope family have dedicated themselves to the preservation and restoration of this historic house while celebrating the unique and eclectic character of the building. Consisting of three artists, one historian, and one archaeologist, the combined talents and passions of the Cope family are reflected in the inventive and lively activities offered at the castle. Exhibitions are frequently hosted in the castle and farmyard, which are also used as artists’ studios, attracting visitors not just locally, but from the whole of Ireland and internationally.“
The gardens are beautiful and the Copes are so generous to share them with visitors. They run an organic farm. Our visit from Dublin was a lovely day outing.
“In 1796, 1797 and 1798 he was in England, possibly working in the office of a London architect. His diary-cum-notebook in the National Library of Ireland records excursions from London in August 1796 and April and September 1797. Places which he visited included Painshill, Woburn Park (Surrey), Oatlands, Wanstead, Wotton House, Blenheim and Tintern. The notebook shows clearly that his main interests were architecture and gardening. He had a London address when he exhibited two views of Kilkenny and a design for the garden front of a villa at the Royal Academy in 1797 and 1798 respectively. He is almost certainly the ‘W. Robertson’ who was the author of two works published by Ackermann in London at about this time: A Collection of Various Forms of Stoves, Used for forcing Pine Plants, Fruit Trees, And Preserving Tender Exotics (1798)and Designs in Architecture, For Garden Chairs, Small Gates for Villas, Park Entrances, Aviarys, Temples, Boat Houses, Mausoleums, and Bridges (1800).
“…His large library – ‘the result of Fifty Years’ collecting’ – was sold at auction in Dublin over a number of days the following April. For many years he had been keenly interested in local history and topography. In about 1808 he had ‘employed two talented Artists to make drawings of every object remarkable for its antiquity or picturesque beauty, then to be found in the County of Kilkenny, with the intention of publishing a Topographical Work‘. Some of these he had had engraved. After building up a large collection of material, he had never found time to produce the proposed book. This task fell to James George Robertson, a Scottish-born relative, who, in about 1828, when he was a boy of about twelve, had joined William Robertson and had presumably become his pupil and assistant. James George Robertson published a selection of the material with some additional notes of his own in a rather haphazard series of parts from 1851-53 under the title The Antiquities and Scenery of the County of Kilkenny. In 1853 James George Robertson presented the Kilkenny Archaeological Society with the manuscript report on the fabric of St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny, which William Robertson had prepared in 1813.
“…The Irish Architectural Archive holds presentation elevations by Robertson for the enlargement and Gothicization of Kilkenny Castle, 1826 (Acc. 80/35) and sketch designs for Powerstown glebe house, Co. Kilkenny, with a related letter from Robertson to the Rev. Thomas Mercer Vigors, dated William Street, 5 April 1818 (Acc.78/36.B4,4a). It also holds a letter from Robertson, written from Kilkenny on 7 November 1813 to the London bookseller Joseph Taylor (Acc. 2006/112) in which he discusses Sir James Hall’s Essay on the Origin, History and Principles of Gothic Architecture (1813).“
[6] 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.
Open in 2025: Aug 1-31, Sept 1-9, Dec 1-20, 9am-1pm
Fee: adult/student/OAP €8, child €4
2025 Diary of Irish Historic Houses (section 482 properties)
To purchase an A5 size 2025 Diary of Historic Houses (opening times and days are not listed so the calendar is for use for recording appointments and not as a reference for opening times) send your postal address to jennifer.baggot@gmail.com along with €20 via this payment button. The calendar of 84 pages includes space for writing your appointments as well as photographs of the historic houses. The price includes postage within Ireland. Postage to U.S. is a further €10 for the A5 size calendar, so I would appreciate a donation toward the postage – you can click on the donation link.
€20.00
donation
Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!
I was excited to visit Turbotstown in County Westmeath because it was owned by the Dease family, and a branch of the Baggot family married into the Dease family, though I have not established that my ancestors were related to this branch of Baggots.
It is currently owned by Peter Bland and his family, and Peter kindly welcomed us and showed us around. Peter’s grandmother was from the Dease family. When Peter purchased the property, which had been sold out of the family, it had been unoccupied, except for grain and sheep!
I only learned upon visiting that the house was designed by Francis Johnston, and has many elements characteristic of his work. The house was built around 1810 and Johnston was carrying out extensive work at nearby Tullynally for the Pakenham Earls of Longford (another Section 482 property, see my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2020/11/19/tullynally-castle-and-gardens-castlepollard-county-westmeath/ ). Francis Johnston also worked on Killeen Castle in County Meath and the Dease family intermarried with the Plunkett family, and Johnston built the Protestant church in Castlepollard, Peter told us.
Francis Johnston (1761-1829), 1823 by engraver Henry Hoppner Meyer after Thomas Clement Thompson, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.
The house is in the Greek Revival style and is composed of a large two storey three bay block, four bays on the side, the front facade’s centre bay breaking forward slightly, with a single storey Ionic portico, and a Wyatt window in the upper storey. There is a two storey service wing to one side, which the owner Peter thinks might be older than the Greek Revival block.
Along with Peter, a donkey came to meet us, walking slowly on his arthritic legs. Later the friendly donkey tried to join us by entering the French doors to the kitchen in the wing of the house!
The Dease family lived in the area since the 1270s. In Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd’s Burke’s Irish Family Records, we are told that an Edmond Dease reportedly purchased Turbotstown in 1272. [1] A James Dease of Turbotstown occured in the roll of gentry of Liberty of Trim in 1436, and a Richard Dease succeeded to Turbotstown around 1568. He was appointed Commissioner for Musters, County Westmeath.
A prominent Catholic family after the Reformation, the Dease family intermarried with the Plunketts and the Nugents who also remained Catholic. For their Catholicism and perhaps loyalty to the Stuart monarchy, the Deases lost their Turbotstown property five times but they always managed to get it back.
Richard Dease married Elizabeth Nugent. He had sons James, Thomas and Lawrence. James and Lawrence had families and the Deases of Turbotstown descended from the elder, James. Another son, Thomas (1568-1652), held the office of Catholic Bishop of Meath between 1621 and 1652. He also, Peter told us, wrote bawdy verse in Irish! He studied in Paris and was also a Rector in the Irish College in Paris.
James lived at Turbotstown and married Margaret Leicester. Their son Richard (1603-1650) was the ancestor of the Deases of Turbotstown. They had several other children. Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd tells us that Richard Dease forfeited his estates after the 1641 Rebellion, but bought them back from the Pakenhams with the proceeds of a Cavan property which had been held in trust by the Pollards of Castle Pollard.
During the time of the Penal Laws, the property was held by “Occlusive Trust” i.e. by a Protestant relative, in this case, a Nugent cousin who had converted to the Established religion.
Richard Dease married Mary Browne, and had several children, the ancestor of the Deases of Turbotstown was James (d. 1707) who lived at Turbotstown. His son Richard predeceased him in France and his son William (d. 1751) inherited. William was a Colonel in King Charles’s army, I believe – that must be Charles II’s army. William married Eleanor Nangle and they had several children. The ancestor of the Turbotstown Deases is William and Eleanor’s son Garret Dease (d. 1790).
Garret Dease married Susan Plunkett, daughter of Oliver of Rathmore Castle, Athboy, County Meath.
On his website Meath History Hub, Noel French tells us a lovely story about how Rathmore Castle came into the hands of the Plunkett family:
“Rathmore Castle and Church was built by the de Verdons, the Norman family who conquered this area. They built a church on the site of the present ruin.
“The last de Vernon Lord of Rathmore had only one child, a daughter, Matilda. Sir Christopher Cruise, then an old man held considerable property in the area and had a castle at Cruisetown. Sir Christopher succeeded in winning the hand of Matilda and married her in 1406 and thus acquired Rathmore. Cruise’s nephews regarded themselves as his heir and were very disappointed to see him marry and thus raising the possibility of a son and closer heir. The nephews decided to murder Sir Christopher and his wife. Their hired killers and attacked the couple as they walked along the avenue of Cruisetown Castle. Sir Christopher held off the attackers while his wife made a run for refuge at the castle. Sir Christopher died from his wounds before help arrived but Lady Cruise just made it to the castle before the pursuing murderers. Little did the attackers know but she was carrying her husband’s child at the time.
“Knowing she was in a dangerous situation she packed all the plate and other treasures into strong chests and sunk them in the lake in the grounds of the castle. A report was spread that Lady Cruise was ill and would not survive the night. Men were sent from Rathmore to bear her remains to the home of her father. Her coffin was taken to Rathmore and brought to the castle, but her coffin had airholes in it.
“Gathering all the Rathmore plate and placing it in the coffin Lady Cruise buried it in the graveyard. It was commonly thought for many centuries that there was treasure buried in Rathmore church. In the nineteenth century one man dug up a portion of the floor near the altar one dark night. A ghost priest with robes appeared behind him and the treasure-seeker left in quite a hurry.
“Lady Cruise fled to England with the title deeds of Rathmore and Cruisetown to escape from her husband’s “inheritors”. In London she gave birth to a daughter who was christened Mary Ann Cruise. Lady Cruise’s money and jewels were gradually eroded in her fight to prove her claim and establish her child’s rights. She lost all the cases she brought for the restoration of her property and was eventually forced to find work. The only job she could get was as a washerwoman. Mother and daughter took in washing and washed and bleached the clothes on the banks of the Thames near London Bridge.
“One day Mary Ann had to go wash on her own as her mother was ill. She started to sing a lament in Irish that her mother had composed on the loss of her estates. A passing gentleman stopped and listened to the song. Sir Thomas Plunkett, the third son of the first Baron of Killeen, understood the Irish song and indeed knew the places mentioned in the song. He approached the girl and she told him the full story. He explained that he was a lawyer and Mary Ann took him to her mother where he was shown the title deeds and other papers. Taking the case he won back Rathmore and Cruisestown castles and their estates and also won the heart and hand of Mary Ann Cruise and so the Plunketts became Lords of Rathmore. That is the legend of Rathmore.” [2]
John Baggot of Castle Bagot married Eleanor Dease (d.1843), daughter of Garret Dease of Turbotstown, and his wife Lady Susan Plunkett. John Baggot bought Castle Bagot in Rathcoole, County Dublin, which still stands. I think he was married before, to Mary (Anne) Walsh, and had daughter Anne who married Ambrose More O’Ferrall (1752-1835).
John Baggot and Eleanor Dease’s sons William Gerald Baggot (d. 1821) and James John Baggot (1784-1860) were involved with Daniel O’Connell and the fight for Catholic Emancipation. William Gerald died young, unfortunately, and James John married but had no children, so the Baggot inheritance passed through their half-sister Anne (d. 1810) who married Ambrose More O’Ferrall, of another strongly Catholic family. Ambrose More O’Ferrall went overseas and fought as a Major in the Royal Sardinian Army (1752-1835). His family was from Balyna in County Kildare. The house is now part of the Moyvalley Hotel. [3]
Eleanor Dease’s brother Gerald (1790-1854) inherited Turbotstown. He married Elizabeth O’Callaghan (d. 1846), daughter of Edmond O’Callaghan of Kilgory, County Clare. Interestingly, aforementioned James John Bagot married her sister, Ellen Maria O’Callaghan. Their sister Catherine married Thomas Browne 3rd Earl of Kenmare.
It was Gerald Dease who had the new Greek Revival house built, perhaps added on to an older house.
The interior of Turbotstown surprised us with an inner hall with a circular opening to an upper floor gallery which is toplit by an octagonal shaped lantern skylight not visible from the front of the house, the octagonal walls of the lantern composed of eight by eight panelled windows. This is a Francis Johnston feature. You can see photographs on Robert O’Byrne’s website. [4]
The staircase hall is also rather grand, the cantilevered staircase winding around in a square shape with a lovely stucco ceiling at the top, and a large arched window provides illumination.
A window detail in the main rooms indicates Francis Johnston’s attention to detail, as they slant upwards, letting in more sunlight, and there are lovely sunbursts carved into the corner timber frames. I didn’t take a photograph but they are similar to those in Rokeby in County Louth (another section 482 house, see my entry ( https://irishhistorichouses.com/2020/08/17/rokeby-hall-grangebellew-county-louth/ ). Another house by Francis Johnston is Townley Hall in County Louth.
Francis Johnston attic window detail, from Sean O’Reilly’s Irish Houses and Gardens, from the Archives of “Country Life.” Aurum Press Ltd, 2008.
Some of the rooms have decorative cornices, and they have lovely high ceilings. Another detail is that the door edge is slightly slanted to prevent drafts!
In the older part of the house is a chapel, still consecrated, which was built by the Dease family. Robert O’Byrnes writes that this was presumably where they worshipped prior to providing the land for the construction of a Roman Catholic church nearby.
One of Gerald Dease’s sons, Gerald Richard, went on to live in Celbridge Abbey in County Kildare, a house which when we last saw it was badly in need of repair.
Celbridge Abbey, Lawrence Photographic Collection National Library of Ireland, French, Robert, 1841-1917 photographer.
Another son, Edmund Gerald Dease (1829-1904), married Mary Grattan, daughter of Henry Grattan. A son of theirs, Major Edmund James Dease (1861-1945) lived at Rath House, Ballybrittas, County Laois and married Mabel More O’Ferrall, a descendant of aforementioned Ambrose More O’Ferrall of Balyna, County Kildare, Mabel was great-granddaughter of Anne Baggot of Castle Bagot, Rathcoole.
Another son, James Arthur Dease, married Charlotte Jerningham and they went on to have many children, and lived in Turbotstown. Of the two sons, one, Gerald, didn’t have children, the other, Edmond Fitzlaurence, sold Turbotstown after his son Maurice died in 1914 in the First World War.
Peter Bland, the current owner of Turbotstown, is a descendant of Major Edmund James Dease (1861-1945) and Mabel More O’Ferrall! Their daughter Marion (1900-1969) married William Bland (1901-1963) of Blandsfort, Abbeyleix, County Laois, Peter’s grandfather. My Dad also was from Abbeyleix, but his father only moved there after his marriage in 1920. Blandsfort house was built by Blands in around 1715.
Another well-known member of the Dease family is from another branch, from Lisney or Lisanny, County Cavan. William Dease (1752-1798) was one of the founders of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. At the time, surgeons were still members of the “Barber-Surgeons Guild.” The red and white stripes one sees on poles outside barber shops hearkens to this time, and represents blood and bandages! The Dictionary of Irish Biography tells us that Dease pointed out that people who trained as doctors were not taught surgery, and that they had to go abroad, as he did to France, to learn surgery. He founded the Dublin Society of Surgeons in 1780, and chaired the committee that successfully campaigned for a royal charter, which was granted in 1784, and the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland was established.
There is a prominent crack on the leg of the statue of William Dease in the College of Surgeons. Dease was sympathetic to the rebels cause in 1798 and legend has it that he heard that he was suspected of being a United Irishman. To avoid capture, he is said to have severed his femoral artery, and bled to death. This artery runs along exactly where the crack is in the sculpture! This story is told by Richard Robert Madden who wrote The United Irishmen, their lives and times. [7]
The Dease family died out, Peter told us. The last Dease, Dorothy, granddaughter of Major Edmond James Dease and Mabel née More O’Ferrall, grew up in Rath House, Ballybrittas, County Laois, and married Major George Geoffrey Robert Edward de Stacpoole, 6th Duc de Stackpoole, a Papal Duke. They lived in Errisbeg House in County Galway, now a bed and breakfast run by the 7th Duke and his family. [6]
A branch of the Bland family used to own Derryquin Castle in County Kerry, now the hotel Parknasilla. The hotel website tells us “The Blands of Derryquin Castle Demense were a Yorkshire family, the first of whom Rev. James Bland came to Ireland in 1692 and from 1693 was vicar of Killarney. His son Nathaniel, a judge and vicar general of Ardfert and Aghadoe obtained a grant of land in 1732 which would later become the Derryquin Estate. Derryquin Castle was the third house of the Blands on this land but it is not known when it was first constructed, its earliest written mention being in 1837, however it was indicated some decades earlier by Nimmo in his 1812 map.” [5]
Nathaniel Bland (1695-1760), Vicar General of Diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe, Picture from The Story of Dorothy Jordan by Clare Jerrold, 1914, courtesy of Teresa Stokes, flickr
It’s wonderful that a descendant of the Dease family is now living in Turbotstown and has renovated it back into a family home.
[1] p. 132, Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (ed.) Burke’s Irish Family Records. London, U.K.: Burkes Peerage Ltd, 1976.
In August 2012, we visited the Catholic church of St. Finian’s in Kilamactalway, near Newcastle-Lyons, to see the baptismal font donated by Ellen Maria Bagot née O’Callaghan in memory of her husband James John Baggot, who died in 1860 and who had lived in Castle Bagot in Rathcoole/ Kilmactalway.
Tel: 087-9003283 Open dates in 2025: Mar 14-17, 21-23, April 4-6, 11-13, 18-21, May 2-5, 9-11, 16-18, 23-25, June 6-8, 13-15, 20-22, 27-29, July 4-6, 11-13, 18-20, 25-27, Aug 1-4, 8-10, 15-24, Sept 6-7, 13-14, 20-21, 27-28, 1pm-5pm
Fee: adult €10, child/OAP/student €8, groups of 6 or more €8 per person
We went on holidays to County Wexford in May 2023 to visit some Section 482 properties. We visited Kilmokea, Woodville and Sigginstown Castle, as well as the Heritage Trust run Johnstown Castle and OPW owned Tintern Abbey. Unforunately Wells House was only open at the weekend so we have to save that, along with the other Section 482 Wexford properties, for another visit!
The owners of Sigginstown Castle are very brave to have taken on a derelict tower house. They have created something wonderful with its restoration. They restored not only the sixteenth century tower house but also the adjoining house, which was built in the seventeenth century.
When the current owners, Gordon and Liz Jones, purchased the house it had no roof. Liz showed us some photographs of how the house and castle used to look before renovation.
The house as it used to look.The castle as it used to look, along with the house.You can see that the house was completely unroofed and empty.
The Siggins family who owed the castle originally lived in the area from around 1342, and were of Anglo-Norman descent. The castle is built near the coast and would have been built to take advantage of sea trade. Many castles were built along the Wexford coast. The Siggins family also owned a mill nearby. They had rights to the mill as well as to fishing and to salvage of any shipwrecks in the area.
After Cromwell’s invasion and the Down Survey, the Siggins family were dispossessed and they moved to Mayo. The castle passed to William Jacob, a lieutenant in Oliver Cromwell’s army. He purchased more land in the area and his family built the house attached to the castle. Liz pointed out some ceramics which they set into the wall of the house near the door that were dated to that time period.
Eventually the house, castle and lands passed through a daughter who married a farmer named Wilson. The castle remained in that family until sold to the Pierce family, who then sold to the current owners in 2016. The Jones’ began renovation in 2019. They have done much of the work themselves, and found master craftspeople to do what they could not. It is wonderful to see the skills utilised and promoted.
The Facebook page mentions, for example, obtaining flagstones from the Traditional Lime Company. The Jones’ even produced their own handwrought nails, and they limewashed the house and castle using traditional ingredients. They also researched the history of the castle.
You enter the castle through the house. The Jones’ created a wonderful space inside the house with a triple height room, with walkways across and a second entrance to the castle at an upper level.
The ground floor of the house has great entertaining space, with a long dining table and a kitchen and a built in ceramic stove.
Liz and Gordon are members of an international community, the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). It sounds like a great group, and they do medieval re-enactments and events. Liz and Gordon are also musicians and most recently participated in an event “W.B. Yeats, in Story and Song.” See their facebook page for details. The page also describes the journey of creating this beautiful space. During its creation they participated in some television programmes including “Castle Hunting in Ireland” and a renovation show with presenter and architect Hugh Wallace.
The ground floor room in the castle opens up to a vaulted ceiling with remains of the wickerwork on which the vaulted ceiling was originally built. The Jones’ only put in a half floor at the first level, resting on original corbels, to create a more spacious room than may have been in the original layout. The stone stairs in the tower were quite intact, with just the bottom steps removed to stop cattle from climbing upstairs!
The castle has some of the usual protective features, but not all, as it is a small castle. It has machicolation at the top, and an “oubliette,” a place where someone can be imprisoned and forgotten about! In this castle it’s a deep chimney type space or shaft.
The next level of the castle opens onto a beautifully decorated room. The painting uses sixteenth century sources. A friend of the Jones’ painted the murals. Some paintings copy a De Burgo manuscript, and the phrases are in “Yola,” “ye old language,” a mixture of Finnish, Norman and English.
The paintings are also personal to the Jones’. For example, the women painted represent family members and their interests in painting, poetry and music. They also represent virtues, such as courage, justice and mirth, as well as temperance.
The floor is made of ceramic tiles. Liz discovered clay on the land, and she found a man who could make tiles from scratch. He built a medieval style kiln and they fired the tiles they made. All of the decorative tiles on the floor were made on site, and the plain tiles were sources from Spain.
A door at this level opens into the upper floor of the house.
We then went up to the next floor. This has a maritime theme. A map on the wall is a 1610 map of Wexford. Ships used to come from Bristol, but the coast is treacherous.
I was tremendously impressed with the new roof of the castle, all hand-hewn and lifted into place. The trees that provided the green oak timber came from County Carlow, and the carpenter/joiner was James Grace. He put his own signature on the beams, with “Grace and Plenty.”
Liz and Gordon seem to embody the values on their castle walls of grace and strength, as well as hospitality, warmth and generosity. May the castle stand another 500 years and more as a testament to their spirit!
This calendar is A5 (14.8 x 21 cm) size 84 page date book with space to write your appointments, and 80 photographs of historic houses from this website. They do not have the Revenue Section 482 list for 2024 as that is not published until late February.
2024 Diary of Irish Historic Houses (section 482 properties)
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