Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 193. “(Domville/IFR) A two storey Georigan house. Seven bay front with one bay breakfront, in which there is a Venetian window above a tripartite rusticated and fanlighted doorway. Afterwards the home of the Galvin family.”
Detached seven-bay two-storey double-pile country house, extant 1778, on a U-shaped plan centred on single-bay full-height breakfront; single-bay two-storey side elevations; five-bay two-storey rear (north) elevation with single-bay full-height projecting end bays. Leased, 1796-1841. Occupied, 1901. Vacant, 1911. Sold, 1963. Resold, 1975. Now in alternative use. Hipped slate roof on a T-shaped plan behind parapet centred on hipped slate roof (breakfront); hipped slate roof on a U-shaped plan (north) centred on pitched (gabled) slate roof, lichen-covered clay ridge tiles, red brick Running bond chimney stacks on axis with ridge having stringcourses below moss-covered capping supporting terracotta or yellow terracotta tapered pots with red brick English bond chimney stacks (north) on cut-granite chamfered cushion courses on red brick English bond bases having stringcourses below capping supporting terracotta or yellow terracotta octagonal or tapered pots, and concealed rainwater goods with replacement uPVC rainwater goods to rear (north) elevation on red brick header bond stepped cornice retaining cast-iron downpipes. Roughcast walls with rusticated cut-granite quoins to corners supporting parapet having cut-granite coping; roughcast surface finish to rear (north) elevation with repointed red brick flush quoins to corners. “Venetian Door” with flagged threshold supporting wrought iron-detailed cast-iron bootscrapers, and block-and-start surround centred on keystone framing glazed timber panelled door having overlight with fixed-pane timber sidelights. “Venetian Window” (first floor) with cut-granite sill, and concealed dressings framing six-over-six timber sash window having fanlight with fixed-pane timber sidelights. Square-headed window openings with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing six-over-six timber sash windows. “Venetian Door” to rear (north) elevation with red brick surround centred on keystone framing glazed timber panelled double doors having fanlight with four-over-four timber sash sidelights without horns. “Venetian Window” (first floor) with cut-granite sill, and red brick block-and-start surround centred on keystone framing six-over-six timber sash window having fanlight with four-over-four timber sash sidelights. Square-headed window openings with cut-granite sills, and red brick block-and-start surrounds framing six-over-six timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): central hall on a rectangular plan retaining encaustic tiled floor, carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors, cantilevered staircase on a dog leg plan with turned timber “spindle” balusters supporting carved timber banister terminating in volute, carved timber surrounds to door openings to landing framing timber panelled doors with carved timber Classical-style surround to window opening framing timber panelled shutters, and decorative plasterwork cornice to coved ceiling centred on decorative plasterwork ceiling rose; spinal corridor retaining tessellated Portland stone flagged floor, carved timber lugged surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters, and picture railing below moulded plasterwork cornice to ceiling; central “back hall” (north) retaining carved timber surround to door opening framing timber panelled door with carved timber surrounds to opposing window openings framing timber panelled shutters, and moulded plasterwork cornice to ceiling; and carved timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with carved timber lugged surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters. Set in relandscaped grounds with repointed granite ashlar piers to perimeter having ball finial-topped “Cyma Recta”- or “Cyma Reversa”-detailed cornice capping on fluted friezes supporting replacement wrought iron double gates.
A country house representing an important component of the eighteenth-century domestic built heritage of south County Dublin with the architectural value of the composition, one erected in two stages succeeding a house occupied by Sir William Domvile (1609-89), one-time Attorney General for Ireland (fl. 1660-86), confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on scenic vistas overlooking gently rolling grounds with a mountainous backdrop in the distance; the symmetrical footprint centred on a Classically-detailed doorcase demonstrating good quality workmanship; the slight diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a feint graduated visual impression; and the high pitched roofline: meanwhile, such traits as the symmetrical footprint centring on a “Venetian Window”; the uniform or near-uniform proportions of the openings on each floor; and the restrained pediment embellishing the roofline, all confirm the architectural value of the earlier portion. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior, including crown or cylinder glazing panels in hornless sash frames: meanwhile, contemporary joinery; restrained chimneypieces; and decorative plasterwork enrichments, all highlight the artistic potential of the composition. Furthermore, an adjacent stable complex (see 60260104) continues to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a depleted estate having historic connections with the Domvile family including Major Herbert Winnington Domvile JP (1840-1910), ‘High Sheriff of County Dublin and Deputy Lieuteant late of Loughlinstown House County Dublin’ (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1910, 152); and a succession of tenants including Reverend Thomas Leland (1723-85); Justice Robert Day (1746-1841); and Henry West (1809-81), ‘Queen’s Council late of Loughlinstown House County Dublin’ (Calendars of Wills and Administration 1881, 692).
Loughlinstown house has an impressive history that goes back to medieval times when a castle was erected here by an Anglo-Saxon family named Goodman. In 1641 rebellion broke out and the Goodmans played a leading part. When the rebellion was quashed, the leaders were deported to Connaught and their castles given to Cromwell’s supporters. Cromwell died in 1658 and two years later the King returned to England. All of Cromwell’s supporters were forced to leave their castles, and most of the property was returned to the original owners, with the exception of James Goodman and Loughlinstown.
The new King knighted and sent William Domville to Ireland as his Attorney General. Sir William built a modern house on the Loughlinstown property and settled down to breed horses and black cattle. He died in 1689 leaving Loughlinstown House to his eldest son, also Sir William, who witnessed the flight of James 2nd after the Battle of the Boyne when the King and his army were encamped in Lehaunestown (Laughanstown). According to Domvile family lore, it was said that the King planted a tree on the avenue, which was still there in the early part of this century.
The second Sir William Domvile died in 1698 and was succeeded by his son, William. Descendants of the Domvilles continued to live in Loughlinstown House until 1796, and the prescent facade of the house dates from the 1770s when the house was rebuilt and the gardens laid out.
In 1796 Loughlinstown House was let to Mr Justice Robert Day of Tralee who lived there till his death in 1841. A life-long friend of Henry Grattan, Day had helped him achieve his aim of a free Parliament for Ireland. Following Justice Day’s death, the Domvile family were once more to take possession of the house until 1963 when the house was sold to Mr John Galvin, an American multi-millionaire of Irish extraction. In the early 1970s the house came into the possession of the Irish Government, which subsequently leased it to the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound).
Note: This short history of Loughlinstown House is based on information that was very kindly submitted by MK Turner from Shankill, on 9 January 1977. Eurofound would welcome any other information on the historical background of the property.
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 185. “(Orpen/IFR) An Edwardian Tudor house, built 1901-2 for Charles St George Orpen to the design of his brother, Richard Orpen, who also designed an addition of 1913. Sold 1950 to Mr and Mrs Shannon.”
Carrickmines: €3.5m:Everything is coming up roses in a secluded house on 1.36 acres of gardens, says Property Editor Orna Mulcahy
Lisheens, a modest home hidden away on 1.36 acres of superb gardens at Brennanstown Road in Carrickmines, Dublin 18, has been home to the same family for the last 30 years.
However, the owners are now selling up and preparing to pass on their wonderful garden to buyers who they sincerely hope will maintain it.
The property will be auctioned on July 5th by Lisney and has an AMV of €3.5 million.
The four-bedroom house is hidden from view, set well back from the road next to Brennanstown Vale in an area where many of the properties have been snapped up for future development.
The tree-lined front garden has a winding driveway leading to the low dormer-style house which dates from the 1940s.
It’s a charming house, not particularly large at 210sq m (2,260sq ft) and with its principal rooms – drawingroom, diningroom, study and main bedroom – in a row overlooking the garden.
New owners will inevitably refurbish completely and may decide to replace it with a far larger house. Howevever, the relatively modest AMV could attract househunters selling up closer to town in order to enjoy the privacy and peace that you get with a large enveloping garden.
Old roses and lavender flourish below the terrace that leads out from the drawingroom, while below them is a velvety smooth lawn bounded by shrubs and specimen treees screening a second wide lawn that would convert beautifully to a tennis court.
Rambling roses cloak old fruit trees while even the compost heap – the size of many a town garden – has sprouted the most enormous densely petalled poppies. It’s a summer garden now at its best. The gardener who has tended it for the last 25 years will need to be negotiated with separately!
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 179. [Guinness, Moyne, B/PB] A plain two storey late-Georgian house, with a long service wing.”
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 179. “three storey house with a medieval core. Round corner tower; mullioned windows. In 1837, the seat of W. Dunne.”
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 177. “(Plunkett, sub Dunsany, B/pb 1970) A house built 1905-7 for Sir Horace Plunkett, the great Irish agricultural reformer, to the design of a Swedish architect named Caroe, though rather under the influence of Norman Shaw…Plunkett’s own bedroom was on the roof, and open to the elements – with a mechanical device enabling him to turn his bed towards the sun and against the wind. Burnt 1923.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 60. “A large gabled house built 1905-7 for Sir Horace Plunkett to the design of William D. Caroe. Burnt in 1923. Partly rebuilt.”
Featured in Irish Country Houses, Portraits and Painters. David Hicks. The Collins Press, Cork, 2014.
p. 47. Plunkett, who was born into wealth and privilege, sought to use his position for the betterment of others, especially poor Irish farmers. His contribution to Ireland is often overlooked and forgotten, but his development of the cooperative movement and better practices of production had a profound effect on agriculture in Ireland. Kilteragh, his home, was an imposing example of the Arts and Crafts movement in Ireland, designed at the dawn of a new century.
The house, which was created to look to the future, became a focal point for those who were at the forefront of anation on the cusp of change. It was unfortunate that it was burnt down by people who were focused on Ireland’s past. Kilteragh was rebuilt and survives today: once surrounded by expansive green fields and gardens, it is now hidden in the forest of suburbia tht has grown up around it in later years.
Horace Plunkett was born in Oct 1854 at Sherborne in Gloucestershire, England. Sherborne was the mansion belonging to his mother’s family. He was the third son and sixth child of the 16th Baron Dunsany of Dunsany Castle in County Meath, to where the family moved in the 1860s. Plunkett was well connected: his mother was the daughter of the second Baron Sherborne; his cousin was George, Count Plunkett. of Ballymascanlon House in Co Louth. [George Noble Plunkett (1851-1948) great grandfather was George Plunkett (1750–1824), son was Joseph Plunkett of the Easter Rising]. Another cousin, Lord Fingall, had a neighbouring estate to Dunsany and his wife Daisy, Lady Fingall, remained a lifelong friend of Plunkett. [Lord Fingall the 11th Earl of Fingall and Daisy, nee Elizabeth Margaret Mary Burke] The early years of Plunkett’s life were tinged with sadness. His mother died in 1858 when he was only four, his younger brother died when he was ten and his sister when he was 12. They all died from the same disease, tuberculosis, which would haunt Plunkett all his life. He was educated at Eton, followed by Oxford where he read Modern History. After his formal education, he went ranching in Wyoming in 1879 at the age of 25, as he believed the climate there would be better for his health; [p. 48] he suffered from tuberculosis among other ailments. From 1883 he returned on occasion from Wyoming to Ireland in order to help his elderly father manage the family estate and business interests after the death of his older brother, Randall, who also died from TB. One year later he also had to help his recently widowed sister run her estate at Kilcooley in county Tipperary [his sister Mary Sophia Elizabeth, who had married Chambre Brabazon Ponsonby]. After the death of his father in 1889, it was necessary for him to return to Ireland on a full-time basis and take over the management of the Dunsany estates in Ireland and Wales, coalmines in Northumberland and boatbuilding in Hampshire.
Plunkett’s father had left his a sizeable inheritance but he was not content to live the life of a rich man. [his brother John William became 17th Baron Dunsany and died in 1899]. He began to tackle and reform the vested family holdings. Accounts were scrutinised and reforms were implemented, especially on the Dunsany estate, which paid dividends. In 1889, Plunkett started a cooperative store on the estate. He believed that Irish farmers should not rest their hopes on the abatement of their rents being pursued by the Land League, and that they should study modern farming methods to be responsible for their own prosperity. [p. 49] In 1889 the first creamery cooperative was established in Ireland at Drumcollogher in County Limerick and Plunkett became involved in the establishment of the second creamery at Ballyhahill in 1891. At this time he became a member of the Congested Districts Board and would visit parts of the country on his yacht Granuaile. He saw the terrible conditions in which a large amount of the rural population of Ireland lived and became acutely aware of the importance of the cooperative movement in helping the poor of Ireland. The cooperative creameries allowed milk to be processed, marketed and sold, allowing farmers to get [p. 50] the best price for their produce. In 1892 Plunkett was elected as Unionist MP for Dublin South and two years later, in 1894, founded the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society to manage the 33 dairy cooperative societies, or creameries, which had become established. In 1895, Plunkett suggested that the leading political figures in Ireland should come together to discuss the development of agriculture and other industries in Ireland. This Recess Committee looked at the involvement of the state in agriculture and industry and other countries and produced a report that led to the establishment of a specialised department in Ireland. In 1897 Plunkett became a member of the Irish Privy Council which passed an Act in 1899 establishing the government body that eventually became today’s Department of Agriculture.
p. 51. As a result of the success of teh cooperative movement, in November 1899 Queen Victorian approved Plunkett’s appointment to the Vice-Presidency of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland. In 1900, as a result of his work, Plunkett was believed to be on too-friendly terms with the Nationalist movement. He was viewed with distrust by his own Unionist party who thought he had leanings towards Home Rule and they decided to field another candidate in the forthcoming election. As a result the vote was divided and Plunkett lost his seat but retained his Vice-Presidency of the Department of Agriculture until 1907. His rehabilitation of the agricultural sector in Ireland was noticed on an international stage and his ideas were adopted by the President of the United States. In Nov 1908 he was invited by President Roosevelt to discuss the advances made as a result of his involvement with the Department of Agriculture in Ireland. In a public letter in 1909, President Roosevelt thanked Plunkett for his contribution to the organisation of agriculture in the US and for helping to formulate policy. Plunkett was eventually forced to give up his post with the Department of Agriculture. On his departure, a number of people wished to honour his work. A group was set up to raise funds and 84 Merrion Square in Dublin was purchased for £3,000. It was presented to Plunkett and the 18th century house became the headquarters of the Irish cooperative movement, and was named Plunkett House.
Plunkett was an enthusiastic motorist and became the first president of the Irish Automobile Club which was formed in 1901. In 1903, at the time of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra’s visit to Ireland, their motor car broke down in Connemara but it was quickly repaired by Plunkett’s chauffeur, who cared for his De Dion-Bouton. At the end of teh tour the King made Plunkett a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Empire for his “unselfish loyalty to the weak and distressed” and from then on he became known as Sir Horace. The success of teh cooperative movement was evident by 1914 as there were over 800 co-ops in the country.
In 1905, Sir Horace, now in his 50s, commissioned a house to the design of William Douglas Caroe. Sir Horace sought many opinions with regard to various elements of the project. A gentleman from the Botanic Gardens was brought on board to advise solely on the grounds that would surround the house. Sir Horace had many reasons for wanting a home at this time: the ancestral seat of Dunsany Castle had now become the home of his nephew, causing Sir Horace to [p. 53] remark that “I am tired of being homeless at home.” [his nephew was Edward John Morton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany, whose father died in 1899. Edward married in 1904, so this could have been the biggest reason for the move]. After viewing many sites and locations around Dublin he decided on Foxrock, which he declared to be the healthiest part of the city, The idea of building a house in this area had begun in 1903 when Sir Horace rented a house there called The Barn, a small wooden bungalow, for two summers. As he grew to like Foxrock he decided to build a new house which would be the centre of a 90 acre farm.
As Sir Horace was preoccupied with various projects such as the cooperative movement and the newly founded Department of Agriculture, he delegated the project to [p. 54] a friend, Jim Power to ensure it was kept on track. The custodian of the project was not as focused as Sir Horace and as a result the proposed house grew to nearly twice the size originally planned. Daisy, Horace’s friend and wife of his cousin the Earl of Fingall, noted that Mr Power also took an extravagant approach to every project in which he was involved. She recorded that the mundane drains of her home, Killeen Castle, were fashioned by Mr Power into an elaborate and expensive project. The house, which would became known as Kilteragh, was fan-shaped and designed to take full advantage of the path of the sun. The garden front had large windows and large glazed areas while the north entrance front had small windows and largely blank facades. These northern facades were punctured only by the windows that served the staircase, bathrooms and pantries. Inside the house there was a large drawing room that ran the whole width of the structure. The bow windows in this room were so positioned to take full advantage of the vistas surrounding the house; one focused on the sea and another on the mountains. Window seats were built in, on which guests would recline and spend a summer’s day admiring the views. The room was dominated by a large open fireplace of ornamental brickwork above which hung a simple St Bridget’s cross given to Sir Horace by Shane Leslie. Daisy, Lady Fingall, though the architect’s choice of furniture too severe and convinced Plunkett to purchase more traditional furniture. [p. 55] She and other friends scoured auctions and sales to secure furniture that they thought more beautiful and also a lot cheaper. For the main hall ofthe house, which had very good acoustic with a warm, resonant quality, they purchased a grand piano around which friends would often gather for a sing-song. Daisy did allow Horace to decorate his own study, although she exclaimed that “it was the only ugly room in the house.” In the dining room a guest would enjoy a hearty meal while admiring wonderful frescoes painted by A.E. (George William Russell).
An outdoor bedroom was constructed at the top of the house on the roof. A bed with a canopy was equipped with a mechanical device that allowed it to be turned to follow the sun. The location was chosen by Sir Horace as he believed it helped relieve his health problems. His bed was covered by a shelter but mostly exposed to the elements and Sir Horace slept up there in winter and summer, leaving his guests to wonder if he might die from exposure. Those hardy enough in the winter months to venture up onto the roof to talk with Sir Horace wore extra layers of clothing. Despite the cold, the view from his outdoor bedroom was impressive, taking in Dublin Bay and the Irish Sea. Sir Horace had his makeshift bedroom placed here in 1911 after spending many weeks in a nursing home. An indication of the isolatino that Kilteragh enjoyed in Foxrock in the early 1900s is evident by the telephone number of the house, which Plunkett’s personalised stationary at the time records as “Foxrock No. 1.” The telephone was not the only modern convenience to be installed in the house: Kilteragh also boasted central heating, its own electricity generator and a mdoern sewerage system. Expansive gardens and a mini-golf course overlooked by a large terrace surrounded the house. In the grounds Sir Horace established a 90 acre model farm in order to develop and understand the agricultural practices that he recommended to others.
p. 56. Sir Horace welcomed many guests over the years, always greeting them with a smile from the steps at the front of Kilteragh. This tradition of hospitality began in July 1906 when he welcomed guests to stay with him in the unfinished house which was still occupied by over thirty workmen. Each signed the guestbook, which survived the fire of 1923 and now resides in the library of Trinity College Dublin. The completed house was comprised of a drawing room, library, sitting room and dining room on the ground floor wiht all the necessary kitchen and ancilliary facilities for the servants. Guests were accommodated on the upper floors where there were four bathrooms to supply the needs of the household when it expanded, which was at most weekends. The house was constructed from granite rubble with brick reveals and the exterior was pebble-dashed with cut granite quoins on the corners. In 1906 Horace Plunkett recorded in his diary an ambition to use his new residence as a place where he could “bring Irishmen togehter to discuss Irish problems.” Plunkett hoped that Irish people from all backgrounds would gather in the large drawing room of the house to debate the future of the country. As a result, members of the Irish acendancy mixed with Ireland’s future statemen while also enjoying the company of the leading lights of the artistic and literary scene. In the short life of the house (about 16 years), its guests included George Bernard Shaw, John and Hazel Lavery, Michael Collins, Oliver St John Gogarty, W.B. Yeats, Lady Gregory, Violet Martin of Somerville and Ross fame, Sir Roger Casement, H.G. Wells and George Moore. It was around the large fireplace in the drawing room that animated conversations took place, mainly about Ireland and its future. In 1913 Sir George Bernard Shaw was a gust of Sir Horace at Kilteragh while on a visit to Dublin. It was during this visit that he discussed Sir Hugh Lane’s proposal of situating a muncipal art gallery on the Liffey, which prompted Shaw to quip, “Has Hugh Lane ever smelt the Liffey?”
p. 57. In the 1911 census, Kilteragh is listed as having 14 rooms and 28 windows in the front of the house. Here the 56 year old Horace is livign with his “wife” Ellie Pilkington, two visitors and five servants. The listing of Ellie Pilkington as his wife must have been a practical joke as Sir Horace still lists himself as single and having never married. Emplyed at this time were a butler, cook, two housemaids, kitchen maid, farm steward, ploughman, yard man, chauffeur and head gardener. The butler at Kilteragh, Curtin, ws though to be an excellent example of his profession, although he did have one failing: he always thought it necessary to taste the wine before serving it to Sir Horace’s guests. On one occasion he became so engrossed in the wine tasting that he became drunk and the guests in the drawing room were left wanting.
By 1915, Sir Horace no longer saw the need to maintain such a large residence, which appeared lavish and unnecessary in the austere times of the First World War. He reduced the number of rooms in daily use, planning to divert the money saved to good causes. However, he shortly came around to the belief that entertaining influential persons in Kilteragh would be far more beneficial to Ireland and soon the whole house was in operation again. In 1916, Horace’s old friends and neighbours from Killeen Castle, the Fingalls, spent Easter at Kilteragh. On the Sunda, they heard the sensational news that Roger Casement had been captured on the Kerry coast trying to land guns from a German submarine. The next day life continued on as normal in Kilteragh adn a party left the house heading for the Leopardstown Races. Sir Horace remained in the house and later rang Dublin Castle only to be informed that civil unrest – the 1916 Rising – had broken out. He drove into the city during the Easter Rising and came under attack from snipers in Merrion Square. The car was fired upon and badly damaged. Tommy Ponsonby, his nephew [who lived at Kilcooley, Co Tipperary], was injured, but only the extremities of Plunkett’s coat were pierced by bullets.
Sir Horace’s health was always a concern. In 1916 he was seriously ill for seven weeks after being accidentally burnt while undergoing treatment by x-rays; he recuperated in his Foxrock residence. In Feb 1919, while on a trip to America to promote Home Rule in Ireland he fell ill, and in April 1919 The New York Times recorded that Sir Horace had undergone a serious operation and would be confined to bed for a number of weeks. Sir Horace was still involved in publich life and in 1917 he was elected to the Chair of the Irish Convention. In 1919 he founded the Plunkett Foundation in Ireland and the UK to promote and develop agricultural cooperatives and rural community enterprise.
New Year’s Day 1920 saw the press reporting that Sir Horace had died in Michigan, but this turned out to be a mistake caused by a journalist’s badly written shorthand. His obituary appeared in some newspapers and Sir Horace was less than pleased with what some of his contemporaries had to say about him, especially those who said he had no sense of humour. This premature death notice was an omen that set the tone for the rest of Horace’s life in the 1920s as the political scene in Ireland became more unsettled. In 1921, a trench was dug outside Kilteragh to hamper travel to Dublin; in 1922 the farmyard was raided for tools and an attempt was made to take Sir Horace’s motor car. These attempts on the security of Kilteragh were a foretaste of the disaster that was to befall the house. It was not only Kilteragh that suffered attacks but also the creameries that he had helped establish. Conor Cruise O’Brien said taht Sir Horace Plunkett “lived to see his creameries burnt by the English and his house by the Irish.”
In December 1922 the Constitution of the Irish Free State was adopted and Sir Horace was nominated to the Seanad. As a direct result of the nomination, his home in Foxrock now became a target. Towards the end of 1922, Sir Horace left for America on behalf of the Irish Free State. During this visit he intended to procure a collection of books on agriculture published in America. Sir Horace again found Kilteragh was fast becoming too large for his needs and, being a public-spirited individual, considered presenting the hosue to the nation and building a small bungalow in the grounds. On a cold windy night in January 1923, the house was attacked at one o’clock in the morning by a groupof Republicans who forced in the door of the pantry. Gerald Heard, Sir HOrace’s private secretary, and the chauffeur, who were present in the house, had heard loud explosions earlier that night in the distance, which they later found out were the homes of other senators being blown up. Heard had removed the fuses from the main electrical distribution board in Kilteragh to make it difficult for the group that entered teh house to navigate it without any light. The Republicans ordered the occupants out and an explosive mine was placed in the fireplace of the hall. When it detonated, it blew out all the doors and windows, caused [p. 58] walls and ceilings to collapse and left parts of the house structurally unsound and dangerous. Trying to do what they could to save the house, Sir Horace’s secretary and chauffeur put out a few small fires that had started. The following morning a scene of devastation greeted the workmen who were dispatched to shore up what remained of the house and board up the windows to prevent looting. Pieces of windows, blinds and furniture littered teh drive in front of the house. Unbelievably, a number of people had already gathered and begun removing trees and other shrubs from the gardens as if the explosion had been a starting pistol. Free State troops protected the house until 2am the following morning and, believing that the house was no longer under any threat, they left the grounds. The raiders from the night before were watching the house and returned to complete their task and set the house ablaze. Two members of the Civic Guard who had been on duty at 2:15am reported everything to be correct and they returned to the barracks. By 3am, people living nearby were awakened by the noise of the fire and could see the glow of flames against the night sky. Mr Heard had been sleeping in a room in the house that had been undamaged the night before. He was awakened by stones being thrown at the window and by means of a rope he was rescued. When they went to get a hose that had been used to put out the fire the previous morning, they found it had been slashed with knives. Heard began to rescue what he could from the library which was already on fire. Very little was saved and, as the sparks and ashes from the fire were sent skywards, a library of 1,700 books and an art collection of 200 paintings were incinerated. Some furniture from the west wing of the house was rescued. However, great efforts had to be made to stop the looters from descending a second time. The blaze lit up the night sky and one witness recalled that the corks of the wine bottles in the basement began to pop before the roof collapsed.
p. 59. The intense heat that the fire generated cracked the walls of the house and by daylight very little remained.
Sir Horace had thought that this day might come and after the fire his secretary cabled him in America with a very apt and previously agreed code word: “Extinct.” Sir Horace who was in Madison, Wisconsin, remakred that “While the hous eis a very fine one, the occurrence is not so regrettable as it would have beeen the wrecking of some poor man’s one-room dwelling.” He was, however, heartbroken and for years could not visit what remained of his home. On the same night as the destruction of Kilteragh, the houses of a number of Senators and Dail members were also destroyed, together with the homes of judges, the State Solicitor and the manager of Independent Newspapers. Numberous outrages were reported throughout the country. When Kilteragh was burnt down it houses a vast collection of correspondence from leading British and American statesmen. It was estimated that the frescoes and various paintings by “A.E.”, Jack Yeats, Hone and 18th century Irish artists that perished in the fire were worth £10,000 (over £600,000 today).
In Feb 1923 Sir Horace returned from America on the White Star liner Cedric and arrived in Liverpool. Here it was reported that he said, “I am practically homeless,” and “All that remains is my little office in Dublin. I suppose my crime is that I went to America on behalf of the Free State.” Few of his possessions were saved except a few photographs at Plunkett House. He went on to say, “I had, too, the brightest, healthiest home. All pleasure and, I fear, health is gone.”.. In Oct 1923 Sir Horace resigned from the Seanad. W.B. Yeats, also a senator, recorded that “the establishment of every technical school and agricultural college in this country is the result of his efforts… he organised, I think, 180,000 farmers into his organisation.”
A claim was lodged for the loss of Kilteragh and its contents amounting to £28,122 for the building and £4,844 for the contents. It was later settled in total for £18.819. The ruins of Kilteragh were sold and Sir Horace abandoned Ireland and moved to England. Two years later in 1925, Kilteragh House was rebuilt. Elements of its original style were incorporated with one major difference: the enormous rambling house was divided into six separate residences and the beautiful formal gardens to the rear of the building became communal to the properties. The house, now known as Kilteragh Pines, is located off Westminster Road in Foxrock and is surrounded by other houses built in later years.
Sir Horace settled in England in a house similar in character to Kilteragh, which was named Crest House. Furniture and other articles that had been rescued in the fire in Dublin were moved to his new home. …He died in 1932 at his home in Weybridge in Surrey, aged 77… He left a year’s wages for staff and £4000 for Daisy Countess Fingall.
p. 60. Note that Michael Collins dined at Kilteragh his last night in Dublin, three days before he was shot in Cork. He was brought there by Hazel Lavery, wife of the painter. G.B. Shaw was there that night also.
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 170. “(Newcomen, V/DEP) A single-storey early C18 house with a high dormered roof…Owned later in C18 by William Newcomen, 1st Bt. Demolished early in the present century, some of the stonework being used by Sir Edwin Lutyens in his additions to Howth Castle.”
Charlotte Newcomen (d. 1817) Viscountess Newcomen by Thomas Hickey, with her daughters Jane, Teresa and Charlotte, 1779, courtesy National Trust Wimpole Hall.She married William Gleadowe, who took the name Newcomen, and became 1st Baronet.
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
“An outstanding early 18C single storey house. High pitched roof with dormer windows and a central pediment. Entrance front with recessed centre between projecting wings with Venetian windows. Seat of Sir William Newcomen in the late 18C. Demolished c. 1910. A chimneypiece and Venetian window surround from the house were used by Sir Edwin Lutyens at Howth castle. A new house was built at Killester to the desin of Frederick Hicks. This too has been demolished.“
Not in National Inventory.
William Gleadowe married into the Newcomen family of Carriglass House in County Longford and took their name. He started the Newcomen Bank in Dublin. He was knighted to become 1st Baronet Newcomen in 1781 and elected to the Irish Parliament. He voted for the Act of Union and his wife Charlotte was rewarded with a Peerage to become Viscountess Newcomen. Their son inherited her title and became Thomas Gleadowe-Newcomen, 2nd Viscount Newcomen (1776-1825), and he also inherited the Newcomen Bank. The bank had a series of failures and closed in 1825, and Thomas shot himself and died in his office. After his death the title became extinct.
The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 262. “(Trench/IFR) a house of two storeys over a basement, built 1745 by Col Francis Sadleir, who used to climb the scaffolding during the building and read accounts of that year’s Jacobite rising to the workmen. Attributed by the Knight of Glin to Francis Bindon, stylistically as well as on account of Col Sadleir’s connection to Bindon and to Bindon’s chief patron, Lord Bessborough. Seven bay entrance front, all the windows and the round-headed doorway having block architraves and large keystones which in the upper storey, break into the frieze of the entablature. Bold cornice. Archway to yard, flanked by walls with niches, at one side of front. Three bay side elevation, also with block architraves. Plain seven bay garden front. Interior much altered 1866-68. Wide and deep hall, lined with rather unusual fluted Doric pilasters and square columns of oak and divided by screen of arches. Staircase of good C18 joinery in staircase hall at side, leading up to large top-lit domed landing, with shallow arches and marbled half-columns; rather Soanian in character but presumably dating from 1866-68 remodelling. Room on right of hall with C18 panelling and ceiling with oval garland. Drawing room with Victorian plasterwork cornice. The old castle where the family originally lived stands a short distance away from the house; it is still roofed and has glass in its windows. It is unusually long for its height, with tall chimneys and machicoulis. Sopwell passed to the Trenches through the marriage of Mary Sadleir, daughter of the builder of the house, to Frederick Trench MP.”
The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale Colliers January 2025 E53 YN99 10 beds5 baths1322 m2
THE SOPWELL HALL ESTATE, BALLINGARRY, COUNTY TIPPERARY, E53 YN99, IRELAND A most distinguished early 18th-century Irish country house positioned within an estate of some 300 acres, including attractive parkland and mature woodland and a 16th-century castle. 5 Principal Reception Rooms, 10 Bedrooms The house is privately and centrally positioned deep within mature parkland. The accommodation at Sopwell Hall is grand and beautifully executed, with the principal house comprising some 14,235 square feet or 1,322 square metres.
The castle, built circa 1590, is now unoccupied but largely intact. The stone outbuildings are of the highest quality and richly augment the house and castle.
A Studio, Gardener’s Cottage, Bailiff’s House and 2 Gate Lodges complete the accommodation to present some 18,342 square feet or 1,704 square metres of possible accommodation in total. In all the estate extends to some 300 acres or 121.4 hectares
Sopwell Hall is situated in a triangle of the historic towns of Birr, Roscrea and Nenagh. The nearest small town is Borrisokane, which is some 5 miles or 8 kilometres away. The International airports at Dublin, Cork and Shannon are within easy driving distance.
The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
GEORGIAN ELEGANCE Built in 1745, to a design attributed to the renowned architect Francis Bindon, Sopwell Hall is imposing yet welcoming and conforms to the best traditions of early Georgian architecture. A popular and highly regarded architect, Bindon’s most noted country house designs are classically derived, like that at Russborough House, where he worked in collaboration with Richard Cassels. Indeed, this collaboration may have influenced the design of the top-lit domed landing at Sopwell Hall. Symmetrical in composition, Sopwell Hall is a beautifully balanced structure occupying a slightly elevated site with commanding views over the surrounding gardens and countryside. The house stands three storeys over basement with direct access from the ground and basement levels. All the windows on the seven bay façade and the round-headed front doorway have cut-stone block architraves and large keystones, which on the upper storey break into the frieze of the entablature under a pronounced cornice. Each side elevation has three window bays, one with block architraves and the other a Venetian window. The overall effect is extremely elegant and aesthetically pleasing. Substantial compensation monies received on the dispersal of wider estate lands hugely benefitted the house and core estate, with exceptional expenditure apparent on the building of significant stone outbuildings and considerable upgrading works to the house interior between circa 1866 to 68.
The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
The handsome fluted Doric pilasters in the main reception hall were added at this time along with shallow arches and marbled half-columns to the large top-lit domed landing. Ornate cornicing was added to the drawing room and dining room. A large orangery style conservatory adorned the south-eastern elevation but was sadly removed in the 1950’s due to disrepair.
The current owners created an elegant sunken garden within the space incorporating period limestone walls, steps and terracing. A high archway leads to an enclosed courtyard off the other side elevation. This courtyard itself leading to an adjacent yard which includes the impressive range of stone outbuildings.
PRIVATE ESTATE The Sopwell Hall Estate is a haven of tranquillity and privacy that is rare in the 21st-century. Positioned at the end of a half-mile drive Sopwell Hall occupies a central position within its own estate and enjoys a panoramic view over the park and woodland. Interspersed with mature specimen trees the parkland pasture surrounds the house. The outer parts of the estate comprising a perimeter woodland belt and creating a great sense of privacy and seclusion. Among the many ancient and specimen trees throughout the estate are some particularly fine Spanish chestnut, a noted ancient beech wood and a rare Siberian crab-apple tree. The woodlands include indigenous oak, beech, ash, larch and spruce. Unsurprisingly there is, too, much wildlife to be found on the estate. Red squirrels, pine martens, foxes and hares are regularly sighted, and buzzards, owls and falcons can also be found.
The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
Since 1985, when the current owners acquired Sopwell Hall, a substantial amount of restoration and improvement works have been carried out in the gardens and wider pleasure grounds, which had become neglected. Spacious lawns were laid down, the two gate lodges restored and a hard tennis court installed. The sunken garden was created at the southwestern end of the house, incorporating a central water-lily pond, limestone walls and steps to create terracing. Works on the Walled Garden commenced in 2009 and, with expert advice, a fruit orchard planted to include apple, pear, plum, medlar, walnut and cherry trees and incorporating some old heritage varieties. Behind a mixed hedgerow divide lies a productive garden, with a large soft-fruit cage, a flower garden, herb garden and vegetable beds. All through the year there is a kaleidoscope of colour throughout the grounds with a great display of daffodils announcing the arrival of Spring, many of the 30 or so varieties found at Sopwell are original to the estate and are enhanced by arrays of snowdrops and crocuses. The ancient beech wood displays an abundance of bluebells and is quite a magical scene. Numerous shrubs and trees provide rich colour in all seasons. A large border flowerbed contains a wide selection of shrubs and climbers underplanted with various perennials and bulbs. Several varieties of climbing roses, clematis and wisteria adorn the various outbuildings in the coachyard and the large arched entrance. In the 18th-century and 19th-century many pleasure walks and bridleways were created around the estate with many still evident and in use today. Part of the original 1,000-acre estate demesne is now owned by Coillte, the semi-State forestry group, and across which forest walks, and horse riding can be enjoyed. The Sopwell Estate itself is private and exclusive.
Sopwell Hall is at the end of a half mile drive and is at the centre of the estate. The property is entered through fine cast iron pillared gates set within a cut-limestone entrance splay and adorned by the charming front Gate Lodge. The drive leads through undulating open parkland to a gravelled forecourt in front of the house. Of the circa 300 acres or 121.4 hectares within the estate about two-thirds comprise mature parkland grazing and one-third is in woodland, with about 74 acres or 29.9 hectares in mature woodland and some 20 acres (8 hectares) in a commercial plantation. Some 185 acres of grazing lands are let annually on an 11-month conacre basis. This arrangement could possibly continue, or the lands could be farmed in-hand. A walled enclosure adjacent to Killaleigh Castle has a useful range of outbuildings. Sopwell Hall and its circa 300 acres are entirely private and bordered by some 500 acres of Coillte (the semi-State forestry company) forestry and approximately 160 acres of farmland is used as part of a training farm for Gurteen College, which is 3 miles away. These three holdings combined constituting the original core estate at Sopwell. The Sopwell Hall Estate is private and exclusive with no third-party Rights of Way across the estate. There exists a Wayleave to allow mast collection in the beech wood by Coillte, but it appears not to have been exercised in over 30 years. The estate has the benefit of a Right of Way across some adjacent lands. The Coillte forestry which adjoins the estate greatly enhances the enjoyment of living at Sopwell Hall, as it provides great amenity for long walks in beautiful surroundings. Whilst being wonderfully secluded the estate is nearby to town amenities and easily accessible, with the M7 motorway accessible some 12.4 miles or 20 kilometres away at Roscrea (Junction 22).
The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
16TH CENTURY CASTLE The Castle, called Killaleigh Castle, is long unoccupied but largely intact. Built, circa 1590, by the Gaelic MacEgan Clan as a fortified Castle or Tower House under an Elizabethan grant until 1662, when the Clan’s lands were forfeit. Killaleigh Castle with its immediate lands and over 1,000 acres coming into the possession of a Col. Thomas Sadlier, Adjutant General to Henry Cromwell, for his military achievements. Through buying up debentures on lands awarded to fellow officers who wished to return to England he had an accumulated estate of over 5,000 acres by the end of the 17th-century. The castle was in a ruinous state and Col. Sadlier rebuilt it and doubled it in size, adding a second overlapping rectangular section in the mid-17th-century and, presumably, the unusually tall chimneys. It is a fine example of the transition from basic fortified castles to more comfortable castles or houses, albeit still with fortification as evident from the mâchicoulis.
In 1745 a Francis Sadlier, grandson of Col. Thomas Sadlier, built the imposing Sopwell Hall to become the principal and statement house on the estate, with the castle then uninhabited. The Sopwell Estate ownership passing to the Trench family in 1797 through the marriage of his daughter, Mary. The Trench family remaining in ownership until 1985, when the current owners purchased Sopwell. Whilst in need of complete restoration the castle appears to be largely structurally sound and comprising some 3,976 square feet or 369 square metres could provide useful additional amenity, were it required and subject to any necessary consents. It stands within a walled enclosure that also contains the Bailiff’s House and a long range of single storey outbuildings.
The Bailiff’s House comprises some 1,480 square feet or 137.5 square metres of potential accommodation.
The outbuildings extend to some 5,812 square feet or 540 square metres of net internal space. Killaleigh Castle and the Bailiff’s House are positioned a short distance from Sopwell Hall and can be accessed from an internal roadway or independently from the rear or castle entrance.
THE LOCATION Sopwell Hall is situated in a triangle of the historic towns of Birr, Roscrea and Nenagh. Nearby Ballingarry village is a five minute drive away and has a church and ‘The Glue Pot’ pub. The small town of Borrisokane is some 5 miles or 8 kilometres away and includes a primary and secondary school, a doctor’s surgery with adjacent health centre, a butcher and two grocery stores, a petrol station, pubs and a hardware shop. Alternatively, Cloughjordan town is equidistant. The larger towns of Birr, Roscrea and Nenagh providing wider shopping, schooling and leisure amenity. Birr, a designated Irish Heritage Town has wide streets with many elegant Georgian buildings. Birr Castle and Science Centre includes the great Leviathan of Parsonstown astronomical telescope that was the largest in the World from 1845 to 1917. The town annually hosts a Vintage Week and Art Festival, The Irish Game and Country Fair, and The Irish Hot Air Balloon Festival; there being a strong aviation link with The Ormond Flying Club based at Birr Airfield. Birr Theatre and Arts Centre is a local cultural and social amenity for the arts, dance, film, music and theatre. Roscrea town provides access to the M7 motorway, about a 20 minute drive from Sopwell Hall and accessing Dublin and Limerick cities with an array of shopping facilities, theatres, restaurants, pubs, wine bars, café’s, boutique salons and leisure spas. The M7 giving motorway access to Dublin, Shannon and Cork International airports. Equestrian, walking and cycling facilities are abundant in the area with Sopwell Hall within easy reach of mountain trails. The Slieve Bloom, Silvermine, Slieve Bernagh, Slieve Aughty, Slieve Felim and Arra mountains all being nearby. Locally there are walking trails in the Knocknacree Woods and Scohaboy Bog and of course privately within Sopwell estate itself. For equestrian enthusiasts there are many riding schools and clubs in the area and the local Ormond Hunt has in the past met at Sopwell Hall. Horse racing takes places at Tipperary and Limerick. Golf courses within a 30-minute drive include those in Nenagh, Roscrea and Birr. Nearby Lough Derg, less than a 20-minute drive from Sopwell, is referred to as Ireland’s Pleasure Lake and is perfect for the water sport enthusiast with good sailing breezes and uncluttered expanses providing superb conditions for sailing, windsurfing and cruising. Lough Derg is the largest lake on the River Shannon, the longest river in Ireland and Great Britain. A harbour and marina in Portumna town provides cruiser boat rental and there are further harbours nearby at Terryglass and Dromineer, which has one of the oldest yacht clubs in the world. Lough Derg offers good trout, pike and bream fishing and walks on the Lough Derg Way. Sopwell Hall offers many amenities within the estate with historic bridleways and walking paths throughout the open parkland and mature woods. With over 90 acres of woodland there is also potential to create a small sporting estate. Tranquil and private Sopwell is a preserve of wildlife. Ballingarry village 2.8 miles or 4.6 km, 6 minutes driving Birr town 10.3 miles or 16.6 km, 18 minutes driving Roscrea town (M7 motorway) 12 miles or 19.3 km, 20 minutes driving Nenagh town 13.3 miles or 21.4 km, 22 minutes driving Dublin city 93 miles or 150 km, 55 minutes driving Limerick city 39 miles or 63 km, 54 minutes driving Cork city 99 miles or 160 km, 2 hours 4 minutes driving Dublin airport 1 hour 48 minutes driving Shannon airport 1 hour 10 minutes driving Cork airport 2 hours 5 minutes driving. Property specific Eircode postcode E53 YN99 GPS LOCATION 59.9924039 (latitude), -8.0490516 (longitude) Gate Lodge (entrance gates) Eircode E53 AY94 GPS LOCATION 52.9962936 (latitude), -8.0462998 (longitude) Elevation above sea level: 77 metres or 252 feet
Accommodation
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
GRACIOUS ACCOMMODATION From the gravelled forecourt to the front of the house wide limestone steps lead through both outer and inner doors into the magnificent reception hall. Spacious and well-proportioned it is lined with distinctive fluted Doric pilasters and divided by a screen of arches. Fine ceiling plasterwork includes twin ceiling roses and decorative cornicing. The large marble chimney piece is original to the 1745 build and has an open fire.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
An interconnecting arch links to the stair hall. To the left of the main hall is a study and to the right a charming timber panelled morning room, with original marble chimneypiece and decorative ceiling work. The drawing room and dining room are each impressive and, again, accessed from the central main hall. Displaying the very best features and proportions of fine Georgian architecture each is filled with natural light, has impressive large marble chimneypieces with open fires and ornate cornicing.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
The stair hall incorporates a fine 18th-century carved timber staircase lit from a large Venetian window on the stair return and from the large top-lit domed landing above. Concealed doors lead to a guest WC and a roof terrace. A secondary stair hall accesses the floor below and the upper floors. A small kitchen on this level serves the dining room. A feature of the main reception rooms and, indeed, the entire house is the abundance of natural light with ample tall and large glazed windows.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers. Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale Colliers January 2025
The broad carved staircase, complete with original handrail and spindles, leads to a generously large landing on the first floor. Impressive architecturally, there are six matching scagliola sienna marble columns and a large, perfectly proportioned domed ceiling, with a glazed atrium at the apex, which is surrounded by fine plasterwork. There are five principal bedrooms and four bathrooms on this floor. The Master Bedroom Suite occupies the south-eastern corner. The bedroom enjoys a dual aspect and has marble chimneypiece with an open fire and interconnecting doors to an en-suite bathroom and to Bedroom 2, which could be used as a dressing room and links to its own bathroom. The bathroom, off the master bedroom, is charming with the design inspired by a bathroom in the Chateau de Rambouillet in France. Bedroom 3 has a dual aspect with fine parkland views towards Knockshegowna Hill (Cnoc Sí Uwa, which translates as ‘Hill of Fairy Una’) and an interconnecting door to Bedroom 4, which in turn connects to an en-suite bathroom. These rooms combined could make a large suite with a bedroom, dressing room and bathroom. Bedroom 5 retains the original 1745 oak panelling and has an interconnecting door to a shared bathroom with Bedroom 4 and/or can utilise a family bathroom across the hall. A laundry room with linen shelving is positioned off a secondary stair hall, which accesses the second floor and floors below. The second floor provides five further bedrooms and a bathroom and has a games room, study, large store and access to the roof.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
The lower ground floor has a large axial central hall that opens at ground level to both the courtyard and the sunken garden. It includes a sitting room with an open fire. A large kitchen has glazed double French doors to a South facing garden terrace, an open fireplace with a vintage water heater, and a range of fitted timber wall and floor cupboards with solid timber worktop, a large Belfast style sink, an integrated Viking Professional electric oven with six gas hob plates, clay tiled flooring, spot lighting and interconnecting door to a pantry. The old servant’s hall has an open fireplace and 5 recessed alcoves. The Wine Cellar has 20 wine bins and additional racks. A boot room, store, laundry, boiler room, estate office and staff apartment complete the accommodation on this floor. The staff apartment has a bedroom, bathroom and small living room or lobby. The Studio is positioned in the upper floor of the adjacent courtyard buildings and is a large space comprising some 660 square feet or 61 square metres and has a solid fuel stove, fitted cupboards, book shelving and timber flooring.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
THE COURTYARD Positioned immediately adjacent to the main house the courtyard comprises an impressive range of single and two-storey cut-stone outbuildings that include a Coach House, garaging, a Studio, workshop and various stores. Exceptional expenditure on their building is apparent as they are extensive and surprisingly elaborate for outbuildings. They are thought to have been constructed between circa 1866 to 68 following the receipt of substantial monies for the sale of estate lands. Combined they extend to some 3,346 square feet or 311 square metres of net internal space.
THE BAILIFF’S HOUSE The Bailiff’s House, originally a steward’s house, is positioned adjacent to Killaleigh Castle within the walled enclosure. Whilst in need of restoration the structure appears generally sound and the layout is very pleasing. It extends to some 1,480 square feet or 137.5 square metres.
THE GARDENER’S COTTAGE The Gardener’s Cottage is positioned within the Walled Garden, abutting the wall at the very north-western end. It extends to some 722 square feet or 67 square metres over 2 storeys.
FRONT GATE LODGE The Front Gate Lodge is architecturally impressive and is positioned just inside the main entrance gates to Sopwell Hall it is set out over a single storey and extends to 566 square feet or 52.6 square metres. There is a living room, kitchen, bedroom bathroom and laundry room and provides useful accommodation.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
BACK GATE LODGE The Back Gate Lodge or Castle Gate Lodge is positioned at the top of the rear entrance. Extremely picturesque the accommodation extends to 681 square feet or 63.3 square metres over 2 storeys and includes a living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. It has been recently restored and provides charming accommodation.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Gate lodge at Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
Features
The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale Colliers January 2025
RESTORATION AND UPGRADING Acquired by the present owners in 1985 both Sopwell Hall, the outbuildings and the lands required substantial restoration and upgrading, therefore comprehensive programme of work has been undertaken in the subsequent years. Conservation works included the repair and restoration of timber panelling and plasterwork and all the windows being taken out and refurbished. Fine Georgian chimneypieces were sourced and installed to replace three less suitable Victorian ones added in the circa 1866-68 remodelling. The entire house was re-wired and re-plumbed, and a modern oil-fired central heating system installed, complete with an efficient condenser boiler and thermostatic controls for zoned areas. A smoke alarm and monitored security alarm were installed. Rooms were re-commissioned to provide or create five bathrooms, two new kitchens, a laundry room, boiler house and a roof terrace. Great emphasis was given to ensuring security of services with a private well water supply added to augment a mains water supply, a powerful generator installed to provide back-up in the event of an outage on the mains electric supply and two large (3000 gallon or 11,500 litre) oil tanks installed to provide long term on-site storage. Woodland on the estate providing a stable supply of logs for the open fires in the house. Sympathetic to the historic importance of the house and yet cognisant to create a country home suitable for the 21st-century the extensive restoration and improvements works undertaking over the last 35 years present Sopwell Hall as a comfortable and elegant home. A fine collection of period furnishings adds to the overall charm of Sopwell. While not included in the sale it is understood the majority could possibly be subsequently purchased by a successful buyer. TENURE and POSSESSION The property is offered for sale freehold and it is the intention to provide vacant possession on completion of the sale. FIXTURES and FITTINGS All fitted carpets and curtains will remain in the property on closing and will become the property of the purchaser. The light fittings, furniture and any other chattels within the house or other buildings are excluded from the sale. As are the garden statuary, ornaments and machinery. The majority are understood to be available by separate negotiation and/or the owner retains the right to hold an auction of the contents of the house on the premises prior to a sale completion. RIGHTS OF WAY The property is offered for sale subject to and with the benefits of all matters and rights of way which affect the property. It is understood there are no Rights of Way across the property, aside from the small Wayleave outlined.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
BER Details
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Killaleigh Castle at Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Killaleigh Castle at Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Killaleigh Castle at Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Killaleigh Castle at Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Killaleigh Castle at Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale Colliers January 2025The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale Colliers January 2025
To arrange a viewing for this significant estate please call Callum Bain Mobile +353 86 8118367 or Email callum.bain@colliers.com Joint Agent David Ashmore – Ireland Sotheby’s International Realty
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Detached seven-bay two-storey over basement house, built c.1745. Hipped slate roof with rendered chimneystacks. Ruled-and-lined render to walls, with cut stone cornice and eaves platband. Cut-stone block architraves to all windows on ground and first floors of front and east side elevations. Timber sliding sash windows, four-over-four pane to upper floors, two-over-two pane to basement at rear. Segmental-headed windows to basement of front elevation. Timber panelled front door having round-headed block architrave with plain fanlight. Cut-stone doorcase with pilasters to double-leaf panelled door in south elevation. Flight of limestone steps up to main entrance and balustrade to basement level added in 1860s.
Appraisal
Sopwell Hall was built in the mid-eighteenth century by Colonel Francis Sadleir and the house has been attributed to Francis Bindon who had connections with the owner. The roof and part of the interior of Sopwell Hall were remodelled in 1866-68 and extensive outbuildings added. Constructed of fine quality materials, with crisp cut limestone details of particular note, the building is well maintained and in good condition after many years of restoration work carried out by the present owners. Located on extensive landscaped grounds which incorporate a seventeenth-century fortified house, two gate lodges, cut-stone outbuildings and a walled garden.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Two yards of single and two-storey outbuildings, built c.1870, enclosed by high stone walls located north-west of the main house at Sopwell Hall. Hipped slate roofs having cut-stone chimneystacks. Exposed squared limestone walls having cut stone quoins, cornices, sills and surrounds to openings. Small-pane timber windows having top opening ten-over-fifteen pane casements. Timber battened doors. Limestone carriage arch having ball finials and flanked by niches, leading to eastern yard, with limestone piers to gateway at north side and to western yard. Eastern yard has multiple-bay single-storey outbuilding with carriage arch and six-bay outbuilding with two-storey centre bays. Western yard has single-storey L-plan outbuilding with advanced and higher centre blocks with segmental-headed carriage arches and flanked by lower two-bay blocks. Three-bay two-storey building to north-west corner of walled garden, having pitched slate roof with chimneystack.
Appraisal
A complex of outbuildings of the highest quality constructed at the same time as the remodelling of the eighteenth-century Sopwell Hall in the late 1860s and replacing all of the original outbuildings. The buildings retain the majority oftheir original features and character and are in good condition following recent restoration.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Detached three-bay single-storey gate lodge, built c.1865, with pedimented entrance portico in antis. Hipped slate roof with rendered chimneystack. Lined-and-ruled rendered walls having cut limestone portico, quoins and plinth. Segmental-headed openings, paired to gables, with one-over-one pane timber sash windows and moulded limestone surrounds with brackets beneath sills. Timber panelled door with overlight, set in square-headed opening inside portico, latter with fluted Doric columns. Ornamental cast-iron piers and gate flanked by rectangular limestone piers with cast-and-wrought-iron gates and railings; cast-iron railings, cut limestone piers and rendered quadrant walls.
Appraisal
This gate lodge is notable for its apparent architectural design. The classically-inspired portico is an interesting addition to this small-scale building and is clearly the work of skilled craftsmen, as are the carved limestone window surrounds, sills and brackets and the segmental-headed windows which enrich and enliven the façade. The gates are highly decorative and add further interest to the site. This building forms part of a significant group of related structures with the buildings of Sopwell Hall demesne.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Detached three-bay two-storey former steward’s house with advanced gabled end bay and hipped porch, built c.1875, having single-storey annex to southwest. Pitched slate roofs having cut-stone chimneystack and ceramic ridge tiles. Squared limestone walls, rendered in parts. Timber mullioned and transomed casement windows, one dormer. Timber panelled door in shouldered-arch opening. Stone outbuildings to rear having pitched slate roofs and bellcote.
Appraisal
Built immediately west of Killaleigh Castle, a 17th century fortified house, the construction of the steward’s house involved the removal of part of the medieval bawn wall. Alterations to Sopwell Hall and the rebuilding of the outbuildings was carried out in the late 1860s, and the steward’s house is likely to have been built as part of this phase of work. An exceptionally long outbuilding is located to the northeast of the castle, part of which predates the later nineteenth-century phase of work. Both the outbuildings and the steward’s house are of the highest quality construction with fine stonework, and their location on an archaeological site is of added importance.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
The Tipperary Gentry. Volume 1. By William Hayes and Art Kavanagh. Published by Irish Family Names, c/o Eneclann, Unit 1, The Trinity Enterprise Centre, Pearse St, Dublin 2, 11 Emerald Cottages, Grand Canal St, Dublin 4 and Market Square, Bunclody, Co Wexford, Ireland. 2003.
Sadlier
p. 220. There appears to have been two separate families of Sadlier in Tipperary. Thomas Sadleir, a Colonel in Cromwell’s army was the ancestor of the Sadleirs of Sopwell Hall and Castletown in Tipperary. At various times in the 1650s Colonel Sadleir was governor of Wexford and of Galway. While he was in Galway he was given teh task of looking after the priests who were in prisons in Ireland. He received £100 from the government to move them to Inishboffin and build cabins there for them. The colonel was allotted land in Tipperary in lieu of his pay. He probably bought up debentures too. By the end of the 17th century he had over 5,000 acres of land.
His great grandson, Francis Sadleir of Sopwell Hall, had no son and he cut off the entail to the family lands, as he had no liking for his cousin Thomas of Castletown. When he died in 1797 his estes were divided between his two daughters.
This family was represented thereafter by the family of Castletown.
The other Sadleir family in Tipperary was descended from John Sadleir, an adventurer, who did not come to Ireland until the 1660s, when his lands had been secured under the Act of Settlement….
p. 221. Clement Sadleir was the third son of John Sadleir of Ballintemple, who was married to Grace the daughter of William Chadwick of Ballinard. They had seven sons but only three of them produced sons from whom descended the Sadleirs of more modern times. They were Clement of Shronell, Nicholas of golden Garden and Sadleirs Wells and Ricahrd of Holycross and Scalaheen.
Clement of Shronell had a son William who seems to have died in the early 1790s, and it was his son, Clement, who married Johanna Scully.
Apparently named after an English property, Sopwell in Hertfordshire, which was inherited by the Sadleir family. In 1655 a Cromwellian soldier, Colonel Thomas Sadleir, was granted Kinelagh Castle, county Tipperary, which he renamed Sopwell Hall. This property remained in Sadleir possession until it was inherited by Mary Sadleir who, in 1754, had married Frederick Trench of Woodlawn, county Galway, the parents of the 1st Lord Ashtown. The present house was built by Mary’s father, Francis Sadleir, in the mid 18th century. Wilson refers to it as the residence of Mr. Sadlier in 1786. Sopwell Hall was left to Francis Trench, brother of 1st Lord Ashtown, who was living at Sopwell Hall in 1814. In 1837 Lewis records the Trenches in possession and writes that “on the demesne are the ruins of the ancient castle formerly occupied by the Sadleir family”. The Ordnance Survey Name Books, in 1840, refer to Sopwell as “a spacious building, the residence of Stewart Trench”. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation the 2nd Lord Ashtown, son of Francis, was occupying the house, valued at £40 and held by him in fee. By 1906 Sopwell was valued at £80 and occupied by the Honourable Cosby G. Trench. The Trench family were still resident at Sopwell Hall in the 1970s. In 1840 the Ordnance Survey Name Books noted that Sopwell was one of the largest demesnes in the country.
Sopwell Hall, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Sopwell Hall, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Sopwell Hall, County Tipperary dates from c.1745 but the house was extensively remodelled in the second half of the 1860s and it was at that time that the first-floor landing was given its present appearance. Exceptionally wide, the space is generously lit by a circular glazed dome resting on a sequence of shallow arches. These are supported by what appear to be marble columns. In fact, the latter are only painted and one quirky detail is that the surface pattern of each column features a number of human profiles, said to represent members of the Trench family who were then owners of the property.
Sopwell Hall, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Sopwell Hall, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Kinelagh Castle, County Tipperary is likely to have begun as an O’Carroll tower houses built in the 15th century. In 1655 the land on which it stands was granted to an English solder, Colonel Thomas Sadleir who renamed the building Sopwell Hall after his family home in Hertfordshire. He doubled the size of the property by adding the section to the right, and also appears to have inserted at least some of the cut-stone windows and the corbelled corner turrets. The Sadleirs remained in residence until c.1745 when a smart new house, also called Sopwell Hall, was built a short distance away.
Killakee, Rathfarnham, Dublin by Robert French, Lawrence Collection, NLI, Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 169. (Massy, B/PB) A two storey stucco-faced Victoirain Italianate house of symmetrical aspect…now demolished.”
In Blake, Tarquin. Abandoned Mansions of Ireland II: More Portraits of Forgotten Stately Homes. Collins Press, Cork, 2012.
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
“A large two storey early 19C house with single storey granite portico. Attractive interior included one room with Chinese wallpaper. Former seat of the Massys. Demolished.”
Kenure House on auction day September 1964, Col. Palmers last day at Kenure before leaving for the last time, courtesy of Kenure Park facebook page.
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 163. “(Palmer, of Castle Lackin/PB1911; Fenwick-Palmer/LG1965) A large mic-C18 three storey house, grandly refaced 1842 to the design of George Papworth…Sold 1964 by Col R.G. Fenwick-Palmer, demolished except for the portico 1978.”
Kenure postcard from c1940/50. A great photo of the drive up to the main house and front lawns. Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.Kenure Park, County Dublin, entrance c. 1960 Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 60: “A large early to mid 18C house altered c. 1770 when the two large bowed drawing rooms were created. These rooms had magnificent rococo ceilings and carved doorcases, that on the ground floor having a superb Doric chimneypiece. The house was altered and enlarged again in 1842 for Roger Palmer Bart, to the design of George Papworth. Papworth refaced the house and added the granite Corinthian portico. He also created the entrance hall, the library and the central top-lit staircase hall. Teh hosue was sold in 1964 and became derelict before its demolition in 1978. Samples of the rococo ceilings were saved by the OPW. Only the portico remains.
Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.Kenure Park, County Dublin, photograph Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.
Paddy Rossmore. Photographs. Edited by Robert O’Byrne. The Lilliput Press, Dublin 7, 2019.
“The lands in this part of the country north of Dublin came into the possession of the Butler familiy in the early fourteenth century, bu tthe first house on this site was only built some four hundred years later by James Butler, second Duke of Ormonde. After the failed Jacobite Rising of 1715 and his voluntary exile to France, the duke’s lands were forfeited and subsequently purchased by Henry Echlin, a lawyer who was created a baronet in 1721. In the second half of the eighteenth century, Kenure came into the possession of the granddaughter Elizabeth, who had married Francis Palmer, originally from County Mayo. It was the third Palmer Bt, Sir William, who owned Kenure in 1827 when it was severly damaged by fire, and who some fifteen years later commissiioned architect George Papworth to refurbish the building. …The last of hte Palmer family to own the house sold the contents in a four day sale in Sept 1964 after which Kenure , acquired by the local authority, sat empty and a prey to vandals until demolished – other than the portico – in 1978.”
One of the final images of Kenure House intact around 1970. Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.
In Blake, Tarquin. Abandoned Mansions of Ireland II: More Portraits of Forgotten Stately Homes. Collins Press, Cork, 2012.
Kenure Park, County Dublin, photograph Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.The Kenure Grand staircase of marble, gold plate and mahogany, it disappeared before Dublin City Council announced demolition. Kenure Park, County Dublin, photograph Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.Kenure Park, County Dublin, photograph Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.Photograph and notes courtesy of facebook pagefor Kenure Park.The Grand staircase leading up to the second floor where you can see the doors to Sir Rogers Study and the Red drawing room or picture gallery as it was also known.Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.Kenure Park, County Dublin, photograph Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.Photograph and notes courtesy of facebook pagefor Kenure Park.Kenure Park, County Dublin, photograph Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.Photograph and notes courtesy of facebook pagefor Kenure Park.Photograph and notes courtesy of facebook pagefor Kenure Park.The Daly parlour located on the first floor at the front of the house was used mainly for hosting guests at Kenure. Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.Photograph and notes courtesy of facebook pagefor Kenure Park.Photograph and notes courtesy of facebook pagefor Kenure Park.Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.Photograph and notes courtesy of facebook pagefor Kenure Park.On the second floor to the back of the house attached to the master bedroom was one of the main dressing rooms seen here. Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.The magnificent stained glass ceiling and stunning rococo and palladian plasterwork in ruin after the lead from the roof was stolen.Courtesy Kenure Park facebook page.
THE PALMER BARONETS, OF CASTLE LACKIN, WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY MAYO, WITH 80,990 ACRES
THEY OWNED 3,991 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY DUBLIN
ROGER PALMER (alleged to have been the third son of Edward Palmer, of Nayton and Casterton, Norfolk) went over to Ireland and had a grant of Castle Lackin, and many other lands in County Mayo, in 1684. His signature appears to the address from the nobility and gentry of County Mayo to CHARLES II in 1682.
The Palmer family had come to Ireland in 1681 from Norfolk, and had acquired lands in County Mayo, where by the end of the 19th Century, they had amassed 80,000 acres.
THOMAS PALMER, of Castle Lackin, County Mayo, second son of Roger Palmer, of Palmerstown, in the same county, was succeeded by his eldest son,
ROGER PALMER (1729-90), MP for Jamestown, 1761-8, Portarlington, 1768-83, who was created a baronet in 1777, designated of Castle Lackin.
Sir Roger wedded Miss Andrews, and had issue,
JOHN ROGER, his successor; WILLIAM HENRY, succeeded his brother; Sophia.
He was succeeded by his elder son,
SIR JOHN ROGER PALMER, 2nd Baronet, who married Mary, only daughter of the Rev Thomas Althem, and was succeeded at his decease, in 1819, by his brother,
SIR WILLIAM HENRY PALMER, 3rd Baronet, of Castle Lackin, who espoused Alice, daughter of _____ Franklin, and had issue,
WILLIAM HENRY ROGER, his heir; Francis Roger; John Roger; Charlotte Alice; Augusta Sophia; Ellen Ambrosia.
Lady Eleanor Ambrose Palmer Born to Michael Ambrose of swords, a wealthy brewer, Ambrose spent her life campaigning and advocating for justice for her fellow catholic countrymen for crimes against humanity committed upon them by the English Crown.Photograph and notes courtesy of facebook pagefor Kenure Park.
Sir William died in 1840, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
SIR WILLIAM HENRY ROGER PALMER, 4th Baronet (1802-69), who married and was succeeded by his only son,
Ellen Mary Palmer was the daughter of the 4th Palmer Baronet. She was known to be ahead of her time as she would participate in many male only or dominated sports and pastimes including horse racing and the hunt. Photograph and notes courtesy of facebook pagefor Kenure Park.
Col. Roderick George Fenwick Palmer seen here at the front of Kenure, known simply as Roddy, was the last Palmer to occupy Kenure Park. Photograph courtesy of Kenure Park Facebook page.Lady Palmer the last Lady of Kenure was married to the last palmer baronet, Sir Roger Palmer. Photograph and notes courtesy of facebook page for Kenure Park.
The Palmers owned a number of seats, including Keenagh Lodge, Crossmolina, and the ruinous Castle Lackin in County Mayo; Cefn Park, near Wrexham, North Wales; Glenisland, Maidenhead, Berkshire.
Their principal Irish seat (through marriage) was Kenure Park, near Rush, County Dublin, where the estate comprised 3,991 acres.
Lieutenant-General Sir Roger Palmer, 5th and last Baronet, MP for Mayo, 1857-65, was Ellen Palmer’s only brother.
He resided at Kenure with his wife, Gertrude Millicent, until his death in 1910.
Lady Palmer survived her husband for many years. She continued to spend much of her time in Kenure (above) until her death in 1929.
There are people in Rush who still remember the parties held in the house for the children of the town.
Sir Roger and Lady Palmer left no heirs, and the property devolved to Colonel Roderick Henry Fenwick-Palmer, who had fought in the 1st World War, and still bore the marks of shrapnel wounds to his face.
He had property of his own in Wrexham, North Wales, and only came to Kenure in the summer.
A plain man, he was not given to living the high life, apart from dining occasionally with friends, such as the late Lord Revelstoke.
He spent a lot of money trying to keep the house in repair.
He was finally defeated by rising costs on a property which was not making money.
Part of the estate had already been sold years before.
He eventually sold Kenure to the Irish Land Commission, in 1964, for £70.000.
Most of the land was divided up among local farmers.
The remainder was sold to Dublin County Council for housing and playing fields.
The woodland was cleared and all that now remains of the trees, which once dominated the skyline, is a small area around the main gate.
The front gate lodge is now the local Scouts’ Den.
The gate lodge at Skerries Road belongs to Rush Cricket Club, which has beautifully refurbished it.
The Gate-Keeper’s Lodge, the walled garden, the Steward’s Lodge, the pond and shady avenues, have all gone the way of the big house itself. Only the portico remains, a stark remainder of what once was there.
The contents of the house were auctioned in September 1964, the auction lasted four days and realised £250,000, which would be over £1,000,000 in present day values.
Socially, Kenure had been a place apart from the ordinary life of the town, but it had been there for hundreds of years, an essential part of the Rush scene.
The general feeling was one of regret and disbelief that it was disintegrating.
As landlords, the Palmers had not been the worst.
However, there had been some evictions, and one action, which is still adversely remembered, was the removal of some of their tenants from their ancient holdings in order to lengthen the main avenue and have the main entrance gate near the town.
Nevertheless the Palmers were in many ways beneficent to Rush.
They gave land for the Catholic and Protestant churches, for a presbytery and for a teacher’s residence.
In 1896, when the Catholic church was being refurbished, they donated the seating for the nave, and a brass memorial tablet in the church testifies to this.
A portion of the estate was allocated to the local cricket club, and it was certainly the most beautifully situated cricket pitch in north County Dublin.
Dublin County Council was left with an empty mansion, for which they could find no buyer.
The house continued to deteriorate.
During this time it was rented to a film company and a few films were made there, including “Ten Little Indians,” “Rocket to the Moon,” and “The Fall of Fu Manchu.”
In 1978, after a series of incidents in which the house was vandalized and set on fire, with the inevitable water damage that resulted from the fire engines having to put out the blaze, the house was in a very dangerous condition structurally.
The County Council decided it had no choice but to demolish the house.
Within a few days, all that was left of this once great house was a mountain of rubble, from which the massive portico arose, forlorn and lonely against the sky.
Rush is a coastal town lying some 15 miles north of central Dublin. Following the Anglo-Norman settlement in the late 12th century, much of the land in this area fell under the control of the Butler family, although the latter’s main base was further south in what are now Counties Kilkenny and Tipperary. As a result, during the medieval period the property was leased to a succession of tenants. In the mid-17th century, the estate was owned by James, the 12th Earl of Ormond and future first Duke of Ormond and according to the Civil Survey of 1654, the property was then occupied by one Robert Walsh. Estimated to extend to 300 acres, and valued at £120, the estate consisted of ‘one Mansion House of stone & one slated house of Office, a Barne & Stable slated, one thatcht Barne two other houses of office thatcht, six tenements, five cabbins part of an old castle Valued by ye Jury at five hundred poundes, a garden plott, one young orchard with some young trees set for ornament, a ruined Chappell of Ease, one horse mill now out of use & one decayed Pigeon House.’ Subsequently, a branch of the Hamilton family held the estate: within the walls of the ruined St. Catherine’s church is a tomb remembering ‘the affable, obliging, exemplary, wise, devout, most charitable, most virtuous and religious, the RT. Hon George Lord Hamilton, Baron of Strabane’ who died there in 1668. However, the Rush property was once more in the possession of the Butlers until 1715 when the second Duke of Ormond’s was attainded after he had fled to France and given his support to the Jacobite cause. The estate was then acquired by Henry Echlin whose great-grandfather Robert Echlin had moved from Scotland to Ireland where he was appointed Bishop of Down and Connor in 1612. A judge and ardent bibliophile, Henry Echlin was created a baronet in 1721 and on his death four years later, the title and estate in Rush passed to his grandson, Sir Robert Echlin. The latter’s wife Elizabeth (née Bellingham) continued the family’s engagement with books, being a writer and friend of Samuel Richardson (she is remembered for having penned an alternative, less shocking, end for Clarissa). Like George Hamilton before him, Sir Robert, who died in 1757, is buried in the now-ruined St Catherine’s church, his tomb reading ‘Here lies a man without pretence, Blessed with plain reason and common sense, Calmly he looked on either life and here Saw nothing to regret or there to fear. From nature’s temperate feast rose satisfied Thanked Heaven that he lived, and that he died.’ Readers familiar with the works of Alexander Pope will recognised that the first two lines are a variant of those written by the poet for his On Mrs Corbet, who died of a Cancer in her Breast, while the other four come from Pope’s epitaph to Elijah Fenton.
Sir Robert Echlin had no direct male heir and so the Rush estate and baronetcy passed to his nephew, Sir Henry Echlin who appears to have been something of a wastrel and who dissipated the greater part of his inheritance before dying suddenly in 1799. Long before then, gambling debts had cost him the Rush estate which in 1780 was bought by his cousin Elizabeth. A daughter of Sir Robert, she had been left a mere shilling by her father who disapproved of what he deemed Elizabeth’s unsuitable marriage to Francis Palmer of Castle Lacken, County Mayo (for more on the Palmers and Castle Lacken, see https://theirishaesthete.com/2022/09/12/castle-lacken). Thus the estate passed into the hands of the Palmers who chose to rename the place Kenure Park (from the Irish Ceann Iubhair, meaning the Headland of the Yew Trees), by which it has been known ever since. Francis and Elizabeth Palmer’s son, Roger, on his death in 1811 bequeathed ‘May Money’ to the area. According to the terms of his will, £2,500 was to be laid out in Ireland ‘in proper securities at 6% p.a. compound interest, and I desire that the interest be employed every succeeding year, in the month of May, for the purpose of giving a marriage gift to ten women. Never married, between the ages of twenty & thirty-two years, at the rate of £10 each.’ Furthermore, ‘They must be from the poorest & born upon any part of my estate in the County of Dublin, but women born in the environs of the town of Rush, within two miles of my estate be preferred.’ Seemingly this fund still exists, although now dormant. Meanwhile, successive generations of Palmers lived on the estate until the death without a direct male heir of Lt. General Sir Roger Palmer, fifth baronet, in 1910. Kenure Park then passed to Colonel Roderick Henry Fenwick-Palmer who retained the property until 1964 when, unable to maintain it any longer, he sold the place to the Irish Land Commission for £75,500. Most of the land was divided between local farmers, with the rest acquired by Dublin County Council for housing and playing fields.
A succession of houses were constructed on what eventually became known as the Kenure estate. The scant remains of what is thought to be a late-medieval tower house lie to the north of the later Palmer residence, and this may have been the ‘Mansion House of stone’ mentioned in the Civil Survey of 1654. In any case, that building was succeeded by another, constructed either during the time of the dukes of Ormond or else soon after the estate came into the hands of the Echlins. A description of this house survives, since it was visited in June 1783 by the antiquary Austin Cooper who noted that ‘About half a mile from the (Roman Catholic) Chapel is Rush House, once the seat of the Echlin family, and which now belongs to a Mr. Palmer. It is a large quadrangular building in the old style, terminated by a hewn parapet ornamented with urns. In the front is a small pediment supported by four Tuscan pillars, which evidently appears to be a modern addition. The situation of it is low, but the view of the sea agreeable. The improvements about it are very neat and kept in good order.’ This late 17th/early 18th century house appears to have remained intact until the outbreak of fire in 1827 but the damage cannot have been too serious since photographs show both the bow-ended drawing room and the room above it had elaborate rococo ceilings in the style of Robert West. In 1842-44 extensive work was carried out on the building to the designs of George Papworth, the exterior refaced in stucco in the manner of a Nash London terrace and a tremendous pedimented Corinthian portico of granite added to the facade. Inside, the entrance hall was given engaged Doric columns and walls covered in yellow scagliola. Beyond this rose a top-lit Imperial staircase with ornate wrought-iron scrolled balustrading, further Doric columns on the ground floor and Ionic pilasters above. All survived until 1964 when the house was sold and a four-day auction held to dispose of the contents, which realised a total of some £250,000. Contemporary reports noted that a pair of Buhl cabinets went for just £120, while a Chinese Chippendale display cabinet, sold to a London dealer, made £6,800, seemingly the highest price yet paid for a single piece of furniture at auction in Ireland. Today these figures seem absurdly low. To give a couple of examples: in June 2008, that same Chinese Chippendale cabinet was sold at auction by Christie’s for more than £2.7 million. And in October 2006, two mid-18th century chairs attributed to the London cabinet makers William and Richard Gomm and once part of a set of five in Kenure Park, sold for US$408,000. Meanwhile, an undignified fate awaited the house itself, which was left standing empty by the county council, subject to the inevitable decay and equally inevitable assault by vandals who eventually managed to set fire to the place. Finally, after 14 years of neglect, the authority sought tenders for Kenure Park’s demolition, although after local petitioning, Papworth’s great portico was left standing, a melancholic reminder of what had been lost. As a headline in the Irish Times noted in September 1978, it took ‘Two Days to Demolish the Work of Centuries…’
After Monday’s post about the melancholy fate of Kenure Park, County Dublin, here are the other remains of the estate: two gate lodges. The first of these, close to the centre of Rush town and erected around the mid-19th century, stands inside curved quadrant walls of wrought iron concluding in granite piers with vermiculated bands and concluding in spherical finials, this work. believed to date from c1740. The lodge itself, of single storey and three bays with a pedimented central breakfront, appears to be currently unused and suffers from having the render stripped from its exterior. The second lodge, which lies to the north of the now-demolished house, is again of single storey and three bays with a central pedimented breakfront. Thought to date from c.1830, the building retains its render which features boldly vermiculated quoins. In this case, however, the gate piers are in a much poorer state of repair.
Johnstown Kennedy, County Dublin, drawing room ceiling 1986, photograph: William Gardner. Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 161. “(Kennedy, Bt/PB) A three storey late Georgian house with a three bay front and a five bay irregular fenestrated side, incorporating a mid-C18 house with rococo plasterwork. Later enclosed porch.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 60. A plain three storey house built in 1758 for Edward Kennedy, much altered and added to c. 183-40. Very fine rococo ceilings in drawing room and staircase. Derelict.
Irish Historic Houses 