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. 8. “(Lucas/IFR) An attractive two storey five bay weather-slated late-Georgian house. Camberheaded windows; pedimented and fanlighted doorcase.”
Detached five-bay two-storey house, built c.1810, having seven-bay single-storey lean-to addition to rear (west) elevation. Hipped slate roof having rendered chimneystack, eave course and cast-iron rainwater goods. Slate hanging to front and side (west) elevations with rendered plinth band, rendered walls elsewhere. Camber-headed window openings with tooled limestone sills to front elevation, having one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows. Square-headed window openings with tooled limestone sills elsewhere, having one-over-one, two-over-two, six-over-six, eight-over-eight and nine-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows. Round-headed door opening within timber doorcase, comprising fluted pilasters on tooled limestone plinths, having panelled reveals surmounted by open-bedded pediment. Timber panelled door with glazed panels and brass door furniture surmounted by fanlight, having tooled limestone stepped approach and threshold. Three- and two-bay single-storey outbuildings located to north. Pitched slate and corrugated-iron roofs. White-washed rubble stone walls. Square-headed window openings with remains of timber sliding sash windows. Square-headed door opening having timber battened door. Camber-headed door opening having exposed ship’s timber lintel and double-leaf timber battened doors. Remains of rubble limestone walled garden to north with square-headed openings associated with beekeeping. Red brick gate piers with moulded red brick corners, caps and single-leaf cast-iron pedestrian gate. Rubble limestone enclosing walls having square-profile gate piers and double-leaf cast-iron gates.
This substantial house survives largely intact, retained numerous historic features including sash windows, slate hanging and a fine doorcase. Set back from the road, together with its accompanying outbuildings and former walled garden, it forms a noteworthy feature in the landscape on the outskirts of Kinsale.
Ardavilling, Cloyne, Co Cork – burned 2017, rebuilt
Ardavilling, County Cork, courtesy of National Inventory.
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.
“Litton/LGI1912; Beckford, sub Nutting, Bt/PB) A mildly Tudor-Revival C19 house, gabled and with a mullioned bow. The seat of the Litton family; in the present century, of the Stacpoole famly. Owned for some years after WWII by Lt-Col and Mrs F.J. Beckford.”
[The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Frank Keohane. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.
p. 36. “Cork-born William Atkins was an early disciple of Pugin, designing in 1845 what is perhaps the earliest Irish church in the Puginian idiom, at Mount Jerome Cemetery in Dublin: ‘Middle Pointe’ with lower aisles and a pronounced chancel, a tall clerestory on arcades of octagonal columns and an open timber roof. In Cork City, Atkins continued to espouse Pugin’s principles with his work at Our Lady’s Asylum and the Convent of St Maries of the Isle, begun in 1847 and 1850 respectively…. During the 1860s William Atkins also adopted C13 French Gothic forms and a wilful Ruskinian palette, in his churches at East Ferry, Leighmoney, and Rooska (Sheep’s Head.). [He also designed Velvetstown (Buttevant) and Ardavillig (Cloyne).]
p. 45. Few significant country houses were built during the latter half of the C19. Most are of small to middling size, often with minimal Tudor or Italian trim. Unpretentious Italianate is found as Lissard (1854-5) near Skibbereen, Farran (1866) and Ballyvolane (1872) near Castlelyons. The finest of these Italianate houses is Montenotte House in Cork, with its double height top-lit cortile in the manner of Barry’s clubs in London. Lewis Villamy designed Lisselane (1851-3) near Clonakilty in a loose French-chateau idiom. Gothic houses are much rarer; exceptions include Dunboy (1866-70) near Castletownbere, a virtuoso Tudor Gothic house wiht mullioned-and-transomed windows mingled with Continental motifs in an assured and robust composition.
p. 46. With its Scots Baronial stepped gables and corbelled tourelles, Blarney Castle House (1871-5) by the Belfast architect John Lanyon, is unique in Cork. The influence of Ruskin in both detailing and materials can be seen in a number of houses designed by William Atkins: Velvetstown, Ardavilling, and Parknamore. Lettercollum (1872) near Timoleague, by William H. Hill, and Thorncliffe (1865) at Monkstown, by Thomas N. Deane, are in a similar vein. After the 1880s major houses are rare, but there are good late C19 Jacobean interiors at Fota and Lota Lodge (Glanmire).
The Edwardian Domestic Revival or Free Style, which favoured picturesque forms in brick and terracotta with gables, tall chimneys, tile-hanging, and mullioned and leaded windows, is generally confined to lodges, as at Castletownsend and Castle Mary (Cloyne), and to suburban houses in Cork city. Ashlin’s Clonmeen House (Banteer) is a rare country-house example. The Pavilion at Fitzgerald’s Park, Cork, is also Free Style and incorporates some Art Nouveau decorative elements. The last great country house to be built in Cork is Hollybrook Hall near Skibbereen, in a Free Style employing classical and rustic elements, with a wonderfully eclectic range of interiors. The garden buildings by Harold Peto at Ilnacullin were designed in a similar spirit.”
P. 338. Built in the 1870s for Judge John Litton, most likely to the design of William Atkins. Irregular one and a half storey house with dormered upper windows, many gables, and a lower service wing to the north. The porch has diagonal limestone buttresses and a doorway wiht a polychromatic outer arch and a trefoil-headed inner arch, its tympanum left uncarved. Windows with limestone mullions and transoms, big bay windows to the principal rooms. Gutted by fire in 2017, the house has recently been restored.
Ardavilling Cloyne. Associated names Litton; Beckford, sub Nutting. 19th century, the seat of the Litton family. The first registered owners were the Littons thought to have come from Littondale in Yorkshire, moving to Dublin in 1660. Thomas Litton (1657-1741) and his wife Gertrude Verdoen. Their son Thomas Litton and his wife Hannah Leland] were the next in line. One of their 12 children was Edward Litton served in the American War of Independence. He was wounded in the battle of Bunkers Hill in 1775. After returning he married Esther Letablere on the 23 June 1783 in St Anne’s cathedral, the Granddaughter and heiress to the rich family history of Rene de la Donesque who was lord of the Manor of Letablere in Lower Poitou an ancient family in France. They were a Huguenot family who left France in 1685 and at the age of 22 Rene served in the military in Holland and was involved in the Battle of Boyne after that he settled in Dublin. His son was Daniel Letablere that was Dean of Tuan. He was directly involved in the silk industry in Ireland. The 4th son, John Litton (1792-1877) inherited Ardavilling. He married Vescina Hamilton of co. Donegal. He gave the first water supply to the village of Cloyne. John died in Ardavilling at the age of 85 and had no male children. He left the property to his nephew - Edward Falconer Litton (1827-1890) who was educated at TCD were he studied law. He was called to the bar in 1847 and made a QC in 1874. He served in Cork and Wicklow circuit. He was also elected Liberal MP of Tyrone in 1880/1 and was Judge of the Supreme Court in 1890. 20th century seat of a branch of the Stacpoole family. Owned for a while by Lt.Col F J Beckford after WW2.
Detached four-bay two-storey country house, built c. 1860, having buttressed gabled breakfront, canted flat-roofed cut limestone bay window and gabled half-dormer windows to front (south) elevation, gabled breakfront, gabled dormer windows and cut limestone bay window to west elevation, gabled breakfront, gable and gabled dormer window to east elevation, gables to rear (north) elevation and lower two-bay two-storey return to east side of north elevation with lean-to extension to west elevation of return, flat-roofed single-bay single-storey extension to east side of rear elevation with water tank to roof, and flat-roofed single-bay single-storey porch extension to rear elevation. Pitched slate roofs with fish scale pattern slates, with paired square-profile red brick chimneystacks with string courses, decorative timber bargeboards and cast-iron rainwater goods. Rendered walls with cut limestone plinth course, chamfered cut limestone pilaster buttresses to breakfront to front elevation, rubble stone walls to water tank extension. Square-headed window openings throughout, single, paired and in threes, with chamfered cut limestone surrounds and sills to front, east and west elevations, and with timber sliding sash windows having one-over-one pane, paired four-over-four pane to first floor rear elevation and two-over-two panes to rear porch, and with steel casement window to water tank extension. Pointed arch carved limestone door surround with impost course, recessed archivolts, trefoil arched spandrel and square-headed door opening with timber panelled door. Square-headed door opening to interior porch having half-glazed timber panelled door with plain overlight. Square-headed openings to rear elevation with timber battened doors.
Appraisal
Number of porches, gables, and bay windows typical of Victorian architecture, as are steeply pitched roofs and decorative bargeboards. Retention of timber sash windows adding depth and texture to facades. Narrow windows and highly decorative front entrance with recessed archivolts and corner buttresses in cut limestone gives ecclesiastical tone. Demonstrative of highly skilled stonemasonry. Contextualised by, and forms interesting group with outbuildings, gate lodge, and gates. Built for the Litton Family.
Ardamine, Gorey, Co Wexford – Destroyed by IRA in 1921
Ardamine, Gorey, County Wexford, photograph by Robert French, Lawrence Photographic Collection, National Library of Ireland.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 7. “Richards/LGI1912) An early to mid-C19 house of two storeys over basement, consisting of two contiguous blocks one slightly higher than the other. Eaved roofs on bracket cornices; wide projecting porch, partly open, with Doric columns, party enclosed, with pilasters. Single storey curved bow. Giant corner pilasters on both blocks. Balustraded area.”
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. 4. “A square two storey house of 1797, five bay front, fanlighted tripartite doorway with Composite columns; four bay side. Balustraded roof. Very delicate plasterwork in the style of Patrick Osborne in the hall. Later plasterwork in other rooms. In later C19, a residence of the Sweetman family.”
Annaghs Castle, Co Kilkenny courtesy National Inventory.
Detached five-bay (four-bay deep) two-storey over basement country house with dormer attic, built 1797-1801, on a rectangular plan; six-bay two-storey rear (south) elevation. Burnt, 1867. Vacant, 1901. Leased, 1911. Sold, 1962. Reroofed, —-, producing present composition. Replacement Mansard slate roof behind parapet with paired granite ashlar chimney stacks on axis with ridge having “Cyma Recta”- or “Cyma Reversa”-detailed stringcourses below capping supporting terracotta pots, and concealed rainwater goods. Granite ashlar walls on moulded cushion course on granite ashlar base with dentilated “Cyma Recta”- or “Cyma Reversa”-detailed cornice on blind frieze on entablature below balustraded parapet. Segmental-headed central door opening in tripartite arrangement approached by flight of four cut-granite steps supporting cast-iron bootscrapers, doorcase with three quarter-engaged Composite columns on plinths supporting dentilated “Cyma Recta”- or “Cyma Reversa”-detailed cornice on rosette-detailed frieze framing timber panelled double doors having sidelights below fanlight. Square-headed window openings to front (north) elevation with cut-granite sill course (ground floor) or cut-granite sills (first floor), and cut-granite lintels framing one-over-one (ground floor) or two-over-two (first floor) timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings (remainder) with cut-granite sills, and cut-granite lintels framing three-over-six (basement), one-over-one (ground floor) or two-over-two (first floor) timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): central hall retaining carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors, and plasterwork cornice to ceiling; and carved timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers. Set in landscaped grounds with rendered piers to perimeter having pyramidal capping supporting wrought iron double gates.
Appraisal
A country house representing an important component of the domestic built heritage of County Kilkenny with the architectural value of the composition, one erected for Edward Murphy (b. 1747) ‘[who] has made a residence which ornaments the country [with] three sides faced with Portland stone [sic]’ (Tighe 1802, 588), confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on scenic vistas overlooking the broad River Barrow with the medieval Annaghs Castle [SMR KK041-014001-] as a picturesque eye-catcher in the foreground; the compact rectilinear plan form centred on a Classically-detailed doorcase showing a simplified “peacock tail” fanlight; the construction in a silver-grey granite demonstrating good quality workmanship; the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression; and the balustraded roof: meanwhile, aspects of the composition clearly illustrate the near-total reconstruction of the country house to designs by Charles Geoghegan (1820-1908) of Great Brunswick Street [Pearse Street], Dublin (Dublin Builder 1st January 1866, 12). 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 where contemporary joinery; chimneypieces; and decorative plasterwork enrichments recalling the work of Patrick Osborne (fl. 1760s-1770s); all highlight the artistic potential of the composition. Furthermore, adjacent outbuildings (—-); and the remnants of a walled garden (—-), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of an estate having historic connections with Walter Sweetman JP MRIA (1798-1882) ‘late of Mountjoy-square Dublin and Castle Annagh [sic] County Wexford [sic]’ (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1882, 726); and James Edward Nugent (1831-1922) of Donore House in County Westmeath (NA 1901; NA 1911).
Annaghs Castle, Co Kilkenny courtesy National Inventory.Annaghs Castle, Co Kilkenny courtesy National Inventory.Annaghs Castle, Co Kilkenny courtesy National Inventory.
ALL THE big bidders were farmers when a country estate valued at €16 million just a year ago was sold yesterday for €6.075 million – a 75 per cent drop from the original asking price.
The 550-acre Castle Annaghs estate in south Co Kilkenny was bought at public auction by Liam Sheily, a west Cork dairy farmer.
Bidders flocked to the sale at the Mount Brandon Hotel in New Ross, after the owner reduced the guide price by €8.5 million to an “advised minimum value” of just €7.5 million. However that figure was not reached.
Auctioneer Anne Carton, of the firm PN O’Gorman, interrupted the auction twice to consult the seller by telephone.
She later confirmed that “all the bidders were Irish farmers which is great for the land market and proves that there’s still a future in farming”.
Ms Carton described the estate as “a magnificent 10,000sq ft Georgian house on 550 acres of top quality agricultural land with two miles of river Barrow frontage and the ruins of a 16th century castle.” The new owner will also inherit a milk quota of 174,000 gallons.
The sale price includes a three-bedroom gate lodge, a three-bedroom steward’s house and a four-bedroom grooms’ house.
Speaking to The Irish Times immediately after the sale, the successful bidder Mr Sheily said “it was a big price for it”.
A Tipperary farmer had opened the bidding with an offer of €3 million and the price crept up during a grindingly slow sale.
The estate was sold by Catanga, a Lichtenstein-registered company owned by a wealthy German family, the Jebens, who live in Hamburg.
They bought the property for £60,000 in 1962.
The estate was initially up for sale by tender in spring last year with a price tag of €16 million.
Annaghs Castle; Ruins. Medieval tower house on the banks of the River Barrow. Samuel Grubb (1645-1696), son of John Grubb and Mary Towers, who married Rebecca Thrasher, daughter of William Thrasher lived at Annaghs Castle. Patrick Garvey had a descendant named John Garvey who moved to Annaghs Castle, Co. Kilkenny in about 1730. Legend has it that the site of Annaghs Castle was where Strongbow married Eva McMurrough in the first days of the Norman invasion).
This website also has:
Annaghs House rebuilt in the mid nineteenth century to designs by Charles Geoghegan(1820-1908) following a fire in 1867: superseding a medieval Butler castle the house represents the continuation of a long-standing occupation of the grounds.
And
Castle Annaghs Estate, Georgian house, a Gate Lodge, Stewards House, Grooms House and a historic 16th century tower, believed to be where Strongbow, the second Earl of Pembroke, wed Aoife, is located two miles south of New Ross and its boundary is defined on two sides by the River Barrow. The property is also linked to the Wexford rebel, Fr John Murphy, who stayed there the night before the Battle of Ross in 1798. In 2007 An Bord Pleanala refused planning permission for a multi-million Euro development, comprising of a hotel, 83 apartments, an 18 hole golf course, a nursing home and 63 houses.
The sale of Castle Annaghs Estate, Co Kilkenny, for the second time in 12 months could prove the proverbial ill wind for the lucky buyer.
Since the sale, by tender of the 550ac estate with Georgian residence, fell through, a massive €8.5m has been knocked off its advised minimum value.
The selling agents, PN O’Gorman Auctioneers are now quoting a guide of €7.5m ahead of the May 29 auction.
Castle Annaghs Estate, believed to be where Strongbow, the second Earl of Pembroke, wed Aoife, is located two miles south of New Ross and its boundary is defined on two sides by the River Barrow. The sale includes the magnificent residence (around 10,000sqft), a 165,000ga quota, stable yard, milking parlour, cattle sheds and silage layouts, gate lodge, steward’s house, groom’s house and the historic 16th century tower.
The property is also linked to the Wexford rebel, Fr John Murphy, who stayed there the night before the Battle of Ross in 1798.
The highly productive fertile Clonroche soil has the capacity to sustain high farm productivity under grassland or tillage management. This includes drained marshland that has been fully integrated into the farm. Most of its 450ac of grassland has been reseeded in the past five years and all fields have a water supply. Currently, there are also around 60ac of maize and a further 30ac of barley for whole crop cereal silage.
Facilities include a 20-unit Alpha/Laval parlour with milk meters and cluster removers (installed in 1996) and a new 16,000 Alpha Milk Tank. There is cubicle housing for 250 cows, including replacements and slatted sheds with the capacity for 150 cattle. Additionally, a calving facility with six boxes and a 35-cow maternity ward, housing for up to 200 calves, a large silage layout all with concrete floors and a slurry storage capacity that meets current national regulation requirements are also included.
The Annaghs Farm has a milk quota of 750,955 litres (165,187ga). The dairy herd of 165 cows is based on commercial British Friesian cows with an average annual yield of just over 5220 litres (1150ga). The herd breeding programme has introduced about 30pc Holstein.
Arch Hall, County Meath, courtesy Colin Colleran photographer facebook page.
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. 7. “(Garnett/LGI1912) A three storey early C18 house attributed, as is the arch in the garden, to Sir Edward Lovett Pearce. Curved bow in centre of front, doorway with pediment and blocking; curved ends, with round-headed windows. Top storey treated as an attic. In the C19, the house was given a high-pitched roof on a bracket cornice, the curved ends being given conical roofs, so that they looked like the round towers of a French chateau. Also in C19, the windows in the attic storey were replaced by rather strange Romanesque windows in pairs. Now a ruin.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p. 113. “A very interesting early 18C house attributed to Sir Edward Lovett Pearce. The house is in fact a smaller version of Wardtown, County Donegal. The top floor was altered during the first half of the 19C. In 1814 the seat of J. N. Payne Garnett. Now a ruin.”
A large early Georgian house. Three-storey, nine-bay
entrance front with cylindrical turret surviving. Incl.
Outbuildings
Casey, Christine and Alistair Rowan. The Buildings of Ireland: North Leinster. Penguin Books, London, 1993.
p. 109. “The fragmentary shell of a large early Georgian house whose design has been attributed to Sir Edward Lovett Pearce. All that survives is a three-storey, nine bay entrance front with cylindrical turret-like bows at each end and a broader three-bay semicircular bow at the centre of the façade. Thoroughly reworked in the c19, the façade, formerly of brick, is now drably rendered in cement. It has curious paired Romanesque windows and Italianate sills to the attic storey. Thus an early Georgian castle idiom was here transformed into a hybrid Victorian chateau; conical slated roofs added to the end bows completed the Chambord effect.
“The destruction of Arch Hall is unfortunate as it was one of a small group of Irish buildings – Wardtown in Co Donegal (also now in ruins) is another – which may be considered as descendants of Vanbrugh’s castle style and his geometrical designs, making rare use of bow windows and circular rooms at an early date. Behind the façade the house is only one room deep, built over a brick-vaulted basement. The hall, originally a large space with curved ends, was flanked by a reception room on each side. The room to the r. maintains its original dimensions of roughly 18 ft (5.5m) square. Throughout the fabric, fragments of plaster panels cling to the brickwork, and in one of the corner towers a shallow saucer dome is ornamented with plaster coffering and egg-and-dart mouldings.”
Arch Hall, County Meath, the house shown above, is a tantalising mystery. Who was the architect? When was it built? And for whom? Answers to all these questions, and others, have been proposed and while convincing they cannot be absolutely verified. Today what remains of Arch Hall stands on flat ground in the middle of open fields, and the greater part of the ornamental park with which it was once surrounded has been lost. A painting from 1854 by the Yorkshire-born artist James Walsham Baldock depicts the wife of Arch Hall’s then-owner Samuel Garnett and the couple’s two young sons on horseback with the house visible behind. Evidently at the time it was surrounded by a belt of mature trees but most of these have now gone leaving the building isolated and even more exposed to the elements than would otherwise be the case. At some date obviously it was abandoned and left to fall into ruin but – another question – when?
Arch Hall appears to derive its name from the rustic arch lying some distance to the south of the house and serving as point of access to the original avenue. Placed on an axis and intended to offer an unexpected vista of the property, the arch is composed of a single broad entrance with pinnacle above and flanking buttresses. From this point Arch Hall looks like a very substantial building, but the impression is deceptive because despite rising three storeys over basement the house was only one room deep. Its most striking feature is the nine-bay facade which on either side concludes in cylindrical bows and is centred on a larger, three-bay semi-circular bow. This has a handsome stone pedimented Gibbsian doorcase but the rest of the building was constructed of locally-produced red brick. At some – also unknown – date in the 19th century, the exterior was covered in cement render marked out to imitate cut stone. Presumably at the same time the topmost storey windows were paired in Romanesque style and Italianate sills added, while the end bows were capped with conical roofs presumably in an effort to make the place resemble a French château. Inside the front door was a large hall with curved ends and reception rooms on either side, each measuring some five and a half metres square. These in turn gave access to small circular rooms in the front corners. Despite long exposure, the two end rooms retain traces of their decorative plasterwork, that on the western flank somehow still having a shallow saucer dome with plaster coffering and egg-and-dart moulding. Almost all the rear of the house has been lost, as well as part of the front wall, making Arch Hall’s long-term survival unlikely.
For a number of reasons the design of Arch Hall is usually ascribed to Sir Edward Lovett Pearce. Believed to have been born at some date in the late 1690s in County Meath, Pearce was the son of an English general and an Irish mother (her father was Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1676-77). Most importantly for his son’s future career, General Edward Pearce’s first cousin was Sir John Vanbrugh. The latter appears to have had an influence on the young architect, if only stylistically, but Pearce’s work in Ireland was also shaped by time spent in mainland Europe in 1723-24 during which he studied Palladio’s buildings in the Veneto. Thus while essentially a classicist, he sometimes liked to feature elements of the baroque. Such is the case with Arch Hall if indeed it was designed by Pearce. Another Irish house, alas now also a ruin, with which it has strong similarities is Wardtown Castle, County Donegal. Built for John Folliott, Wardtown is deeper than Arch Hall but, as Maurice Craig noted in 1996, it shares ‘the Vanbrughian feature of cylindrical towers and semi-circular projections.’ In fact the design of the two houses is so alike, the inevitable conclusion is that either they were by the same hand or one was a copy of the other.
So when was Arch Hall built, and for whom? Sir Edward Lovett Pearce died in 1733 so if he were the house’s architect, work on its construction would most likely have begun before that date. At the time, the townland of which it is part, Newtown-Clongill was owned part-owned by the Payne or Pain(e) family: a deed of 1714 records the transfer of 510 acres in the area from John Raphson to William Paine. In 1737 his granddaughter Anne Paine married Benjamin Woodward of Drumbarrow, near Kells, County Meath. Her settlement included the town and lands of Clongill and Newtown-Clongill. Somehow by the early 19thcentury the property had transferred into the ownership of another local family, the Garnetts who were associated with a number of houses in the county, not least Williamstown and Summerseat. The first of them to live at Arch Hall was John Pain Garnett, second son of Samuel Garnett of Summerseat. John Pain Garnett’s middle name would imply some kind of connection with the previous residents but there appears to be none: the Garnetts tended to marry cousins, or else members of the Rothwell and Wade families. Arch Hall was subsequently inherited by John Pain’s son, another Samuel Garnett who in 1841 married Marianne Tandy: it is she and the couple’s two sons who appear in the 1854 painting by James Walsham Baldock. Burke’s 1871 Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland list the family as still in residence, but at some date thereafter they must have left and the place began its slide into dereliction. But when and why was Arch Hall permitted this most untriumphant end? So many unanswered questions…
The rustic arch flanked by obelisks to the south of the house on the original avenue provided the name of the house. The arch contains a decorated stone from Neolitic times. Other follies included two bridges over a narrow canal that is diverted from the Yellow River. There was a large lake to the south-west of the house. With a lodge at the entrance gates there was a walled garden and extensive outbuildings.
A local story says that there were two Chilean pine trees planted, one each side of the arch to celebrate the birth of two boys to the Gilliat family. Captain Glennie Gilliat died of wounds in October 1914 while his brother, Captain Reginald Gilliat was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle in April 1915.
Arch Hall is associated with the Payne and Garnett families. The lands at Newtown-Clongill were in the hands of the Payne family from the time of the Cromwellian confiscations. William Paine acquired a lease of 510 acres at Arch Hall in 1714. William had two sons, Lawrence and John. Anne, daughter of John Paine, married Benjamin Woodward of Drumbarrow in 1737.
The house was probably constructed in the 1730s and designed by Edward Lovett Pearce. Arch Hall is one of a small group of Irish buildings in Vanbrugh’s castle style making use of bows and circular rooms at an early date.
In 1835 John Payne Garnett retained the townland of Arch Hall in his hands and had most of the townland under pasture, raising sheep and black cattle. Mr. Garnett’s house was described as a beautiful old-style residence with a fine garden and offices, an artificial pond with a number of islands on which ducks and widgeon feed. On the western boundary was a beautiful decoy. The well-wooded demesne comprised about 350 statute acres. Garnett also kept the townland of Fletecherstown in his hands raising sheep and cattle. The sheep were mostly of the Galway breed and the cattle chiefly the long-horned Irish breed. John Payne Garnett was High Sheriff of Meath in 1821.
John Paine Garnett died 1846 and was succeeded by his son, Samuel. Samuel Garnett of Arch Hall married Mary Anne Tandy in 1841. In 1845 Samuel Garnett, Esq., J. P., was a member of a company promoting the construction of a railway from the south of Ireland to the north, from Limerick to Clones. In the 1850s Samuel Garnett held lands at Arch Hall, Fletcherstown, Oristown and Clongill. Samuel was High Sheriff of Meath in 1858. In 1876 Samuel Garnett of Arch Hall owned 1,336 acres in county Meath. Samuel’s son, John, married Edith Singleton of Aclare but died in 1872 leaving an only son, John, born in 1866, who succeeded to the estates of his grand-father in the 1880s. A Justice of the Peace John died unmarried in 1894.
The property then came into the hands of the Gilliat family who were involved in banking in London and trade in Liverpool. In the 1901 and 1911 censuses Edith Gilliat and her daughter, Constance, resided at the house with their servants.
Arch Hall, the property of the late Mrs. Gilliat, was burned in April 1923. The house was unoccupied at the time. Before it was destroyed, one of the rooms was reputed to be made entirely in gold, from the paint on the walls to the furniture and picture frames. All that survives today is the facade and some remains of the front rooms. Mulligan described it as a “romantic decaying shell.”
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. 7. “A 2 storey mid-C19 Italianate house with Romaneque overtones. Modillion cornice; porch at end of house with Romanesque columns. Ballroom with Corinthian columns at one side. Formerly the home of the Kearney family. Now a hotel.”
Arbutus Lodge Montenotte, Cork. Mid 19th century Italianate house with Romanesque overtones. Charles J. Cantillon, Mayor of Cork in 1865, extended the house in the 1860s. Later occupants of the house included Sir Daniel and Lady Ellen O’Sullivan, who were the great-grandparents of the actress Mia Farrow, and the Dwyer family who owned the Sunbeam Wolsey textile plant in the city. Formerly the home of the Kearney family, former restaurant and hotel. It was a fine dining restaurant that was awarded one Michelin star in the periods 1974-1983, 1987 and 1988. The Ryan family bought the estate Arbutus Lodge in 1961 and converted it into a hotel and restaurant. In 1971 the complex was opened. The restaurant quickly gained a reputation as one of the best restaurants in Ireland, which was confirmed by the international Michelin star. In 1999 they sold the hotel to the Carmody Group. Carmody’s bankruptcy in 2002 also marked the definitive end of the 3-star hotel. The building was partially demolished and converted into apartments after 2005 and is no longer recognisable as a former hotel or restaurant. The Carmody family have given the historic property a fresh new look, tastefully restoring it and highlighting its many unique and magnificent features.Arbutus Lodge Montenotte, Cork. Mid 19th century Italianate house with Romanesque overtones. Charles J. Cantillon, Mayor of Cork in 1865, extended the house in the 1860s. Later occupants of the house included Sir Daniel and Lady Ellen O’Sullivan, who were the great-grandparents of the actress Mia Farrow, and the Dwyer family who owned the Sunbeam Wolsey textile plant in the city. Formerly the home of the Kearney family, former restaurant and hotel. It was a fine dining restaurant that was awarded one Michelin star in the periods 1974-1983, 1987 and 1988. The Ryan family bought the estate Arbutus Lodge in 1961 and converted it into a hotel and restaurant. In 1971 the complex was opened. The restaurant quickly gained a reputation as one of the best restaurants in Ireland, which was confirmed by the international Michelin star. In 1999 they sold the hotel to the Carmody Group. Carmody’s bankruptcy in 2002 also marked the definitive end of the 3-star hotel. The building was partially demolished and converted into apartments after 2005 and is no longer recognisable as a former hotel or restaurant. The Carmody family have given the historic property a fresh new look, tastefully restoring it and highlighting its many unique and magnificent features.
Annesbrook, County Meath, courtesy Irish Aesthete.
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. 5. “(Smith/LGI1912) A two storey three bay Georgian house with ground floor windows set under relieving arches and a large rusticated and fanlighted doorway; to which an impressive pedimented portico of four fluted Ionic columns and a single-storey wing containing a charming Georgian-Gothic “banqueting room” were added early in C19 by Henry Smith. According to the story, he made these additions in 1821, for when George IV came over to dine with him while staying with Lady Conyngham at Slane Castle; the monarch, however, never saw the banqueting room, preferring to dine out of doors.”
Annesbrook, County Meath photograph courtesy Irish Times Feb 20, 2016.
Not in national inventory
Record of Protected Structures:
Annesbrook House, townland: Deenes. Town: Duleek.
A small handsome early 19thC house of three-bays and two
storeys, to which was added an ionic portico perhaps by
Annesbrook is an 18th century house located outside Duleek, Co. Meath and is an integral part of the Meath built and living heritage. It is approached via a long avenue and is set in woodland in the rolling Meath countryside.
The front of the house has the Georgian rooms and portico which were added when the prince regent, later to become George IV, paid a visit in 1816. It was designed by Francis Johnston the architect for GPO on O’Connell Street and many other landmark buildings in Dublin. The front Georgian section hides a much older and modest farmhouse behind. It is estimated there has been a house on the site since the 15th century.
Over the past number of years ambitious restoration projects have been undertaken. The banqueting hall and portico have been restored, other projects are being undertaken to restore Annesbrook to it’s full grandure. The restoration has been funded by the family, The Irish Georgian Society, The Heritage Council, Meath County Council and Meath Partnership.
The historical setting provides an atmospheric backdrop to an intimate and exclusive gathering, an ideal venue for weddings, private parties, meetings, concerts, theatre, lectures and pop-up dinners. We can offer you the opportunity to design your own event in a magical and unique setting.
Kate Sweetman was a founding member of the highly acclaimed Hidden Ireland group. She successfully operated Annesbrook as a guest house for over twenty years providing hospitality to countless visitors from Ireland and abroad. She comes from a family with a deep interest of the built and living heritage and is sister of David Sweetman, former Chief Archaeologist of Ireland.
As a family we have a profound interest and knowledge of Meath, its landscape, history and traditions. Members of the family have in-depth expertise of the history, heritage, folklore and landscape of Meath. We also have strong professional and personal networks within the culinary, photography, arts, performing arts and environmental communities within Ireland.
The splendid house offers all sorts of possibilities as a setting for your special event.
From the magnificent entrance hall with its feature curved staircase through to the diningroom, which seats 30, and onwards to the Gothic Banqueting Hall which seat 60 comfortably. French doors open out from the Banqueting Hall which make it ideal for extending the space with a marquee.
Set amidst manicured lawns and surrounded by rolling pastureland, the grounds at Annesbrook will add privacy and serenity to your event. As well as providing a beautiful backdrop for the photographs!
The entrance to Annesbrook, County Meath. The design of the main house with its towering Ionic portico and gothick dining chamber in the north wing is sometimes attributed to Francis Johnston (see When Royalty Comes to Call, October 12th 2015). Perhaps he was also responsible for this building which might also have been constructed in anticipation of a visit by George IV in 1821. With the character of a miniature castle, it holds just two rooms, a kitchen/living area on one side of the arch and a sleeping chamber on the other.
Today the visit of George IV to Ireland in 1821 is primarily remembered because it is believed to have led to the road between Dublin and Slane, County Meath being made as straight as possible. But the event was noteworthy for other reasons, not least due to the fact this was the first time a reigning English monarch had arrived in the country without bellicose intentions (as had last been the case when James II and his son-in-law fought here for control of the British throne, with the latter victorious at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690). The original arrangement would have had George IV land south of the capital at Dunleary, from whence he would set out to make a formal entry into the city. However following the death of his estranged wife Caroline of Brunswick just days before the visit was due to begin, it was felt expedient a more low-key approach be taken to the king’s arrival. Accordingly the royal party landed on August 12th 1821 at Howth harbour where the fifty-nine year old monarch made an immediate impression on the waiting crowd by displaying symptoms of being, to use modern parlance, tired and emotional after the rigours of his passage across the Irish Sea. (Incidentally, his footprints, memorialised by a local stonemason, can still be seen on Howth’s west pier). He flung himself into the throng, shaking hands with anyone within reach before being put into a carriage that set off for the Phoenix Park and the Viceregal Lodge. On arrival there, the king again abandoned protocol by insisting the park gates be thrown open and, in descending from his carriage, making an impromptu speech during which he declared, ‘rank, station and honour are nothing: to feel that I live in the hearts of my Irish subjects, is to me the most exalted happiness.’ No wonder one commentator observed that he was behaving not as a sovereign but ‘like a popular candidate come down upon an electioneering trip.’
Despite national woes due to the economic downturn following the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, and indeed owing to the consequences of the 1800 Act of Union, George IV’s visit had been keenly anticipated. It helped that he had expressed a wish everyone he met during his time in Ireland should be wearing locally-produced clothing, thereby giving a boost to trade. In addition, he asked that Lord Forbes, son of the Roman Catholic Earl of Granard, be one of his aides-de-camp for the duration of the visit, and he arranged to act as witness for the installation of the Earl of Fingall as the first Catholic member of the Order of St. Patrick. For his own official entry into Dublin – this was after a period of recovery in the Viceregal Lodge – he wore the order’s ribbon over a full military uniform, shamrock on his hat and on his breast a rosette ‘more than twice the size of a military cockade’: no wonder comparisons were made with election candidates. The formal procession of some 200 carriages began by making its way down Sackville (now O’Connell Street) accessed via temporary gates for which keys were handed to the king by the Herald, Athlone Pursuivant. Progress was slow due to the crowds, and this set the tone for subsequent events, all of which attracted enormous and consistently enthusiastic attendance. The welcome he received in Ireland was in striking contrast to his unpopularity in England, and more than once he noted the difference between the ‘triumph of Dublin’ and the ‘horrors of London’ where he was often booed in the streets. Up to the day of departure, on 5th September and from Dunleary which was then renamed Kingstown in his honour, the numbers following his course never diminished and the visit concluded with Daniel O’Connell – Ireland’s so-called Liberator – kneeling before the monarch and proferring a laurel wreath
For members of Ireland’s aristocracy, George IV’s visit was especially significant since it appeared to offer them an opportunity to entertain their monarch. Still today there are a number of State Bedrooms created in 1821 in expectation of a royal guest. The best-known of these is in Castle Coole, County Fermanagh but another can be found in Loughton, County Offaly (in recent years this has been home to Minister for Children and Youth Affairs James Reilly but it is now on the market). Alas the hopes of many prospective hosts were dashed, because while the king did make a few excursions out of Dublin – notably to Powerscourt, County Wicklow where by lingering over luncheon he avoided being swept away by the waterfall, damned in anticipation of his arrival, which burst through its barricades and swept away the viewing platform – outside Dublin he stayed for several nights in one place only: Slane Castle, County Meath. For those unfamiliar with the tale, herein lies the explanation for the fast straight road from the capital: Slane was the home of George IV’s mistress, the Marchioness Conyngham, and her accommodating husband. Neither the king nor his inamorata were in the first flush of youth, and both were equally corpulent. These circumstances however did nothing to dampen their ardour. As was written of them at the time, ‘Tis pleasant at seasons to see how they sit/ First cracking their nuts, and then cracking their wit/ Then quaffing their claret – then mingling their lips/ Or tickling the fat about each other’s hips.’ And according to one contemporary observer, Lady Conyngham ‘lived exclusively with him during the whole time he was in Ireland at the Phoenix Park. When he went to Slane, she received him dressed out as for a drawing-room; he saluted her, and they then retired alone to her apartments.’ Hence those other State Bedrooms going abegging…
One house that did receive a royal visit was Annesbrook, County Meath – presumably because its location was not too off the route to Slane. Annesbrook is a relatively modest country residence which may have begun as a farm house before being extended westwards in either the late 18th or early 19th century. The front of the building is of two storeys and three bays, the emphatic arch of the centre groundfloor entrance echoed in the shallow relieving window arches to either side. Inside, the hall is divided by a screen of Corinthian columns, the stairs snaking upward inside a bow to the north. That might have been the limit of the house had not its owner in 1821, one Henry Smith, decide to improve the property in anticipation of the king coming to call. Thus he aggrandised the facade by the addition of an enormous limestone portico comprising four Ionic-capped columns beneath a pediment that soars above Annesbrook’s shallow hipped roof. Then to the north of the main block he constructed a single storey, four bay extension in which to entertain the king to lunch. While the exterior of this is plain, the interior, accessed via a antechamber off the dining room, is a riot of gothick decoration, a late flowering of the 18th century style prior to the advent of historical accuracy. Whether on the ceiling, walls or even the marble chimneypiece, Annesbrook’s gothick is as much rococo as mediaeval, with an overlay of classical symmetry. The room is a playful frolic, the plasterwork treated like icing sugar ornamentation, an opportunity to demonstrate the unknown stuccodore’s ingenuity and skill. It was always intended as a backdrop for entertainments and that remains the case: the house’s present owner has worked to preserve the room as best as resources allow, and to this end has received assistance from a variety of agencies including the Irish Georgian Society. While sections of the ceiling still require attention, more than sufficient has already been secured for the remaining work to be undertaken once requisite funds become available. Visitors to Annesbrook today can admire Henry Smith’s enterprise, perhaps more than did George IV: seemingly on the day of his visit to the house, the sun shone and the royal guest chose to dine outdoors. Ironically he never even saw the room built to entertain him.
Annesbrook house is approximately two miles from Duleek on the Ashbourne Road but may be best viewed from the Balrath road. The house has a beautiful view over the River Nanny and the surrounding countryside. On the Ashbourne Road there is a stone gateway, known locally as ‘The Pockets’ with a kitchen on one side and a bedroom on the other side of the arch. In 1838 it was described as a ‘modern spacious gateway.’ The two storey house dates to the late eighteenth century with a portico and dining hall being added for a visit by the king in 1821. The portico may have been designed by the noted architect, Francis Johnson.
Annesbrook is sometimes known as Loughanmore and was the seat of Mr. Hamilton in 1766. Thomas Hamilton of Strabane married Anne Rouse of Oberstown, Co. Meath in 1752. When Thomas died in 1792 their son, Rev. William Slicer, Hamilton inherited Annesbrook.
Henry Jeremiah Smith of Beybeg House married Margaret Osborne of Dardistown Castle in 1802 and they acquired Annesbrook and were in residence when George IV paid a visit in 1821. When George IV paid a royal visit to Ireland in 1821, cynics said that he was coming to Ireland to visit his mistress, Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness Conyngham of Slane. The king received invitations from the major landowners and nobility in Ireland and yet he chose to visit Annesbrook. The ionic portico was erected for the royal visit as was the gothic banqueting room with a splendid plasterwork ceiling. George suffered from diarrhoea during the visit and did not enter the banqueting room. As the additions were erected in a hurry the foundations were not adequate and the room sank. In 1842 William M. Thackeray visited the area and is said to have been most impressed by Annesbrook, being pretty and neatly ordered.
Henry had nine sons. His fourth son, St. George W. Smith, lived at Duleek House. A number of the brothers served in the British army. Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Augustus Smith saw action in the Crimean War. For his bravery at Tauranga, on the 21st of June 1864 during the Maori Wars in New Zealand he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He died at Duleek in 1887. A memorial plaque to him, which was in the church in Duleek, was moved to the church in the Ulster
In the 1870s Mrs. Smith wrote a number of novels, one of which featured members of the family and their neighbours. In 1876 Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen H. Smith, of Annesbrook, Duleek, held 981 acres in County Meath. His brother, Michael Edward, succeeded in 1892. Michael, born 1814, had served with the British Army in Jamacia, India and Australia. He died aged 88, in 1903. After Michael’s death the properties went to his nephew, Fitz Henry Augustus Smith. Fitzhenry Smith of Annesbrook died in 1930, aged 70 and was buried in Duleek.
In 1920s the McKeever family took up residence at Annesbrook and the property was sold to the Allens in the 1960s. It then passed through various owners. In recent years the Irish Georgian Society grant aided part of the work of the restoration of the plasterwork in the banqueting hall which had been damaged by water.
Annerville, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert French, Lawrence Photographic Collection, National Library of Ireland.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 5. “(Riall/LGI1958) A two storey Victorian house with a roof carried on a bracket cornice; entrance front with a two storey porch between two single storey three sided balustraded bows; and in the upper storey, two Venetian windows.”
Anner Ville was the home of Pierce A. Butler in 1814 but by 1837 was in Riall possession. The Ordnance Survey Name Books describe it as “handsomely situated, having a garden, orchard and ornamental ground attached”. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation Samuel Riall held the house valued at £23.14 shillings from Barclay Clibburn junior. Anner Ville continued to be a Riall residence in the 1870s and is still a fine home.
Anner Castle (formerly Ballinahy), Clonmel, Co Tipperary
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.
Anner Castle, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert French, Lawrence Photographic Collection, National Library of Ireland.
p. 5. “[Mandeville/IFR] An impressive C19 castle of random ashlar, built in 1860s by Rev. N.H. Mandeville to the design of a Cork architect, William Atkins; incorporating an old square castle of the Mandeville family which had up to then been known as Ballinahy, but which was renamed Anner Castle after being enlarged and transformed. Impressive entrance front with two octagonal battlemented and machicolated towers. Burnt 1926 and only front part rebuilt.”
Detached irregular-plan multi-period limestone-walled country house. Comprises early nineteenth-century house remodelled c. 1860 in castle style to give overall quadrangle, with original block at south, square-plan three-stage towers to north-west and south-west angles with two-bay recessed blocks between, octagonal three-stage towers to east side flanking and projecting to front of two-storey central entrance block, latter having crenellated arcade added to front. Crenellated battlements with machicolations. Roughly dressed stone walls having ashlar quoins and with carved string courses to eaves. Shouldered Tudor arch recess to first floor of entrance block with ashlar stone voussoirs, with decorative machicolation above having moulded corbels. Square-headed openings throughout with timber casement windows to towers. Timber mullioned and transomed windows to north and south elevations, between towers, with carved label mouldings having decorative stops. Blind arrow slits to towers. Tudor-arch openings to entrance façade consisting of windows flanking doorway with replacement timber panelled door. Arcade has three Tudor-arch openings. Cast-iron piers with double-leaf cast-iron gates to main entrance.
This house was built by Rev. N. H. Mandevile and designed by William Atkins. The castellated walls and symmetrical towers give the building an impressive and grandiose presence, enhanced by the finely carved details such as the heavy machicolations. The triple canted arch provides a decorative, central focus in light contrast to the imposing towers. The outbuildings continue the castle style theme in a more restrained manner.
Anner Castle, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Anner Castle, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Marked on the first Ordnance Survey map as Ballina House, this residence of the Reverend Nicholas Manderville was valued at £46+ and held by him in fee in the early 1850s. Bence Jones writes that Anner Castle was built in the 1860s “incorporating the old square castle of the Manderville family which had up till then been known as Ballinahy”. It was destroyed by fire in 1926 and only the front portion was rebuilt. The Mandervilles were still resident in the 20th century. This property was sold in 2013.
CONTACT: Michael Mandeville
ADDRESS: Ballinamore, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, Ireland
US tycoons splash millions on Irish stately homes before dollar tumbles
June 04 2013
By Mark Keenan
Americans spent more than €30m on Irish country mansions in the past 12 months and are likely to account for half of the big estate homes sold here this year, the Irish Independent can reveal.
Estate agents attribute the spree to the urgency among some in the American business community to get their money out of the States over fears that the dollar will fall against the euro.
This has combined with the positive perception of value for money for big Irish properties given that prices have fallen by 70pc since 2007, and strong indications that the country estates market is in recovery mode.
Among the wealthiest to have acquired a property here recently are American billionaire Jim Thompson, the Hong Hong-based global shipping and logistics mogul who runs Crown Worldwide Group.
He came to Ireland last year to research his family roots and ended up buying Woodhouse in Stradbally, Co Waterford, for which Savills was seeking €6.4m.
Mr Thompson’s genealogist found that his people were originally from the area and brought him the brochure details.
Harriet Grant of Savills said Americans dominate the country homes market ahead of all other nationalities, including the Irish themselves.
In a market where native buyers accounted for 80pc of sales in 2007, they now make up closer to only 10pc at the top end.
EXTRAVAGANT
Perhaps the biggest deal in the past six months was the sale of the Victorian Gothic Humewood Castle in Kiltegan, Co Wicklow, to US media and land billionaire John Malone through Sherry FitzGerald.
The extravagant property is believed to have sold for between €7m and €8m.
During the boom, the former home of international socialite Renate Coleman had sold for €25m.
Mr Malone, the chairman of Liberty Global and CEO of the Discovery Holding Company, told one interviewer that he bought the 15-bedroom period property on 427 acres because “it captured my wife’s fancy”.
Connecticut-born Mr Malone’s ancestors left Ireland for America in the early 19th Century. Today, their descendant owns more than two million acres in the US and is the country’s biggest private land owner.
The quest for Irish estates has also become highly competitive.
Charles Noell, the founder of Baltimore-based JMI Equity, was recently pipped to the €5m post at the Ganly Walters auction in January for the deeds of Dowth Hall in Co Meath, which was built in 1760.
Determined to secure an Irish property of note, Mr Noell recovered quickly to acquire the deeds of Ardbraccan, an 18th Century estate house in Co Meath that was sold this year by Savills for a similar amount.
Many wealthy American buyers have managed to remain anonymous in a number of €1m-plus purchases during the past 12 months.
The former home of Gilbert O’Sullivan, Ravenswood, a 6,500 sq ft mansion outside Bunclody, Co Wexford, which was sold last autumn through Colliers for €1.3m, was acquired by a US buyer, believed to be a Texas-based lawyer.
Anner Castle, on 131 acres in Co Tipperary, was also recently sold by Savills, and is believed to have been acquired by a New York-based businessman with links to the area.
Another American buyer with an Irish family connection scooped up Gurtalougha at Ballinderry, just outside Nenagh in Co Tipperary.
The former home of late billionaire John Paul Getty III was recently sold through Ganly Walters.
The property, with 100 acres facing Lough Derg, also changed hands at the end of last year for €1.53m.
David Ashmore of Sherry FitzGerald, who sold Humewood Castle, said: “There are only about 20 big country properties on the market in all of Ireland of the type that these buyers are looking for.”
Michael H Daniels, a specialist in big country homes in the south, said he is looking for a “truly majestic but recoverable ruin for restoration” on behalf of a wealthy US client who he declined to name.
He said there is far more to the Americans’ objectives than dew-eyed sentiment for the “old country or grandiose gestures to keep their wives happy with chocolate-box castles”.
“These people have made their fortunes in the first place because they are smart buyers who get in at the bottom, and that’s what they’re doing,” he said.
“While they might buy on a whim, they never acquire anything that doesn’t have that investment potential.
“They’ve been sitting on the fence for a number of years waiting for rock bottom in Ireland.
“Now that they’ve judged it to have been reached – that prices won’t get any lower – they’re all getting in at the same time.”
Mr Ashmore said: “Ireland’s country home prices are currently equivalent to that of south Kent or Devon in the UK.
“However, Ireland is the only English-speaking country in the eurozone judged to be a good base from which to do business and is ideally placed for easy air access to many other parts of the world.”
RESTORATION
Mr Ashmore has already received American interest for the former home of Charles J Haughey.
The Abbeville estate, on 250 acres in Kinsealy, Co Dublin, has been priced at €5.5m.
“Abbeville will need some restoration, but it’s easy to see why it’s in such demand,” he said.
“It’s got history and it’s an extremely private landed estate on the outskirts of the capital, just minutes away from Dublin airport.”
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. 4. “(Shackleton, B/PB) A Georgian mill-house by the side of the River Liffey, with a noted garden. The home of the Shackleton family, cousins of Sir Ernest Shackleton, the explorer.”
Anna Liffey House, Dublin, courtesy National Inventory.
Samuel Grubb (1645-1696), son of 
(1820-1908) following a fire in 1867: superseding a medieval Butler castle the house represents the continuation of a long-standing occupation of the grounds. 
believed to be where Strongbow, the second Earl of Pembroke, wed Aoife, is located two miles south of New Ross and its boundary is defined on two sides by the River Barrow. The property is also linked to the Wexford rebel, Fr John Murphy, who stayed there the night before the Battle of Ross in 1798. In 2007 An Bord Pleanala refused planning permission for a multi-million Euro development, comprising of a hotel, 83 apartments, an 18 hole golf course, a nursing home and 63 houses. 
Irish Historic Houses 