Clonbrock, County Galway, photograph courtesy of 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. 86. “(Dillon, Clonbrock, B/PB1926; Dillon-Mahon, sub Mahon, Bt/PB) A house of three storeys over basement built between 1780 and 1788 by Robert Dillon, afterwards 1st Lord Clonbrock, to the design of William Leeson, replacing the old castle of this branch of the Dillons which remained intact until 1807 when it was burnt owing to a bonfire lit to celebrate the birth of 2nd Baron’s son and heir. Seven bay entrance front with three bay pedimented breakfront; doorway with blocked engaged Tuscan columns and entablature. A single storey Doric portico by John Hampton was added ca 1824, while in 1855 3rd Baron added a single-storey two bay bow-ended wing to the right of the entrance front, which is balanced by a single-storey wing on the left hand side, though the two do not match. Good interior plasterwork of the 1780s, in the manner of Michael Stapleton. Classical medallions and husk ornament on the walls of the hall, at the inner end of which stood a splendid organ in a mahogany case surmounted by a baron’s coronet. Medallions and husk ornaments also on the walls of the staircase hall, which has an oval ceiling of particularly graceful plasterwork on fan pendentives; coloured salmon pink, brown, pale grey and white. Stone staircase wiht balustrade of brass uprights. Large drawing room with coved ceiling and modillion cornice in 1855 wing opening with double doors into a smaller drawing room in the main block, to form what is in effect one long room which, a few years ago, still had a delightful early Victorian character; with a grey watered silk wallpaper and curtains of cream and faded pink as background to the glitter of two crystal chandeliers and of the many gilt frames of the pictures and of the mirror over the fine statuary marble chimneypiece. When the room was being fitted up, 3rd Baron’s son, who at the time was a young diplomat in Vienna, wrote home to give instructions as to how the floor was to be laid, so that it might be suitable for dancing the latest waltzes. After the death of 5th and last Baron 1926, Clonbrock passed to his sister, Hon Ethel Dillon; it was subsequently made over to her nephew, Mr Luke Dillon-Mahon, who sold it 1976.”
Clonbrock, County Galway, 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.Clonbrock main staircase plasterwork, County Galway, photograph: William Garner c. 1975. 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.
Clonbrock, County Galway, courtesy of National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
Detached eight-bay three-storey over basement country house, built c.1790, now ruined, having square plan with three-bay pedimented breakfront, Doric entrance porch added c.1824, three-storey over basement single-bay extension with parapet roof and brick cornice to north-west, single-storey bow-ended wing to south-east added c.1855, and two-storey wing to north-west. Ruled and lined lime rendered façade. Porch, accessed by four stone steps, has carved stone entablature with triglyph and metope detail and moulded cornice with dentils above, supported on four fluted Doric columns. Remains of two pairs of rendered chimneystacks to centre of plan, brick chimneystack to north-west wing, moulded cornice at eaves, cast-iron rainwater goods. Square-headed window openings with tooled limestone sills and moulded shouldered limestone surrounds, remains of six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows to rear. Double-leaf timber entrance door with lancet-patterned fanlight above, fluted entablature and column and block limestone surround with patera motif. Set in own extensive grounds with two-storeyrendered outbuildings forming a courtyard to rear, one of which in use as private dwelling.
Appraisal
Clonbrock House was designed by William Leeson for Robert Dillon, the 3rd Baron Clonbrock, and constructed from 1780-1788 to replace the old castle which stood on the site. Unusually, it remained in the possession of the Dillon family for almost 200 years. Sold in 1976 when the last member of the Clonbrock family, Miss Ethel Dillon, moved out, the contents of the house were auctioned off. The National Library of Ireland acquired the estate papers in the auction, a valuable insight into the management of a large Irish country house. A fire blazed through the house in 1984, destroying the intricately detailed interior. Though now ruined, this imposing country house retains its sense of grandeur and the high level of design and craftsmanship is evident in the remaining fabric, such as the ornate entrance porch and the finely tooled stone window surrounds. It is an important part of the social and architectural heritage of the area.
Clonbrock, County Galway, courtesy of National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.Clonbrock, County Galway, courtesy of National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
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.
THE BARONS CLONBROCK WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY GALWAY, WITH 28,246 ACRES OF LAND
This family deduces its descent from a common progenitor with the Dillons, Earls of Roscommon, and the Dillons, Viscounts Dillon.
Sir James Dillon, brother of Sir Maurice, who was ancestor of the Viscount Dillon, was father of Sir Robert, who had two sons, Sir Richard, of Riverston, ancestor of the Earls of Roscommon; and Gerald, ancestor of the Barons Clonbrock.
This Gerald married Elizabeth, daughter of John, Baron Barry, and was ancestor of Thomas Dillon, of Clonbrock, County Galway, Chief Justice of Connaught, 1603; from whom was descended
ROBERT DILLON (c1704-46), MP for Dungarvan, 1728-46, who wedded Margaret, daughter of Morgan Magan, of Togherston House, County Westmeath, and was father of
LUKE DILLON, of Clonbrock, who wedded Bridget, daughter of John Kelly, of Castle Kelly, County Galway, and the Lady Honoria Burke, daughter of John, 9th Earl of Clanricarde, and had issue,
ROBERT, his heir; Luke; John; Honoria; Susanna.
The eldest son,
ROBERT DILLON (1754-95), MP for Lanesborough, 1776-90, was elevated to the peerage, in 1793, in the dignity of BARON CLONBROCK, of Clonbrock, County Galway.
His lordship married, in 1776, Letitia, only daughter and heir of John Greene, of Old Abbey, County Limerick, and niece, maternally, of John, Earl of Norbury, and had issue,
LUKE, his successor; Catherine Bridget; Letitia Susannah.
His lordship was succeeded by his son,
LUKE, 2nd Baron (1780-1826), who wedded, in 1803, Anastasia, only daughter and heir of Joseph Henry, 1st Baron Wallscourt, by the Lady Louisa Catherine Bermingham, his wife, third daughter and co-heir of Thomas, Earl of Louth, and had issue,
ROBERT, his successor; Louisa Harriet; Letitia.
The only son,
ROBERT, 3rd Baron (1807-93), espoused, in 1830, Caroline Elizabeth, daughter of Francis, 1st Baron Churchill, and had issue,
Luke Almeric, died in infancy; LUKE GERALD, his successor; Fanny Letitia; Caroline Anastasia.
His lordship was succeeded by his surviving son,
LUKE GERALD, 4th Baron (1834-1917), KP PC, who married, in 1866, Augusta Caroline, daughter of Edward, 2nd Baron Crofton, and had issue,
ROBERT EDWARD, his successor; Georgiana Caroline; Edith Augusta; Ethel Louisa.
His lordship was succeeded by his only son,
ROBERT EDWARD, 5th Baron (1869-1926), who died unmarried, when the title expired. CLONBROCK HOUSE, Ahascragh, County Galway, was built between 1780-88 by Robert Dillon, later 1st Baron Clonbrock. It comprised three storeys over a basement, and replaced a an older castle which was burnt in 1807 owing to a bonfire lit to celebrate the birth of his lordship’s son and heir, the 2nd Baron. Clonbrock had a seven-bay entrance front with a three-bay, pedimented breakfront.
A single-storey Doric portico was added about 1824. In 1855, the 3rd Baron added a single-storey, two-bay bow-ended wing to the right of the entrance front.
Following the death of the bachelor 5th Baron in 1926, Clonbrock passed to his sister, the Hon Ethel Louisa Dillon.
It was subsequently bequeathed to her nephew, Mr Luke Dillon-Mahon, who sold it in 1976. Clonbrock suffered a catastrophic fire in 1984 and is now ruinous.
First published in March, 2014. Clonbrock arms courtesy of European Heraldry.
One of my favorite houses featured in my first book is Clonbrock in Galway. While the house exists today in ruins, every so often a piece of furniture comes up for sale that evokes the grandeur of this house. The location of these items today is surprising, sometimes London and in this instance New York. In March 2014, a set of ten George III, Painted Dining Chairs came on the market having been supplied by Gillows of Lancaster in June, 1801 to Luke, 2nd Baron Clonbrock for his home, Clonbrock. These chairs together with the remaining contents of the house were sold in 1976. Clonbrock stood empty for a number of years until it burnt down in the 1980’s.
In 1976, the decision was taken to sell the contents of the house by Luke Dillon Mahon. Agents from Christies and Linseys were dispatched to evaluate every last item in the house and an extensive catalogue was produced which described the 1500 lots in great detail. The fateful day eventually came when two blue and white striped tents were erected on the lawn in front of the house and the drive and adjoining fields were alive with the hum of cars and lorries. Over 500 people attended the auction and packed the auctioneers tent, just to view the proceedings of the end of an era or to bid on some memento of the big house. All the lots were displayed throughout the house, the dining room table heaved with china and porcelain and the lengthily sideboard displayed large dinner plates and chargers. Some of the locals seen the sale as necessary and others a tragedy. Most people at the time seen no future for a house of this nature unless some foolish person was looking for a home with a lot of cold rooms and acres of leaky roof. The beginning of the auction was marked by a storm which was a metaphor for perilous state that a house like this had been reduced to in the 1970s. Luke Dillon Mahon said his abiding memories of Clonbrock would be the family members that lived there and the view from the drawing room window. The final decision to sell was determined by the harsh economic realities of the time together with the problem of the interior being too large for one person to manage and the exterior that would exhaust the abilities of numerous men. Luke Dillon in a 1976 interview described the house, as a problem and daily life living in it, as a struggle.
Clonbrock For sale by Helen Cassidy, Premier Propertie Ireland
Clonbrock House ( in ruins) is offered for sale with approx 20 acres of grounds with two-storey rendered outbuildings forming a courtyard to rear,
one of which in use as private dwelling, and a series of working stables with fenced riding arena.
SOLD
Clonbrock House was designed by William Leeson for Robert Dillon, the 3rd Baron Clonbrock, and constructed from 1780-1788 to replace the old castle which stood on the site.
It remained in the possession of the Dillon family for almost 200 years until it was sold in 1976.
A fire blazed through the house in 1984, destroying the intricately detailed interior.
Though now ruined, this impressive historic Irish Mansion stands proud, overlooking extensive verdant countryside.
The high level of design and craftsmanship is evident in the remaining fabric, such as the ornate entrance porch and the finely tooled stone window surrounds.
It is an important part of the social and architectural heritage of the area.
Clonbrock House ( in ruins) presents as a detached eight-bay three-storey over basement country house, built c.1790, with a square plan with three-bay pedimented breakfront, Doric entrance porch which was added c.1824, and a three-storey over basement single-bay extension with parapet roof and brick cornice to north-west, a single-storey bow-ended wing to south-east added c.1855, and two-storey wing to north-west.
Ruled and lined lime rendered façade. The Porch, accessed by four stone steps, has carved stone entablature with triglyph and metope detail and moulded cornice with dentils above, supported on four fluted Doric columns.
There are the remains of two pairs of rendered chimney stacks to centre of plan, brick chimney stack to north-west wing, moulded cornice at eaves and cast-iron rainwater goods.
Square-headed window openings with tooled limestone sills and moulded shouldered limestone surrounds, remains of six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows to rear.
Double-leaf timber entrance door with lancet-patterned fanlight above, fluted entablature and column and block limestone surround with patera motif.
The property is offered for sale with approx 25 acres of grounds with two-storey rendered outbuildings forming a courtyard to rear, one of which in use as private dwelling, and a series ofworking stables with fenced riding arena.
*******************
For Sale:
Clonbrock Castle, Gardener’s Villa, Cottages and Turret,
on approx 7 acres, at Ahascragh, County Galway.
Sold
The entire property available consists of;
Clonbrock Castle,
The largely restored 15th century O Kelly castle ,
assorted outbuildings including new greenhouse, garden sheds, etc.
Plus three additional ruined turrets, one very restorable. Assorted woodland walks. Frontage on the trout stream the river Bunowen.
Quiet, beautiful setting, by a river and gardens on the historic estate.
On about 7 acres of atmospheric private woodland, gardens and riverbank.
Lovely woodland walks. Fallow deer, red squirrels, pine martens, foxes – even very occasionally otters, – as well as ravens, herons and many other birds – may be seen.
The property has continually been offered on airbnb for exclusive holiday rentals and continues to be in constant demand.
Ardfry, Abbey, or House, Oranmore, Co Galway – ruin
Ardfry, County Galway, entrance front c. 1870. Copy photograph: David Davison. Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 9. “(Blake/IFR) A long, two storey house probably of ca. 1770 on a peninsula jutting out into Galway Bay where previously there had been a castle which, during the Civil War, Sir Richard Blake garrisoned in the service of Charles I. Principal front of nine bays with a central pediment and a higher, pyramidal-roofed pavilion at either end. On the front face of each pavilion is a two storey curved bow roof with a shallow half-dome. Hall with alcoves supported by pairs of columns edmbeeded in the wall. Dorothea Herbert and a cousin called here in 1784 during the celebrations for the wedding of Joseph Blake, afterwards the Lord Wallscourt, to a daughter of the Earl of Louth; when an unfortunate incident was caused by the cousin’s dog (to which he was in the habit of feeding “ripe peaches and apricots”) “dirtying the room and Lord Louth’s blindly stepping into it.” At the time of 3rd Lord Wallscourt’s marriage to the beautiful Bessie Lock 1822, the house had been empty for some years and was very dilapidated; at first they thought it was beyond repair, but then they decided to restore it; the work was completed by 1826. It was probably then that the house was given its few mild Gothic touches: a pointed entrance doorway with pinnacles beneath a quatrefoil window; battlements on the end pavilions; and a Gothic conservatory with stone piers. The rather strange four storey block at teh back of teh house which has hood mouldings over its small windows may either have been built, or re-faced, at this time. The 3rd Lord Wallscourt, a man of exceptional strength and often very violent, liked walking about the house naked; his wife persuaded him to carry a cowbell when he was in this state so as to warn the maidservant of his approach. In the early years of the present century, the 2nd wife of 4th Lord Wallscourt sold the lead off the roof to pay her gambling debts; so that the house gradually fell into ruin. It was recently re-roofed and re-windowed so as to be used for the film Macintosh Man; now, wiht the film-property roof a skeleton and the windows falling out, the house seems like the ghost of what it was in an earlier stage of its decay.”
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.
Ardfry House, County Galway, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Roofless remains of detached two-storey over basement double-pile country house, built c.1780, renovated c.1820, now roofless. Comprising central block having nine bays to front and six bays to rear, having two-bay two-storey towers of c.1820 terminating each end, projecting slightly to front of front pile and having two-bay two-storey bows to front elevations. Further single-bay three-storey block to north-east re-entrant corner. Towers have crenellated parapets with quatrefoils to centre, and decorative carved stone pinnacles to corners. Rendered chimneystacks. Rendered rubble limestone walls with limestone render string course to eaves and moulded render eaves and sill courses to towers. Square-headed chamfered window openings with stone sills. Label-mouldings to windows of four westmost bays of rear elevation, and moulded quatrefoil opening above front entrance. No frames survive. Upper windows to north elevation have moulded heads and upper jambs of medieval limestone work, that to tower having decorative vegetal detailing. Pointed arch door opening with carved limestone doorcase and flaning clustered columns, with ogee detail above having decorative pinnacle, and with moulded lintel to doorway proper. Remains of courtyard to rear, with pseudo-three-centred arched carriage opening with cut-stone voussoirs to north wall. Set outside Oranmore village on a peninsula jutting into Galway Bay.
Appraisal
Built in the late eighteenth century on the site of an earlier castle owned by the Blakes, Ardfry House has been much altered and added to during its life. The first documented restoration was completed in 1826 when some features were added in the then fashionable Gothic Revival style, including pinnacles, crenellations and the quatrefoil window above the entrance door. The house was residence to Lord Wallscourt, about whom it is said that liked to roam naked and was made to wear a cowbell by his wife to warn the maids of his approach. The house received another brief facelift during the early 1970s when it was re-roofed and refenestrated for use in the Paul Newman film, ‘The Mackintosh Man’. Now ruinous, it nonetheless creates an interesting eyecatcher in the landscape.
Ardfry House, County Galway, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
The building is a roofless shell. None of the original fabric remains other than the external walls. It is suffering from structural problems that could lead to full or partial collapse, and there is an immediate threat of further deterioration.
The house dates to circa 1770 and belonged to the Blake Family with later alterations. It adjoins the earlier medieval castle. The house has been in ruins since the mid 20th century. A development for works at this site was granted permission in 2004 by Galway County Council, however, this has not proceeded. The structure is of significant historic importance and requires conservation works to prevent further deterioration.
Recommended Use
Conservation
Featured in Mark Bence Jones, Life in an Irish Country House. Constable, London. 1996.
Now a ruin.
The land was garrisoned by Richard Blake in the service of Charles I. In about 1770 Joseph Blake built a new house here.
Archaeologist describes removal of stone from Gothic-style ruin Ardfry, once home to Irish literary revival figure Valentine Blake, as ‘wanton vandalism’
April 16, 2013 by Lorna Siggins.
“Galway County Council has issued the owners of a late 18th century Gothic-style mansion with an enforcement notice, following demolition of part of its ruined structure.
The local authority has ordered immediate cessation of any further “unauthorised” work at the listed building, which was once home of Irish literary revival figure Valentine Blake, and has directed the owners to consult with the county council heritage and conservation offices on remedial works.
It warns the owners, Kathleen and William Greaney of Cregboy, Claregalway, Co Galway, that they may be guilty of an offence if steps outlined by it are not taken.
The removal of stone from the two-storey ruin overlooking Galway Bay was witnessed by archaeologist Michael Gibbons who has described it as “wanton vandalism”. He reported it to the Office of Public Works, the local authority and Birdwatch Ireland. He has also contacted the Royal Irish Academy, urging it to place the destruction of monuments by “public and private bodies” on its agenda.
Ardfry was built in 1770 by Joseph Blake on whom was conferred the title of Lord Wallscourt. It was designed as a two-storey house with nine bays, a central pediment to the front and a raised roofed pavilion at either end. It was built on the site of an earlier medieval castle owned by the Blakes, one of the tribes of Galway.
It was renovated in 1826 and updated with some gothic features including a pointed entrance doorway with pinnacles, battlements on the end pavilions and a gothic conservatory with stone piers.
The home fell into ruin after the fourth earl’s second wife reputedly gambled away the family money. Architectural historian Tarquin Blake, author of Abandoned Mansions of Ireland and an associated website, says it had many eccentric owners, including one who was known to walk around naked
carrying a cowbell to “forewarn the maids”.
In 1950, the fourth earl’s three granddaughters reclaimed the house and 33 acres of the esstate, and lived in an outhouse close to the ruin. It was used as a set for the Paul Newman film, The Mackintosh Man, in the 1970s, when it was given a new roof and windows and then burned for the film’s purposes.
The land and property was valued at about £1.6 million (sterling) when put up for sale in 2001, and was listed for sale again several times.
The new owners were granted planning permission for holiday apartments, but this has expired.
The ruin, which is a nesting site for owls and is frequented by herons and egrets, is on a peninsula which is rich in archaeological sites, including one of the largest kitchen middens on Galway Bay.
Mr Gibbons says the house was almost certainly built on the medieval castle site, and describes the area as an “archaeological park”. An experimental oyster farm was established at Ardfry in 1902.
“The destruction highlights the lack of protection afforded to our architectural heritage – even on high-profile sites such as this with their rich literary and scientific background,” he says.
Irish landlords, that small band of men who once owned the greater part of the country, do not enjoy a good reputation here. Judged to have been rapacious and, still worse in the popular imagination, foreign, it cannot be denied that many of their number often put personal interest ahead of concern for the condition of tenants, with disastrous results following the onset of the potato blight in the mid-1840s. However, it would be wrong to tar all landlords with the same blackening brush, since there were a few of them who sought to improve circumstances on their property. Among this unusual group, none was more out of the ordinary than Joseph Henry Blake, third Lord Wallscourt, of Ardfry, County Galway. The Blakes were one of the Tribes of Galway, fourteen merchant families who dominated life in the western city from the 13th century onwards. They liked to claim descent from Ap-Lake, one of the knight’s of King Arthur’s round table, but in fact they were originally called Caddell, the first of them coming to Ireland in the 12th century with Strongbow: in the early 14th century Richard Caddell, Sheriff of Connacht in 1303, was known as Niger or Black, from which the name Blake evolved. Like others among the Galway Tribes, the Blakes soon began to acquire land in the surrounding area, a process that accelerated from the late 1500s onwards. Thus in May 1612 Robert Blake of Galway received a grant by letters patent from James I of Ballinacourt (later Wallscourt) and Ardfry, both in County Galway, as well as additional property in County Mayo. His eldest son Richard Blake, a lawyer by training, was knighted in 1624, served as Mayor of Galway 1627-28, and M.P. for the County of Galway in 1639 before becoming Speaker or Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Irish Confederation which sat at Kilkenny from 1647 to 1649. Although the Blakes subsequently lost their lands during the Cromwellian confiscations, they received them back after the Restoration and remained in possession thereafter, basing themselves at Ardfry which lies on the southern shores of Galway Bay.
Sir Richard Blake’s direct descendants died out in 1744 but a kinsman, Joseph Blake bought the estates from trustees and moved to Ardfry where around 1770 he built a house on the site of an old castle. The new property was long and low, at least nine bays wide and of two storeys over basement, with pyramidal pavilions at either end. Here in 1787 came the Hon Martha Herbert, wife of the rector of Cashel-on-Suir, County Tipperary, together with her daughter Dorothea (author of the celebrated Retrospections published a century after her death). On arrival they found ‘a large party of grandees’ whom Dorothea judged to be a ‘formidable set’ and were informed by their hostess that at Ardfry ‘they seldom or ever sat down to a meal with less than a hundred in family’, the latter term being used more loosely then than would now be the case. Hitherto the Blakes had remained Roman Catholic but Joseph’s son, Joseph Henry Blake conformed to established church and was thus able to stand for election to the Irish parliament, to which he was elected in 1790. He retained his seat until the Act of Union a decade later and having voted in favour of this legislation was rewarded with a peerage, becoming Baron Wallscourt of Ardfry. However, his marriage to an heiress, Lady Louisa Bermingham, daughter of the first Earl of Louth, did not produce a son and so it was arranged that the title would devolve by special remainder to one of his nephews. Thus following his death in 1803 at the age of 37, Joseph Blake, son of the first Baron’s younger brother, became second Lord Wallscourt. The latter in turn dying in 1816 aged 19, his cousin Joseph Henry Blake (son of another of the first Baron’s brothers) became third Lord Wallscourt.
Although he had grown up at Ardfry where his father served as land agent, the new Lord Wallscourt had not expected to inherit the estate. At the time of his cousin’s death he was just eighteen and serving as a lieutenant in the army which he had joined after leaving Eton three years earlier. It is often stated that on coming into the title he immediately indulged in reckless spending but one must wonder how much there was to squander: Dorothea Herbert’s observations indicate that the late 18th century Blakes were already living beyond their means, and around 1795 more than 1,500 acres of the original estate (including the townland of Wallscourt) was offered for sale, while another parcel of land was also put on the market. What remained was some 2,834 statute acres (the greater part of it at Ardfry) yielding a notional annual rental of £3,200, although this always depended on the ability and preparedness of tenants to pay what was expected. Lord Wallscourt had financial obligations to meet regardless of actual revenue: various family members and retainers were entitled to an income for the duration of their respective lifetimes to an annual total of £800, and there was a further £7,000 owing, mostly to relatives. Thus the young peer would have found he had little enough to fritter away, especially after 1820 when creditors had the estate placed in trust so as to maximise income and pay off all debts. Under the new arrangement Lord Wallscourt was permitted a yearly allowance of £500. Thankfully a couple of years later he married a 17-year old English heiress, Elizabeth Lock who was beautiful as well as rich and who would be painted by a family friend, Sir Thomas Lawrence in 1825: this portrait hung in Ardfry until the last century. That same year she and her husband, who had now regained control of his estate, came to look at Ardfry which had been sadly neglected and required extensive renovation. ‘The woods and the walks are certainly very pretty,’ Lady Wallscourt wrote to her mother, ‘and some of the trees very old and remind me of those poor dear old woods at Norbury, but the house is even in a worse state than I had expected, and you know I was not prepared to find grand chose. The building at a distance looks very well and is very handsome, but it seems to me impossible anything can be done to it. There is so much to do, repairing and building, to make it all inhabitable, that I am sure Wallscourt will not attempt it.’ Contrary to expectations, her husband did undertake the necessary work and by the end of the following year, after the building had been given some of the gothic flourishes it retains to this day, the couple moved in with their young children, the occasion marked by a ball given for the servants and tenants. At this event, after some initial hesitancy on the part of the guests, ‘the great decorum and silence gave place to the most violent noise and rioting as they grew merrier, and they danced incessantly to a piper till five. They had enormous suppers of a whole sheep and two or three rounds of beef, and all went home mad drunk with drinking Henry’s health in “the cratur”, as they call whisky.’ Lady Wallscourt soon retired upstairs and allowed the nurse in charge of the children to join the throng where she became ‘quite the life of the party…springing and capering about in a most ludicrous way.’
And now let us touch briefly on efforts by Lord Wallscourt to improve the circumstances of his tenants. When travelling about Europe as a young man and through meeting sundry liberal thinkers of the period, he had become impressed by ‘some of the theories, then much debated, for lifting the labourer into the position of a partner with the capitalist.’ Following his return to Ireland, in 1831 he was interested to hear how the County Clare landlord and founder of the Hibernian Philanthropic Society John Scott Vandeleur had invited Manchester-born journalist and proto-socialist Edward Thomas Craig to establish a co-operative community on his own estate at Ralahine. This was duly visited by Lord Wallscourt who found much to engage him and having sent his overseer to study the system in more detail he set aside 100 acres at Ardfry for his own socialist experiment. Even if begun on a smaller scale, the scheme fared better and lasted longer than that at Ralahine (which Vandeleur, who was addicted to gambling, managed to lose in a bet in 1833, after which he fled to America leaving his poor former tenants to fend for themselves against unmerciless creditors). Lord Wallscourt also embarked on other philanthropic enterprises seeking to establish both a national school and an agricultural school as well as sponsoring the education of a number of boys in England and even as far away as Switzerland. He sought to improve the living conditions of tenants, building a two-storey slate-roofed house built as a model to replace the existing thatched cabins of the area. However it proved impossible to find anyone prepared to move into the new property, tenants apparently explaining ‘it would be mighty cold, and my Lord would be expecting me to keep it too clean.’ Eventually after standing empty for five years, a newly-wed couple took the place, on the grounds that it was ‘better than nothing at all.’ During the terrible years of the famine, Lord Wallscourt worked to ensure the well-being of his own tenants, and those on other estates in the area. He sat on a number of relief committees and on the Galway Board of Guardians, where he was critical of the operation of the poor law system and of his fellow guardians, who, he said, seemed ‘little disposed to transact the business for the discharge of which they were elected’. In 1847 he actively associated himself for the first time with the campaign for tenant rights and employed the distinguished agriculturalist Thomas Skilling (later first Professor of Agriculture at Queen’s University, Galway) to create a new tillage project employing labourers and tenants at Ardfry. He even started to establish an agricultural college on the estate.
One suspects that Lord Wallscourt, however well-intentioned, did not tolerate opposition from his tenants or indeed from anyone else. Evidence for this was provided by his wife when she sought a divorce in 1846 ‘by reason of his cruelty and adultery,’ citing several instances when her husband had assaulted her. He was known to be a man of considerable strength and when young had been a keen boxer (more peculiarly he liked to walk about his house wearing no clothes: eventually Lady Wallscourt persuaded him carry a cowbell in his hand when nude so maidservants had notice of his imminent arrival). The couple suffered the loss of their two elder sons, and it was only during a brief rapprochement in late 1840 that an eventual heir was conceived. It may be that Lady Wallscourt did not care for her husband’s humanitarian enterprises. What, one wonders, must she have made for the welcome he gave to the 1848 Paris insurrection that led to the final overthrow of the French monarchy: he even presided at a celebratory public rally in Dublin. The following year he visited Paris with his young son and while there died after contracting cholera. His estranged wife now regained control, since the boy Erroll Augustus Blake was then aged only seven. The co-operative projects at Ardfry were abandoned and more familiar methods of estate management re-instated. On the other hand, upon reaching maturity the fourth Lord Wallscourt followed the parental example and undertook diverse improvements, most notably the establishment of an oyster fishery in Galway Bay which provided local employment. In other respects however, he could not be compared with his father, being so small in stature that he was known in the vicinity as ‘the lordeen’: Nationalist politician T.P. O’Connor later remembered meeting ‘a tiny little man, sad, deprecatory, almost timid in manner.’ This may have been because he was oppressed by money worries, especially after his second marriage. His new wife turned out to be a hopeless gambler: in the early years of the last century the lead was stripped from Ardfry’s roof to pay her debts and the contents – including that lovely portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence – sold. Nor did the Wallscourt peerage survive much longer: the fourth lord was succeeded in 1918 by his only son who died without children just two years later. And so we see Ardfry as it stands today, a shell of a monument to an abandoned social and agricultural experiment. Who knows what might yet have happened here had the third Lord Wallscourt not died in Paris in 1849, and what example it might have given to other landlords in Ireland. The shame is that his efforts to improve the lives of the country’s tenants are today so little known, and the estate on which he carried out his endeavours has been allowed to fall into such disrepair, the trees and hedges cut down, the walls tumbled, the outbuildings and estate cottages gone or, the the main house, little more than four walls. Dorothea Herbert called Ardfry ‘a beautiful place’ and Griffith’s Valuation of 1857 refers to a ‘beautiful and picturesque demesne, well planted with forest and ornamental timber.’ There’s little enough beauty here now.
For more information on the third Lord Wallscourt, I recommend John Cunningham’s truly excellent essay (to which I am much indebted) ‘Lord Wallscourt of Ardfry (1797-1849)’ in Vol. LVII (2005) of the Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society.
Ardrey House was built in 1770 by by Joseph Blake, who later gained the title of Lord Wallscourt. This title became synonymous with the house that has now fallen to ruins. The Wallscourts lived there until the second wife of the fourth Earl frittered away all the family money on gambling. She even sold the lead of every roof on the estate. The mansion was left empty and much of the contents stolen – a grand piano was later rescued from a barber’s shop. In 1922 the Walscourt title became extinct, but in 1950 the three granddaughters of the fourth Earl succeeded in legally reclaiming the house and 33 acres of the family estate. These three Blake sisters, known locally as the three gay mice lived in an outhouse close to the ruin. The family coat of arms, rescued from the ruin reads VIRTUS SOLA NOBILITAT, Virtue Alone Enobles.
Ardfry was designed as a two-storey house with nine bays, a central pediment to the front and a raised roofed pavilion at either end. It was renovated in 1826 and updated with some gothic features including a pointed entrance doorway with pinnacles, battlements on the end pavilions and a gothic conservatory with stone piers.
Ardfry (which means The Height of the Heather) has had a colourful past, thanks to many of its eccentric owners, one of whom was known to walk around the house naked carrying a cowbell to forewarn the maids.
At the time of Griffith’s Valuation it was being leased by the trustees of Lord Wallscourt’s estate to Pierce Joyce when it was valued at £60.
Ardfry House was used in the Paul Newman film, The Mackintosh Man, when the house was re-roofed and re-windowed, and then burnt – destroying many remnants of the internal features.
The lands also contain the ruins of an earlier castle, previously home to the Blakes, one of the 14 `tribes’ of Galway.
In September 2001 the property and land was for sale in the region of £1.6 million
The estate was again for sale in 2004, and also in 2006 with planning permission.
An Bord Pleanala granted planning permission for redevelopment of the site – the development can only be used for the purpose of holiday apartments.
Thankfully it appears changes to the original development plans have been made to ensure that the aesthetics of the original building are maintained. Other conditions include having an archaeologist and conservationist on site during the works and liaising with the local authority on materials used in the project.
In August 2008 it appears no work has commenced on the proposed redevelopment of the site.
Ardfry Castle dates to approx. 1770 and was built by Joseph Blake, member of the famous Blake Family, who later gained the title of Lord Wallscourt.
Ardfry was designed as a two-storey house with nine bays but was later renovated in 1826 to include gothic features and became adjoined to an earlier medieval castle on the lands.
The Wallscourt title became synonymous with the house where the Wallscourts lived there until the second wife of the fourth Earl gambled away all the family money. It was told that she even sold the lead of every roof on the estate in order to feed her gambling problem.
The house fell to ruins and in 1922 the Wallscourt title became extinct. However in 1950, three granddaughters of the fourth Earl were successful in legally reclaiming the house. They were known locally as the three gay mice who lived in an outhouse close to the ruins.
In later years, Ardfry House was used in the Paul Newman film, The Mackintosh Man, where the house was temporarily rebuilt and then burnt, destroying many internal features which remained
Lewis mentions the seat of Lord Wallscourt in the parish of Oranmore but refers to it as Wallscourt rather than Ardfry, which is actually located in the parish of Ballynacourty. The Ordnance Survey Name books mention it as Ardfry House, the residence of Lord Wallscourt At the time of Griffith’s Valuation it was being leased by the trustees of Lord Wallscourt’s estate to Pierce Joyce when it was valued at £60. The house was built in the late 18th century and altered in 1826. The seat of Lord Wallscourt in 1894 and in 1906. It has been in a derelict state since the mid-20th century. In 2006 it was offered for sale as part of a scheme to create luxury apartments in the building.
Ever fancied yourself as an Irish Sleeping Beauty? We’ve got just the thing.
The next Allsop residential auction takes place on Tuesday 21st of April, and while most of us are struggling to make our rent not to mind a 20 per cent deposit for a home – it’s fun to dream about owning an 18th century castle with 28.8 acres in Galway.
Amongst the 331 properties going under the hammer in the auction is Ardfry House in Oranmore.
The detached period residence was built in 1770 by Joseph Blake, who later gained the title of Lord Wallscourt. The Wallscourts lived there until the second wife of the fourth Earl lost the family money through gambling and even sold the lead of every roof on the estate. The mansion was left empty and much of the contents stolen – a grand piano was later rescued from a barber’s shop. In 1922 the Walscourt title became extinct, but in 1950 the three granddaughters of the fourth Earl succeeded in legally reclaiming the house and 33 acres of the family estate. These three Blake sisters were known locally as the three gay mice and lived in an outhouse close to the ruin.
Ardfry was designed as a two-storey house with nine bays, a central pediment to the front and a raised roofed pavilion at either end. It was renovated in 1826 and updated with some gothic features including a pointed entrance doorway with pinnacles, battlements on the end pavilions and a gothic conservatory with stone piers.
The lands also contains the ruins of an earlier castle, previously home to the Blakes, one of the 14`tribes’ of Galway.
If you have couple of million to spare, you could be owning a piece of movie history too. Ardfry House was used in the Paul Newman film, The Mackintosh Man, when the house was re-roofed and re-windowed, and then burnt – destroying many remnants of the internal features.
Planning permission was granted by Galway County Council in 2004 to develop Ardfry House into luxury holiday apartments which has now lapsed.
This property is offered with an orchard, stone cottages and various outbuildings.
The residential auction will be held on Tuesday 21stApril commencing at 9am and the Commercial auction will begin at 10am on Thursday 23rd April. Both auctions will take place at the RDS, Merrion Road, Dublin.
The story of the House at Ardfry Co. Galway and of the Lords Wallscourt who lived there. Less
The Blake Family built the magnificent Ardfry House close to Oranmore County Galway Ireland around 1770. The family became the Barons Wallscourt shortly afterwards and for over a century were the landlords of the area of Ardfry. Changes of fortune overcame the family until the title became extinct around 1920. This is the story of the family, largely from newspaper accounts,and of their time at Ardfry.
Irish Historic Houses 