Busherstown, Moneygall, County Offaly
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. 51. “[Minchin] A partly castellated 2 storey house built on the site of an old castle originally called Bouchardstown, after the original owner, Bouchard de Marisco. Granted in C17 to Charles Minchin; an early C18 house being built on the site of the old castle by Humphrey Minchin, MP, and improved by his son, another Humphrey. The house was partly burnt 1764, having been set on fire by robbers; it was subsequently rebuilt and given a slightly castellated facade, rather similar to the nearby Mount Heaton. Round tower at one end; 3 bay centre, with Georgian sash windows; bow-ended square tower with segmental pointed windows at other end of front. Battlemented and machicolated parapet. The side of the house is not castellated but quite plain; of three bays, the centre bay breaking forward. Lower service wing with gable at other end of house. Painted ceiling decoration in reception rooms. Early C19 round tower on the summit of wooded hill behind the house. Sold 1973.
http://www.moneygall.ie/history-heritage
Busherstown House is situated about 2km from Moneygall village. It is a partly castellated house of two stories and 3 bays with a round tower attached at one end. The house was reconstructed by Mr. Humphrey Minchin in the early 18th century on the site of the castle of Bouchardstown which was owned by Mr. John Carroll and his son Donough in the first half of the 17th century. Mr Minchin also built an ornamental round tower on a hill overlooking the house.
Detached three-bay two-storey castellated country house, rebuilt c.1815, following fire in 1812. Built on site of an O’Carroll castle. Round-profile tower to north end of facade, projecting square-profile bays with full-height bow to south end of facade. Pitched and hipped slate roofs, hidden to front by castellated parapet. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Rear porch with hipped slate roof. Ruled-and-lined rendered walls to façade and south wing. Random coursed stone and roughcast render to rear elevations. Timber sash window with tooled stone sills. Four-centre arched door opening to front with timber panelled door and Gothic style fanlight having intersecting glazing bars, accessed by tooled stone steps. Stone outbuildings to north and east enclosing central yard. Outbuilding to north with cut stone bellcote. Integral carriage arch opening to north-west outbuilding with wrought-iron gate, accessing central yard. Outbuildings to north of yard and to west of walled garden have been renovated and currently used as apartment and art studio, respectively. Wrought-iron gate to north of facade. Walled garden to east with random coursed stone walls. Square-profile ashlar limestone gate piers to road with cast-iron gates and railings, and rendered sweeping walls. Spearhead finials to gates and railings.
Appraisal
The castellated façade of Busherstown House camouflages a unique structure that incorporates various wings, returns and extensions. The eclectic character of the residence is owed to the fact that it was constructed during various phases, the most notable of which resulted in the addition of its fine early nineteenth-century Gothic Revival frontage with terminating towers and a crenelated parapet. Features of note include the symmetrical sash windows and an attractive entrance door, which boasts a decorative fanlight. The ranges of outbuildings, set to the rear around a central courtyard, enhance the country house. The entrance to the house’s avenue is well presented with flat panelled ashlar limestone gate piers, which are complimented by iron gates and railings.
Charmingly Quirky
In The Beauties of Ireland (1826), James Norris Brewer explains the name of Busherstown, County Offaly as follows: ‘Busherstown, the seat of the Minchin family, was originally called Bouchardstown, and formerly belonged to the de Mariscos. Bouchard de Marisco, from whom the name of this place is derived, left a daughter and heir, who married O’Carroll, of Clonlisk and Couloge…’ The accuracy of this tale might be open to question, since it seems hard to find any de Marisco with the first name Bouchard. There certainly were members of the family prominent in this part of the country, not least Geoffrey de Marisco, an ally of King John who in the first half of the 13th century was Justiciar of Ireland on several occasions: through his wife, Eva de Bermingham, he came to hold large swathes of land in this part of the country.
Whatever the origins of its name, Busherstown appears to have originated as a tower house perhaps in the 16th century when it was held by the O’Carrolls: the space now serving as a dining room in the centre of the western side of the building was probably the tower house. For their part in the Confederate Wars of the 1640s, the O’Carrolls forfeited the property and in 1669 it was granted by the English government to Charles Minchin, a soldier who had risen to the rank of Colonel in the Parliamentary army. Shortly before his death in 1681, Colonel Minchin bought a second property not far away, Ballinakill Castle, County Tipperary which had also begun as a tower house, this time built by the Butlers. The Minchins sold Ballinakill in 1760 and it is now a ruin, but they remained at Busherstown until 1973.
As mentioned, Busherstown appears to have originated as a tower house and at some date in the 18th century, perhaps following a fire in 1764, a new residence was added to the south end of the older building. This plain, three-bay, two-storey extension is clearly visible, the centre breakfront presumably once serving as an entrance; the room behind is much smaller than those on either side, indicating it was a hallway giving access to reception rooms. In the early 19th century, when the property was owned by George Minchin, further alterations to the property were made, not least the addition of a castellated entrance front, which was now moved to the west side. This features a round tower with hood mouldings at one end, and a bow-ended square tower at the other, the latter containing a porch through which one enters the building. Internally, little effort was made to continue the facade’s pseudo-Gothic decoration. What had probably been a dining room in the 18th century house was turned into a large hall, with the room behind it (formerly the entrance hall) becoming an ante chamber for the drawing room beyond. Behind this space is a curious wedge, thinner at the west than the east end, into which was inserted a staircase leading to bedrooms upstairs; a further extension beyond to the west leads gives access to a splendid stableyard. The quirky, provincial character of Busherstown means the house possesses an exceptional charm, helped by the mature and well-planted parkland in which it sits. After being sold by Richard Minchin in 1973, the property was owned by the Rudd family until they in turn disposed of Busherstown in 2011 after which it sat empty for some years until being bought more recently by the present owner who is gradually, and sympathetically, restoring the house.
Irish Historic Houses 
