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. 237. “(Bomford/IFR; Fowler/IFR) An Italianate house of ca 1875, attributed stylistically to Sir Charles Lanyon. Three bay front, faced in Roman cement with sandstone dressings; pediments over windows, porch with engaged columns. Roof carried on bracket cornice. Bow windows at side with curved glass.”
THE FOWLERS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY MEATH, WITH 8,026ACRESSTEPHEN FOWLER (younger son of Richard Fowler, by Margaret, daughter of Richard, 1st Baron Newport), wedded Elizabeth, daughter and heir of John Cock, of Skendleby Thorpe, Lincolnshire, and had issue.
His only surviving son,
GEORGE FOWLER, espoused Mary, daughter and co-heir of Robert Hurst, and had issue,
George, died unmarried; Hurst, left a daughter; ROBERT, of whom we treat; Mary.
His third son,
THE MOST REV AND RT HON ROBERT FOWLER (1724-1801), Lord Archbishop of Dublin, educated at Westminster School, and Trinity College, Cambridge, was one of the Chaplains to GEORGE II, and Prebendary at Westminster.
In 1771, he was consecrated Lord Bishop of Killaloe and Kilfenora in Ireland, and, 1773, was translated to the archiepiscopal see of Dublin.
His Grace was subsequently sworn of the Privy Council and became, at the institution of the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick, 1783, its first Chancellor.
The Archbishop married Mildred, eldest daughter (and co-heir of her brother) of William Dealtry, of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, and had a son, ROBERT; and two daughters:
Mildred, m 1793, Edmund, Earl of Kilkenny; Frances m 1795, the Hon and Rt Rev Richard Bourke.
The Prelate of the Order was ex officio the Lord Archbishop of Armagh; the Chancellor was ex officio the Lord Archbishop of Dublin.
The Chancellor’s Badge (above), part of the insignia of the Order, was a small, purse-shaped item, which was suspended by a broad ribbon from the neck.
The office of Chancellor became secular when the Church of Ireland was disestablished.
His Grace died in 1801, and was succeeded by his only son,
THE RT REV ROBERT FOWLER, educated at Westminster School, and Christ Church, Oxford, who was appointed Dean of St Patrick’s, became Archdeacon of Dublin, and was afterwards consecrated Lord Bishop of Ossory and Ferns.
He married, in 1796, the Hon Louisa Gardiner, eldest daughter of Luke, Viscount Mountjoy, and sister of Charles John, Earl of Blessington, and had issue,
ROBERT, of Rahinston House; Luke, of Wellbrook.
His lordship died in 1841, and was succeeded by his elder son,
ROBERT FOWLER JP DL (1797-1868), of Rahinston and Rathmolyon, County Meath, who wedded firstly, in 1820, Jane Anne, eldest daughter of the Hon John Crichton, and sister of John, 3rd Earl of Erne, and had issue,
ROBERT, of Rahinston; John Richard; Jane Margaret; Louisa Catherine.
Mr Fowler wedded secondly, in 1831, the Lady Harriet Eleanor Wandesforde-Butler, eldest daughter of James, 2nd Marquess of Ormonde, and had further issue,
James Haddington; Grace Louisa; Harriet Selina; Anne Mildred; Emily.
Mr Fowler was succeeded by his eldest son,
ROBERT FOWLER JP DL (1824-97), of Rahinston, High Sheriff of County Meath, 1871, called to the Irish Bar, 1850, who married, in 1856, Letitia Mabel, daughter of Henry Barry Coddington, of Oldbridge, and had issue,
ROBERT HENRY, his heir; John Sharman, DSO; George Hurst; Francis FitzHerbert; Louisa Marian; Florence Mary; Eleanor Katherine.
Mr Fowler was succeeded by his eldest son, ROBERT HENRY FOWLER JP DL (1857-1957), of Rahinston, and Rathmolyon, High Sheriff of County Meath, 1899, Captain, 85th King’s Light Infantry, who espoused, in 1890, Mabel, daughter and co-heir of the Hon St Leger R Glyn, and had issue,
ROBERT ST LEGER, his heir; George Glyn, b 1896.
Captain Fowler was succeeded by his elder son, ROBERT ST LEGER FOWLER MC (1891-1925), Captain, 17th Lancers, Military Cross, 1916, who died unmarried, when the family estate devolved upon his cousin,
BRIGADIER BRYAN JOHN FOWLER DSO MC (1898-1987), of Rahinston (son of George Hurst Fowler and Mabel Blakiston-Houston), who married, in 1944, Mary Olivia, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Cecil Patteson Nickalls.
Brigadier Fowler retired from the army in 1949.
His eldest son,
JOHN ROBERT HENRY FOWLER (1946-2008), of Rahinston, wedded, in 1971, the Lady Jennifer Chichester, daughter of the 7th Marquess of Donegall.
Her son Harry and his wife Lorna are committed to developing the stud farm at Rahinston.
RAHINSTON HOUSE, near Summerhill, County Meath, is an Italianate house of ca 1875, “attributed stylistically to Sir Charles Lanyon” [Bence-Jones].
It has a three-bay front, faced in Roman cement with sandstone dressings; pediments over the windows.
The roof is carried on a bracket cornice.
There is a bow window at the side with curved glass.
First published in October, 2012. Casey, Christine and Alistair Rowan. The Buildings of Ireland: North Leinster. Penguin Books, London, 1993. p. 494.
Record of Protected Structures: Rahinstown House, townland: Rahinstown. Town: Summerhill Detached three-bay three-storey over basement house, built c.1875, on the site of an earlier house of c.1695. attributed to either Sandham Symes or Sir Charles Lanyon
The Landed Gentry and Aristocracy: County Meath. Volume 1. Art Kavanagh, 2005. Fowler of Rahinston.
Rahinstown is located in south Meath close to Rathmolyon. The original Rahinstown House dated from the eighteenth century. A drawing of the houses in the 1830s shows a six bay house of three storeys over a basement. The front door was not centred but to the left, suggesting that the original house may have been added to. About 1870 the old house burned down and was replaced by a large Italianate house and farm buildings. Sandham Symes was the architect for the construction of the new buildings for Robert Fowler in 1871. The house has a three bay front in cement with sandstone dressings and bow windows with curved glass.
Rahinstown is the story of two families the Bomfords and the Fowlers. The Bomfords developed the estate in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century when it was taken over by the Fowler family who already had interests in the area.
Laurence Bomford of Clonmahon died in 1720 aged 103. Sir Arthur Langford of Summerhill let the lands of Baronstown and Rahinstown, 903 acres, to Thomas Bomford. Laurence’s eldest son, Thomas, settled at Rahinstown and was Secretary to the Court of Claims in the reign of Charles II. Thomas died in 1740 and left the estate to his brother, Stephen of Gallow. Stephen was succeeded by his son, also Stephen, in 1756. Stephen married Elizabeth Sibthorpe of Dunany, Co. Louth in 1745.
Stephen Bomford died in 1808. His second son, Robert, served as a captain in the Bengal Infantry in the East India Company before returning to Ireland to marry Maria Massy-Dawson in 1792. When his elder brother Thomas died Robert became heir to Rahinstown and succeeded to the estate of 2358 statute acres in 1808. Robert died nine years later in 1817 and was buried at Rathcore. When Robert died Maria his wife was aged 48 and all her seven children were under 21, the youngest being only 7. Maria Massy Bomford has a memorial in Saint Ann’s, Dawson Street, Dublin. She died in 1848 aged 79 years. The family regularly lived at No 7 Upper Merrion Street. The estate was taken over by their eldest son, Robert George Bomford when he came of age. Born in 1802 he served as High Sheriff of Meath in 1832. Robert George married Elizabeth Kennedy of Annadale, Co. Down in 1826. In 1836 Rahinstown Demesne the demesne was well planted with fir and other trees and the house was described as a very good one but the pleasure grounds appeared very much neglected. It was the residence of Mr. R.G. Bomford. He died without an heir in 1846 and his widow married Marcus Gervais Beresford, Archbishop of Armagh. After the death of Robert’s mother in 1848 the estate was sold and the proceeds divided among his sisters. Peter Bamford has a very extensive website devoted to the Bomford family.
The Fowlers came to Ireland from England. Robert Fowler was born in 1724 at Skendleby, Lincolnshire. Educated at Cambridge he was appointed chaplain to George II in 1756. Fowler was appointed bishop of Killaloe and Kilfenora in 1771 and in 1779 was translated to the archbishopric of Dublin. He resided at Tallaght while archbishop. He was the first chancellor of the Order of St Patrick in 1783.
In 1766 Fowler married Mildred Dealtry of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. They had a son, Robert, who succeeded him, a daughter Mary (Countess of Kilkenny) and a daughter, Frances, who married Richard Bourke, Bishop of Waterford 1813 to 1833.
In 1789 Fowler voted with fourteen other peers against the Irish House of Lords calling for the Prince of Wales to be made regent during the illness of George III.
Fowler died suddenly on 10 October 1801 at Bassingbourn Hall, Cambridgeshire, where he had resided for two years for his health. He was buried in Takeley churchyard but there is no memorial to him.
Robert’s eldest son, Robert was Bishop of Ferns and Ossory 1813 to 1841. Born about 1767 Fowler was educated at Oxford. He married Louisa Gardiner, daughter of Luke Gardiner, Viscount Mountjoy in 1796. Gardiner was a property developer, laying out Mountjoy Square and Gardiner Street. In 1848 Louisa was buried in the family vault in St. Thomas’s Church, Dublin next to her husband.
Their eldest son Robert Fowler was born in 1797 and married twice. He settled at Rahinstown. He married Jane Anne Crichton in 1820 and secondly Lady Harriet Eleanor Wandesforde-Butler, daughter of John Butler, second Marquess of Ormonde. He died in 1863. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Robert, who was Deputy Lieutenant, Justice of the Peace and High Sheriff of Meath in 1871. He married Laetitia Mable Coddington of Oldbridge in 1856. He died in 1897.
John Sharman Fowler, the second son of Robert Fowler, joined the Royal Engineers in 1886. Serving on the frontiers of India, South Africa and Ireland Fowler became director of Army Signals. At the outbreak of the First World War, he became Director of Army Signals of the British Expeditionary Force, a position he held throughout the war. By the end of the war Fowler was commanding 70,000 men. Fowler remained in the army after the war, serving in the British Forces in China until 1925.
In the 1901 census Robert H. Fowler, retired Army Captain and Justice of the Peace, his wife, their two sons, two visitors and thirteen servants were in residence at Rahinstown. Robert Henry served as High Sheriff of Co. Meath in 1899. In 1908 a number of cattle drives took place on the estate of Captain Fowler of Rahinstown.
Robert Henry Fowler was the longest lived international cricketer, living to within a month of his hundredth birthday. Born in 1857, attended Sandhurst, joined the Army in 1878 and died in 1957. He married Mabel Glyn in 1890 and they had two sons. His son Robert St Leger Fowler, was also a highly regarded cricketer, being captain of the Eton team while at school there. Joining the army Robert St Leger served as a captain in World War 1, winning a Military Cross during the defence of Amiens against the last German offensive of 1918. He died from leukaemia at Rahinstown in 1925. George Glyn Fowler, the second son, was killed at the battle of Loos, 26 September 1915 aged 19. There are a number of memorials to this hero in Rathmolyon church including the wooden cross originally erected at Lapugnoy Military Cemetery.
The estate then passed to Bryan John Fowler, son of George Hurst Fowler, third son of Robert and Laetitia Mable Fowler.
Bryan John Fowler of Rahinstown served during World War I being awarded the Military Cross and also won a Distinguished Service Order for his efforts in World War II. Brigadier Fowler was at Fairyhouse Races on Easter Monday 1916 and was summoned away to maintain control in Drogheda. He later became instructor at the Army Equitation School in Weedon. He competed for Britain in polo in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, winning a silver medal. On returning from England, the family lived for a while at Culmullen House before moving to the family estate at Rahinstown.
His son, John Fowler, was a well known horse trainer. He represented Ireland in the Mexico Olympics of 1968. In December 2008 John Fowler was killed in a tree-felling accident on his farm.
Irish Historic Houses 