Dartrey House (formerly Dawson’s Grove), Co Monaghan
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. 100. “(Dawson, Dartrey, E/PB1933) A large Elizabethan-Revival mansion by William Burn, built in 1846 to replace an earlier house of about 1770. This earlier house, described 1778 by Rev Daniel Beaufort…was of three storeys over basement, the entrance front was of seven bays…..The Elizabethan-Revival mansion which took the place of this house, built by Richard Dawson, 3rd Lord Cremorne and later 1st Earl of Dartrey, had long and somewhat monotonous elevations of curvilinear gables, mullioned windows and oriels, with, sporadically, a square turret and cupola. There were numerous Tudor chimneys, a generous application of strapwork and a two-tier terrace along the garden front with many yards of latticed balustrading.
“The quoins were partly curved.
.”.. The house overlooked Lough Dromore, where, on a wooded island, Thomas Dawson, 1st Lord Dartrey and afterwards Viscount Cremorne, built a domed mausoleum ca 1770 in memory of his first wife, Lady Anne, to the design of James Wyatt, containing a dramatic lifesized sculptural group, including an angel with outstretched wings, by Joseph Wilton. The Elizabethan-Revival mansion, after standing empty for some years, was demolished ca 1950; the mausoleum, which had become roofless, so that the monument was suffering from teh weather as well as from vandalism, was repaired by the Irish Georgian Society 1961.”
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.
https://archiseek.com/2009/1846-dartry-rockcorry-co-monaghan
1846 – Dartrey, Rockcorry, Co. Monaghan
Architect: William Burn
Also known as Dawson Grove, Dartrey was built in 1846 and designed by William Burn as a large Elizabethan Revivial mansion to replace an earlier house on the site. Built for Richard Dawson, 3rd Lord Cremorne and later 1st Earl Dartry, it had very long façades with legions of mullioned windows, oriel windows, tudor chimneys and curvilinear gables relieved by square turrets with cupolas.
On the garden front (pictured) was a two level terrace facing onto Lough Dromore. On an island in the lake there was also a fine Mausoleum to the design of James Wyatt from around 1770 which was recently restored.
The house was demolished in the 1950s – after remaining empty for many years, the house was lent by the last owner to the RSPCA for a ball after which the County Council demanded rates for the house. All that remains of the estate are various gatehouses, the ruined Mausoleum and a fine stable block built around five sides of an octagon – built around 1850 to the design of William Burn.
https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2013/09/dartrey-house.html
THE EARLS OF DARTREY WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY MONAGHAN, WITH 17,732 ACRES
The family of DAWSON was originally from Spaldington, Yorkshire; whence, towards the close 0f ELIZABETH I’s reign, it removed to Ulster.
THOMAS DAWSON, who became, in the following reign, a burgess of Armagh, was grandfather of
JOHN DAWSON, who married into the family of Henry Ussher, Lord Archbishop of Armagh.
Archbishop Ussher was twice married: first about 1573, to Margaret, daughter of Thomas Eliot of Balrisk, County Meath; secondly, to Mary Smith, who survived him. His widow married John Jeeves, of Drogheda, Alderman, by whom she had issue, Anne Jeeves, who married (as his second wife), Walter Dawson in 1660, from which a considerable property in counties Armagh and Tyrone came to the Dawson family.
John Dawson was father of
WALTER DAWSON, of Armagh, who married firstly, Mary, daughter of Edward Dixie, and had issue,
WALTER, his heir;
Thomas, ancestor of Catherine, Countess of Charleville;
Edward;
Margaret; Mary; Elizabeth.
He espoused secondly, in 1680, Anne, daughter of John Jeeves.
Mr Dawson died in 1704, and was succeeded by his elder son,
WALTER DAWSON, who wedded, in 1672, Frances, daughter of Richard Dawson (by which marriage the estate of Dawson Grove, County Monaghan, was conveyed to this family), and had issue,
RICHARD, his heir;
Walter;
John;
Mary; Elizabeth.
Mr Dawson, an officer in Cromwell’s army, died in 1718, and was succeeded by his only surviving son,
RICHARD DAWSON (c1693-1766), of Dawson Grove, an eminent banker, alderman of the city of Dublin, MP for St Canice, 1727-60, Monaghan Borough, 1761-6 (great-grandson of John Dawson, of Armagh, who died intestate).
Alderman Dawson wedded, in 1723, Elizabeth, daughter of the Most Rev Dr John Vesey, Lord Archbishop of Tuam, and sister of Sir Thomas Vesey Bt, Lord Bishop of Ossory, and had issue,
John, died in 1742;
THOMAS, his successor;
Richard, of Ardee;
Frances.
He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,
THOMAS DAWSON (1725-1813), of Dawson Grove, who was elevated to the peerage, in 1770, in the dignity of Baron Dartrey, of Dawson’s Grove, County Monaghan; and advanced to a viscountcy, in 1778, as Viscount Cremorne, of Castle Dawson, County Monaghan.
His lordship married firstly, in 1754, the Lady Anne Fermor, youngest daughter of Thomas, 1st Earl of Pomfret, by whom he had a son and a daughter, both of whom died in adolescence.
He wedded secondly, in 1770, Philadelphia Hannah, daughter of Thomas Freame, of Philadelphia, by Margaretta, daughter of William Penn, the celebrated founder of that city, by whom he had another son and a daughter, who also died young.
His lordship, thus deprived of direct descendants, was created, in 1797, Baron Cremorne, with remainder to his nephew, Richard Dawson, and the heirs male of that gentleman.
Dying without an heir in 1813, the viscountcy expired, and the barony of Cremorne devolved upon his great-nephew,
RICHARD THOMAS DAWSON (1788-1827) as 2nd Baron (only son of Richard Dawson, MP for Monaghan), who espoused, in 1815, Anne Elizabeth Emily, third daughter of John Whaley, of Whaley Abbey, County Wicklow, and had issue,
RICHARD, his successor;
Thomas Vesey.
His lordship was succeeded by his elder son,
RICHARD, 3rd Baron (1817-97), who wedded, in 1841, Augusta, second daughter of Edward Stanley, of Cross Hall, Lancashire, by his wife, the Lady Mary Maitland, second daughter of James, 8th Earl of Lauderdale.
His lordship was installed a Knight of St Patrick, 1855; a Lord-in-Waiting, 1857-66; Lord Lieutenant of County Monaghan, 1871-97.
He was advanced to an earldom, in 1866, in the dignity of EARL OF DARTREY.
By his wife he had issue,
VESEY, his successor;
Edward Stanley (1843-1919);
Richard Westland Westenra (1845-1914);
ANTHONY LUCIUS, 3rd Earl;
Mary Eleanor Anne.
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,
VESEY, 2nd Earl (1842-1920), MP for County Monaghan, 1865-68, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1878, who married, in 1882, Julia Georgiana Sarah, daughter of Sir George Ormby Wombwell Bt, and had issue,
Richard George, 1890-94;
EDITH ANNE (1883-1974), of Dartrey House;
Mary Augusta, 1887-1961.
His lordship died without surviving male issue, when the titles devolved upon his brother,
ANTHONY LUCIUS, 3rd Earl (1855-1933), who wedded, in 1878, Mary Frances, suo jure Baroness de Ros, only child of the 23rd Baron de Ros, and had issue,
Una Mary, Baroness de Ros;Maude Elizabeth; Eleanor Charlotte Augusta.
On the decease of the 3rd Earl, in 1933, the titles became extinct.
The Lady Edith Windham was the last member of the family to live at Dartrey.
The Dartrey Papers contain extensive historical information about the family.
The Earl of Dartrey possessed the following land during the Victorian era:-
I visited Cootehill several years ago.
DARTREY HOUSE, near Rockcorry, County Monaghan, was a large Elizabethan-Revival mansion by William Burn, built in 1846 to replace an earlier house, known as Dawson Grove, of ca 1770.
It was built for Richard Dawson, 3rd Baron Cremorne and later 1st Earl of Dartrey.
This noble and magnificent demesne is situated on the gorgeous chain of the Cootehill lakes, a few miles east-north-east of Cootehill.
It is separated from the neighbouring demesne of Bellamont forest, County Cavan, only by a narrow belt of one of the main lakes, Dromore Lough.
The mansion had long, monotonous elevations of curvilinear gables, mullioned windows and oriels, with, sporadically, a square turret and cupola.
There were numerous Tudor chimneys, a generous application of strapwork and a two-tier terrace along the garden front with many yards of latticed ballustrading.
The quoins were partly curved.
Dartrey House overlooked Lough Dromore where, on a wooded island (Black Island), the 1st Viscount Cremorne built a domed temple about 1770 in memory of his first wife, Lady Anne Dawson.
The sheer size of Dartrey House proved too much for the 20th-century financial resources of the family.
Most of its contents were sold by auction in 1937 and the entire building was demolished in 1946 by the Hammond Lane Foundry, Dublin, who paid £3,000 for the salvage – a dreadful return on the £30,000 it cost to build the great mansion.
Lady Edith, elder daughter of the 2nd Earl, was the last Dawson to live in Dartrey House, and it was she who was forced to make the decision to demolish it in 1946.
Now, only the magnificent site overlooking Lough Dromore is visible.
The red-brick stable block contemporary with the 1846 house survives, and was renovated by the Irish Georgian Society (presumably at about the same time as Lady Anne’s temple).
There is also a surviving farmyard, in ruinous condition, which seems to be contemporary with (or even earlier than) the early 1770s house.
The following description of the Dartrey Estate near Cootehill, County Monaghan, Ireland, was written in 1773 by the Reverend J Burrows, visiting tutor to the Dawson family:
A thousand acres of lake, three hundred of which flows within a few yards of the house, with hills on each side covered with the most beautiful delicious woods, bring all fairyland to one’s imagination. On the other side of the lake is a large island, wonderfully shaded on all its sides but with a bald pate of open ground on the top, giving a very pleasing and uncommon effect.
Beyond that are woods that lose themselves in the clouds. People who are not used to lakes cannot conceive into what delightful forms they throw themselves, and how much the little islands, here and there interspersed, which contain one or two trees, add to their beauty.
The Dartrey estate, originally known as Dawson Grove, was established by the Dawson family in the 17th century alongside Bellamont Forest, a demesne of similar size – over a thousand acres.
Richard Dawson, a banker and Dublin alderman, built the present (Church of Ireland) church on the Dartrey estate in 1729.
It was established in its own separate parish of Ematris soon after.
The Dawsons added a north gallery to the church in 1769, and much later the Corry family (from Rockcorry) added a south gallery, raised on arches to avoid desecrating the burial ground beneath it.
A fire caused serious damaged in 1811 leaving the church for a period without a roof.
The fine west tower was built in 1840, and the sanctuary apse in 1870.
With the demolition of the Dawson mansion in 1950, and their once thriving estate turned over to forestry, St John’s appears isolated.
However it shares services with St James’ church, Rockcorry some 2½ miles away, which the Dawsons built in 1855, and both churches continue well supported by the local farming community.
But the view from St John’s cemetery across Inner Lough, once described as “one of the best in Ireland”, is currently obscured by conifers.
The Northern Standard, Saturday, 8th March, 1856:-
FIRE AT DARTREY HOUSE
We regret to announce the breaking out of a destructive fire, on Saturday evening last, at Dartrey House, the magnificent residence of Lord Cremorne, in this county.
The fire is supposed to have originated in the flue of one of the rooms in the basement storeys, which broke out near the roof, and before effective aid could be procured, had enveloped the entire of the upper storey of the north-eastern wing of the building.
The existence of the fire was first observed about six o’clock, by Mr. Little, Lord Cremorne’s steward, who hastened with a number of his labourers to render all the assistance within their power.
Mr. Little’s exertions up to the final subduing of the fire were unremitting.
Captain Boyle, of Tanagh, and the Rev. T. A. Robinson, were immediately on the ground, and aided materially in checking the fire, which, however, raged with a great fury until the arrival of the fire engines from Monaghan.
Previous to the arrival of the engines, the exertions of those present were directed to cutting off the communication between what is termed the Old and New House, a strong wall dividing the two portions of the house.
At a few minutes past seven in the evening, a messenger from Dartrey arrived at Mr. McCoy’s, of Monaghan, in whose care the town engine is; fortunately, all Mr McCoy’s staff were about his concern, it being pay night, and were consequently available for immediate work.
Four horses from Campbell’s posting establishment were immediately harnessed to the engine, and it started for Dartrey, where it arrived at nine o’clock.
In the meantime, Mr. McCoy sent a requisition for the Ordnance engine, to the officer commanding the detachment of Militia stationed here.
This engine was placed on a float, and, with a pair of horses from the Canal Stores, proceeded to Dartrey, where it arrived in time to do efficient service, under the directions of Sergeant Crooks, of the Monaghan Regiment, whose exertions elicited the commendation of every person present.
Nothing could exceed his intrepidity and cool daring ; indeed, at one moment it was supposed he had fallen a victim, a large beam having fallen just where he had been standing a second before. A. A. Murray Ker, Esq., Lord Cremorne’s agent, was in Monaghan when intelligence of the fire arrived; he immediately started for Dartrey, where he remained until a late hour on Sunday evening; by his presence and individual exertions he animated the energies of the very many who aided in extinguishing the fire.
Amongst those present who worked with hearty good will were – and certainly first on the list – the Rev. T. A. Robinson, Captain Boyle, Wm. Murray, Esq., Richard Mayne, Esq., (this gentleman, we regret to say, was severely hurt by an accident), Rev. John Wolfe, Subinspectors Kirwan and Fortesque; a number of young gentlemen from Cootehill and Monaghan were also most effectual aids.
We do not know the names of the Cootehill gentlemen or we would gladly give them. Amongst those from Monaghan we noticed Messrs. Watkins, Lewers, and Campbell.
The Constabulary from the surrounding stations to a man exerted themselves in a most praiseworthy manner, both by individual exertion and protection of property.
Amongst the most exertive and daring of them was one named Kinsella, from Cootehill station.
The costly furniture, pictures, and mirrors were all saved, with the exception of such injuries as their removal caused.
On learning the existence of the fire, our own chief anxiety was as to the safety of an exquisite group of statuary, “Cupid and Psyche”, which stood in the vestibule of the Grand Staircase; – this beautiful piece of art, though in extreme danger, escaped with but the fracture of one of the arms of the descending figure; the injury is not material, and can be remedied.
The portion of the building entirely destroyed consists of Lord and Lady Cremorne’s private apartments, Drawing-room, and her ladyship’s Boudoir, both of which were magnificent apartments; the cut stone walls seem safe; all the apartments over the east point are destroyed; the Grand Hall, Billiard-room, and Drawing-room are safe, as is also the entire of the basement storey.
The fire continued smouldering and occasionally to blaze out up to five or six o’clock on Sunday evening.
The assurance on the house was heavy, and will more than cover the estimated damages; but much depends on the decision architects arrive at as to the state of the outer walls.
It is, on the whole, surprising that the damage done is not of much greater extent, when the means of overcoming it were so distant.
The tenantry in the neighbourhood all assembled on Tuesday with carts and horses, and cleared away all the debris of the fire, before the arrival of Lord and Lady Cremorne.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN STANDARD
Sir, Allow me, through your paper, to render Lord Cremorne’s grateful thanks to all those who used such strenuous exertions in checking the conflagration at his Lordship’s beautiful mansion on last Saturday night.
The Assurance Companies concerned have every reason to be thankful, (and indeed have already expressed themselves to that effect), to the assembled multitude who lent their best exertions towards arresting the progress of the flames, and saving such a large amount of property.
It would be impossible to personally thank each and all of those I saw distinguishing themselves, for their name was “Legion”.
The constabulary were early on the ground from Rockcorry, and very shortly after from Cootehill, Drum, and Newbliss, and were most efficient and steady.
The fire engines from Monaghan arrived in quite the brigade style, and certainly deserve especial consideration.
The Corporation engine, under the direction of Mr. McCoy and his very active and intelligent workmen, and the Barrack engine, managed by Sergeant Crooks, who most creditably kept up the character of his regiment by his cool and daring conduct.
The tenantry to a man worked with a will. I could name hundreds who were towards morning nearly – and often quite – exhausted and faint.
Nothing could exceed the care taken of the furniture, pictures, and mirrors, in their removal, and wonderfully little damage has been done.
I am happy to say that the Assurances cover the loss and damage to both building and furniture – and again thanking most sincerely those who so kindly gave their valuable aid in time of need.
I remain, your obedient servant, A A Murray Ker, Newbliss.
Henry Skeath has sent me interesting information with regard to Dartrey:
I have attached an article (above) from The Northern Standard about a serious fire at Dartrey House in 1856 just ten years after the place was built.
Two good articles on Dartrey appeared in recent editions of the Clogher Record.
In 2004 June Brown detailed the rise and fall of the estate. June was friendly with Lady Edith, the last of the family at Dartrey, and keeps in touch with her descendants.
The 2009 edition contains a well-researched article by June’s granddaughter, Victoria Baird, about Lady Augusta wife of the 1st Earl of Dartrey.
Lady Augusta endowed St. James’s in Rockcorry where a photograph of her still hangs.
St. John’s Church is affectionately known as St. John’s in the Wood.
The Dawson gallery contains a fireplace for the comfort of the family.
In 1996 St. John’s celebrated 275 years of worship and the Rev. J. T. Merry, rector, produced a short history of the parish.
The Dartrey Heritage Group is undertaking wonderful refurbishment work on the mausoleum which was designed by James Wyatt.
The building has been stabilised and a new domed roof erected.
The Rev. Daniel Beaufort visited in 1780 and noted that the sculptural group within, by Joseph Wilton, had cost £1,000.
The quarterly bulletin of the Irish Georgian Society for Jan-Mar 1961includes an article on it.
Wilton’s work suffered at the hands of vandals but there are ambitious plans for restoration.
In 2008 the Heritage Group completed the restoration of a 60-foot column, also designed by James Wyatt, erected in 1807 to the memory of Richard Dawson who was elected to five successive Parliaments.
It stands prominently along the main road.
The 1846 stable block, five sides of an octagon, restored by the Irish Georgian Society in 1961, has been allowed to fall into disrepair again in recent years.
Of Dartrey House, hardly a vestige remains.
Parts of the basement can be seen and the once-graceful terraces on the garden front can still be traced.
It was once one of the finest estates in Ireland.
London residence ~ 30 Curzon Street.
First published in September, 2011. Dartrey arms courtesy of European Heraldry.
https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2020/08/cootehill-iii.html
The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland tells us that County Monaghan is an inland county, in the centre of the south of the historic province of Ulster.
It is bounded, on the north, by Tyrone; on the east, by Armagh; and on the west, by Cavan and Fermanagh.
Dawson Grove, now Dartrey, County Monaghan,
“A noble and magnificent demesne, the property of the Viscount Cremorne [later Earl of Dartrey], on the southern margin of the barony of Dartrey, is situated on the gorgeous chain of the Cootehill lakes, 1½ miles from Cootehill; and is separated from the rival demesne of Bellamont Forest in County Cavan, only by the narrow belt of one of the main lakes called Dromore.”
“From the contiguity of Dawson Grove and Bellamont Forest, and the beautiful natural lakes which in many places form their line of demarcation, they may be said in various instances to reflect each other.”
“Separately they are splendid residences; conjointly they form a rich combination of many of the elements of landscape.”
On Saturday afternoon four of us met Noel Carney, of Dartrey Heritage Association, who took us to see Dartrey demesne, former seat of the extinct Earls of Dartrey.
This was my first visit to Dartrey, once a very large estate comprising almost 18,000 acres, with extensive boundary walls and picturesque gate lodges (there were eight in total) carrying on interminably.
We stopped off en route at the main entrance lodge of ca1847, fully restored, extended, and inhabited, once incorporating the estate post office.
This lodge is made of ashlar stone, with a Tudor-style entrance surmounted by a blank shield.
Several hundred yards further along the main public road we turned into another driveway, which eventually led us to the “new” stable block, a large, impressive, grand affair comprising five sides in red brick.
This derelict stable block was constructed in the 1840s to replace an older block.
The standard of craftsmanship by masons was remarkable, as Noel pointed out to us.
The bricks were made in situ, and even straw marks could be seen on the ones that had dried on the ground.
The New Stable Block is not in a good state, although it’s not beyond redemption for another purpose, such as apartments or business premises, or units.
It was practically ruinous several decades ago, and today at least it’s in better condition than that.
There used to be a large clock encased in a circular stone feature in the middle of the block, though it has disappeared.
A short distance further on we stopped off at the original, or “Old” stable block of, it is thought, the 1770s.
It, like its younger sibling, is privately owned and closed off.
THEREAFTER we drove through overgrown estate tracks to the Island Bridge, also known as the Iron Bridge, which connects the estate to Black Island.
This is a single-arch bridge, erected in the 1840s, which leads to the glorious mausoleum or temple dedicated to the Lady Anne Dawson.
The skill of the blacksmiths and stonemasons can be admired on this little bridge, with its superbly carved stone abutments and wrought-iron handrails.
When we crossed the bridge we caught a glimpse of the remains of the great mansion house of Dartrey. All that’s left of it today is the basement and rubble.
Dartrey House (or Castle) was demolished in 1946, because the last member of the Dawsons to live there, Lady Edith, simply couldn’t afford to maintain it, and couldn’t find a buyer.
First published in August, 2020.
https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2020/08/cootehill-iv.html
From the edge of the lake, not far from the Iron Bridge, we could see the site of Dartrey House (or Castle), a very large mansion which was built in 1846.
The Dartrey Estate lies in County Monaghan, though straddles the neighbouring county of Cavan.
All that remains of the house are the ruins of the basement and cellars, so it’s almost invisible at ground level from a distance.
The Land Acts deprived great estates like Dartrey and Lough Fea of their income and, when the 2nd Earl of Dartrey died in 1920, without a male heir, the estate was inherited by his eldest daughter, Lady Edith.
Crippled by the immense cost of maintaining Dartrey, its outbuildings, gate lodges, stable block, and everything else, Lady Edith decided initially to sell the contents of the house.
A four-day auction of the contents, including thousands of books from the library, and valuable old-master paintings, was held in 1937.
Lady Edith Windham (1883-1974) couldn’t afford the exorbitant rates bills, and found it impossible to find a buyer for the house, so made the decision to salvage what she could of it, including the slates, staircases, and doors, wooden casings etc, before Dartrey House was finally demolished in 1946.
By this stage Lady Edith was living in the former land steward’s house, not far from the big house itself.
First published in August, 2020. https://theirishaesthete.com/2014/09/15/a-shining-distinction-on-earth/
A Shining Distinction on Earth
The Dawson family of County Monaghan came from Yorkshire to Ireland during the reign of Elizabeth I, Thomas Dawson becoming a Burgess of Armagh. Subsequently Richard Dawson, a Cromwellian cornet of horse, assembled the nucleus of the family’s estate in the 1650s and 1660s through the acquisition of thirty-one townlands, based around a property called Dawson’s Grove on the banks of a chain of lakes separating counties Cavan and Monaghan. Richard Dawson’s only child, a daughter named Frances, married her cousin Walter Dawson. Their son Richard was an Alderman of Dublin, an MP for County Kilkenny and the owner of a family bank. He further expanded the estates both in County Monaghan and elsewhere. With his wife Elizabeth, daughter of John Vesey, Archbishop of Tuam, he had four children, their third son being Thomas Dawson born in 1725. After coming into his inheritance the latter built a new house at Dawson’s Grove in the early 1770s and also bought and redeveloped a residence in London, Cremorne House, Chelsea where the garden designer Nathaniel Richmond was commissioned to lay out the grounds (although the house is long gone, this is now the site of Cremorne Gardens, just down river from Battersea Bridge). In May 1770 Thomas Dawson was created Baron Dartrey of Dawson’s Grove, and in June 1785 Viscount Cremorne.
In August 1754 Thomas Dawson married Lady Anne Fermor, youngest daughter of the first Earl of Pomfret, with whom he had two children before she died in March 1769. Her husband’s grief was considerable, but not so great as to prevent his marrying just over a year later Philadelphia Hannah Freame. She was the granddaughter of William Penn, whose family owned land in County Cork but who is better known as the founder of Pennsylvania. By his second marriage to Hannah Callowhill William Penn had eight children one of whom, Thomas Penn, married Lady Juliana Fermor, eldest daughter of Lord Pomfret. This explains how Thomas Dawson should have met his second wife Philadelphia, whose mother Margaret Freame, was another of William Penn’s children. In other words, he married his first wife’s niece. And, as her name indicates, she was born in the city of Philadelphia in 1740.
Philadelphia Freame’s marriage to Thomas Dawson was marked by the building of a house for the Dartrey estate’s agent, Charles Mayne, which was then given the name Freame Mount. Lady Anne Fermor, however, was commemorated in a more original fashion with the construction of a mausoleum which stands in the middle of Black Island on raised ground facing the former site of Dawson’s Grove. Based on a surviving elevation for the west front which shows the inspiration of the Pantheon in Rome, the design of the Dartrey Mausoleum has been attributed to James Wyatt, making it the English architect’s first commission in Ireland and contemporaneous with Wyatt’s Pantheon, the famous assembly rooms on London’s Oxford Street.
The building in Monaghan is a tall, square block built of locally-fired red brick raised on a limestone plinth. The exterior, featuring a sequence of blind windows and oculi, is relieved on the western front (which would have been visible from Dawson’s Grove) by a shallow tetrastyle portico with four pilasters (note their unusual fluted capitals) beneath a pedimented entablature. Above this cube rises a dome, its open centre providing the only light for the interior which would have been even more dramatic when viewed on nights with a full moon.
In August 1774 the Dublin Hibernian Journal reported, ‘A few days ago was landed in Dublin a beautiful Marble Monument done by Joseph Wilton, Esq., of Portland Street, London, which Lord Dartrey is to erect in a Temple at his seat in Co. Monaghan, to the memory of his late wife, Lady Anne Dawson, daughter of the late Earl of Pomfret.’ The London-born Wilton, a founder-member of the Royal Academy, had in 1764 been appointed ‘Sculptor to his Majesty’ by George III. His funerary monument in the Dartrey Mausoleum, for which he was paid 1,000 guineas, is the only commission he received in Ireland; during the same period he also sculpted a bust of Thomas Dawson, now in the Yale Center for British Art.
Like that piece, Wilton’s work inside the mausoleum is carved in Carrara marble and was installed against the eastern wall above a plain altar. A plaque recalls both Lady Anne, described as possessing ‘all the external Advantages which contribute to form a shining Distinction on Earth’, and the couple’s prematurely deceased daughter Henrietta Anne ‘who lived long enough to justify all the fairest Hopes of a Mother.’ To one side of a large funerary urn are the lifesize figures of Lady Anne’s grieving husband and their young son clinging to his father in both terror and sorrow; the pair of them gaze up at the hovering form of an interceding angel. It is a remarkably theatrical piece of work, and must have been especially effective when seen by moonlight.
The subsequent fortunes of the Dartrey Mausoleum have been mixed. At some date in the 19th century, the dome was taken, or fell, down and replaced with a shallow slated pyramidal roof, and the brick walls plastered. The last member of the Dawson family to live at Dartrey, Lady Edith Windham, eldest child of the second Earl of Dartrey, sold the estate in 1946 to the Irish Forestry Commission (now Coillte) which continues to own the land on which the mausoleum stands. Dawson’s Grove, rebuilt in the 1840s as Dartrey Castle, was demolished and the view across to Black Island obscured by dense planting of evergreen woodland. Meanwhile the mausoleum was left to languish and although the Irish Georgian Society undertook some repairs in the 1960s, the building succumbed to decay, its roof was lost and the sculptural group – as can be seen in photographs above – seriously vandalised.
Such might have remained the case, had it not been for the energy, imagination and commitment of a local group, the Dartrey Heritage Association which over the past decade has steadily worked to ensure the restoration of this outstanding monument. Securing funding from a variety of sources, including the local County Council, the Heritage Council and once more the Irish Georgian Society, together with monies raised by other means, the DHA has now almost completed this project. The building is once more intact and with a domed roof, and inside the sculptural group has been repaired with missing sections scrupulously replaced. The entire project is a wonderful testament to what can be achievied by a local voluntary body with sufficient determination and persistence, and ought to serve as an example for others throughout the country. Above all the restoration of the Dartrey Mausoleum shows that nothing is beyond salvation, provided the will is there.
https://theirishaesthete.com/2014/09/23/their-faithful-representative/
Their Faithful Representative
In the late 18th century, Thomas Dawson, Viscount Cremorne, passed responsibility for his Irish estate Dawson’s Grove, County Monaghan to his heir and nephew, Richard Dawson. To the dismay of his uncle, Richard – who served as a local MP in the Irish parliament – proved to be something of a radical and in 1799 consistently voted against the Act of Union. In the event, he died eight years later (predeceasing Lord Cremorne) after which he was remembered as being ‘the most active in promoting improvements, the most useful and the most popular man this country ever knew.’
As evidence, in the aftermath of his death, a fifty-eight foot high limestone Doric column surmounted by a funerary urn was erected on the edge of the Dawson’s Grove demesne. The arms of the Dawson family appear on two sides of the monument’s square base plinth and the following inscription on the other two sides: ‘This column was erected by the free and independent electors of the county of Monaghan to perpetuate the memory of Richard Dawson Esq., who was unanimously returned by them to five successive parliaments. He died their faithful representative on 3 September 1807, aged 44 years.’ The column, its design attributed to James Wyatt, has been restored in recent years. Dawson’s Grove was eventually inherited by Richard Dawson’s son, another Richard, who in 1813 became Baron Cremorne.
Irish Historic Houses 
