We visited Leinster House, the seat of Irish Government, during Open House Dublin 2025. We were lucky to get tickets! Open House Dublin events book out almost immediately.
Leinster House was built from 1745-1752 for James Fitzgerald (1722-1773) 20th Earl of Kildare and first Duke of Leinster.
James Fitzgerald (1722-1773) 20th Earl of Kildare later 1st Duke of Leinster, by Robert Hunter c. 1803, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.
James’s father, Robert FitzGerald (1675-1744) 19th Earl of Kildare, made Carton in County Kildare his principal seat and employed Richard Castle (1690-1751) from 1739 to enlarge and improve the house (see my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2024/06/04/carton-house-county-kildare-a-hotel/ ). Before that, the Earl of Kildare had lived in Kilkea Castle in County Kildare.
After the destruction of Maynooth Castle, occupied by Earls of Kildare, in 1641, George, 14th Earl of Kildare, resided at Kilkea Castle from 1647-1660, and it continued as the family’s principal seat until Robert, the 19th Earl, built Carton House. [1]
Robert, 19th Earl of Kildare (1675-1744) after Frederick Graves, courtesy of Adam’s auction 15th Oct 2019. Robert FitzGerald, (1675 – 1744) was married to Mary O Brien, daughter of William O’Brien 3rd Earl of Inchiquin. They had 12 children but only 2 survived to majority. They had lived quietly at Kilkea Castle, near Athy, but in 1739 Robert bought back the lease of Carton, in Maynooth, for £8,000. He commissioned Richard Castle, the eminent architect, to reconstruct the existing house. In the pediment over the South front, previously the main entrance, is the coat of arms of Robert FitzGerald and his wife Mary O’Brien. Robert also employed the La Franchini brothers to construct the wonderful ceiling in the Gold Salon. The additions to Carton were not finished when Robert died in 1744 but he left instructions in his will to finish the restoration according to his plans. A monument dedicated to Robert FitzGerald is situated in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. (This portrait hung in Carton until 1949 when the Fitzgerald family sold the estate. It hung in Kilkea Castle until 1960. It was in the FitzGerald family collection in Oxfordshire until 2013.)
The 20th Earl, James, employed Richard Castle from 1745 to build him a new house in the city, which is now called Leinster House, and began to be so called around 1766 when James Fitzgerald was created Duke of Leinster. He was told that this was not a fashionable area to build, as at that time most of the upper classes lived on the north side of the Liffey around Mountjoy Square and Henrietta Street. He was confident that where he led, fashion would follow, and indeed he was correct.
The building as it was originally constructed is a double cube of granite on the east and north fronts and Ardbraccan limestone on the west entrance front. It has a forecourt on the Kildare Street side, which Christine Casey tells us in her Dublin volume of the Pevsner series The Buildings of Ireland is in the French seventeenth century manner, which probably derived via Burlington House in London, a house which would have influenced Richard Castle. The form is Palladian, an eleven bay block of three storeys over basement with a “tetrastyle” (i.e. supported by four columns) Corinthian portico over advanced and rusticated central bays. “Rustication” in masonry is a decorative feature achieved by cutting back the edges of stones to a plane surface while leaving the central portion of the face either rough or projecting markedly, emphasising the blocks. [2]
Casey points to the unusual arrangement of pediments on the windows of the first floor, as an alternating pattern would be the norm, rather than the pairs of segmental (i.e. rounded) pediments flanked by single triangular pediments in the bays to either side of the central three windows. [see 2]
The centre block has a balustraded balcony, and the attic and ground floor windows have lugged architraves: the architrave is the classical moulding around the window and “lug” means ear, so the windows have “ears,” otherwise called shoulders. The term “Lugs” was made famous as a nickname for a policeman in the Dublin Liberties, “Lugs” Branigan, a man known for his sticking-out ears. A heavyweight boxing champion, he had a reputation as the country’s toughest and bravest garda. The ground floor windows have are topped with a further cornice – a horizontal decorative moulding.
Originally, Casey writes, the house was linked to the side walls of the forecourt by low five-bay screen walls with Doric colonneads and central doorcases flanked by paired niches. The colonnade was given a pilastered upper storey in the nineteenth century, and was rebuilt in the 1950s when the colonnade was filled in, Casey explains. The lower storey on the left side when facing the building (north side) still has the colonnade: you can compare the stages of building the colonnades in the pictures below. In fact this colonnade was reinstated after being filled in. It was recently (when written before 2005) reinstated, Casey tells us, by Paul Arnold Architects, and topped with the nineteenthy century screen wall above which we see today.
In the Malton drawing of Leinster house we can see that the side walls of the forecourt had pedimented arches. The present piers, wrought iron gates and railings were added in the 1880s, built by T.N. & T.M. Deane.
To the south of the forecourt lay a stable court, with a stable and coach house block and a kitchen block which was linked to the house by a small yard, which must have been very inconvenient when dinner was served!
The garden front is fully rusticated on the ground floor, with advanced two-bay ends.
The central first floor window has a triangular pediment. The door porch was added in the nineteenth century. The lawn lay on property leased from Viscount Fitzwilliam.
Irish Architectural Archive exhibition about Leinster House.It was designed by Richard Castle (1690-1751) with later input from Isaac Ware (1704-1786) and Thomas Owen (d. 1788). Here we see the location of the Main Hall, Supper Room and Parlour and Drawing room on first floor, Picture Gallery and principal bedrooms on second floor and Nursery and children’s and staff rooms on third floor. There is a separate kitchen and stores block and stable block.
James’s father died in 1744 before his house at Carton was complete, so it was finished for James the 20th Earl. James was the second son of his parents the 19th Earl and his wife Mary (d. 1780), eldest daughter of William O’Brien, 3rd Earl of Inchiquin. His elder brother died in 1740.
The Dictionary of Irish Biography tells us that James’s political career began on 17 October 1741, when (then known as Lord Offaly) he entered the Irish house of commons as member for Athy. In 1744 he moved to the House of Lords after he inherited the earldom. [3] It was then that he embarked on his town house in Dublin. Now the houses of parliament are located next to Leinster house, but at the time, they were located in what is now the Bank of Ireland on College Green in Dublin.
Parliament House, Dublin, with the House of Commons dome on fire, 27th February 1792.Parliament Buildings Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin, between ca. 1865-1914, photograph by Robert French, Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.House of Lords, Parliament Building, Bank of Ireland, Dublin, between ca. 1865-1914, photograph by Robert French, Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
The Dictionary of Irish Biography continues:
“His seniority in the peerage, popularity, and electoral interests ensured his appointment to the privy council (12 May 1746). He was made an English peer, Viscount Leinster of Taplow, Bucks. (1 February 1747), and appointed lord justice (11 May 1756). Master general of the ordnance (1758–66), he became major-general (11 November 1761) and lieutenant-general (30 March 1770). He was also promoted through the Irish peerage, becoming marquis of Kildare (19 March 1761) and duke of Leinster (26 November 1766).” [see 3]
James married Emilia Mary Lennox (1731-1814) in 1747, two years after Richard Castle began work on James’s townhouse. She was the daughter of General Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond. Her grandfather the 1st Duke of Richmond was an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England. Emilia’s sister Louisa (1743-1821) married Thomas Conolly (d. 1803) and lived next to her sister in Carton, at Castletown in County Kildare (see my entry https://irishhistorichouses.com/2024/03/15/castletown-house-and-parklands-celbridge-county-kildare-an-office-of-public-works-property/
Emily Fitzgerald née Lennox (1731-1814) Duchess of Leinster 1770s by Joshua Reynolds.This terrific portrait of William Conolly (1662-1729) of Castletown, County Kildare is in the dining room.
Richard Castle died in 1751 before the town house was complete. He died at Carton, the Earl of Kildare’s country seat, while writing a letter with instructions to a carpenter at Leinster house. Isaac Ware stepped in to finish the house. An exhibition about Leinster House in the Irish Archictural Archive explains that following the death of Richard Castle in 1751, little further about the building is recorded until 1759. By this time, English architect Isaac Ware, famous for his A Complete Body of Architecture published in 1756, had become involved with the project. The Fitzgeralds began to use the house in 1753 while work on the interior continued.
Inside, the house has a double height entrance hall with an arcaded screen of Doric pillars toward the back which opens onto a transverse corridor that divides the front and rear ranges. I found the hall hard to capture in a photograph, especially as we were part of a tour group. The hall reminded me of the double height entrance hall of Castletown, and indeed Christine Casey notes in her Buildings of Ireland: Dublin that the plan and dimensions of Leinster House relate directly to those of Castletown house in County Kildare, which was built in 1720s for William Conolly, and which was probably, she writes, built under the direction of Edward Lovett Pearce, possibly with the assistance of Richard Castle. [2]
It is the double height that reminds me of the great hall in Castletown, although Castletown has a gallery and Leinster house does not. The niches remind me of the similar front hall in Gloster house in County Offaly, which although a private family home, in 2025 is a Section 482 property which you can visit on particular days.
The black and white flooring is original to the house. [see 2] The red marble doorframe was added later.
The coffered ceiling in the Hall in Leinster house is different from the ceilings in the front hall in Castletown or Gloster. The deep coffered cove rises to a plain framed flat panel with central foliated boss. There is an entablature above the Doric columns around the four sides of the hall. The square ovolo framed niches above have statues and above the main door the niches have windows.
The chimneypiece in the front hall, Casey tells us, was originally faced with a pedimented niche on the north wall opposite, flanked by the doorcases. The chimneypiece is of Portland stone, she describes, with ornamental consoles and above the lintel, enormous scrolls flanking a bust pedestal.
The principal stair hall is a two bay compartment north of the front hall. Casey tells us that Isaac Ware inserted an imperial staircase – one in which a central staircase rises to a landing then splits into two symmetrical flights up to the next floor – into a hall compartment which was meant for a three flight open well staircase. The staircase is further marred, Casey tells us, by a later utilitarian metal balustrade. Casey does not mention the plasterwork here, which is very pretty. The wooden staircase is a later addition.
Beyond the stair hall is the former Supper Room, which is now the Library of the Oireachtais, which fills the entire depth of the house. I found the lights rather offputting and think they ruin the intended effect of the room and the ceiling, which Casey tells us derives from Sebastiano Serlio (1475-1554), an Italian architect who was part of an Italian team who built the Palace of Fontainbleau, and Tutte l’opere d’architettura et prospetiva (All the Works of Architecture and Perspective) is Serlio’s practical treatise on architecture.
The room has three screens of fluted Ionic columns – one at either end and one in front of the bow at one side of the room. Originally, Casey informs us, there were six fluted columns to each screen, paired at the ends of the room and in the centre of the north bow, but in the 19th century one column was removed from each pair. On the walls the corresponding pilasters would have matched the six columns.
The bow is considered to be the first bow in Dublin, and the design of the house is said to have inspired the design of the White House in Washington DC, designed by a man from Kilkenny, James Hoban.
A pedimented doorcase is flanked by ornate chimneypieces based on a design by William Kent. These are surmounted by Corinthian overmantels after a design by Inigo Jones, possibly made to frame portraits, Casey suggests, of the Earl and Countess of Kildare painted by Reynolds in 1753-54. [see 2]
Next to the Supper Room on the garden front is the large dining room, also designed by Isaac Ware. It is of three bays, and has decorative doorcases and a beautiful ceiling attributed to Filippo Lafranchini.
Christine Casey next describes the Garden Hall, with a more modest shell and acanthus ceiling and a chimneypiece with claw feet. Next is the former Private Dining Room, she tells us, a room from 1760, which has a ceiling with acanthus, rocaille shells and floral festoon forming a deep border to a plain chamfered central panel.
Casey tells us that the Earl of Kildare’s Library is at the southeast corner of the house, and that it has pedimented bookcases. It too was designed by Isaac Ware.
Designs for the ceiling of the Earl of Kildare’s dressing room by Richard Castle, 1745, IIA 96/68.1/1/17, 18, 19. Irish Architectural Archive exhibition about Leinster House.As with the several surviving designs for the front elevation of Leinster House, these three beautifully executed drawings for proposed ceilings in the Earl of Kildare’s dressing room are indicative of the attention to design detail which Richard Castle brought to the project in an effort to satisfy his demanding clients. The third variant shows the ceiling almost as executed.
Before we go into the separate building that holds the current Dáil chamber, let us go up to the first floor. The former gallery now holds the Senate Chamber, and it fills the north end of the eighteenth century house. Both Richard Castle and Isaac Ware prepared plans for this room, but the room was unfinished when the Duke of Leinster died in 1773.
James died on 19 November 1773 at Leinster House and was buried in Christ Church cathedral four days later. His eldest son George predeceased him, so the Dukedom passed to his second son, William Robert Fitzgerald (1748/49-1804). The 2nd Duke completed the picture gallery in 1775 to designs by James Wyatt (1746-1813).
The ceiling as designed by James Wyatt is tripartite. I defer to Christine Casey for a description:
“at its centre a chamfered octagon within a square and at each end a diaper within a square, each flanked by broad figurative lunette panels at the base of the coving and bracketed by attenuated tripods, urns and arabesque finials… It remains among the finest examples of Neoclassical stuccowork in Dublin.“
Irish Architectural Archive exhibition about Leinster House: Sketch showing the interior of the Senate Chamber of Leinster House by Con O’Sullivan, 1930s (IAA 96/145.1). Founded in 1747, Henry Sibthorpe & Co were one of the leading painting and decorating firms in Dublin from the first half of the 19th century to the mid 20th, and they closed in 1970s. Some of its records survive in the National Archives and in the IAA. Drawings showed perspective views of proposed decorative schemes to prospective clients. This dawing by Sibthorpe employee Con O’Sullivan shows a proposed repainting of the Senate Chamber.
Wyatt created an elliptical vault over the principal volume of the room and a half-dome above the bow.
On the inner wall of the room Wyatt places three ornate double-leaf doorcases and between them two large white marble chimneypieces. The chimneypieces have high-relief female figures to the uprights and on the lintel, putti sit “between headed spandrels enclosing urns and confronted griffins.”
Unfortunately with the tour group I was unable to get good photographs of the room, the chimneypieces or the carved doorframes.
At the south end of the ground floor corridor is a top-lit stair hall which leads to the Dáil chamber. This separate building originally housed a lecture theatre, built in 1893 by Thomas Newenham and Thomas Manly Deane. Before this was built, let us look at the rest of the history briefly of the Dukes of Leinster who continued to use the house as their Dublin residence.
The first duke’s wife Emilia went on to marry her children’s tutor, William Ogilvie. This would have caused quite a scandal, and she and her husband lived quietly in Blackrock in Dublin at their house called Frascati (or Frescati), which no longer exists. She and the Duke of Leinster had had nineteen children! She had happy times when the children were young and their tutor would take them bathing in the sea near Frescati house. She and her second husband went on to have two daughters.
Frescati House, County Dublin, photograph by Robert French (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
A younger son of Emilia and the Duke of Leinster, Edward (1763-1798) became involved in an uprising in Dublin, inspired by the French Revolution, and he was put in prison as a traitor and where he died of wounds he’d received while resisting arrest.
Edward Fitzgerald (1763-1798)
Another son, Charles James (1756-1810) served in the Royal Navy. He also acted as M.P. for County Kildare between 1776 and 1790, Commissioner of Customs between 1789 and 1792 and M.P. for County Cavan between 1790 and 1797. He held the office of Muster Master-General of Ireland between 1792 and 1806 and Sheriff of County Down in 1798. He was M.P. for Ardfert between 1798 and 1800 and was created 1st Baron Lecale of Ardglass, Co. Down [Ireland] in 1800. He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Arundel in England between January 1807 and April 1807.
A sister of Edward Fitzgerald (1763-1798), Emily Maria Margaret (1751-1818) married Charles Coote 1st Earl of Bellomont, County Cavan.
William Robert Fitzgerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster, K.P. (1749-1804), circle of Joshua Reynolds courtesy of Christie’s Irish Sale 2002.
The Dictionary of Irish Biography tells us about the second duke:
“He was returned as MP for Dublin city in 1767, though he was too young to take his seat, and it was only in October 1769 that he returned to Ireland to sit in parliament. He represented the constituency until 1773, supporting the government for most of this period. On learning that he was a freemason, the grand lodge of Irish freemasons rushed to make him their grand master and he served two terms (1770–72 and 1777–8). On 19 November 1773 he succeeded his father as 2nd duke of Leinster. The family home of Carton in Co. Kildare had been left to his mother but he, somewhat vainly, was determined to own it and purchased her life interest, a transaction that was the major source of his future indebtedness. His aunt, Lady Louisa Conolly, believed that he was ‘mighty queer about money’ and that his ‘distress’ about it was ‘the foundation of all that he does’ (HIP, iv, 160). In November 1775 he married Emilia Olivia Usher, only daughter and heir of St George Usher, Lord St George, a union that helped to ease some of his financial problems.“
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON portrait of Emilia Olivia née St. George, 2nd Duchess of Leinster courtesy of Bonhams Old Master Paintings 2018.
The 2nd Duke was active in politics. He died in 1804 and is buried in Kildare Abbey.
William Robert Fitzgerald (1749-1804) 2nd Duke of Leinster wearing Order of St. Patrick, by Gilbert Stuart, courtesy Christies.
One of William Robert Fitzgerald’s daughters, Emily Elizabeth (1778-1856) married John Joseph Henry of Straffan house in County Kildare, now the K Club. A son, Augustus Frederick (1791-1874) became the 3rd Duke of Leinster. He sold the town house in 1814. Since the Union in 1801 when there was no longer an Irish Parliament, a townhouse in Dublin was no longer essential. It was purchased by the Dublin Society, a group founded for “improving Husbandry, Manufactures and other useful arts and sciences.”
Augustus Frederick Fitzgerald (1791-1874), 3rd Duke of Leinster, engraver George Saunders after Stephen Catterson Smith, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.
From 1815-1922 Leinster House was the Headquarters of the Royal Dublin Society – the “Royal” was added to the Society’s name in 1820. Rooms in the house were used to accommodate the Society’s library and museum as well as offices and meeting spaces. The original kitchen wing of the house was converted to laboratories and a lecture theatre. Gradually more buildings were added around the house, including sheds and halls for the Society’s events, namely the Spring Show and the Horse Show.
Note at Irish Architectural Archive exhibition about the RDS at Leinster House.Irish Architectural Archive exhibition about Leinster House.Configuration of Leinster house as RDS and centre of culture, learning and innovation the site of The Dublin Society (1815-1820) and the RDS (1820-1922). The School of Drawing (1845) was to the left, and later became the Metropolitan School of Art and the National College of Art and Design which continued as the National College of Art on this site until 1980, when it moved to Thomas Street and its facilities were incorporated into the adjacent National Library. The former kitchen and stable block were amended and expanded to host sculpture galleries, a stone yard, laboratories and lecture facilities. It had a 700 seat lecture theatre. To the right, Shelbourne Hall and the Agricultural Hall in the mid 19th century had facilities to display agricultural and industrial products, and it was later the site of the Museum of Archaeology. The Museum of Natural History (1857) and the National Gallery of Art (1860) were first developed for RDS collections, an dwere later expanded in conjunction with the Department of Science and Art/South Kensington and the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction.
Leinster Lawn was the site of industrial and agricultural exhibitions. In 1853, the Great Industrial Exhibition ran on the RDS grounds at Leinster House, just two years after Prince Albert’s Exhibition in the Crystal Palace in London. Constructed of iron, wood and glass, the Irish Industrial Exhibition building was paid for by William Dargan and installed by Richard Turner on Leinster Lawn in a matter of months. Its architect was John Benson, who was knighted for his efforts.
Spring Shows and Industries Fairs (1831-1880) and early Horse Shows (1864-1881) were also held on Leinster Lawn.
Irish Architectural Archive exhibition about Leinster House.Opening of the Dublin Great Exhibition, Illustrated London News 4th June 1853, IIA 80/010.20/1. A successor to the Great Exhibition held in the Crystal Palace, London in 1851, the Great Industrial Exhibition ran on the RDS grounds at Leinster House from 12 May to 31st October 1853. As much a marvel as any of the objects on display was the edifice in which the exhibition was housed. Constructed of iron, wood and glass, the Irish Industrial Exhibition building was paid for by William Dargan and installed by Richard Turner on Leinster Lawn in a matter of months. Its architect was John Benson, who was knighted for his efforts.
The National Museum and National Library were built in 1890, and were designed by Thomas Newenham Deane and his son Thomas Manly Deane.
The museum and library were designed as a pair of Early Renaissance rotundas facing each other. The rotundas have a single storey yellow sandstone Roman Doric colonnade surrounding them. Above is a row of circular niches. Above that are columns framing round headed windows and panels of red and white marble. The pavillions next to the rotundas have a rusticated ground floor, with Venetian windows on first floor level and Corinthian pilasters.
The Lecture Theatre was built in 1893, and was also designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The lecture theatre is a horseshoe shaped top-lit galleried auditorium with a flat west end that originally accommodated a stage and lecture preparation rooms.
Irish Architectural Archive exhibition about Leinster House: The RDS lecture theatre.
Single and paired cast iron Corinthian columns support the gallery in the former theatre. The building was appropriated as a temporary Dáil chamber in 1922 on Michael Collins’s recommendation, and in 1924 the government acquired Leinster House to be the seat of the Oireachtais. The theatre was remodelled: a new floor was inserted over the central block of seats to make a platform for the Ceann Comhairle, the clerk of the Dail, and the official reporters. The lower tier of seating was replaced with rows of mahogany and leather covered seats designed either by Hugh O’Flynn of the OPW, as the exhibition in the Irish Architectural Archive tells us, or by James Hicks & Sons according to Christine Casey, and the upper tiers became the press and public galleries. The stage was closed in and replaced by a press gallery and adjoining press rooms. The gallery was remodelled around 1930.
To enter Leinster house, you go through a security hut upon which a controversial sum was spent by the Office of Public Works. I love the way the hut goes around a large tree. I assume a large part of the cost of the hut was the beautiful marble countertops!
[1] MacDonnell, Randal. The Lost Houses of Ireland. A chronicle of great houses and the families who lived in them. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. London, 2002.
[2] Casey, Christine. The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin. The City within the Grand and Royal Canals and the Circular Road with the Phoenix Park. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2005.
p. 60. “(Talbot de Malahide, B/PB; Fitzgerald, Leinster, D/PB; Nall-Cain, sub Brocket, P/BP) The lands of Carton always belonged to the Fitzgeralds, Earls of Kildare, whose chief castle was nearby, at Maynooth; in C17, however, they were leased to a junior branch of the Talbots of Malahide, who built the original house there.” [1]
The Carton website tells us that the lands of Carton first came into the ownership of the FitzGerald family shortly after Maurice FitzGerald (d. 1176) played an active role in the capture of Dublin by the Normans in 1170. He was rewarded by being appointed Lord of Maynooth, and given an area covering townlands which include what is now Carton. The website goes on to tell us:
“His son became Baron Offaly in 1205 and his descendant John FitzGerald [5th Baron Offaly, d. 1316], became Earl of Kildare in 1315. Under the eighth earl, [Gerald FitzGerald (1455-1513)] the FitzGerald family reached pre-eminence as the virtual rulers of Ireland between 1477 and 1513.“
Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare, “Silken Thomas,” c. 1530 attributed to Anthony Van Dyck.
“However, the eighth earl’s grandson, the eloquently titled Silken Thomas [the 10th Earl of Kildare] was executed in 1537, with his five uncles, for leading an uprising against the English. Although the FitzGeralds subsequently regained their land and titles, they did not regain their position at the English Court until the 18th century when Robert, the 19th Earl of Kildare, became a noted statesman.“
It surprises me that after Silken Thomas’s rebellion that his brother was restored to the title and became the 11th Earl on 23 February 1568/69, restored by Act of Parliament, about thirty years after his brother was executed.
It was William Talbot, Recorder of the city of Dublin, who leased the lands from Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Kildare (1547-1612). William Talbot was created 1st Baronet Talbot, of Carton, Co. Kildare on 4 February 1622/23. He was MP for Kildare in 1613-1615. He built a house at Carton. His son Richard was created 1st Duke of Tyrconnell in 1689 by King James II, after he had been James’s Groom of the Bedchamber. He fought in the Battle of the Boyne and was loyal to the Stuarts, so was stripped of his honours when William of Orange (William III) came to power.
Richard Talbot, Duke of Tyrconnell (1630-1691), courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.Frances Talbot (c.1670-1718) by Garret Morphy courtesy National Gallery of Ireland NGI 4150. She was the daughter of Robert Talbot, 2nd Baronet of Carton, County Kildare, who was a brother of the Duke of Tyrconnell, and wife of Richard Talbot (1638-1703) of Malahide.Tyrconnell Tower in grounds of Carton House, photograph 2014 for Tourism Ireland. [2]
Mark Bence-Jones continues: “After the attainder of Richard Talbot, Duke of Tyrconnell, James II’s Lord Deputy of Ireland, Carton was forfeited to the crown and sold 1703 to Major-Gen Richard Ingoldsby, Master-General of the Ordnance and a Lord Justice of Ireland; who added a two storey nine bay pedimented front to the old house, with wings joined to the main block by curved sweeps, in the Palladian manner. In 1739 Thomas Ingoldsby sold the reversion of the lease back to 19th Earl of Kildare [Robert FitzGerald (1675-1744)], who decided to make Carton his principal seat and employed Richard Castle to enlarge and improve the house.“
Richard Ingoldsby (c.1664/5–1712) was the son of George, who came to Ireland with the Cromwellian army in 1651 and became a prominent landowner in Limerick. Richard fought in the Williamite army. The Dictionary of Irish Biography tells us that Richard Ingoldsby purchased Carton House and demesne in Co. Kildare for £1,800 in 1703 from the Talbot family. He also owned a town house in Mary St., Dublin. He married Frances, daughter of Col. James Naper of Co. Meath; they had at least one son, Henry Ingoldsby (d. 1731). Henry lived the high life in London and Carton had to be sold to pay his debts in 1738, and he sold it back to Robert Fitzgerald the 19th Earl of Kildare.
Robert Fitzgerald (1675-1744) 19th Earl of Kildare, after Frederick Graves, courtesy of Adam’s auction 15th Oct 2019.
Robert FitzGerald the 19th Earl of Kildare married Mary O’Brien, daughter of William, 3rd Earl of Inchiquin.
The Archiseek website tells us:
“In 1739, the 19th Earl of Kildare employed Richard Castle to build the existing house replacing an earlier building. Castle (originally Cassels) was responsible for many of the great Irish houses, including Summerhill, Westport, Powerscourt House and in 1745, Leinster House, which he also built for the FitzGeralds.” [3]
Bence-Jones tells us about the rebuilding of Carton by Richard Castle: “Castle’s rebuilding obliterated all traces of the earlier house, except for a cornice on what is now the entrance front and the unusually thick interior walls. He added a storey, and lengthened the house by adding a projecting bay at either end; he also refaced it. He gave the entrance front a pediment, like its predecessor; but the general effect of the three storey 11 bay front, which has a Venetian window in the middle storey of each of its end bays, is one of massive plainness. As before, the house was joined to flanking office wings; but instead of simple curved sweeps, there were now curved colonnades.”
There is a projecting bay on either side of the garden front facade with a Venetian window in the middle storey of either projecting bay. According to Mark Bence-Jones, these were designed by Richard Castle. The flanking wings were joined initially by curved colonnades, later replaced by straight connecting links.
Mark Bence-Jones continues: “The work was completed after the death of 19th Earl for his son [James (1722-1773)], 20th Earl, who later became 1st Duke of Leinster and was the husband of the beautiful Emily, Duchess of Leinster [Emily Lennox, daughter of the 2nd Duke of Richmond] and the father of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, the United Irish Leader.”
James Fitzgerald, 20th Earl of Kildare, later 1st Duke of Leinster by Robert Hunter, Irish, 1715/1720-c.1803. Photograph courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.Emilia Mary, Countess of Kildare (née Lennox) (1731-1814), Wife of the 20th Earl of Kildare and future 1st Duke of Leinster After Joshua Reynolds, English, 1723-1792, photograph courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.Emily née Lennox (1731-1814)Countess of Kildare, wife of the 1st Duke of Leinster, by Allan Ramsay (1713-1784). Oil on canvas, painted 1765. Purchased 1951, No. 1356, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK, Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)Emily Fitzgerald née Lennox (1731-1814) Duchess of Leinster 1770s by Joshua Reynolds.Edward Fitzgerald (1763-1798).
They certainly were a rebellious family! It is said that this saved the house from being burnt by Irish rebels in 1920s, as a portrait of Edward Fitzgerald the United Irishman was shown to the would-be arsonists. Emily Lennox’s sister, Louisa, married Thomas Conolly and lived across the parkland in Castletown House. Stella Tillyard writes of the life and times of the sisters, Emily and Louisa and it was made into a mini series for the BBC, entitled “The Aristocrats” which was filmed on site at Carton House. I’d love to read the book and see the movie! She also wrote about Edward FitzGerald.
When the 1st Duke died, Emily married her children’s tutor and lived very happily with him. She had enjoyed spending time with him and the children at their house in Blackrock, Frascati, which no longer exists, and the children swam in the sea.
Emily and the 1st Duke’s heir was William Robert Fitzgerald (1749-1804) 2nd Duke of Leinster. He married Emilia Olivia née Usher St. George (1759-1798).
William Robert Fitzgerald (1749-1804) 2nd Duke of Leinster wearing Order of St. Patrick, by Gilbert Stuart, courtesy Christies.William Robert Fitzgerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster, (1749-1804) Date 1775 by Engraver John Dixon, Irish, c.1740-1811 After Joshua Reynolds, English, 1723-1792. Photograph courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.Hugh Douglas Hamilton portrait of Emilia Olivia née St. George, 2nd Duchess of Leinster courtesy of Bonhams Old Master Paintings 2018.
Mark Bence-Jones continues: “3rd Duke, Lord Edward’s nephew, [Augustus Frederick Fitzgerald (1791-1874)] employed Sir Richard Morrison to enlarge and remodel the house ca 1815, having sold Leinster House in Dublin. Morrison replaced the curved colonnades with straight connecting links containing additional rooms behind colonnades of coupled Doric columns, so as to form a longer enfilade along what was now the garden front; for he moved the entrance to the other front [the north side], which is also of 11 bays with projecting end bays, but has no pediment. The former music room on this side of the house became the hall; it is unassuming for the hall of so important a house, with plain Doric columns at each end. On one side is a staircase hall by Morrison, again very unassuming; indeed, with the exception of the great dining room, Morrison’s interiors at Carton lack his customary neo-Classical opulence.”
Augustus Frederick FitzGerald, 3rd Duke of Leinster, (1791-1874) engraver George Sanders, Scottish, 1810 – c.1876 after Stephen Catterson Smith, Irish, 1806-1872. Photograph courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.
Archiseek continues: “Carton remained in the control of the FitzGeralds until the early 1920s when the 7th Duke sold the estate and house to pay off gambling debts of £67,500. In 2000, Carton was redeveloped as a “premier golf resort and hotel”. A hotel was added to the main house, and the estate’s eighteenth-century grounds and landscaping were converted into two golf courses.” [3]
Mark Bence-Jones continues: “Beyond the staircase, on the ground floor, is the Chinese bedroom, where Queen Victoria slept when she stayed here; it remains as it was when decorated 1759, with Chinese paper and a Chinese Chippendale giltwood overmantel.” Unfortunately we didn’t get to see this room.
The Chinese Room at Carton House, decorated by Emily, Countess of Kildare in the mid 18th century. Above the chimneypiece is a Chippendale mirror erupting into a series of gilded branches, some of which are sconces. Pub. Orig Country Life 18/02/2009 vol CCIII.
Bence-Jones continues: “The other surviving mid-C18 interior is the saloon, originally the dining room, in the garden front, dating from 1739 and one of the most beautiful rooms in Ireland. It rises through two storeys and has a deeply coved ceiling of Baroque plasterwork by the Francini brothers representing “the Courtship of the Gods”; the plasterwork, like the decoration on the walls, being picked out in gilt. At one end of the room is an organ installed 1857, its elaborate Baroque case designed by Lord Gerald Fitzgerald [1821-1886], a son of the 3rd Duke.“
“The door at this end of the saloon leads, by way of an anteroom, to Morrison’s great dining room, which has a screen of Corinthian columns at each end and a barrel-vaulted ceiling covered in interlocking circles of oak leaves and vine leaves.
Bence-Jones tells us: “The demesne of Carton is a great C18 landscape park, largely created by 1st Duke and Emily Duchess; “Capability” Brown was consulted, but professed himself too busy to come to Ireland. By means of a series of dams, a stream has been widened into a lake and a broad serpentine river; there is a bridge by Thomas Ivory, built 1763, an ornamental dairy of ca 1770 and a shell house. Various improvements were carried out to the gardens toward the end of C19 by Hermione, wife of 5th Duke, who was as famous a beauty in her day as Emily Duchess was in hers; she was also the last Duchess of Leinster to reign at Carton, for her eldest son, 6th Duke, died young and unmarried, and her youngest son, 7th Duke, was unable to live here having, as a young man, signed away his expectations to the “50 Shilling Tailor” Sir Henry Mallaby-Deeley, in return for ready money and an annuity. As a result of this unhappy transaction, Carton had eventually to be sold. It was bought 1949 by 2nd Lord Brocket, and afterwards became the home of his younger son, Hon David Nall-Cain, who opened it to the public. It was sold once again in 1977.”
[1] Bence-Jones, Mark. 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.
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Hamwood is a small Palladian style house built in around 1770. We visited in November 2022 and the owner Charles Hamilton, a descendant of the original owner, gave us a tour of the house. It is two storey over basement with single storey octagonal “pepperpot” wings joined to the central block by curved hallways.
In a chapter in Great Irish Houses (Forewards by Desmond FitzGerald and Desmond Guinness) published by IMAGE Publications in 2008, we are told that it was built by Joseph O’Brien from Dublin. An original Joseph O’Brien drawing of Hamwood, dated 1789, exists. [1]
We passed a lovely gate lodge on the way in to the property, which has the date 1783 on its side, which is the year it must have been built.
We drove in to the farmyard area as directed by signs and we had to wander around a little to find the house. The gardens are also open to the public and we walked through the walled garden.
The house was built for Charles Hamilton (1738-1818) and his wife Elizabeth Chetwood (or Chetwode), and the name “Hamwood” is formed by joining their two names.
Charles Hamilton (1738-1818) who built Hamwood, photograph courtesy of Hamwood House website.
Charles was the son of Alexander Hamilton (1690-1768), MP for Killyleagh in County Down (now in Northern Ireland), who settled in Knock, a townland in Balbriggan, County Dublin. The family of Alexander, despite being MP for Killyleagh, seem to be a different family of Hamiltons from those of Killyleagh Castle, as the Hamwood website will tell us. Hamiltons still live in Killyleagh Castle, parts of which date back to 1180. It came into the Hamilton family in the time of James Hamilton (1559-1643), 1st Viscount Claneboy, County Down. Alexander’s ancestor Hugh Hamilton (1572-1655) came to Ireland from Scotland. The 1st Viscount Claneboy also moved to Ireland from Scotland. Alexander’s brother George built a house at Tyrella in County Down.
Alexander Hamilton 1690-1768, MP for Killyleagh in County Down, who settled in Knock, a townland in Balbriggan, County Dublin. Photograph courtesy of Hamwood house website.Killyleagh Castle, County Down, photograph courtesy of Hamwood house website.
Alexanderwas a wealthy landowner, owning town lands worth £50,000. He married Isabella Maxwell of Finnebrogue, County Down. The Hamwood website tells us that his son Hugh (1729-1805) became Dean of Armagh and Bishop of Ossory and a professor of Mathematics at Trinity College Dublin.
Hugh Hamilton (1729-1805), Protestant Bishop of Ossory, by engraver William Evans, after artist Gilbert Stewart, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland, NGI.10622.
Another son, George (1738-1793), was MP for Belfast in 1769-1776 and settled at Hampton Hall, Balbriggan (which burned down in 1901 but has been rebuilt). George developed the fishing village into a flourishing town with cotton mills and a trading port with a lighthouse. I came across a newspaper article about a book published in 2004 about the Hamiltons of Balbriggan, written by Stephanie Bourke in conjunction with the Balbriggan and District Historical Society, The Hamilton Family and the making of Balbriggan.
A daughter, Anne, married Colonel Henry Caldwell, who fought in Canada under General James Wolfe (1727-1759) in the battle between France and England for control of Quebec. Wolfe died of his wounds, and as Wolfe’s Aide De Campe, Caldwell was sent to England to announce news of the victory over the French. Anne and Colonel Caldwell subsequently settled near Quebec. Later Hamiltons also travelled to live in Canada, which we will see in the house. Henry Caldwell was the son of John, 3rd Baronet Caldwell, of Wellsburrow, Co. Fermanagh.
Alexander’s son Charles, the website tells us, started working life as apprentice to a wine merchant in Portstewart in County Derry. He subsequently started his own business and moved to Mount Venus in Rathfarnham, County Dublin. He married Elizabeth Chetwood. The Chetwoods were from Woodbrook House in County Laois, a fine house which sold recently. Another brother of Charles, Robert, married her sister Hester.
Woodbrook, County Laois, the house where Elizabeth Chetwood grew up, recently for sale, photograph from myhome.ie.
Charles was left a townland in the North of Ireland which he sold for £7,000 and bought land which had been part of the estate of Ballymacoll, County Meath (now an Equestrian stud farm) from James Hamilton. The website tells us that these Hamiltons are not related. James Hamilton was from a family who lived in Sheephill Park in County Dublin, which later became Abbotstown and housed part of the veterinary school of Dublin (and was the reason I lived in Blanchardstown when I was born), and is now a sports centre. This Hamilton family also traces back to Killyleagh, to a younger brother of James Hamilton 1st Viscount Claneboy.
Hamwood House, County Meath, photograph fromHamwood house website.This is better than my photographs since it was November when we visited and the light was fading.
Charles became the land agent for the Archbishop of Dublin and for Lord Lansdowne(William Petty-Fitzmaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne). I’m not sure what dates he worked for the Archbishop of Dublin so don’t know which one it was but it could have been Charles Cobbe who was Archbishop of Dublin from 1743 to 1765, who built Newbridge House in Donabate, not too far from Balbriggan, between 1747 and 1752. The next Archbishop of Dublin (I am assuming it was a Church of Ireland archbishop since Catholic ones would not have a land agent) was only in place for the year of 1765 as he died in office, William Carmichael. The next Archbishop was Arthur Smyth who served for five years until 1771. The next archbishops were John Cradock (served 1772-1778) then Robert Fowler (1779-1801).
Art Kavanagh tells us in his The Landed Gentry and Aristocracy, Meath (published 2005) that Land agents were not paid a salary but were paid between four and five percent of the amount of rentals they collected. On some estates with large rentals this could amount to quite a substantial sum. In addition many agents became middlemen themselves and so made even more profits.
At the time Charles and his family mainly used Hamwood as a summer retreat as he lived in the city of Dublin in 40 Dominick Street. Art Kavanagh tells us that Charles had business interests in Dublin and was the owner of land in Ringsend. He was also involved with Arthur Pomeroy, Viscount Harberton (later of Carberry, Co Kildare), who appeared to be his partner in some land dealings in the Fitzwilliam Square area of Dublin. [2]
The Hamwood website tells us that in 1798 some rebels captured Charles along with the agent to William Robert Fitzgerald (1749-1804), 2nd Duke of Leinster. The Duke’s agent was killed but a local man named O’Reilly, whose family still practice as blacksmiths in the area, recognised Charles Hamilton and asked that Mr Hamilton be spared as “he was more useful (to them) alive than dead.” It was said that this was probably in recognition of his moral, learned and industrious character. As well as being a Land Agent, he farmed his own land.
William Robert Fitzgerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster, (1749-1804) Date 1775 by Engraver John Dixon, Irish, After Joshua Reynolds, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.
Charles Hamilton suggested to the Duke of Leinster that he fill the now vacant position as his land agent. The Duke owned and lived in Leinster House in Dublin (now the government buildings) and had Carton in County Kildare as his country residence (now a hotel – see my entry Places to visit and stay in County Kildare). This role passed through later generations of Hamiltons until as late as the current owner’s father. The Duke of Leinster donated the granite steps at Hamwood, as well as several trees. The website explains that the site is exposed to strong winds and the wooded surroundings helped to create shelter.
Charles became a member of the notorious “Hellfire Club” which met in the Wicklow hills for drinking, gambling and carousing. He became “toastmaster” of the club and the family still have the gavel which he used to bring the members to order.
Henry Clements (1698-1745), Col Henry Ponsonby (1685-1745), Richard St George (d. 1775), Simon Luttrell, Henry Barry 3rd Baron Santry (1680-1735), members of the Hellfire Club, painted by another member, and co-founder, James Worsdale, photograph of portrait in the National Gallery of Ireland.
Charles and his wife had fifteen children but not all survived to adulthood.
Charles’s son, also named Charles (II, 1772-1857) added the wings to the house and moved the entrance door to the unusual position in one of the pepperpot additions. His wife persuaded him to do this to keep draughts from the house. At some stage, the back of the house became the front, Charles told us.
Charles II was a classics scholar and completed his education at Trinity College Dublin before being called to the Bar in 1792. He spent some years in London while practicing as a lawyer before returning to Ireland. In 1801 he married Marianne Caroline Tighe (1777-1861) of Rosanna, Co Wicklow, daughter of William, MP for Athboy and Sarah Fownes, who inherited Woodstock in County Kilkenny. She was the cousin of the poet Mary Tighe, whom we came across when we visited Altidore in County Wicklow.
Another son of Charles I and Elizabeth Chetwood was George (d. 7 January 1839), who emigrated to Canada and was founder of Hawkesbury Lumber Mills. The moose heads in the front hall in the pepperpot entrance come from Canada.
Another son, William Henry, moved to Quebec in Canada also. Sons Robert and John became merchants in Liverpool.
The website tells us that Charles II and Marianne Caroline, who went by Caroline, set about making major improvements to Hamwood, extending the existing house and adding the wings, and also the interior adding ornate furniture wall coverings etc. Much of the furniture was procured for the house, some of it specially designed and fitted.
Caroline Hamilton (1777-1861), photograph courtesy of Hamwood house website.
Charles II was responsible for laying the foundations of the Gardens, and from her diaries, we know his wife Caroline was also very involved. The website tells us about the walled garden, which was not at its best when we visited since it was November:
“The walled garden began in 1777 when Charles Hamilton I built its walls. Part of the wall existed as stone, but this was later added to in brick. To make it look like a seamless brick wall, the stone walls were rendered and the brickwork painted on. At the time, the walled garden was mainly used to grow fruit, vegetables and flowers for the household. Charles II created the rock garden and with his wife Caroline, they designed the triangular shaped Knot garden. Charles III, otherwise known as Charles William, was an amateur artist as was his wife Letitia Armstrong and created to the front and rear of the house a parterre – an intricate design of flowers in beds which would resemble a cluster of fine jewels at a distance.“
Caroline was an artist who became especially well-known for her satirical sketches. The website tells us about her:
“Caroline spent much of her younger years in London and took lessons in art from the notable printmaker and portrait painter John Spilsbury (1737-1812) who had taught at Harrow where her brother was at school, and later Maria Spilsbury (1776-1820), his daughter. She became a skilled artist, especially in creating pen and ink drawings of Irish society of the day, using a satirist angle on such subjects as religion, education and the ruling classes.
A sketch attributed to Caroline Hamilton, belonging to the National Gallery of Ireland.
The website continues: “After rearing and educating her six children, Caroline dedicated her time to the improvement and development of Hamwood House and its gardens, her art and, in particular, her writing. Her Memoirs are one of the most significant records of Irish life of the time, and in addition, she became heir to the diaries of the Ladies of Llangollen, which are now in the collection of the Hamwood papers held in the National Library, Dublin. Caroline’s cousin, Mary Tighe (1772-1810), was an accomplished poet best known for her poem, Psyche. Her artistic talent and to some extent, that of her husband, Charles III, passed down to her great-grandchildren, Eva and Letitia.“
The Ladies of Llangollen, Sarah Ponsonby and Charlotte Eleanor Butler, by Richard James Lane, printed by Jérémie Graf, after Lady Mary Leighton (née Parker) courtesy of National Portrait Gallery NPG D32504.
The “ladies of Llangollen” were Eleanor Butler (1739–1829) and Sarah Ponsonby (1755–1831) – Sarah grew up in Woodstock in County Kilkenny, with her cousins, which was the house inherited by Caroline’s mother – it is now a ruin but has wonderful gardens, see my entry for Places to visit and stay in County Kilkenny. The two friends ran away together and set up house in Llangollen, Wales, and became famous for their audacity, and were visited by many people including Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Wordsworth and the Duke of Wellington.
Mary Tighe née Blachford (1747-1791), courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.
Caroline wrote a history of her family, detailing the lives of Theodosia and Mary Blachford and Sarah Ponsonby. Her memoir was published in 2010 as the edited volume Reminiscences of Marianne-Caroline Hamilton (1777–1861).
Caroline wrote and drew in a satirical style, providing a critical depiction of the Anglo-Irish ascendancy from that period. Her best known works include Domestic happiness as acted in the city: a tragic comic farce, The Kingston to Holyhead packet, and Society.
Charles II continued as Agent for the Earls of Leinster. The 2nd Earl died in 1804. The next, 3rd Duke, was Augustus Frederick FitzGerald (1791-1874).
Augustus Frederick FitzGerald, 3rd Duke of Leinster, (1791-1874) Engraver George Sanders, After Stephen Catterson Smith, photograph courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.
Moving the front door to one of the wings created a double drawing room that runs along the entire length of the facade. [3] The double drawing room is separated into two by an arch, an alteration possibly made by Caroline Hamilton in the 19th century. [see 1] It is a large comfortable room, not overly formal.
Hamwood, November 2022.
David Skinner of Skinner and Sons, specialists in wallpaper design and conservation, advised on the decoration of the dining room where a rustic red wallpaper has replaced a cream colour. [see 1]
Charles and Caroline’s daughter Sarah married Reverend Francis Howard, son of the 3rd Earl of Wicklow. Sarah was his second wife, as he had been previously married to Frances Beresford, who died in 1833. Sarah’s sons became the 5th and 6th Earls of Wicklow, who would have inherited the marvellous Shelton Abbey, which was gothicized by Richard Morrison.
Shelton Abbey, courtesy of National Library of Ireland, now an open prison.
Their daughter Caroline married twice but had no children and another daughter, Mary, remained unmarried.
Of their sons, Charles William (1802-1880) inherited the property when his father died in 1857. He continued his father’s position as the land agent for the 3rd Duke of Leinster. He married Letitia Charlotte Armstrong of Mount Heaton, County Offaly (now known as Mount St. Joseph’s) in 1841. The website tells us of Charles III:
“He had a keen interest in Agriculture and was deeply involved in the Royal Dublin Society. He was particularly concerned about the state of Agriculture in the country prior to the Famine of 1845 and he urged the Repeal MP William Smith O’Brien to set up agricultural societies and colleges throughout Ireland to instruct farmers in modern methods. He corresponded frequently with Prime Minister William Gladstone about the terrible conditions caused by the potato blight and deplored the lack of assistance given. Although the effects were not nearly so bad in Leinster, soup kitchens were available to those who needed it, one being at Hamwood.
“One of Charles William’s passions was painting and he toured extensively, visiting Scotland and France, where he was arrested by the French whilst painting a warship in Antibes harbour. Presumably he convinced them he was simply an artist and no spy and was released!
“At Hamwood he planted the Pine Walk ca 1860, at a time when trees were becoming available from across the globe particularly from North America and the Himalayas. A Monterey Pine still stands among various Cedars, Sequoia and large Pines lining this Walk.“
Charles [III] William Hamilton (1802-1880), photograph courtesy of Hamwood house website.
The 3rd Duke of Leinster died in 1874 and then Charles William continued as Agent for Charles William FitzGerald (1819-1887) 4th Duke of Leinster. and then for Gerald FitzGerald (1851-1893) the 5th Duke. Charles told us that the wife of this Duke, Hermione, daughter of William Ernest Duncombe, 1st Earl Feversham of Ryedale, County York in England, was rather wild!
The lives of the Hamiltons of Hamwood were closely tied to the Fitzgeralds of Carton. Charles told us of the next generation of Fitzgeralds: the first son was mentally unstable and unable to manage the property, the second son died in the first world war, so the third son, Edward FitzGerald (1892-1976), 7th Duke of Leinster, inherited when his brother died in 1916. The oldest son, the unstable 6th Earl, died in 1922.
Charles and Letitia had several children and the artistic bent passed to their grandchildren. Their heir was another Charles, Charles Robert (1846-1913). He married Louisa Caroline Elizabeth Brooke, daughter of Francis Richard Brooke and Henrietta Monck. The Hamwood website tells us Charles:
“… married Louise Brooke in 1874 who had 10 children, of whom 2 boys died in infancy, one being the first born and heir. The two chestnut trees in the Lawn field seen from the Trail were planted in their memory. There were 6 daughters among whom were the exceptional artists Letitia and Eva, and of the boys, Gerald Charles the future heir, and Freddie.“
Charles Robert IV 1846-1913, photograph courtesy of Hamwood house website.He is probably seated with his wife Louisa Caroline Elizabeth née Brooke.
The website tells us of Charles Robert’s development of the garden:
“Charles Robert was educated at home by a governess and at the age of 17 he went to Trinity to study law. He was a member of the Kildare Street Club and was passionate about the garden at Hamwood, where he transformed the Walled Garden, and in order to create an impact he employed a head gardener from Kew Gardens in London. He gained a great deal of help from his large family, particularly Connie (Constance) [b. 1883 and did not marry], who took up landscaping professionally.“
“Charles Robert travelled with his wife to the continent frequently and at times further afield to visit relations in Canada near Montreal. He corresponded with Kew Gardens in London and in particular with Sir Frederick Moore at The Royal Botanical Gardens Glasnevin. Sir Frederick was a Keeper of Glasnevin from 1879-1922. Charles IV and F.W. Moore became well known to each other and traded extensively in exotic and rare plants and trees discovered by the ‘Plant hunters’ of the day.“
The Hamwood website has great entries about the daughters Eva and Letitia:
“Eva Henrietta Hamilton (1876-1960) was born and reared at Hamwood, as was her sister, Letitia. One of five sisters and two brothers, only one sister, Lily, got married, with Eva and Letitia becoming established artists. Both fought for recognition in a society where art was considered as a male preserve and women artists were not treated as equals. Eva was an exceptional portrait artist having studied under Sir William Orpen ( 1878-1931) at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (DMSA) which she entered in 1907 at the age of 31 and later, under Henry Tonks, at the Slade in London. Many of her portraits were commissioned by members of her extended family and their social circle. Normally painted against a simple background, Eva’s skill was in reading the character of her sitters and transferring that on to her canvas. With the coming of independence in Ireland in 1922, the market for these type of portraits was much reduced and Eva switched her attention to landscapes which, although not particularly innovative in their production, were attractive and well observed.“
Self Portrait, c.1906 by Eva Henrietta Hamilton (1876-1960), courtesy of Whyte’s auction Sept 2009.Portrait of Rose Dorothy Brooke, Cousin of the Artist 1913 by Eva Henrietta Hamilton, photograph courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.
The website continues:
“Eva was the first of the sisters to exhibit her work, showing a portrait and a figure subject in 1898 at the annual exhibition of the Water Colour Society of Ireland (WCSI). Watercolours were then seen as an acceptable medium for women artists. Her works were shown in London, Paris and Brussels as well as the Irish International Exhibition in Dublin in 1907. She first exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) in Dublin in 1904 where she continued to exhibit until 1945.
With the death of their mother in 1922, Eva assumed much of the housekeeping role and had less time to devote to her painting. The sisters lived together for most of their lives, in their later years in a series of large rented houses. Among these was Fonthill in Palmerstown, now the offices of the Ballymore construction company. In 1946, they made their final move to Woodville in Lucan, an eighteenth century house designed by the architect, Richard Castle (1690-1751). Fondly known as ‘the Aunts’ nest’ they continued to give memorable parties in their rather eccentric lifestyles. A tree with many sweeping branches stood in the garden from where old umbrellas hung, and in a rather artistic way resembled a tree with huge drooping fruit!“
I found a painting of the house online from a sales catalogue of DeVeres auctioneers, by Letitia.
The Hamilton Family at Woodville House, Lucan County Dublin by Letitia Hamilton.
The website also has an entry about Letitia:
“Letitia Marion Hamilton (1878-1964) was a talented and prolific landscape artist who, like her sister, studied under Orpen in the DMSA. Compared to Eva, she remained less influenced by him and more by the works of European artists that she saw during her time abroad. An inveterate traveller, she made trips to France, Belgium and Holland before the war in Europe curtailed these visits... With the cessation of hostilities, Letitia’s travels recommenced with trips abroad, often accompanied by Eva. During the 1920s, she travelled widely in France, Italy and Yugoslavia. She visited Venice for the first time in the autumn of 1923 and during the 1930s made regular visits to the city and northern Italian lakes.
“…they both blazed a trail for women artists in Ireland at a time when it was dominated by their male counterparts such as Sean Keating, Paul Henry and Jack Yeats. Eva and Letitia’s images of pre-war Europe and scenes from Irish towns and villages preserve a way of life that has now vanished for ever.“
Bantry Bay with a Sailing Boat Seen Through Woodland c. 1940s by Letitia Marion Hamilton (1878-1964), photograph courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.
Letitia won an Olympic medal in the 1948 Olympics, the only Irish medal winner that year, for Art featuring sport! Unfortunately that’s no longer an Olympic “sport.”
Their brother Francis Charles (1877-1961) was heir to Hamwood. He studied agriculture in England and acted as Land Agent for some estates in England before returning to Hamwood after the death of his father in 1913. There he continued in the position of Land Agent to the Duke of Leinster: from 1916 he would have been Agent for Edward FitzGerald (1892-1976), 7th Duke of Leinster. Mark Bence-Jones tells us that
“[The] 7th Duke was unable to live here having, as a young man, signed away his expectations to the “50 Shilling Tailor” Sir Henry Mallaby-Deeley, in return for ready money and an annuity. As a result of this unhappy transaction, Carton had eventually to be sold. It was bought 1949 by 2nd Lord Brocket…” [4]
Francis Charles [V] Hamilton (1877-1961), photograph courtesy of Hamwood house website.
A distant cousin from the family who moved to Hawkesbury in Canada, Violet Travers Hamilton, travelled to England to “do the season,” and Francis Charles was instructed to escort her. He fell in love and they married.
The Hamwood website tells us that:
“Violet died prematurely in 1947. A few years later Francis Charles married Rosamund Bauer who built up Hamwood’s dairy herd and helped see the estate through some difficult times during post war depression... Francis Charles died in 1961 and left the estate to his son Charles.“
Charles (1918-2005) was called “The Major” due to his time in the Indian army, and he served in World War II. Like his father, he also acted as Land Agent to some properties in England before returning to Hamwood. He returned to Ireland and lived in Galway where he was agent for Clonbrock, before returning to Hamwood in 1963, following the death of his father. He also acted as Land Agent for the Conynghams of Slane for a period. Although Carton was sold by the 7th Earl he continued to work as Agent. He may have met my grandfather, as my Grandfather John Baggot of Aghaboe and Abbeyleix in County Laois kept cattle there at some point!
Charles [VI] Hamilton (1918-2005) was called “The Major,” photograph courtesy of Hamwood house website.
In 1958 Charles married Anne Spicer from Carnew Castle, County Wicklow, where her family moved from England after the second world war. Her family had ties to Ireland, where they holidayed when she was a child, and William Wellesley-Pole (1763-1845) 3rd Earl of Mornington, of Dangan Castle in County Meath (now a ruin), the older brother of the Duke of Wellington, was an ancestor.
Charles took an interest in the garden and added to the plant collection and he ran the farm and bred cattle. Charles, who now lives in the house and showed us around, is their son. He continues the upkeep of the house, gardens and farm. He has created a woodland trail for visitors, and runs a seasonal courtyard café, Café des artistes. The family host events and have opened allotments. One can buy membership to have regular access to the gardens and café.
[4] Bence-Jones, Mark. 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.
Today I am continuing to publish the portraits I have gathered so far. I’ll be adding to this list as I go. Eventually I hope to create a new website with a virtual gallery of portraits. Maybe we can find a home for an in-person museum at some point! Wouldn’t the Bank of Ireland on College Green, the former Parliament House, make a wonderful building for a National Portrait Gallery?
Also, I notice that we can welcome a new property to the Section 482 list:
Millbrook House Kilkea, Beaconstown, Castledermot, Co. Kildare R14Y319 Open dates in 2024: May 17- 31, Aug 12-31, Sept 7-16, Dec 17-31, 9am-1pm Fee: Adult €8, student/OAP/groups €5
I look forward to visiting!
I usually like to publish a new post every Thursday, but I’m publishing one today as I’ll hopefully publish another tomorrow! I still have eighteen properties I have already visited to write up, so I’m working away. Also I’m gearing up for Heritage week August 12-20th when I hope to visit as many properties as possible. All of the Section 482 properties, except those listed as “Tourist Accommodation” should be open, so I hope you get to visit some as well!
F
Edward Fitzgerald of New Park, County Wexford (1770-1807), Revolutionary Engraver W.T. Annis After Thomas Nugent, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.Gerald Fitzgerald (1487-1534) 9th Earl of Kildare, courtesy of Bodleian Libraries.
Gerald Fitzgerald (1487-1534) 9th Earl of Kildare was the son of Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare and Alison Eustace. He married, first, Elizabeth Zouche (d. 1517).
Their daughter Catherine married Jenico Preston, 3rd Viscount Gormanston, and secondly, Richard St. Lawrence 6th Baron Howth. Their daughter Cecilia married Cahir Mac Art Boy Kavanagh, Baron of Ballyanne, The MacMorrough. Their daughter Ellis married James Fleming 9th Lord Slane. Their son Thomas Fitzgerald (1513-1536/7) became 10th Earl of Kildare.
Thomas FitzGerald (1513-1536/7) 10th Earl of Kildare, “Silken Thomas,” c. 1530 attributed to Anthony Van Dyck.He had no offspring.
Gerald Fitzgerald (1487-1534) 9th Earl of Kildare married secondly Elizabeth daughter of Thomas Grey 1st Marquess of Dorset, and they had several more children. Their daughter Elizabeth (1528-1589/90) married first Anthony Browne, Joint Keeper of Windsor Great Park on 29 January 1528/29, with his brother 1st Earl of Southampton. She married secondly Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln. Gerald 9th Earl and Elizabeth had a son Gerald FitzGerald (1525-1585) who became 1st/11th Earl of Kildare. He was called ‘The Wizard Earl’. He held the office of Master of Horse to Cosimo de’ Medici, Duke of Florence.
A younger brother of the Wizard Earl, Edward (1528-1590), was the father of Gerald FitzGerald (d. 1611/12) 14th Earl of Kildare.
The 11th Earl, the Wizard Earl, married his cousin Mabel Browne. Their daughter Elizabeth (d. 1617) married Donough O’Brien 3rd Earl of Thomond. The 11th Earl’s daughter Mary (d. 1610) married Christopher Nugent 5th Baron Delvin.
A son of the 11th Earl, Henry (1562-1597) became the 12th Earl and was also known as “Henry of the Battleaxes.” He had only daughters so his brother became the 13th Earl. The 12th Earl’s daughter Elizabeth married Lucas Plunkett 1st Earl of Fingall. His daughter Bridget married first Ruaidhri O’Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, then Nicholas Barnewall, 1st Viscount Barnewall of Kingsland.
William FitzGerald (d. 1599) 3rd/13th Earl of Kildare was another son of Gerald FitzGerald, 1st/11th Earl of Kildare. He died circa April 1599, lost at sea while crossing from England to Ireland, unmarried. The title went to his uncle Edward’s (1528-1590) son Gerald FitzGerald (d. 1611/12) who became 14th Earl of Kildare.
Gerald FitzGerald (d. 1611/12) 14th Earl of Kildare married Elizabeth daughter of Christopher Nugent, 5th Baron Delvin, who gave birth to Gerald FitzGerald (1611-1620) who became 15th Earl of Kildare. The 15th Earl died young. The title passed the 14th Earl’s younger brother’s son, George FitzGerald (1611/12-1660) who became 16th Earl of Kildare.
The 16th Earl married Joan Boyle (1611-1656/7), daughter of Richard Boyle 1st Earl of Cork. Their daughter Elizabeth (d. 1697/98) married Callaghan MacCarty, 3rd Earl of Clancarty. Their daughter Eleanor (d. 1681) married Walter Borrowes, 2nd Bt of Grangemellon, County Kildare. Their son Wentworth FitzGerald (1634-1663/64) became 17th Earl of Kildare.
The 17th Earl married Elizabeth daughter of John Holles, 2nd Earl of Clare.
Elizabeth FitzGerald, née Holles, Countess of Kildare, 1660, by John Michael Wright, wife of Wentworth Fitzgerald 17th Earl of Kildare.
Elizabeth and the 17th Earl of Kildare had a son, John FitzGerald (1661-1707) who became 18th Earl of Kildare. The 18th Earl married Mary O’Brien (1662-1683), daughter of Henry O’Brien (d. 1678) , MP for Clare. She gave birth to a son but he died in his first year. The 18th Earl then married Elizabeth daughter Richard Jones, 1st and last Earl of Ranelagh but they had no children.
Elizabeth née Jones (d. 1758), Countess of Kildare wife of 18th Earl, daughter of Richard Jones 1st Earl of Ranelagh by Peter Lely.Traditionally identified as Lady Elizabeth Jones, Countess of Kildare (1665-1758), English school c. 1680 courtesy Christies Irish Sale 2003
The title passed to a cousin, Robert Fitzgerald (1675-1744), who became 19th Earl of Kildare. He was the son of Robert Fitzgerald (d. 1697/98), a younger son of George Fitzgerald 16th Earl of Kildare. The 19th Earl’s sister Mary (1666-1697) married John Allen, 1st Viscount Allen of County Kildare.
Robert, 19th Earl of Kildare (1675-1744) after Frederick Graves, courtesy of Adam’s auction 15th Oct 2019. Robert FitzGerald was married to Mary O’Brien, daughter of William O’Brien 3rd Earl of Inchiquin. They had 12 children but only 2 survived to majority. They had lived quietly at Kilkea Castle, near Athy, but in 1739 Robert bought back the lease of Carton, in Maynooth, for £8,000. He commissioned Richard Castle, the eminent architect, to reconstruct the existing house. In the pediment over the South front, previously the main entrance, is the coat of arms of Robert FitzGerald and his wife Mary O’Brien. Robert also employed the La Franchini brothers to construct the wonderful ceiling in the Gold Salon. The additions to Carton were not finished when Robert died in 1744 but he left instructions in his will to finish the restoration according to his plans. A monument dedicated to Robert FitzGerald is situated in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.(This portrait hung in Carton until 1949 when the Fitzgerald family sold the estate. It hung in Kilkea Castle until 1960. It was in the FitzGerald family collection in Oxfordshire until 2013.)
Robert FitzGerald 19th Earl of Kildare married Mary O’Brien, daughter of William O’Brien 3rd Earl of Inchiquin. Their daughter Margaretta (d. 1766) married Wills Hill, 1st Earl of Hillsborough, Co. Down, 1st Marquess of Downshire.
Margaretta Fitzgerald (d. 1766) Countess of Hillsborough, daughter of Robert Fitzgerald, 19th Earl of Kildare, attributed to Charles Jervas, courtesy of Fonsie Mealy auction.She married Wills Hill, 1st Earl of Hillsborough, Co. Down, 1st Marquess of Downshire.
A son of Robert 19th Earl and Mary was Richard Fitzgerald who lived at Mount Ophaly in County Kildare and married Margaret (d. 1763) daughter of James King, 4th Baron Kingston. Their other son was James FitzGerald (1722-1773) who became 20th Earl of Kildare and later, 1st Duke of Leinster.
James Fitzgerald (1722-1773) 20th Earl of Kildare later 1st Duke of Leinster married Emilia Mary née Lennox (1731-1814), daughter of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond. They had many children, including William Robert Fitzgerald (1749-1804), 2nd Duke of Leinster.
Thomas Fitzgerald (d. 1730/31) was the son of Gerald Fitzgerald (d. 1689) 17th Knight of Glin and Joan daughter of Donough O’Brien of Carrigogunnell Castle, County Limerick. Gerald 17th Knight held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Limerick City in 1661, and High Sheriff of Limerick in 1680. He fought in the Battle of Windmill Hill in 1689, after the Siege of Derry. He was Member of Parliament (M.P.) for County Limerick in 1689, in King James II Patriot Parliament.
Thomas Fitzgerald (d. 1730/31) 18th Knight of Glin obtained a Certificate in 1701 for not having taken part in the wars of King James II, although he was an active supporter of Jacobite cause. In 1713/14 he was one of the Catholic nobility of Ireland licensed to carry arms. [1] His wife Mary née Fitzgerald of Ballymartyr gave birth to, among other children, the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd Knights of Glin. A daughter, Catherine (d. 1759) married first Thomas Freke Crosbie and second, Robert Fitzgerald, 17th Knight of Kerry.
John Fitzgerald (d. 1737) 19th Knight of Glin courtesy of The Knights of Glin: A Geraldine family, by J. Anthony Gaughan (1978).Edmond Fitzgerald (d. 1763) 20th Knight of Glin, a brother of the 19th, 21st and 22nd Knights of Glin.Richard Fitzgerald (1710-1775) 21st Knight of Glin, by Heroman Van Der Mijn, photograph courtesy of Glin Castle website.He conformed to the Protestant faith. He had only daughters so the title passed to his brother.Thomas Fitzgerald, 22nd Knight of Glin By Philip Hussey courtesy ofhttps//:theirishaesthete.com/tag/knight-of-glin/, Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81941595
Thomas Fitzgerald (d. 1781) 22nd Knight of Glin married Mary Bateman. She gave birth to his heir, John Bateman FitzGerald (d. 1803) who became 23rd Knight of Glin. His wife Margaretta Maria Gwyn (d. 1801) gave birth to their heir, John Fraunceis FitzGerald (1791-1854) 24th Knight of Glin.
Glin Castle, photograph courtesy of Glin Castle website.The picture of Colonel John Bateman FitzGerald (1765-1803) the 23rd Knight of Glin, the builder of the house, wearing the uniform of his volunteer regiment the Royal Glin Artillery. In his portrait, which hangs over the Portland stone chimneypiece, he is proudly pointing at his cannon.Photograph courtesy of Glin castle website.The portrait is Margaretta Maria Gwyn (1769-1801), wife of John Bateman Fitzgerald (1765-1803) 23rd Knightof Glin, I believe.John Fraunceis Fitzgerald (1803-1854), “Knight of the Women,” the 24th Knight, photograph courtesy of the castle website.
As well as the Earls of Kildare, who became Dukes of Leinster, and Knights of Glin, Fitzgeralds were also Lords of the Decies, and Knights of Kerry, and Earls of Desmond.
Maurice FitzGerald (d. 1729) 14th Knight of Kerry fought for King James II in the Battle of the Boyne. He married Elizabeth Crosbie, who gave birth to their heir, John FitzGerald (d. 1741) who became 15th Knight of Kerry.
John FitzGerald (d. 1741) 15th Knight of Kerry had a son Maurice (d. 1780) who became 16th Knight of Kerry, and a daughter Elizabeth who married Richard Townsend of Castletownshend in County Cork.
Maurice (d. 1780) 16th Knight of Kerry married Anna Maria, daughter of William FitzMaurice, 2nd Earl of Kerry. They did not have children, and Maurice’s uncle Robert (1716-1781) became the 17th Knight of Kerry.
2025 Diary of Irish Historic Houses (section 482 properties)
To purchase an A5 size 2025 Diary of Historic Houses (opening times and days are not listed so the calendar is for use for recording appointments and not as a reference for opening times) send your postal address to jennifer.baggot@gmail.com along with €20 via this payment button. The calendar of 84 pages includes space for writing your appointments as well as photographs of the historic houses. The price includes postage within Ireland. Postage to U.S. is a further €10 for the A5 size calendar, so I would appreciate a donation toward the postage – you can click on the donation link.
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Help me to pay the entrance fee to one of the houses on this website. This site is created purely out of love for the subject and I receive no payment so any donation is appreciated!
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I have been working to save all my photographs on USB sticks so do not have a new property to post, although I have lots to write up. I am therefore reposting this entry.
On the map above:
blue: places to visit that are not section 482
purple: section 482 properties
red: accommodation
yellow: less expensive accommodation for two
orange: “whole house rental” i.e. those properties that are only for large group accommodations or weddings, e.g. 10 or more people.
green: gardens to visit
grey: ruins
Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow are the counties that make up the Leinster region.
As well as places to visit, I have listed separately places to stay, because some of them are worth visiting – you may be able to visit for afternoon tea or a meal.
For places to stay, I have made a rough estimate of prices at time of publication:
€ = up to approximately €150 per night for two people sharing (in yellow on map);
www.burtownhouse.ie Open dates in 2025: June 4-7, 11-14, 18-21, 25-28, July 2-5, 9-12, 16-19, 23-26, 30-31, August 1-2, 6-9, 13-24, 27-30, Sept 3-6, 10am-2pm
Fee: adult €10, OAP/student/child €5
Burtown House and Gardens, Athy, Co Kildare, photograph by Sonder Visuals, 2022, Courtesy Failte Ireland.
The Historic Houses of Ireland website tells us:
“Ballytore, in County Kildare, was a stronghold of the Irish Quakers and the centre of a sizeable Quaker community. One of their members, Robert Power, built Burtown House as the hub of a two thousand acre farming enterprise in the 1720s. His Georgian villa, shown on early maps as “Power’s Grove,” was only one room deep so wings were added later in the century. These were subsequently removed, though their faint outlines can still be identified and Burtown was further extended in the early nineteenth century when a full height bow was added on the garden front.
“The new extension provided a bow ended room on the garden front, a large bedroom above and a grand staircase, lit by a tall round-headed window. Pretty plasterwork in the manner of James Wyatt was also introduced at the time, most notably in an arched alcove in the bow-ended room, which is likely to have been the original dining room. The alcove is filled with a shallow fan, and delightfully cursive sprays of vine leaves, and is flanked by a pair of classical vases on pilasters of foliage with naive Corinthian capitals.
“Burtown has never been sold in all its three hundred years. The house passed from the Power family to the Houghtons and thence to the Wakefields, who gave it a new roof with widely projecting eaves in the early nineteenth century. They also lengthened the sash windows, installed a new front door with a fanlight in a deep recess, and carried out a number of other alterations.
“When Mr. Wakefield was killed playing cricket Burtown passed to his sister, who had married a fellow Quaker from County Tipperary, William Fennell. Their son, William James was a keen horseman but “was asked to leave the Quaker congregation because of his fondness for driving a carriage with two uniformed flunkeys on the back”.
“Today Burtown is in the midst of two hundred acres of parkland, including ten acres of lush flower, vegetable and woodland gardens with many fine walks. The house has now been home to five generations of the Fennell family, and to the acclaimed botanical artist and illustrator, Wendy Walsh. Coincidentally, the leading Irish botanical artist of the early twentieth century, Lydia Shackleton, also came from the same small Quaker community.” [1]
“Donadea Forest Park includes Donadea Castle and estate, the former home of the Aylmer family up until 1935. There are many historical features including the remains of the castle and walled gardens, St. Peter’s church, an ice house and boat house. The Lime tree avenue planted in the 19th century formed the original entrance to the estate. Another feature of the park is the 9/11 Memorial, a scaled replica of the twin towers carved in limestone. The small lake is brimming with ducks, waterhens and has a beautiful display of water lilies in the summer. There is a café open throughout the year.“
In 1581 Gerald Aylmer, (1548-1634), Knight, of Donadea, son of George Aylmer, of Cloncurry, and grandson of Richard Aylmer, of Lyons, built a new tower in Donadea, not fully completed until 1624 and it is now the oldest part of the Castle. [2]
In 1626, he repaired the medieval Church in Donadea and built a new extension in which he established his family burial plot. In the extension he also constructed an Altar Tomb monument as a burial memorial for his family. Gerald was titled by the Crown and became the first Baronet of Donadea.
The Aylmers were connected with the various conflicts and rebellions over the next two centuries. During the wars of the 1640s, Sir Andrew, 2nd Baronet (c. 1610-c. 1671), supported the rebels and was imprisoned at the beginning of the war.
Although he was a brother-in-law of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, there were no favours granted to him. The Aylmers rebuilt the castle after it was burned by James Butler’s troops.
In 1689, after the battle of the Boyne, Lady Helen Aylmer, widow of the 3rd Baronet, (born Plunkett, daughter of Luke Plunkett 3rd Earl of Fingall) was in charge of the Castle. She was outlawed due to her support for James II, but she managed to hold on to the Castle and lands under the terms of the Treaty of Limerick.
In 1736, Sir Gerald, 5th Baronet, died leaving an only son FitzGerald who became the 6th Baronet.
He was only one year old when his father died and was subsequently raised by his mother (Ellice or Ellen, daughter of Gerald Aylmer, 2nd Baronet of Balrath, County Meath) and her relatives who were members of the established church. FitzGerald subsequently conformed to the established religion. In 1773, he built a new house in front of the Castle and incorporated the Tower in his new residence.
Gerald, 8th Baronet, held the lands of Donadea between 1816 and 1878 and he is accredited with most of the construction work that is visible in Donadea demesne today. He began his building program in the 1820s by re-routing the roads away from the Castle and the construction of a high wall enclosing the demesne. Gate lodges were then built at all the entrances.
He also built a new grand entrance known as the Lime Avenue.
In 1827 he completely remodelled the front of the Castle which gave it an attractive bow shaped appearance. It has been suggested that he employed the renowned architect Richard Morrison to design this new structure.
The older cabin-type dwellings close to the castle were demolished and new estate houses built at the Range. To the west of the Castle he built an eight acre area of gardens and paddocks, surrounded and sub-divided by walls. In the Castle yard he built dwellings for staff and elaborative farm buildings. He also constructed the artificial lake and the Ice House. Large areas of the demesne were planted and, by the time of his death, Donadea demesne was listed as one of the finest parkland settings in the county.
Outside the demesne he was involved in numerous construction projects including the famous ‘Aylmer Folly’, viz. the Tower on the summit of the hill of Allen. (see [2]) Sir Gerald’s grandson Justin, 10th Baronet, died unmarried in 1885. His sister Caroline inherited the castle and much of the demesne, while the baronetcy passed to a cousin. Caroline Maria Aylmer, who was the daughter of Sir Gerald George Aylmer, 9th Baronet, was the last Aylmer to live at Donadea. She died in 1935, leaving the estate to the Church of Ireland who, in turn, passed it bequeathed to the Irish state.
The castle remained unoccupied and its roof was removed in the late 1950s.
For more on the Aylmer family, see The Landed Gentry & Aristocracy of County Kildare by Turtle Bunbury & Art Kavanagh (published by Irish Family Names, 2004).
Farmersvale House, County Kildare, photograph from National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
Open dates in 2025: Jan 6-21, Mar 3-6, July 18-31, Aug 1-26, 9.30am-1.30pm
Fee: adult €5, student/child/OAP €3, (Irish Georgian Society members free)
7. Griesemount House, Ballitore, Co KildareR14 WF64– section 482
www.griesemounthouse.ie Open dates in 2025: Feb 9-28, May 11-30, June 23-30, July 1-4, Aug 16-24, 2pm-6pm
Fee: adult €6, OAP/child/student €5
The Historic Houses of Ireland website tells us:
“In 1685, the village of Ballitore on the river Griese in the southern corner of County Kildare became the first planned Quaker village in England and Ireland. The Shackleton family from Yorkshire settled here some decades later and besides establishing wool and corn mills, founded the famous village school in 1726. Thanks to an entry by Mary (née Shackleton) Leadbetter in her ‘Annals of Ballitore’, we know that the first stone of Griesemount House (also known as Ballitore Hill House) was laid on Midsummer Day in 1817. While the three-bay side elevation is symmetrical, the two-bay front façade with the front door under the left window is quite modest, as was often the case with Quaker houses. It was built by George Shackleton, who had grown up in Griesebank House beside the now-ruinous Ballitore Mills on the river just below. He married Hannah Fisher and they raised 13 children in the new house, including the noted botanical artist Lydia Shackleton, the first artist-in-residence at the Botanic Gardens in Dublin. One of her first recorded sketches is of the house. The family lived here until the early 20th century; the house then changed hands several times. It was briefly owned and restored by the mother of mezzosoprano Frederica von Stade, and has recently come into new ownership.” [3]
Open in 2025: May 17-31, Aug 12-31, Sept 7-16, Dec 17-31, 9am-1pm
Fee: adult €8, student/OAP/child €5
The Historic Houses of Ireland website tells us:
“The forebears of the Greenes of Millbrook House in the far south of County Kildare lived at Kilmanaghan Castle and Moorestown Castle [now a ruin] in County Tipperary. A great grandson of the family patriarch Captain Godfrey Greene moved up to settle near Carlow. William Nassau Greene (1714-1781) was a businessman and magistrate, and built a residence known as Kilkea Lodge (c. 1740) adjacent to the ancient Fitzgerald seat at Kilkea Castle, where his descendants are still resident. A younger son, John (1751-1819), who became High Sheriff of Kildare and Captain of the Castledermot Yeomanry, built a neighbouring house at Millbrook with the help of his father. It was completed in 1776 with its attendant mill and millrace off the River Griese, which had replaced an earlier mill in the nearby Kilkea Castle demesne. The house passed through generations of the family until finally the mill ceased operating under Thomas Greene (1843-1900), a poet and author who was made High Sheriff of Kildare in 1895. The house was left by inheritance to one of the cousins from Kilkea Lodge, father of the present owner. Throughout WWII, he had served as a frontline doctor in the 4th Indian Division in North Africa, Italy and Greece, and returned with his wife in 1950 to an utterly neglected house. Millbrook is still in the process of being restored to its former state.” [5]
Open dates in 2025: Jan 13-17, 20-24, 27-31, Feb 4-7, 10, May 1-2, 6-18, 26-30, July 1-11, Aug 16-24, 8am-12 noon
Fee: adult €6, OAP/student/child €3
16. Steam Museum Lodge Park Heritage Centre, Lodge Park, Straffan, Co. Kildare– section 482
www.steam-museum.com Open dates in 2025: Apr 19-21, 26-27, May 3-5, 10-11, 17-18, 24-25, 31, June 12, 14-15, 18, 21-22, 28-29, July 5-6, 12-13, 19-20, 26-27, Aug 2-4, 9-10, 16-24, 30-31, Sept 6-7, 13-14, 20-21, 27-28, Oct 5,12, 19, 26-27, 1pm-5pm
Fee: Garden and Museum, adult/OAP €15, €20 with steam, student/child free
Lodge Park, photograph courtesy of Historic Houses of Ireland.
The Historic Houses of Ireland website tells us about Lodge Park:
“Lodge Park, overlooking a fine stretch of the River Liffey, was built by Hugh Henry who had married his cousin, Lady Anne Leeson from Russborough [daughter of Joseph Leeson 1st Earl of Milltown]. Completed in about 1776, the centre block forms the core of an unusual composition with curved quadrants leading to a pair of two-storey wings, both attached to two further pavilions by curtain walls to form a unique elongated ensemble of five interconnected buildings, “perhaps the most extreme example of the Irish Palladian style.”
“Henry’s father was the merchant banker Hugh Henry, who had purchased the entire Straffan estate with 7,000 acres. Lodge Park was long thought to be the last building by Nathaniel Clements, who died in 1777, but has now been attributed to John Ensor. The hipped roof is surrounded by a granite-topped parapet, and the walls are finished in rough cast, with ashlar block quoins and granite window surrounds with detailing. It is Ireland’s best exampe of concatenation, having curtain walls attached to the main house, leading to two pavilions, attached by two gateways to two further buildings. Hugh’s son Arthur built the Victorian walled garden, now beautifully restored and open to the public, as well as the fine gate lodge. The house was bought by the Guinness family in 1948.
The walled garden has been beautifully restored while a disused Victorian church has been re-erected in the grounds to house a magnificent Steam Museum with early inventor’s models, scientific engineering models and historic works of mechanical art. The Power Hall displays six huge stationary steam engines, which are run on special occasions.” https://www.ihh.ie/index.cfm/houses/house/name/Lodge%20Park
“Balyna House lies to the south of Moyvalley Bridge over the Grand Canal, about half way between Enfield and Kinnegad on the old Dublin — Galway road. The house lies in the centre of the estates 500 acres. Balyna Estate was granted in 1574 by Queen Elizabeth I to the O’Moore family because they had lost their land in Laois and were reinstated in Balyna.
“Major Ambrose O’Ferrall married Letitia More in 1796. Their eldest son Richard More O’Ferrall was born in 1797. [ I don’t think this is correct. I believe that Letitia More married Richard O’Ferrall (1729-1790) and that their son was Ambrose More O’Ferrall who married Ann Baggot daughter of John Baggot of Castle Baggot, Rathcoole. Richard More O’Ferrall (1797-1880) was their son]. He is reputed for having been responsible for the erection of the Celtic cross which now stands to the rear of the house. It is said that this Cross, along with another was transported from Europe, the two being encased in wooden crates and towed behind the ship on a barge. Legend has it that one was lost at sea, but its twin survives to this day.“
p. 30. [More O’Ferrall] “The ancestral home of the O’More family, the land having been granted to them by Eliz I as a small compensation for their forfeited territories in Laois… A new house was built 1815, which was burnt 1878; this was replaced by the present house, built 1880s. It is slightly Italianate, with a Mansard roof carried on a bracket cornice; of 2 storeys with a dormered attic. Entrance front with two 3 sided bows and a single-storey Ionic portico, 5 by garden front with pediment, the windows on either side being larger than those in the centre. Imposing staircase with handrail of decorative ironwork; ceiling of staircase hall has modillion cornice. Chapel in garden. Sold 1960s, subsequently owned by Bewleys Oriental Cafe Ltd” [6]
The website continues: “The first real record of any house dates from 1815 when Ambrose built a large mansion. That Georgian house was burned down and replaced in the 1880’s by the present Italianate mansion.
“The estate was a refuge for bishops and priests for centuries and Dr. Forstall, Bishop of Kildare, ordained priests here in the year 1678 — 1680. For this loyalty, the family was granted Papal permission to build a private Chapel on the estate (located to the rear of the house) and up to approximately 1914 Sunday Mass was offered. It was only used intermittently after that, with the last occasion being in the summer of 1959.
“The estate remained in the More O’Ferrall family until May 1960 when it was sold to the Bewley family (of Café fame). The wonderful milk and cream in the Cafes came from the pedigree Jersey herd at Balyna. In 1984 the estate was sold to Justin Keating; it was sold again in 1990-1991 to George Grant. Moyvalley was developed into a Hotel & Golf Resort in 2007.
“Balyna House consists of 10 luxurious ensuite bedrooms, 3 reception rooms to cater for up to 100 guests, Balyna Bar and Cellar Bar. The house is available exclusively for private events and weddings.
“In 2014 the resort was purchased by the late Oliver Brady (well-known horse trainer from Co. Monaghan) with his business partner a well know entrepreneur Rita Shah owner of Shabra Recycling Plastic’s Group, Thai business woman Jane Tripipatkul and her son Mark McCarthy who are based in London.
“It is likely that several Irish and European military campaigns were discussed and argued over at Balyna, as apart from the fierce-some O’More’s and the well documented Irish battles in which they took part, several later generations saw service in European armies. All three sons of Richard and Letitia O’Ferrall saw service abroad. The eldest, Ambrose, and his youngest brother, Charles, rose to the rank of Major in the Royal Sardinian Army, while the middle brother, James attained the rank of Major General in the Austrian Hohenzollern Army.“
Incidentally, there was a Bagot family of “Castle Baggot” in Rathcoole, and neither son had children so all the Bagot property, which included land around Smithfield in Dublin and extensive property in County Carlow, passed to the daughter, Ann, who married the above-mentioned Ambrose More O’Ferrall.
“As a digression, it is worth noting that Rory O’ More’s eldest daughter, Anne, married Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan and famous military leader. His father in law was the man behind the Irish Rebellion of 1641.
“King James had adopted the policy of remodelling the Irish army so as to turn it from a Protestant-led force to a Roman Catholic led one, and Sarsfield, whose family were Roman Catholics, was selected to assist in this reorganisation. Colonel Sarsfield went to Ireland with Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell , who was appointed commander-in-chief by the king.“
Barberstown Castle, photograph courtesy of barberstowncastle.ie
Mark Bence-Jones writes (1988): p. 31. “A tower-house with a long plain 2 storey wing attached. In 1814, the residence of Jos Atkinson, in 1837, of Capt Robinson.”
The website gives a timeline:
“1288: Nicholas Barby built the original Castle towards the end of the 13th Century on the land which was originally owned by the Great Norman family the Fitzgerald’s.
“1310: The Castle was built as a fortress to protect the village and people of Barberstown from the attack of the rebellious Ui Faolain tribesmen who tried to burn the town (among others) in 1310. It has traditionally found itself in the middle of political struggle and local wars which generally resulted in change of ownership.
“Retaining Ownership: Some of its previous owners have gone to extreme lengths to retain ownership. Just how far some went is illustrated by the story of the body that is said to be interred in the tower of the Castle Keep (the original part of the Castle). His fate can be explained by reading the lease on the Castle at the time in which was written that the lease would expire when he was buried underground (ie. his death). The ending of a lease normally resulted in an increase in rent so after the man’s death he was buried in the tower above the earth which ensured the family continued to hold the lease to the Castle!
“The walls of the Castle Keep walls slope inwards so as to prevent an enemy getting out of range by closing up to the building. Ironically however the rooms on the upper floors of the Castle are larger than those on the ground level as their walls are somewhat thinner.
“Penal Times: The neighbouring village of Straffan is named after St. Straffan, one of the early sixth century missionaries. Its close linkages with the local town and people were proven when an underground tunnel from the Church in Straffan to the Castle was found in 1996 during renovations. A ‘Priest’s Hole’ can be also found in the Castle which was originally made to protect the priests of the town during Penal Times.
“1630: William Sutton of one of the most important families in the area owned the property. The population of Barberstown at the time was 36!
“1689: Lord Kingston [I’m not sure who they mean here – Robert King (d. 1693) was the 2nd Baron of Kingston at the time] had his ownership confiscated by Earl of Tyrconnell after the accession to power of James 11 of England. It was around this time that it fell into the less glamorous hands of the Commissioners of the Revenue who let it out to a Roger Kelly for £102 annual rent in the late 1600s.
“1703: It was purchased by Bartholomew Van Homreigh in 1703 for £1,033 the sixth owner in six years. At the time the property was 335 acres. Van Homreigh had been mayor of Dublin in 1697 and his greatest ‘claim to fame’ lies in the fact that he was the father of Vanessa of whom Swift wrote so passionately about. He sold it to the Henrys who were prone to excessive spending at the time….
“1830: The Henry’s had no option but to sell it to Mr. Hugh Barton [1766-1854] who completed the last wing of the house in the 1830s which added to the present day unique architectural status of Barberstown. He is also famed for constructing Straffan House known today at the K-Club.
“1900: As the property became too expensive to retain as a residence, the Huddlestons who owned Barberstown Castle in the 1900s sold it to Mrs. Norah Devlin who converted it into a hotel in 1971. Barberstown was one of the first great Irish country houses to display its splendour to the outside world when it opened as a hotel in 1971. It has maintained the elegance of design over the centuries by sympathetically blending its Victorian and Elizabethan extensions with the original Castle Keep.
“1979: The acclaimed Musician, Singer, Songwriter & Record Producer Mr. Eric Clapton CBE purchased the property in 1979 and lived in the property until 1987. Music sessions took place in the Green Room and original Castle Keep during the time Eric lived here with many famous Rockstars from all over the world coming here to stay.
“1987 to Present Day: Upon purchasing Barberstown Castle from Eric Clapton in 1987, this beautiful historic house has since been transformed from a 10-bedroom property with three bathrooms to a 55-bedroom Failte Ireland approved 4 Star Hotel. They are a proud member of Ireland’s Blue Book of properties and Historic Hotels of Europe.
“Since 1288 Barberstown has had 37 owners all of whom had the foresight to protect its heritage and character. Look out for the names of all the owners of Barberstown Castle painted on the bedroom doors of the hotel!“
3. Batty Langley Lodge, Celbridge, County Kildare€€
One of the entrances to the Castletown demesne has a Gothic lodge, from a design published by Batty Langley (1696-1751) 1741. Batty Langley was an English garden designer who produced a number of engraved “Gothick” designs for garden buildings and seats. He was named “Batty” after his father’s patron, David Batty. He also published a wide range of architectural books.
“The Village at Lyons, County Kildare is often described as a restoration but to be frank it is more a recreation. By the time the late Tony Ryan bought the estate in 1996, the buildings beside the Grand Canal, which had once included a forge, mill and dwelling houses, were in a state of almost total ruin. Therefore the work undertaken here in the years prior to his death in 2007 involved a great deal of architectural salvage, much of it brought from France, although some Irish elements were incorporated such as a mid-19th century conservatory designed by Richard Turner, originally constructed for Ballynegall, County Westmeath. Today the place primarily operates as a wedding venue, providing an alluring stage set for photographs but bearing little resemblance to what originally stood here.”[9]
The entrance front of Lyons House, designed by Oliver Grave for Nicholas Lawless, 1st baron Cloncurry circa 1786 and remodelled by his son Richard Morrison in 1802-05. Pub Orig Country Life 16/01/2003, vol. CXCVII by Photographer Paul Barker. (see[7])
Mark Bence-Jones writes of Lyons:
p. 196. “(Alymer/IFR; Lawless, Cloncurry, B/PB1929; Winn, sub St. Oswalds, B/PB) Originally the seat of the Aylmer family. Sold 1796 by Michael Aylmer to Nicholas Lawless,the 1st Lord Cloncurry, son of a wealthy blanket manufacturer, who had a new house built in 1797, to the design of an architect named Grace.
“Three storey block with a curved bow on either side of its entrance front, joined to two-storey wings by curved sweeps. About 1801, shortly after his release from the Tower of London, where he had been imprisoned for two years on account of his advanced political views and friendship wiht some of the United Irishmen, the 2nd Lord Cloncurry hired Richard Morrison to undertake improvements and alterations to his father’s house, work continuing till 1805.
“During this period, Lord Cloncurry was in Italy, collecting antiques and modern sculpture for the house; he also acquired three antique columns of red Egyptian granite from the Golden House of Nero, afterwards at the Palazzo Farnese, which were used as three of the four columns in a single-storey portico at Lyons, with a triangular pediment surmounted by a free-standing coat-of-arms.The other notable alteration made to the exterior of the house at this time was the substitution of straight colonnades for the curved sweeps linking the main block to the winds, a change similar to that which Morrison made a few years later at Carton. Also the main block and wings were faced with rusticated ashlar up to the height of one storey on the entrnace front. The hall was given a frieze of ox-skulls and tripods based on the Temple of Fortuna Virilis in Rome, doorcases with fluted entablatures and overdoor panels with classical reliefs; a pair of free-standing antique marble Corinthian columns were set against one wall, and vaarous items from Lord Cloncurry’s collection fo sculpture disposed around the other walls. The walls of the dining room and music rom were painted with Irish waterfalls – and other enchanting decoration by Gaspare Gabrielli, an artist brought by Lord Cloncurry from Rome. The bow-ended dining room was also decorated with a wall painting, of Dublin Bay; and was adorned with reliefs of the story of Daedalus.”
The garden front of Lyons House, The new orangery and pool house are the single-storey buildings flanking the central block. Pub Orig Country Life 16/01/2003, vol. CXCVII by Photographer Paul Barker. (see [7])GASPARE GABRIELLI A Group of Five Mythological Landscapes a preparatory scheme for the murals at Lyons, County Kildare courtesy Adams Irish Old Masters 15 May 2025
Bence-Jones continues: “The seven-bay garden front was left fairly plain, but before it a vast formal garden was laid out, with abundant statuary and urns and an antique column supporting a statue of Venus half way along the broad central walk leading from the house to what is the largest artificial lake in Ireland. Beyond the lake rises the wooded Hill of Lyons.
“The Grand Canal passes along one side of the demesne, and there is a handsome Georgian range of buildings beside it which would have been Lord Cloncurry’s private canal station. A daughter of 3rd Lord Cloncurry was Emily Lawless, the poet, a prominent figure in the Irish Revival of the early yars of the present century. Her niece, Hon Kathleen Lawless, bequeathed the Lyons estate to a cousin, Mr G M V Winn, who sold it about 1962 to University College, Dublin, which has erected a handsome pedimented arch from Browne’s Hill, Co Carlow at one of the entrances to the demesne.”
Art Kavanagh’s book on the Landed Gentry and Aristocracy: Meath, volume 1, tells us more about the Aylmers of Balrath. During the reign of Henry VI, Richard Aylmer of Lyons was a Keeper of the Peace for both Dublin and Kildare. He was in charge of protecting the settler community from attack by the neighbouring O’Toole and O’Byrne septs. The family rose to become one of the most prominent families in Meath and Kildare and key figures in the Dublin administration. Before the end of the 16th century they had established two independent branches at Donadea in Kildare and Dollardstown in County Meath.
The first Aylmer of real significance, Art Kavanagh tells us, was John Aylmer (c. 1359 – c. 1415) who married Helen Tyrell of Lyons, an heiress, at the end of the 14th century, and so the family acquired Lyons. [p. 1, Kavanagh, published by Irish Family Names, Dublin 4, 2005]
9. The K Club, Straffan House, County Kildare
Straffan House, the K Club, courtesy of the K Club Resort, 2005.
The Straffan estate formed part of the original land grant bestowed upon Maurice Fitzgerald by Strongbow for his role in the Anglo-Norman invasion of 1169. In 1679, the property was purchased by Richard Talbot, the Duke of Tyrconnell who commanded the Jacobite army in Ireland during the war between James II and William of Orange. Tyrconnell’s estates were forfeited to the crown in the wake of the Williamite victory. In about 1710, the property was purchased by Hugh Henry, a prosperous merchant banker, who also owned Lodge Park. He married Anne Leeson, a sister of Joseph Leeson, 1st Earl of Milltown. Straffan passed to their son, Joseph, who travelled in Europe and collected art. In April 1764 he married Lady Catherine Rawdon, eldest daughter of the 1st Earl of Moira.
Joseph Henry of Straffan, Co. Kildare by Francis Hayman, R.A. (c. 1708-1776) courtesy of Christies Irish Sale 2001.
Their son John Joseph (1777-1846) married Lady Emily Fitzgerald, the 23-year-old daughter of the 2nd Duke of Leinster. He was an extravagant spender and had to sell Straffan in 1831.
Hugh Barton (1766-1854) acquired Straffan House from the Henry family in 1831 and his descendents remained there until the 1960s. The Barton family were part of the Barton & Guestier winemakers. Hugh soon commissioned Dublin architect, Frederick Darley, to build a new house, based on Madame Dubarry’s great Château at Louveciennes to the west of Paris. [10] The house passed through many hands subsequently.
Mark Bence-Jones writes of Straffan House (1988):
p. 266. “(Barton/IFR) An imposing C19 house in a style combining Italianate and French chateau. Main block of two storeys with an attic of pedimented dormers in a mansard roof; seven bay entrance front, the centre bay breking forward and having a tripartite window above a single-storey balustraded Corinthian portico. Entablatures on console brackets over ground-floor windows; triangular pediments over windows above and segmental pediment of central window. Decorated band between storeys; balustraded roof parapet; chimneystacks with recessed panels and tooth decoration. The main block prolonged at one side by a lower two storey wing, from which rises a tall and slender campanile tower, with two tiers of open belvederes. Formal garden with elaborate Victorian fountain. Capt F.B. Barton sold Straffan ca 1949 to John Ellis. It was subsequently the home of Kevin McClory, the film producer, and later owned by Mr Patrick Gallagher, who restored the main block to its original size.”
10. Kilkea Castle, Castledermot, Kildare – hotel
Kilkea Castle County Kildare by Elena on flickr constant commons 2005.
p. 167. “(Fitzgerald, Leinster, D/PB) A medieval castle of the FitzGeralds, Earls of Kildare, especially associated with C16 11th Earl of Kildare, the most famous “wizard Earl.” [Gerald (1525-1585)] After Carton became the family seat in C18, it was leased to a succession of tenants; one of them being the Dublin silk merchant, Thomas Reynolds, friend of Lord Edward Fitzgerald through whom he became a United Irishman, only to turn informer when he realised the full aims of the movement. His role as informer did not prevent the unhappy Reynolds from having the castle, which he had only recently done up in fine style, sacked by the military; who tored up the floorboards and tore down the panelling on the pretext of searching for arms. Subsequent tenants caused yet more damage and there was a serious fire 1849; after which the third Duke of Leinster resumed possession of the castle and restored and enlarged it as a dower-house for his family. The work was sympathetically done, so that the tall grey castle keeps its air of medieval strength with its bartizans and its massively battered stone walls; though its battlements and its rather too regularly placed trefoil headed windows are obviously C19. AT one side of the caslte a long, low, gabled office range was added, in a restrained Tudor Revival style. The interior is entirely of 1849, for the lofty top storey, where the principal rooms were originally situated, was divided to provide a storey extra. The ceilings are mostly beamed, with corbels bearing the Leinster saltire. In 1880s the beautiful Hermione, Duchess of Leinster (then Marchioness of Kildare) lived here with her amiable but not very inspiring husband [Gerald the 5th Duke of Leinster]; finding the life not much to her taste, she composed the couplet “Kilkea Castle and Lord Kildare/are more than any woman can bear.” After the sale of Carton 1949, Kilkea became the seat of the 8th and Present Duke of Leinster (then Marquess of Kildare), but it was sold ca 1960 and is now an hotel.”
11. Leixlip Manor hotel (formerly Liffey Valley House hotel, formerlySt. Catherine’s Park), Leixlip, Co Kildare
The house that stood before the current Manor House was taller and was tenanted by the Earl of Lanesborough. Then in 1792, it was occupied by David La Touche, of the Huguenot banking family. It shortly thereafter burned to the ground and in around 1798 a new house, also called St Catherine’s Park, was built in the same townland to the design of Francis Johnston; it is now Leixlip Manor Hotel & Gardens.
Rt. Hon. David La Touche of Marlay (1729-1817) Date c.1800 by Hugh Douglas Hamilton, Irish, 1740-1808, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.
12. Martinstown House, Kilcullen, Co Kildare – accommodation
Martinstown House 2012, photograph courtesy of Martinstown House on flickr constant commons.
featured in Great Irish Houses. Forewards by Desmond FitzGerald, Desmond Guinness. IMAGE Publications, 2008.
p. 232. “Martinstown House is one of the finest cottage ornee style buildings in Ireland today. Originally part of the huge estates of the Dukes of Leinster, this fine house was commissioned by Robert Burrowes [d. 1850, son of Kildare Dixon Borrowes, 5th Baronet] and completed by the Burrowes family between 1832 and 1840, when decorative effects such as thatched roofs, undressed stonework and verandahs made of free growing branches were being incorporated into rural Irish dwellings. While experts feel the house was built in 1833, it may have been started years earlier, with many of the outbuildings including stables and also the walled gardens dating to some time between 1815 and 1820.” The book’s authors add that Decimus Burton was involved in the creation of this house.
“Beautiful self catering, Georgian Manor centrally located in the hearth of Kildare in a very private setting. De Burgh Manor comprises of 15 bedrooms all ensuite. The ground floor consists of a double reception room, drawing room, dining room, bar, library , breakfast room and kitchen. Situated on c. 6 acres of grounds overlooking the River Barrow.“
The website also tells us about the history:
“De Burgh Manor was built circa 1709 [the National Inventory says it was built around 1780] by Thomas Burgh [1670-1730] of Oldtown [built ca 1709 by Thomas Burgh (1670-1730), MP, Engineer and Surveyor-General for Ireland, to his own design. The centre block was burned 1950s. A house has now been made out of one of the wings. He also designed Kildrought house, a Section 482 property] for his brother William Burgh later known as Captain William De Burgh and who became Comptroller and Auditor General for Ireland. Thomas Burgh was Barracks Overseer for Ireland from 1701 and was also responsible for [building] – the Library at Trinity College Dublin, Collins Barracks Dublin – now a museum – and Dr Steeven Hospital Dublin.
“William De Burgh was born in 1667 and had a son, Thomas, and a daughter, Elisabeth. Thomas, born in 1696, eventually became a Member of Parliament for Lanesboro, Co. Longford. Freeman of Athy Borough and Sovereign of Athy, in 1755 he married Lady Ann Downes, daughter of the Bishop of Cork & Ross. Her mother was a sister to Robert Earl of Kildare. Her brother, Robert Downes, was the last MP for Kildare in 1749 and was Sovereign of Athy.
“Thomas had two sons, William and Ulysses [Ulysses was actually the grandson of Thomas, son of another Thomas]. William born in 1741 went on to represent Athy as an MP in Parliament between 1768 and 1776. A monument to his memory by Sculptor Sir Richard Westmacott, a statue of faith, which depicts him with a book in one hand and a scroll in the other and stands in York Minster. He wrote two books on religion and faith.
“Ulysses, born in 1788succeeded to the title of Lord Downes [2nd Baron Downes of Aghanville] on the death of his cousin William Downes who was made Lord Chief Justice in 1803 and created Lord Downes on his retirement in 1822. It was Ulysses De Burgh who presented the Town Hall Clock to Athy in 1846 and it was he who had the wings added to Bert House. [Mark Bence-Jones writes of Bert: “enlarged early in C19 by the addition of two storey Classical overlapping wings, of the same height as the centre block; which is of three storeys over basement with two seven bay fronts.”]
“Ulysses’ daughter Charlotte was the last of the De Burgh’s to call Bert House home with her husband Lt. General James Colbourne [2nd Baron Seaton of Seaton, co. Devon]. Charlotte and James came to Bert House in 1863 as Lord and Lady Seaton after the death of Lord Downes. It was sold by them in 1909 to Lady Geoghegan who then sold it onto her cousin, Major Quirke.“
2. Firmount, Clane, County Kildare – whole house or weddings
“Firmount House is a unique and stunning venue just outside Clane in County Kildare, only 40minutes from Dublin city centre. Lovingly restored by the owners, the house is known for flexibility and creativity and is now open for weddings, private parties, film shoots, yoga retreats and corporate events. Enjoy visiting the Firmount website and see for yourself the lifelong journey these restoration warriors have taken to provide you with the perfect location in a wonderful, natural setting.
“This fabulous house consists of a sitting room, breakfast room and dining room downstairs reached from a large hallway, alongside a commercial kitchen and butlers pantry. The first floor consists of seven large and sumptuous bedrooms – five doubles and two twin rooms with plenty of room for two travel cots which are also provided. There are also six bathrooms. Heated by oil fired radiators, there are also two stoves in the main entertaining space.
“Firmount House has a colourful history dating from the 13th century when there was reputed to be a fortified house on the current site. The Down Survey of 1655 seems to show a house on the land (then known as Keapock). In the 18th century the house was owned by the Warburtons and sat on extensive grounds. The story of the current house really begins in 1878 when Hugh Henry Snr having married his cousin Emily Henry (of Lodge Park, site of the current K-club) bought Firmount house and renovated it extensively. It seems he took what was a Georgian house, wrapped it in concrete (one of the first houses of it’s kind) and added a Victorian wing to the South.
“The estate consisted of 409 acres at that point. Hugh Henry’s son, imaginatively named Hugh Jr, inherited the house in 1888 and lived there until 1917. It is rumoured that his wife, Eileen, had nightmares of the house going down in flames – although given it was made of concrete, we think she would have been ok. The house became a WWI hospital in 1917 and 390 soldiers were treated there until 1919, with no deaths registered – thank goodness for that. However the next decades were not so lucky for the house. In 1929 the house was bought by Kildare County Council and turned into a TB sanatorium. It ran as such until 1961. There are local stories of movies being run in the ballroom for patients with the now Mayor of Clane, at the projector. And of patients sitting on the elevated banks at the very front of the house on the roadside, watching life on the road go by but being unable to participate. 1964 brought the purchase of the house by the Department of Defence who ran it as a Control Centre for Nuclear Tracking and named it Section Seven Regional Control.
“Here things get really interesting as the basement of the house was intended to house senior officials, media and communications personel in the event of nuclear fall out. It is rumoured the Taoiseach (Irish prime-minister) was supposed to have a bunker on site and the house can still be found on Russian nuclear maps! This picture shows one of the several signs found in the house. The downside of government and county council ownership is that many original period features were lost through ignorance, neglect and the reinforcement of windows, floors, porticos and doors with concrete.
“The current “madthings” bought the house in 2012 with the aim of slowly bringing Firmount house back to life, window by window and floor by floor aswell as bringing Firmount forward into a gathering place with a welcome for all.“
3. Griesemount House, County Kildare, whole house rentals– see above
[6] Bence-Jones, Mark. 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.
Irish Historic Houses 