Belgrove, Cobh, Co Cork – demolished 1954
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.
p. 36. “(Gumbleton, sub Maxwell-Gumbleton/LG1952; Bagwell/IFR; Butler, sub Dunboyne, P/PB) A Georgian house…Originally the seat of the Harper family; owned in C19 by Rev George Gumbleton, who took his services in the pleasant little Victorian Gothic church by the water’s edge on the opposite side of the Ferry to the house…When his son [William] died, in 1911, he left Belgrove to his cousins, the Bagwell family, who were descended in the female line from the Harpers. Since they already owned the nearby Eastgrove, where they preferred to live, Belgrove was let to tenants during the succeeding years. Then, having stood empty a long period, it was demolished 1954. The property was subsequently bought by Mr James Butler, who has built a modern house here.”
Belgrove, Cobh, Co. Cork
A Georgian house consisting of a two-storey main block with a long curved wing overlooking the Ballinacurra River. The house had an impressive and graceful bifurcating timber staircase, and fine gardens, with an 18th century terrace. In the later 19th century, the house was famous for its experimental gardens, where William Edward Gumbleton (1840-1911) undertook trials of new plant varieties and published the results in the gardening press. After the house reverted to the Bagwells in 1911, it proved difficult to find long-term tenants, and after it had been empty for many years, it was demolished c.1954. The site was subsequently sold and a smaller modern house built there for James Butler.
Descent: John Harper… Dorcas Bousfield (c.1750-1829); given to nephew, Col. Rt Hon. William Bagwell (1776-1826); to nephew, John Bagwell (1811-83); to son, William Bagwell (1849-1928); to son, John Bagwell (1884-1949); to son, William Edward Gumbleton Bagwell (1919-85), who demolished it; site sold to James Butler and a new smaller house built. The estate was let for much of the 19th century to Rev. G. Gumbleton and his son, William Edward Gumbleton (1840-1911).
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
p.45. “Plain, two storey late Georgian house. The seat of J. Travers in 1814. Demolished in 1954.“
Irish Historic Houses 