Vernon Mount, Co Cork – ‘lost’  

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. 281. “(Hayes, sub Holroyd-Smith/IFR) A delightful little “Petit Trianon” built ca 1784 by Henry Hayes; described by Mr Guinness as “a study in curves,” being oval in shape, with curved end-bows to give ripples to its curving two storey three bay front…Hayes, who was knighted 1790, was sentenced to transportation 1801 for attempting to abduct a rich heiress, whom he held captive here for one night; though he does not appear to have been in need of money. He travelled to Botany Bay in comfort, with his valet and a mountain of luggage; and returned to Mount Vernon 1812, his daughter having persuaded the Prince Regent to give him a free pardon. Vernon Mount was in recent years the home of Mr and Mrs Peter Coste; it is now the headquarters of the Munster Motor Cycle and Car Club.” 

The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Frank Keohane. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020. 

p. 26. The other notable late C18 architect in Cork, Abraham Hargrave, appears to have been engaged by Shanahan to help complete St Patrick’s Bridge after it was damaged by a flood in 1789. Hargrave was a relative, and possibly a pupil, of the noted architect and bridge designer Thomas Harrison of Chester. He settled in Cork and developed an extensive contracting business, building barracks at Cork and Fermoy and doing much work for John Anderson at the latter town. His houses include Dunkathel and Gortigrenane, Palladian in form with wings enclosing rear yards; the four-square Hoddersfield and Coolmore; and elegant but spare villas at Vernon Mount (Douglas) and Lotabeg (Tivoli). IN Cork city, his townhouses commonly have windows set in shallow arched recesses.