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When I saw that Roderick Perceval was giving a tour of his home, Temple House in County Sligo, during Heritage Week 2025, I jumped at the chance to see it and booked straight away. I had booked to stay there in the past but had to cancel, and before this tour, the only way to see this section 482 property was to stay, as it was listed as tourist accommodation. And before you get your hopes up, unfortunately it no longer is providing individual bed and breakfast (with dinner optional) accommodation, as Roderick and his family have decided to focus instead on larger group accommodation and weddings. The website now gives the option to book three or more double rooms for your stay. There is also a self-catering cottage available, which has 4 bedrooms: 1 King, 1 Double, 2 Twin.
The Percevals have lived at this location since 1665. Before the current house was built, around 1820 according to Mark Bence-Jones, they lived in another property closer to Templehouse Lake, part of the Owenmore River. [1] The remnants of the earlier house sit adjacent to the ruins of a Knights Templar castle from around 1181, after which the property takes its name. [2]
We came across the medieval order of knights when we visited The Turret in County Limerick during Heritage Week in 2022, a house which was built on the foundations of a construction by the Knights Hospitaller, a different branch of religious warriors. The Knights Templar were a religious order established in the eleventh century to protect Jerusalem for Christianity, and were named after Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. Like other religious orders, the members took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
A book review by Peter Harbison of Soldiers of Christ: the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller in medieval Ireland edited by Martin Brown OSB and Colmán Ó Clabaigh OSB tells us that Templars came into Ireland under the protection of the English crown and acted on behalf of the king against the native Irish. Templar Knights helped govern Ireland and often gained high office. [3]
When Stephen and I stayed at nearby Annaghmore house with Durcan O’Hara, he told me that he is related to the Percevals of Temple House. An O’Hara, it is believed, may have joined the Knights Templar and donated the land near Temple House. [see 2]
The Templar castle passed to the Knights of St. John the Hospitallers when the Knights Templar were disbanded in the 1300s. In France, Templars were burnt at the stake and their land seized by the crown but in other countries their property was transferred to the Knights Hospitallers, known today as the Knights of Malta.
Robert O’Byrne tells us in his blog that the land formerly owned by the Knights Templar came into the hands of the O’Haras, and that they built a new castle here around 1360. He adds that in the 16th century the same lands, along with much more beside, were acquired by John Crofton, who had come here in 1565 with Sir Henry Sidney following the latter’s appointment as Lord Deputy of Ireland. [4]
Roderick told us that the Croftons acquired the property around 1609, and that Henry Crofton built a thatched Tudor house around 1627. The National Inventory tells us that the remains of the house near the Templar ruins are of a two-bay two-storey stone house, built c.1650. [5]
George’s father Philip (1605-1647) came from England to Ireland to serve as registrar of the Irish court of wards, along with his brother Walter. This position would have given him an insight to property ownership in Ireland. When a son inherited property before he came of age, he was made a Ward of the state, and the someone would be chosen to act on the child’s behalf.
When Walter died in 1624, Philip inherited the family estates in England and Ireland. The land at Burton Park was named after his estate in Somerset, Burton.
Philip’s grandfather Richard Perceval was ‘confidential agent’ to Queen Elizabeth’s Minister Lord Burleigh. He had correctly identified Spanish preparations for the Armada and this vitally important information was rewarded with Irish estates. [6]
Richard Perceval (1550-1620), agent for Queen Elizabeth and Lord Burleigh, he spotted preparations for the Spanish Armada.
Philip settled in Ireland, and by means of his interest at court he gradually obtained a large number of additional offices. In 1625 he was made keeper of the records in the Birmingham Tower at Dublin Castle.
Thomas Wentworth 1st Earl of Strafford (1593-1641) on left, Lord Deputy of Ireland 1632-1640 for King Charles I. This portrait is in Castletown House.
Perceval was close to the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford. With the fall and execution of Wentworth in May 1641, Perceval lost his major patron and protector. In September 1641 Perceval narrowly avoided prosecution in England when his part in a shady land transaction was revealed. By that time, Perceval owned over 100,000 acres in Ireland, which he obtained partly through forfeited lands.
Philip Perceval married Catherine Ussher, daughter of Arthur Ussher and Judith Newcomen. She gave birth to their heir, John (1629–1665), who was created 1st Baronet of Kanturk, County Cork in 1661. George (1635-1675) was the younger son. He held the position of Registrar of the Prerogative Court in Dublin.
George Perceval’s wife Mary’s father William Crofton was High Sheriff of County Sligo in 1613 and Member of Parliament for Donegal in 1634, so George and Mary might have met in Dublin. Mary, as heiress, was a good match, and since George was a younger son, marrying into property would have suited him well.
Robert O’Byrne tells us that they lived in the old castle which had been converted by the Croftons into a domestic residence in 1627. [see 4] It is not clear to me whether George and Mary lived in a house next to the Templar castle or in some version of the castle itself. O’Byrne tells us that the castle had been besieged and badly damaged in 1641, but was repaired. [see 4].
George died at the young age of forty when on a ship crossing to Holyhead, when his son and heir Philip (1670-1704) was only five years old. [7] Philip’s mother remarried, this time to Richard Aldworth, who was Chief Secretary of Ireland. Philip also died young, after marrying and having several children, and the property passed to his son John (1700-1754), who was also minor when his father died.
Philip Perceval (1723-87) married Mary Carlton of Rossfad, County Fermanagh. Their son and heir Guy died soon after his father so the property passed in 1792 to Guy’s brother Reverend Philip Perceval.
The house is featured in a chapter of Great Irish Houses by Desmond Fitzgerald the Knight of Glin and Desmond Guinness. They tell us that in 1825 Reverend Philip’s son Colonel Alexander Perceval (1787-1858) built a neo-classical two story house up the hill from the castle on the present site.
What is the now the side of the house was once the front.
The house at this time was of two storeys and had five bays on the front, with the centre bay slightly recessed, with an enclosed single storey Ionic porch, and a Wyatt window over the porch.
Before building the house, Alexander Perceval (1787-1858), in 1808, married Jane Anne, eldest daughter of Colonel Henry Peisley L’Estrange, of Moystown, King’s County.
Alexander Perceval (1787-1858).
After building the house, Alexander served as MP for Sligo between 1831 and 1841, and from 1841-1858 was sergeant-at-arms to the House of Lords in England.
During the Famine, Alexander’s wife Jane sought to alleviate the suffering of the poor and she died of cholera or typhus in 1847.
Jane née L’Estrange, with her children.Fitzgerald and Guinness write about this portrait: “Vogel, the artist, depicts her with three of her children while on holiday in Germany in 1842. A touching letter of the time tells of her reminding those around her “not to neglect the tenant families between my death and my funeral.” [see 2]
When Alexander died in 1858, his son Philip was unable to afford the death duty tax and he had to sell the property. The house was bought by the Hall-Dares of Newtownbarry, County Wexford.
Newtownbarry House, County Wexford, photograph by Robert French, Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
The Hall-Dares did not remain owners for long. After they evicted some tenants, these tenants actively sought the return of the Perceval family. Four years after Philip Perceval’s sale of the house, his brother Alexander, who had made a fortune in business in Hong Kong, re-acquired the property. Philip had married and moved to Scotland. Alexander brought back many of the dispossessed families from America and Britain, gave them back their land and re-roofed their homes. [see 2]
In the 1860s Alexander Perceval enlarged and embellished the house, hiring Johnstone and Jeane of London. He added a higher two storey seven bay block of limestone ashlar on the right (north) side of the house, which formed a new entrance front, knocking down a north wing in the process. [see 2]
Fitzgerald and Guinness tell us that Alexander also commissioned the company to design and build the furniture for the entire house.
The newer entrance has a large arched single-storey porte-cochére with coupled engaged Doric columns at its corners and two small arched side windows. Above is another pedimented Wyatt window in a larger pediment over two pairs of Ionic pilasters. The centre windows on either side of the porte-cochére on the ground floor are pedimented and on the upper storey the centre windows have curved arch pediments. The other windows have flat entablatures.
To the right of the newer front is a single storey two bay wing slightly recessed. The house is topped with a balustraded roof parapet.
Looking toward the south facade, we see a three-bay three storey section of the house, as well as more beyond to the west. The windows on the ground floor of the east and south elevations have corbelled pilasters.
We gathered inside the front hall for the tour, with its impressive tiled floor and geometrically patterned ceiling. It has carved decorative doorcases and arched carved and shuttered side lights by the front door, and a large window facing the front door lights the room.
The ceiling has a Doric freize and a rose of acanthus leaves. A collection of stuffed birds and trophies line the wall, and a fine chimneypiece original to the house. [see 2]
Alexander did not get to enjoy his renovated home for long, as he died in 1866 of sunstroke, which occurred while fishing in the lake by the house. His wife lived a further twenty years. His son Alec (1859-1887) married a neighbour, Charlotte Jane O’Hara from Annaghmore.
From the front hall we entered the top-lit double-height vestibule with a grand sweeping staircase and gallery lined with paintings of ancestors.
I’m dying to know who features in the wonderful portraits. The vestibule is so impressive, it is hard to know where to look! The ceiling has intricate detail.
Temple House, Sligo, photograph courtesy of website.Temple House, photograph courtesy of the house facebook page.The detail in the ceiling is incredible, as seen in this close-up. Temple House, photograph courtesy of the house facebook page.
The upper level of the stair hall is lined with arches and Corinthian pilasters.
When Alec died of meningitis in 1887, Charlotte took over the running of the estate for 30 years. Alec’s son Alexander Ascelin was injured in the first world war. He married the doctor’s daughter, Nora MacDowell. In financial difficulty, he had to sell some of the land. His wife predeceased him and toward the end of his life, he lived alone in this house of about ninety seven rooms, living in only three rooms. The rest of the house was closed up, dustsheets over the furniture.
Five years after being closed up, in 1953, Ascelin’s son Alex, who had been a tea planter in what was then known as Burma, returned with his wife Yvonne to run the estate. They renovated the house, patched up the roof and installed a new kitchen. Alex modernised the farm.
It was their son Sandy and his wife who decided to take advantage of the size of the house to run a bed and breakfast, which opened in 1980. In 2004 their son Roderick returned to Temple House with his wife and children and took over running the business and the farm.
Roderick told us about the family as we toured the stair hall vestibule, drawing room and dining room, then brought us across the front hall to the newly renovated part of the house, which includes a former gun room passage. He managed to find craftsmen to do repairs, including the windows, moulding and plasterwork. After the tour, he kindly let us wander around the house, including up to the bedrooms.
Guinness and Fitzgerald tell us about the bedrooms:
“The bedrooms are immense. They all have their own bathrooms and a wonderful collection of matching furniture; in each of them a different wood has been used. The individual character of oak and beech and mahogany and others are evident as you stroll from one bedroom to the next. There are magnificent wardrobes – in one room it is 22 ft long – beds, sideboards, dressing tables, chairs. The largest of the bedrooms is so impressive it is called the “Half Acre.”” [see 2]
There is a walled kitchen garden which unfortunately we did not get to visit, where food is grown, including old varieties of apple, plum, pear and fig, and a stable yard. The Percevals preserve most of the 600 acres of old woods and the bogs in their natural state, and they also farm a further 600 acres.
[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.
[2] Great Irish Houses. Forewards by Desmond FitzGerald, the Knight of Glin, and Desmond Guinness. Photographs by Trevor Hart. IMAGE Publications, 2008.
[3] Book Review by Peter Harbison, History Ireland issue 5 (Sept Oct 2016), volume 24.
Blayney Castle, (also known as Hope castle), Co Monaghan
Blayney Castle (or Hope Castle), Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
(Blayney, B/DPE; Hope.LG1937; Pelham-Clinton-Hope, Newcastle, D/PB) A three storey five bay Georgian block, built near the site of a C17 “Plantation Castle”; refaced and embellished during the Victorian period. Entablatures over windows; scrolled cresting on roof parapet; segmental pediment with arms on garden front. Entrance front with central curved bow, to which a projecting porch, and a canopy of ornamental cast iron work and glass, was added. Top storey treated as attic, above cornice. Lower service wing, and single-storey four bay C19 addition with roof on bracket cornice prolonging garden front. Centre first floor window of garden treated like a niche, sheltering a statue. Sold 1853 by 12th and last Lord Blayney to Henry Hope, of Deepdene, Surrey, son of Thomas HOpe, the great exponent of neo-Classicism and a member of the Scottish-Dutch banking family, famous for its ownership of the Hope Diamond. Passed by descent to Lord Henry Francis Hope Pelham-Clinton-Hope, afterwards 8th Duke of Newcastle. Now a convent.”
Blayney Castle (or Hope Castle), Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Blayney Castle (or Hope Castle), Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Blayney Castle (or Hope Castle), Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Blayney Castle (or Hope Castle), Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Blayney Castle (or Hope Castle), Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Mary Cairnes, Lady Blayney (c. 1703–1790) after Robert Home, courtesy of Sothebys , Old Masters and 19th Century Paintings.She married Cadwallader Dominic Blayney 7th Baron Blayney of Monaghan.She was the daughter of Alexander Cairnes, 1st Baronet.She married secondly Colonel John Murray, MP, from Glenalla House, near Rathmullan in Donegal.Dowager Lady Cunninghame, prob Elizabeth Murray who inherited vast estates of Alexander Cairnes. Adams auctioh house tells us she should be called Lady Rossmore, and that she married Bernard Cunninghame of Mount Kennedy, but I think she she married Robert Cuninghame, 1st Baron Rossmore. Courtesy Adam’s 5 Oct 2010, Hugh Douglas Hamilton (1739-1808). She was also a daughter of Colonel John Murray MP and his wife Mary Cairns.
Blayney Castle, County Monaghan, courtesy Archiseek.Blayney Castle, County Monaghan, courtesy Archiseek.Blayney Castle or Hope Castle, County Monaghan, courtesy Archiseek.
The area of Muckno and Ballynalurgan was granted to Sir Edward Blayney under the Plantation of Ulster in 1607 and 1611. Blayney was a Welsh soldier, and built a stone defensive castle, Blayney Castle, consisting of a fortified house and bawn.
The town of Castleblayney has grown up round that original site. Blayney was created the first Baron Blaney in 1621 and the Blayneys would continue to occupy the estate until the 1850s. The castle was derelict by the 1790s, by which time the family had moved into a large Georgian house nearby. No trace remains today.
Blayney Castle or Hope Castle, County Monaghan, courtesy Archiseek.Blayney Castle or Hope Castle, County Monaghan, courtesy Archiseek.
Known also as Blayney Castle after the plantation castle nearby (from which the town gets its name), Hope Castle has had many owners and uses over the years. Originally a three storey 5 bay Georgian block, it was sold in 1853 by the twelfth and last Lord Blaney to the Hope family after whom the famous Hope Diamond is name.
Henry Hope had the house extended, and the facade of the house received many embellishments including scrolled cresting on the roof parapets and at one stage an ornamental cast iron and glass porch canopy. After the Hopes, it was used as a military base and later as a convent.
The building has suffered greatly during its lifetime – after being an convent, it remained empty for many years and was taken over the the local County Council who demolished the 19th century additions to the garden and main fronts and renovated the building. Its most interesting internal feature – a Soanesque toplit upper stair landing was destroyed during the building’s phase of dereliction. It has since been badly damaged by fire and is currently boarded up and derelict. The estate still has a good stableyard and cast-iron gateway with matching gatehouses.
The sad remains of Hope Castle, County Monaghan. Built on the edge of Castleblayney, the house – like the town – owes its existence to the Blayney family who settled here at the start of the 17th century. Initially they lived in a castle built by Sir Edward Blayney, created first Baron Blayney in 1721 but at the end of the 18th century his descendant, the 11th Lord Blayney commissioned a new house designed by Dublin-born Robert Woodgate who for several years had worked in London for Sir John Soane. In 1853 the 12th Lord Blayney sold the estate to the rich Henry Thomas Hope; he enlarged and remodelled the building in what has been called ‘a frivolous kind of Italianate classicism.’ Occupied by Queen Victoria’s son the Duke of Connaught for several years at the start of the last century when he served Commander of the Forces in Ireland, Hope Castle was sold in 1928 and served as a military barracks and then a county hospital before being occupied until the mid-1970s by Franciscan nuns. It was then acquired by the local county council, which leased it to an hotelier who was permitted to strip out all of Woodgate’s interiors. In 2010 the building was badly damaged by arsonists and has remained in a sorry state ever since.
THE BARONS BLAYNEY WERE THE SECOND LARGEST LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY MONAGHAN, WITH 24,546 ACRES
SIR EDWARD BLAYNEY(1570-1629), Knight, a native of Wales, said to be descended from Cadwallader, King of Cambria and a younger son of the Prince of Wales, had been employed from his youth in the armies of ELIZABETH I.
He accompanied Robert, Earl of Essex, as Colonel, into Ireland, 1598, where he obtained both wealth and renown in the subsequent wars.
Sir Edward, Governor of Monaghan, was granted the thirty-two townlands of Ballynalurgan and in 1611 he obtained the termon of Muckno as well.
Blayney built a castle, around which a Planter village soon began to develop.
This was the origin of the present town of Castleblayney.
Sir Edward married Anne, second daughter of the Most Rev Dr Adam Loftus, Lord Archbishop of Dublin, CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND, by whom he had, with six daughters, two sons,
HENRY (Sir), his successor; ARTHUR (Sir), of Castle Shane.
Sir Edward was elevated to the peerage by JAMES I, in 1621, in the dignity of BARON BLAYNEY, of Monaghan.
His lordship was succeeded by his elder son,
HENRY, 2nd Baron, who wedded, in 1623, Jane, daughter of Gerald, Viscount Drogheda, by whom he had two surviving sons and five daughters.
His lordship, who was a military man, was slain at the battle of Benburb, County Tyrone, 1646, and was succeeded by his elder son,
EDWARD, 3rd Baron (c1625-69), who died unmarried, and was succeeded by his brother,
RICHARD, 4th Baron (c1625-70), who was high in favour with CROMWELL, and had been appointed, in 1656, the usurper’s custos-rotulorum of County Monaghan, and escheator of County Tyrone.
His lordship espoused firstly, in 1653, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Mr Alderman Vincent, of Dublin, MP, by whom he had several children; and secondly, Jane, daughter of John Malloch.
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,
HENRY VINCENT, 5th Baron, who wedded Margaret Moore, eldest sister of John, 1st Lord Tullamore, by whom he had an only surviving child, Elinor.
His lordship fled Castleblayney at the outbreak of the Williamite wars and was chosen as commander-in-chief of the Protestant forces raised to defend Monaghan and Armagh against JAMES II, who transmitted it to his brother,
WILLIAM, 6th Baron, who married, in 1686, Mary, eldest daughter of William, 1st Viscount Charlemont, and dying in 1705, was succeeded by his only surviving son,
CADWALLADER, 7th Baron (1693-1732), who married Mary, daughter of the Hon John Tucket, and niece of Charles, Duke of Shrewsbury, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and had issue.
His lordship espoused secondly, Mary, daughter and heiress of Sir Alexander Cairnes Bt, of Monaghan.
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,
THE VERY REV CHARLES TALBOT, 8th Baron (1714-61), Dean of Killaloe, at whose decease, without surviving issue, the title devolved upon his brother,
CADWALLADER, 9th Baron (1720-75), who married, in 1767, Sophia, daughter of Thomas Tipping, of Beaulieu, and had issue,
CADWALLADER DAVIS, his successor; ANDREW THOMAS, succeeded his brother; Sophia; Mary.
His lordship, a lieutenant-general in the army, was succeeded by his elder son,
CADWALLADER DAVIS, 10th Baron (1769-84); at whose decease, unmarried, the title reverted to his brother,
ANDREW THOMAS, 11th Baron (1770-1834), a lieutenant-general in the army, who wedded, in 1796, Mabella, eldest daughter of James, 1st Earl of Caledon, and had issue,
CADWALLADER DAVIS, his successor; Anne; Charlotte Sophia.
His lordship was succeeded by his son,
CADWALLADER DAVIS, 12th Baron (1802-74), MP for County Monaghan, 1830-34, at whose decease, unmarried, the title expired.
THE CALEDON CONNECTION
The Caledon estate in County Tyrone is just a few fields away from that of the Leslies in Glaslough, County Monaghan, and the Earls of Caledon themselves owned some land in County Monaghan.
Because of the family connection between the lst and 2nd Earls and the 11th Lord Blayney, who was their son-in-law and brother-in-law respectively, the correspondence between Blayney and the two earls yields a lot of information about his military and political careers; for example, the siege of Alexandria and as a prisoner of war in Napoleonic France.
During Blayney’s long incarceration, the 2nd Earl of Caledon looked after his financial, domestic, and political affairs, thus being drawn into the Monaghan sphere.
This brought political figures such as Dawson and Leslie beating a path to Caledon’s door, because during this period he was the representative of Blayney and ‘the Blayney interest’.
On his return, Blayney was given a seat in parliament for Caledon’s infamous ‘rotten borough’ of Old Sarum, Wiltshire. Later, he attempted to get Caledon to use his influence with the Government to get him elected an Irish Representative Peer.
This yields a very illuminating and often pained correspondence between the two men.
HOPE CASTLE, Castleblayney, County Monaghan, formerly known as Blayney Castle after the plantation castle nearby (from which the town gets its name), has had many owners and uses over the years.
Originally a three storey, five bay Georgian block, the house received many embellishments during the Victorian era including scrolled cresting on the roof parapets and at one stage an ornamental cast iron and glass porch canopy.
In 1853, Cadwaller, 12th and last Lord Blayney, sold the Castle and estate to Henry Thomas Hope from Deepdene in Surrey, a former MP at Westminster.
Thereafter the Castle was renamed Hope Castle, as it still called.
Hope gave the Georgian Castle with its splendid prospect a Victorian makeover that the present building retains, externally at least.
After his death in 1862, Hope’s wife Anne inherited the estate.
Soon after 1887, the Castle and demesne fell to the next heir, a grandson of Hope: Lord Henry Francis Hope Pelham-Clinton-Hope, famous for having sold the renowned family heirloom, the Hope Diamond.
From 1900 until 1904, the Castle became the residence of Field-Marshal HRH The Duke of Connaught, Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.
After 1916, Lord Henry no longer resided in the Castle nor in Ireland.
On becoming 8th Duke of Newcastle in 1928, he later sold both the Castle and the estate, which was broken up and used in part for local political patronage.
In 1919-21, the Castle was used as a barracks by the British Army.
Some time afterwards it functioned as a hospital; and from 1943-74, it was occupied by Franciscan nuns who also managed an adjacent guest house.
After some years of neglect, the Castle has been used for catering and hotel purposes set in what is now a Leisure Park with golf course.
In October 2010, the Castle was burnt down in an arson attack.
The building has suffered greatly during its lifetime – after being an convent, it remained empty for many years and was taken over the the local County Council who demolished the 19th century additions to the garden and main fronts and renovated the building.
Its most interesting internal feature – a Soanesque top-lit upper stair landing, was destroyed during the building’s phase of dereliction.
The estate still has a good stable-yard and cast-iron gateway with matching gatehouses.
Hope Castle can be found near the town of Castleblayney in County Monaghan. Perched high on a hill overlooking an expanse of water known as Lough Muckno, the castle is hidden by trees and accessed from the town through impressive entrance gates. The town of Castleblayney is the third largest in County Monaghan and its development is closely linked to the influential Blayney family. From the late 1700s the Blayneys were responsible for the creation of local industry and the construction of a number of the public buildings in the town. A few months after I began to compile this piece, I learnt that the castle had been deliberately burnt to the ground. As a result of the loss of this building I felt I had to highlight its history and beauty, in the hope it would rally local people to ensure that it is restored. It is also fascinating that the family that gave their name to the worlds most famous gem stone also lent their surname to this castle in Monaghan.
The entrance front of Castle Hope with its large extension added by Henry Thomas Hope in the 1860s. The Hope family crest is emblazoned on the castle in the centre of this facade. Accreditation- The National Library of Ireland
In the 1600s, the lands around Lough Muckno were owned by the Blayney family who built the original castle that preceded the existing building. The eleventh Baron Blayney, Lord Andrew Thomas Blayney eventually built a new castle near the site of the original ancestral seat. It is little wonder that the site for the new castle was chosen as it enjoys one of the most spectacular views of Lough Muckno and the surrounding countryside. Robert Woodgate who designed the new castle in 1799 had previously served as an apprentice to the architect John Soane in London. In the same year, he also set up his Irish practise in Dublin and secured the commission from Baron Blayney in County Monaghan. Woodgate wrote to Soane, his former employer, in November 1799 and enclosed a sketch of Castle Blayney. The grateful apprentice recorded the following in the accompanying letter- ‘Sketch of the first house I ever built as a small tribute due for your former kindness to me’. The completed three storey, five bay block of Castle Blayney now stood on the hill overlooking the lough but its completion would also mark the end of the Blayneys connection with the estate. The eleventh Baron was a generous man and in 1814 he donated a painting of St. Sebastian to be used as an alter piece in the local Catholic Church which stood on land that he had donated in 1803.During the time that the eleventh Baron Blaney succeeded to the Monaghan estate he did much to improve the town of Castleblayney and he was responsible for its streetscape and development of local industry. Lord Blayney died on April 8, 1834 and was succeeded by his son Cadwallader Davis Blayney, the twelfth and last Lord Blayney. In 1853, the Hope family purchased the remainder of the Blayney estate under the Encumbered Estates Act 1849 for £180,000
The castle is now boarded up since it was destroyed by fire in 2010. The substantial wing built by Henry Thomas Hope was demolished around the time the castle was renovated in the 1980s leaving the building as it appeared when it was first built. Accreditation- Photograph by Ellie Ross
The most famous diamond in the world which shares its name with a castle
in Monaghan once owned by Henry Hope
A niche on the rear elevation of the castle still contains a statue that once overlooked a formal garden.Accreditation- Photograph by Ellie Ross
The estate had been sold to Henry Thomas Hope of Surrey who was a member of the Scottish-Dutch banking family, famous for their ownership of Hope Diamond. The diamond was a supposedly cursed jewel that had passed through both the French and British Royal families and had supposedly brought ruin to whoever owned it. Henry Thomas Hope had the building in Monaghan refaced and embellished during the 1860s which included the addition of the Hope family crest to the parapet of all the facades of the castle. A large extension was added to the building which now became a modern country retreat for the extremely affluent family. Inside a large collection of art treasures were amassed which included a gallery of pictures by the Dutch and early English masters. Henry Thomas Hope died in 1862 and the castle eventually passed to his grandson, Lord Henry Francis Hope Pelham-Clinton. Between 1900 and 1904, Hope Castle was occupied by the Duke of Connaught, son of Queen Victoria, during his appointment as Commander in Chief to Ireland. It was said at the time that the Duke and Duchess experienced a great deal of difficulty in finding an Irish home as they did not wish to spend all their time in the official residence at the RoyalHospital in Kilmainham, Dublin. The Irish residence associated with the office of Commander in Chief was not thought to be suitable for habitation by such high ranking royals as the grounds of the residence were far from private and its location was thought to be in an inferior part of the city. The residence of the Lord Lieutenant and the Chief Secretary in the Phoenix Park would have been suitable but neither of these residents could vacate those houses. The large administrative staffs associated with these official roles could not be moved easily without huge disruption. Several other houses such as Castletown House in Kildare were considered before the Duke settled on Castle Hope in Monaghan which he leased from Lord Henry Francis Hope.
Prince Arthur, 1st Duke of Connaught (The National Portrait Gallery, London)
The garden front of the castle that overlooks Lough Muckno, the large drawing room of the house was contained behind the large projecting bay window that can be seen in this picture.Accreditation- Photograph from The Irish Historical Picture Company
Leonie Leslie
It is believed that Castle Hope was chosen as it was located near the home of Leonie Leslie, a prominent socialite at the time, who lived at Castle Leslie. She was a close friend of the Duke and Duchess of Connaught but it is alleged that she was a closer friend of the Duke. The royal couple arrived in Castle Blayney in June 1900 and received a warm welcome from the local people; both the gates to the castle and the whole town were decorated with bunting and flags. The Duke had taken the castle for the summer season in 1900 with an option of leasing it for a further five years. It was thought at the time that Castle Hope would become an official royal residence and that Queen Victoria would visit her son here. She never graced Castle Hope with her presence before her death in 1901 and the Duke of Duchess of Connaught ended their association with the castle in 1904.
The entrance gates to the castle in the 1900s around the time that Duke and Duchess of Connaught were in residence. The presence of police officers also gives credence to this assumption.Accreditation- The National Library of Ireland.
Today the handsome gates piers and adjoining lodges are a distraction surrounded by parked cars, incongruous signage and electric wires.Accreditation- Photograph by Ellie Ross
Lord Henry, the castle’s owner, lived beyond his means which eventually led to marriage troubles and financial woes. He was forced to sell the Hope Diamond in 1901 for £29,000, which would be over two million pounds in today’s money, but this was not sufficient to plug the gapping hole in his finances. Lord Henry Francis Hope had mortgaged the estate in Monaghan heavily and ceased to live there from 1914. After this, the castle was occupied by every army that the country had seen since 1919 which included the Auxiliaries, Black and Tans and the Free State Army. It was also recorded that after the ratification of the treaty that the Crown forces were evacuated from Hope Castle on January 16, 1922.
Lord Henry Francis Hope Pelham-Clinton
(The National Portrait Gallery, London)
None of these occupants had caused serious damage to the stately pile’s contents and in 1926, an auction of the property of Lord Henry Francis Hope was announced. The contents of the castle consisting of antique furniture, paintings, china and the entire furnishings contained in the billiard room, drawing room, boudoir, library, smoking room, bedrooms, servant’s quarters and kitchen were to be auctioned. The sale of the furniture was the final severance of the connection that the Hope Family had with the town of Castleblayney and the auction attracted a huge attendance for the sale of the 1,400 lots. A lot of the large antique furniture sold quite cheaply due to its large size not being suitable for the average family home of the time. Items dispatched for sale included a grand piano and a billiard table which were sold to the nearby Hope Arms Hotel. Over the following years, the castle remained empty and unoccupied until it was used as a temporary hospital between 1932 and 1937 while the new county hospital was being built. It again lay idle for a number of years until it was purchased by a Franciscan Order of nuns who lived there from 1942 until the early 1970s. The Franciscan Sisters had purchased their new home in Monaghan as their previous convent in Londonhad been lost in the blitz during the Second World War. They sought permission to come to Monaghan in December 1941 and secured a loan of £6,000 to establish their convent in Castleblayney. In 1951 the lands of the Hope Estate was taken over by the Land Commission and divided up among the former tenants of the estate. In later years the Franciscan Sisters ran the castle as a guesthouse and they had converted the ballroom into a chapel.
A gravel path led directly from the French doors of the drawing room,down to the shores of Lough Muckno and a boat house. Accreditation- The National Library of Ireland.
The boarded up windows of the drawing room of the castle once overlooked Lough Muckno which is considered to rival the famous Lakes of Killarney in County Kerry.Accreditation- Photograph by David Hicks
In 1979, the castle and the remaining estate lands were offered for sale which extended to 1,000 acres but only fifty-five acres were deemed to be agricultural land as over 900 acres were occupied up by Lough Muckno and its twelve islands. The castle was described as having a floor area of 22,500 sq.ft. which included five reception rooms, twenty-six bedrooms and four bathrooms. There were also coach houses, stables, two gate lodges, farm buildings and a boat house. An asking price of £500,000 was sought and eventually in the 1980s the castle and surrounding lands were purchased by Monaghan County Council. The nineteenth century additions built by Henry Thomas Hope were demolished and the surviving main block of the building was renovated. The eighteenth century castle was leased and operated as a fourteen bedroom hotel for the next number of decades.
A niche on the rear elevation of the castle still contains a statue that once overlooked a formal garden.Accreditation- Photograph by Ellie Ross
The castle once was surrounded by gardens that contained elaborate planting, statues and stone balustrades topped with flower filled urns.Accreditation- Photograph From the National Library of Ireland
In 2010, the townspeople of Castleblayney were shocked to hear that a fire had swept through Hope Castle which caused extensive interior damage. The alarm was raised by Gardai who were on an early morning patrol when they discovered a huge fire was raging inside the building. Fire units from all the neighboring towns were called but serious damage had been done, the castle had been unoccupied at the time and the fire was started maliciously by trespassers. The blaze ripped through the building leaving large sections of the castle destroyed and many of the antiques that furnished its reception rooms were also lost. For the moment Hope Castle remains cordoned off behind a high fence that shields it from public view. Behind this hoarding is a scene of desolation of broken windows and blackened walls, a view reminiscent of the house burnings of the 1920s. I sincerely hope that this building is restored as a resource that can be enjoyed by the local community and the tourists of Castleblayney. Surely this building could become a place where the history of the many famous people associated with this castle could be recorded. How many buildings in Ireland have their history’s interwoven with the world’s most famous diamond and members of the British Royal family?
As a result of the fire, the castle is now surrounded by hoardings that prevents public access but this also inhibits the replication of the above historical image. Architecturally, the facades of this side of the building remain relatively unchanged.Accreditation- Photograph by Ellie Ross
Comparing the aerial photograph above and the period ordinance survey
map belowillustrates the reduction in size of the Castle
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
“Somerville, Bt/PB; Agnew-Somerville, sub Agnew, Bt, of Clendry/PB) A Georgian house altered and greatly embellished in a later period, probably ca 1830. The alterations included moving the entrance to hat had been the back of the house, which became the new entrance front; of three storeys and five bays, with a single-storey Ionic portico. The former entrance became the garden front; though it is the same height as the rest of the house, it only has two storeys, so that the rooms on this side are much higher. It is of five bays with a central pedimented breakfront and a single-storey curved bow which is balustraded, like the main roof parapet. The principal reception rooms, with their high coved ceilings, have a palatial air; the ceiling plasterwork in the saloon and library is in the manner of Michael Stapleton and could be taken for late C18; but is more likely C19,. The drawing room has a domed ceiling rather in the manner of Sir Richard or William Vitruvius Morrison. Impressive stable yard, with battlemented octagon tower above pedimented archway. Someville was inherited by Quentin Agnew, nephew by marriage of Sir James Somerville, 6th Bt and 2nd (and last) Lord Athlumney. He consequently assumed the additional surname of Somerville; but has since sold the Somerville Estate.”
Somerville House (Summerville), County Meath courtesy Mark Bence-Jones.
A coved ceiling at Somerville, County Meath. As has already been mentioned (see Rise Above It All, April 19th), the house dates from c.1730 but underwent considerable alteration about 100 years later when the entrance was moved from south to north front and a new hall created. Although the room containing this ceiling is now classified as the dining room, an examination of its decoration, which certainly looks to be pre-19th century, reveals clusters of musical instruments in each of the four corners. Might it therefore originally have been intended to serve as a ballroom?
Part of the coved ceiling in the drawing room of Somerville, County Meath. The house dates from c.1730 when it was built for Sir James Somerville, Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1736 and also sometime M.P. for the city. Towards the end of the century, further work was carried out by Sir James’ grandson and it appears the neo-classical plasterwork was added at that time into a space then serving as entrance hall (the entire building was subsequently turned back to front, thereby making this the drawing room). The result is an extravagance of floral garlands and arabesques, ostrich plumes and decorative flourishes together with the family coat of arms, all set inside a sequence of panels. The exceptional quality of the workmanship has led to suggestions the ceiling may have been executed by Dublin stuccodore Michael Stapleton (1747-1801).
A coved ceiling at Somerville, County Meath. As has already been mentioned (see Rise Above It All, April 19th), the house dates from c.1730 but underwent considerable alteration about 100 years later when the entrance was moved from south to north front and a new hall created. Although the room containing this ceiling is now classified as the dining room, an examination of its decoration, which certainly looks to be pre-19th century, reveals clusters of musical instruments in each of the four corners. Might it therefore originally have been intended to serve as a ballroom?
THE BARONS ATHLUMNEY WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY MEATH, WITH 10,213 ACRES
This is a branch of the very eminent Scottish family of SOMERVILLE.
The first of the family that settled in Ireland was
JAMES SOMERVILLE, of Tullykelter, County Fermanagh, who died in 1642.
His grandson,
THOMAS SOMERVILLE, a merchant of Dublin, married Sarah, sister of Alderman Robert King, of that city; and dying in 1718, left an only son,
SIR JAMES SOMERVILLE (c1698-1748), Knight, Alderman and Lord Mayor of Dublin, who was created a baronet in 1748, designated of Somerville, County Meath.
He wedded Elizabeth, daughter of Alderman William Quayle, of the same city, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
SIR QUAILE SOMERVILLE, 2nd Baronet (1714-72), of Brownstown, County Meath, who espoused firstly, Mary, only daughter and heiress of George Warburton, by whom he had three sons.
He married a second time, and had an only daughter, Martha, who wedded Gustavus, 5th Viscount Boyne.
Sir Quaile was succeeded by his eldest son,
SIR JAMES QUAILE SOMERVILLE, 3rd Baronet (c1742-c1802), of Somerville House, County Meath, who married, in 1771, Catherine, daughter of Sir Marcus Lowther-Crofton Bt, of The Moat, County Roscommon, by whom he had two sons, Marcus and James.
Sir James was succeeded by his eldest son,
SIR MARCUS SOMERVILLE, 4th Baronet (1772-1831), MP for County Meath, 1800, who married Mary Anne, daughter of Sir Richard Gorges-Meredyth Bt, and had issue,
WILLIAM MEREDYTH, his successor;
James Richard, lieutenant, Scots Greys.
Sir Marcus’s elder son,
THE RT HON SIR WILLIAM MEREDYTH SOMERVILLE, 5th Baronet (1802-73, was elevated to the peerage, in 1863, in the dignity of BARON ATHLUMNEY, of Somerville and Dollarstown, County Meath.
He married firstly, in 1832, the Lady Maria Harriet Conyngham, second daughter of Henry, 1st Marquess Conyngham, and had issue,
William Henry Marcus, died in infancy; Elizabeth Jane.
His lordship wedded secondly, in 1860, Maria Georgiana Elizabeth, only daughter of Herbert George Jones, and had further numerous issue, including
JAMES HERBERT GUSTAVUS MEREDYTH, his successor; Marcus Edward Francis Meredyth (1867-71).
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,
JAMES HERBERT GUSTAVUS MEREDYTH, 2nd Baron (1865-1929), who married, in 1919, Margery, daughter of Henry Boan, of Australia, though the marriage was without issue, and the titles expired.
Somerville House at Balrath, near Kentstown, was erected for Sir James Somerville in the early eighteenth century. Only the basement from that house survives today as the house was re-modelled at the end of the eighteenth century when the rooms on the south side were re-modelled. The house was re-orientated from back to front about 1831 to the design of Sir Richard Morrison. Rooms on the garden front are much higher than the entrance front as the garden front is two storey while the entrance front is three storey. The ceiling plasterwork in the salon and library is in the manner of Michael Stapleton and could be taken for late 18th century but is more likely to be early 19th century. The dining room has a domed ceiling. The main entrance to the house is through a grand stone archway named, Ivy Lodge. There is an impressive stable yard with a battlemented octagonal tower. There is a walled garden and there was a rose garden, pigeon house, ice house and bathing house. In front of the house the Nanny river was dammed to create a feature but also to provide a bathing place.
The Somervilles originally settled in Fermanagh at the time of the Ulster Plantation. Thomas Somerville purchased 1066 acres in Meath from the Forfeited Estates Court after the Battle of the Boyne.
In 1729 James Somerville became M.P. for Dublin City, a position he held until his death in 1748. In 1736 he was appointed Lord Mayor of Dublin. Shortly before his death James Somerville was made Baron of Somerville, Co. Meath in 1748. Sir James Somerville, 1st Baronet married Elizabeth Quaile in 1713. He died in 1748 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir Quaile Somerville, 2nd Baronet. Born in 1714 and dying in 1772 Sir Quaile married Sarah Towers and was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir James Quaile Somerville, 3rd Baronet. Sir James Quaile Somerville, 3rd Bart was born about 1742. He married Catherine Crofton in 1770. Sir James erected the Church Tower and planted the avenue of lime trees. He was succeeded by his son, Sir Marcus Somerville, 4th Baronet. Sir Marcus was born about 1772 and died in 1831. Sir Marcus married Mary Anne Meredyth, daughter and heiress of Sir Richard Gorges Meredyth, Baronet in 1801. He married Elizabeth Geale as his second wife in 1825. Sir Marcus was M.P. for Co. Meath in Irish Parliament in 1800 and in London Parliament 1801-31. From his election of 1826 there is an itemised bill for the entertainment of voters at a Trim inn. Sir Marcus provided room and board for the voters at the Trim inn and provided raw whiskey, punch, a free shave and haircut. He had trouble keeping the piper sober to play for his voters.
His son, William Meredyth Somerville, born about 1802 became 1st Baron Athlumney. In 1832 William married Lady Maria Henrietta Conyngham, daughter of Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess of Conyngham and his wife Elizabeth, who had been mistress to George IV. William served as Paid Attaché at Berlin, 1829-32. In 1837 Somerville House was described as the seat of Sir William Meredyth Somerville Bart. A fine mansion in an extensive demesne, it had been recently enlarged and improved, and a handsome entrance lodge erected, the grounds were embellished with an expansion of the Nanny water. He married secondly in 1860. Educated at Oxford, Sir William was returned to Parliament for Drogheda in 1837, a seat he held until 1852, and served under the Liberal Prime Minister, Lord John Russell, as Chief Secretary of Ireland from 1847 to 1852, during the worst of the Famine. He became M.P. for Canterbury in 1854 and continued as its M.P. until 1865. In 1863 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Athlumney of Somerville and Dollardstown and in 1866 he was created Baron Meredyth of Dollardstown. The Somerville family held part of the townland of Athlumney which gave them their title. The water spout with the lion’s head was erected by Sir William Somerville. The water supply is said to come from Trinity Well in the nearby woods. He had only one surviving son, James Herbert Gustavus Meredyth Somerville, born March 1865. He died at Dover in 1873 and was buried in Kentstown churchyard. In 1876 Lord Athlumney of Somerville held 10,213 acres in County Meath and 274 acres in County Dublin. James served in the Coldstream Guards and was with Kitchener in Egypt. When James was 53 he married a young Australian, Margery Honor Boan, but died without children ten years later, 1929. He was buried in Kentstown Churchyard and with him died the titles Baron Somerville and Baron Athlumney. Lady Athlumney never re-married and died in a swimming accident in the river Nanny in the grounds of Somerville House in July 1946 aged 45.
Somerville was inherited by Mr. Quentin Agnew, nephew by marriage to Sir James Somerville, 6th baronet and second and final Lord Athlumney. He took the name Somerville in 1950 but later sold the estate. The estate was broken up in the 1950s into six farms.A former Naval officer Sir Quentin pursued a career as an insurance consultant. His daughter Geraldine Somerville, who was born in Co. Meath, is an actress and has starred in the Harry Potter movies as Lily, Harry’s mother.
I was at the auction of the contents of the house and was particularly struck by the number of bells in the servant’s hallway. There was a bell for each room.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 30. “Nicholson/IFR) Originally a two storey pedimented C18 house of seven bays with curved bow at either end of the front. Subsequently enlarged by the addition of three bays to the right of the front, and seven bays with another pediment as well as two more bays to the left, so that the front extended for a total of 19 bays, plus two bows. After suffering damage when used as a barracks 1939-42, the house was reduced in size 1942 to the original block, which at the same time was rebuilt in an American Colonial style. The front kept its pediment, but lost its bows, and a colonnaded veranda was built along the full length of the ground floor. A pillared loggia was made under the pediement, and a porte-cochere was added to the end of the house, which is the entrance front; the columns for this and the veranda having been brought from Rosmead. The present arrangement of the interior, and the proportions of the rooms, dates from this rebuilding; the principal rooms being on either side of a large hall with a bifurcating staircase. Long Georgian stable range, with pediment.”
Record of Protected Structures
Baltrath-Bury, Balrath Demesne.
Detached 9 bay, 2 storey colonial revival villa, c. 1930, originally built in 1671 for the Nicholson Family. Incl of Stable yards and Gate lodges
THE NICHOLSONS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY MEATH, WITH 7,693 ACRES
This family came originally from Yorkshire.
GILBERT NICHOLSON, of Bare and Poulton, Lyndall, in Lonsdale, and of Baton and Easterton, Westmorland, married Grace, daughter and co-heir of Gyles Curwen, of Poulton Hall, and had issue,
FRANCIS, dvp leaving a son, HUMPHRY; Giles; Grace.
Mr Nicholson died in 1605, and was succeeded by his grandson,
HUMPHRY NICHOLSON, who was father of
GILBERT NICHOLSON (1620-1709), formerly of Poulton, Lancashire, and of the city of Dublin, Lieutenant in the royal army before 1649, and one of the Forty-nine Officers, whose arrears of pay were paid up after the Restoration, “for service done by them to His Majesty, or to his royal father, as commissioners in the wars of Ireland, before the 5th day of June, 1649.”
By the Act of Settlement Mr Nicholson received grants of land in County Monaghan, which he sold, and bought Balrath Bury in 1669.
He afterwards resided in Dublin.
Mr Nicholson and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Worsopp, Knight, are buried in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, and on their tombstone appear the arms and crest still used by the family.
The issue of the marriage were,
Christopher; THOMAS, of whom presently; John.
The second, but eldest surviving son,
THOMAS NICHOLSON, of Balrath Bury, born in 1662, inherited Balrath Bury in 1709.
In 1692, he was a commissioner for County Meath, during the reign of WILLIAM & MARY, and High Sheriff, 1704.
Mr Nicholson married firstly, in 1691, Mary, daughter of John Beauchamp, and had, with other issue, a daughter, Anne, whose daughter, Margaret, was second wife of Sir Richard Steele Bt, of Hampstead.
He wedded secondly, in 1700, Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of John Wood, of Garclony, and had issue,
CHRISTOPHER, his heir; John; Thomas; Gilbert.
Mr Nicholson espoused thirdly, Rose, widow of Simeon Pepper, of Ballygarth, by whom he had no issue.
The eldest son,
CHRISTOPHER NICHOLSON, of Balrath Bury, High Sheriff of County Meath, 1735, espoused firstly, in 1723, Elinor, only daughter of Simeon Pepper, of Ballygarth, by Rose his wife, daughter of the Hon Oliver Lambart, of Plainstown, and granddaughter of Charles, 1st Earl of Cavan, and had issue,
JOHN, his heir; Thomas; George; Christopher; Hampden; Rose; Christian; Emilia.
He wedded secondly, in 1751, Mary, daughter of Oliver Lambart, of Plainstown, by whom he had no issue.
His eldest son,
JOHN NICHOLSON (1724-82), of Balrath Bury, Captain, Coldstream Guards, wedded, in 1766, Anna Maria, daughter of Sir Samuel Armytage Bt, of Kirklees, Yorkshire, widow of Thomas Carter, of Shaen, and had issue,
CHRISTOPHER ARMYTAGE, his heir; John.
He was succeeded by his elder son,
CHRISTOPHER ARMYTAGE NICHOLSON JP DL (1768-1849), of Balrath Bury, High Sheriff of County Meath, 1791, who married firstly, in 1796, Catharine, daughter of the Most Rev William Newcombe, Lord Archbishop of Armagh, by Anna Maria his wife, daughter and co-heir of Edward Smyth, of Callow Hill, County Fermanagh, second son of the Ven. James Smyth, Archdeacon of Meath, and had issue,
JOHN ARMYTAGE, his heir; Christopher Hampden; William (Rev); Gilbert Thomas, JP; Anna Maria.
He wedded secondly, in 1826, Anna, daughter of George Lenox-Conyngham, of Springhill, County Londonderry, by Olivia his wife, daughter of William Irvine, of Castle Irvine, County Fermanagh, and had issue,
Armytage Lenox; Olivia; Sophia Elizabeth.
Mr Nicholson was succeeded by his eldest son,
JOHN ARMYTAGE NICHOLSON JP DL (1798-1872), of Balrath Bury, High Sheriff of County Meath, 1827, who married, in 1824, Elizabeth Rebecca, daughter of the Rt Rev and Rt Hon Nathaniel Alexander, Lord Bishop of Meath (nephew of James, 1st Earl of Caledon), by Anne his wife, daughter and heir of the Rt Hon Sir Richard Jackson, of Forkhill, by Anne his wife, sister of John, 1st Viscount O’Neill, and had issue,
CHRISTOPHER ARMYTAGE, his heir; Nathaniel Alexander; John Hampden (Rev); William Newcome; Gilbert de Poulton; Katharine; Anne.
Mr Nicholson was succeeded by his eldest son,
CHRISTOPHER ARMYTAGE NICHOLSON JP DL (1825-87), of Balrath Bury, High Sheriff of County Meath, 1856, who espoused, in 1858, Frances Augusta, eldest daughter of the Hon Augustus Henry MacDonald Moreton, and had issue,
GILBERT MORETON, died unmarried; JOHN HAMPDEN, succeeded his brother; Mary Jane; Elizabeth Katharine; Emilia Olivia.
The only surviving son,
JOHN HAMPDEN NICHOLSON JP (1871-1935), of Balrath Bury, High Sheriff of County Meath, 1895, married, in 1894, Florence Isabel, third daughter of Thomas Rothwell, of Rockfield, Kells, and had issue,
CHRISTOPHER HAMPDEN; John Armytage; Joyce Frances.
His elder son,
CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER HAMPDEN NICHOLSON (1903-), of Balrath Bury, married, in 1928, Stephanie Adelaide Edwards, and had issue,
JOHN WARREN, his heir; Virginia Rose.
His only son,
JOHN WARREN NICHOLSON, born in 1931, inherited Balrath House in the 1960s.
BALRATH BURY HOUSE, near Kells, County Meath, is a two-storey, pedimented, 18th century house.
It has seven bays with a curved bow at either end of the front.
Three more bays were added to the right; and seven more bays with another pediment plus two further bays to the left side.
Today, the front extends to nineteen bays and two bows.
The mansion suffered damage during the 2nd World War, having been used by the army.
It was subsequently reduced in size, in 1942, to the original block.
Balrath Bury is now in the American-Colonial style.
The principal rooms are on either side of a large hall, with a bifurcating staircase.
There is a long, Georgian, pedimented stable block.
It is thought that the most recent owners have been Frank and Carol Mallon.
Balrathbury house is located to the west of Kells. A two storey house, over basement, was constructed about 1709 and this was replaced by a colonial style house in the 1830s. The seat of the Nicholson family the house was described in 1835 as a handsome residence, pleasantly situated in an extensive and well wooded demesne with a park well stocked with deer. Bence-Jones said that the house suffered damage when it was used as a barracks 1939-42. This house was demolished about 1948 and a new smaller house in American Colonial style was erected. The stableyard is the only surviving building from the Georgian period.
The Nicholsons came to Ireland from Yorkshire. Gilbert Nicholson of Dublin remained loyal to the king during the Cromwellian period and was rewarded with lands in Monaghan. Selling the lands in Monaghan he bought Balrathbury in 1699. His second son, Thomas, settled at Balrathbury in 1709, after his father’s death. Thomas served as High Sheriff of County Meath in 1704. His eldest son, Christopher succeeded him at Balrathburry. Christopher served as High Sheriff of Meath in 1735. Dying in 1775 he was succeeded by his eldest son John. Born in 1724 John was a captain in the Coldstream Guards. In 1766 John married Anna Maria, daughter of Sir Samuel Armytage, 1st Baron of Kirklees, Yorkshire and widow of Thomas Carter. Their son, Christopher Armytage, was born in 1768. High Sheriff of Meath in 1791 he married Catherine Newcome, daughter of William Newcome, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland. Their eldest son, John Armytage succeeded at Balrathburry. John was born in 1798 and was High Sheriff of Meath in 1827. In 1824 John married Elizabeth Rebecca, daughter of Nathaniel Alexander, Bishop of Meath. John died in 1872 and was succeeded by his son, Christopher Armytage Nicholson. Christopher was born in 1825 and served as High Sheriff of Meath in 1856. In 1858 Christopher married Frances Augusta Moreton. In October 1869 there was an attempt to murder Mr. Nicholson on his way home from the railway station in Kells. This is was part of the land dispute. In 1876 Christopher Armytage Nicholson of Balrath Burry, held 7,693 acres in County Meath.
Their son, Gilbert, succeeded in 1887 following the death of his father. Gilbert died unmarried in 1898 and was succeeded by his brother, John Hampden Nicholson. John served as High Sheriff of Meath in 1895 and married Florence Rothwell of nearby Rockfield. John H. Nicholson died in 1935 at his residence Balrath Burry. At one stage he held nearly 8000 acres in the Kells area but had only about 1000 acres remaining at his death as it had been disposed of to the Land Commission.
John Nicholson inherited Balrath House, Balrathbury in the 1960s. John became involved in breeding deer and became national chairman of the Irish Deer Society. The John Nicholson trophy is presented by the Irish Deer Society each year for meritorious service in the welfare, conservation and protection of deer in Ireland whether the deer are wild, feral or park
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 14. “Lynch-Blosse, Bt/PB) A long, low plain two storey house; its main block being of five bays, with an entrance door set in a broad stone arch; the front being extended by a four bay range of the same height, but set back. Now a convent.”
Detached four-bay two-storey country house, built 1808; extant 1811, on a U-shaped plan with pair of single-bay (two-bay deep) two-storey lower returns (south). Occupied, 1901. Vacant, 1911. In alternative use, 1914-8. Sold, 1919. Adapted to alternative use, 1920. Adapted to alternative use, 1987. Renovated, 2007. Replacement hipped artificial slate roof on a U-shaped plan retaining sections of slate finish, tuck pointed drag edged tooled limestone ashlar central chimney stacks having stringcourses below chamfered capping supporting crested terracotta tapered or yellow terracotta octagonal pots, and uPVC rainwater goods on cut-limestone eaves retaining cast-iron downpipes. Roughcast walls on cut-limestone or rendered chamfered plinth. Square-headed window openings with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and concealed dressings framing six-over-six timber sash windows including some six-over-six timber sash windows without horns. Set in landscaped grounds.
Appraisal
A country house erected for Sir Robert Lynch Blosse (1784-1818) representing an integral component of the domestic built heritage of Balla with the architectural value of the composition, one potentially repurposing the shell of an eighteenth-century house annotated as “Moat [of] Blosse Baronet” by Taylor and Skinner (1778 pl. 220), suggested by such attributes as the symmetrical footprint originally centred on a curvilinear glasshouse-like porch; and the slight diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression. Although recently (2007) the subject of a comprehensive renovation programme, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior, including some crown or cylinder glazing panels in hornless sash frames, thus upholding much of the character or integrity of the composition. Furthermore, an adjoining walled garden (see 31309015); and a farmyard complex (see 31309016), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of an estate having historic connections with the Lynch Blosse family including Reverend Sir Francis Lynch Blosse (1801-40), ninth Baronet; Sir Robert Lynch Blosse (1825-93), ‘[tenth] Baronet formerly of Folkestone County Kent and late of Athavallie County Mayo’ (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1894, 492); and Sir Henry Lynch Blosse JP DL (1857-1918), eleventh Baronet and one-time High Sheriff of County Mayo (fl. 1897).
Athavillie, County Mayo, courtesy National Inventory.Athavillie, County Mayo, courtesy National Inventory.
Gateway, extant 1894, on a symmetrical plan comprising pair of drag edged rock faced limestone ashlar piers on chamfered plinths having ivy-covered capping supporting replacement spear head-detailed mild steel double gates. Set back from street at entrance to grounds of Athavallie House.
Appraisal
A gateway not only making a pleasing visual statement at the entrance on to the grounds of the Athavallie House estate, but also illustrating the continued development or “improvement” of the estate in the later nineteenth century.
Athavillie, County Mayo, courtesy National Inventory.
Farmyard complex, under construction 1838, on a quadrangular plan about a courtyard including (west): Detached five-bay single-storey coach house with half-attic. Disused, 2010. For sale, 2013. Part overgrown hipped slate roof on collared timber construction with clay ridge tiles, and remains of cast-iron rainwater goods on cut-limestone eaves retaining cast-iron downpipes. Part creeper- or ivy-covered coursed rubble limestone walls with tooled cut-limestone flush quoins to corners. Series of five elliptical-headed arches with tooled limestone ashlar voussoirs. Square-headed window openings (half-attic) with cut-limestone sills, and hammered limestone lintels framing louvered timber fittings. Set in unkempt grounds shared with Athavallie House with snecked rock faced limestone cylindrical piers to perimeter having conical capping supporting flat iron double gates.
Appraisal
A farmyard complex contributing positively to the group and setting values of the Athavallie House estate.
Athavillie, County Mayo, courtesy National Inventory.Athavillie, County Mayo, courtesy National Inventory.
The house at Moat was the main residence of the Lynch Blosses in the 18th and the early 19th century. In 1786 Wilson refers to Moat, the seat of Sir Henry L. Blosse. A fire destroyed the original house in 1808. It was rebuilt and is marked on the first Ordnance Survey map as Attavally. The Lynch Blosse family were absentee landlords for most of the 19th century. In 1894 the house was recorded as the seat of Sir Henry Lynch-Blosse. Later the house became a community school run by the St Louis nuns. It is now known as Balla Secondary Schoool.
THE LYNCH-BLOSSE BARONETS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY MAYO, WITH 22,658 ACRES
The family of LYNCH was of great antiquity in the province of Connaught, being amongst the very early settlers, denominatedthe Tribes of Galway. In an old manuscript in Ulster King-of-Arms’ office, William le Petit is stated to be the common progenitor of all the Lynches of Ireland. The founder of the honours of the family, however, was
HENRY LYNCH, Mayor of, and MP for Galway (eldest of twelve sons of Nicholas Lynch, also Mayor of Galway).
Mr Lynch was created a baronet in 1622, designated of Galway.
This gentleman was the son of Nicholas Lynch fitz Stephen (Mayor 1584–1585) and great-grandson of Mayor Arthur Lynch (died 1539); land agent for Richard, 4th Earl of Clanricarde; mentor to Patrick D’Arcy and Richard Martyn, later senior political figures of Confederate Ireland.
He was stepfather to D’Arcy and married to an aunt of Martyn. He was among the first of his family to become a lawyer, and several of his younger sons followed him into this profession, as did, under his influence, D’Arcy, Martyn, Geoffrey Browne and subsequent generations of The Tribes of Galway.
Sir Henry married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Martin, and widow of James D’Arcy, by whom he had three sons and three daughters.
He died in 1635, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
SIR ROBUCK LYNCH, 2nd Baronet, MP for Galway Borough, 1639-42, and was resident counsel for Connaught during the rebellion.
He wedded Ellis, daughter of Sir Peter French, Knight, by whom he had two sons, and was succeeded on his decease, 1667, by the elder,
SIR HENRY LYNCH, 3rd Baronet, a lawyer of eminence, and one of the barons of the exchequer, in 1689, wedded firstly, Margaret, daughter of Sir Theobald Bourke, 3rd Viscount Mayo, but by that lady had no issue; and secondly, and had (with a younger son) his successor,
SIR ROBERT LYNCH (-c1720), 4th Baronet, who espoused Catherine, daughter of Henry Blake, of County Mayo, by whom he had, with two daughters, a son and heir,
SIR HENRY LYNCH (-1762), 5th Baronet, of Carracastle, who married Mary, daughter of John Moore, of Brees [sic], County Galway, and had one daughter and an only son, his successor,
SIR ROBERT LYNCH-BLOSSE, 6th Baronet, who wedded Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Francis Barker, heir of Tobias Blosse, of Little Belstead, Suffolk.
He assumed the surname of BLOSSE, in addition to, and after, that of LYNCH.
It was a condition of the marriage that Robert would assume the additional surname of BLOSSE and conform to Protestantism.
The issue of this marriage were, HENRY, who succeeded to the title; and Francis, who wedded Hatton, daughter of John Smith, and had issue, Robert, who, succeeding his uncle, became the 8th Baronet.
Sir Robert died in 1775, and was succeeded by his elder son,
SIR HENRY LYNCH-BLOSSE, 7th Baronet (1749-88), MP for Tuam, 1776-83, upon whose demise, without issue, the title reverted to his nephew,
SIR ROBERT LYNCH-BLOSSE, 8th Baronet (1774-1818), who wedded firstly, Elizabeth, daughter of William Gorman, of Carlow, by whom he had FRANCIS, the next baronet, with several other children.
He married secondly, Charlotte, daughter of John Richards, of Cardiff.
Sir Robert was succeeded by his son,
THE REV SIR FRANCIS LYNCH-BLOSSE, 9th Baronet (1801-40), who wedded, in 1824, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Lord Plunket, and had issue,
ROBERT, 10th Baronet; William Conyngham, b 1826.
***** Sir Richard Hely Lynch-Blosse (b 1953), 17th and present Baronet, lives in Oxfordshire.
ATHAVALLIE HOUSE, near Castlebar, County Mayo, is a long, low, plain, two-storey residence, its main block of five bays, with an entrance door set in a broad stone arch.
The front is extended by a four-bay range of the same height, though set back.
In 1894, Athavallie House was recorded as the seat of Sir Henry Lynch-Blosse, 11th Baronet (1857-1918), and most likely the last of the family to reside there.
In 1920, the Sisters of St Louis founded a school which catered for girls only.
It was a boarding school-cum-day school until the St Louis Sisters left in 1978 and the school became co-educational under the control of the local community.
Smarmore Castle, County Louth, courtesy National Inventory.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 261. “(Taaffe/IFR) A medieval castle, inhabited by the Taaffes since 1320, which now forms the centre of a long and not quite symmetrical front, having a plain C18 addition on either side of it, both additions being three bays, but whereas that to the left is two storey, that to the right is two storey over a high basement. The left hand addition in in fact the side of a range which extends back at right angles to the old castle. This consists of a three bay centre, with an entrance doorway surrounded by blocking, recessed between two projecting gable-ended wings, both gables being crowned with chimney-stacks. The right hand gable end is two bay; that to the left has a single long central window above two small windows at ground level. Also in C18, the old castle was given a skyline of battlements, as well as pointed sash windows, regularly disposed. Library and drawing room upstairs; dining room and a second drawing room on ground floor.”
Detached multiple-bay house, built c. 1740, now used as guest house. Irregular plan, medieval tower house, c. 1320, to centre of east elevation, three-bay two-storey wing to south and three-bay two-storey wing to north, c. 1770; projecting gable-fronted end bays to either side of three-bay two-storey central block, south elevation; multiple-bay two-storey west wing c. 1740, battlements and moulded pointed arch window surrounds added to tower house c. 1800. Pitched slate an hipped roofs, some replacement artificial slate, smooth rendered and brick chimneystacks, overhanging eaves with timber soffits, uPVC rainwater goods, some surviving cast-iron. Unpainted roughcast rendered walling, limestone base plinth, random rubble stone walling to tower house. Square-headed window openings, smooth rendered reveals, limestone sills, painted timber six-over-six sliding sash windows, pointed arch window openings to tower, smooth rendered block-and-start surround, hood-mouldings terminating in helmet stops, limestone sills, painted timber four-over-four sliding sash windows c. 1800. Square-headed door opening to south elevation, tooled ashlar limestone block-and-start surround, carved keystone detail, painted timber door with two vertical panels, plain-glazed overlight, limestone step. Stableyard to north-west comprising two-storey stone outbuildings c. 1800, ranged around a central square-plan courtyard, now in use as leisure centre; pitched slate roofs, brick chimneystacks, brick cornice to eaves, cast-iron and replacement uPVC rainwater goods, random rubble stone walling; square-headed window and door openings, block-and-start brick and ashlar limestone surrounds, painted timber three-over-three sliding sash windows, multiple pane casement window and diamond pane casement windows; variety of original and replacement painted timber vertically-sheeted doors; segmental-headed carriage openings to west and north ranges. Yard bounded by random rubble stone wall, carriage entrance to north-east with segmental-headed opening. House set back from road in own extensive landscaped grounds, random rubble stone boundary walls throughout, entrance gateway to north-east comprising ashlar limestone gate piers and wrought-iron gates.
Appraisal
Smarmore Castle, formerly the seat of the Taafe family, is a fine surviving example of eighteenth-century architectural values, of which the balanced classical proportions and restrained use of detailing, limited to a finely-crafted ashlar door surround, are characteristic features. The original tower house is of considerable archaeological significance and this is an excellent example of multi-layered development on one site, a typical feature of several large country houses. A handsome, formally-planned, stable yard is an important survival helping to preserve the original context of the site.
Smarmore Castle, County Louth, courtesy National Inventory.Smarmore Castle, County Louth, courtesy National Inventory.Smarmore Castle, County Louth, courtesy National Inventory.
Casey, Christine and Alistair Rowan. The Buildings of Ireland: North Leinster. Penguin Books, London, 1993.
THE TAAFFES OWNED 1,277 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY LOUTH
The members of this noble family resided, for a series of years, in the Austrian dominions, and filled the highest and most confidential employments, civil and military, under the imperial government, doubtless from having been, from theretofore, as Roman Catholics, debarred the prouder gratification of serving their own.
The Taaffes were of great antiquity in the counties of Louth and Sligo, and produced, in ancient times, many distinguished and eminent persons; among whom was Sir Richard Taaffe, who flourished during the reign of EDWARD I, and died in 1287.
Contemporary with Sir Richard was the Lord (Nicholas) Taaffe, who died in 1288, leaving two sons: John Taaffe, Archbishop of Armagh, who died in 1306, and
RICHARD FITZ-NICHOLAS TAAFFE, whose eldest son,
RICHARD TAAFFE, was seated at Ballybraggan and Castle Lumpnagh.
This gentleman served the office of sheriff of County Louth in 1315, and to his custody was committed the person of Hugh de Lacy, the younger, Earl of Ulster, after his condemnation for high treason, in inciting the invasion of Ireland, by Edward Bruce, until the execution of that unfortunate nobleman at Drogheda.
From this Richard lineally descended
SIR WILLIAM TAAFFE, Knight, of Harleston, in Norfolk, who distinguished himself by his services to the Crown, during the Earl of Tyrone’s rebellion, in 1597; and subsequently maintained his reputation against the Spanish force, which landed at Kinsale in 1601.
Sir William died in 1630, and was succeeded by his only son,
SIR JOHN TAAFFE, Knight, who was advanced to the Irish peerage, in 1628, by the title of Baron Ballymote and VISCOUNT TAAFFE, of Corren, both in County Sligo.
His lordship married Anne, daughter of Theobald, 1st Viscount Dillon, by whom he had (with other issue),
THEOBALD, his heir;
Lucas, major-general in the army;
Francis, colonel in the army;
Edward;
Peter, in holy orders;
Jasper, slain in battle;
WILLIAM.
His lordship died in 1642, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
THEOBALD, 2nd Viscount (c1603-77), who was advanced to an earldom, as EARL OF CARLINGFORD, in 1662.
This nobleman espoused zealously the royal cause during the civil wars, and had his estate sequestered by the Usurper.
After the Restoration, he obtained, however, a pension of £800 a year; and, upon being advanced in the peerage, received a grant of £4,000 a year, of the rents payable to the Crown, out of the retrenched lands of adventurers and soldiers, during such time as the same remained in the common stock of reprisals, and out of forfeited jointures, mortgages etc.
His lordship was succeeded at his decease by his eldest surviving son,
NICHOLAS, 2nd Earl and 3rd Viscount, who fell at the battle of the Boyne, in the command of a regiment of foot, under the banner of JAMES II; and, leaving no issue, the honours devolved upon his brother,
FRANCIS, 3rd Earl (1639-1704), the celebrated Count Taaffe, of the Germanic Empire.
This nobleman, who was sent in his youth to the city of Olmuts, to prosecute his studies, became, first, one of the pages of honour to the Emperor Ferdinand; and, soon after, obtained a captain’s commission from CHARLES V, Duke of Lorraine, in his own regiment.
He was, subsequently, chamberlain to the emperor, a marshal of the empire, and counsellor of the state and cabinet.
His lordship was so highly esteemed by most of the crowned heads of Europe that, when he succeeded to his hereditary honours, he was exempted from forfeiture, by a special clause in the English act of parliament, during the reign of WILLIAM AND MARY.
His lordship died in 1704, and leaving no issue, the honours devolved upon his nephew,
THEOBALD, 4th Earl, son of Major the Hon John Taaffe, who fell before Londonderry, in the service of JAMES II, by the Lady Rose Lambart, daughter of Charles, 1st Earl of Cavan.
He married Amelia, youngest daughter of Luke, 3rd Earl of Fingal; but dying without issue, in 1738, the earldom expired, while the viscountcy and barony passed to his next heir male,
NICHOLAS, Count Taaffe (c1685-1769), of the Germanic Empire, as 6th Viscount.
This nobleman obtained the golden key, as chamberlain, from the Emperor CHARLES VI, as he did from His Imperial Majesty’s successor, which mark of distinction both his sons enjoyed.
His lordship, as Count Taaffe, obtained great renown during the war with the Turks, in 1738, and achieved the victory of BELGRADE with high honour.
He married Mary Anne, daughter and heiress of Count Spendler, of Lintz, in Upper Austria, a lady of the bedchamber to Her Imperial and Hungarian Majesty, and had issue,
John, predeceased his father; Francis, dsp.
His lordship was succeeded by his grandson,
RUDOLPH, Count Taaffe (1762-1830), 7th Viscount, who espoused, in 1787, the Countess Josephine Haugwitz, and had issue,
FRANCIS, his successor; Louis; Clementina.
His lordship was succeeded by his only son,
FRANCIS JOHN CHARLES JOSEPH RUDOLPH, Count Taaffe (1788-1849), 8th Viscount, who wedded, in 1811, the Countess Antonia Amade de Várkony, and had issue.
Richard Taaffe (1898–1967), entitled to petition for restoration of the viscountcy, but never did so.
Lord Taaffe was seated at Ellischau Castle, Bohemia.
Under the Titles Deprivation Act 1917, his name was removed from the roll of the Peers of Ireland by Order of the King in Council, 1919, for bearing arms against the United Kingdom in the 1st World War.
In 1919, he also lost his title as Count of the Holy Roman Empire, when the newly-established republic of Austria abolished the nobility and outlawed the use of noble titles.
Independent of the legal situation in the UK, the monarchy was abolished in Austria in 1918, and in 1919 the newly established republic of German Austria abolished all noble titles by law.
Heinrich, Count Taaffe, 12th Viscount Taaffe, thus lost both his titles and ended his life as plain Mr Taaffe.
He married, in 1897, in Vienna, Maria Magda Fuchs, and they had a son, Richard (1898–1967).
Upon the death of his first wife in 1918, he married, secondly, Aglaë Isescu,, in 1919, at Ellischau.
He died in Vienna in 1928, aged 56.
EDWARD CHARLES RICHARD TAAFFE (1898–1967) was an Austrian gemmologist who found the first cut and polished taaffeite in November 1945.
Mr Taaffe inherited neither the viscountcy nor the title of Count, as Austria had generally abolished titles of nobility in 1919.
With Richard Taaffe’s death in 1967, no heirs to either title remained and both the Austrian and the UK titles became extinct.
Portions of the Taaffes’ County Sligo estate were offered for sale in the Encumbered Estates Court in 1852.
In 1866-67, John Taaffe offered for sale his estate at Gleneask and lands at Drumraine, in the barony of Corran.
In 1880 John West Pollock offered over 500 acres of the Taaffe estate in the barony of Corran for sale in the Land Judges’ Court.
The Gleneask estate derived from an 1808 lease between Henry King and John Taaffe; while the Drumraine lease dated from the same period from the Parke estate.
The Taaffe family are also recorded as the owners of 833 acres in County Galway in the 1870s.
The family also held extensive properties in counties Louth and Meath.
The Congested Districts Board acquired over 5,000 acres of the Taaffe estate in the early 20th century.
SMARMORE CASTLE, near Ardee, County Louth, is claimed to be one of the longest continuously inhabited castles in Ireland.
Records show that William Taaffe was seated here in 1320, after his family arrived in Ireland from Wales at the turn of the 12th century.
Successive generations of Taaffes continued to make Smarmore Castle their main residence in Ireland until the mid 1980s, when the property was sold.
The castle is divided into three distinct sections comprising an early 14th century castle-keep with extensions on either side built ca 1720 and 1760 respectively.
The castle is built of local stone and its walls are eight feet thick.
The 18th century courtyard behind the castle was formerly the stables for the estate.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 194. “(Plunkett, Louth, B/PB) The familiar Irish castle theme of an old tower-house with a later building attached; but in this case the three storey nine bay 1760 addition is as high as the old tower, and there is a continuous skyline of early C19 battlements; the whole effect being one of vastness and a certain grimness. In the entrance front, which is plain except for a small C18 pedimented and fanlighted doorway, the old tower projects at one end, forming an obtuse angle with the later building; it is differentiated by having pointed Georgian Gothic windows whereas in the rest of the façade there are ordinary rectangular sahse; it also had slightly higher battlements, with Irish crow-stepped battlements at the corners, which are balanced by similar battlements at the opposite end of the front. In the garden front, there is a projection at one end with a shallow curved bow, giving the effect of another tower; the ground floor windows of the bow being Georgian Gothic. There is good plasterwork of ca 1800 in the principal rooms, the largest being a ballroom in the bow of the garden front.”
Louth Hall, County Louth, courtesy National Inventory.
Detached multiple-bay three-storey Georgian house, built c. 1760, now in ruins. Shallow projecting curved bow to the east of south elevation c. 1805, tower house to west c.1350. House destroyed by fire in 2000. Roof not visible, hidden behind crenellated parapet, remains of red brick corbelled chimneystack to angle of fourteenth-century house and eighteenth-century house, south elevation. Roughcast-rendered over squared coursed rubble stone walling, coping to crenellations. Pointed arch square- and round-headed window openings, tooled limestone sills. Round-headed door opening to north elevation flanked by engaged tooled limestone columns, surmounted by broken pediment and fanlight, painted timber door with ten flat-panels, Plunkett family crest above pediment. House situated within field with ranges of random rubble stone outbuildings to west c. 1805, arranged around three yards; remains of walled garden to west, artificial lake to south, dovecot to south-west. Entrance gates to north-east on roadside comprising tooled limestone squared piers, cast-iron gates, flanked by pedestrian gates and curving quadrant plinth surmounted by cast-iron railings.
Appraisal
This house was the home of the Plunkett family, Lords of Louth, from the later medieval until the early-twentieth century. The continuity of occupation is reflected in the architectural changes, the migration from tower house to Georgian mansion. A fire in 2000 destroyed delicate early nineteenth century interior plasterwork. The archaeological, architectural and historical associations of this building are as immense as the structure itself.
Louth Hall, County Louth, courtesy National Inventory.Louth Hall, County Louth, courtesy National Inventory.Louth Hall, County Louth, courtesy National Inventory.Louth Hall, County Louth, courtesy National Inventory.Louth Hall, County Louth, courtesy National Inventory.
In Blake, Tarquin. Abandoned Mansions of Ireland. Collins Press, Cork, 2010.
Louth Hall. (notes from Abandoned Houses of Ireland,by Tarquin Blake), 365 windows. Owners: 1541, Oliver Plunkett, made Baron of Louth, by Henry 8th; 1641, 6th.Baron, Oliver, converted to Irish rebels – imprisoned for High Treason. Cromwell forfeited the huge lands, Charles ii restored, 1669. 11th Baron, Thomas Oliver, House of Lords. 1805- extensions to House – 250 acres with 700 trees, total, 3,068 acres. 1909, most sold off to tenants. 14th Baron died 1941 – all sold, 1953, derelict.
The last Roman Catholic to be executed in England for his faith (although officially it was for high treason), Oliver Plunkett was also the first Irishman to be canonised for some seven centuries when declared a saint in 1975. Born 350 years earlier in Loughcrew, County Meath, Plunkett was member of a family which traced its origins back to Sir Hugh de Plunkett, a Norman knight who had come to Ireland during the reign of Henry II. His descendants established themselves primarily in Meath and Louth and soon acquired large land holdings in both. During the Reformation period, the Plunketts remained loyal to the Catholic religion of their forebears. Oliver Plunkett’s education was accordingly assigned to a cousin Patrick Plunkett, Abbot of St Mary’s, Dublin (and brother of the first Earl of Fingall). He then travelled to Rome where he entered the Irish College and became a priest, remaining in Italy until 1669 when appointed Archbishop of Armagh: the following year he returned to this country where he established a Jesuit College in Drogheda. However, changes in legislation and government attitudes towards Catholicism following the so-called Popish Plot of 1678 obliged him to go into hiding. Finally arrested in Dublin in December 1679 he was initially tried in Ireland but when the authorities here realised it would be impossible to secure a conviction he was taken to London where found guilty of high treason ‘for promoting the Roman faith’ and hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn in July 1681: since 1921 his head has been displayed in a reliquary in St Peter’s, Drogheda.
One of the houses associated with Oliver Plunkett is Louth Hall, County Louth. It was here he came to stay on his return to Ireland in 1670, provided with lodgings by his namesake and kinsman Oliver Plunkett, sixth Baron Louth. The original building on the site was a late-mediaeval tower house set on a hill above the river Glyde. This branch of the family had been based at Beaulieu, immediately north of Drogheda but in the early 16th century another Oliver Plunkett moved to the site of Louth Hall and in 1541 was created the first Lord Louth by Henry VIII. He may have improved the property to befit his status but given the travails that befell his successors as they remained Catholic during the upheavals of the next 150 years it is unlikely much more work was done to the building: on a couple of occasions their lands were seized from them or they were outlawed. The ninth Lord Louth, a minor when he succeeded to the estate in 1707, was raised in England in the Anglican faith and so his successors remained until the second half of the 19th century when the 13th Baron Louth was received into the Catholic church. Meanwhile considerable changes were wrought to their house, to which c.1760 a long three-storey, one-room deep extension was added. Further alterations were made in 1805 when Richard Johnston, elder brother of the more famous Francis, created several large spaces including a ballroom with bow window to the rear of the building. He was also responsible for inserting arched gothic windows to the original tower house and providing a crenellated parapet to conceal the pitched roof behind.
The Plunketts remained at Louth Hall until almost the middle of the last century. Most of the surrounding estate, which in the 1870s ran to more than 3,500 acres, was sold following the 1903 Wyndham Land Act but the house stayed in the family’s ownership and was occupied by the 14th Lord Louth who died in 1941. Louth Hall was then disposed of and seems to have stood empty thereafter. When Mark Bence-Jones wrote of the house in 1978 (Burke’s Guide to Country Houses: Ireland), he included a photograph of the dining room being used to store sacks of grain. Fifteen years later Christine Casey and Alistair Rowan (Buildings of Ireland: North Leinster) wrote of ‘delicate rococo plasterwork’ in two niches of the same room, and of crisp neo-classical plasterwork in the stairwell, as well as the first-floor drawing room featuring ‘delicate plasterwork of oak garlands and acorns.’ Almost none of this remains today, as vandals set fire to the already-damaged house in 2000 and left it an almost complete ruin. Somehow traces of the original interior decoration remain here and there, tantalising hints of how it must once have looked, but even the Plunkett coat of arms that until recently rested above the pedimented entrance doorcase has either been stolen or destroyed. As so often in this country, the only remaining occupants are cattle. Oliver Plunkett is a much–venerated saint in Ireland but not even his documented links with Louth Hall has been sufficient to protect it from a sad end.
THE BARONS LOUTH WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY LOUTH, WITH 3,578 ACRES
This noble family, the eldest branch of the numerous house of PLUNKETT, claims a common ancestor with the Earls of Fingall and the Barons Dunsany; namely, John Plunkett, who was seated, about the close of the 11th century, at Beaulieu, County Louth.
From this gentleman descended two brothers, John and Richard Plunkett; the younger of whom was the progenitor of the Earls of Fingall and the Barons Dunsany; and the elder, the ancestor of
SIR PATRICK PLUNKETT, Knight, of Kilfarnan, Beaulieu, and Tallanstown, who was appointed, in 1497, Sheriff of Louth during pleasure.
Sir Patrick married Catherine, daughter of Thomas Nangle, 15th Baron of Navan, and dying in 1508, was succeeded by his eldest son,
OLIVER PLUNKETT, of Kilfarnon, who was elevated to the peerage, in 1541, in the dignity of BARON LOUTH (second creation).
His lordship wedded firstly, Catherine, daughter and heir of John Rochfort, of Carrick, County Kildare, by whom he had six sons and four daughters; and secondly, Maud, daughter and co-heir of Walter Bath, of Rathfeigh, by whom he had two sons and two daughters.
He was succeeded at his decease by his eldest son,
THOMAS, 2nd Baron (c1547-71), who married Margaret, daughter and heir of Nicholas Barnewall, and was succeeded at his decease by his eldest son,
PATRICK, 3rd Baron (1548-75), who wedded Maud, daughter of Lord Killeen; but dying without issue (having been slain by McMahon, in the recovery of a prey of cattle, at Essexford, County Monaghan), the title devolved upon his brother,
OLIVER, 4th Baron; who having, with the Plunketts of Ardee, brought six archers on horseback to the general hosting, at the hill of Tara, 1593, was appointed to have the leading of County Louth.
He married firstly, Frances, daughter of Sir Nicholas Bagenall, Knight Marshal of Ireland, by whom he had five sons and three daughters; and secondly, Genet Dowdall, by whom he had no issue.
His lordship died in 1607, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
MATTHEW, 5th Baron, who wedded Mary, daughter of Sir Richard Fitzwilliam, of Meryon, and had four sons.
His lordship died in 1629, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
OLIVER, 6th Baron (1608-79); who, joining the Royalists in 1639, was at the siege of Drogheda, and at a general meeting of the principal Roman Catholic gentry of County Louth, held at the hill of Tallaghosker.
His lordship was appointed Colonel-General of all the forces to be raised in that county; and in the event of his lordship’s declining the same, then Sir Christopher Bellew; and upon his refusal, then Sir Christopher Barnewall, of Rathasker.
This latter gentleman accepted the said post of Colonel-General, for which he was imprisoned, in 1642, at Dublin Castle, and persecuted by the usurper Cromwell’s parliament.
His lordship married Mary, Dowager Viscountess Dillon, second daughter of Randal, 1st Earl of Antrim, and was succeeded at his demise by his only son,
MATTHEW, 7th Baron; who, like his father, suffered by his adhesion to royalty, having attached himself to the fortunes of JAMES II.
His lordship died in 1639, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
OLIVER, 8th Baron (de jure) (1668-1707); who, upon taking his seat in parliament, was informed by the Chancellor that his grandfather, Oliver, 6th Baron, had been outlawed in 1641; and not being able to establish the reversal of the same, the dignity remained, for the two subsequent generations, unacknowledged in law.
His lordship was succeeded by his only son, by Mabella, daughter of Lord Kingsland,
MATTHEW, 9th Baron (de jure) (1698-1754), who was succeeded by his eldest son,
OLIVER, 10th Baron (de jure) (1727-63), who wedded Margaret, daughter of Luke Netterville, and had issue,
THOMAS, his successor; Matthew; Susannah; Anne.
His lordship was succeeded by his elder son,
THOMAS OLIVER, 11th Baron (1757-1823), who had the outlawry of his great-grandfather annulled, and was restored to his rank in the peerage in 1798.
He married, in 1808, Margaret, eldest daughter of Randal, 13th Lord Dunsany, and had issue,
THOMAS, his successor; Randall Matthew; Charles Dawson; Henry Luke; Edward Sidney.
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,
THOMAS OLIVER, 12th Baron (1809-49), who espoused, in 1830, Anna Maria, daughter of Philip Roche, of Donore, County Kildare, by Anna Maria, his wife, youngest daughter of Randall, Lord Dunsany, and had issue,
RANDAL PERCY OTWAY, his successor; Thomas Oliver Westenra; Algernon Richard Hartland; Augusta Anna Margaret; another daughter.
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,
RANDAL PERCY OTWAY, 13th Baron (1832-83) an officer in the 79th Highlanders.
14th Baron Louth
RANDAL PILGRIM RALPH, 14th Baron (1868-1941), JP DL, was an officer in the Westminster Dragoons and the Wiltshire Regiment, and served in the First and Second World Wars.
The 14th Baron, though not prominent in politics, did take part in public life: He was a member of the Irish Reform Association, and took part in the campaign for a Catholic University. In politics he was a Unionist. His papers show that he was an active sportsman and also travelled widely.
He sold most of the estate soon after the 1903 Wyndham Land Act. He died in 1941, and was succeeded by his only surviving son Otway, briefly 15th Baron, before his death in 1950.
Louth Hall and demesne at Tallanstown were sold and the family settled at Jersey, Channel Islands.
The 16th Baron died at Jersey, Channel Islands, on the 6th January, 2013, aged 83.
The title now devolves upon his lordship’s eldest son, the Hon Jonathan Oliver Plunkett, born in 1952.
LOUTH HALL, the ancestral demesne of the Barons Louth, is in the parish of Tallanstown, 2½ miles south of the village of Louth, County Louth.
The mansion is a three-storey Georgian house, built ca 1760, now in ruins.
There is a shallow, projecting, curved bow to the east of south elevation of ca 1805; and a tower-house to west of ca 1350.
The roof is not visible, hidden behind a crenellated parapet.
The Plunkett family crest is above the pediment.
Louth Hall is situated within what is now a field, with ranges of random rubble stone outbuildings of ca 1805, arranged around three yards; remains of walled garden to west; artificial lake to south, dovecote to south-west.
Entrance gates to north-east on roadside comprising tooled limestone squared piers, cast-iron gates, flanked by pedestrian gates and curving quadrant plinth surmounted by cast-iron railings.
This house was the home of the Plunkett family from the later medieval until the early-20th century.
The 14th Baron sold most of the estate soon after the 1903 Wyndham Land Act.
He died in 1941, and his only surviving son, Otway, was briefly 15th Baron Louth, before his death in 1950.
The house and demesne were also sold, some years after the estate, and the family settled in Jersey, Channel Islands.
The continuity of occupation is reflected in the architectural changes, the migration from tower house to Georgian mansion.
A fire in 2000 destroyed delicate early 19th century interior plasterwork.
The archaeological, architectural and historical associations of this building are as immense as the structure itself.
First published in March, 2013. Louth arms courtesy of European Heraldry.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 189. (Redmond/LG1863; Loftus, Ely, M/PB) A gaunt, three-storey mansion of 1871, with rows of plate-glass windows and a balustraded parapet, incorporating parts of a previous house here, which was late 17th century or early C18, gable-ended and of two storeys and nine bays, with a dormered roof and a steep pedimented gable; it was fronted by a forecourt with tall piers surmounded by ball finials and had a haunted tapestry room. .
The house stands near the tip of Hook Head, and must have been one of the most wing-swept noblemen’s seats in the British Isles; “No tree will grow above the shelter of the walls,” Bishop Pococke observed of Loftus Hall in C18, and the same is true of the place today. The site was originally occupied by an old castle of the Redmonds, which was known in their day as The Hall; and of which a square turret remained near the old house, but was demolished when the present house was built. The present house, which was built soon after his coming-of-age by the 4th Marquess of Ely – who also planned to rebuild his other seat, Ely Lodge – contains an impressive staircase hall, with an oak stair in Jacobean style, richly decorated with carving and marquetry; the gallery being carried on fluted Corinthian columns of wood. The house is now a convent.”
Loftus Hall, County Wexford
Loftus Hall: Formerly named Redmond Hall, it is a three-storey mansion built in 1871, incorporating parts of a previous house here, which was late 17th century or early C18.
Henry Loftus of Dunguelph Castle moved to Redmond Hall. He was the father of Nicholas Loftus (d. 1763) who was created 1st Viscount of Ely.
Lord Belmont tells us:
NICHOLAS LOFTUS, MP for County Wexford, who was elevated to the peerage as Baron Loftus, of Loftus Hall, in 1751.
Nicholas Loftus, 1st Viscount Ely (1687-1763)
His lordship was sworn of the privy council in 1753; nominated Governor of County Wexford, and advanced to a viscountcy, as Viscount Loftus, of Ely, in 1756.
He married firstly Anne Ponsonby, 2nd daughter of William, Viscount Duncannon, by whom he had issue,
NICHOLAS (d. 1766), his successor;
HENRY (1709-1783), succeeded as 4th Viscount Loftus;
Mary; Anne; Elizabeth.
His lordship wedded secondly, Letitia, daughter of Sir John Rowley, knight, by whom he had no issue.
He died in 1763, and was succeeded by his elder son,
NICHOLAS, 2nd Viscount, who was advanced to the dignity of Earl of Ely in 1766.
Nicholas Hume Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely (1708-1766) by Jacob Ennis. These two portraits depict Nicholas, the so-called “Wicked Earl” at various stages of his life. Nicholas is much older in the Ennis portrait on the left. Lord Loftus allegedly mistrated his son (also Nicholas) leading to a protracted court case. That son would later bequeath Rathfarnham Castle and the estate to his uncle, Henry Loftus (1709-1783) who became the 1st Earl of Ely (of the second creation). Jacob Ennis was an Irish historical and portrait painter who spent some time studying in Italy. He was later a Master in the Dublin Society’s Drawing Schools.
He married Mary, eldest daughter and heir of Sir Gustavus Hume Bt, of Castle Hume, County Fermanagh; and dying in 1766, was succeeded by his only son,
NICHOLAS, 2nd Earl, who died unmarried, in 1769, when the earldom expired, and the viscountcy and barony reverted to his uncle,
THE HON HENRY LOFTUS, as 4th Viscount, born in 1709.
His lordship was advanced to an earldom, in 1771, as Earl of Ely; and installed a Knight Founder of the Most Illustrious of St Patrick, 1783.
Henry Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely of the 2nd Creation (1709-1783) by Angelica Kauffman.Henry Loftus (1709-1783) 1st Earl of Ely and wife Frances Monroe courtesy of National Trust.
Lord Loftus married twice, though died without issue, in 1783, when the titles became extinct; while the estates devolved upon his nephew,
THE RT HON CHARLES TOTTENHAM, who then assumed the surname and arms of LOFTUS, and was created, in two years afterwards, Baron Loftus, of Loftus Hall.
His lordship was advanced to a viscountcy, in 1789, as Viscount Loftus; and Earl of Ely in 1794.
He was further advanced, to the dignity of a marquessate, in 1800, as MARQUESS OF ELY.
His lordship was postmaster-general of Ireland in 1789; privy counsellor; Knight of St Patrick; governor of Wexford; governor of Fermanagh; colonel, the Wexford Militia.
Loftus Hall, County Wexford, for sale April 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Loftus Hall, County Wexford, for sale April 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Loftus Hall, County Wexford, for sale April 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Loftus Hall, County Wexford, for sale April 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Loftus Hall, County Wexford, for sale April 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
Adam’s son Dudley (1561-1616) sat in the Irish parliament for Newborough in County Wexford. He married Anne Bagenal of Newry Castle, County Down, daughter of Nicholas Henry Bagenal, Marshal of Ireland. The castle passed to their son, Adam Loftus (1590-1666), who married Jane Vaughan of Golden Grove, County Offaly.
Another son of Dudley and Anne Bagenal was Nicholas Loftus (1592-1666), the ancestor of Henry Loftus, the Earl of Ely. Nicholas’s second son Henry (1636-1716) lived in Loftus Hall in County Wexford.
Loftus Hall, County Wexford, for sale April 2025 courtesy Colliers.Formerly named Redmond Hall, it is a three-storey mansion built in 1871, incorporating parts of a previous house here, which was late 17th century or early C18. [3]
Let us backtrack now to look at the descendants of the first Adam Loftus. Adam’s grandson Nicholas lived in Fethard, County Wexford, in the precursor to Loftus Hall. His son Henry (1636-1716) of Loftus Hall was the father of Nicholas Loftus (1687-1763) who was created 1st Viscount Loftus of Ely.
Nicholas Loftus, 1st Viscount Ely (1687-1763). Painter unknown. This painting was completed in 1758 to mark the 70th birthday of Nicholas, father of both Nicholas (the 1st Earl of Ely) and Henry Loftus. He sits next to a book entitled The Present State of Ireland. This anonymous work was originally published in 1730 and contained criticism of the amount of money flowing out of Ireland to absentee landlords, no doubt reflecting Nicholas’s concern with the financial state of the kingdom. He is sometimes known as “the Extinguisher” because of his threat to extinguish the Hook lighthouse in Wexford unless the rent he received from it was increased.
Nicholas served as MP for Wexford, and married Anne Ponsonby, daughter of William Ponsonby, 1st Viscount Duncannon. He was first created Baron Loftus of Loftus Hall in 1751, and then assumed a seat in the House of Lords, and became Privy Counsellor of Ireland in 1753. He was created Viscount Loftus of Ely in County Wicklow in 1756.
After Anne died, around 1724, Nicholas Viscount Ely married Letitia Rowley (d. 1765) of Summerhill in County Meath. To make matters more confusing, she had been previously married to Arthur Loftus (1644-1725) 3rd Viscount of Ely!
Summerhill, County Meath, etnrance front, photograph: Maurice Craig, 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.
Viscount Loftus is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of Ireland for members of the Anglo-Irish Loftus family. The first creation was for Adam Loftus (1568-1643) on 10 May 1622, who served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1619. He is not to be confused the our Adam Loftus (1533-1605) of Rathfarnham Castle. This title became extinct in 1725 upon the death of the third viscount, who had no male heir, despite having married three times.
Nicholas and Anne’s son Nicholas Loftus (1708-1766) became the 1st Earl of Ely, and added Hume to his surname after marrying Mary Hume, daughter of Gustavus Hume, 3rd Baronet of Castle Hume, County Fermanagh. As well as Loftus Hall in Wexford, they owned 13 Henrietta Street in Dublin. He became known as the “wicked earl” due to a court hearing about the supposed mental incapacity of his son, also named Nicholas. Young Nicholas’s uncle, George Rochfort (1713-1734), brother of the 1st Earl of Belvedere, sought to have young Nicholas declared incapable of succeeding to the title. George Rochfort was married to another daughter, Alice, of Gustavus Hume, 3rd Baronet of Castle Hume. Family members testified that young Nicholas was of normal intelligence, and that any eccentric behaviour should be blamed on his father’s ill-treatment. The trial lasted for nine years and was even brought to the House of Lords. Poor young Nicholas died before the trial was finished and Rochfort’s case was declared invalid.
Nicholas Hume Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely (1708-1766), unknown artist. It was after Nicholas Loftus (son of the Extinguisher) had married into the wealthy Hume family that the Ely earldom was created for the first time. This depicts Nicholas, the so-called “Wicked Earl” in the doctoral robes of Trinity College Dublin.Nicholas Hume Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely (1708-1766) by Jacob Ennis. These two portraits depict Nicholas, the so-called “Wicked Earl” at various stages of his life. Nicholas is much older in the Ennis portrait. Jacob Ennis was an Irish historical and portrait painter who spent some time studying in Italy. He was later a Master in the Dublin Society’s Drawing Schools.
Nicholas Loftus Hume officially succeeded as 2nd Earl of Ely (1738-1769). It was through him that Rathfarnham Castle returned to Loftus ownership. Nicholas bequeathed Rathfarnham Castle and the estate to his uncle, Henry Loftus (1709-1783) who became the 1st Earl of Ely of the second creation. Henry was the younger son of Nicholas Loftus (d. 1763) 1st Viscount Loftus and Anne née Ponsonby, brother to the earlier Nicholas Hume Loftus (d. 1766) 1st Earl of Ely, the Wicked Earl.
Henry Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely of the 2nd Creation (1709-1783) by Angelica Kauffman. Henry inherited Rathfarnham Castle and its demesne in 1769 upon the death of Nicholas, his nephew. Nicholas had been the subject of a long running legal case concerning the state of his mind and Henry had supported him throughout. The Swiss artist Angelica Kauffman is known to have spent several months in Dublin in 1771. As well as this portrait which was probably completed to mark Henry’s elevation to the earldom of Ely, this renowned painter also completed a group portrait of Henry and his family (now in the National Gallery) as well as a series of ceiling paintings for the long gallery on the first floor depicting scenes from Greek mythology.
Loftus Hall, Fethard-On-Sea, Co. Wexford, Y34YC93 courtesy Colliers, April 2025
€3,000,000
22 Bed
22 Bath
2460 m²
Loftus Hall is a large, partly re-furbished country house which was built on the site of the original Redmond Hall. The property boasts one of the most scenic locations in the southeast with views over Hook Peninsula and the world famous Hook Lighthouse, providing the most stunning landscape which is steeped in history and reputed by locals to have been haunted the property. The property was purchased by the Quigley family in 2011 and run as a tourist attraction with guided tours of the property and seasonal events. In 2021 the property was bought by its current owners who had a masterplan to refurbish the original building over two phases. The estate has already undergone extensive renovations, with Phase 1 nearing completion, set to transform the property into an exclusive 22-bedroom luxury hotel with high-end amenities, extensive food and beverage facilities, and beautifully landscaped gardens. The vision for Phase 2, included an additional 56 bedroom hotel block, a gym and spa, dedicated wedding facilities, 33 standalone garden cottages and 10 eco pods strategically placed along the perimeter of the property. Location Loftus Hall is located on the southern tip of Hook Peninsula, close to the famous Hook Lighthouse, one of the oldest operational lighthouses in the world. Loftus Hall offers an unparalleled location for exploring the beauty and history of County Wexford. Just 4km from the iconic Hook Lighthouse, 33km from the vibrant town of New Ross, 45km from Wexford and 51km from Waterford. The property is also in close proximity to several popular tourist destinations, including Passage East (17km) and Dunmore East (30km) and the charming nearby villages such as Hookless Village, Slade, and Fethard-On-Sea, all within easy access. The location is quite picturesque, making it a popular spot for visitors interested in history, architecture, and the paranormal. Main House Built originally between 1870 and 1871 on the site of Redmond Hall, which traces its history to 1350, Loftus Hall comprises a detached nine-bay, three storey house. The estate is situated on approximately 27.68 hectares (68 acres) with the house extending to a total gross internal area (GIA) of 2,460 sq.m (26,480 sq. ft). Loftus Hall is a protected structure under RPS Ref WCC0692 and under the NIAH Ref 15705401. The estate has already undergone extensive renovations, with Phase 1 nearing completion. The ground floor of the original building has been transformed to contain a large dining room, a cigar room and a number of guest lounge areas. When completed the restaurant will seat over 100 covers which will feature visibility of the chefs working with an open pass, an outside BBQ area and fire pit adjacent to the new restaurant area with the existing bar fully refurbished. The hotel bedrooms are finished to second fix over the first and second floors and are appointed with large ensuite bathrooms and with commanding and sweeping views out to sea. The vision for Phase 2 consists of the development of a permanent marquee erected on the grounds which will cater for up to 300 seated wedding guests, a gym & spa, a new hotel bedroom block which will contain up to 56 additional bedrooms, 33 standalone garden cottages, 10 eco pods wrapped around the perimeter of the property, a children’s playground, a herb and vegetable garden, over two hundred car park spaces in total between the front and rear of the development and a walkway that will allow guests to access the beach directly from the development. The Grounds The grounds are a feature of Loftus Hall and have been maintained to the highest standards throughout the refurbishment. The gardens at Loftus Hall, particularly the walled garden, were designed to thrive in the unique climate of the Hook Peninsula. The garden’s high walls provided a sheltered environment, allowing a variety of plants to flourish. Fruit trees were a significant feature, with mulberry trees being particularly successful. The sheltered environment also supported other fruit trees like apple and pear. Additionally, the garden likely included a variety of herbs and vegetables, which were essential for the estate’s kitchen. The garden’s design and plant selection reflect the practical needs and aesthetic preferences of the time, creating a space that was both beautiful and functional. Services • ESB – full upgrade of supply to the property with 80kVA allowance • Mains Water – two water supplies to the property • Gas – storage tank for supply to the building • Heating – plumbed for electric central heating system
Loftus Hall, County Wexford, courtesy National Inventory.
Detached nine-bay three-storey country house, built 1870-1, on an L-shaped plan centred on single-bay single-storey flat-roofed projecting porch to ground floor; seven-bay three-storey side (south) elevation centred on three-bay three-storey breakfront on a bowed plan. Occupied, 1901; 1911. In alternative use, 1916-35. In alternative use, 1937-83. In alternative use, 1983-91. For sale, 1991. Vacant, 2007. For sale, 2008. Roof not visible behind parapet with cast-iron rainwater goods retaining cast-iron downpipes. Roughcast walls on lichen-spotted chamfered cushion course on rendered plinth with lichen-spotted vermiculated-panelled quoins to corners supporting dentilated cornice on blind frieze below balustraded parapet. Square-headed central door opening in tripartite arrangement approached by flight of four steps with engaged columns on panelled pedestals supporting dentilated cornice on “triglyph”-detailed frieze on entablature framing glazed timber panelled double doors having sidelights. Square-headed window openings (ground floor) with lichen-spotted chamfered sill course, and rendered surrounds with bull nose-detailed pilasters supporting “Cyma Recta”- or “Cyma Reversa”-detailed hood mouldings on panelled consoles framing boarded-up one-over-one timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings (first floor) with thumbnail beaded sills, and rendered surrounds with bull nose-detailed pilasters on “Cavetto” consoles supporting “Cyma Recta”- or “Cyma Reversa”-detailed open bed pediments on panelled consoles framing boarded-up one-over-one timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings (top floor) with sills on “Cavetto” consoles, and rendered surrounds with bull nose-detailed pilasters supporting “Cyma Recta”- or “Cyma Reversa”-detailed hood mouldings on panelled consoles framing boarded-up one-over-one timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): vestibule; square-headed door opening into hall with carved timber surround having roundel-detailed panelled concave reveals framing glazed timber panelled door having overlight; hall retaining encaustic tiled floor carved timber Classical-style surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors centred on cut-veined marble Classical-style chimneypiece with carved timber surrounds to opposing window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers, and decorative plasterwork cornice to ceiling; top-lit double-height staircase hall (west) retaining inlaid timber parquet floor, timber panelled staircase on an Imperial plan with fluted timber balusters supporting carved timber banisters terminating in timber panelled newels, round-headed niche to half-landing with moulded plasterwork frame, carved timber Classical-style surrounds to door openings to landing framing timber panelled doors, and decorative plasterwork cornice to compartmentalised ceiling centred on stained glass lantern with “Acanthus” ceiling rose; reception room retaining carved timber Classical-style surround to door opening framing timber panelled double doors with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers, cut-veined black marble Classical-style chimneypiece with lugged frame centred on keystone, and decorative plasterwork cornice to ceiling centred on “Acanthus” ceiling rose; reception room retaining carved timber Classical-style surround to door opening framing timber panelled double doors with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers, cut-veined red marble Classical-style chimneypiece, and decorative plasterwork cornice to ceiling; reception room (south-east) retaining carved timber surround to door opening framing timber panelled door with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers, roundel-detailed cut-veined red marble Classical-style chimneypieces, and decorative plasterwork cornice to ceiling; bow-ended reception room (south) retaining carved timber Classical-style surround to door opening framing timber panelled double doors with carved timber surrounds to opposing window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers, and decorative plasterwork cornice to ceiling; chapel (south-west) retaining inlaid timber parquet floor, cut-veined black marble Classical-style chimneypiece with carved timber surrounds to opposing window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers, and timber boarded ceiling in carved timber frame on carved timber cornice; and (upper floors): carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers. Set in unkempt grounds.
Appraisal
A country house erected for John Henry Wellington Graham Loftus (1849-89), fourth Marquess of Ely, representing an important component of the later nineteenth-century domestic built heritage of south County Wexford with the architectural value of the composition, one retaining at least the footings of a house (1680-4) illustrated in Volume IV of Philip Herbert Hore’s (1841-1931) “History of the Town and County of Wexford” (1901), confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on panoramic vistas overlooking windswept grounds with Saint George’s Channel and Waterford Harbour as backdrops; the symmetrical frontage centred on a pillared porch demonstrating good quality workmanship; the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression with those openings showing “stucco” refinements ‘designed to resemble a grand hotel’ (Williams 1994, 186); the definition of the principal “apartments” by Osborne House (1845-51)-like bows; and the balustraded roofline repurposing eagle finials shown in a sketch (1835-6) by Charles Newport Bolton (1816-84) of County Waterford (Hore 1901 IV, 381). A prolonged period of unoccupancy notwithstanding, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior where encaustic tile work; contemporary joinery; robust chimneypieces; plasterwork by James Hogan and Sons of Great Brunswick Street [Pearse Street], Dublin (The Irish Builder 15th May 1874, 148; Freeman’s Journal 6th November 1875); and ‘an impressive oak stair in the Jacobean style…richly decorated with carving and marquetry’ (Bence-Jones 1978, 189-90), all highlight the artistic potential of the composition. Furthermore, an adjacent coach house-cum-stable outbuilding (see 15705402); a walled garden (see 15705403); and a nearby gate lodge (see 15705405), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of an estate having subsequent connections with John Henry Loftus (1851-1925), fifth Marquess of Ely. NOTE: Loftus Hall is the subject of two apocryphal legends with the first being the famous “Legend of Loftus Hall” (1765) and the second being that the country house was erected in anticipation of a royal visit from Queen Victoria (1819-1901; r. 1837-1901) by whom Jane Loftus (née Hope-Vere) (1821-90), Dowager Marchioness of Ely, was appointed to the office of Lady of the Bedchamber (1851).
Loftus Hall, County Wexford, courtesy National Inventory.Loftus Hall, County Wexford, courtesy National Inventory.Loftus Hall, County Wexford, courtesy National Inventory.Loftus Hall, County Wexford, courtesy National Inventory.Loftus Hall, County Wexford, courtesy National Inventory.Loftus Hall, County Wexford, courtesy National Inventory.Loftus Hall, County Wexford, courtesy National Inventory.Loftus Hall, County Wexford, courtesy National Inventory.Loftus Hall, County Wexford, courtesy National Inventory.
At Loftus Hall, County Wexford, courtesy National Inventory.
Farmyard complex, extant 1902, including: Detached three- or five-bay single-storey hipped gable-fronted coach house-cum-stable outbuilding with attic on a rectangular plan. Now in ruins. Hipped gable-fronted roof now missing, paired rendered central chimney stacks having stringcourses below “Cyma Recta”- or “Cyma Reversa”-detailed cornice capping, and no rainwater goods surviving on rendered eaves. Fine roughcast walls. Segmental-headed central carriageway with overgrown threshold, and cut-limestone block-and-start surround having bull nose-detailed reveals centred on keystone with no fittings surviving. Camber-headed window opening (half-attic) with cut-limestone sill, and limestone lugged surround having chamfered reveals with no fittings surviving. Paired square-headed window openings with cut-granite sills, and concealed red brick block-and-start surrounds with no fittings surviving. Interior in ruins. Set in unkempt grounds shared with Loftus Hall.
Appraisal
A farmyard complex contributing positively to the group and setting values of the Loftus Hall estate.
AtLoftus Hall, County Wexford, courtesy National Inventory.
Gateway, extant 1771, on a symmetrical plan comprising pair of tuck pointed limestone ashlar piers on moulded cushion courses on plinths having stringcourses below ball finial-topped “Cyma Recta”- or “Cyma Reversa”-detailed cornice capping. Now disused. Road fronted at entrance to grounds of Loftus Hall.
Appraisal
A gateway not only making a pleasing visual statement in a rural street scene at the entrance on to the grounds of the Loftus Hall estate, but also surviving as a repurposed relic of the seventeenth-century estate as evidenced by a sketch (1835-6) by Charles Newport Bolton (1816-84) of County Waterford (cf. 15705406).
Loftus Hall, County Wexford, courtesy National Inventory.
Loftus Hall is a gaunt, three-storey nine-bay mansion of 1871, with rows of plate-glass windows and a parapet. It incorporates parts of a previous, late 17th century house. The house stands near the tip of Hook Head, an extremely wind-swept spot bereft of trees and shelter, and was built after his coming-of-age by the 4th Marquess of Ely. It largely built on the foundations of the old. Only the circular foundation of one of the towers in the ‘Ringfield’ and an underground passage survive of the original building. The new Loftus Hall was built with no expense spared – the entrance and staircase halls being of particular note. The house was supplied throughout with lighting by gas which was made on the premises and all the rooms heated by hot air pipes.
In 1917 Loftus Hall was bought by the Sisters of Providence and turned into a convent and a school for young girls interested in joining the order. In 1983, it was purchased by Michael Deveraux who reopened it as “Loftus Hall Hotel”, which was subsequently closed again in the late 1990s.
Featured in The Wexford Gentry by Art Kavanagh and Rory Murphy. Published by Irish Family Names, Bunclody, Co Wexford, Ireland, 1994.
p. 194. Redmond of the Hall.
The Redmonds of the Hall (now Loftus Hall on the Hook peninsula) became famous for defending their castle during the Rebellion of 1641. The Catholic Redmonds were Confederates. They were attacked by a force of soldiers from Duncannon fort, under the command of Captain Ashton. The English soldiers did not expect any formidable opposition and they pounded the castle with cannon. However Alexander and his sons and some tenants, pressed into service, stoutly defended the hall. A small army of rebels were camped at a short distance away. Among them were William and Antony Hore of Harperstown. When they heard the shooting and commotion, realising what was happening, they rushed to the help of the bealeaguered defendants. As luck would have it, a sudden mist swept in from the sea and the soldiers were unable to charge their pieces. They were outnumbered two to one by the rebels and the outcome was inevitable. Captain Ashton was killed (by Anthony Hore, it’s said), and seventy of his fellow soldiers also fell.
Alexander Redmond continued to live in the Hall until his death in 1650. When Cromwell’s forces arrived at his gates in 1649, he surrendered the castle but he was allowed to live there because of his advanced years. His sons were dispossessed. The lands were granted to Sir Nicholas Loftus, a Protestant neighbour, the grandson of Adam Loftus the archbishop of Dublin.
p. 195. It is generally thought that the South Wexford Redmonds descended from Raymond le Gros, who was one of the original Norman invaders. He appears to have had a son Alexander who was given a grant of the lands of the Hook Peninsula. In 1232 there is mention of a Sir Robert Redmond…[A Robert Redmond] married Eleanor Esmonde of Johnstown, daughter of Sir William Esmonde. They had four sons, Sir Alexander killed in battle against the Welsh, Richard, also killed in Wales, John who was a soldier in King Edward’s army and his succesor and heir Sir Walter Redmond. Sir Robert also had a daughter who married her first cousin Sir William Esmonde of Johnstown. It was noted that Walter died in 1350. Either Walter or his father is credited with building the castle subsequently konwn as Redmond’s Hall. Over one hundred years later an Andrew FitzRedmond is mentioned… an in 1520 a Sir John Redmond of hte Hall achieve fame as a most hospitable and generous patron of the church…
In 1559 Alexander Redmond of the Hook, was a government appointed collectr of Revenue which was to be used for the protection of the Wexford Pale.
Nearly one hundred years later, in 1642, another Alexander Redmond as the owner of Redmond Hall.
He had at least two sons, Robert and Michael, and at least ond daughter, Ellen, who was married to Henry Laffan (a descendant of James Laffane Prebendary of Whitechurch in 1570). Henry Laffan appears to have died before 1642, because that year Robert, his brother in law, was the guardian of Ellen’s four year old son. Ellen and her son were living in Slade Castle, which was fortified for her protection during the Rebellion.
P 196. Robert was married to Eleanor the daughter of William Esmonde of Johnstown, whose brother Patrick appeared to be living in the Hall at that time. Interestingly, when Robert lost his property in 1653 following the Cromwellian Confiscations, it was noted that Eleanor Redmond occupied property in Fethard village, not far from the Hall. Follwing that dark episode of history the Redmonds seem to disappear for a time.
In Burke’s Irish Family Records, it is surmised that the family of Redmonds of Wexford of whom John Redmond the renowned politician was a famous scion, descended from the Redmonds of the Hall.
p. 197. …John Edward Redmond, the famous politician. Born in 1856 …he was an MP from 1881 to 1918. He was Parnell’s chief supporter on the split in 1890 [p. 198] and leader of the Parnellite group on the death of Parnell in 1891. He succeeded in reuniting the party, which he led until his death in 1918.
He urged all young Irishmen to fight for Britain in the first World War He was a strict parliamentarian and fought for a free Ireland within the British Empire. He was totally opposed to the 1916 Rising and because of his stance, his popularity declined in Wexford.
Loftus Hall is located on Hook Head in co.Wexford. This was originally the site of a castle built by a family called Redmonds in 1350. It later ‘fell into the hands’ of the Loftus family in the 1650’s as result of the Cromwellian confiscations. One of their descendants, the 4th Marquess of Ely, built this house with the finest materials in 1872. Over the following years there were reports of strange happenings. One infamous story happened on a stormy winter’s night as the family relaxed before a roaring log fire. A stranger arrived on horseback who knocked on the door and was invited to stay for the night. After refreshments, he participated in a game of cards and when one fell on the floor, Lady Anne bent down to retrieve it. She was shocked to discover that the stranger had a cloven foot and when she screamed in terror, the stranger vanished through the ceiling in a puff of smoke!! (scared yet?) Lady Anne then fainted but when she awoke, she was apparently mentally ill. This was an embarrassment for the family and so she was locked away in her out of sight until she died. More ghost stories followed including that presumed to be of Anne Tottenham who frequently ‘appeared’ in the in the Tapestry Room. An exorcism was even carried out on the house by Father Broaders who’s own epitaph reads..‘here lies the body of Thomas Broaders, who did good and prayed for all and banished the Devil from Loftus Hall.‘ Loftus Hall was re opened again on Friday 13th of July 2012 and the public can now do ‘The Loftus Hall Tour’…if they dare! A new movie is also being made about the house which will be the first Irish film to be released in 3D.
THE MARQUESSES OF ELY WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY WEXFORD, WITH 14,023 ACRES
The family of LOFTUS, or, as it was anciently spelt, Lofthouse, appears, from the archives of York Minster, to have flourished in Yorkshire as early as the reign of ALFRED THE GREAT.
Before the advent of the Normans, this family held the town and lands of Loftus, Yorkshire, by thaneage, and after the Conquest, by military tenure.
The same records show that Christopher Lofthouse was prior of Helagh, Yorkshire, in 1460.
EDWARD LOFTUS, of Swineshead, Yorkshire, whose descendants have been, in different branches, thrice elevated to the Irish peerage, had two sons, namely,
ROBERT;
ADAM.
The elder son, Robert, whose second son,
ADAM LOFTUS, an eminent lawyer, was appointed LORD CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND, 1619; and created, in 1622, Viscount Loftus, of Ely, a dignity which expired with his lordship’ grandson ARTHUR, 3rd Viscount.
The younger son,
THE MOST REV ADAM LOFTUS, accompanied, as private chaplain, the Viceroy, Thomas, Earl of Sussex, into Ireland, and was consecrated Lord Archbishop of Armagh, 1562-3.
In 1567, the Lord Primate was translated to the see of Dublin; and six years afterwards we find him Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.
In 1578, His Grace was constituted LORD CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND, and he continued to hold the seals until his death.
This esteemed divine having a principal share in the foundation of Trinity College, Dublin, was appointed by charter its first Provost, which office he resigned in 1594.
He married Jane, eldest daughter of Alan Purdon, of Lurgan Race, County Louth, and by her had twenty children, of whom seven died young.
The survivors were eight sons and five daughters.
The Archbishop died in 1605, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
SIR DUDLEY LOFTUS, of Rathfarnham, who wedded Anne, daughter of Sir Henry Bagenal, of Newry, and had, with other issue,
NICHOLAS, of Fethard, born in 1592, Joint Clerk of the Pells and of the Treasury in Ireland, wedded and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,
SIR NICHOLAS LOFTUS, of Fethard, who married twice, and had several children, all of whom died issueless, when the estates descended to his brother,
HENRY LOFTUS, of Loftus Hall, who married twice and was succeeded, in 1716, by his elder son,
NICHOLAS LOFTUS, MP for County Wexford, who was elevated to the peerage as Baron Loftus, of Loftus Hall, in 1751.
His lordship was sworn of the privy council in 1753; nominated Governor of County Wexford, and advanced to a viscountcy, as Viscount Loftus, of Ely, in 1756.
He married firstly Anne, 2nd daughter of William, Viscount Duncannon, by whom he had issue,
NICHOLAS, his successor;
HENRY, succeeded as 4th Viscount Loftus;
Mary; Anne; Elizabeth.
His lordship wedded secondly, Letitia, daughter of Sir John Rowley, knight, by whom he had no issue.
He died in 1763, and was succeeded by his elder son,
NICHOLAS, 2nd Viscount, who was advanced to the dignity of Earl of Ely in 1766.
He married Mary, eldest daughter and heir of Sir Gustavus Hume Bt, of Castle Hume, County Fermanagh; and dying in 1766, was succeeded by his only son,
NICHOLAS, 2nd Earl, who died unmarried, in 1769, when the earldom expired, and the viscountcy and barony reverted to his uncle,
THE HON HENRY LOFTUS, as 4th Viscount, born in 1709.
His lordship was advanced to an earldom, in 1771, as Earl of Ely; and installed a Knight Founder of the Most Illustrious of St Patrick, 1783.
Lord Loftus married twice, though died without issue, in 1783, when the titles became extinct; while the estates devolved upon his nephew,
THE RT HON CHARLES TOTTENHAM, who then assumed the surname and arms of LOFTUS, and was created, in two years afterwards, Baron Loftus, of Loftus Hall.
His lordship was advanced to a viscountcy, in 1789, as Viscount Loftus; and Earl of Ely in 1794.
He was further advanced, to the dignity of a marquessate, in 1800, as MARQUESS OF ELY.
His lordship was postmaster-general of Ireland in 1789; privy counsellor; Knight of St Patrick; governor of Wexford; governor of Fermanagh; colonel, the Wexford Militia.
*****
GEORGE HENRY WELLINGTON, 7th Marquess (1903-69), styled Viscount Loftus between 1925-35, became known by the courtesy title Viscount Loftus when his father succeeded to the marquessate in 1925.
He was educated at Lancing College and served as a major in the North Irish Horse during the 2nd World War. He was also High Sheriff of Fermanagh in 1931. In 1935 he succeeded in the marquessate on the death of his father.
*****
CHARLES JOHN, 8th Marquess, who died in 2006 aged 92, was a Canadian prep school headmaster for some 40 years and a dogged, if silent, attender at the House of Lords for almost 30 years until his exclusion by Tony Blair’s reforms. He was appalled by the “constitutional vandalism” that cost him his seat.
His eldest son, John, who was born in 1943, succeeded to the titles as 9th Marquess.
LOFTUS HALL, near Fethard-on-Sea, County Wexford, is, according to Mark Bence-Jones, a gaunt, three-storey mansion of 1871, with rows of plate-glass windows and a parapet, incorporating parts of a previous, late 17th century house.
The house stands near the tip of Hook Head, an extremely wind-swept spot bereft of trees and shelter.
The present house was built after his coming-of-age by the 4th Marquess of Ely (who also had plans for Ely Lodge in County Fermanagh).
It contains an impressive staircase hall.
In 1917, Loftus Hall was bought by the Sisters of Providence and turned into a convent and a school for young girls interested in joining the order.
In 1983, it was purchased by Michael Deveraux, who re-opened it as “Loftus Hall Hotel”, which was subsequently closed again in the late 1990s.
It was privately owned by Deveraux’s surviving family until late 2008, when it was sold to an unnamed buyer, rumoured to be “Bono” of U2 fame.
While in need of repair at the time of writing, the nine-bay mansion comprises seven reception rooms, twenty-two bedrooms and a function room spread across three floors.
In the drawing rooms of many Irish country houses stories abound of the night the devil paid a visit. His usual route of escape, upon discovery of his true identity, was via the chimney as a puff of smoke leaving damaged chimney pieces in his wake as a reminder. Many stories have abounded about satanic damage to fireplaces that may owe their true origin to faulty foundations rather than supernatural occurrences. However there is one story that has endured regarding Loftus Hall in Co. Wexford, of course like any tale, it should be prefaced with the words ‘Based on a True Story’.
Loftus Hall in the early 1900s, Copyright The National Library of Ireland
A house existed previously on the site of the current incarnation of Loftus Hall on the Hook Head Peninsula. It was known as Redmond Hall and it was in this house that the story of the visit of a mysterious stranger emanates. The Tottenham family were in residence the early 1770’s where, as the result of a storm, a ship deposited a mysterious man on the beach near the house. Redmond Hall being the one of the few houses in this area, the visitor was drawn to the lights from the windows. He made his equiries at the door and was welcomed in by Charles Tottenham. The young man stayed a number of days and a romance seemed to blossom with Charles’s daughter Anne.
One evening the family and their guest sat down to play cards. During the game Anne dropped her playing cards and leant down to pick them up. She was amused to see that the young man had removed his shoes. However when she glanced at his feet, she was disgusted to see her suitor had hooves. The young man seen Anne’s ashen face as she arose from beneath the table, he knew his true identity had been discovered. Anne screamed and the man regained his true form as the devil and then disappeared up through the ceiling in a puff of smoke. Anne never recovered from the shock of her close encounter with Satan and as a result she had a mental breakdown. Her family confined her to the Tapestry Room and the house became a magnet for supernatural activity. Anne remained in the Tapestry Room for the rest of her life, sitting in a hunched position refused to leave the window for fear that she may miss the return of the stranger from the shore. As a result, by the time of her death in 1775, her bones had become fused in this position. A special coffin had to be made and she was buried in the same position in which she had remained in for most of her life. This fact was confirmed when the Tottenham crypt was opened in the 1940’s and Anne’s unusual shaped coffin was seen. Despite an exorcism, the house and its replacement continued to be plagued by unexplained occurrences. In later years another tragedy was to occur at Loftus Hall when the second Marquis of Ormonde died on the the beach near the house in sight of his family. He and his family had traveled from Kilkenny Castle to Loftus Hall which he was renting from the Marquess of Ely on the 25th September 1854.
The house that now stands on the Hook peninsula was built in 1870 on the ruins of Redmond Hall by John Henry Wellington Graham Loftus, fourth Marquess of Ely. Loftus Hall was built to celebrate his coming of age, having inherited the estate and the title at the age of eight. The Marquess had another house in Fermanagh called Ely Lodge which he had blown up, also to celebrate his coming of age. It was his intention to rebuild this house but he spent too much on the new house in Wexford that his project in Fermanagh was never realised. Another reason put forward for blowing up Ely Lodge was to prevent Queen Victoria from making a visit, which seems drastic action to take to avoid an unwanted guest. Loftus Hall in Wexford reputedly stands on the foundations of the earlier seventeenth century house and it is said that both houses had a comparable footprint. The current owners believe that the new house was actually a remodeling of the existing house and incorporates numerous features from Redmond Hall. At the time of the rebuilding the Tapestry Room from the old house now became a billiards-room which continued to plagued by ghostly goings on. In later years the house keeper complained about the ghost of Anne Tottenham, “Oh! Master George, don’t talk about her. Last night she made a horrid noise knocking the billiard balls about’. The design of the new house was influenced by Queen Victoria’s Osbourne House on the Isle of Wight, as John’s mother, Jane Loftus, the Dowager Marchioness of Ely, was a Lady of the Bedchamber to the Queen . The mansion is deliberately aligned on an axis to maximise the vista over looking the Hook Peninsula. The eagle finials on the roof line are said to be relics from the earlier house and the gateway to the house is said to have been designed by Robert Adam for the first Viscount Loftus of Ely.
John Henry Wellington Graham Loftus, 4th Marquess of Ely, who built Loftus Hall when he came of age. He is pictured here with his mother, Jane Loftus (née Hope-Vere), Marchioness of Ely who is said to have influenced the design of the house.Photographed by John & Charles Watkins, published by Mason & Co (Robert Hindry Mason), circa 1860. Copyright the National Portrait Gallery London.
After the death of the fourth Marquess in 1889 and his wife in 1917, Loftus Hall was used as a convent by two different orders of nuns until 1983. After the departure of the holy orders the mansion was successfully run as a country hotel by the Devereux family until 1991. The mansion stood empty for a number of years and was sold in October 2008 to a Galway based businessman for around €1.7 million. However owing to the owner’s personal circumstances, it was put back up for sale in 2011. The local Quigley family purchased the house, mainly for the surrounding agricultural land but soon discovered the true value of the asset at its core, Loftus Hall. While they do not intend to restore the house, they have secured the fabric of the building by sorting out the leaky roof. The current owners have chosen to embrace the house’s troubled past and now use it to its advantage. They now provide ghost tours of the house which have attracted crowds of people. However when some ghostly faces were recently pictured at the windows of Loftus Hall, it has now made the house a popular tourist attraction and gained international attention
The image of the ghostly residents pictured at Loftus Hall, Co. Wexford.
If you wish to visit Loftus Hall and its ghosts, you can find more details by going to the website below:
With properties at a premium and construction at a standstill it’s not a particularly good time to be buying a home. However, if your budget runs to seven figures and you don’t mind living in one of the country’s most haunted houses then your search may be at an end.
For the princely sum of €2,650,000 prospective owners can now purchase the famous Loftus Hall and its surrounding 63 acres.
The mansion on the Hook peninsula was bought by Aidan and Shane Quigley in 2011 and subsequently opened to the public for the first time in 20 years in 2012.
Paddy McKillen Jr has cut the asking price for Loftus Hall in Wexford from €4 million to €3 million as the first phase of an ambitious redevelopment plan to turn the property into a luxury hotel nears competition.
When McKillen Jr first bought Loftus Hall in 2022, his development company Oakmount reportedly paid €1.75 million for the manor-style house and 68 acres of land, subsequently paying millions more on its restoration.
A spokesperson for Colliers said the current price “is reflective of market demand for an asset which requires substantial refurbishment work.”
Loftus Hall, which encompasses 2460 sq m, has been attracting interest from international wellness resort operators. The three-storey sea-view property overlooks the Hook lighthouse and peninsula and comes with walled gardens.
As it nears the end of McKillen’s phase one plans, Loftus Hall – built on the historic site of the original Redmond Hall – now has 22 upstairs bedrooms, a restored roof, replastered façade and a new bar and restaurant.
It also, famously, has reputation among locals for being haunted, according to its listing on Daft.ie.
“The property was purchased by the Quigley family in 2011 and run as a tourist attraction with guided tours of the property and seasonal events. In 2021 the property was bought by its current owners who had a masterplan to refurbish the original building over two phases,” the listing reads.
“The estate has already undergone extensive renovations, with Phase 1 nearing completion, set to transform the property into an exclusive 22-bedroom luxury hotel with high-end amenities, extensive food and beverage facilities, and beautifully landscaped gardens.”
Phase two of the redevelopment included an additional 56 bedroom hotel block, a gym and spa, dedicated wedding facilities for up to 300 seated guests, 33 standalone garden cottages, 10 eco pods along its perimeter, a children’s playground and more than two hundred car park spaces.
One of Ireland’s most storied properties, Loftus Hall at Fethard-on-Sea in Co Wexford, officially came to market this week and is being sold through Colliers for a reported ask of €4 million.
Developer Paddy McKillen Jr spent millions on preparatory works to convert the period pile into a high-end 22-bedroom boutique hotel after purchasing it in 2022 for €1.75 million.
The 68 acre estate which has a remarkable past, overlooks Hook Peninsula and Hook Lighthouse, and offers a blend of heritage and development potential.
[captions: The house was built in 1870, as the private residence of John Henry Wellington Graham Loftus, 4th Marquess of Ely, on the site of the original 14th-century Redmond Hall estate. Paddy McKillen’s company Oakmount had begun extensive renovations on the house, a protected structure, as part of an initial phase of development. Its original owner fell into financial difficulty and was forced to sell the property. The house later served as a convent and a hotel]
The property was built in about 1870 on the site of the original Redmond Hall estate (which dated back to 1350) and boasts a total gross internal area (GIA) of 2,460.7 square metres across three floors.
The 19th-century residence was initially the private residence of John Henry Wellington Graham Loftus, 4th Marquess of Ely, who fell into financial difficulty and was forced to sell it. It was later operated as a convent by the Sisters of Providence (1917) and then as a hotel before closing in the late 1990s.
In a case of history eerily repeating, McKillen Jnr is now divesting from his property business, Oakmount.Before that process began last autumn, Oakmount had begun extensive renovations on Loftus Hall, a protected structure, as part of an initial phase of development.
A second phase was proposed which would have added an additional 56-bedroom hotel block, a gym and spa, dedicated wedding facilities, 33 standalone garden cottages, and 10 eco pods strategically placed along the perimeter of the property.
Loftus Hall could serve as a luxury hotel, a private estate, or a heritage attraction. With its striking location, rich history, and potential for further development, it could become a premier hospitality destination.
For further inquiries or to arrange a private viewing, contact Marcus Magnier or Gillian Earley of Colliers at 01-6333785 or 01-6333708 respectively.
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 208. (Crofton, Bt, of Mohill/PB; Kane/LGI1958) A simple early house with tall gable ends, close to the village street of Mohill. Occupied for a period in C19 by the Kane family.”
Castle Gate, Mohill Castle County Leitrim, photograph from National Library of Ireland.
THE CROFTON BARONETS, OF MOHILL, WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY LEITRIM, WITH 9,590 ACRES
JOHN CROFTON, of Mote, County Roscommon, auditor-general in the reign of ELIZABETH I (descended from the Croftons, of Crofton, Lancashire), married, ca 1565, Jane, sister of Sir Henry Duke, Knight, and had issue,
Edward, ancestor of the Barons Crofton; John; William; HENRY.
The youngest son,
HENRY CROFTON, succeeded to his father’s estate, 1607, from whom descended
THOMAS CROFTON, of Mohill, who wedded Bridget, daughter of Major Hugh Morgan, of Dublin, and was father of
HUGH CROFTON, who wedded Anne, daughter of George Crofton, of Lisburne, County Roscommon.
Mr Crofton died in 1767 and was succeeded by his son,
MORGAN CROFTON (1733-1802), of Mohill, who was created a baronet in 1801, designated of Mohill, County Leitrim.
He married Jane, youngest daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Henri D’Abzac, of the family of Count of Périgord, and had issue,
HUGH, of whom presently; Henry, in holy orders; Morgan, grandfather of Lt-Col James Crofton; Anne Magdalene; Jane.
Sir Morgan was succeeded by his eldest son,
SIR HUGH CROFTON, 2nd Baronet (1763-1834), of Mohill Castle, who married, in 1787, Frances, youngest daughter of Ralph Smyth, of Barbarvilla, County Westmeath, and had issue,
MORGAN GEORGE, his heir; Hugh; Ralph; Henry William; Augustus; Charles; Richard Maximilian; Parsons; Frances; Jane; Barbara; Anne Digby.
Sir Hugh was succeeded by his eldest son,
SIR MORGAN GEORGE CROFTON (1850-1900), 3rd Baronet, who wedded Emily, daughter of the Rt Hon Denis Daly, of Dunsandle, County Galway, and had issue,
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 182. “[Lawder/ LGI 1912] A plain 2 storey 3 bay early 19C house.”
Lawderdale House, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.
Detached L-plan three-bay two-storey country house, built c.1850, with gabled projecting entrance bay. Hipped corrugated-iron roof with brick and ashlar chimneystacks, bargeboards and a tower, built in 1983. Roughcast and cement rendered walls. Timber sash windows with stone and concrete sills. Timber panelled door to entrance bay. Two-storey stone outbuildings to rear yard. Range to east built in 1875, abutted by lean-to outbuilding, built c.1980. Walled garden to east of house. Ruinous private chapel to adjacent field.
Appraisal
Formerly the seat of the Lawder family, Protestant landowners, this country house is all that remains of an estate of over five thousand acres. Although modified in recent years, the substantial residence still retains its character, which is contributed to by well-designed outbuildings with sandstone dressings, a ruinous chapel and walled garden.
Lawderdale House, County Leitrim, courtesy National Inventory.
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage survey states that Lawderdale was built in the early 1850s and has a tower which was added in the 1870s. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation it was the property of William Lawder and was valued at £18. In 1906 it was the property of James Ormsby Lawder and was valued at £30. It is still extant.
THE LAWDERS OWNED 3,748 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY LEITRIM
WILLIAM LAWDER, of West Barns, Dunbar, Haddingtonshire, younger son of Sir Robert Lauder of the Bass, and Isabella, his wife, daughter of John, 1st Lord Hay of Yester, married Jonet Liddell, and had issue,
MAURICE, his heir; Robert; Hugh; William; John.
Mr Lawder died in 1556, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
MAURICE LAWDER, of Balhaven and West Barns, Bailie of Dunbar, 1561, MP for Dunbar, 1585, who wedded firstly, Nichola Home, and had issue,
WILLIAM, his heir; John; Robert; Jonet; Helen; Margaret; Nichola.
He espoused secondly, Margaret Hamilton, who dsp 1580; and thirdly, Alison Cass, by whom he had issue,
Jonet; Isobel.
Mr Lawder died in 1602, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
WILLIAM LAWDER, of Belhaven and West Barns, Bailie of Dunbar, 1602, who married firstly, Elizabeth Hepburn, and had issue,
ALEXANDER, his heir; William.
He wedded secondly, Margaret, daughter of James Hume, of Friarlands, Dunbar, and had issue,
James.
Mr Lawder died in 1618, at Clonyen, Killeshandra, County Cavan, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
ALEXANDER LAWDER, of Balhaven, West Barns and Clonyen, who espoused Katherine Pringle, and had issue,
GEORGE, his heir; Violet.
Mr Lawder died in 1631, and was succeeded by his only son,
GEORGE LAWDER, of Balhaven, West Barns, Haddingtonshire, and Mount Lawder, County Cavan, who married firstly, Elspeth Lawder, and had issue,
Robert; Jane.
He wedded secondly, Agnes Bothwell, and had issue,
James, of West Barns; Catherine.
Mr Lawder espoused thirdly, Isobel ________, and had issue,
WILLIAM, of whom hereafter; Launcelot; Andrew; John; George.
Mr Lawder died in 1649.
His third son,
WILLIAM LAWDER, of Bawnboy and Drumalee, County Cavan, High Sheriff of County Cavan, 1681, was, with his nephew Launcelot, attainted by the parliament assembled by JAMES II at Dublin in 1689.
He married Dorothy Trench, and had issue,
William; FREDERICK, of whom hereafter; James.
Mr Lawder’s second son,
FREDERICK LAWDER, of Cor, County Cavan, High Sheriff of County Leitrim, 1705, wedded Rebecca, daughter of David Rynd, of Derryvolan, County Fermanagh, and had issue,
William; Thomas; FREDERICK, of whom we treat; Christopher; James.
The third son,
FREDERICK LAWDER, of Mough (or Lawderdale) House, County Leitrim, espoused, in 1744, Rebecca, daughter of Christopher Rynd, of Fenagh, County Leitrim, and had issue,
RYND, his heir; Henry; Frederick; James; Deborah; Phœbe; Rebecca.
The eldest son,
RYND LAWDER (1746-1811), of Mough House, married Mary, daughter of John Beatty, and had issue,
JOHN, his heir; Frederick, settled in the USA; Rynd, surgeon, 7th Hussars; James, surgeon, East India Company; William Henry; Rebecca; Maria; Marcella; Margaret.
The eldest son,
JOHN LAWDER (1776-1853), of Mough, wedded, in 1816, Ellen, daughter of Matthew Nesbitt, of Derrycarne, County Leitrim, and had issue,
Rynd, dsp; MATTHEW NESBITT (Rev), succeeded his brother William; John, dsp; James, dsp; WILLIAM, of whom next; Francis; Henry; Edward; Ellen; Margaret.
The fifth son,
WILLIAM LAWDER JP DL (1824-76), of Mough, succeeded his father and changed the name of his residence to Lawderdale.
Mr Lawder died unmarried, and was succeeded by his brother,
THE REV MATTHRE NESBITT LAWDER (1820-81), of Lawderdale, who espoused, in 1848, Anne, daughter of John Gumley, though the marriage was without issue, and he was succeeded by his cousin,
JAMES ORMSBY LAWDER JP DL (1847-), of Lawderdale, High Sheriff of County Leitrim, 1909, who married, in 1872, Jane Eliza, daughter of the Rev Edwin Thomas, Vicar of Carlingford, County Louth, and had issue,
CECIL EDWARD; Violet; Pearl Edith.
The only son and heir,
CECIL EDWARD LAWDER, born in 1877, Lieutenant, Royal Fleet Auxiliary, wedded, in 1909, Violet Wood, second daughter of J Basden Orr, of Kelvinside, Glasgow.
LAWDERDALE HOUSE, Ballinamore, County Leitrim, is a plain two-storey, three-bay house, built ca 1850, with a gabled projecting entrance bay.
A hipped, corrugated-iron roof with brick and ashlar chimneystacks, bargeboards and a tower, were built in 1983.
The walls are roughcast and cement rendered.
There are two-storey stone outbuildings to the rear yard.
A range to the east was built in 1875, abutted by a lean-to outbuilding built about 1980.
Irish Historic Houses 
