Castle Shane, Co Monaghan
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 75. “(Lucas, sub Lucas-Scudamore/LG-1972) A house built 1836, replacing an earlier house which may have incorporated a castle built 1591. The 1836 house consisted of a four storey tower with corner bartizans copied from the O’Neill tower at Ardgonnel, Co Armagh, and a three storey block of rubble faced with cement in what was intended to be Elizabethan or Jacobean style. Entrance front of three bays between two three sided bows and one bay on either side of them; curvilinear battlement-gables along roofline; two storey slightly projecting porch with corbelled oriel over doorway. Windows with cross mullions; hood mouldings over them in two lower storeys; bold string-courses. Not quite regular fourbay side elevation. Large square tower with square corner bartizans rising from behind the house. Tall, Tudor-style chimneys. Burnt 1920.”
In Blake, Tarquin. Abandoned Mansions of Ireland II: More Portraits of Forgotten Stately Homes. Collins Press, Cork, 2012.
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
Not in National Inventory
https://archiseek.com/2009/castleshane-co-monaghan
1836 – Castleshane, Co. Monaghan
Originally a medieval house on the site was constructed in 1591, this Elizabethan or Jacobean style house was built in 1836 for the Lucas Scudamores. Castleshane consisted of a four storey tower with corner bartizans and a main 3 story block, but was burned in 1920 and very little remains.
Described in Burke’s ‘A visitation of the seats and arms of the noblemen and gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland’: “In 1836 the original edifice was pulled down, when it was replaced by a new building of moderate size, consisting of a small tower four stories high, and of a manor-house adjoining. The tower was copied from a larger one at Ardgonnel, in the county of Armagh, built by the 0’Neills ; the house is in the style, called Elizabethan, but more properly (in this case) that of James the First. The whole, with its annexed offices, presents an imposing appearance from the mail-coach road, which passes through the demesne, leading from Castle Blayney to Monaghan. It is, however, to be regretted that a work, correct in its design, should not have been executed in more durable materials than rubble-stone coated with cement.”
The house had 3 centre bays with 3 sided bays to each side with mullioned windows, curvilinear gables and tall tudor chimneys. All that remains is part of a three storey bay window and gable end – the rest having been demolished. There is also a much extended gatelodge and an unusual bell-cote in the walled garden.
In Blake, Tarquin. Abandoned Mansions of Ireland II: More Portraits of Forgotten Stately Homes. Collins Press, Cork, 2012.
https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2014/10/castle-shane.html
THE LUCASES WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY MONAGHAN, WITH 9,955 ACRES
THOMAS LUCAS, of Saxham, Suffolk, secretary to Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford, Solicitor to HENRY VIII, married Elizabeth, daughter of R Kemys, of Raglan, Wales, and had issue,
Jasper, of Saxham;
HENRY, of whom presently;
John;
Lettice; Anne.
The second son,
HENRY LUCAS, wedded firstly, Mary, daughter of Edward Grene, of Bury St Edmunds, and had by her nine sons and two daughters.
He espoused secondly, Alice, daughter of Simon Bradock, of Horam, Suffolk, and had further issue, FRANCIS, Henry, Thomas, and Martha.
FRANCIS LUCAS, of Hollinger, near Bury St Edmunds, married Anne, daughter of _____ Munings, of Monk’s Ely, Suffolk, and was father of
FRANCIS LUCAS, of Elmsett and Grunsborrow, Suffolk, who wedded Matilda, daughter of Thomas Munings, of Monk’s Ely, and had two sons,
Thomas, of Colchester;
FRANCIS, of whom hereafter.
The younger son,
FRANCIS LUCAS, Cornet in the army, the first of Castle Shane, whose will was proved in 1657, wedded Mary Poyntz, and had issue,
FRANCIS;
William;
Richard;
Charles;
Lucy.
Mr Lucas was succeeded by his eldest son,
FRANCIS LUCAS (1646-1705), of Castle Shane, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1673, who had issue, by Mary his wife, three sons and three daughters, namely,
FRANCIS, his heir;
EDWARD, successor to his brother;
Robert;
Anne; Lucy; Jane.
The eldest son,
FRANCIS LUCAS (1669-1746), of Castle Shane, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1703, MP Monaghan Borough, 1713-46, died unmarried, and was succeeded by his brother,
EDWARD LUCAS, of Castle Shane, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1709, who married firstly, in 1696, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Smyth, of Drumcree, County Westmeath, and had issue,
THOMAS, predeceased his son EDWARD;
Francis;
Mary; Anne; Jane.
He wedded secondly, in 1723, Abigail, widow of the Rev William Brooke, and daughter of Thomas Handcock, of Twyford, County Westmeath.
Mr Lucas died in 1756, and was succeeded by his grandson,
EDWARD LUCAS (1720-71), of Castle Shane, MP for Monaghan, 1761-75, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1752, who wedded Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Savage, of Ardkeen, and had issue,
Francis, dsp;
Edward;
Thomas;
CHARLES, of whom presently;
William;
Robert, Lt-Col in the army;
Edward (Rev);
Mary; Alice; Abigail; Elizabeth; Hester.
The eldest surviving son,
CHARLES LUCAS (1757-96), of Castle Shane, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1795, Barrister, wedded firstly, in 1786, Sarah, daughter of Sir James Hamilton, Knight, of Monaghan; and secondly, Louisa, daughter of Charles Avatt, of Mount Louise.
By the former he left at his decease an only child and successor,
THE RT HON EDWARD LUCAS JP DL (1787-1871), of Castle Shane, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1818, MP for County Monaghan, 1834-41, Privy Counsellor, 1845, who espoused, in 1812, Anne, second daughter of William Ruxton, of Ardee House, County Louth, MP for Ardee, and had issue,
Francis, died unmarried 1846;
EDWARD WILLIAM, his heir;
Fitzherbert Dacre, father of EDWARD SCUDAMORE;
Charles Pierrepoint;
Gould Arthur;
Catherine Anne; Anna Isabella; Isabella Florinda.
Mr Lucas was succeeded by his son,
EDWARD WILLIAM LUCAS JP DL (1819-74), of Castle Shane, Lieutenant, 88th Regiment, who was succeeded by his nephew,
EDWARD SCUDAMORE LUCAS-SCUDAMORE JP DL (1853-1917), of Castle Shane, and Kentchurch Court, Hereford, High Sheriff of County Monaghan, 1879, Honorary Colonel, 4th Battalion, the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, who assumed by royal licence, in 1900, the additional surname and arms of SCUDAMORE.
Mr Lucas-Scudamore espoused, in 1900, Sybil Frances, youngest daughter of Colonel George Webber CB, and had issue,
JOHN HARFORD STANHOPE;
Geraldine Clara, b 1903.
The only son and heir,
JOHN HARFORD STANHOPE LUCAS-SCUDAMORE (1902-75), of Kentchurch Court, married, in 1947, the Lady Evelyn Scudamore-Stanhope, daughter of Edward, 12th Earl of Chesterfield, and had issue,
JOHN EDWARD STANHOPE LUCAS-SCUDAMORE, of Kentchurch Court.
The family now lives at Kentchurch Court, Herefordshire.
Charles David Lucas (1834-1914), whose family once lived at Druminargle House, Scarva, County Armagh, was the most valorous member of the Lucas family.
Druminargle is now a guest-house.
CASTLE SHANE HOUSE, near the village of Castleshane, County Monaghan, replaced an earlier dwelling.
The original house on the site was constructed in 1591.
The Elizabethan or Jacobean style house was built in 1836 for the Lucas family.
Castle Shane comprised a four-storey tower with corner bartizans and a main three-storey block.
The house had three centre bays with three-sided bays to each side with mullioned windows, curvilinear gables and tall Tudor chimneys.
The house was burnt in 1920 and all that remains is part of a three-storey bay window and gable end, the rest having been demolished.
There is also a much extended gate lodge and an unusual bell-cote in the walled garden.
The former demesne is now mostly gone and belongs largely to the Irish forestry commission.
First published in October, 2012.
Irish Historic Houses 