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. 49. “(Blake, Bt, of Menlough/PB1970) A dramatic but somewhat insubstantial C19 castle on the shores of Bunowen Bay, at the southwestern tip of Connemara. Now a ruin.”
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.
In Blake, Tarquin. Abandoned Mansions of Ireland. Collins Press, Cork, 2010.
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 171. “(Redmond/LG1863) A late-Georgian house of a single-storey over a high basement, a larger version of a type of late-Georgian villa which is particularly associated with the outskirts of Dublin. Seven bay front; wide entrance doorway at the head of a long flight of steps, with a shallow segmental fanlight extending over the door and sidelights. Originally owned by a branch of the Redmonds; J.H.O’B Redmond, of Killoughter, was created a Papal Count in 2nd half of C19; his son assumed the surname of Dr Draymond, from which Redmond was believed to derive. Killoughter is now the home of Mr and Mrs S.K. Davis (see supplement)” [p. 298] Bought by Commander Robert Charles Halpin, who commended the steamship Great Eastern when she laid the first Atlantic cable (see Tinakilly House).
Killoughter, Ashford, Co Wicklow courtesy National Inventory.
Detached seven-bay single-storey over basement house, built c.1800. The house is finished in render. To the south west side is a late 20th-century conservatory. A broad flight of stone steps with plain cast-iron railings extends over the basement area and rises to the timber panelled double front door; this is flanked by paired Ionic pilasters. Sidelights are decorative and the radial fanlight is set within an elliptical-headed opening. Window openings are flat-headed with six over six and six over three timber sash frames. The hipped roof is finished with artificial slate with red clay ridge tiles. The house is set on a rise within a small demesne. There is a curved roughcast rendered gate screen with wrought-iron gates.
Appraisal
A well preserved Georgian house with a delightful setting. It is an excellent example of the genre.
Killoughter, Ashford, Co Wicklow courtesy National Inventory.Killoughter, Ashford, Co Wicklow courtesy National Inventory.Killoughter, Ashford, Co Wicklow courtesy National Inventory.Killoughter, Ashford, Co Wicklow courtesy National Inventory.
Established by Sir Chester Beatty in the Fifties, this 160-acre equestrian estate with Victorian farmhouse includes yards, 70 loose boxes, four-furlong gallop and other horse-training facilities.
With views over parkland toward the sea, it comprises five double bedrooms and five bathrooms and several stunning reception rooms. It sold for €400,000 over the advised minimum value.
See Robert O’Byrne, The Irish Country House, A New Vision. With photographs by Luke White. Rizzoli, New York, Paris, London, Milan, 2024.
Killoughter, Ashford, Co Wicklow courtesy Sotheby’s, from Robert O’Byrne, photograph by Luke White.
“The name Killoughter is believed to derive from the Irish “Cill Uachdair” meaning “the upper church” and indicating that that there was an early religious settlement here. …
p. 85. “One of them [the O’Byrne family] is thought to have been responsible for constructing Killoughter in the closing decades of the eighteenth century. The house appears on a map of County Wicklow produced by Jacob Nevill in 1760, and some years later Taylor & Skinner’s Maps of the Roads of Ireland denotes Killoughter as being occupied by a Mr. Byrne (by this time the family had dropped the “O”). Similarly, a Walter Byrne of Killoughter is listed as being a member of the Catholic Convention, summoned in 1792 by a national committee dedicated to relieveing Catholics of their civil and political disabilities.
This week the Irish Aesthete marks its fourth anniversary. It is remarkable that an initiative started almost on a whim has continued for such a long period, and looks set to carry on doing so. The need to find ‘fresh’ (albeit old) material for this thrice-weekly site has encouraged me to take greater interest in, and investigation of, this country’s architectural heritage, providing opportunities to return to old favourites as well as abundant chances to explore other sites hitherto overlooked, at least by myself. There continues to be no shortage of places to visit, photograph (with mixed results) and write about. Sometimes the outcome is a feeling of despondency, but just as often one comes away elated, thrilled to learn there are people across Ireland who care passionately for the preservation of our country’s tangible history and are actively ensuring it has a viable, vibrant future. Such is the case with the house shown today.
Rush Hill, County Roscommon featured not long after the Irish Aesthete began (see The Folks Who Live at Rush Hill, November 12th 2012) and after an absence of almost four years was recently revisited. Listed as one of the four ‘gentlemen’s seats’ in the area in Samuel Lewis’s 1837 Topographical Dictionary of Ireland it is the only one remaining. The core of the house dates from c.1700 and until almost the end of the 19th century it was the residence for successive generations of the same family of tenant farmers. A fire which broke out not long after it was taken on by another family resulted in a programme of rebuilding and augmentation, as can be seen by the ground floor bay windows. But much of the building would look familiar to earlier occupants, especially after the under the care of its present owners. Rush Hill’s renewal has been a gradual process, one by no means complete. It was fascinating to see how much more had been accomplished over the past four years, and to hear of intended work during the years to come. Thanks to such care the house looks as though it will continue to serve as a ‘gentleman’s seat’ long into the future.
The Irish Aesthete rather too often focusses on ruins, so it is a delight to feature a building which, prior to being taken on by the present owners, seemed destined to go the way of so many others in this country. One looks forward to reporting more such stories; please feel free to get in touch if you know of any. This site is always looking for further material, and welcomes your thoughts, comments and – provided politely phrased – criticisms and corrections. There are many plans for the year ahead, including expansion into other areas and media. In the meantime, please continue to follow the Irish Aesthete not just here but also on Facebook (TheIrishAesthete) Twitter (@IrishAesthete) and Instagram (the.irish.aesthete). And thank you as always to friends and followers for your kind words and encouragement, these are very much appreciated.
The Irish term ‘strong farmer’ refers not to the title holder’s physical strength but to the size of his land holding. Until sequential legislation in the late 19th/early 20th centuries collectively known as the Land Acts, the greater part of this country lay in the possession of a relatively small number of wealthy families, their tenants obliged to survive on tiny holdings of just a couple of acres. Tenantry leasing larger, more economically viable plots of land came to be known as strong farmers and their fiscal strength allowed them to build bigger houses than the usual one- or two-roomed thatched cottage. Rush Hill in County Roscommon is just such a house. This has never been a particularly fashionable, or indeed affluent, part of the country but it used to sustain many more such properties; of the four ‘gentlemen’s seats’ identified in the immediate parish by Samuel Lewis in his 1837 Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Rush Hill is the only one still standing. The core of the house dates from c.1700. By that date, and for the next 200-odd years, much of the region was owned by the King family, beneficiaries of extensive land acquisitions made in the first decades of the 17th century by an ancestor, Edward King, Anglican Bishop of Elphin.
Rush Hill’s clerical connections are frequent. Within a century of Bishop King taking possession of the land on which the house stands, it was leased together with some 400 acres to a relation of his descendants, the Rev. George Blackburne who became rector of the local parish and built a new church at the end of what was effectively Rush Hill’s drive. Described by Lewis as ‘a neat, plain building with a small spire,’ this survived an ever-dwindling congregation until demolished in 1971. The graveyard survives. Unmarried, Blackburne left control of the property to his nephew William Devenish; generations of the same family remained there as major tenant farmers and minor Protestant gentry for the next 150 years. In 1884 the last of the line to live at Rush Hill, Robert Devenish gave up the tenancy and two years later it was let to George Acheson whose heirs continued to live there until 1943, during which time they acquired the freehold of the house and 109 acres from the King estate. Next it passed into the hands of a local farmer but after fifty years the house was abandoned and began to slide into decay, a condition only partially arrested when a Dutch family bought the place in 1997. Ten years ago Rush Hill was acquired by its present owners who ever since have been engaged in diligently restoring house and grounds.
By the time they assumed responsibility for the place, Rush Hill was in poor shape; it had not been rewired since the mid-1950s when electricity was first introduced to the premises, the only sink was in the kitchen, supplied with water via a rubber hose through a window, and the only lavatory was broken. Almost all the windows needed to be replaced, as did many floorboards and parts of the roof, while the majority of original fittings like chimney pieces had long since been sold or stolen. Likewise outdoors the gardens were overgrown and the yard buildings in a state of total dereliction. Given the scale of work required, inevitably it has taken time to achieve the present results. Looking at Rush Hill today, it is hard to imagine the property’s shambolic state a mere ten years ago. While most of the finance for this enterprise has come from the owners’ own resources, they did receive assistance on a couple of occasions from the Heritage Council; one worries the organisation may not be able to provide such support for much longer, given the present government’s apparent determination to emasculate it.
Rush Hill is precisely the kind of property that deserves help from state agencies, especially when relatively small sums can make a substantial difference. Too often, because the national mindset is fixed on the extremes of Big House and peasant cottage, the idea that our architectural heritage might include other kinds of domestic building tends to be overlooked. Not being one of the region’s more significant properties, Rush Hill could easily have slipped out of existence, like the other three ‘gentlemen’s seats’ in the parish, had it not been rescued just in time. The evolution of Rush Hill took place over three centuries; the core five-bay house probably began as just one-room deep and without the lop-sided extensions to either side of the central block or indeed the latter’s projecting groundfloor bows. Gradually the house grew to reflect successive owners’ affluence and aspirations until achieving its present form. In the process, it came to represent one lesser-known but still important strand of our nation’s history. Without Rush Hill’s patient preservation we should all be the poorer.
See Robert O’Byrne, The Irish Country House, A New Vision. With photographs by Luke White. Rizzoli, New York, Paris, London, Milan, 2024.
Coollattin (also known as Malton), Shillelagh, Co Wicklow
Coollattin, County Wicklow, photograph courtesy of Irish Georgian Society.
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 91. “Fitzwilliam, E/PB) A two storey house built 1801-4 for 4th Earl Fitzwilliam, who became Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland 1795 but was recalled after three months on account of his sympathy for Catholic Emancipation – replacing a house which he built 1796, and which was burnt 1798. It was designed by the veteran English architect, John Carr of York, with whom Lord Fitzwilliam, as a great Yorks magnate, would have had contacts; and as would thus be expected, its design is conservative; the entrance front is of five bays, wiht a three bay breakfront and a wide pediment; the side elevations each with a central curved bow. The entrance door is under a simple pillared porch. In the absence of the octogenarian Carr, the work of building was supervised by Thomas Hobson, a mason from Yorks. Later in C19, the house was enlarged, the new addition being at the back and having a lower ground floor, since the ground falls away steeply on this side. The later additions include a monumental hall and a dining room. The rooms in the earlier part of the house, which include a bow ended rom with apses, were altered and redecorated late C19. Good stable yard with wide pediment on centre block. Sold 1977 to Mr Brendan Cadogan and Mr Patrick Tattan.”
Coollattin, County Wicklow, photograph courtesy of Coollattin House website.Lady Charlotte Fitzwilliam (1746-1833) daughter of 1st Earl Fitzwilliam, dated 1754 by engraver James Mcardell, after Joshua Reynolds, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl FitzWilliam (1748-1833), later Lord Lieutenant of Ireland by Engraver Joseph Grozer, British, fl.1784-1797 After Joshua Reynolds, English, 1723-1792, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.
The house and associated yard buildings formed the centre of the Fitzwilliam family estate which once extended to 90,000 acres.
The current main block of Coollattin House was rebuilt after the 1798 Rebellion to the design of architect John Carr of York. It comprises a pedimented south facing entrance front with centrally positioned bow windows to the east and west sides. Its internal plan is designed around a central stone staircase with dome at roof level.
During the 19th Century the original house was extended with wings to the east and west. The east wing provided a new pillared entrance porch, leading to a vaulted entrance hall and Italianate staircase linking with the original house. The west wing was designed to provide service accommodation including a high ceilinged kitchen.
To the west of the main house two linked yard buildings were designed to contain additional guest and staff accommodation, stables, coach houses and a laundry and drying room.
The particular interest of Coollattin lies in its evocation of the life and working of an Irish country house in the 19th. Century. Features include the library with built in mahogany bookcases, a functioning dumb waiter lift, original kitchen fixtures including cast iron cooking range, a vaulted passageway to link the basement with the laundry, and stone floored stables with oak doors to the stalls.
20 acres of the original grounds remain with the house. These contain a collection of specimen trees and a variety of hybrid Rhododendrons with peak flowering in the April-May period .
Since 2021 the house and grounds have been in the ownership of the Coollattin House Limited Partnership which is advancing an ongoing restoration programme to reflect and enhance their historic character.
Since 2023, the Irish Government have officially recognised that Coollattin House and grounds ‘is intrinsically of significant architectural, aesthetic and historical interest’.
Detached five-bay two-storey over basement former mansion, built 1804, now in occasional use as a clubhouse for the golf course. It is to designs by architect John Carr of York. The house is finished with lined render with ashlar granite dressings. To the south front elevation there is a pedimented three-bay breakfront with a carved heraldic shield to the tympanum. To the west and rear there is a later service wing and a range of out buildings. The part-glazed front door has a radial fanlight and is set within a flat-headed opening. It is framed with two freestanding Tuscan order columns, which support a wide pediment. Window openings are flat-headed with six over six-timber sash frames; louvred external shutters were added c.1970. The hipped roof is finished with natural slate and cast-iron rainwater goods. The chimneystacks are rendered with corbelled caps and clay pots. The house is set within a large well-wooded demesne, part of which is now in use as a golf course.
Appraisal
This early 19th century country house is well preserved and although somewhat conservative in design it nevertheless compliments its setting well.
Many people will be familiar with the travails in recent years of Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire, said to be the largest private house in England (and with the longest facade of any house in Europe). However, they are unlikely to know about Coollattin, County Wicklow which, at 65,000 square feet is thought to be the largest private house in Ireland. It is no coincidence that both properties – which suffered such long periods of neglect that their respective futures looked imperilled – were originally built for the same family, the Earls Fitzwilliam. In England and Ireland alike, the Fitzwilliams were very substantial landowners – here they came to have some 90,000 acres – which allowed them to build on a more palatial scale than most other peers. And the rich seams of coal on their Yorkshire property further enhanced their wealth, as was described in Catherine Bailey’s 2007 book Black Diamonds: The Rise and Fall of an English Dynasty. However, their direct link with Ireland only began in 1782 when the fourth earl inherited the estates of his childless maternal uncle, the second Marquess of Rockingham: the latter was a descendant of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford who had been Charles I’s Irish Lord Deputy in the 1630s and while here embarked on what was then intended to be the country’s largest private house, at Jigginstown, County Kildare (his recall in 1640 left the building unfinished). …
Coollattin, County Wicklow, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.Coollattin, County Wicklow, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.Coollattin, County Wicklow, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Coollattin, County Wicklow, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Coollattin, County Wicklow, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Last Monday’s post featured a very brief synopsis of the history of Coollattin, County Wicklow, believed to be the largest house in Ireland. The core of the building, and that first seen by visitors today, was designed in the 1790s for the fourth Earl Fitzwilliam by John Carr of York. In the mid-1870s the sixth earl decided to expand the property by creating a new entrance front as well as adding a new south range along with servants’ wing, stables and carriage houses, hence the place’s considerable size today. He gave this job to another Yorkshire resident, his clerk of works at Wentworth Woodhouse, William Dickie. Whereas the original house is finished with lined render, the extensions are fronted in local granite, so for the most part, at least on the exterior, it is possible to see which parts are by Carr and which by Dickie.
Coollattin, County Wicklow, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Coollattin, County Wicklow, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
The most striking addition made by Dickie and his client to the building is a new entrance at what had been the rear of Coollattin. The ground slopes behind the house, so this entrance is at a lower level than its predecessor to the south, and features a great portico with paired Doric columns and a flight of granite steps leading up to the door. Inside is a fine hall with coved ceiling and flagged limestone floor. A smaller inner hall contains a large chimneypiece but to the immediate right is a flight of steps which in due course turns 90 degrees to introduce the main staircase climbing to the ground floor of the original house. Beneath a coffered ceiling and lit by a line of tall arched windows – these matched by a balustraded gallery with similar openings on the facing side of the steps – this staircase has terrific drama, reminiscent of that found in Piedmontese or Sicilian Baroque palaces. It is quite unlike anything else in the entire building, much of the rest of Dickie’s work here being competent but lacking excitement. When eventually restored, this great staircase will provide a most marvelous ceremonial access to this important Irish country house.
Coollattin, County Wicklow, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Coollattin, County Wicklow, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
See Robert O’Byrne, The Irish Country House, A New Vision. With photographs by Luke White. Rizzoli, New York, Paris, London, Milan, 2024.
p. 33. “Soon enough, during the second quarter of the nineteenth century, the first Earl Fitzwilliam [Charles William Wentworth Fitzwilliam (1786-1857)] employing another Yorkshire architect named James Pritchett, replaced the old kitchen wing with a substantial three-storey block faced in granite ashlar and replicating the bracketed cornice detailing of the main Carr house. To the west of the new wing, a substantial stable and coach yard was created, also in granite ashlar with a stone cornice, its upper level linked to the west wing and containing extensive bachelor accommodation.
While considerable, these additions came to be deemed insufficient, because in 1875 the sixth earl [William Thomas Spencer Wentworth-Fitzwilliam 6th Earl (1815-1902)] asked his own Yorkshire-based architect, William Dickie, to further enlarge Coollattin. Cickie boldly reoriented the houses’s entrance to the north with a granite-faced east wing entered from a pillaraed porch at the basement level of the original house. This led to a vaulted entrance hall from which extended an immense Italian stone staircase with an arched balustraded gallery, the latter integrating with the floor level of the original Carr building and containing a master bedroom with boudoir over the entrance hall.”
p. 33 [after being sold by the widow Wardrop] For the next quarter-century the building stood unoccupied and, although some maintenance work was undertaken, inevitably it suffered teh effects of being empty and unused. Finally, in 2021 the house with just twenty acres was offered for sale and bought by a small group of concerned individuals who created a new charitable organisation, the Collattin House Partnership, with the objective of restoring the house as a residence, together with securing fresh uses for the various outbuildings and restoring the grounds and garden areas under its control. Work on this audacious project has begun and is likely to be ongoing for a long time to come….
p. 40. As part of the alterations undertaken in the house during the nineteenth century, a wall was removed between the original entrance hall and a morning room in order to create a large drawing room, the former division marked by a screen of fluted Ionic columns.
p. 40. The present owners have been collecting items associated with the Fitzwilliams, such as a dinner service bearing the earl’s coronet.
THE EARLS FITZWILLIAM WERE THE GREATEST LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY WICKLOW, WITH 89,981 ACRES
In 1565, HUGH FITZWILLIAM (c1534-c1576), of Emley, Sprotbrough, and Haddlesey, Yorkshire, collected the records of his family, and from these records the following particulars are partly deduced: SIR WILLIAM FITZ GODRIC, cousin to EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, left a son and heir, SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM, who, being ambassador at the court of WILLIAM, Duke of Normandy, attended that prince in his victorious expedition against England, as marshal of the army, in 1066; and for his valour at the battle of Hastings, THE CONQUEROR presented him with a scarf from his own arm. This Sir William was father of
SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM, Knight, who wedded Eleanor, daughter and heiress of Sir John Emley, of Emley and Sprotbrough, by which marriage the Fitzwilliams obtained the lordships of Emley and Sprotbrough, which continued with them until the reign of HENRY VIII, when those lordships were carried, by co-heirs, into the families of Suthill and Copley.
Sir William was succeeded by his son,
SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM,
Lord of Emley and Sprotbrough, living in 1117, as appears from a grant made by him of a piece of the wood in Emley to the monks of Byland. To this grant, in a round seal, is represented a man on horseback, completely armed and circumscribed S. Willmi Filij Willmi Dni de Emmalaia; and on the reverse, the arms of FITZWILLIAM, viz. Lozenge. This Sir William, or one of his descendants, caused a cross to be set up in the high street of Sprotbrough; which cross was pulled down in 1520.
From Sir William we pass to his descendant,
SIR JOHN FITZWILLIAM, who founded, in 1372, the Chantry of St Edward in the church of Sprotbrough; and having married Elizabeth, daughter of William de Clinton, 1st Earl of Huntingdon, had three sons, the eldest of whom,
SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM, married Maud, daughter of Ralph, 3rd Lord Cromwell, of Tattershall, and co-heir of the Lord Treasurer Cromwell, by whom he had one son and two daughters.
He was succeeded by his son,
SIR JOHN FITZWILLIAM, who wedded Eleanor, daughter of Sir Henry Green, of Drayton, and had six sons.
The youngest son,
JOHN FITZWILLIAM, of Milton Hall and Greens Norton, in Northamptonshire, espoused Eleanor, daughter of William Villiers, of Brooksby, Leicestershire, by whom he had three sons and two daughters, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
THE RT HON SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM (c1460-1534), Knight, of Milton and Gaynes Park, Essex, and also of the city of London, of which he was sheriff in 1506.
Sir William married firstly, Anne, daughter of Sir John Hawes, Knight, of the city of London, and had,
WILLIAM, his heir; Richard; Elizabeth; Anne.
He wedded secondly, Mildred, daughter of Richard Sackville, of Withyham, Sussex, and had three sons and two daughters,
Christopher; Francis; Thomas; Eleanor; Mary.
Sir William was succeeded by his eldest son,
SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM, Knight, who espoused Anne, daughter of Sir Richard Sapcote, of Elton, Huntingdonshire; and was succeeded by his son and heir,
SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM (1526-99), Lord Deputy of Ireland and Lord Justice, who wedded Anne, daughter of Sir William Sydney, and aunt of the 1st Earl of Leicester, and had issue,
WILLIAM, his heir; John; Mary; Philippa; Margaret.
Sir William was succeeded by his son,
SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM, Knight, of Milton and Gaynes Park Hall, who was elevated to the peerage, in 1620, in the dignity of Baron Fitzwilliam, of Lifford, County Donegal.
His lordship wedded Catherine, daughter of William Hyde, of Denchworth, Berkshire; and dying in 1644, was succeeded by his elder son,
WILLIAM, 2nd Baron (c1609-58), who espoused, in 1638, Jane, daughter and co-heir of Alderman Hugh Perry, of London, and had issue,
WILLIAM, his heir; Charles; Jane, m Sir Christopher Wren, the celebrated architect.
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,
WILLIAM, 3rd Baron (1643-1719), who was advanced, in 1716, to the dignities of Viscount Milton, County Westmeath, and EARL FITZWILLIAM, of County Tyrone.
His lordship married Anne, daughter and sole heir of Edmund Cremor, of West Winch, Norfolk, by whom he had four sons and six daughters.
He was succeeded by his third, but eldest surviving son,
JOHN, 2nd Earl (1681-1728), who wedded Anne, daughter and sole heir of John Stringer, of Sutton-cum-Lound, Nottinghamshire, and left, with three daughters, a son and successor,
WILLIAM, 3rd Earl (1719-56), then a minor, who was, in 1742, enrolled amongst the peers of Great Britain, by GEORGE II, by the style and title of Lord Fitzwilliam, Baron Milton, in Northamptonshire.
His lordship was advanced, in 1746, to the dignities of Viscount Milton and EARL FITZWILLIAM, in the same county.
He espoused, in 1744, the Lady Anne Watson-Wentworth, eldest daughter of Thomas, Marquess of Rockingham, and sister and co-heir of Charles, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, by whom he had issue,
WILLIAM, his successor; Charlotte; Frances Henrietta.
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,
William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl FitzWilliam (1748-1833), later Lord Lieutenant of Ireland by Engraver Joseph Grozer, British, fl.1784-1797 After Joshua Reynolds, English, 1723-1792courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.
WILLIAM, 4th Earl (1748-1833), Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for a very short period, in 1795, who married firstly, in 1770, the Lady Charlotte Ponsonby, second daughter of William, 2nd Earl of Bessborough, by whom he had an only child, CHARLES WILLIAM WENTWORTH, his heir.
The titles expired following the decease of the 10th and last Earl.
COOLLATTIN PARK, is near Shillelagh in County Wicklow.
The history of the Wentworth/Fitzwilliam families has been well documented, but what is less well known is the influence they had on the history of the kingdom of Ireland.
As well as the family seat of Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire (where they owned 22,000 acres in 1870), the Earls Fitzwilliam also resided at Malton House (later Coollattin House) in County Wicklow, from where they managed their vast estate.
The 4th Earl built Coollattin House (it was originally called Malton, one of his grandfather’s titles as Earl of Malton).
The house was designed by the leading architect John Carr, who was also responsible for the grandiose “stable block” at Wentworth Woodhouse as well as the Keppel’s Column and Mausoleum monuments near Wentworth.
The building was started around 1794 but before completion it was burned down in a rebellion in 1798 (along with 160 other houses in the nearby village of Carnew and several Catholic churches).
Work resumed again in 1800 and the house was completed in 1807.
As well as rebuilding their house and the village, the Fitzwilliams contributed to the repairs of the Catholic churches and gave land for other churches (whilst other landlords would not even allow a Catholic church on their estate).
Throughout the family’s time in Ireland they did not take sides in the various Irish struggles through the centuries, and perhaps as a consequence their house was left untouched in the last dash for independence.
As well as undertaking building and agricultural projects, the 4th Earl was also the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for a short time in 1795.
In 2003, The Times newspaper wrote:
When the 10th and last Earl died in 1979 the remnants of the huge Coollattin estate, for centuries the Irish seat of the Earls Fitzwilliam, was sold by the last Earl’s widow, Lady Juliet De Chairoff, and in the following years, it was broken up and sold on bit by bit. In 1983, the sprawling Coollattin House, with its vast lands attached, was resold for €128,000.
When the farm land value was removed, this amounted to just £8,000 for the house itself — which, with its 120-plus rooms, is still among the largest private houses in the country.
In the same year the average price of a standard new home in Dublin was more than four times that, at £35,000. In living memory, the once-grand Coollattin estate had spanned 88,000 acres, had 20,000 tenants and comprised one quarter of Co Wicklow.
There has long been a rumour that the estate harboured a vast tunnel used by inhabitants of the house to escape to the lodge. The estate began falling apart in 1948 when the last earl, Peter Fitzwilliam, was killed in a plane crash with JFK’s sister, Kathleen (Kick) Kennedy, with whom, it was speculated, he had been having an affair. His estate tenants genuinely grieved.
The Fitzwilliams had a history of being among the most liberal landlords in Ireland.
They had paid tenants more, invested in their education and had worked hard to ensure that the built environment in their towns was above average. When the Great Famine came, the Fitzwilliam family were at least decent enough to ship their excess tenants to America rather than simply turn them off the land as many landlords did.
Thousands were sent abroad to start new lives in this manner. Perhaps this was the reason Coollattin House survived the great burning sprees that erupted through and after the war of independence, when working classes took their revenge on the less benevolent owners of big house.
Former seats ~ Coollattin Park, County Wicklow; Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire; Milton Hall, Cambridgeshire.
Former town residence ~ 4 Grosvenor Square, London.
Detached five-bay two-storey over basement former mansion, built 1804, now in occasional use as a clubhouse for the golf course. It is to designs by architect John Carr of York. The house is finished with lined render with ashlar granite dressings. To the south front elevation there is a pedimented three-bay breakfront with a carved heraldic shield to the tympanum. To the west and rear there is a later service wing and a range of out buildings. The part-glazed front door has a radial fanlight and is set within a flat-headed opening. It is framed with two free-standing Tuscan order columns, which support a wide pediment. Window openings are flat-headed with six-over-six-timber sash frames; louvred external shutters were added c.1970. The hipped roof is finished with natural slate and cast-iron rainwater goods. The chimney stacks are rendered with corbelled caps and clay pots. The house is set within a large well-wooded demesne, part of which is now in use as a golf course.
Brief description of project: The Society pledged €5,000 for repairs to part slate roof and lead lined paraet gutter over the main access stairwell.
Coolattin Estate comprised of 80,000 acres and covered much of southwest Wicklow.·The Fitzwilliam family owned Coolattin Estate for 200 years before they sold it in the 1970s.·Before this, the area was under the control of the O’Byrnes.·The first personto own the Coolattin Estate was actually ‘Black Tom’ Wentworth. He was considered unfair.·The estate was originally called Fairwood and later became known as Malton when Thomas Watson-Wentworth (the Earl of Malton) inherited the estate in 1728.·Rents in Coolattin Estate were considered very low, sometimes as little as half of what tenants in Wexford.·In 1750, Charles Watson-Wentworth inherited the estate. He was a great supporter of Catholics and put a lot of work into improving the estate.·When Charles died, he had no sons thus the estate went to his nephew, William, the 4th Earl Fitzwilliam.Fitzwilliam was required to change his name to William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam. He renamed the estate as Coolattin.·Although a Protestant himself, William Fitzwilliam was also a supporter of Catholics and, for this reason, he was not well liked by the Irish and English Parliaments. Even some of his Protestant tenants disliked him for this reason.·When William died in 1833, his son Charles became the 5th Earl and took over the estate. Charles had been an MP and when he took over the estate his son, William Thomas Spencer Fitzwilliam became an MP. He was firstly MP for Malton in Yorkshire and later (1847-1856) MP for Wicklow.·Charles was also liberal and empathised with Catholics like his father.·While we might think that Coolattin Estate was very large, it was actually quite small compared to the Fitzwilliams’ holdings in England.·For this reason, they rarely visited Wicklow and hired an agent to manage the estate. This position was held by Robert Challoner for many years.·Land in Coolattin was divided into farms and parklands, mountains and bogs. The ‘big house’ was at Coolattin Park near Shillelagh.·Farm size could be anything from a couple of acres to up to 800 acres.·Some people sub-let their farms. These people were called head tenant and were mostly Protestants and Catholics living in Coolattin rented land from them.·Others had no land but rented a cabin and small garden.·People held leases from Fitzwilliam for either 21 years or a life –whichever was longer. Usually, you named one of your children as the life so the longer the child lived the longer you would hold the land.·Fitzwilliam charged low rents but the head tenants often charged much higher rents to the subtenants.·A landless labourer could be expected to pay £1 a year for his house, for an extra £1 he could have a garden and for £10 a year extra he would be given an acreor so of land on which he could grow potatoes.·Often, they worked to pay the rent ratherthan giving over money.·People paid their rent twice a year: Lady Day (25 March) and Michaelmas (29 September) but they had a space of a few months to pay this.Fitzwilliam rarely evicted people who could not pay their rent in full.
Despite this, many still had to borrow a lot of money to pay their rent.·If improvements were need on the estate, e.g. if your land needed to be drained, Fitzwilliam would pay for this then add a small charge to your rent to cover it.·A lot of labourers on the estate could notget work but Fitzwilliam often employed more workers than he needed.·Labourers were usually paid 10d per day in summer and 8d per day in winter as darker days meantthat the working day was shorter (remember they had no electric lights!). Employers sometimes provided food and the cost of this was taken out of your wages.·If you were employed directly by Fitzwilliam you received the highest wages.·The agent, Challoner, received £1,000 per year but he noted himself that this was excessively high.·In 1836, workers in Coolattin Park applied for an increase in wages claiming that they were ‘strangers to every food except potatoes’. Fitzwilliam did not increase wages but gave a 6d loaf every Saturday to any labourer who had worked the full week.·Both Fitzwilliamand Challoner were very interested in the welfare of the tenants on the Estate. They set up farming societies to help tenants better farm their land. They also agreed to a scholarship for the best student on the estate to go to Dublin University (Trinity).·Despite Fitzwilliam’s improvements, the poorer tenants on the estate still lived on a diet consisting mainly of potatoes, buttermilk and sometimes and salted herrings.Source used: Rees, J. (2000) Surplus People –The Fitzwilliam Clearances 1847-1856. Cork: The Collins Press.
Wardstown, County Donegal, entrance front photograph: Alistair Rowan, 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.
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 282. “A three storey Georgian house with curved end bows and also a curved bow in the centre of its front. Blocking round doorway; camber-headed windows. Now a ruin.”
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.
p. 55. A three storey house built in 1740 somewhat in the style of Sir John Vanbrugh’s smaller houses. Pair of staircases at the rere of the corner towers seem to be slightly later addition. Now a ruin.”
Monkstown Castle, County Cork, courtesy of National Library of Ireland.Monkstown Castle, County Cork, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 209. “(Boyle, Blessington, V/DEP; Shaw, Bt/PB; Newman/LGI1958) An early C17 semi-fortified house built 1636 by Anastasia (nee Goold) wife of John Archdekin; according to the story, she intended it as a surprise for her husband, when he returned from serving with the Spanish army; and she was also able to impress him with her economy, since it cost no more than 4d, the rest of the expenses having been covered by the profit she made supplying the workmen with provisions which she bought wholesale. Of three storeys over basement, with a gabled attic; recessed centre between projecting gabled towers with corner-machicolats. Rusticated quoins and bold string-courses between the storeys. Central hall with stone chimneypiece dated 1636 but subsequently altered. Unlike most houses of its kind, Monkstown Castle survived the Civil Wars intact. Having been forfeited by the Archdekins, it was eventually granted 1685 to Michael Boyle, Archbishop of Armagh and Lord Chancellor of Ireland, father of 1st Viscount Blesinton of 1st creation. At the end of C18 it was acquired by Bernard Shaw (whose famous namesake was the grandson of his first cousin) and restored by him, though without having its original character altered. In mid-C19, it passed to the Newman family; and in 1908, it was bought by the Monkstown Golf Club, which used it until recently. It is now empty and in poor repair and its future is uncertain.”
Monkstown Castle, County Cork, photographL William Garner 1986. 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.
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.
“Now surrounded by suburban housing, Monkstown Castle, County Cork once stood proud in its own grounds and overlooking the estuary of the river Lee and access to Cork harbour. The building dates back to the 17th century when it was constructed c.1636 by one Anastasia Gould, wife of John Archdeacon, said to have been a naval officer who was overseas supporting the King of Spain. Legend has it that when he returned home and saw this large structure on his land, he immediately assumed it had been erected by his enemies, and accordingly fired on it, one cannon ball hitting the battlements. The other story associated with Monkstown Castle is that Anastasia Gould was determined not to waste money on its construction and so employed the workmen at a fixed rate with the stipulation that they purchase their daily food supplies and so forth from her at a moderate price. When the job was finished, all bills paid and all sums collected, she found that the castle had cost her precisely four pence.
“Like many similar properties in Ireland, Monkstown Castle has experienced mixed fortunes over the centuries. The Archdeacons do not appear to have enjoyed possession of the building for very long as in the aftermath of the Confederate Wars and the arrival of the Cromwell’s New Model Army, both castle and surrounding estate were granted to Colonel Hercules Huncks, remembered today for having refused to sign Charles I’s execution order (and accordingly being described by Oliver Cromwell as a ‘froward, peevish fellow’). Huncks sold the property to Michael Boyle, Dean of Cloyne (and future Archbishop of Armagh) but in the aftermath of the Restoration the Archdeacons were living there once more, perhaps as tenants of Boyle. In any case, owing to their allegiance to the Stuart cause, they lost the castle again in the aftermath of the Williamite Wars and in due course it was inherited by two of his granddaughters who had married into the Vesey and Pakenham families; thus portions of the estate came to be owned by both the Earl of Longford and the Viscount de Vesci. How well the castle stood is open to question. In 1700 during his Visitation to the diocese Dive Downes, Bishop of Cork and Ross wrote that ‘Mr. O’Callaghan, a Protestant, lives in Monkstown, in a good square castle with flankers. However, at some point in the 18th century it was rented to the government to serve as an army barracks and in his Ancient and Present State of the County and City of Cork first published in 1750, Charles Smith says the castle ‘is large and in ruins, and is flanked by 4 square turrets.’ On the other hand, the Dublin Penny Journal of August 1833, although judging it a ‘large and gloomy pile of building’, comments that the castle is ‘in good repair.’
By the early 19th century, Monkstown Castle was owned by the Veseys but leased to one Bernard Shaw, Collector of Cork Port and a member of the same family as the future dramatist George Bernard Shaw. A large chimneypiece inside the building carries the initials B.S. and the date 1804 (as well as 1636) , indicating work was undertaken here at that time, undertaken by local architect William Deane. Bernard Shaw was duly succeeded by his son, Bernard Robert Shaw who lived here until 1869 when he and his wife moved to England where they died. Whether the castle was still occupied is open to question as around 1840 the Shaws had built a large residence close by, called Castle House. In June 1871 the estate of Bernard Robert Shaw running to 905 acres was advertised for sale. At the start of the last century, the castle was used by the local badminton club before being acquired in 1908 by the newly-established Monkstown Golf Club, which then made the building its club house. MGC bought the castle and what was then a nine-hole course from the De Vesci estate in 1959 for £4,000, selling the castle and some 32 acres in 1967 for £22,000. Thereafter, while the surrounding land was divided up into plots for housing, the castle remained empty and falling into disrepair, becoming a roofless shell. Between 2008 and 2010 extensive restoration work was carried out on the property, which had permission to be divided into three apartments. However, while re-roofed and made watertight, the building was then left unfinished and has remained in this state ever since. In recent years, it has been on the market for €800,000. Not a huge sum, but somewhat more than the four pence the castle originally cost Anastasia Gould.
Castle Bernard (formerly Castle Mahon), Bandon, Co Cork – ruin
Castle Bernard, County Cork, by Robert French, Lawrence Collection, 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.
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 62. “(Bernard, Bandon, E/PB) The old castle of the O’Mahonys, formerly known as Castle Mahon, was acquired by the Bernards early in C17 and was eventually changed to Castle Bernard. During 1st half of C18, two new fronts were added to the castle, by Francis Bernard, Solicitor-General of Ireland, Prime Serjeant of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and by his son, Francis Bernard, MP. They were of brick, with Corinthian pilasters and other enrichments of Portland stone, and were surrounded by formal gardens with statues, fountains, cascades and jets d’eau. In 1798 Francis Bernard, 1st Viscount Bandon, pulled down the two early C18 fronts and began building a new house alongside the old castle, to which it was joined by a corridor. It was of two storeys, with a nine bay entrance front overlooking the Bandon River and a garden front of three bays on either side of a deep curved central bow. Prominent roof with parapet and dentil cornice; bold quoins. In the early 19C – probably in 1815 – 1st Earl of Bandon gave the house a Gothic coating that was literally skin-deep; a facade of battlements and two slender turrets on the entrance front, which continued around the side for part of the way then stopped; the garden front being left as it was, except for the insertion of Gothic tracery in its windows, similar to that in the windows of the entrance front and sides; and the addition of hood mouldings. The old castle, an adjoining range and the connecting corridor also had C19 battlements. The interior of the house was spacious, with a straightforward plan. A square entrance hall with Ionic pilasters and columns opened into a wide central corridor running the whole length of the main block with a curving staircase at one end. On the opposite side of this corridor to the hall was a large oval room, extending into the garden front bow. Castle Bernard was burnt ca 1921; it is now a ruin smothered in climbing roses that forms an object in the garden of the modern house nearby, which was built in 1960s by 5th and last Earl of Bandon.”
Castle Bernard, Bandon in County Cork, photograph by Robert French, [between ca. 1865-1914], Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Castle Bernard, Bandon in County Cork, photograph by Robert French, [between ca. 1865-1914], Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Castle Bernard, Bandon in County Cork, photograph by Robert French, [between ca. 1865-1914], Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Castle Bernard, Bandon in County Cork, photograph by Robert French, [between ca. 1865-1914], Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.Castle Bernard, Bandon in County Cork, photograph by Robert French, [between ca. 1865-1914], Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
Francis Bernard was created 1st Earl of Bandon, and he married Catherine Henrietta Boyle, daughter of Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Shannon.
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.
“A large two storey classical house built 1798 for Francis Bernard, 1st Viscount Bandon. Joined to a twoer house by a single storey corridor. The house had a good interior which included an entrance hall with a series of columns at one end, and a cantilevered stone staircase. Gothic tracery was inserted in the windows in the mid Victorian period. Destroyed by fire in 1921. Now a ruin.“
The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Frank Keohane. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.
p. 25. The first prominent exponent of Neoclassicism in Cork was a native, Michael Shanahan. He appears to have been a stonecutter, and probably came to the attention of the ‘Earl-Bishop’ Frederick Hervey while the latter was Bishop of Cloyne in 1767-8. Hervey took Shanahan on a Continental tour in 1770-2, a very rare thing for an Irish architect, during which Shanahan made measured drawings, particularly of bridges, as Hervey was proposing to build a bridge at Londonderry. On his return to Ireland, he became Hervey’s agent and oversaw the construction of James Wyatt’s Downhill in Derry, as well as designing churches and glebe houses in that diocese. Shanahan returned to Cork in the early 1780s, establishing a marble and stone works in White Street which specialized in chimneypieces, geometrical stone staircases and porticos. His first significant commission was St Patrick’s Bridge, in 1788-91. Shanahan’s houses tend to be reticent in the extreme. Castle Freke (1780s) and Castle Bernard [p. 26] (1790s) are big astylar blocks, bare except for rusticated quoins and thin cornices. Castle Bernard in particular appears to owe a debt to Wyatt’s Castle Coole in the axial arrangement of a hall with columnar screen, and the elliptical saloon projecting into the bow on the garden front.
Also in David Hicks, Irish Country Houses, a Chronicle of Change. P.1 The architect in 1715 was John Coltsman, oversaw construction of new wings. The surrounding gardens were enhanced by a hydraulic engineer called Francis Fennell.
Castle Bernard, County Cork, courtesy Archiseek.Castle Bernard, County Cork, courtesy Archiseek.
In 1788 Francis Bernard, the 1st Earl of Bandon demolished much of the old O’Mahony castle that previously stood on this site, and built a castellated mansion. It was of two storeys with a nine-bay entrance front overlooking the River Bandon; and a garden front of three bays on either side of a deep curved central bow. It was altered and enlarged in Gothic style in the mid-19th century. Now ruined, after being destroyed by arson on 21 June 1921.
In O’Hea O’Keeffe, Jane. Voices from the Great Houses: Cork and Kerry. Mercier Press, Cork, 2013.
p. 73. The Bernard family has been associated with the Bandon settlement since the plantation of Munster in the late 1500s. Francis Bernard, third son of Sir Henry Bernard of Acornbank in Westmoreland, accompanied the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, and 17,000 men to Ireland in 1599, during the Nine Years’ War. At the time the O’Mahony clan was in possession of Castle Mahon, which was acquired by the descendants of Francis Bernard in 1639 and renamed Castle Bernard.
p. 75. Early on the morning of 21 June 1921, the Bandon Battalion of the IRA, under the command of Sean Hales, burned Castle Bernard, having ordered Lord and Lady Bandon and their servants to leave the house. They stood and watched as the castle and its contents burned. The IRA then kidnapped Lord Bandon, who was 74 years old. Three weeks later, he was released at the gates of Castle Bernard, having been, by all accounts, reasonably well treated. Lady Bandon had spent part of the period of his captivity at the gardener’s cottage on the castle grounds, later. moving to Cork to stay with friends. Immediately on his release, her husband joined her, and they left for England shortly thereafter.
The 4th Earl died in 1924 and was succeeded by his cousin, Air Chief Marshal Percy Bernard, (1904-79), 5th Earl of Bandon. Lady Frances Carter, daughter of the late Percy Bernard, now lives in a house on the Castle Bernard estate, which today stretches to around 500 acres. She reflects on those troubled days:
“He must have been very sad indeed. He loved his Bandon home, and had lived there nearly all his life. He died just three years after he left for England. Today, not a lot survives from the castle… James Francis Bernard, 4th Earl of Bandon, was my father Percy Bernard’s first cousin twice removed, and my father inherited the title on his cousin’s death in England in 1924.”
Lady Frances and her older sister Jennifer were born and reared in England.
p. 76. “We were brought up by our mother, Betty, as a consequence of the split between my parents just before I was born in 1943. I first came her to Bandon in 1956, when I was 13, to stay with my father. We stayed in a most uncomfortable house near the castle, which my grandmother had created from several existing cottages so that she and my father could have somewhere to stay on their visits to Bandon. [he remarried, to Betty Playfair]
p. 78. “When my father inherited, Bandon obviously became a big part of his life. He was always determined to make something of the estate and to live here eventually. He was an absentee in that he was in the Air Force, but he always knew he would eventually live here. This was essentially his home, and he farmed it and kept it going. He was undoubtedly very attached to it.”
p. 79. Lady Frances and Paul Carter married in England in 1967, and just two years ago they moved into the new house they had built on the grounds at Castle Bernard.
p. 80. The Castle Bernard estate now stretches to about 500 acres and is home to Bandon Golf Club. The Carters have also leased the farming land.
p. 81. The records of the Bernard family of Bandon are stored at the Cork Archives at Blackpool, where over 300 boxes of unsorted material await attention. Luckily, when the castl was burned in 1921, the agent in Bandon town had these boxes and estate books in his possession.“
Like many Irish houses, Castle Bernard, County Cork has a long and complex architectural history, some aspects of which are still not clear. The place takes its name from the Bernard family, the first of whom – christened Francis like many of his successors – came here during the Plantation of Munster in the late 16th century. He acquired lands which had formerly been owned by the O’Mahonys and was centred around a great square tower house called Castle Mahon to the immediate south of the river Bandon. This became the Bernards’ residence, its name at some date changed to Castle Bernard, until c.1715, Francis Bernard, great-grandson of the original settler, and Solicitor-General of Ireland, Prime Serjeant and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas initiated work on a new building, seemingly to the designs of John Coltsman of Cork. This involved adding wings to the old tower house, the whole encased in brick with Corinthian pilasters and other ornamentations in Portland stone. A decade later the surrounding demesne was transformed into a formal garden with terraces, cascades, jets d’eau and statuary. This arrangement lasted until the end of the 18th century when Castle Bernard underwent a further transformation.
In 1794 the Cork architect Michael Shanahan, best-known work commissioned in Ulster by his patron Frederick Hervey, Earl-Bishop of Derry, prepared designs for a new house at Castle Bernard. (For more on Shanahan and the Earl-Bishop, see It’s Downhill All the Way, October 28th 2013 and Let the Door be Instantly Open, For There is Much Wealth Within, March 31st 2014). This involved pulling down the additions to the original tower house, and instead erecting a structure to its immediate east, a linking corridor running between the two. In 1800 another Corkman, William Deane, prepared estimates of £522.4s.4d. for work in finishing the house. In both instances, the client was Francis Bernard who from 1793 gradually scaled the hierarchy of the peerage until 1800 when created first Earl of Bandon. The house he commissioned was classical in style, of two storeys over basement and with a nine-bay entrance front. The garden front was similar but broken by a substantial full-height bow occupying the three centre bays. Just fifteen years later, Lord Bandon undertook further work, this time by an unknown architect, in order to give it the – largely superficial – appearance of a gothic castle, and thereby provide better links both to the old tower house and to the Bernard family’s ancient pedigree. While the garden front experienced little other than the insertion of gothic tracery in its windows, battlements and turrets were added to the façade, and the Bernard coat of arms carved in stone above the main entrance. No great changes were made to the interior, which despite the gothic fenestration otherwise retained its classical decoration. On the ground floor, an entrance hall with Ionic pilasters and columns gave access to a wide corridor which ran like a spine down the centre of the house. Among the reception rooms, the most notable was an oval drawing room overlooking the garden: one sees in its design the abiding influence of the Earl-Bishop on Shanahan.
The Bernard family remained in residence at Castle Bernard until June 1921 when the 70-year old fourth earl and his wife were woken in the early hours of the morning by a group of IRA members and ordered out of the house, which was then set on fire. Lord Bandon was then taken into captivity by the men and held for the next three weeks, constantly moved from house to house before being released at the gates of the now-ruined Castle Bernard after three weeks: during this time he had lost a stone in weight and never recovered from the experience, dying less than three years later. He and his wife had no children, so the title passed to a first cousin twice-removed, Air Chief Marshal Percy Bernard, widely known as ‘Paddy’ Bandon. But he inherited not a lot else and so, although some compensation was received by the family, Castle Bernard was not rebuilt (the fifth earl constructed a modest bungalow behind the ruin). Since he in turn had no son, the earldom became extinct. Although his descendants still live on the estate, the land in front of Castle Bernard is now a golf course.” http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2013/07/castle-bernard.html
THE EARLS OF BANDON WERE THE SECOND LARGEST LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY CORK, WITH 40,941 ACRES
The house of BERNARD, Earls of Bandon, derives, according to Thomas Hawley, Norroy King of Arms, from SIR THEOPHILUS, a valiant knight of German descent who, in 1066, accompanied WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR into England.
This Theophilus was son of Sir Egerette, and father of
SIR DORBARD BERNARD, the first of his family surnamed BERNARD.
His descendants settled at Acornbank in Westmorland, and in the counties of Yorkshire and Northamptonshire.
Among these we find Robert FitzBernard, who accompanied HENRY II to Ireland, and who, on the King’s departure, had Wexford and Waterford committed to his custody.
SIR FRANCIS BERNARD, of Acornbank (the lineal descendant of Sir Dorbard), married Hannah, daughter of Sir John Pilkington, and was grandfather of
SIR HENRY BERNARD, Knight, who married Anne, daughter of Sir John Dawson, of Westmorland, and had four sons, ROBERT, William, Francis, and Charles.
FRANCIS BERNARD, the third son, removed to Ireland during ELIZABETH I’s reign and purchased considerable estates.
He died leaving issue, besides two daughters, a son,
FRANCIS BERNARD, Lord of the manor of Castle Bernard, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Arthur Freke, of Rathbarry Castle (ancestor of Lord Carbery).
Mr Bernard was killed while defending his castle from an attack of the rebel forces, and left issue (with four daughters, all married), two sons,
FRANCIS, his heir; Arthur, born in 1666.
The elder son,
FRANCIS BERNARD (1663-1731), was attainted by JAMES II’sparliament, but was restored to his estates by WILLIAM and MARY.
He was appointed Solicitor-General for Ireland by QUEEN ANNE, Prime Sergeant, and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas.
Mr Bernard represented Bandon and Clonakilty in parliament.
He wedded, in 1697, Alice, daughter of Stephen Ludlow, ancestor of the Earls Ludlow, and grandson of Sir Henry Ludlow, of Maiden Bradley, Wiltshire (whose eldest son was the famous General Ludlow), by whom he left at his decease,
FRANCIS, his heir; Stephen, of Prospect Hall; North Ludlow, father of JAMES BERNARD; Arthur; William; John; Elizabeth, m 3rd Viscount Charlemont.
The eldest son,
FRANCIS BERNARD (1698-1783), of Castle Bernard, and Bassingbourne Hall, Essex, MP for Clonakilty, 1725-60, Bandonbridge, 1766-76, espoused, in 1722, the Lady Anne Petty, only daughter of Henry, Earl of Shelburne; but died without surviving issue, when he was succeeded by his nephew,
JAMES BERNARD (1729-90), of Castle Bernard, son of North Ludlow Bernard, MP for County Cork, 1781-90, who married, in 1752, Esther, daughter of Percy Smyth, and heiress of her brother, William Smyth, of Headborough, and widow of Robert Gookin, and had issue,
FRANCIS, his heir; Rose; Esther; Mary; Charlotte; Elizabeth.
The only son,
FRANCIS BERNARD (1755-1830), MP for Ennis, 1778-83, Bandonbridge, 1783-90, was elevated to the peerage, in 1793, in the dignity of Baron Bandon; and advanced to a viscountcy, in 1795, as Viscount Bandon.
His lordship was further advanced, in 1800, to the dignities of Viscount Bernard and EARL OF BANDON.
He wedded, in 1784, Catherine Henrietta, only daughter of Richard, 2nd Earl of Shannon, and had issue,
JAMES, his successor; Richard Boyle (Very Rev), Dean of Leighlin; Francis; William Smyth; Henry Boyle; Charles Ludlow; Catherine Henrietta; Charlotte Esther; Louisa Anne.
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,
JAMES, 2nd Earl (1785-1856), who married, in 1809, Mary Susan Albinia, eldest daughter of the Hon and Most Rev Dr Charles Brodrick, Lord Archbishop of Cashel, and had issue,
FRANCIS, his successor; Charles Brodrick; Henry Boyle; Catherine Henrietta.
The 4th Earl was the last Lord-Lieutenant of County Cork, from 1877 until 1922.
CASTLE BERNARD, near Bandon, County Cork, was re-modelled by Francis Bernard, 1st Viscount Bandon and afterwards 1st Earl of Bandon.
He pulled down the two early 18th century fronts in 1798 and began building a new house alongside the old O’Mahony castle, which was joined by a corridor.
It was of two storeys with a nine-bay entrance front overlooking the River Bandon; and a garden front of three bays on either side of a deep curved central bow.
It was altered and enlarged in Gothic style in the mid-19th century.
Castle Bernard became known as one of the most hospitable houses in Ireland and the house parties held by the 4th Earl and Countess were said to have been legendary.
In an early morning raid on the 21st June, 1921, an IRA gang, under Sean Hales, called at the Castle.
They intended to kidnap Lord Bandon, but “Buckshot” Bandon and his staff had taken refuge in the cellars.
Apparently disappointed in the first object of their call, the IRA decided to burn the house.
Hales was heard to say,“well the bird has flown, so we’ll burn the nest”.
At that, Lord Bandon and his party appeared from the cellars but it was too late, the fire had started.
Ironically the IRA carefully took out all the furniture and piled it on the lawn before setting the building on fire.
Lady Bandon had to sit and watch the flames for some hours.
When the flames were at their height, she suddenly stood up in her nightgown and sang God Save the King as loudly as possible, which disconcerted the incendiaries, but while they may not have stood to attention, they let her have her say and did nothing about it.
Lord Bandon was then kidnapped by a local IRA gang and held hostage for three weeks, being released on 12th July.
The IRA threatened to have him executed if the authorities went ahead with executing IRA prisoners of war.
During his captivity, Bandon coolly played cards with his captors, who treated him well.
Tom Barry later stated he believed the kidnapping helped move HM Government towards the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 and the cessation of hostilities.
The elderly Lord Bandon never recovered from the experience and died in 1924.
Some years later, when the last of the IRA burning party died, the 4th Earl was asked to go to the funeral, which he did – in full funeral attire of top hat and morning coat.
Castle Bernard continued to be the home of the 5th Earl and Countess: they built a small house within the Castle boundary walls.
The 5th Earl died in 1979 and, as he had no heir, the titles became extinct.
Lady Bandon died in 1999, aged 102.
Lady Jennifer Bernard, who inherited the property, lived on the grounds of the castle until she died in 2010.
A modern house was built a short distance from the ruin by the 5th Earl in the 1960s and the uncontrolled growth of trees and ivy gives the building its romantic character.
There is a huge high window in the curved stairwell which would have been a magnificent feature in its day.
Above the grand doorway and grass covered steps are a fine carved crest and standards.
Several of the attractive stone window frames are still more or less intact which adds to the appeal of this splendid ruin.
Percy, 5th Earl, GBE CB CVO DSO, Air Chief Marshal, was one of the most senior officers in the RAF.
In his retirement the 5th Earl discovered the pleasures of fishing, particularly in the River Bandon which was well stocked with salmon, and in shooting, snipe and woodcock found in large numbers near Castle Bernard.
He was also developing an enthusiastic skill as a gardener with a particular knowledge of rhododendrons.
The 5th Earl died on 8 February 1979 at Bon Secours Hospital in County Cork aged 74 and without male issue.
Consequently on his death all the titles became extinct.
He was survived by Lois, Lady Bandon and the two daughters from his first marriage, Lady Jennifer Jane Bernard, of Castle Bernard (b 1935) and Lady Frances Elizabeth Bernard (b 1943).
A portrait in oils (painted 1969) of Lord Bandon, in his uniform as an Air Chief Marshal together with his robes as a peer of the realm, hangs in the main dining hall at the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell.
First published in August, 2011. Bandon arms courtesy of European Heraldry.
Buttevant Castle, County Cork, Gillman Collection 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.
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 51. [Anderson, Bt. of Fermoy; Lloyd 1912]. One of the old fortifications of the town of Buttevant, made into castellated house early in C19 by the enterprising army contractor, John Anderson, who laid out the town of Fermoy. A tall and narrow building, with a round tower at one side and a curved end at the other. Gothic windows. Subsequently owned by the Lloyd family.
Buttevant Castle, County Cork, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland.
The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Frank Keohane. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.
p. 13. [An] architectural innovation which the Norman colonists introduced was the use of stone for domestic architecture. Examples are found throughout Cork, mostly of two basic types: the castles or fortresses built by Norman magnates during the late C12 and C13, and the tower houses built by both Anglo-Norman and Gaelic families during the C15 and C16. The Archaeological Survey has identified 17 castles and 110 tower houses, with a further 119 castle sites.
The next distinctive Norman castle type is seen in the early C13 round great towers or donjons found at Buttevant and Inchiquin (Killeagh), no doubt inspired by the keep at Pembroke in Wales, given the familial ties to that place.
In Blake, Tarquin. Abandoned Mansions of Ireland. Collins Press, Cork, 2010.
Originally a castle of the Barry family, Earls of Barrymore, sold by them in the early 19th century to John Anderson of Fermoy, who restored it as a castellated house and gave it to his eldest son Sir James Anderson. Sir James lived there until the mid 1840s. William Roche occupied the building valued at £37 in the early 1850s. He held the property from Viscount Doneraile and D.R. Browning held a house, flour mill and offices valued at £120 from Roche. The castle had various occupants in the later 19th century and was last occupied in the early 20th century. It is now a ruin.
Buttevant Castle, locally also known as Barry Castle, lies on the edge of the old medieval town of Buttevant, in County Cork in Ireland.
Buttecant Castle was built around 1200 by the Norman Barry family. It was built at the edge of the town, on a hill above the swift-flowing Awbeg river, overlooking the town’s mill and weir. In 1317 the town was enclosed with a strong wall and the castle became part of the town’s defenses.
In 1461, a Morrogh O’Brien over-ran the province of Munster, and damaged or took the town and castle of Buttevant. In 1555 Lord Barry was created Viscount Buttevant.
In 1790, Buttevant Castle and town were sold by Richard Barry, Earl of Barrymore, to a John Anderson of Fermoy. He restored the castle as a castellated house and gave it to his eldest son Sir James Anderson. Sir James lived there until the mid 1840s. In 1850, the castle was occupied by a William Roche. The castle had various occupants in the later 19th century and was last occupied in the early 20th century.
At present Buttevant Castle stands on private grounds and can not be visited, too bad, because it’s a very nice castle ruin.
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.
“An early 19C conversion for John Anderson of part of the fortification of the town of Buttevant into a private house. Now a ruin.”
After Monday’s tale of Barryscourt Castle, here is another property that formerly belonged to the once-mighty Barry family: Buttevant Castle, County Cork. Thought to date back to the early 13th century, this would have been one of their first strongholds but in due course they moved their principal residence elsewhere and Buttevant fell into decline. As indeed did the Barrys. In the late 18th century the penultimate Earl of Barrymore, a close friend of the Prince of Wales, was a notorious rake, gambler and bare-knuckle boxer. His wild ways gained him the nickname of Hellgate while his younger brother Henry, who inherited the title after his sibling’s death at the age of 23, had a clubfoot and accordingly was called Cripplegate. Meanwhile, the third sibling Augustus, despite being an Anglican clergyman, became so addicted to gambling that he was known as Newgate, supposedly because this was the only debtors’ prison in which he had not spent time. And the trio’s only sister, Lady Caroline Barry, swore with such frequency and proficiency that she was called Billingsgate, after the foul-mouthed fishwives of that market. Between the four of them, they managed to dissipate their once-great estates in Ireland, including the extensive lands around Buttevant Castle, which was bought by Scottish entrepreneur John Anderson, whose son gave the building its present appearance around 1810. Occupied until the start of the last century, it was then abandoned and has since fallen into a ruinous state.
Maryborough, County Cork, photograph courtesy Irish Aesthete.
The website tells us:
“Located in the leafy suburbs of Douglas, yet minutes from Cork City Centre, The Maryborough has a character and style all of its own. Set in 18 acres of 300-year-old listed gardens and woodland, our family-owned boutique hotel affords guests an experience in luxury itself and is among the top hotels in Cork. The Maryborough Hotel is unique with its charming 18th Century Mansion accompanied by the creatively designed contemporary extension. All of this combined makes The Maryborough the perfect destination.
“The hotel delivers a unique experience in an exceptional atmosphere. From the moment you enter, we will guarantee you a level of personal service and care designed to match the exquisite surroundings of our 300-year-old listed gardens. Guests can enjoy an award-winning restaurant in Cork, state of the art Leisure Club and luxurious ESPA spa.
Maryborough, County Cork, photograph courtesy Irish Aesthete.
Our History
“The Maryborough Hotel & Spa is one of the most renowned 4 star hotels in Cork today. The Maryborough’s Georgian Manor House was built in 1710 by Mr Richard Newenham [note that a Richard Newenham of Maryborough married Sarah Devonsher, niece of Abraham Devonsher of Kilshannig]. Descendants of the Newenhams as well as other families lived there up until the 1990s when it was purchased by the O’Sullivan family. In 1997 the family opened what is now The Maryborough Hotel, a 4 star luxury hotel in Cork with 93 bedrooms.
“Since becoming a hotel, the Mansion House has fortunately retained its striking original architectural features. Some of the rooms at The Maryborough still showcase Adam style decoration – notably the entrance hall and some mantelpieces. This adds to the historical relevance of the manor house and contributes to the decadence and luxury of this boutique hotel in Cork.
“The former eighteenth-century stately home is set amid acres of woods and beautiful gardens, just south of Cork’s historical city centre in Douglas. John Newenham, a younger brother of the last Newenham owner of The Maryborough was a great gardener and collector of trees. Thanks to his inspired work the gardens at The Maryborough still host quite a collection, in particular of rhododendrons, making it one of the reasons for The Maryborough being one of the best hotels in Cork.
“The Maryborough works to continually develop a deluxe guest experience merging the hotels history with beautifully appointed accommodations. In order to incorporate the elegant grandeur of the old house into the hotel, several splendid suites were built on the upper floors of the Mansion House. Read more about our luxury suites in Cork.
“To compliment the opulent charm of the old house, the hotel’s contemporary extension was built. It is here you will find our Deluxe, Executive and Family Rooms. Spectacular architecture blended with effortless service and genuine hospitality makes the Maryborough one of the top hotels in Cork.“
Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 204. “(Newenham/IFR; Sherrard, sub Morrough/IFR) A three storey seven bay mid-C18 house with a lower late-Georgian bow-fronted addition. On the garden front, the house is weather-slated; and the main block is joined by a curving corridor to an office wing with a high-pitched sprocketed roof. Hall with ceiling of Adamesque plasterwork and floor of black and white pavement. Dining room with plasterwork frieze. Staircase of handsome C18 joinery, with Corinthian newels. Upper hall with ceiling of rococo plasterwork in the manner of Robert West. In the late-Georgian wing, there is an oval cantilevered stone staircase with an iron balustrade; the wing also formerly contained a ballroom and library, but these were destroyed by fire 1914 and rebuilt as kitchens. Originally the seat of a branch of the Newenham family; passed at the beginning of the present century to the Sherrard family.”
The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Frank Keohane. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.
p. 27. Of mid-C18 Palladian interiors, good representative examples with panelled dados, lugged architraves, fielded panelling and chunky cornices are found at Coole Abbey House, Assolas, Cloghroe, Kilshannig, and Blackrock House. Curiously, the heavy Palladian lugged architrave remained in use in the county long after it fell out of fashion elsewhere. At Lisnabrin, Dunkathel, Burton, Rockforest and Muckridge, the form is encountered in late C18 Neoclassical interiors, suggesting an innate conservatism among local joiners. The finest joinery in most houses is reserved for the staircase, and in many cases these have survived. The best early C18 staircases, at the Red House and Annes Grove, have alternating barley-twist and columnar balusters, big Corinthian newel posts, ramped handrails and carved tread-end brackets. Mount Alvernia (Mallow), Carrigrohane and Cloghroe all have good mid-C18 staircases of a similar type; that at Lota is exceptional in its use of mahogany and for its imperial plan. Good Neoclassical staircases, geometrical in form with delicate ironwork balustrades, survive at Maryborough, Newmarket Court and Castle Hyde; the destruction of those at Vernon Mount is a particularly sad loss.
The best early plasterwork is that of the Swiss-Italian brothers Paolo and Filippo Lafranchini at Riverstown, where highly sculptural late Baroque figurative ornament is applied to the walls and ceilings of the Saloon… Filippo alone decorated two rooms at Kilshannig, blending late Baroque figures with lighter acanthus arabesques and putti. Rococo plasterwork featuring scrolling acanthus and birds comparable to the Dublin school of the 1760s is encountered in the Saloon at Castlemartyr, and at Maryborough. At Laurentium (Doneraile) and the Old College (Youghal), it is rather more hesitant. For the most part, stucco workers remain anonymous, so it is a happy circumstance that Patrick Osborne’s accomplished work at the former Mansion House at Cork is recorded. He also probably worked at Lota, as well as at Castle Hyde. Good Neoclassical plasterwork in low relief and employing small-scale classical motifs of the type made fashionable by Robert Adam and James Wyatt is found at Maryborough, at Old Court House (Rochestown), and at the Old College and Loreto College at Youghal.
‘Not far from Douglas is a handsome house adorned with a cupola and good plantations, the residence of Mr Richard Newenham, merchant in Cork, a gentleman who is the largest dealer in Ireland in the worsted trade, and employs some thousands in different parts of this country in spinning bay yarn, which he exports to Bristol.’ From The Ancient and Present State of the County and City of Cork by Charles Smith (1750). The Newenhams are believed to have settled in Cork in the early 17th century and to have prospered as merchants: in 1671 one of their number, John Newenham, served as Mayor of Cork city. One branch of the family would come to live at Coolmore (see Trans-Atlantic Links « The Irish Aesthete). Believed to have been born around 1705, Richard Newenham was the son of another John, a clothier who some years earlier had become a Quaker. His father-in-law, Thomas Wight, who also began professional life as a clothier, was author of A history of the rise and progress of the people called Quakers, in Ireland, from the year 1653 to 1700. The eldest of seven children, Richard Newenham prospered and, as noted by Charles Smith, developed a thriving textile business. As Daniel Beaumont has noted, he may also have been involved in the manufacture of sailcloth, because the village of Douglas, close to Maryborough, had become an important centre for this industry. Newenham also went into partnership with a number of other men in the business of ‘sugar making and sugar boiling’ on the southern outskirts of Cork city. In 1738 he married Sarah Devonsher, member of another successful Quaker family which was responsible for building Kilshannig (see Exuberance « The Irish Aesthete).
Maryborough, County Cork, photograph courtesy Irish Aesthete.
Maryborough, County Cork, photograph courtesy Irish Aesthete.
Maryborough, County Cork, photograph courtesy Irish Aesthete.
Maryborough, County Cork, photograph courtesy Irish Aesthete.
Probably built not long before Charles Smith published his book on Cork in 1750 and thought to be on the site of an earlier house, Maryborough was then described as having a cupola, but that no longer exists. The main body of the house is rendered, of three storeys over a raised basement, and seven bays wide, the three-bay breakfront defined with limestone quoins. A substantial flight of steps leads up to the pedimented entrance doorcase, also of limestone. The rear of the house is similar, having a three-bay breakfront but with a Gibbsian doorcase and the two upper floors being slate-fronted, as is the upper section of an extension to the east. The latter’s two-storied facade is a substantial, three-bay bow. This part of the building is thought to be a later extension from c.1830 while behind it is another addition from the late 18th century, a gable-ended wing accommodating a cantilevered Portland stone staircase: Frank Keohane proposes this as the work of local architect Michael Shanahan (who also worked in Ulster for the Earl-Bishop of Derry). The interiors of Maryborough are relatively plain, as befitted the home of a member of the Quaker community, amongst whom there was strong disapproval of gratuitous ornament. However, one room on the first floor has an elaborately decorated rococo ceiling, heavily enriched with scrolling acanthus leaves and an abundance of floral bouquets.
Maryborough, County Cork, photograph courtesy Irish Aesthete.
Maryborough, County Cork, photograph courtesy Irish Aesthete.
Maryborough, County Cork, photograph courtesy Irish Aesthete.
Maryborough, County Cork, photograph courtesy Irish Aesthete.
Following Richard Newenham’s death in 1759, Maryborough was inherited by his only son John, and after the latter died in turn his son, another Richard, inherited the property. In 1837 it was described by Samuel Lewis as ‘the residence of E.E. Newenham Esq., a noble mansion in a spacious demesne, embellished with stately timber.’ Maryborough remained in the ownership of the Newenhams until the late 19th century, although rented out for some years before being sold to Thomas Sherrard in 1889. His descendants lived there until 1995 when the place was sold to the present owners who turned the house into an hotel, with a large bedroom extension added to the south and, more recently, an orangery/function room to the immediate west of the old building.
Maryborough, County Cork, photograph courtesy Irish Aesthete.
Maryborough, County Cork, photograph courtesy Irish Aesthete.
Mark Bence-Jones writes in 1988 of Castle Martyr in A Guide to Irish Country Houses:
p. 72. “(Boyle, Cork and Orrery, E/PB; Boyle, Shannon, E/PB; Arnott, Bt/PB) Originally an old castle of the FitzGeralds, Seneschals of Imokilly, to which an early C17 domestic range was added by Richard Boyle, the “Great” Earl of Cork, who bought it from Sir Walter Raleigh, to whom it had been granted, along with other confiscated Geraldine estates. Having been damaged during the Civil Wards, it was repaired and made “English like” by Lord Cork’s third son, 1st Earl of Orrery, to whom it had passed; only to suffer worse damage in the Williamiate War, after which it was left a ruin, and a new house built alongside it early in C18 by Henry Boyle, who became Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and eventually 1st Earl of Shannon.“
Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork (1566-1643) Date c.1630, courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland.Castlemartyr, courtesy of Castlemartyr Resort facebook page.
Roger Boyle (1621-1679) 1st Earl of Orrery’s son Roger (1646-1682) succeeded as 2nd Earl of Orrery. Another son, Henry (1646-1693), gave rise to the Earls of Shannon. His son Henry (1682-1764) was created 1st Earl of Shannon.
The house was greatly enlarged by 2nd Earl between 1764/71, and further remodelled in late-Georgian period. While giving it an abnormally long facade, the subsequent additions did not take away from the house’s early C18 character, beign on the same scale and in the same style as the original building. Entrance front of two storeys and 17 bays, consisting of a five bay recessed centre with a giant pedimented portico between projecint wings, the forward-facing one bay ends of which are prolonged by a further five bays on either side. The ends of the projecting wings on either side of the centre are framed by rusticated pilasters, and formerly had Venetian windows in their lower storey, which have now been made into ordinary triple windows; there is also a rusticated pilaster at either end of the facade. The front is unusual in having three entrance doorways, of similar size, one under the portico and one in the centre of the five outer bays on either side; originally these doorways had plain architraves, but they were replaced by rusticated doorcases early this century. High-pitched, slightly sprocketed roofs. Irregular garden front; range of three bays on either side of a curved central bow, then a four bay range set slightly back with a balustraded colonnade of coupled Doric columns along its lower storey, then a range set further back again, of the same height as the rest of the facade but of one storey only, with three tall windows. Long, narrow and low-ceilinged hall with bifurcating wooden staircase at one end; late-Georgian frieze. A wide pilastered corridor runs from the staircase end of the hall, opening into a series of reception rooms along the garden front’ they are of modest size, low-ceilinged and simply decorated. In contrast to them is the magnificent double cube saloon or ballroom at the opposite end of the hall., which rises the full height of the house and is lit by the three tall windows in the single-storey part of the garden front. It has a coved ceiling with splendid rococo plasterwork in the manner of Robert West – birds, swags, flowers, foliage and cornucopiae in high relief – and a doorcase with fluted Ionic columns and a broken pediment. This room was one of 2nd Earl’s additions; it was finished by 1771, when it was seen by Arthur Young, who considered it to be the best room he had seen in Ireland. It certainly rates among the dozen or so finest Irish country house interiors; or anyhow whould have done when it had its chimneypiece and its original pictures and furnishings. The entrance front of the house overlooks a sheet of water which is part of the remarkable artificial river made ante 1750 by 1st Earl; it winds its way between wooded banks through the demesne and round the neighbouring town of Castlemartyr; broad and deep enough to be navigable by what was described in C18 as “an handsome boat.” The entrance gates from the town are flanked by tall battlemented walls shaped to look like Gothic towers; from the side they reveal themselves to be no more than stage scenery. Castle Martyr was sold early in the present century to the Arnott family; it was subsequently re-sold and is now a Carmelite College.”
Castlemartyr, courtesy of Castlemartyr Resort facebook page.Castlemartyr, courtesy of Castlemartyr Resort facebook page.Roger Boyle (1646-1682) 2nd Earl of Orrery, Attributed to Garret Morphey, courtesy Bonhams 2009.Mary Sackville (1637-1679), Countess of Orrery later Viscountess Shannon (d.1714) by Godfrey Kneller courtesy of National Trust Knole. She married Roger Boyle, 2nd Earl of Orrery.Lady Mary Boyle nursing her son Charles, by Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) Adams auction 18 Oct 2022. I think this could be Mary née Sackville (1637-1679) who married Roger Boyle 2nd Earl of Orrery. Her son Charles Boyle (1674-1731) became the 4th Earl of Orrery.Henry Boyle 1st Earl of Shannon by Stephen Slaughter, in Ballyfin Demesne, courtesy of Parliamentary Art Collection.
Note that Henry Boyle (1682-1764), 1st Earl of Shannon, who owned Castlemartyr, also owned a townouse at 11 Henrietta Street in Dublin. See Melanie Hayes’s wonderful book The Best Address in Town: Henrietta Street, Dublin and its First Residents, 1720-80 published by Four Courts Press, Dublin 8, in 2020.
The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Frank Keohane. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.
The fortified houses of the late C16 and early C17 constitute a bridge between the medieval tower house and the modern mansion. They were built by old Norman families, at Castle Lyons and Ightermurragh (Ladysbridge); by city merchants, such as the Archdeacons at Monkstown; by English settlers, at Baltimore, Coppinger’s Court (Rosscarbery) and Mallow; and by Gaelic chiefs, at Coolnalong (Durrus), Mount Long (Oysterhaven), Kanturk, Dromaneen (Mallow) and Reendiseart (Ballylickey). Twenty-two such houses survive in Cork.
In comparison to tower houses, these houses are better lit, have thinner walls, lack vaults, and feature timber floors and staircases as well as integral fireplaces. They are also notably symmetrical in plan and elevation, and some, such as Kanturk, incorporate proto-classical features. They generally retain some defensive features, such as door yetts, gunloops, bartizans and crenellated parapets, [p. 18] although their wall-walks were not all continuous, and in cases such as Mount Long and Monkstown were barely accessible. The other notable feature is the use of towers or turrets, influenced no doubt by the Elizabethan fashion for a quasi-military appearance derived from an earlier chivalric age. The arrangement of the towers gives rise to distinctive plan-forms: U plan (Coolnalong), Y-plan (Mallow and Coppinger’s court), L-plan (Dromaneen (Mallow) and Mossgrove (Templemartin), cross-plan (Kilmaclenine, Ightermurragh), X-plan (Kanturk, Monkstown, Mount Long, Aghadown), Z-plan (Ballyannan (Midleton), and T-Plan (Reendiseart). Baltimore, Carrigrohane, Castle Lyons, Myrtle Grove (Youghal) and Castlemartyr aer simple rectangular blocks. A number of Jacobean bawns with circular corner towers also survive, at Ballinterry (Rathcormac), Dromiscane (Millstreet), Dromagh, Clonmeen (Banteer) and Mossgrove.”
The Buildings of Ireland. Cork City and County. Frank Keohane. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 2020.
p. 27. Of mid-C18 Palladian interiors, good representative examples with panelled dados, lugged architraves, fielded panelling and chunky cornices are found at Coole Abbey House, Assolas, Cloghroe, Kilshannig, and Blackrock House. Curiously, the heavy Palladian lugged architrave remained in use in the county long after it fell out of fashion elsewhere. At Lisnabrin, Dunkathel, Burton, Rockforest and Muckridge, the form is encountered in late C18 Neoclassical interiors, suggesting an innate conservatism among local joiners. The finest joinery in most houses is reserved for the staircase, and in many cases these have survived. The best early C18 staircases, at the Red House and Annes Grove, have alternating barley-twist and columnar balusters, big Corinthian newel posts, ramped handrails and carved tread-end brackets. Mount Alvernia (Mallow), Carrigrohane and Cloghroe all have good mid-C18 staircases of a similar type; that at Lota is exceptional in its use of mahogany and for its imperial plan. Good Neoclassical staircases, geometrical in form with delicate ironwork balustrades, survive at Maryborough, Newmarket Court and Castle Hyde; the destruction of those at Vernon Mount is a particularly sad loss.
The best early plasterwork is that of the Swiss-Italian brothers Paolo and Filippo Lafranchini at Riverstown, where highly sculptural late Baroque figurative ornament is applied to the walls and ceilings of the Saloon… Filippo alone decorated two rooms at Kilshannig, blending late Baroque figures with lighter acanthus arabesques and putti. Rococo plasterwork featuring scrolling acanthus and birds comparable to the Dublin school of the 1760s is encountered in the Saloon at Castlemartyr, and at Maryborough. At Laurentium (Doneraile) and the Old College (Youghal), it is rather more hesitant. For the most part, stucco workers remain anonymous, so it is a happy circumstance that Patrick Osborne’s accomplished work at the former Mansion House at Cork is recorded. He also probably worked at Lota, as well as at Castle Hyde. Good Neoclassical plasterwork in low relief and employing small-scale classical motifs of the type made fashionable by Robert Adam and James Wyatt is found at Maryborough, at Old Court House (Rochestown), and at the Old College and Loreto College at Youghal.
The castle from which Castlemartyr takes its name was likely built in the middle of the 15th century when the lands in this part of the country passed into the control of the FitzGeralds of Imokilly. For more than 100 years from 1580 it was subject to successive sieges and assaults; in 1581, for example, Thomas Butler, Earl of Ormond captured the building and hanged the ancient mother of John Fitzedmund FitzGerald from its walls. Castlemartyr became part of Sir Walter Raleigh’s estate which he then sold to Richard Boyle, first Earl of Cork in 1602. It is likely that the Boyles built the two-storey manor with tall gable-ended chimney stacks that runs behind the older castle. But the property had to withstand attack again during the Confederate Wars of the 1640s and once more in 1690, after which it was finally abandoned to become a picturesque ruin while a new residence went up on a site to the immediate west.
[note from Jane Ohlmeyer, appendix iv, Richard Boyle in 1660 was Earl of Cork, peer of townland Youghal.]
Seat of the Earls of Shannon in the 18th and 19th centuries, built in the early 18th century by the 1st Earl of Shannon and enlarged by his son the 2nd Earl in the 1760s. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation it was valued at £150. Sold to the Arnott family in the early 20th century, it later became a Carmelite college and now functions as a hotel.
Capella Castlemartyr House, CASTLEMARTYR, Castlemartyr, County Cork
Castlemartyr, County Cork, photograph courtesy of Natinal Inventory.
Detached twenty-five-bay two-storey former country house, built c. 1730, enlarged and remodelled, 1764-71, various subsequent alterations, later used as convent and school, now in use as hotel. Comprising five-bay recessed central block with integral pedimented portico to front (north) elevation having ashlar Doric columns and rendered pediment, flanked by six-bay block to west and seven-bay block to east, with projecting three-bay and four-bay terminating blocks. Full-height bow and balustrated colonnade comprising paired ashlar Doric columns with rendered entablature to rear. Sprocketed hipped slate roofs with dressed limestone chimneystacks, cast-iron rainwater goods and render frieze and cornice. Lined-and-ruled rendered walls with rusticated limestone pilasters. Square-headed openings with cut limestone sills and six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows, those to ground floor of bays flanking central portico having tripartite six-over-six pane flanked by two-over-two pane windows. Square-headed openings to front elevation with carved limestone Gibbsian surrounds, cornices and timber panelled doors. Carved limestone balustrade to front of main entrance. Retains interior features.
Appraisal
House is unusual in plan and elevation owing to alterations running over three centuries. Exceptionally wide front façade having rarity of three entrances. Variation in roof line adds interest to the façade, as too do well-executed pilasters and pediments. Built by Henry Boyle, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, Ist Earl of Shannon, it was enlarged and remodelled in 1764-71 by the second Earl. The Ballroom completed in 1771, was described as one of finest rooms in Ireland by Arthur Young. Intricate and well crafted Rococo plasterwork adds much decorative interest to interior and is attributed to the Franchini brothers. Continues to have strong influence on local village.
Castlemartyr, County Cork, photograph courtesy of Natinal Inventory.Castlemartyr, County Cork, photograph courtesy of Natinal Inventory.Castlemartyr, County Cork, photograph courtesy of Natinal Inventory.Castlemartyr, County Cork, photograph courtesy of Natinal Inventory.Castlemartyr, County Cork, photograph courtesy of Natinal Inventory.Castlemartyr, County Cork, photograph courtesy of Natinal Inventory.
THE EARLS OF SHANNON OWNED 11,232 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY CORK
This is a branch of the noble house of BOYLE, Earls of Cork and Orrery, springing from
THE HON HENRY BOYLE (1682-1764), second son of Roger, 1st Earl of Orrery, whose son, by the Lady Mary O’Brien, daughter of Murrough, 1st Earl of Inchiquin,
HENRY BOYLE, of Castle Martyr, being sworn of the Privy Council in Ireland, filled some of the highest political offices in that kingdom (Speaker of the house of commons, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Justice etc).
He was elevated to the peerage, in 1756, as Baron Castle Martyr, Viscount Boyle, and EARL OF SHANNON.
His lordship married firstly, in 1715, Catherine, daughter of Chidley Coote, of Killester, by whom he had no issue; and secondly, in 1726, the Lady Henrietta Boyle, youngest daughter of Charles, 3rd Earl of Cork, and had issue,
RICHARD, his successor; Henry; William; Charles; Robert; Juliana.
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,
RICHARD, 2nd Earl (1728-1807), KP, PC, who, having filled some high political offices, and being sworn of the Privy Council, was enrolled amongst the peers of Great Britain, in 1786, as Baron Carleton, of Carleton, Yorkshire.
His lordship was a Knight Founder of the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick, 1783.
He wedded, in 1763, Catherine, eldest daughter of Mr Speaker Ponsonby, of the Irish house of commons, and had issue,
HENRY, his successor; Catherine Henrietta.
His lordship was succeeded by his only son,
HENRY, 3rd Earl (1771-1842), KP, PC, who espoused, in 1798, Sarah, fourth daughter of John Hyde, of Castle Hyde, and had issue,
RICHARD, his successor; Henry Charles; Robert Francis; Catherine; Sarah; Louisa Grace; Jane; Elizabeth; Charlotte Anne.
More superlative rococo plasterwork by Robert West, this time in the double cube former ballroom of Castlemartyr, County Cork. The room was added to the existing house in the second half of the 1760s by Richard Boyle, second Earl of Shannon. The house remained in the family until the beginning of the last century and more recently has become a hotel. Anyone in the area should remember that at present this room contains many of the original Boyle portraits which formerly hung here and have now temporarily returned to their former home.
Castlemartyr Castle lies in the town of Castlemartyr, in County Cork in Ireland.
After James, Earl of Ormond, governor of Imokilly, appointed a local seneschal for the area in 1420, Castlemartyr was built to serve as the seneschals’ seat.
It was captured by Sir Henry Sidney in 1569, after the garrison abandoned it during the night following an exchange of cannonfire. It was later granted to Sir Walter Raleigh only to be recovered by the seneschal of the time, John FitzEdmund FitzGerald, only to be attacked again in 1579 by the Earl of Ormond, who hanged John’s mother outside the walls. John finally submitted in 1583 and died in Dublin Castle in 1589.
During the wars of the 1640s Castlemartyr Castle was captured by Lord Inchiquin but then fell to a raiding party led by Sir Percy Smith, who burnt the castle to prevent it being used as a base for the Irish Confederate forces. It was repaired in the 1650s and inhabited by Lord Broghill, later Earl of Orrery, until his death in 1679. During the civil war it was captured by the Irish, only to be retaken by the Williamites in 1690. This left the castle badly damaged and it was subsequently abandoned and fell into disrepair.
During the 18th century the castle became a farm- and coachyard for a newly build manor to the west. In 2007 this manor opened as the Castlemartyr Resort, a luxury spa and 5-star hotel.
Castlemartyr Castle was a roughly rectangular castle with a 5-storey square keep at its eastern corner. The large chimney stacks were part of a 17th century range built against the inner wall. There is a smaller tower at the northern corner of the enclosure.
A nice castle ruin. It can be visited as a guest of the resort, although the interior of the keep itself can not be visited.
Paddy Rossmore. Photographs. Edited by Robert O’Byrne. The Lilliput Press, Dublin 7, 2019.
“As its name indicates, Castlemartyr was originally a castle, built around 1420 on the site of an earlier fortification on the instructions of James FitzGerald, sixth Earl of Desmond. During the rebellions instigated against the English crown by this family from 1569 onwards, Castlemartyr was occupied by John FitzEdmund FitzGerald but following his capture and subsequent death in 1589, all the land in this part of the country passed into the possession first of Sir Walter Raleigh and then of Richard Boyle, the Great Earl of Cork. He added a domestic range to the old castle, and following damage during the Confederate Wars of the 1640s, this was repaired and made “English like” by Lord Cork’s third son, Roger Boyle, first Earl of Orrery. Further damage was inflicted on teh building at the time of the Williamite Wars, after which the castle was left a ruin and a new residence built for the Boyles on a site to the immediate west. This was gradually extended during the eighteenth century, not least by Henry Boyle who, after serving for twenty years as Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, was elevated to the peerage as teh first Earl of Shannon.
The facade of Castlemartyr is exceptionally long, of seventeen bays and two storeys, and centred on a five bay recessed entrace with a great pedimented portico. Inside, the house is rather plain except for a superb double-cube saloon added by the second earl soon after his succession to the title. It has a wonderful rococo ceiling in the manner of stuccodore Robert West.
Castlemartyr was sold by the Boyles at the start of the last century, and for many decades was, like so many other country houses, used as an educational establishment by the CAtholic church. More recently it has become an hotel, the saloon converted into a bar.
Castlemartyr, County Cork, photograph courtesy of Robert O’Byrne.
The Earls of Shannon are a branch of the Boyle family, descendants of Richard Boyle, the Great Earl of Cork. The title dates back to 1756 when Lord Cork’s great-grandson Henry Boyle, after a remarkably successful political career which saw him sit on the Irish privy council, serve as chancellor of the exchequer and Speaker of the Irish House of Commons for almost 23 years, was created the first Earl of Shannon. During that period and in the years prior to his death in 1764, he also found time to carry out many other duties, not least looking after the Irish estates of his cousin Richard Boyle, the architect Earl of Burlington, as well as his own property in Castlemartyr, County Cork.
For much of the Middle Ages, Castlemartyr was under the authority of the powerful FitzGerald family, who in 1420 were made governors, or seneschals, of Imokilly (a historic barony that covers a substantial area including Youghal, Cloyne and Midleton). Some twenty years later, Maurice FitzGerald chose to settle in Castlemartyr and erected a substantial tower here. Inevitably, such a prominent building was attacked on more than one occasion, being captured by Sir Henry Sidney in 1569 and again in 1581 by the 10th Earl of Ormond who is said to have hanged the mother of the castle’s owner,John FitzEdmund FitzGerald, from its walls. Although the building was restored and considered extended in the 17th century, further assaults occurred: it was burnt by Lord Inchiquin in 1645, plundered in 1688 and then stormed and burnt by Williamite forces two years later. Not surprisingly, the castle, or what remained of it, was thereafter abandoned and left to fall into a picturesque ruin. At some point in the early 18th century, the future first earl – whose family had been given the property in 1665 – embarked on construction of a new house to the immediate west of the old one, but little information exists about when this work started and what form it took. Further additions and alterations followed over the next two centuries, so that today Castlemartyr is long and low, the centre of the facade marked by a two-storey pedimented limestone portico with Tuscan columns, much the most satisfactory feature of the building. The entrance front likewise shows evidence of regular modifications being made, with a four-bay centre block, a nine-bay wing to the east centred on a bow, and a recessed four-bay block to the west; the loggia here replaced a conservatory in the early 1900s. The demesne was also extensively developed by the first earl and then his heir, the latter described by Arthur Young in 1776 as ‘one of the most distinguished improvers in Ireland.’ The grounds had been extensively planted with trees, some of which survive still, as does the ‘river’ which was created by diverting the Womanagh river to run through a channel cut west of its natural bed.
In 1907 Castlemartyr was sold to the Arnott family, but was then acquired by another owner just a decade later, and in 1929 was bought by members of a Roman Catholic religious order, which used the house as a boarding school. This closed in 2004 and since then, further substantial additions have been made to the site which now operates as an hotel.
Taken during the last decades of the 19th century, today’s photographs show the property as it looked when still owned by the Boyles. In the first group, the conservatory still occupies a site on the east side of the garden front, since it was only replaced by a balustraded loggia during the Arnotts’ short tenure. The pictures therefore provide an insight into the house’s appearance and character prior to the place changing hands and purpose several times over the past 115 years.
Castlemartyr, County Cork, photograph courtesy of Robert O’Byrne.
After Monday’s post about Castlemartyr, readers might be interested in seeing some old photographs of the house’s interior when it was still owned and occupied by the Boyles, Earls of Shannon. The pictures date from the late 19th/early 20th century, and were taken by Nellie Thompson, wife of the sixth earl. The two above show the saloon as it was then decorated, filled with a vast quantity of furniture including a grand piano and a billiard table. The two below reflect the family’s travels overseas and what they had collected: prior to inheriting his title and estate in 1890, for example, the sixth earl had been living in Canada where he served as a Mountie. What most immediately strikes any viewer of these images is how dark and cluttered were the rooms, how filled with furnishings and fabrics, all competing and contrasting with each other. An insight into a different aesthetic sensibility from that of our own age.
Irish Historic Houses 