The newly constructed Kilboy, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of Country Life.Kilboy, County Tipperary, courtesy of Archiseek.The newly constructed Kilboy, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of Country Life.
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. 164. “(Prittie, Dunally, B/PB) A middle to late 18th century house built for Henry Prittie MP, afterwards 1st Lord Dunalley, to the design of William Leeson.
Henry Prittie, 1st Baron Dunalley (1743-1801), Irish school, courtesy of Christie’s.
It had three storeys over a basement; a five-bay entrance front with a central feature of a pediment and four giant engaged Doric columns; Doric entablature running the full length of the front, supported at the sides by giant Doric pilasters; top storey was treated as an attic above the cornice. Ground floor windows with rusticated surrounds and alternat triangular and segmental pediments; rusticated basement; broad flight of steps up to entrance door. Side elevation almost plain, with no entablature or cornice, of five-bays with central Venetian window; keystones over windows and some simple blocking in the window surrounds. Large square hall, with heavy frieze of rather unusual plasterwork, combining putti and foliage with husk ornament and neo-Classical motifs; niche with entablature on console brackets; marble chimneypiece with swags of drapery, plasterwork panel over. Bifurcating staircase in back hall.
Henry Prittie, 3rd Baron Dunalley (1807-1885) by Stephen Catterson Smith courtesy of Christie’s 2013.
House was burnt 1922 and afterwards rebuilt without the top storey. The principal rooms, as rebuilt, had oak panelling in early C18 style; the bifurcating staircase was replaced by a simple oak stairs. Ca 1955 the house was demolished and a single storey house in a vaguely Georgian style was built on the original basement.”
The newly constructed Kilboy, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of Country Life.The newly constructed Kilboy, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of Country Life.The newly constructed Kilboy, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of Country Life.
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. 134. “The most important house designed by William Leeson c. 1780 for Henry Prittie M.P. 1st Lord Dunally. Superb entrance front with engaged Doric portico. Very fine interior with good plasterwork and imperial main staircase. The house was burnt in 1922 and well restored but without the attic storey. In the mid 1950s it was demolished and a single storey house was built on top of the basement storey; reached by the original steps.”
The newly constructed Kilboy, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of Country Life.The newly constructed Kilboy, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of Country Life.
Detached five-bay single-storey house over basement, built c. 1775, destroyed in 1922 and rebuilt c. 1955 with portico to entrance. Three-bay two-storey side elevations, with large two-storey extension to south-west. Hipped slate roofs with recent cut limestone chimneystacks. Rendered walls with decorative render pilasters. Replacement windows to front. Mainly timber sash elsewhere, with raised cut limestone surrounds with keystones and sills. Segmental- and round-headed openings to extension, with one-over-one pane timber sash windows to south elevation, and doorway with spoked fanlight. Timber panelled double doors under portico, flanked by windows. Two flights of limestone steps to front elevation. Sandstone walls to site boundary with thatched gate lodge and ornate gateway to main, south, entrance and gate lodge with ornate gateway to north-east.
Appraisal
The original house to this site was designed by William Leeson, but only the steps and base of the original building remain. The grounds, demesne walls, entrances and gate lodges are perhaps more interesting than the house, forming an interesting group of demesne structures. The imposing triple-arched entrances set in high demesne walls with their ashlar dressings and gate lodges on both the south and east boundaries create a sense of heightened anticipation before seeing the house.
Kilboy House, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Kilboy House, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Kilboy House, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Detached L-plan four-bay single-storey gate lodge with dormer storey, built c. 1850. Hipped reed thatched roof with blocked ridges and recent rendered chimneystack. Sandstone rubble walls. Square-headed double one-over-one pane timber sash windows with sandstone voussoirs to ground floor, segmental-headed spoked lunette windows to roof, and segmental-headed door openings with sandstone voussoirs, having glazed timber doors and sidelights.
Gate Lodge, Kilboy House, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Appraisal
Apparently informed by the cottage ornée type of demesne building, this gate lodge has a number of appealing features such as its lunette dormer windows set in thick curved thatched roofs, its timber sash windows, and its L-plan which allows for a number of complementary views. It is one of a group of demesne structures including the elaborate entrance gates, high demesne walls and single-arch bridge under the avenue nearby.
Kilboy House, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Entrance gateway, built c.1775, comprising advanced central round-arched carriage opening with portico, flanked by round-arched pedestrian entrances, in turn flanked by pilasters and roughly-coursed rubble limestone boundary walls. Snecked rubble limestone walling, with cut limestone portico with scrolls, archivolts and imposts and dressed quoins and surrounds to pedestrian openings.
Appraisal
This finely-built stone gateway is of apparent architectural design and executed by skilled craftsmen. It presents an impressive entrance to the rebuilt Kilboy House and is a conspicuous landmark on the Dolla to Silvermines road.
Entrance gateway, built c.1775, comprising central round-arched carriage opening, flanked by similar round-arched pedestrian entrances, separated by wrought-iron railings and in turn flanked low rubble limestone walls. Ashlar sandstone masonry with imposts, carved modillions to central archway and with wrought-iron railings to and separating openings.
Appraisal
A finely-executed ashlar composition of apparent architectural design and quality, forming subsidiary entrance to rebuilt Kilboy House.
Kilboy House, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
The Tipperary Gentry. Volume 1. By William Hayes and Art Kavanagh. Published by Irish Family Names, c/o Eneclann, Unit 1, The Trinity Enterprise Centre, Pearse St, Dublin 2, 11 Emerald Cottages, Grand Canal St, Dublin 4 and Market Square, Bunclody, Co Wexford, Ireland. 2003.
Prittie of Kilboy
p. 195. The Prittie dynasty in Kilboy began with Colonel Henry Prittie, one of Cromwell’s more trusted commanders. He was a Captin in Cromwell’s New Regiment of Horse. Druing the war in Ireland he was made Sheriff of Carlow (1650) and later Governor of Carlow. After the successful campaign Prittie was given about 1000 acres in the area in lieu of pay. Like many of his brother officers he immediately began buying up lands that had been awarded to his fellow soldiers who had no wish to remain in Ireland. This, combined with his descendants fortuitious marriages to heiresses, meant that the estate grew over the next 200 years, so that by the middle of 19C the Pritties owned about 16,000 acres of land in Co Tipperary most of which was centred around Kilboy.
p. 196. Henry was marrid to Honor Foley of Stourbridge and he had one son, also called Henry.
Henry was besieged for 21 days in his castle of Dunally by the Jacobites after the Battle of the Boyne. They eventually gained entrance and seized Henry and threw him from the battlements. Henry, quite extraordinarily, survived the fall unhurt and managed to escape. Henry was married to an Allcock and they had two sons and five daughters. The second son, Richard, married an heiress, Barbara Bourchier from Wexford in 1714. One of the daughters married Captain John Bayley of Ballynaclogh, another Cromwellian grantee.
p. 197. It was through marriages to heiresses that estates were extended. The outstanding example of this at the outset of the century is the marriage in 1702 of Henry Prittie (the Colonel’s grandson) to Elizabeth daughter and heiress to James Harrison of Cloghjordan. This alliance added to the sizeable Prittie estate of 3,600 acres a further 900 acres centring on Cloghjordan which had the advantage of being in the same region as the home estate.
p. 197. IN the next two generations each of the heirs to the Prittie estate married heiresses: Deborah Bayley in 1736 and Catherine Sadleir in 1766, thereby further consolidating the family’s interest, landed and political.
p. 197. On the death of Colonel Harrison the estates of Cloughjordan came into the possession of the Pritties of Kilboy. Henry and Elizabeth had one son, Henry…
p. 198. The son, Henry (b. 1708) was active politically and was an MP for Tipperary from 1761-8. A magistrate, he was firmly in the forefront of promoting law and order. He was married to an heiress, the daughter of Venerable Benjamin Neale of Leighlin and widow of John Bayly of Debsborough. This Henry was the man who successfully launched the family into mainstream politics.
…He also made attempts to use the natural resources on his lands. In the 1720s and 30s the Pritties revived interest in mining in the Silvermines. Lead was the mineral being mined at the time. After 1730 the mining was left in abeyance until 1802 when the Dunally Mining Company was formed with the intention of exploiting the ore there and also at a number of other locations.
p. 199. 1st Baron Dunally [as MP] was not in favour of granting any relief to Catholics and like his father he was ardent supporter of the rule of law.
p. 200. In contrast with his public stand, Prittie got on well with his Catholic neighbours and a great friendship existed between the Catholic Carrol family of Lissenhall in North Tipperary and the Pritties.
p. 201. There was a general electin held in 1806. Due to clerical manipulation the Catholic vote secured the election of Montague Mathew and Francis A. Prittie, the brother of 1stLord Dunally, who had moved into the House of Lords. From this period on the Pritties, allied with the Mathew interest continued to be pro Catholic and more liberal in outlook.
p. 202. The Pritties’ liberal views may have been influenced by a tutor who was engaged to teach Francis Aldborough Prittie at Kilboy. He was Rev Henry Fulton, the C of I curate to their parish, who was transported as a convicted United Irishman in 1798.
2nd Lord Dunally was very active in politics and worked with O’Connell to achieve Catholic emancipation.
In 1786, Kilboy was described by Wilson as the fine seat of Henry Prittie. Lord Dunalley is recording as resident at Dunally Castle, Nenagh, in 1814. In 1837 Lewis writes that Kilboy, the seat of Lord Dunalley, “was erected about 60 years since”. In the mid 19th century it was valued at £76+ and held in fee. This house, which the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage describes as a “detached five-bay single-storey house over basement, built c. 1775” and designed by William Leeson, was destroyed in 1922. A similar house was erected on the site but was demolished in 1955. A smaller house is now located on the site.
THE BARONS DUNALLEY WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY TIPPERARY, WITH 21,081 ACRES
The founder of this noble family in Ireland was
COLONEL HENRY PRITTIE who, for his loyalty and eminent services to the crown during the civil wars, had a grant or confirmation, from CHARLES II, of Dunalley Castle and other estates in County Tipperary, by patent, in 1678.
The grandson of this gentleman,
HENRY PRITTIE, sustained a siege of twenty-one days, in his castle of Dunalley, against the disbanded soldiers of of the royal army ofJAMES II after the battle of the Boyne.
The besiegers, however, at length entering, Mr Prittie was flung headlong from the top of the castle, though miraculously escaped unhurt.
He married Elizabeth, sister of Charles Alcock, and had issue,
HENRY, his successor; Richard; Priscilla; Elizabeth; Honora; Catherine; Judith.
The elder son,
HENRY PRITTIE, of Dunalley Castle, MP for County Tipperary, wedded, in 1736, Deborah, daughter of the Ven Benjamin O’Neale, Archdeacon of Leighlin, and had issue,
HENRY, his successor; Deborah; Elizabeth; Catherine; Martha; Margaret; Hannah.
Mr Prittie was succeeded by his son,
HENRY PRITTIE, of Dunalley, who espoused, in 1766, Catherine, second daughter and co-heir of Francis Sadleir, of Sopwell Hall, County Tipperary, widow of John Bury, and mother, by him, of Charles William, Earl of Charleville, and had issue,
HENRY, his successor; Francis Aldborough, MP; Catherine; Deborah; Mary; Martha; Elizabeth.
Mr Prittie was returned to parliament for County Tipperary in 1768; and elevated to the peerage, in 1800, by the title of BARON DUNALLEY, of Kilboy, County Tipperary.
The heir apparent is the present holder’s son, the Hon Joel Henry Prittie.
The 4th Baron was the last Lord-Lieutenant of County Tipperary, from 1905 until 1922.
Henry Francis Cornelius Prittie, 7th and present Lord Dunalley, lives in Oxfordshire.
A note in the Dunalley Papers records the sale of the Kerry estate of this family to the Crosbies in 1742 for £1,500.
KILBOY HOUSE, near Nenagh, County Tipperary, was a middle to late 18th century house built for Henry Prittie MP, afterwards 1st Lord Dunalley, to the design of William Leeson.
It had three storeys over a basement; a five-bay entrance front with a central pediment; and four large, engaged Doric columns.
The top storey was treated as an attic above the cornice.
There was a five-bay side elevation.
The mansion was burnt in 1922 and afterwards rebuilt minus the top storey.
About 1955, the house was demolished and a single-storey house in the Georgian style was built over the original basement.
More recently permission was granted for the reconstruction of a new Kilboy House, by the prominent businessman and philanthropist, Tony Ryan.
The project followed a fire that destroyed a large part of the property in 2005.
The local council granted planning permission for the partial demolition of the existing fire-damaged, listed, single-storey dwelling.
The former three-storey period residence over basement, based on the Georgian mansion house, has been built.
The application, in the name of Tony Ryan’s son, Shane, and his wife, stated that the aim was to rebuild the house as it was originally constructed in 1780.
Before reconstruction began, the Ryans paid €60,964 to the council as a contribution to providing public infrastructure such as roads and water.
The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
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. 262. “(Trench/IFR) a house of two storeys over a basement, built 1745 by Col Francis Sadleir, who used to climb the scaffolding during the building and read accounts of that year’s Jacobite rising to the workmen. Attributed by the Knight of Glin to Francis Bindon, stylistically as well as on account of Col Sadleir’s connection to Bindon and to Bindon’s chief patron, Lord Bessborough. Seven bay entrance front, all the windows and the round-headed doorway having block architraves and large keystones which in the upper storey, break into the frieze of the entablature. Bold cornice. Archway to yard, flanked by walls with niches, at one side of front. Three bay side elevation, also with block architraves. Plain seven bay garden front. Interior much altered 1866-68. Wide and deep hall, lined with rather unusual fluted Doric pilasters and square columns of oak and divided by screen of arches. Staircase of good C18 joinery in staircase hall at side, leading up to large top-lit domed landing, with shallow arches and marbled half-columns; rather Soanian in character but presumably dating from 1866-68 remodelling. Room on right of hall with C18 panelling and ceiling with oval garland. Drawing room with Victorian plasterwork cornice. The old castle where the family originally lived stands a short distance away from the house; it is still roofed and has glass in its windows. It is unusually long for its height, with tall chimneys and machicoulis. Sopwell passed to the Trenches through the marriage of Mary Sadleir, daughter of the builder of the house, to Frederick Trench MP.”
The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale Colliers January 2025 E53 YN99 10 beds5 baths1322 m2
THE SOPWELL HALL ESTATE, BALLINGARRY, COUNTY TIPPERARY, E53 YN99, IRELAND A most distinguished early 18th-century Irish country house positioned within an estate of some 300 acres, including attractive parkland and mature woodland and a 16th-century castle. 5 Principal Reception Rooms, 10 Bedrooms The house is privately and centrally positioned deep within mature parkland. The accommodation at Sopwell Hall is grand and beautifully executed, with the principal house comprising some 14,235 square feet or 1,322 square metres.
The castle, built circa 1590, is now unoccupied but largely intact. The stone outbuildings are of the highest quality and richly augment the house and castle.
A Studio, Gardener’s Cottage, Bailiff’s House and 2 Gate Lodges complete the accommodation to present some 18,342 square feet or 1,704 square metres of possible accommodation in total. In all the estate extends to some 300 acres or 121.4 hectares
Sopwell Hall is situated in a triangle of the historic towns of Birr, Roscrea and Nenagh. The nearest small town is Borrisokane, which is some 5 miles or 8 kilometres away. The International airports at Dublin, Cork and Shannon are within easy driving distance.
The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
GEORGIAN ELEGANCE Built in 1745, to a design attributed to the renowned architect Francis Bindon, Sopwell Hall is imposing yet welcoming and conforms to the best traditions of early Georgian architecture. A popular and highly regarded architect, Bindon’s most noted country house designs are classically derived, like that at Russborough House, where he worked in collaboration with Richard Cassels. Indeed, this collaboration may have influenced the design of the top-lit domed landing at Sopwell Hall. Symmetrical in composition, Sopwell Hall is a beautifully balanced structure occupying a slightly elevated site with commanding views over the surrounding gardens and countryside. The house stands three storeys over basement with direct access from the ground and basement levels. All the windows on the seven bay façade and the round-headed front doorway have cut-stone block architraves and large keystones, which on the upper storey break into the frieze of the entablature under a pronounced cornice. Each side elevation has three window bays, one with block architraves and the other a Venetian window. The overall effect is extremely elegant and aesthetically pleasing. Substantial compensation monies received on the dispersal of wider estate lands hugely benefitted the house and core estate, with exceptional expenditure apparent on the building of significant stone outbuildings and considerable upgrading works to the house interior between circa 1866 to 68.
The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
The handsome fluted Doric pilasters in the main reception hall were added at this time along with shallow arches and marbled half-columns to the large top-lit domed landing. Ornate cornicing was added to the drawing room and dining room. A large orangery style conservatory adorned the south-eastern elevation but was sadly removed in the 1950’s due to disrepair.
The current owners created an elegant sunken garden within the space incorporating period limestone walls, steps and terracing. A high archway leads to an enclosed courtyard off the other side elevation. This courtyard itself leading to an adjacent yard which includes the impressive range of stone outbuildings.
PRIVATE ESTATE The Sopwell Hall Estate is a haven of tranquillity and privacy that is rare in the 21st-century. Positioned at the end of a half-mile drive Sopwell Hall occupies a central position within its own estate and enjoys a panoramic view over the park and woodland. Interspersed with mature specimen trees the parkland pasture surrounds the house. The outer parts of the estate comprising a perimeter woodland belt and creating a great sense of privacy and seclusion. Among the many ancient and specimen trees throughout the estate are some particularly fine Spanish chestnut, a noted ancient beech wood and a rare Siberian crab-apple tree. The woodlands include indigenous oak, beech, ash, larch and spruce. Unsurprisingly there is, too, much wildlife to be found on the estate. Red squirrels, pine martens, foxes and hares are regularly sighted, and buzzards, owls and falcons can also be found.
The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
Since 1985, when the current owners acquired Sopwell Hall, a substantial amount of restoration and improvement works have been carried out in the gardens and wider pleasure grounds, which had become neglected. Spacious lawns were laid down, the two gate lodges restored and a hard tennis court installed. The sunken garden was created at the southwestern end of the house, incorporating a central water-lily pond, limestone walls and steps to create terracing. Works on the Walled Garden commenced in 2009 and, with expert advice, a fruit orchard planted to include apple, pear, plum, medlar, walnut and cherry trees and incorporating some old heritage varieties. Behind a mixed hedgerow divide lies a productive garden, with a large soft-fruit cage, a flower garden, herb garden and vegetable beds. All through the year there is a kaleidoscope of colour throughout the grounds with a great display of daffodils announcing the arrival of Spring, many of the 30 or so varieties found at Sopwell are original to the estate and are enhanced by arrays of snowdrops and crocuses. The ancient beech wood displays an abundance of bluebells and is quite a magical scene. Numerous shrubs and trees provide rich colour in all seasons. A large border flowerbed contains a wide selection of shrubs and climbers underplanted with various perennials and bulbs. Several varieties of climbing roses, clematis and wisteria adorn the various outbuildings in the coachyard and the large arched entrance. In the 18th-century and 19th-century many pleasure walks and bridleways were created around the estate with many still evident and in use today. Part of the original 1,000-acre estate demesne is now owned by Coillte, the semi-State forestry group, and across which forest walks, and horse riding can be enjoyed. The Sopwell Estate itself is private and exclusive.
Sopwell Hall is at the end of a half mile drive and is at the centre of the estate. The property is entered through fine cast iron pillared gates set within a cut-limestone entrance splay and adorned by the charming front Gate Lodge. The drive leads through undulating open parkland to a gravelled forecourt in front of the house. Of the circa 300 acres or 121.4 hectares within the estate about two-thirds comprise mature parkland grazing and one-third is in woodland, with about 74 acres or 29.9 hectares in mature woodland and some 20 acres (8 hectares) in a commercial plantation. Some 185 acres of grazing lands are let annually on an 11-month conacre basis. This arrangement could possibly continue, or the lands could be farmed in-hand. A walled enclosure adjacent to Killaleigh Castle has a useful range of outbuildings. Sopwell Hall and its circa 300 acres are entirely private and bordered by some 500 acres of Coillte (the semi-State forestry company) forestry and approximately 160 acres of farmland is used as part of a training farm for Gurteen College, which is 3 miles away. These three holdings combined constituting the original core estate at Sopwell. The Sopwell Hall Estate is private and exclusive with no third-party Rights of Way across the estate. There exists a Wayleave to allow mast collection in the beech wood by Coillte, but it appears not to have been exercised in over 30 years. The estate has the benefit of a Right of Way across some adjacent lands. The Coillte forestry which adjoins the estate greatly enhances the enjoyment of living at Sopwell Hall, as it provides great amenity for long walks in beautiful surroundings. Whilst being wonderfully secluded the estate is nearby to town amenities and easily accessible, with the M7 motorway accessible some 12.4 miles or 20 kilometres away at Roscrea (Junction 22).
The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
16TH CENTURY CASTLE The Castle, called Killaleigh Castle, is long unoccupied but largely intact. Built, circa 1590, by the Gaelic MacEgan Clan as a fortified Castle or Tower House under an Elizabethan grant until 1662, when the Clan’s lands were forfeit. Killaleigh Castle with its immediate lands and over 1,000 acres coming into the possession of a Col. Thomas Sadlier, Adjutant General to Henry Cromwell, for his military achievements. Through buying up debentures on lands awarded to fellow officers who wished to return to England he had an accumulated estate of over 5,000 acres by the end of the 17th-century. The castle was in a ruinous state and Col. Sadlier rebuilt it and doubled it in size, adding a second overlapping rectangular section in the mid-17th-century and, presumably, the unusually tall chimneys. It is a fine example of the transition from basic fortified castles to more comfortable castles or houses, albeit still with fortification as evident from the mâchicoulis.
In 1745 a Francis Sadlier, grandson of Col. Thomas Sadlier, built the imposing Sopwell Hall to become the principal and statement house on the estate, with the castle then uninhabited. The Sopwell Estate ownership passing to the Trench family in 1797 through the marriage of his daughter, Mary. The Trench family remaining in ownership until 1985, when the current owners purchased Sopwell. Whilst in need of complete restoration the castle appears to be largely structurally sound and comprising some 3,976 square feet or 369 square metres could provide useful additional amenity, were it required and subject to any necessary consents. It stands within a walled enclosure that also contains the Bailiff’s House and a long range of single storey outbuildings.
The Bailiff’s House comprises some 1,480 square feet or 137.5 square metres of potential accommodation.
The outbuildings extend to some 5,812 square feet or 540 square metres of net internal space. Killaleigh Castle and the Bailiff’s House are positioned a short distance from Sopwell Hall and can be accessed from an internal roadway or independently from the rear or castle entrance.
THE LOCATION Sopwell Hall is situated in a triangle of the historic towns of Birr, Roscrea and Nenagh. Nearby Ballingarry village is a five minute drive away and has a church and ‘The Glue Pot’ pub. The small town of Borrisokane is some 5 miles or 8 kilometres away and includes a primary and secondary school, a doctor’s surgery with adjacent health centre, a butcher and two grocery stores, a petrol station, pubs and a hardware shop. Alternatively, Cloughjordan town is equidistant. The larger towns of Birr, Roscrea and Nenagh providing wider shopping, schooling and leisure amenity. Birr, a designated Irish Heritage Town has wide streets with many elegant Georgian buildings. Birr Castle and Science Centre includes the great Leviathan of Parsonstown astronomical telescope that was the largest in the World from 1845 to 1917. The town annually hosts a Vintage Week and Art Festival, The Irish Game and Country Fair, and The Irish Hot Air Balloon Festival; there being a strong aviation link with The Ormond Flying Club based at Birr Airfield. Birr Theatre and Arts Centre is a local cultural and social amenity for the arts, dance, film, music and theatre. Roscrea town provides access to the M7 motorway, about a 20 minute drive from Sopwell Hall and accessing Dublin and Limerick cities with an array of shopping facilities, theatres, restaurants, pubs, wine bars, café’s, boutique salons and leisure spas. The M7 giving motorway access to Dublin, Shannon and Cork International airports. Equestrian, walking and cycling facilities are abundant in the area with Sopwell Hall within easy reach of mountain trails. The Slieve Bloom, Silvermine, Slieve Bernagh, Slieve Aughty, Slieve Felim and Arra mountains all being nearby. Locally there are walking trails in the Knocknacree Woods and Scohaboy Bog and of course privately within Sopwell estate itself. For equestrian enthusiasts there are many riding schools and clubs in the area and the local Ormond Hunt has in the past met at Sopwell Hall. Horse racing takes places at Tipperary and Limerick. Golf courses within a 30-minute drive include those in Nenagh, Roscrea and Birr. Nearby Lough Derg, less than a 20-minute drive from Sopwell, is referred to as Ireland’s Pleasure Lake and is perfect for the water sport enthusiast with good sailing breezes and uncluttered expanses providing superb conditions for sailing, windsurfing and cruising. Lough Derg is the largest lake on the River Shannon, the longest river in Ireland and Great Britain. A harbour and marina in Portumna town provides cruiser boat rental and there are further harbours nearby at Terryglass and Dromineer, which has one of the oldest yacht clubs in the world. Lough Derg offers good trout, pike and bream fishing and walks on the Lough Derg Way. Sopwell Hall offers many amenities within the estate with historic bridleways and walking paths throughout the open parkland and mature woods. With over 90 acres of woodland there is also potential to create a small sporting estate. Tranquil and private Sopwell is a preserve of wildlife. Ballingarry village 2.8 miles or 4.6 km, 6 minutes driving Birr town 10.3 miles or 16.6 km, 18 minutes driving Roscrea town (M7 motorway) 12 miles or 19.3 km, 20 minutes driving Nenagh town 13.3 miles or 21.4 km, 22 minutes driving Dublin city 93 miles or 150 km, 55 minutes driving Limerick city 39 miles or 63 km, 54 minutes driving Cork city 99 miles or 160 km, 2 hours 4 minutes driving Dublin airport 1 hour 48 minutes driving Shannon airport 1 hour 10 minutes driving Cork airport 2 hours 5 minutes driving. Property specific Eircode postcode E53 YN99 GPS LOCATION 59.9924039 (latitude), -8.0490516 (longitude) Gate Lodge (entrance gates) Eircode E53 AY94 GPS LOCATION 52.9962936 (latitude), -8.0462998 (longitude) Elevation above sea level: 77 metres or 252 feet
Accommodation
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
GRACIOUS ACCOMMODATION From the gravelled forecourt to the front of the house wide limestone steps lead through both outer and inner doors into the magnificent reception hall. Spacious and well-proportioned it is lined with distinctive fluted Doric pilasters and divided by a screen of arches. Fine ceiling plasterwork includes twin ceiling roses and decorative cornicing. The large marble chimney piece is original to the 1745 build and has an open fire.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
An interconnecting arch links to the stair hall. To the left of the main hall is a study and to the right a charming timber panelled morning room, with original marble chimneypiece and decorative ceiling work. The drawing room and dining room are each impressive and, again, accessed from the central main hall. Displaying the very best features and proportions of fine Georgian architecture each is filled with natural light, has impressive large marble chimneypieces with open fires and ornate cornicing.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
The stair hall incorporates a fine 18th-century carved timber staircase lit from a large Venetian window on the stair return and from the large top-lit domed landing above. Concealed doors lead to a guest WC and a roof terrace. A secondary stair hall accesses the floor below and the upper floors. A small kitchen on this level serves the dining room. A feature of the main reception rooms and, indeed, the entire house is the abundance of natural light with ample tall and large glazed windows.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers. Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale Colliers January 2025
The broad carved staircase, complete with original handrail and spindles, leads to a generously large landing on the first floor. Impressive architecturally, there are six matching scagliola sienna marble columns and a large, perfectly proportioned domed ceiling, with a glazed atrium at the apex, which is surrounded by fine plasterwork. There are five principal bedrooms and four bathrooms on this floor. The Master Bedroom Suite occupies the south-eastern corner. The bedroom enjoys a dual aspect and has marble chimneypiece with an open fire and interconnecting doors to an en-suite bathroom and to Bedroom 2, which could be used as a dressing room and links to its own bathroom. The bathroom, off the master bedroom, is charming with the design inspired by a bathroom in the Chateau de Rambouillet in France. Bedroom 3 has a dual aspect with fine parkland views towards Knockshegowna Hill (Cnoc Sí Uwa, which translates as ‘Hill of Fairy Una’) and an interconnecting door to Bedroom 4, which in turn connects to an en-suite bathroom. These rooms combined could make a large suite with a bedroom, dressing room and bathroom. Bedroom 5 retains the original 1745 oak panelling and has an interconnecting door to a shared bathroom with Bedroom 4 and/or can utilise a family bathroom across the hall. A laundry room with linen shelving is positioned off a secondary stair hall, which accesses the second floor and floors below. The second floor provides five further bedrooms and a bathroom and has a games room, study, large store and access to the roof.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
The lower ground floor has a large axial central hall that opens at ground level to both the courtyard and the sunken garden. It includes a sitting room with an open fire. A large kitchen has glazed double French doors to a South facing garden terrace, an open fireplace with a vintage water heater, and a range of fitted timber wall and floor cupboards with solid timber worktop, a large Belfast style sink, an integrated Viking Professional electric oven with six gas hob plates, clay tiled flooring, spot lighting and interconnecting door to a pantry. The old servant’s hall has an open fireplace and 5 recessed alcoves. The Wine Cellar has 20 wine bins and additional racks. A boot room, store, laundry, boiler room, estate office and staff apartment complete the accommodation on this floor. The staff apartment has a bedroom, bathroom and small living room or lobby. The Studio is positioned in the upper floor of the adjacent courtyard buildings and is a large space comprising some 660 square feet or 61 square metres and has a solid fuel stove, fitted cupboards, book shelving and timber flooring.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
THE COURTYARD Positioned immediately adjacent to the main house the courtyard comprises an impressive range of single and two-storey cut-stone outbuildings that include a Coach House, garaging, a Studio, workshop and various stores. Exceptional expenditure on their building is apparent as they are extensive and surprisingly elaborate for outbuildings. They are thought to have been constructed between circa 1866 to 68 following the receipt of substantial monies for the sale of estate lands. Combined they extend to some 3,346 square feet or 311 square metres of net internal space.
THE BAILIFF’S HOUSE The Bailiff’s House, originally a steward’s house, is positioned adjacent to Killaleigh Castle within the walled enclosure. Whilst in need of restoration the structure appears generally sound and the layout is very pleasing. It extends to some 1,480 square feet or 137.5 square metres.
THE GARDENER’S COTTAGE The Gardener’s Cottage is positioned within the Walled Garden, abutting the wall at the very north-western end. It extends to some 722 square feet or 67 square metres over 2 storeys.
FRONT GATE LODGE The Front Gate Lodge is architecturally impressive and is positioned just inside the main entrance gates to Sopwell Hall it is set out over a single storey and extends to 566 square feet or 52.6 square metres. There is a living room, kitchen, bedroom bathroom and laundry room and provides useful accommodation.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
BACK GATE LODGE The Back Gate Lodge or Castle Gate Lodge is positioned at the top of the rear entrance. Extremely picturesque the accommodation extends to 681 square feet or 63.3 square metres over 2 storeys and includes a living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. It has been recently restored and provides charming accommodation.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Gate lodge at Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
Features
The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale Colliers January 2025
RESTORATION AND UPGRADING Acquired by the present owners in 1985 both Sopwell Hall, the outbuildings and the lands required substantial restoration and upgrading, therefore comprehensive programme of work has been undertaken in the subsequent years. Conservation works included the repair and restoration of timber panelling and plasterwork and all the windows being taken out and refurbished. Fine Georgian chimneypieces were sourced and installed to replace three less suitable Victorian ones added in the circa 1866-68 remodelling. The entire house was re-wired and re-plumbed, and a modern oil-fired central heating system installed, complete with an efficient condenser boiler and thermostatic controls for zoned areas. A smoke alarm and monitored security alarm were installed. Rooms were re-commissioned to provide or create five bathrooms, two new kitchens, a laundry room, boiler house and a roof terrace. Great emphasis was given to ensuring security of services with a private well water supply added to augment a mains water supply, a powerful generator installed to provide back-up in the event of an outage on the mains electric supply and two large (3000 gallon or 11,500 litre) oil tanks installed to provide long term on-site storage. Woodland on the estate providing a stable supply of logs for the open fires in the house. Sympathetic to the historic importance of the house and yet cognisant to create a country home suitable for the 21st-century the extensive restoration and improvements works undertaking over the last 35 years present Sopwell Hall as a comfortable and elegant home. A fine collection of period furnishings adds to the overall charm of Sopwell. While not included in the sale it is understood the majority could possibly be subsequently purchased by a successful buyer. TENURE and POSSESSION The property is offered for sale freehold and it is the intention to provide vacant possession on completion of the sale. FIXTURES and FITTINGS All fitted carpets and curtains will remain in the property on closing and will become the property of the purchaser. The light fittings, furniture and any other chattels within the house or other buildings are excluded from the sale. As are the garden statuary, ornaments and machinery. The majority are understood to be available by separate negotiation and/or the owner retains the right to hold an auction of the contents of the house on the premises prior to a sale completion. RIGHTS OF WAY The property is offered for sale subject to and with the benefits of all matters and rights of way which affect the property. It is understood there are no Rights of Way across the property, aside from the small Wayleave outlined.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.
BER Details
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Killaleigh Castle at Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Killaleigh Castle at Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Killaleigh Castle at Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Killaleigh Castle at Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.Killaleigh Castle at Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale January 2025 photograph courtesy Colliers.The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale Colliers January 2025The Sopwell Hall Estate, Ballingarry, Tipperary for sale Colliers January 2025
To arrange a viewing for this significant estate please call Callum Bain Mobile +353 86 8118367 or Email callum.bain@colliers.com Joint Agent David Ashmore – Ireland Sotheby’s International Realty
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Detached seven-bay two-storey over basement house, built c.1745. Hipped slate roof with rendered chimneystacks. Ruled-and-lined render to walls, with cut stone cornice and eaves platband. Cut-stone block architraves to all windows on ground and first floors of front and east side elevations. Timber sliding sash windows, four-over-four pane to upper floors, two-over-two pane to basement at rear. Segmental-headed windows to basement of front elevation. Timber panelled front door having round-headed block architrave with plain fanlight. Cut-stone doorcase with pilasters to double-leaf panelled door in south elevation. Flight of limestone steps up to main entrance and balustrade to basement level added in 1860s.
Appraisal
Sopwell Hall was built in the mid-eighteenth century by Colonel Francis Sadleir and the house has been attributed to Francis Bindon who had connections with the owner. The roof and part of the interior of Sopwell Hall were remodelled in 1866-68 and extensive outbuildings added. Constructed of fine quality materials, with crisp cut limestone details of particular note, the building is well maintained and in good condition after many years of restoration work carried out by the present owners. Located on extensive landscaped grounds which incorporate a seventeenth-century fortified house, two gate lodges, cut-stone outbuildings and a walled garden.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Two yards of single and two-storey outbuildings, built c.1870, enclosed by high stone walls located north-west of the main house at Sopwell Hall. Hipped slate roofs having cut-stone chimneystacks. Exposed squared limestone walls having cut stone quoins, cornices, sills and surrounds to openings. Small-pane timber windows having top opening ten-over-fifteen pane casements. Timber battened doors. Limestone carriage arch having ball finials and flanked by niches, leading to eastern yard, with limestone piers to gateway at north side and to western yard. Eastern yard has multiple-bay single-storey outbuilding with carriage arch and six-bay outbuilding with two-storey centre bays. Western yard has single-storey L-plan outbuilding with advanced and higher centre blocks with segmental-headed carriage arches and flanked by lower two-bay blocks. Three-bay two-storey building to north-west corner of walled garden, having pitched slate roof with chimneystack.
Appraisal
A complex of outbuildings of the highest quality constructed at the same time as the remodelling of the eighteenth-century Sopwell Hall in the late 1860s and replacing all of the original outbuildings. The buildings retain the majority oftheir original features and character and are in good condition following recent restoration.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Detached three-bay single-storey gate lodge, built c.1865, with pedimented entrance portico in antis. Hipped slate roof with rendered chimneystack. Lined-and-ruled rendered walls having cut limestone portico, quoins and plinth. Segmental-headed openings, paired to gables, with one-over-one pane timber sash windows and moulded limestone surrounds with brackets beneath sills. Timber panelled door with overlight, set in square-headed opening inside portico, latter with fluted Doric columns. Ornamental cast-iron piers and gate flanked by rectangular limestone piers with cast-and-wrought-iron gates and railings; cast-iron railings, cut limestone piers and rendered quadrant walls.
Appraisal
This gate lodge is notable for its apparent architectural design. The classically-inspired portico is an interesting addition to this small-scale building and is clearly the work of skilled craftsmen, as are the carved limestone window surrounds, sills and brackets and the segmental-headed windows which enrich and enliven the façade. The gates are highly decorative and add further interest to the site. This building forms part of a significant group of related structures with the buildings of Sopwell Hall demesne.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
Detached three-bay two-storey former steward’s house with advanced gabled end bay and hipped porch, built c.1875, having single-storey annex to southwest. Pitched slate roofs having cut-stone chimneystack and ceramic ridge tiles. Squared limestone walls, rendered in parts. Timber mullioned and transomed casement windows, one dormer. Timber panelled door in shouldered-arch opening. Stone outbuildings to rear having pitched slate roofs and bellcote.
Appraisal
Built immediately west of Killaleigh Castle, a 17th century fortified house, the construction of the steward’s house involved the removal of part of the medieval bawn wall. Alterations to Sopwell Hall and the rebuilding of the outbuildings was carried out in the late 1860s, and the steward’s house is likely to have been built as part of this phase of work. An exceptionally long outbuilding is located to the northeast of the castle, part of which predates the later nineteenth-century phase of work. Both the outbuildings and the steward’s house are of the highest quality construction with fine stonework, and their location on an archaeological site is of added importance.
Sopwell Hall, Ballingarry, County Tipperary, photograph courtesy of National Inventory.
The Tipperary Gentry. Volume 1. By William Hayes and Art Kavanagh. Published by Irish Family Names, c/o Eneclann, Unit 1, The Trinity Enterprise Centre, Pearse St, Dublin 2, 11 Emerald Cottages, Grand Canal St, Dublin 4 and Market Square, Bunclody, Co Wexford, Ireland. 2003.
Sadlier
p. 220. There appears to have been two separate families of Sadlier in Tipperary. Thomas Sadleir, a Colonel in Cromwell’s army was the ancestor of the Sadleirs of Sopwell Hall and Castletown in Tipperary. At various times in the 1650s Colonel Sadleir was governor of Wexford and of Galway. While he was in Galway he was given teh task of looking after the priests who were in prisons in Ireland. He received £100 from the government to move them to Inishboffin and build cabins there for them. The colonel was allotted land in Tipperary in lieu of his pay. He probably bought up debentures too. By the end of the 17th century he had over 5,000 acres of land.
His great grandson, Francis Sadleir of Sopwell Hall, had no son and he cut off the entail to the family lands, as he had no liking for his cousin Thomas of Castletown. When he died in 1797 his estes were divided between his two daughters.
This family was represented thereafter by the family of Castletown.
The other Sadleir family in Tipperary was descended from John Sadleir, an adventurer, who did not come to Ireland until the 1660s, when his lands had been secured under the Act of Settlement….
p. 221. Clement Sadleir was the third son of John Sadleir of Ballintemple, who was married to Grace the daughter of William Chadwick of Ballinard. They had seven sons but only three of them produced sons from whom descended the Sadleirs of more modern times. They were Clement of Shronell, Nicholas of golden Garden and Sadleirs Wells and Ricahrd of Holycross and Scalaheen.
Clement of Shronell had a son William who seems to have died in the early 1790s, and it was his son, Clement, who married Johanna Scully.
Apparently named after an English property, Sopwell in Hertfordshire, which was inherited by the Sadleir family. In 1655 a Cromwellian soldier, Colonel Thomas Sadleir, was granted Kinelagh Castle, county Tipperary, which he renamed Sopwell Hall. This property remained in Sadleir possession until it was inherited by Mary Sadleir who, in 1754, had married Frederick Trench of Woodlawn, county Galway, the parents of the 1st Lord Ashtown. The present house was built by Mary’s father, Francis Sadleir, in the mid 18th century. Wilson refers to it as the residence of Mr. Sadlier in 1786. Sopwell Hall was left to Francis Trench, brother of 1st Lord Ashtown, who was living at Sopwell Hall in 1814. In 1837 Lewis records the Trenches in possession and writes that “on the demesne are the ruins of the ancient castle formerly occupied by the Sadleir family”. The Ordnance Survey Name Books, in 1840, refer to Sopwell as “a spacious building, the residence of Stewart Trench”. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation the 2nd Lord Ashtown, son of Francis, was occupying the house, valued at £40 and held by him in fee. By 1906 Sopwell was valued at £80 and occupied by the Honourable Cosby G. Trench. The Trench family were still resident at Sopwell Hall in the 1970s. In 1840 the Ordnance Survey Name Books noted that Sopwell was one of the largest demesnes in the country.
Sopwell Hall, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Sopwell Hall, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Sopwell Hall, County Tipperary dates from c.1745 but the house was extensively remodelled in the second half of the 1860s and it was at that time that the first-floor landing was given its present appearance. Exceptionally wide, the space is generously lit by a circular glazed dome resting on a sequence of shallow arches. These are supported by what appear to be marble columns. In fact, the latter are only painted and one quirky detail is that the surface pattern of each column features a number of human profiles, said to represent members of the Trench family who were then owners of the property.
Sopwell Hall, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Sopwell Hall, County Tipperary, photograph by Robert O’Byrne.
Kinelagh Castle, County Tipperary is likely to have begun as an O’Carroll tower houses built in the 15th century. In 1655 the land on which it stands was granted to an English solder, Colonel Thomas Sadleir who renamed the building Sopwell Hall after his family home in Hertfordshire. He doubled the size of the property by adding the section to the right, and also appears to have inserted at least some of the cut-stone windows and the corbelled corner turrets. The Sadleirs remained in residence until c.1745 when a smart new house, also called Sopwell Hall, was built a short distance away.
Irish Historic Houses 