Moyne House, Durrow, County Laois

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. 219. “(Hamilton Stubber/IFR; Hamilton/IFR) A two storey five bay early  to mid-C18 house, with a baseless floating pediment containing an oculus, a central Venetian window and multiple voussoirs over the windows; enlarged late C19 by the addition of a two storey two bay wing at one side, and reconstructed after two successive fires 1888 and 1899. Enclosed porch with corner-pilasters and segmental pediment added to C18 façade; single-storey rectangular projections on the front and side of c19 wing. High-pitched roof with dormered attic. Long wing at back. Large hall with modillion cornice and panelling with stairs going out of it at one end. Large drawing room with good Adam-Revival ceiling. Dining room with frieze of plasterwork in late C18 style and carved wood chimneypiece in Elizabethan style.” 

https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/12802942/moyne-house-moyne-county-laois

Detached five-bay two-storey house with dormer attic, built c.1730, with pedimented bay to centre having projecting porch to ground floor. Renovated and extended, c.1880, comprising two-bay two-storey wings with dormer attic to left having box bay windows to ground floor. Double-pitched and hipped slate roof with rolled lead ridge tiles and limestone ashlar chimneystacks. Roof is gabled to dormer attic windows. Rubble limestone walls. Square-headed window openings with limestone sills, limestone keystone and single-pane timber sash windows. Venetian-style window opening to entrance bay and oculus to pediment. Segmental pediment to door opening with timber panelled door. Interior not inspected. House is set back from road in own grounds; landscaped grounds to site. Stable complex to site including two-storey rubble stone ranges. One outbuilding renovated, c.1970, to accommodate residential use. Detached limestone ashlar lodge to site. Gateway to site comprising rusticated limestone piers with cast-iron gate. 

see http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2014/12/moyne-house.html

THE HAMILTON-STUBBERS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN THE QUEEN’S COUNTY, WITH 7,388 ACRES 

HUGH HAMILTON settled at Lisbane, County Down, during the reign of JAMES I, and was made a denizen of Ireland in 1616. 

He died in 1655 and was buried at Bangor, County Down, leaving issue, 

John, of Ballymenoch; 
ALEXANDER, of whom presently; 
Robert. 

The second son, 

 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON, of Killyleagh, County Down, married Jean, daughter of John Hamilton, of Belfast, and had issue, 

HUGH, his heir; 
Jane, m William Sloane, of Chelsea. 

Mr Hamilton died in 1676, and was succeeded by his son, 

 
HUGH HAMILTON, of Ballybrenagh, who wedded Mary, sister of Robert Ross, of Rostrevor, and daughter of George Ross, of Portavo, by Ursula his wife, daughter of Captain Hans Hamilton, of Carnesure, and had issue, 

ALEXANDER, his heir; 
George, of Tyrella; 
Jane. 

Mr Hamilton died in 1728, and was succeeded by his elder son, 

 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON, of Knock, County Dublin, and of Newtownhamilton, County Armagh, MP for Killyleagh, 1730-61, who espoused Isabella, daughter of Robert Maxwell, of Finnebrogue, County Down, by Jane, daughter of the Rev Simon Chichester, Vicar of Belfast (eldest son of Henry Chichester, of Marwood, by Jane, daughter of the Rt Rev Robert Maxwell, Lord Bishop of Kilmore). 

He died in 1768, leaving four sons and three daughters, viz. 

HUGH (Rt Rev), Lord Bishop of Ossory; 
ROBERT, of whom we treat; 
George; 
Charles; 
Isabella; Anne; Elizabeth. 

The second son, 

 
ROBERT HAMILTON, of Gloucester Street, Dublin, married Hester, daughter of Crewe Chetwood, of Woodbrook, Queen’s County, and had issue, 

ALEXANDER CHETWOOD, his heir; 
Robert. 

Mr Hamilton died in 1790, and was succeeded by his elder son, 

 
THE REV ALEXANDER CHETWOOD HAMILTON, Rector of Thomastown, County Kilkenny, who married, in 1801, Eleanor, daughter and co-heir of THE REV SEWELL STUBBER, and assumed, in 1824, the surname of STUBBER in lieu of Hamilton, and the arms of Stubber only. 

By her he had issue, 

ROBERT, his heir; 
Sewell (Rev); 
William, of Roundwood, father of CHARLES PAULET HAMILTON; 
Alexander Chetwood; 
Richard Hugh (Rev); 
Hester Maria; Harriet Anne; Sophia Elizabeth; Anne Matilda. 

The Rev Alexander Chetwood Hamilton died in 1830, and was succeeded by his eldest son, 

ROBERT HAMILTON STUBBER JP DL (1803-63), of Moyne, High Sheriff of Queen’s County, 1831, who married, in 1840, Olivia, daughter of the Rev Edward Lucas, of the Castleshane family, and widow of Henry Smyth, of Mount Henry, Queen’s County, and had issue, 

ROBERT HAMILTON, his heir; 
Olivia Harriet Florence Hamilton; Eleanor Frances Beatrice Hamilton. 

Mr Hamilton-Stubber was succeeded by his son and heir, 

 
ROBERT HAMILTON HAMILTON-STUBBER JP DL (1844-1916), of Moyne and Castle Fleming, Queen’s County, High Sheriff of Queen’s County, 1873, Lieutenant, Royal Dragoons, who espoused firstly, in 1877, Adèle Grainger, daughter of Alexander Duncan, of Knossington Grange, Leicestershire, and had issue, 

ROBERT; 
Olive. 

He wedded secondly, in 1885, Georgina Alice Mary, youngest daughter of George Power, sixth son of Sir John Power Bt, of Kilfane, County Kilkenny, and had issue, a daughter, Margery. 

Mr Hamilton-Stubber sold the Moyne estate to his cousin, 

CHARLES PAULET HAMILTON (1834-1907), grandson of the Rev A C Hamilton, who wedded, in 1878, Emily Louise, daughter of William Smyth-King, and had issue, 

Maurice William Chetwode (1882-1955); 
HUBERT CHARLES; 
Elinor Frances; Kathleen Elizabeth; Alice Maude; Mary Beatrice. 

Mr Hamilton’s younger son, 

HUBERT CHARLES HAMILTON DSO (1887-1946), of Moyne, Barrister, wedded, in 1912, Honoria Eliza Sylvia Vera, daughter of Major Travers Robert Blackley, and had issue, an only child, 

HUBERT CHARLES PAULET HAMILTON (1915-2007), of Moyne, Captain, Royal Irish Fusiliers, who married firstly, in 1941, Margaret Helen, daughter of Sir Owen Watkin Williams-Wynn Bt, and had issue, 

ANDREW PAULET. 

He espoused secondly, in 1950, Katharine Frances, daughter of William Evelyn Joseph Dobbs, and had further issue, 

Hubert Kildare, b 1953; 
Dominick Charles, b 1954; 
Sophia Elinor, b 1960. 

MOYNE HOUSE, near Durrow, County Laois, is a five-bay two-storey house with dormer attic, built ca 1730. 

It has a pedimented central bay with a projecting porch. 

Moyne was renovated and extended about 1880, with two-bay, two-storey wings and a dormer attic. 

The house has a double-pitched and hipped slate roof, with rolled lead ridge tiles and limestone ashlar chimney-stacks. 

The roof is gabled; rubble limestone walls; a Venetian-style window opening to entrance bay and oculus to pediment. 

The house is set back from the main road in its own landscaped grounds. 

It has a stable complex, including two-storey rubble stone ranges, one of which was renovated about 1970 to accommodate residential use. 

Of its interior, the drawing-room is notable for its Adam-Revival ceiling; while the dining-room has a frieze of plasterwork in late 18th century style; and a carved wood chimney-piece in Elizabethan style.  

Moyne Polo Club, established in 1996, is affiliated to the Hurlingham Polo Association. 

A Midsummer Ball and one-day tournament is held in June; a two-day tournament on the penultimate weekend in July; and a tournament in August with the emphasis on junior polo. 

Moyne House became the Hamilton family home in the early part of the 19th century, when Robert Hamilton-Stubber (1803-63) moved there from Kilkenny. 

The house then descended via Robert Hamilton-Stubber (1846-1916) to Major Robert Hamilton-Stubber DSO (d 1963), who sold Moyne to his cousin, Hubert Charles Hamilton, in the 1920s; from whom the present branch of the family is descended. 

The Hamilton family still live at Moyne.