Clohamon House, near Ferns, Co Wexford
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. 85. “(Sweetman/IFR; Hudson-Kinahan, sub Kinahan/IFR; Levinge, Bt/PB)
A two storey Georgian house; curved bow in centre of front with entrance door, and two bays on either side of it.”
Was on section 482 in 2000, Michael O’Keeffe 086 8362849
January 25 2013 02:44 PM
THE ERA of the million euro mansion is not over, the owners of a seven bedroom Georgian house are hoping. Leading eye surgeon Michael O’Keeffe and his family have put their country retreat Clohamon House on the market with an asking price of €1,050,000.
The two storey house close to the River Slaney is on the books of up market Dublin estate agents Knight Frank who are highlighting the ‘exquisite walled garden, lawns, box hedging and a kitchen garden’ to potential purchasers. The yard features stables and a guest cottage. The building comes with about 20 acres of land, much of it laid out in grass paddocks. Clohamon House was formerly the home of the Levinge family who sold up in 1998.
Featured in The Wexford Gentry by Art Kavanagh and Rory Murphy. Published by Irish Family Names, Bunclody, Co Wexford, Ireland, 1994.
p. 145. Levinge, of Clohamon and High Park
The Levinge Wexford connection only began in the mid 1950s when Sir Richard the father of the present Sir Richard bought Clohamon from the Sweetman family. He was the 11thBaronet. …He was a businessman and was Assistant Manager of Arthur Guinness & Co.
p. 147. Sir Charles Levinge, the 3rd Bt, married Anne Greene of Killaghy Castle, Co Tipperary, in 1723. The union however was short lived and they separated legally in 1729. Of all the causes for divorce ever cited, this reason must be amongst the most bizarre on record. Sir Charles divorced his wife because she had a calf’s head prepared for his dinner with no other dish!
Of course the implication of such an action was the real cause of teh separation. The Levinges were Royalists and the Greenes were Parliamentarian. Anne’s father and grandfather had both been Cromwellian officers. Most Cromwellian households celebrated the beheading of Chalres I by having on the 30th January a calf’s head dressed whole, as their dinner!
Detached five-bay two-storey country house, built 1780, on an E-shaped plan centred on single-bay full-height breakfront on a bowed plan; four-bay (north) or three-bay (south) two-storey side elevations centred on single-bay (single-bay deep) full-height return (east). Occupied, 1901; 1911. Leased, 1927-37. Leased, 1947-55. Sold, 1955. Resold, 1998. Refenestrated, 2003. Hipped slate roof on an U-shaped plan centred on half-conical slate roof (breakfront); pitched slate roof (east), clay ridge tiles, rendered chimney stacks on axis with ridge centred on paired rendered chimney stacks having cut-granite stepped capping supporting yellow terracotta octagonal or tapered pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on wrought iron spandrels on rendered eaves retaining cast-iron octagonal or ogee hoppers and downpipes. Rendered, ruled and lined walls; fine roughcast surface finish to rear (east) elevations. Tudor-headed central door opening approached by flight of four cut-granite steps with moulded rendered surround having chamfered reveals framing timber panelled double doors having overlight. Square-headed flanking window openings with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing one-over-one timber sash windows having margins. Square-headed window openings centred on paired square-headed window openings (first floor) with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing replacement six-over-six (ground floor) or three-over-three (first floor) timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): bow-ended hall retaining carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors, and plasterwork cornice to ceiling; drawing room (north) retaining carved timber surround to door opening framing timber panelled door with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers, cut-white marble Classical-style chimneypiece, and moulded plasterwork cornice to ceiling centred on “Acanthus”-detailed ceiling rose; dining room (south) retaining carved timber surround to door opening framing timber panelled door with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers, Classical-style chimneypiece, and moulded plasterwork cornice to ceiling centred on decorative plasterwork ceiling rose; and carved timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters on panelled risers. Set in landscaped grounds on a slightly elevated site.
Appraisal
A country house representing an important component of the later eighteenth-century domestic built heritage of north County Wexford with the architectural value of the composition, one succeeding a seventeenth-century long house annotated as “Clohaman Castle” by Taylor and Skinner (1778 pl. 154), confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on panoramic vistas overlooking the meandering River Slaney with its mountainous backdrop in the distance; the symmetrical frontage centred on a curvilinear breakfront showing pretty glazing panels; and the dramatic diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original or sympathetically replicated fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior where contemporary joinery; Classical-style chimneypieces; and decorative plasterwork enrichments, all highlight the artistic potential of the composition. Furthermore, adjacent outbuildings (extant 1839); and a walled garden (extant 1839), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a self-contained estate having historic connections with Nicholas Clinton Browne (d. 1888; Lewis 1837 II, 206); Walter Sweetman (1830-1905), author of “Through the Night” (1869) and “Rowland Kyan: An Irish Sketch” (1896); and the Levinge family including Sir Richard Vere Henry Levinge (1911-84).
Clohamon House, CLOHAMON, County Wexford
Irish Historic Houses 