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Of a Very Superior Character

‘The monastery of Rahan…was founded by St Carthach or St Mochuda about the year 580. A king of Cornwall, named Constantine, abandoned his throne in 588, and became a monk there, whence it would seem the name Constantine became a favourite one with the family of Molloy, who were princes of Fercall, the district around Rahan. Under St Carthach, Rahan marvellously prospered, so that 867 monks were…

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#Architectural History #County Offaly #Old Church #Rahan #Ruins

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Out of Service

After Monday’s account of Bessbrook, here is what might be classified as one of the casualties of the town’s success: the former St Jude’s church a couple of miles to the south-west. The building dates from 1772 and has been attributed to architect Thomas Cooley since by that date he had begun receiving commissions from Richard Robinson, Archbishop of Armagh (and who carried on employing Cooley…

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A Model Village

‘What immediately strikes the stranger is the substantial and comfortable appearance of the mill and its surroundings. At Bessbrook each house consists of from three to five rooms, according to the size of the family occupying it. Every arrangement necessary to promote cleanliness and health is resorted to. As you pass up, some of the first buildings you come to are the schoolrooms, which are for…

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#Architectural History #Bessbrook #County Armagh #Irish Town

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Setting an Example

Drayton Villa in Clara, County Offaly dates from 1849 when built for Lewis Goodbody at the time of his marriage to Rebecca Clibborn. The Goodbodys were a Quaker family who had moved into this part of the country in 1825 and established a number of industries in the town, including a milling business and a jute factory, taking advantage of the river Brosna, The original block was of three bays and…

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#Architectural History #Clara #County Offaly #Heritage at Risk

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Of Small Extent but Very Strong

‘Castle of Doe – or MacSwine’s Castle, is situated on Cannon-point, a peninsula but little broader than its extent, on the bay of Ards, to the demesne of which it appears in various handsome views. It was built by a lady of the name of Quin, who afterwards married one of the Mc’Swine family, a couple of years before the reign of Queen Elizabeth; it was since then fortified with a strong bawn by…

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#Architectural History #County Donegal #Doe Castle #Irish Castle #Ruins

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Evolving Over Time

At the start of the 18th century, Peter Aylward, who came from Aylwardstown at the southern boundaries of County Kilkenny, married Elizabeth Butler. Her father, Sir Richard Butler, owned property at Paulstown further north in the county and the young couple settled here in an old tower house which they then modernised and extended. The new range had a recessed centre with projecting bays on…

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#Architectural History #County Kilkenny #Georgian Architecture #Irish Country House #Shankill Castle

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A Piece of Stage Scenery

Around 1783 Peter Daly, then a young man of 20, left home to seek his fortune. Daly was a younger son whose father, Darby Daly, had died some years earlier leaving the family property, Dalysgrove to his eldest-born, Francis. The Dalys could trace their ancestry in this part of the country back to Dermot O’Daly of Killimor, whose five sons were the forebears of many prominent East Galway…

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#Architectural History #Castle Daly #County Galway #Georgian Architecture #Heritage at Risk #Irish Country House #Ruins

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The Start of a Convoy

Herewith the former entrance to Convoy, County Donegal, a plain classical house built for a branch of the Montgomery family. This whimsical gateway is described by Alistair Rowan as ‘a nice piece of castle-style nonsense in the manner of Francis Johnston.’ The architect responsible is unknown (J.A.K. Dean suggests it might be attributed to the amateur architect Sir Thomas Forster), nor is the…

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#Architectural History #Convoy #County Donegal #Gate Lodge #Heritage at Risk

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Quaint and Old-Fashioned

‘Whoever has travelled by the coast road in County Antrim which connects the towns of Larne and Ballycastle, may have observed at the distance of five miles from Larne, after passing one of the boldest promontories on the entire coast, a castellated edifice, standing immediately on the roadside at the head of a beautiful and romantic bay. Nor can anyone with a taste for the picturesque have seen…

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#Architectural History #Ballygally #County Antrim #Historic Interiors #Irish Castle

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Offering Harbour Views

There appears to be little information about the origins or history of Harbourhill Lodge which, as its name implies, overlooks the little harbour at Newquay, County Clare. Of three bays and two storeys over raised basement, this is one of a number of such properties constructed along the coast in the late 18th/early 19th centuries as occasional homes for landowners whose main estates were…

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#Architectural History #County Clare #Georgian Architecture #Heritage at Risk #Irish Country House #Newquay #Ruins

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Then and Now

  In the middle of the 16th century, one Hans Fock moved from the north German city of Lübeck to Estonia, which was then coming under the control of Sweden. Around 100 years later, Queen Christina, shortly before her abdication, elevated Fock’s descendants to the Swedish peerage. After Sweden’s decisive defeat by Peter the Great at the Battle of Poltava in 1709 and the subsequent annexation of…

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#Dublin #Georgian Architecture #Historic Interiors #Interior Decoration #Merrion Square

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Commodious and Comfortable

‘As soon as I got hither, I ran to my building, and had the pleasure to find every thing very well…The Scaffolding is all down, and the House almost pointed, and It’s figure is vastly more beautiful than I expected it would be. Conceited people may censure its plainness. But I don’t wish it any further ornament than it has. As far as I can judge, the inside will be very commodious, and…

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#Architectural History #County Roscommon #Elphin #Heritage at Risk #Irish Country House #Ruins

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Unhappy Statistics

For many visitors to Ireland, spending time in a local pub – sampling whatever is on offer, engaging in conversation with local residents, perhaps listening to live musicians – is a memorable experience. As indeed it is, and long has been, for the same local residents. However, in many instances, that experience is no longer available. Figures released last year show that an average 152 pubs have…

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#Heritage at Risk #Irish Pub

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A Gentle Gothick

Lismacue, County Tipperary, a property which has remained in the same family since the land on which it stands was bought by William Baker in 1704 for £923. Standing at the end of an exceptionally long avenue of lime trees planted c.1760, the building acquired its present, mildly Tudorbethan appearance at the start of the 19th century thanks to Kilkenny architect William Robertson. Of three bays…

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#Architectural History #County Tipperary #Georgian Architecture #Irish Country House #Lismacue

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Wasting our Resources

According to the 1899 edition of Burke’s Landed Gentry of Ireland, in the 1620s a Dutch general called Wibrantz Olphertzen came to Ireland and settled in County Donegal, buying property from Captain Henry Harte had been granted lands in this part of the country as a reward for his loyalty to the English government during the Ulster Plantation. Successive generations of the family lived in the…

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#Architectural History #Ballyconnell #County Donegal #Heritage at Risk #Irish Country House

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Very Arch

In November 1860 Charles William Cooper assumed by Royal Licence and according to the terms of his late uncle Charles King O’Hara, the latter’s surname thereby ensuring that he might inherit the O’Hara family seat at Annaghmore in County Sligo. Having done so, he then embarked on an extensive building programme, not only refurbishing and enlarging the main house (see High Victoriana « The Irish…

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#Annaghmore #Architectural History #County Sligo #Stableyard

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Empty Aisle, Deserted Chancel

Lone and weary as I wander’d by the bleak shore of the sea, Meditating and reflecting on the world’s hard destiny, Forth the moon and stars ‘gan glimmer, in the quiet tide beneath, For on slumbering spring and blossom breathed not out of heaven a breath. On I went in sad dejection, careless where my footsteps bore, Till a ruined church before me opened wide its ancient door, Till I stood before…

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#Architectural History #County Tipperary #Moor Abbey #Old Church #Ruins