Hope Castle | |
---|---|
Former names | Blayney Castle (Until 1853) |
General information | |
Type | House |
Architectural style | Georgian (1799), later Victorian embellishments |
Address | County Monaghan |
Town or city | Castleblayney |
Country | Ireland |
Groundbreaking | 1795 |
Completed | 1799 |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 3 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Robert Woodgate |
Developer | Andrew Blayney, 11th Baron Blayney |
References | |
[1] |
Hope Castle is a historic house and demesne in Castleblayney, County Monaghan, Ireland. Originally a private home, over the course of the 20th century, Hope Castle was used as a military barracks, a hospital, convent, and was most recently used as a hotel before it was damaged by a fire in 2010. [2] [3]
The land on which the house was built was originally owned by Edward Blayney, to whom it was granted in 1607. Blayney was a Welsh soldier who was granted land at Ballynalurgan and Muckno, where he built a stone defensive castle, Blayney Castle. The town of Castleblayney grew up round that original site. Blayney was created the first Baron Blayney in 1621 and the Blayneys would continue to occupy the estate until after the 1830s. In the time of the second baron, in 1641, the castle was captured by rebels fighting under Hugh Mac Patrick Dubh MacMahon. The baron escaped but his wife and children were captured.
The 7th Baron Blayney sold off part of the land in 1723. It was not until the 1780s that the present building, named Blayney Castle, was constructed near the old Elizabethan castle for Andrew Blayney, 11th Baron Blayney, a soldier who owned the land from 1784 to 1834.
In 1853, Cadwallader, 12th Baron Blayney, sold the entire Blayney estate to the wealthy Henry Thomas Hope, who substantially renovated the building. The 12th Baron Blayney was the last Lord Blayney. It was only under the ownership of the Hope family, the Scottish-Dutch banking family that is famous for their ownership of the Hope Diamond, that the building got its new name of Hope Castle, one which it still holds today. Henrietta Adela Hope, daughter of Henry Thomas Hope, who married an English duke, later inherited the estate. Her husband was the 6th Duke of Newcastle, who held the courtesy title of Earl of Lincoln at the time of their marriage (1861) and later succeeded his father as the 6th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne. From 1900 to 1904, Hope Castle served as a home for Prince Arthur, 1st Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, Queen Victoria's son, and his family. The duke was the commander of the British Forces in Ireland at that time. [4]
The Hope family left the estate in 1916, leaving it to serve as a military barracks during the War of Independence between the years 1919 and 1921. It later became the site of Monaghan County Hospital for the short time between 1932 and 1937. Beginning in 1942, Hope Castle served as a Franciscan Order Convent until the early 1970s.
After its many years serving as a local convent, Hope Castle was owned privately until Monaghan County Council acquired it in the 1980s. The County Council leased the building to several people, [5] including the most recent local businessman, Chris Haren, who was leasing the property when it was extensively damaged in an arson attack in November 2010. Up until the fire, Hope Castle was being run as a small hotel, containing bar lounges, a restaurant, and several guest rooms. [6]
In November 2010, the building was subject to an arson attack that left the hotel building with extensive interior damages. In a very short amount of time the fire spread through the bar and lounge areas, up the stairwells, and into the upstairs rooms. The building was uninhabited at the time of the fire; however, the contents of the hotel including a considerable amount of the fittings, furniture, and antiques were destroyed. At the time of the incident, it was clear to local Gardaí that entry was gained by trespassers to the ground floor of the building where the fire was started. It is believed that a local group of teenagers forced entry to the building and intentionally started the fire. Although Gardaí questioned juveniles in the town, no persons were ever convicted of the crime. [7]
Lieutenant General The 11th Baron Blayney originally built the current house in the 1780s. [8] It was later redesigned in a Georgian style by architect Robert Woodgate in the year 1799. [9]
The house is a three-story, five bay house located near the site of an earlier plantation, which was restored during the Victorian Era. Some of the Victorian era embellishments include cresting on the roof parapets and on the entrance to the building, which has a central curved bow. A glass projection porch and canopy of ornamental iron cast were also added to the structure.
In 1832, the landscape architect William Sawrey Gilpin was employed by Baron Blayney to make improvement to the Blayney demesne.
The gate lodges, stables, and bath houses are still extant while the ironwork for these structures was carried out by father and son James and Alexander Shekleton in 1862 for Anne Adèle (née Bichat), widow of Henry Thomas Hope. The updated stable yards seem to have been constructed slightly after around 1865. [10]
When it was taken over by the local County Council, the building was renovated and the 19th century additions to the gardens and main front were demolished. Hope Castle is surrounded by grounds of green land next to a forest area accompanied by a large lake, known as the Black Island. The building, although not currently in use, consists of several bedrooms, a bar lounge and restaurant area. [11]
Castleblayney is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The town had a population of 3,607 as of the 2016 census. Castleblayney is near the border with County Armagh in Northern Ireland, and lies on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Letterkenny.
Lieutenant General Andrew Thomas Blayney, 11th Baron Blayney was an Anglo-Irish peer. He ruled the Blayney estate at Castleblayney, County Monaghan for fifty years from 1784 to 1834, and was one of the most illustrious soldiers ever to come from County Monaghan.
Castle Durrow is an 18th-century country house in Durrow, County Laois, Ireland. The house was built in the pre-Palladian design and formal gardens that were popular in the 18th century.
Rossmore Castle, also known as Rossmore Park, was a castle on the outskirts of Monaghan in County Monaghan, Ireland. It was built in the Gothic style in 1827 and was the seat of the Barons Rossmore, but fell into disrepair in the 1940s when the family moved to Camla Vale, and was demolished in the 1970s.
Howth Castle and estate lie just outside the village of Howth, County Dublin in Ireland, in the administration of Fingal County Council. The castle was the ancestral home of the line of the St Lawrence family that had held the area since the Norman Invasion of 1180, and held the title of Lord of Howth until circa 1425, the Baron Howth to 1767, then Earl of Howth until 1909. The castle and estate are held since 1909 by their distaff heirs, the Gaisford-St Lawrence family.
Lord Blayney, Baron of Monaghan, in the County of Monaghan, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1621 for the soldier Sir Edward Blayney. He was succeeded by his son, the second Baron. He was killed at the Battle of Benburb in 1646. His younger son, the fourth Baron, represented County Monaghan in the Irish House of Commons. His elder son, the fifth Baron, was attainted by the Parliament of James II for supporting William of Orange. He had no sons and was succeeded by his younger brother, the sixth Baron. He was Governor of County Monaghan. His son, the seventh Baron, was Lord Lieutenant of County Monaghan. He was succeeded by his elder son, the eighth Baron. He was a clergyman and served as Dean of Killaloe. He had no surviving children and was succeeded by his younger brother, the ninth Baron. He was a Lieutenant-General in the Army. His younger son, the eleventh Baron, was also a Lieutenant-General in the Army and fought in the Peninsular War. Lord Blayney also represented the rotten borough of Old Sarum in Parliament. His son, the twelfth Baron, sat as Conservative Member of Parliament for County Monaghan and was later an Irish representative peer from 1841 until his death. On his death in 1874 the title became extinct.
Dartrey Forest is a forest and estate near Rockcorry in north-west County Monaghan, Ireland. It was formerly part of the Barony of Dartrey and was the country estate of the Dawson family, who had the title Earl of Dartrey from 1866 to 1933.
The High Sheriff of Monaghan was the British monarch's representative in County Monaghan, a territory known as his bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, he held his office for the duration of a year. He had judicial, ceremonial and administrative functions and executed High Court Writs.
Edward Blayney, 1st Baron Blayney, also Blainey or Blaney (1570–1629) was a Welsh soldier and politician in Ireland. He became Baron Blayney of Monaghan in the Peerage of Ireland. He gave his name to the town of Castleblayney, which he founded in about 1611.
Castleshane is a small village on the outskirts of Monaghan town in the north of County Monaghan in Ireland. The village is situated on the N2, the main road from Dublin to Derry and Letterkenny, and is located approximately 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from Monaghan town and 17 km (11 mi) from Castleblayney. It is also located approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) away from the border with County Armagh, which is part of Northern Ireland.
The N53 road is a national secondary road in Ireland, running from Dundalk, County Louth, to Castleblayney, County Monaghan, but with a short gap where it crosses the Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border and runs through Northern Ireland.
Henry Thomas Hope was a British MP and patron of the arts.
Cadwallader Davis Blayney, 12th Baron Blayney, styled The Honourable from birth until 1834, was an Irish nobleman and politician.
Summerhill House was a 100-roomed Palladian house in County Meath, Ireland which was the ancestral seat of the Viscounts Langford and the Barons Langford. Built in 1731, it was likely designed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce and completed by Richard Cassels in the Palladian style, although Sir John Vanbrugh, who was related to Pearce and with whom he trained, is thought to have also influenced the design of the house, which could be seen by the great arched chimney stacks and the palatial grandeur and scale.
Rt. Hon. Henry Blayney, 2nd Baron Blayney, Baron of Monaghan was the son of Edward Blayney, 1st Baron, and of Ann Loftus his wife, daughter of Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin and sometime Lord Chancellor of Ireland, by his wife Jane Purdon.
Kenure House was a large Georgian house and estate in Rush, County Dublin, Ireland. The main house was constructed between 1703 and 1713 by the Duke of Ormond on the grounds of an earlier house but was destroyed by fire and rebuilt around 1827. A later portico and further additions were added in 1842 to a design by George Papworth. The main house was demolished by Dublin Corporation in 1978 and the granite portico is the only portion of the main house which still stands as of 2022.
Castleblayney Town Hall is a municipal building in the Market Square at Castleblayney, County Monaghan, Ireland. It has served as a market house, as a town hall and as a courthouse, but is currently disused and standing derelict.
Rockingham Estate was a house and estate near Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland covering much of the area which now makes up Lough Key Forest Park.
Clonbrock Castle is a 15th-century tower house near Ahascragh in County Galway, Ireland. It was owned by the Dillon family, who were later created Barons Clonbrock.