Newhall is a 17th century country estate near Ennis in County Clare in Ireland, historically held by members of the Irish landed gentry[2][3]. The front section of the house was added during the Georgian period, creating a T-shaped design with an elongated older rear section which was used partially as servants quarters.[4][5]
The estate's demesne includes a holy well, gate lodges,[6][7] woodlands, parklands, lakes, Killone Abbey (founded 1190 by Donald Mor O’Brien King of Thomond, for nuns of the rule of St. Augustine and later protected as a national monument) and has an associated folklore legend concerning a mermaid.[8][9]
The historic core of Newhall is said to have been constructed using stones from Killone Castle.[10] In 1580, Killone Castle was the property of the Baron of Inchiquin. There is now no trace of the castle beyond Newhall House.[11]
Elongated back section 1650 house T-shape design with 1765 Georgian front added. Photo, circa 2000s, predates later restoration
The original back section of Newhall and stables were commenced in 1650. During this period Daniel O'Brien, 3rd Viscount Clare owned the estate.
In 1708, Colonel John O'Brien left Newhall and Killone to his wife, Honora O'Brien, in his will.[12]
Honora O'Brien had a relationship with Richard Burke, 2nd Earl of Clanricarde.[13] Their illegitimate son, also named Richard Burke, had a daughter (Marcella Burke) who married Donough O'Callaghan of Kilgorey in 1747.[13][14]
Georgian expansion: MacDonnell
During the late 17th century, the MacDonnell family purchased Newhall and established connections through multiple marriages with the O’Brien dynasty and the Viscount Clare.[3]
James MacDonnell, Esq. of Kilkee, was a Jacobite who supported the Catholic king, James II, serving as a captain in Lord Clare's regiment of dragoons. After the Battle of the Boyne victory of the William III of Orange over James II, he shifted allegiance to secure his estates. In 1702, he became a joint purchaser of the confiscated estates of his cousin, the 3rd Viscount Clare, who forfeited his lands for high treason and later went into exile in France as part of the Flight of the Wild Geese. MacDonnell also served as a commissioner for the poll tax in County Clare in 1695.[15] James MacDonnell married Elizabeth O'Brien, daughter of Christopher O'Brien of Ennistyman, brother-in-law to the ill-fated Lord Clare.[16]
In 1764, their son, Charles MacDonnell purchased Newhall from his maternal uncle Sir Edward O'Brien, 2nd Baronet of Dromoland Castle and married Sir Edward's daughter Katherine O'Brien. MacDonnell was MP for County Clare until his death. Under Charles MacDonnell MP, the original house underwent significant expansion, including the addition of a new Georgian/Queen-Anne Style front, possibly designed by Francis Bindon or Isaac Rothery.[17][18][19][20] This renovation created a T-shaped layout with an elongated rear section becoming the servant's quarters.
Their son, Charles MacDonnell, also MP, born in 1761, was appointed lieutenant-colonel commandant of the Earl of Belvedere's regiment in 1794. During the American War,[clarification needed] he raised and commanded a regiment of volunteers in Canada.[citation needed] He served as Member of Parliament for County Clare and later represented the borough of Yarmouth at the time of his death. In 1802, he was appointed a commissioner of accounts. Charles MacDonnell MP died in Bath, England, on 6 September 1803.[15]
By the 19th century, the Armstrongs of Mount Heaton,[22]County Offaly had succeeded to the estate after William Henry Armstrong married Charles MacDonnell’s granddaughter in 1809. Their second son, William Edward Armstrong, inherited the estate from his uncle John MacDonnell in 1850 and assumed by royal license the additional name and arms of MacDonnell.[15] In 1853 he became DL,[clarification needed] high-sheriff of the county, and Colonel commanding the Clare Militia.[3] In 1858 he married Juliana-Cecilia O'Brien, eldest daughter of Lucius 13th Lord Inchiquin.
Bernard Burke in his book, A Visitation of the Seats and Arms of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, describes the house as:[23]
The mansion is a convenient, and not unpicturesque edifice, built of red brick with cut limestone accents, and stands upon an eminence, commanding a magnificent view of the River Fergus and broad waters of the Shannon. The two lakes and romantic islands, contribute to the picturesque setting. One side is adorned with lush shrubs and trees, while the opposite shore is defined by precipitous limestone cliffs. The rich pasture lands, such as the people of Clare deem peculiar to their own county, and which, indeed, are remarkable for their exuberant beauty and verdure. In the distance are the noble mountains of Tipperary, completing the striking landscape.
During the 1870s, the estate covered 6,670 acres. It was later occupied (and rented) by cousin Robert and Florence Vere O'Brien in the 1890s, although Slater's Directory notes it was a seat of a Charles R. A. MacDonnell in 1894.
Charles Randal Armstong MacDonnell inherited in 1883. His wife was Mary Stacpoole of Edenvale, a gentry neighbour who owned a grand mansion next to the Newhall estate. In the 1870s William Stacpoole, MP for Clare, owned 7,381 acres.[24][25][26]
20th and 21st centuries: Joyce and Commane
Gatehouses at Newhall (prior to restoration)
In 1912, Charles R.A. MacDonnell transferred 3,485 acres of tenanted land and 256 acres of untenanted land to the Congested Districts' Board for a sum exceeding £26,000.[3] It was a home of the Joyce family of County Galway in the 20th century, from the 1920s to 2016.[27]
As a gentry seat,[2] Newhall hosted fox hunts and balls[5] and was (and remains) a working farm.
In 2016, the estate was purchased by the Commane family, a family from the locality, who are restoring it to its original form.[28]
Located on the grounds of Newhall, Killone Abbey is an Augustin nunnery and abbey of Canonesses Regular founded in 1190 by Donal Mor O'Brien, King of Thomond and Munster. It is situated near the northern shore of Killone Lake. The remains of the site include a church and an undercroft, which was later used as a crypt.[29] The abbey was dissolved in 1543, with its lands granted to Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Thomond.[30]
Adjacent to the abbey is St. John's Holy Well, a site of pilgrimage and local devotion.[31] This holy well, known as Tobar Eoin in Irish, is traditionally believed to have healing properties and has been a place of pilgrimage since pagan times. Associated with Saint John the Baptist, the site includes remnants of stone structures and features a natural spring. Local folklore suggests that the well was visited for blessings and cures, particularly during the feast day of Saint John.[32][31][33]Lord Walter Fitzgerald (the fourth son of Charles, fourth Duke of Leinster) visited the well in 1899 and authored a work, Inscriptions at St. John's Well, Killone Abbey, County Clare, for the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland.[33]
Folklore
Several local legends are associated to Newhall and Killone. Among these is the story of a hidden cave, believed to lie somewhere between Ennis and Lisdoonvarna. This cave is said to conceal an underground river with the magical ability to make the old young again.[34]
Another reputed folktale, associated with Newhall House and Killone Lake, involves a mermaid believed to inhabit the lake's depths. According to local folklore, a member of the O'Brien family, residing near Killone Lake, noticed that wine from his cellar was mysteriously disappearing. Determined to uncover the thief, he stayed awake one night and discovered that a mermaid was swimming from the lake through an underground passage to steal the wine. In his attempt to stop her, he either shot her or, in another version, a servant scalded her with boiling water. Wounded and enraged, the mermaid fled back to the lake, cursing the O'Brien family with the words: "As the mermaid goes on the sea, so shall the race of O’Briens pass away, till they leave Killone in wild weeds." It is also said that every seven years, the lake's waters turn red, symbolising the mermaid's blood and foretelling a change in the estate's occupants.[35][36]
Stories of encounters with the mermaid, including sightings by fishermen and tragic events connected to the lake, have also been recorded.[37][4] The "mermaid's curse" is recorded as:
"Fish without fish, meat without bones, hear the mermaid's curse on the plains of Killone. As the mermaid floats bloodless down the stream, so shall the O'Briens pass away from Killone." The Newhall Mermaid's Curse, Clare Folk Tales.[38]
O'Brien (likely Christopher O'Brien), having been allegedly cursed by a mermaid, had seven daughters and no sons.[38][21]
1 2 theirishaesthete (25 August 2014). "New Blood for New Hall". The Irish Aesthete. Archived from the original on 8 December 2024. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
↑ Parliament, lords (13 December 2015). Case Of Lucius, Lord Inchiquin, On His Claiming The Right To Vote At The Election Of Representative Peers For Ireland. Minutes Of Evidence. Palala Press. ISBN978-1348041122.
↑ Burke, Bernard (1855). A Visitation of the Seats and Arms of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland. Hurst and Blackett. This work is in the public domain as it was published over 100 years ago. The quote is used in compliance with Wikipedia's copyright guidelines. p.146.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
