homes historical ireland

Hezlett House

The house was built around 1691 as the rectory for the Archdeacon of Derry, the Vuenerable Roger Forde. Over the next 70 years it was the home of the four rectors who succeeded him. It was then purchased by Isaac Hezlett and subsequent generations of the family lived in the house for 215 years.

The house is best known for its important cruck truss construction which can be seen from a viewing gallery where additional interpretive material is provided.<...

Mount Stewart offers to the visitor one of the most complete gardens in the care of the National Trust. The garden, designed by Edith, Lady of Londonderry from 1921, includes almost every style of gardening and supports an incomparable plant collection.

Frances and Charles, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, became celebrated figures, leading a glittering social life and travelling extensively. They collected works of art and furniture on their travels and brought them back to Mount Stewa...

Coole Park is the former home of Lady Augusta Gregory, a great friend of W.B. Yeats and co-founder of the Abbey Theatre. It's located about 3km north of the county Galway town of Gort and is operated by the National Parks & Wildlife Service. It spans about 1,000 acres and includes 6km of nature trails, 7 woods and of course Coole Lake.
Coole House, since demolished, was a focal point in the Celtic Literary Revival at the turn of the century. The initials of notable visitors to Coole Hou...

Down the road towards Carrick-on-Shannon, is Woodbrook House, once the home of the Kirkwood family, made famous in David Thomson's book Woodbrook. Major Charles Kirkwood, the last owner, was brother of Major Willie, who was married to Miss Jameson of the Whiskey family, and an international polo player.

Major Charlie's uncle, colonel Tom Kirkwood, ran a famous racing stable and won the Aintre Grand National in 1881 with a horse called Woodbrook. His most famous horse was The White K...

Original Georgian home of noted Anglo-Irish family, was then rebuilt in Gothic revival style. Although burnt in 1933 the remaining towers and turrets, mostly ivy clad, give this enchanting structure a fairy tale air....

Established in 1582 by Sir Richard Shee to accommodate '12 poor persons in the city', this completely restored building now houses the Tourist Information Centre. It is also the starting point for city walking tours....

Once one of the most elegant of Dublin's squares, Mountjoy Square suffered severely from neglect and is now in the process of restoration.
It was developed between 1792 and 1818 and named after the man who planned it, Luke Gardiner, the first Viscount ofMountjoy.
Michael Stapleton and Charles Thorp were among the designers and some of the houses have very fine plasterwork....

Legend says that the church was built in a single night to form a suitable resting place for the founder, St. Mochta, who died in 534. The monastery was plundered by the Vikings in 830 and 839, by Muircheartach, King of Aileach in 968 and by Gluniallar (Eagle-Knee) O'Flaherty in 978. the monastery was flattened by a storm in 986, burned in 1075 and again in 1111,1113, 1148, 1160, 1164 and 1166. the church possibly dates to the second half of the 12th century. It is a rectangular building wit...