Clogher House, originally known as Clogher Lynch was built in 1770 by the Lynch family. The house, a 6 bay front, 2 bay break front with a tripartite pedimented and fan lighted door-case was set in 640 acres of land and consisted of 28 rooms incorporating a library and chapel. The rooms had ceilings of Adamesque plasterwork with the front hall featuring an amazing curved ceiling.

The Lynches were popular landlords, however the last of the Lynches, Marcella married Major Crean who came from Hollybrook outside Claremorris. Major Crean was a ruthless landlord, and hated by his tenants.

The original house was a three story building, roofed with 'Greek flags'. On the 6th January 1839,

'The Night of the Big Wind' the house was damaged in a ferocious storm and left roofless. This disaster was however welcomed as it gave reason to remodel the house - a further storey was added to the house and it was roofed with more modern slates.

Helena Mary Crean who inherited the estate from her father, married James Fitzgerald Kenny in 1870. James Fitzgerald Kenny died prematurely after only seven years of marriage, however the couple had five children. Master Harry the eldest son inherited the house and estate. Having been orphaned at an early age he grew up wild and conceited and like most of the aristocracy at the time he was fond of horses and loved hunting and racing. On one occasion when Master Harry was returning from the Ballinrobe races, he called into Higginís public house in Carnacon, where he met  Captain Blake from Towerhill. After several rounds of drinks Captain Blake asked Master Harry if he would allow his eldest sister to marry him and an argument followed as Master Harry regarded himself to be of a far superior class than the Blakes. Two hours later Master Harry was found dead in suspicious circumstances. The cause of his death was never established. It was said likely due to a fall from his horse but more likely related to the incident earlier in Carnacon. He was only 23yrs of age.

Clogher House passed to James Fitzgerald Kenny, a brilliant lawyer and the most famous of the family. James Fitzgerald was elected to Dail Eireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal candidate in 1927 and then was soon appointed as Minister for Justice. James continued to live at Clogher until his death in 1956. After the his death the house and estate were sold to a timber merchant in the late 1960's.

In 1970 the house was destroyed in a fire.

The Land Commission took over the estate and it was divided locally.

The Night of the Big Wind:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Big_Wind

http://www.mayoalive.com/MagApr23/BigWind.htm
 

IMAGINE A WORLD without estate agents.

Mmmm....

One can dream - but here's a property website that has a dreamlike quality of its own. And though every property listed would welcome a buyer, there isn't an estate agent in sight.

Welcome to AbandonedIreland.com - a quite beautiful site that conjures up a mysterious and mythical Ireland of the past, choc-full of ghosts, stories, faerie queens and the like.

Of course, being Ireland, it is a terrible beauty of wrecks and wasted walls, wrought into a splendor by the magnificence of Tarquin Blake's photography.

Before the internet, this website would have been one of the larger coffee table books in our collection. Indeed, there are plans for a book, and even a TV series, but for now we can only enjoy these photographs thanks to the website.

Tarquin promises that, if the book ever comes to light, there'll be a few more hidden gems which he's deliberately kept off his sprawling website. A website which, incredibly, is entirely funded out of his own pocket since the Irish Heritage Council turned him down. One wonders why. If the Stately Homes of Ireland are not part of the country's heritage, then what exactly is the Irish Heritage Council for?

Those of you who love Anton Corbijn's album cover for U2's 'The Unforgettable Fire' will love this website in equal measure. Maybe more so. For that shot, Corbijn used Moydrum Castle in Co. Westmeath and Tarquin has been there too of course, though was less successful in recreating the image so familiar to fans of the band.

He joked: "The farmer who owns the land there is very grumpy and would not let me near the place. Might have to consider a dawn raid as it is very interesting! Though If U2 want to use my pics then they are quite welcome!"

Most of the buildings are in what might charitably be described as 'a right state', but Tarquin isn't put off. "I'd live in most of the ruined properties I've visited. I'd even be happy with some of the outbuildings or a converted stable block.

"Coolbawn House, Wexford is one of my favourites. I'm a sucker for that crazy gothic architecture. How can this place be left to rot like that? The farmer is even throwing his rubbish into the basement there. Unbelievable.

"But my real favourites aren't listed on the website, I keep these secret just for me."

Ireland's greatest architectural loss

Regrettably, there are some properties even Tarquin won't ever be able to bring back to life with a photograph - those that have vanished almost without a trace. Of all the many, many properties he has photographed, Tarquin speculated on what might be the biggest loss to Ireland's architectural heritage.

"Maybe Summerhill in Meath? I was there recently and all that's left of the house is some of the walled garden and an icehouse. A magnificent tree lined avenue leads up to where the house once stood."

Summerhill house was considered to be one of the most dramatic of the Irish Palladian Houses. The house is accredited to architects Edward Lovett Pearce and Richard Cassells, the greatest architects working in Ireland in the 18th Century.

Summerhill house was damaged by fire on a number of occasions and then on the 4th February 1921 it was set on fire by the Old IRA and completely destroyed.

The account of the evening of 4th February is that the Colonel and Mrs Rowley were away. The five servants who lived in the house were sitting together in the kitchen when they heard a knock on the back door. The English butler did not open the door and some minutes later a whistle was blown and the back door battered in. The servants escaped through a door into the basement and made there way out into the darkness. As they walked down the avenue the house was dowsed in petrol and the fire started in a number of places.

In 1922 Colonel Rowley, the 6th Baron Langford, sought compensation from the Free State Government and after three years of negotiation with the Compensation Board a sum of £43,500 was paid to the Colonel, approximately one third of the value of the house and contents destroyed in the fire. Colonel Rowley invested the money in gilt-edged stocks and moved to Middlesex, England.

Summerhill house stood as a ruin until it was totally demolished in 1970.

Every house has its story, some dramatic, some less so. Each one is a tale of a reality turning into a memory or, perhaps not even that. Though the memories may fade, the photographs remain.