Destruction of Irish country houses (1919–1923)

Did You Know?

• Moydrum Castle in County Westmeath, burned in July 1921, provided the background cover art for the 1984 U2 album 'The Unforgettable Fire'.
• In season 3 of 'Downton Abbey', Tom Branson is on the run after being connected with the burning of a fictional country house called Drumgoole Castle.
• The date of attack for listed houses is assumed to be overnight, either late at night on that day or continuing into the early hours of the next day, unless clarified by the notation p.m. or a.m.

The Big House as a target

By 1919, the Big House had become a powerful symbol of how the Protestant Anglo-Irish class had dominated Ireland during the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly in the south and west, at the expense of the native Catholic population. The Anglo-Irish were generally against Irish republicanism and held important roles in the Dublin Castle administration. According to Irish nationalist belief, the land of Irish people had been wrongfully taken by this aristocracy, most of whom had come to Ireland as Protestant settlers from Great Britain during the plantations. The big house was both the administrative hub of the landowner’s estate and the family home from which they exerted political control over the country. This view remained widespread even though Irish landownership had grown significantly due to the Irish Land Acts. In 1870, landlords owned 97% of the land, with 50% held by just 750 families, but by 1916, 70% of Irish farmers owned their own land. Catholics had been granted emancipation in 1829, and the Anglo-Irish political grip had weakened as the Catholic nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party won repeated electoral victories. The Protestant Ascendancy had already lost its economic strength after the Great Famine of 1845–49 and the Long Depression of the 1870s, and its political power faded after the Representation of the People Act 1884. By 1915, the Irish Land Commission had transferred over 60% of Irish farmland to tenant farmers, leaving most former landed gentry with just a house and a home farm, known as a demesne. Even so, they could still afford gardeners and household staff because, as a group, they had received compensation from the British government equivalent to over €60 billion in 2019 euros. By destroying these houses, the IRA aimed to break the culture of deference toward the landowning class. As early as 1918, IRA organiser Ernie O’Malley had his Volunteers train on demesne grounds to strip them of their ingrained respect for the owners.

Aftermath

After the attacks, most of the properties the IRA targeted were simply left behind. Petrol and other fire-starting materials were used so often that the flames usually gutted the buildings completely, leaving them unlivable. Because of this damage and the constant worry that another attack might happen, very few of these country houses were ever rebuilt. The majority were torn down, and some still stand as empty shells. Many of the former owners asked the Irish Free State government for money to cover their losses. Ebenezer Pike requested £62,000 for Kilcrenagh House, saying his losses were huge because all his valuable furniture, paintings, and art treasures had burned up. Both of Sir Augustus Digby Warren’s homes in County Cork were destroyed. William Downes Webber asked for £149,000 to rebuild Mitchelstown Castle and another £18,000 for its contents; in 1926, Justice Kenny gave him £27,500 for the building and the full £18,000 for the contents. Webber thought the rebuilding money was not enough and moved to Dublin. The wrecking of these big houses became a notable theme in Irish culture. William Butler Yeats wrote against it in his poem “Meditations in Time of Civil War” (1924). In her novel “The Last September” (1929), Elizabeth Bowen portrayed the big houses as a symbol of civilization and order that was built on injustice and could not last. The destruction was not systematic but happened case by case. Dunsany Castle was left alone because its owner, Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, was famous and the house held holy relics of Saint Oliver Plunket, which local people respected and visited. Other families, like the Shackletons and the Guinnesses, were not harmed because they were well-liked in their communities, even though they did not support Irish independence.

Resurgence during the Troubles

During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Provisional Irish Republican Army revived the practice of targeting big houses, though relatively few such houses existed in the six counties. Most notoriously, Tynan Abbey was attacked on the night of 21 January 1981. The 86-year-old Sir Norman Stronge and his only son James, both former MPs, were killed by the Provisional IRA, and the house was burnt to the ground. Their bodies were later recovered from the burning home. In July 1972, Stuart Hall in County Tyrone was extensively damaged by an IRA bomb and later demolished. On 5 November 1973, a 50 lb bomb wrecked a milking parlour on the grounds of Cappoquin House, home of Sir Richard Keane, at Belmont, Cappoquin, County Waterford; the attack occurred amid a dispute between Sir Richard and his 65 tenants over ground rents, and the Official IRA were believed responsible. On 16 May 1981, Killeen Castle in Dunsany, County Meath was extensively damaged in an arson attack by republican sympathisers who spread petrol in several rooms and set it alight; the attack came at the height of the H-Block campaign and an ongoing hunger strike. The castle was then owned by Irish businessman Basil Brindley, and one of the accused later said he would not have burned the house if he had known it was owned by an Irishman. On 11 May 1991, a Provisional IRA unit armed with assault rifles and machine guns sprayed Caledon House in County Tyrone; an IRA statement claimed British soldiers guarding the house were the intended target and that over seven hundred rounds were fired. A previous bomb attack on 10 November 1972 had caused extensive damage to the building, demolishing a wall and blowing out windows. Police believed the residence was targeted because Nicholas Alexander, 7th Earl of Caledon, was a company commander in the Ulster Defence Regiment. On 14 March 1973, a British Army Technical Officer discovered two bombs inside a monument on the estate dedicated to Du Pré Alexander, 2nd Earl of Caledon; the 80 ft monument was destroyed when the officer attempted to neutralise the bombs in a controlled explosion, instead detonating the devices.

List of houses destroyed

The list includes 21 houses being investigated as burnt in 1920: Ballintubber House, Ballyclough/Ballyclogh House, Ballyvary/Bellavary House, Beechlawn House, Birdhill (Marlfield Co Tipperary), Castlelambert/Castle Lambert House, Coolkellure/Coolkelure House, Crotto/Crotta House, Crowsnest, Doolin House/Castle, Glenart Castle, Glenfarne Hall, Hermitage House (Co Limerick), Kilturra, Malin Hall, Moorock House, Mount Massey/Massy House, Roxborough House, Saunders Grove, and Tanavalla/Garryantanvally. Among documented cases, George Browne, 6th Marquess of Sligo, had his house destroyed in 1923 and later rebuilt. Annaskeagh House in Dundalk, County Louth, owned by Augustus N. Sheridan JP, was destroyed on 11 February 1923 and later demolished. Antrim Castle in County Antrim, owned by Algernon Skeffington, 12th Viscount Massereene, was destroyed by fire on 28 October 1922 during a grand ball; although evidence pointed to IRA arson, the official verdict was not conclusive and no insurance claim was paid. The castle remained a ruin until its demolition in 1970, with only a raised grassed platform, an 1887 Italian tower, and a gatehouse remaining. Ardamine House in Gorey, County Wexford, owned by Major A. W. Mordaunt-Richards, was destroyed on 9 July 1921 and later demolished. Ardfert Abbey in County Kerry, owned by John Burrell Talbot-Crosbie, was destroyed on 22 August 1922 and later demolished. Ardtully House in Kilgarvan, County Kerry, owned by Raymond William Orpen, was destroyed in 1921 and abandoned as ruins. Artramon House in County Wexford, owned by Sir George Le Hunte, was destroyed in February 1923 but later rebuilt and is now a hotel. Ballybay House in County Monaghan, owned by Edward Henry John Leslie, was destroyed on 2 June 1921 and later demolished. Ballycarty House in Tralee, County Kerry, owned by the Nash family, was destroyed in January 1923 and abandoned as ruins. Ballydonnellan Castle in Killalaghtan, County Galway, owned by the Donnellan family, was destroyed in January 1923 and abandoned as ruins. Ballydugan House in Kilrickle, County Galway, owned by the Burke family, was destroyed on 15 June 1922 and later rebuilt by the original family. Ballygassan House in County Louth, owned by John Russel, was destroyed on 3 February 1923 and later rebuilt.