Country house

The National Monuments Service's description

On W side of Mallow, c. 100m N of fortified house (14373). Large multiperiod complex, U-shaped in plan. South range is long 2-storey block, with roughly central 3-storey embattled tower. To W of tower are 4 bays with broad gables above each bay; mullioned and transomed windows; four-centred arched door opes on return at NW end. Some internal walls are up to 1m thick in this section. This is said to be part of the earlier 16th-century stables to which the family retreated after the castle was burnt in 1689 (Bence-Jones 1978, 200). To E of tower are 6 bays with gablets of late 18th/early 19th-century appearance. Various additions built in 18th century and in 1836 house enlarged and rebuilt. Plans of 1822 by Patrick Lee (Castle Archive) show layout of new buildings proposed, incorporating some of the older structures. Stable block and cow house on N side, probably associated with 18th-century house, are indicated 'for removal', otherwise Lee's layout is more or less what survives today. New entrance front (E), added at right angle to E end of S range, is shown on Lee's plan but not executed until 1954; built in similar style with mullions, embattled towers and double gabled-fronted projection. Demesne spreads out to E along N bank of Blackwater, including deer park with herd of white deer, said to be descendants of two white deer, a gift by Elizabeth I to her godchild Elizabeth Norreys. Farm buildings to WNW, some with 19th-century neo-Tudor features. Walled garden to NW with ice house (14961).

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009