Country house

The National Monuments Service's description

Martin Blake fitz Andrew of Galway, who was sheriff of the county of the town in 1648-9, was dispossessed of his property and estates by the Commonwealth in 1655. He was transplanted to Cummer, Co. Galway, where he and his family resided (see GA043-070----). In 1671 he purchased the lands of Ballyglunin (Ballyglooneen) from the Cromwellian planter Charles Holcraft but continued to reside at Cummer until his death in 1691 (Blake 1905, 214-5). His eldest son, Peter, died a month after his father and the Blake estate was settled on his son, Martin who moved to Ballyglooneen in the earlier 18th century where he built a house. Various additions and refurbishments were undertaken in the 18th and 19th centuries by his descendants. In the 1870s the Blakes owned over 10,000 acres in the locality. By March 1916 the family had accepted a final offer of over £60,000 from the Congested Districts' Board for almost 9,800 acres of their estate (http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie/LandedEstates/jsp/estate-show.jsp?id=947). In 1964 the house was purchased by the Catholic institution, Opus Dei, and used as a conference centre. It was sold in 2014 and is now in private possession.
The description of the house below is from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, record no. 30405821, www.buildingsofireland.ie, accessed 22 September 2017):
Detached two-storey country house, comprising three-bay L-plan house of c.1770 facing south, having pedimented breakfront, with short link to later block to rear, to give overall U-plan building presenting gable and hip to west elevation, current entrance being in west gable of gable. Slate roofs, hipped to earlier block and pitched to later block, with rendered chimneystacks. Rendered walls. Diocletian window to first floor of breakfront, with limestone block and start surround, and Venetian doorway to ground floor, with block-and-start limestone surround, door opening now a window, square-headed sidelights and round fanlight now blocked up. Square-headed window openings elsewhere with one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows. Projecting flat-roofed porch to west gable of rear block, having square-headed doorway flanked by windows. Round-plan two-stage tower to north-east corner of rear block, with pointed windows. Courtyard of farm buildings to east, having pitched slate roofs and rubble limestone walls, having lean-to addition to east range with segmental-arched vehicular entrance. Yard approached by entrance gate having offset dressed limestone piers with double-leaf cast-iron vehicular gate. Walled garden to east bounded by rubble limestone wall.
This country house is notable for its two phases of building and reorientation of its entrance. Its setting is enhanced by the associated outbuildings and walled garden, and siting next to the Abbert River. The retention of timber sash windows and other external and internal features also enhances this country house.

Compiled by: Paul Walsh

Date of upload: 5 December 2018