House - 17th century

The National Monuments Service's description

On break in slope, with ground falling to the N and NW in undulating pastureland. According to Bence-Jones (1988, 272) this was a long two-storey house, one room deep, of pink brick built from 1670 onwards by George Mathew, the half-brother of the Duke of Ormond. It is described as 'consisting of a great chamber or gallery above a rusticated arcade, and projecting wings; a massive oak staircase led up from the arcade to the first floor' (ibid.). Bence-Jones suggests it was built by the same builders who worked for the Duchess of Ormond at Dunmore House, near Kilkenny and Loeber suggests that the arcade may have been designed by Sir William Robinson (ibid.). The house was extensively renovated from 1718 onwards and again in 1812 when the architect Richard Morrison was engaged to give the house a mock-gothic façade, at which time the original brick walls were resurfaced in cement (Higgins 2003, 185). After 1841, with the death of Lady Elizabeth Mathew, the house became a summer residence of the Viscount Rohan de Chabot and his son the Comte de Jamac until the latter's death in 1872 (ibid.). The house and estate then passed to Lord Dunsandle who rarely visited and it was in the hands of caretakers until the 1920s, after which the estate was distributed by the Land Commission and the house fell into ruin. In 1938 the ruin was bought by Archbishop David Mathew (Bence-Jones 1988, 272). In 1973 part of the main house collapsed, including the Gothic hall and dining room areas (ibid. 186). The original house appears to be at the E end of the present ruinous house and of which only one upstanding wall (L 6.4m; Wth 0.75m) appears to survive, it is brick-faced with a rubble stone core. The house was mainly extended to the W, though there were some extensions to the E, including a room and a high gateway of cut limestone giving access into the courtyard of the house. The surviving original wall is now an internal wall running E-W, with a stone wall (Wth 0.72m), the new external N façade running E-W 4.5m to the N and another stone wall (Wth 0.79m), the new external S façade running E-W 7.1m to the S. The original 17th-century bricks appear on average to be slightly thinner and shorter than later 18th and 19th century bricks, being 2" x 8½" (0.05m x 0.21m) and D 4" (0.1m) as opposed to 2½" x 9" (0.06m x 0.22m) and D 4" (0.1m). Quite a lot of the earlier bricks appear to have been reused in the later building phases.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 26 August 2011

References

Bence-Jones, M. 1988 A guide to Irish country houses. London

Higgins, N. 2003 A survey of Thomastown Castle ruins 2003. Tipperary Historical Journal, 185-9.