House - 17th century

The National Monuments Service's description

The precise location of a possible early 17th century house described in the terrier of the Down Survey has not been identified. The terrier of the 1659 Down Survey map of Multyfarnham parish stated that 'There is likewise Donowre upon the side of the Lough Derevarrah a very Handsome English like House with an orchard adjoining to it well planted with good Fruit Trees' (NLI MS 723-4). In 1640 this house belonged to Andrew Nugent described in the Down Survey as an 'Irish papist' and owner of 423 acres of profitable land in Donore (ibid.). Andrew Nugent of Donore had a special livery of his estate dating 3rd April 1629. In 1641 he was appointed a captain in the Irish army, and commanded one hundred men at Kilsoghlin, to defend that place against the English, for which he was indicted (Burke 1832, 248-9). This house may have been built on the site of a medieval castle belonging to his father Richard Nugent. In 1613 an inquisition into the property of the deceased Richard Nugent of Donore recorded that he possessed 1 castle & 240 acres of land in the townland of Donowre which formed part of the manor of Multyfarnham (Cal. inq. post mortem, 11 Jas 1).
This house is shown standing close to the shoreline of Lough Derravaragh in the NW quadrant of Donore townland on the 1659 Down Survey map of Multyfarnham parish. On this map the building is depicted as a single pile two storey high house aligned E-W with attic and gable ended chimney stacks on both gables rising above the roofline. The front door is depicted in the centre of the S wall of the house with attic light in E gable. The 17th century orchard is depicted in an area to the E of the house in the area where the present walled garden of Donore House is located.
18th century Donore House depicted on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map is located in the same general region as the building depicted on the Down Survey map. The 'Handsome English like House' belonging to Andrew Nugent may have been located in the grounds of Donore House although no trace of any 17th century house has been identified in this area. It is possible that the building described in the Down Survey may have been located in the surrounding fields around the present country house. Alternatively the 'English style' house may have been levelled when the present Donore House was built.
Donore House described in 1826 as ‘a square building, without wings, and at one side is a gateway, of rich and beautiful architecture, leading to offices which appear never to have been finished’ (Greendrake 1826, 24).
Donore House was described by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage as following; 'Complex of multi-bay two-storey outbuildings/stables arranged around central courtyard, built c.1790. Ancillary buildings located to the north and to the west having remains of former walled garden. Now ruinous and out of use. Originally associated with Donore House (demolished c.1970). Cut stone plaque, probably the coat of arms of the Nugent Family, to the east gable of range to south range. Donore House was a three-storey late eighteenth Georgian block, demolished, c. 1970, after falling into a state of disrepair after the Land Commission divided the lands in the 1960s' (www.buildingsofireland.ie).

Compiled by: Frank Coyne and Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 12 April 2017

References

NLI, MS 723-4 - National Library of Ireland, The parish maps of the Down Survey for the County of Westmeath, attested by W. Petty, in 1659. Copied by Daniel O'Brien. A set of 67 maps with accompanying terriers in two volumes, 1786-7. Dublin.

Cal. inq. post mortem - Calendar of inquisitions post mortem (18 vols., London, 1904-87)

Greendrake, G. 1826 The Angling Excursions of Gregory Greendrake, Esq. in Ireland, Part II County Westmeath. Dublin. Ellis & Alcock.

Burke, J. 1832 A general and heraldic dictionary of the peerage and baronetage of the British empire, Volume 2. London. Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley.