House - 17th century

The National Monuments Service's description

According to Robert Leigh writing in 1684 this house was built by John Itchingham, the grandson of Sir Osborne Etchingham who was granted the estate of the Cistercian abbey (WX039-030001-) in 1545. However, the building was not completed, probably because of the outbreak of the 1641 rebellion (Hore 1859, 458). According to the Civil Survey (1654-6) John Etchingham owned a large castle at Dunbrody and almost all the land in the old Cistercian estate consisting of the parishes of Dunbrody, Killesk and Rathroe (Simington 1953, 187-8). The castle is said to have been finished by Capt. John Kennedy, Lord Donegal’s agent, c. 1800 (Jeffrey 1979, 141-2), and it is depicted as an occupied building on the 1839 ed. of the OS 6-inch map.

It is located at the bottom of a gentle W-facing slope c. 300m SE of the abbey. Fragments of three gables with projecting chimneys survive from an original four gables along with some other walls. The house was U-shaped (ext. dims c. 15.5m N-S; c. 11.85m E-W) opening onto a court (dims 6.9m E-W; 6.75m N-S) at the E side. It had at least two storeys and there were fireplaces on the ground floor at the E end of the wings N and S of the court, and towards the W end of the N and S walls. Circular turrets with gun-loops on the ground floor are at the NE and SE angles. All the surviving windows and doors appear to be insertions of the 18th or 19th century. The house is at the E end of a court or bawn (int. dims c. 20m E-W; c. 10m N-S) with circular towers (surviving H c. 3m) at the NW and SW angles. A two-storey wing was built in the 18th or 19th century which incorporated the S and W walls of the bawn, and no original features are visible in the bawn.

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The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1996). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload/revision: 25 January, 2013

References

Jeffrey, W.H. 1979 The castles of County Wexford. Typescript prepared by the Old Wexford Society, Ed. E. Culleton.

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1953 The Civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol. IX: county of Wexford. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.

Hore, H. F. 1858-9 A chorographic account of the southern part of the county of Wexford, written Anno 1684: by Robert Leigh, esq., of Rosegarland, in that county. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiequaries of Ireland, vol. 5, 17-21; 451-67.