19LikesIf only the bog plodding paddy government could have seen fit to restore it.Originally Posted by neveragain
Visited the place in 1958 with my father.
If only the bog plodding paddy government could have seen fit to restore it.Visited the place in 1958 with my father.
Coothall is not too far away, where "The Barracks" was set. I think it is now on the list of Garda stations to be 'axed' in the interests of economy. Perhaps the building could be incorporated into a McGahern Museum, or a creative sanctuary for young writers and poets.
Incidentally, another book I remember reading years ago "Woodbrook" by David Thomson is centred on a nearby big house, in which Thomson (hope I have the spelling correct) came as a tutor to Phoebe and over the course of a decade fell in love with her and her family home.
Nearby is Boyle which has long monastic associations.
Incidentally, in the grounds of Rockingham is a preserved 'Sweat House' - a sort of underground sauna used by the Irish long before it became considered a Nordic phenomenon !!
But may be local historians, much better equipped and learned than I am , will be the experts on local topography and history !!
Sure you couldn't be doing that.
That sort of house was built by dastardly Brit types and so were deemed "old fashioned" and "un-national".
Houses like Castlefreke in West Cork were just left to rot.
No thats Rockingham House, that burned down years ago. Its Cloontakilla Castle also known as Rockingham Castle thats on CH4 Rockingham Castle again - Castles Photo (669339) - Fanpop fanclubs
http://www.tripmondo.com/ireland/con...lery-of-aghoo/
who left them to rot? the owners? What do you expect to happen if the landlord owners didnt even bother to look after their properties?
In April 1921, north Cork IRA leader, Liam Lynch, enraged by the destruction of several houses in reprisal for an IRA ambush declared, ‘six big houses and castles of their friends, the Imperialists will go up for this’.
Near Athlone in July 1921, the IRA burned Moydrum Castle, in reprisal for the burning of several homes of their sympathisers – itself a response to an IRA ambush. One Volunteer recalled, “An order was received from headquarters that a similar number of houses belonging to Loyalists or British supporters were to be burned by us as a counter-reprisal. Brigade headquarters, however, decided to burn Moydrum Castle instead … Moydrum Castle was the residence of Lord and Lady Castlemaine … a member of the British House of Lords and was always an opponent of Irish National aspirations.”
A total of 30 Big Houses were burned in 1920 and another 46 in the first half of 1921, mostly in the conflict’s heartland of Munster, in counties Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Clare and Limerick. [5]
The logic behind the burnings was clear; the old Ascendancy class were the backbone of the British presence in Ireland, destroying their palatial seats also hurt the British state, by forcing them to allocate troops and police to protect the gentry and also by undermining the deference some still felt for the old landed families.
http://www.theirishstory.com/2011/06.../#.UFDI4NDLz5h
Another good site: http://www.abandonedireland.com/
Last edited by Burnout; 12th September 2012 at 06:44 PM.
very few houses were burned when you consider what these people were responsible for over the occupation years. Many of these collaborators were still working actively against Irish interests and did not have their houses burned. i think the IRA were very easy on most of them.In April 1921, north Cork IRA leader, Liam Lynch, enraged by the destruction of several houses in reprisal for an IRA ambush declared, ‘six big houses and castles of their friends, the Imperialists will go up for this’.
Near Athlone in July 1921, the IRA burned Moydrum Castle, in reprisal for the burning of several homes of their sympathisers – itself a response to an IRA ambush. One Volunteer recalled, “An order was received from headquarters that a similar number of houses belonging to Loyalists or British supporters were to be burned by us as a counter-reprisal. Brigade headquarters, however, decided to burn Moydrum Castle instead … Moydrum Castle was the residence of Lord and Lady Castlemaine … a member of the British House of Lords and was always an opponent of Irish National aspirations.”
A total of 30 Big Houses were burned in 1920 and another 46 in the first half of 1921, mostly in the conflict’s heartland of Munster, in counties Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Clare and Limerick. [5]
The logic behind the burnings was clear; the old Ascendancy class were the backbone of the British presence in Ireland, destroying their palatial seats also hurt the British state, by forcing them to allocate troops and police to protect the gentry and also by undermining the deference some still felt for the old landed families.
http://www.theirishstory.com/2011/06.../#.UFDI4NDLz5h
Another good site: Abandoned Ireland
Yes it was Rockingham House that burned down in 1957 but the OP says it was Rockingham Castle and that photo is not Rockingham Castle. That's the folly castle on the Island, "Rockingham Castle" is on the Shore.
It would have taken some restoring, it was in a sorry state through fire damage when I saw it.
For safety reasons it was demolished and later on, that concrete monstrosity was built on the original site.
The big houses and the vast estates are still there aren't they? They should be disbanded.
