Looking through a wrought-iron gate towards one of the ruined twin gothic lodges of Ballysaggartmore, County Waterford. Now deep in woodland, the estate was developed in the 1830s by Arthur Kiely-Ussher, supposedly spurred on by his wife who wished to surpass the efforts of her brother-in-law at Strancally Castle in the same county. However, the Kiely-Usshers’ ambitions exceeded their revenues and in 1853 Ballysaggartmore was offered for sale by the Encumbered Estates Court. The main house was burnt out in 1922 and now only ancillary buildings such as these gutted lodges remain to testify to the folly of the Kiely-Usshers.
More on Ballysaggartmore soon.