Castle Farm, County Longford, a handsome early 19th century residence that is believed to have been built on the site of, and may incorporate elements of, a late-medieval tower house originally belonging to the O’Farrell family. The Journal of the Royal Geological Society of Ireland 1862-64 noted that ‘the old castle of Ardanragh has been partially converted into a house, and is tenanted by Mr. Shaw, an educated and intelligent man, who farms the adjacent ground.’ A fine building in need of some attention.
Austere but could be a fine property.
Not beyond rescue, provided you have deep pockets and cooperation rather than hindrance from “them” in the planning system. I would certainly remove the TV aerial before it wrecks the chimneystack.
“Red si more durable…” -the Rev. Playfair in “The Quiet Man.”
Hi, who are the owners? My company, Vernacular Conservation Ltd specialize in saving these types of structures, please contact us on vernacon.ltd@gmail.com thanks
Thank you for getting in touch. Unfortunately I don’t know who might be the owner of this building – I was in the area and saw it, so stopped to admire. I hope you do find out (and are able to carry out remedial work…)
Typical of many Irish houses of the more ‘prosperous’ farmer. Sadly, as one traverses the country you see numerous homes like this abandoned. Often there is a modern bungalow in the vicinity which now serves the needs of the family. The problem is purely economical. On balance it was generally assumed that a new build would be less expensive to build and maintain than renovate an existing vernacular dwelling (in fairness, this is partly true). The undemanding planning system in Ireland facilitated this & thus now we see a proliferation of bungalows dispersed throughout the rural landscape, often with the original dwelling, now derelict, adjacent.
If such buildings are to be saved there needs to be an incentive to restore to ensure the process does not become a financial burden. There is no doubt that, whatever our sentimental attachment to these old buildings, the restoration process is often prohibitively expensive, and often the very nature of such structures means a much reduced energy efficiency compared with a newer building.
I am sure that many followers of the Irish Aesthete, like myself, find buildings such as the one above aesthetically pleasing, and would very much like to see dwellings like this restored as family homes, but if this is to happen there needs to be fundamental change in approach to the restoration process.