The stable block on the former estate of Doory Hall, County Longford. The lands here were granted by Charles II to the Jessop family, said to have moved to this country from Derbyshire. The long-forgotten 19th century writer and novelist George H Jessop (who wrote the libretto for Charles Villiers Stanford’s 1896 comic opera Shamus O’Brien) was born here, together with his sister, poet and story writer Mary Kathleen Jessop Another branch of the same family owned an estate in the same county, Mount Jessop but like Doory Hall this long ago went to ruin.
The main house at Doory Hall, now just a shell, is thought to have been designed in the 1820s by John Hargrave, a son of the successful Cork architect Abraham Hargrave; the younger man was responsible for designing a number of buildings, including churches and glebe houses, in County Longford. The stable block is also attributed to him, but could be earlier; the 1820s house replaced an earlier one on the site, so perhaps this is a residue of the previous development? Whatever the past history, at the moment its future does not look promising.
I feel sorry for the cattle – they are existing in this sorry state as well!
We were discussing Doory Hall just yesterday, as we were hoping to take a descendant of the Jessop family to see it when she visits from Australia in a couple of months. I hope it survives that long!
Curious synchronicity! The shell of the house still stands and looks to be in a better state than the old stable yard. There are also the remains of a walled garden and other ancillary buildings…
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Thank you, Chris
My great,great,great grandmother was a Miss Frances Flood,then was a widow and Mrs Solly.and then she became Mrs Jessop.There is a large memorial in.Worcester Cathedral to her first husband.She had the money for the new house.Never understood why the Jessops left and went to Dublin.Perhaps they went bust after the Famine?
[…] of Doory Hall, County Longford, the stable block of which was discussed here some time ago (see Future Uncertain « The Irish Aesthete). Doory Hall belonged for several centuries to the Jessop family who had settled here in the second […]
Jessop, Elizabeth (1693-1766)
is my 6th great-grandmother wish i had the founds to renovate it
My family bought Doory hall in the early 1920s. They were Farrells – the man was Edward and his wife was Ellen. I believe that Ellen bought the demesne for 500 pounds – why her and not Edward (Ned), I have no idea. Ned was master of Ballymahon Workhouse (in the 1911 census when he was just 23 years old). Ned was my grandfathers brother.
The lands that the house sits on have been historically Farrell land until it was taken from them by the English. I wonder if that is why Ellen and Ned bought it.
They had three children, all died childless. The house and lands were left to a local family – the Gerritys, again why, I do not know.