Category Archives: Gate Lodge

A Gothick Set-Piece



The castellated entrance into the former estate at Tynan Abbey, County Armagh. In his definitive guide to the gate lodges of Ulster (1994) J.A.K. Dean describes this the building as a romantic Gothick set-piece and attributes its design to John Nash who in the early 19th century was working at neighbouring Caledon and who also drew up plans, unexecuted, for Tynan. As Dean notes, the gate is in the form of a double ‘portcullis’ in a Tudor archway recessed below machiolations, the whole framed within a tall screen wall, with the gate keeper’s accommodation found within a polygonal tower at one end. Tynan Abbey itself was gutted by fire in 1981 after its then-owner Sir Norman Stronge and his son James were shot dead by the IRA: the remains of the building were eventually demolished in 1998.


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A Memory of What has Gone



The gates and gatelodge which once led to Ryehill, County Galway. The estate here originally belonged to a branch of the Redington family, whose main residence was elsewhere in the county at Kilcornan. In 1832 Eleanor Redington, who had inherited Ryehill from her father four years earlier, married Stephen Roche of Granagh Castle, county Kilkenny and it may have been around this time that the main house was constructed; of two storeys over raised basement, it was of seven bays, the three central ones forming a shallow bow. The building was unroofed in the 1950s and has now gone, but the gatelodge, believed to date from around the time of the Redington-Roche marriage, serves as a reminder of what once stood here. Of one storey, it has a particularly fine pedimented limestone Doric portico flanked by ashlar quoins. A substantial two-storey extension has been added to the rear in recent years. 


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Through the Gate




After Monday’s post showing the wonderfully restored walled garden at Glenarm Castle, County Antrim, here is the Barbican Gate. Located on the far side of a bridge leading into the village, the building dates from 1825 when designed by Sir William Morrison to accompany the transformation of the main house from a classical residence into a Tudoresque fantasy for his client, Anne Katherine Mac Donnell, Countess of Antrim. Like a miniature castle, the Barbican is replete with turrets, towers and battlements and over the main entrance can be seen a sandstone coat of arms which was originally on the facade of Glenarm Castle and records its construction by Randle Mac Sorley Mac Donnell, first Earl of Antrim and his wife Alice O’Neill. The Barbican Gate has been restored by the Irish Landmark Trust and is now available to rent for short stays. 




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Decent Lodgings



The former gate lodge at Ballyhaise, County Cavan (for the main house, see Mixing the Orders « The Irish Aesthete). Thought to have been designed by William Farrell and to date from c.1840, the single-storey building stands opposite the main gates and directly above the river Annalee. It is of five bays, the three central ones being recessed behind a charming wrought-iron trellis screen. Formerly a gift shop, the lodge is currently being restored to serve as a community space and coffee shop. 



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Pathetic Residue




A gate lodge, almost all that remains of Ballywilliam, a former estate in County Limerick owned by the Maunsell family from the mid-18th century onwards. The main house here has long gone but this pathetic residue serves as a memory of what was once here. In his guide to the lodges of Munster, J.A.K. Dean ascribes the building’s design to Charles Frederick Anderson, and suggests a date after 1824 when Ballywilliam was inherited by George Meares Maunsell. A wonderful example of neo-classical design, the building has a pedimented breakfront supported by Doric columns, all in crisp cut limestone. Flanked by a curtain wall, pedimented projections extend the single-storey lodge to accommodate three rooms, that in the centre having a brick-vaulted ceiling, the floor below now covered in detritus.




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Simple but Effective



The Mucklagh Gate formerly providing access to the Charleville Forest estate (see: The Consequence of Extravagance « The Irish Aesthete). Although the date 1860 is inscribed on a lintel, it is possible that this castellated building was designed at the start of the 19th century by Francis Johnston when he was working on the main castle. The rubble stone entrance, simple but effective, comprises a battlemented carriage gateway flanked by round towers, with pedestrian access via one of the latter.



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Upon Entry



After Monday’s post about the main house at Woodbrook, County Laois, here are the the south gate lodge and gate screen into the estate. The lodge itself is a curious structure which may, or may not, have been designed by James Shiel at the same time as he was coming up with proposals for the house. The facade is dominated by an substantial ashlar pediment with window beneath, the latter flanked by deep recesses, one of which has a door into the building. So generous are the recesses that the pediment has to be supported by a pair of slender iron columns. The gate screen itself, of limestone ashlar and wrought iron, is more standardised with its piers, quadrant walls and arched niches in the outer sections. Here also is an old milestone advising that Dublin lies 47 miles distant.



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Suitably Splendid



The former main entrance to the demesne of Dunsany Castle, County Meath is thought to date from the 1830s and to have been designed by James Shiel, an architect who specialises in castellating any building that stayed still long enough to be garnished with crenelations and battlements. In this instance, a rubble-faced lodge in the form of a small square keep, two storey to the front and three storey to the rear, rises to one side of the buttressed and Tudor-arched carriage gatescreen which is of crisp ashlar. Both here and in the adjacent pedestrian entrance, the decorative ironwork survives, giving the ensemble a suitably splendid appearance.



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Kenure Park



After Monday’s post about the melancholy fate of Kenure Park, County Dublin, here are the other remains of the estate: two gate lodges. The first of these, close to the centre of Rush town and erected around the mid-19th century, stands inside curved quadrant walls of wrought iron concluding in granite piers with vermiculated bands and concluding in spherical finials, this work. believed to date from c1740. The lodge itself, of single storey and three bays with a pedimented central breakfront, appears to be currently unused and suffers from having the render stripped from its exterior. The second lodge, which lies to the north of the now-demolished house, is again of single storey and three bays with a central pedimented breakfront. Thought to date from c.1830, the building retains its render which features boldly vermiculated quoins. In this case, however, the gate piers are in a much poorer state of repair.

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A Gateway to the Past



Following Monday’s text about souvenirs of Dromoland Castle’s earlier history, it is worth looking at another feature on the estate. A previous residence of the O’Brien family, Leamaneh Castle, County Clare has featured here before (see The Legacy of Máire Rúa « The Irish Aesthete). That building was constructed around 1480 by Turlogh O’Brien, King of Thomond, and is said to derive its name from the Irish ‘Leim an eich’ (The horse’s Leap). In 1543, Turlogh’s son, Murrough O’Brien, surrendered the castle and pledged loyalty to the English crown; subsequently, he was created first Earl of Thomond and Baron Inchiquin. In 1648, his descendant Conor O’Brien extended the tower with the addition of a four-storey manor house following his marriage to Máire ní Mahon who on account of her flaming red hair, was commonly known as Máire Rúa (Red Mary).  The couple’s son, Sir Donough O’Brien later abandoned Leamaneh, moving to Dromoland. In 1902, Lucius William O’Brien, 15th Baron Inchiquin, organised for the castle’s 17th century stone gatehouse to be removed and re-erected at the entrance of Dromoland’s walled gardens, where it can still be seen. 



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