Mount Shannon, icehouse in County Limerick

What is recorded here

Mount Shannon in Mountshannon has an icehouse that became a family mausoleum. Estate agents love saying an outbuilding has ‘endless possibilities’; this is where you take the brochure off them and ask exactly which possibilities they had in mind.

Freestanding former icehouse, erected c. 1800, and converted into a mausoleum in the nineteenth century. Rubble limestone walls. Barrel-vaulted roof. Red brick walls to interior. Square-headed door opening to south elevation.

This icehouse, built for the FitzGibbon family and set in the grounds of Mount Shannon, represents an interesting technical achievement, built with barrel-vaulted roof and robust walls. In the nineteenth century the icehouse was converted into a mausoleum for the Nevins family. Thomas Nevins was a wealthy Irish-American who settled in Mount Shannon with a view to putting his money to use for the benefit of Limerick. The icehouse and mausoleum forms part of a group of demesne related structures, which includes the remains of Mount Shannon house to the north.

From the Buildings of Ireland (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) record 21900617

This does not grant access. Most recorded buildings are privately owned; view them only from public ground unless the owner allows entry.