Ballykilcavan House — Ballykilcavan

Ballykilcavan House possibly built on site of or in close proximity to the medieval castle (LA014-099----) of Ballykilcavan which was granted to Robert Hartpole in 1576. The house stands on a low rise of ground S of the Stradbally River. An architectural fragment (LA014-099001-) from the castle lies on the ground in the back garden of the house. Around 1639 the lands and castle of Ballykilcavan were acquired by Oliver Walsh who commenced the building of a house (LA014-099002-) on the site of the medieval castle (pers. comm. David Walsh-Kemmis). The first house built by OliverWalsh may have been a fortified house as this was the type of building being constructed in Laois during the first half of the seventeenth century. Today there is no evidence of any fortifications in the upstanding remains of Ballykilcavan House. There are at least three clear building phases visible in the present Ballykilcavan House. The dating of the first phase is uncertain as the building is covered in render and has been altered over the centuries. It is possible that the early 17th century house built by Oliver Walsh c. 1639 is represented by the two projecting flanking towers (Ferguson 2015, 138). However there is no clear evidence of any fortifications in these wings. Alternatively this part of the house may date from the late 17th or early 18th century rather than the first half of the 17th century. The plan layout with projecting flanking towers can also be compared to early 18th century houses such as Linsfort Castle, Co. Donegal which was built in 1720 (Craig 1976, 66). The 1641 deposition of Oliver Walsh records that he recently built a house on his lands in Co. Laois shortly before the outbreak of the rebellion in 1641. In his deposition he states that, ‘he hath bene at the Chardge of above one hundred pounds (as he conceiveth) upon parte of his said Lands in the Queenes County, where he dwelled by buildinge, ditchinge, & other improvements, and nowe receaveth noe benefitte thereby by occasion of this Rebellion’ (TCD, 1641 Depositions Project, online transcript January 1970 [http://1641.tcd.ie/deposition.php?depID<?php echo 815149r234?>] accessed Wednesday 11 November 2015 12:30 PM ) Maurice Craig (1976, 122) compared Ballykilcavan House to Landestown House, Co. Kildare which dates from the first half of the 18th century. According to Bence-Jones (1988, 23) Ballykilcavan House was ‘a 2 storey early or mid-C18 house; entrance front of 7 bays with an open-bed pediment and advanced end bays, rather similar to the min block of Landenstown, Co. Kildare’. The present house was described by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage as following; ‘Detached seven-bay two-storey house with dormer attic, built c.1740, with gable to centre and projecting end bays. Extended, c.1975, with two-storey projecting bay added to left, two-storey range added to right and two-storey return to rear. Double-pitched and hipped slate and replacement fibre-cement tile roof with skylight to rear on a circular plan with lead-sheeted plinth; rolled lead ridge tiles; nap rendered chimneystacks; cast-iron rainwater goods on brackets. Rendered painted walls. Square-headed window openings with limestone sills and six-over-six timber sash windows. Limestone pedimented doorcase to door opening with glazed timber panelled door. Entrance/Stair Hall with Portland stone-flagged floor; carved timber staircase with scrolled handrail; decorative plaster ceiling, c.1790; Dining Room with alcove having flanking pilasters; Drawing Room with white marble fireplace; Rococo plaster frieze; decorative plaster ceiling to landing to first floor. House is set back from road in own grounds; landscaped grounds to site; tarmacadam drive and forecourt to approach. Group of detached outbuildings to site, one with three-bay pedimented advanced bay having round-headed openings to first floor’. www.buildingsofireland.ie The Irish Historic Houses Association recently described Ballykilcavan House as following; ‘Ballykilcavan is a charming house of about 1680, in wooded parkland just east of Stradbally. The estate was acquired by Oliver Walsh in 1639 and the house was probably built by his son, another Oliver, who died in 1697. The house has full-height wings like flanking towers at the corners of the entrance front while similar towers on the rear of the house are now hidden by later extensions. These towers were a feature of fortified houses of the seventeenth century and lingered on into the early eighteenth century as decorative features. The house is comprised of a ground floor (unusually at ground level), an upper floor and an attic storey, where the dormer windows have been replaced by skylights. It has been altered and extended many times over the centuries but many rooms retrain their late-seventeenth century dimensions though the decoration is later. In the 18th century Ballykilcavan was given a more Georgian aspect with a ‘floating’ pediment-gable, a fine cut-stone doorcase and sash windows with thin glazing bars. There is good 1730s plasterwork on the hall ceiling, and even finer work above the staircase and landing. The landing is actually the house’s finest room and originally extended from front to back as a gallery before the main staircase was installed. The first prominent member of the family was Hunt Walsh, who commanded the 28th of Foot at the siege of Quebec and became a general. He was awarded a valuable estate in Prince Edward Island in a lottery of lands after the Seven Years’ War before succeeding his uncle at Ballykilcavan and becoming MP for Maryborough. General Walsh is likely to have commissioned the magnificent 18th century U-shaped stable block. The next owner was the general’s brother Raphael, Dean of Dromore, who began an ambitious remodelling of the house. He planned a new front at the rear with a classical cornice and parapet, and a suite of south-facing rooms. Unfortunately, work was disrupted by the 1798 Rebellion and Dean Walsh only completed half the building vertically, leaving the remainder blank’. Compiled by: Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 11 November 2015