Rush Hall Court — Rush Hall

Rush Hall appears to have been the residence of the Ruish family in the first quarter of the seventeenth century and later through marriage became the residence of the Coote family (Brewer 1826, vol. 2, 90). In the first quarter of the seventeenth century, Sir Charles Coote, 1st Earl of Mountrath, married Mary Ruish, the second daughter and co-heiress of Sir Francis Ruish, of Ruish Hall, Co. Laois and of Castle Jordan, Co. Meath, who was M.P. for the King’s Co. [Offaly] and of the privy council in the reign of King James I (Burke 1866, 134; Lodge 1789 vol. 2, 77). Sir Francis Ruish of Castlejordan and Ruish Hall died in 1623 and was succeeded by his daughter Mary who around this time married Sir Charles Coote (Berwick 1819, 45). According to other sources the lands of Rush Hall then known as Ballymoy belonged to the Costigan family who lost these lands after the Irish Confederate Wars of 1641-1652 to Major Thomas Davis. The 1659 Census of Ireland lists Thomas Davis as the chief tenant or landowner of the townland of 'Ballemoy' [Rush Hall] (Pender 2002, 496). This person appears to have been Major Thomas Davis a soldier in the Cromwellian army who had received these lands which formerly belonged to the Costigans (Prendergast 1887, 72). Shortly after this date, possibly in 1660, Major Thomas Davis sold these lands to Sir Charles Coote, then Earl of Mountrath (Prendergast 1887, 72). In 1660, Sir Charles Coote of Ruish-Hall was appointed Colonel of a Regiment of Horse and one of the Lord Justices, he died a year later in 1661. By 1789, Ruish Hall was the only residence of the Coote family (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 182-183). Rush Hall was abandoned shortly after 1789 and became a ruin, the remains of which are still visible today (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 183). Carrigan suggested that this house was built c.1660 (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 183), it is possible that the house was built in the first quarter of the seventeenth century by Sir Francis Ruishe and possibly modified in 1660 by Sir Charles Coote. In 1837, Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Ireland suggested that the fortified house was built around 1641 when Sir Charles Coote built Castle Cuffe (LA002-008----) in Co. Laois (Lewis 1837, vol. 2, 477). The townland of Rush Hall was known in medieval times as Ballymoy. According to the Down Survey (1655-6) maps there were 'at Bally [moy]more [Rushall], Garrankiel and Clartane, two ruined castles with several houses and cabbins' (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 182). Rush Hall Court may have been built on the site of one of these 'two castles' (LA016-026001-) (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 183). Alternatively the house at Ruish Hall may have been one of the castles described in the Down Survey. The diamond-set chimney stacks, large floor to ceiling windows, the double-pile floor plan are all features which indicate that this house dates from the middle to the second half of the seventeenth century. The diamond set-chimney stacks are similar to the stacks found on Derryhivenny Castle (GA118-035----), Co. Galway which dates from c. 1643 and at Grange Castle (KD002-007----), Co. Kildare. There is no evidence of any fortification in the upstanding remains of Rush Hall Court which may be better classified as a seventeenth century house defended by a large bawn with pentagonal shaped flanking towers. The evidence of a single fragment of cut and dressed stone along with the historical references suggests that this house may have replaced or incorporated fragments of an earlier seventeenth century house built by the Ruish family. Carrigan described the building in 1905 as, 'a large double house built east and west. The front wall, facing south, is razed to the ground; it was 60 ft. [18.2m] long; the remaining side-wall is 34 ft. [10.3m] high. The chimneys are massive, project from the gables, and are surmounted by double rows of lozenge-shaped chimney stacks. The building has not a single piece of cut stone, and appears to have been put together hurriedly. There was a large courtyard attached, the walls of which are still standing' (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 183). The seventeenth century house is situated on a commanding height immediately N of the main road from Borris-in-Ossory to Mountrath offering excellent views from E through S to W. Rush Hall Inn (LA016-025002-) is located 250m to the SW and the village of Castletown is 3.7km to the NE. Today, all that remains are the poorly preserved ivy-covered ruins of a seventeenth century three storey high double pile house with fortified bawn (LA016-026003-) defended by polygonal shaped corner towers. The poorly preserved remains along with the ivy-covered walls makes it difficult to identify the original floor plan of this house which appears to have been a large double-pile house of rectangular plan. The present ruins of Rush Hall Court comprises the remains of a plain three-storey seventeenth century double-pile limestone house, protected on its NE side by an impressive bawn (LA016-026003-) enclosing a sizeable area. The owner of the house explained that there was formerly an enclosed and cobbled courtyard with outbuildings adjoining the house on its NW side which was unfortunately destroyed in 1977. This area is now concreted and contains several modern farm buildings. A possible well appears to be indicated on the 1838 edition of the OS six-inch map in the centre of this bawn area to the NW of the house. The poorly preserved ivy-covered three storey house possibly with dormer attic consists of a large rectangular block with its long axis running SW-NE measuring internally 28.7m SW-NE x 7.2m N-S, the dividing spine wall of this double-pile building survives intact while the external N and S side walls of the house no longer survives and the NE and SW gables (T 0.95m) are partially upstanding. The poor condition of the upstanding masonry of this ivy-covered building gives the house the appearance of possessing an L-shaped plan. The walls of the house are built with intermittently coursed limestone rubble with larger stones in use as quoins particularly at the SW corner. There is no evidence of any cut stone in the SW gable of the house. The dividing or spine wall (T 0.8m) of the main body of the house survives intact, along with the NE and SW gables which are covered in ivy making detailed examination impossible. Only a short fragment of the S wall return survives of the mainly destroyed S wall of the house on the SE (L 0.5m) and SW (L 1.5m) angles. The SW gable of the house stands today three storeys high and appears to have supported two A-shaped roofs which were supported on the dividing spine wall of the house. A tall rectangular chimney crowned with two rows of triple diamond-shaped chimney stacks rise from the top of the SW gable where it intersects with the dividing spine wall of the house. An unusual feature visible in the external face of the SW gable at second floor level is the partial infill of an embrasure which supports the impressive chimney stacks. This infill is set back from the external face of the gable which creates a shallow external recessed panel in the SW gable. To the S of this recessed feature are the remains of the N splay of a similar large opening which could have been an opening for a window now destroyed. This recessed panel with rubble infill supporting the tall chimney stacks may be evidence that the chimney stacks are a secondary feature that were added to the house in the second half of the seventeenth century. Another possibility is that this is a construction feature of how the chimney stacks were built and therefore contemporaneous with the construction of the house. There is evidence of a large broken out window embrasure at first floor level in the SW gable on the N side of the spine wall which provided light for a chamber on the N side of the spine wall. Directly above this at second floor level there are the possible remains of the S splay of a de