Formoyle Ho. in ruins — Formoyle (newcomen)

On a very gentle SW-facing slope on a prominent rise in rolling pasture. This house, which appears to be of multiperiod construction, may initially have been built around 1620 as the Commissioners for the Plantation of Longford note that Thomas Clarke, who received a grant of 500 acres of land, 'hath begun a good stone house which is two stories high and will finish it shortly, having all the materials ready for it in place' (BL, Milles Collection Vol. II, MS 4756, f. 126; Kenny 1995, 52). In 1642 it was the home of Sir Silvester Browne of Formoyle. In May of that year it is recorded that Dame Mary Browne, his wife, stated that Irishmen came 'to the gate of the said Fermoil, and desired to have them opened, which she refusing, they came over the fence, or great ditch [LF021-010001-], into the base court' (Hickson 1884, vol. 1, 358). Described by Nicholas Dowdall in 1682 as 'now the state of Sir John Parker, Knt. where his father John, Lord ArchB[ishop] of Dublin, built a fair house with stables and all necessary houses and planted a pleasure Garden [LF021-010003-] and Orchards’ (Gillespie and Moran 1991, 208). By 1681 the house had become a weekend or countryside retreat where one could 'rest contented and enjoy the full pleasure and satisfaction of the country in hunting venison and then eating it' (Kenny 1995, 58). This house may have been built on the site of or may have incorporated the earlier house. In 1893 the house was described as a 'modern erection but of interest in many ways, one being that the two ends of the house have no windows at less than 30 feet from the ground' (ibid., 52). An old black and white photograph indicates it was a double-pile, two-storey house with six chimney stacks. The dormer attic was lit by flat-headed windows located on either side of two tall, rectangular, gable-ended chimney stacks. A central block was surmounted by two more chimney stacks (ibid., 49). It was partially demolished in 1946 (ibid., 52). The house was orientated on a NE-SW axis. Only the SW gable (ext. L 11.35m; wall T 2.1m) and the return of the NW wall survive. It is constructed with limestone rubble and a cut-stone plinth (H 0.6m) runs along its base. Internally a spine wall (T 0.73m) indicates that it was divided into two rooms. The SE room (Wth 4.5m) has a large centrally located fireplace at ground-floor level, while at first-floor level there is a large, blocked-up, floor-to-ceiling window off-centre to the NW. High up in the wall, at attic level, single-light windows are visible on either side of the destroyed chimney stack. An outhouse is built up against the internal face of the NW room (Wth 4.45m). At first-floor level there is evidence of a centrally located fireplace. The return of the NW wall (T 0.7m; L 0.4m) indicates that the house had large, floor-to-ceiling windows at the ground and first-floor levels. No other features are visible. The associated gardens (LF021-010003-) adjoined the house to the SW and a possible enclosure (LF021-010001-), which may have been reused as a bawn or courtyard, is located c. 130m to the WNW. A deer park (LF021-062----) is also associated. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 17 December 2012