Armorial plaque in Clonyn

Clonyn House (WM013-014----) and its landscaped gardens are described in the terrier of the 1654-57 Down map of Castletown parish which recorded that the in ‘Clonyn there is the ruines of a fayre house with a fewe backroomes Wherein the Earle of West Meath dwells with a faire orchard and a garden with a grove of trees’ (NLI, MS 723-4). Clonyn House is not depicted on the Down Survey maps. This 'fayre house' was probably built on the site of or incorporated the medieval castle (WM013-014001-) belonging to the Nugent family. Annotated on the 1838 ed. OS 6-inch map as Clonyn House and depicted as a ruinous structure on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map. Present remains consist of the ruins of an ivy-clad multi-period house. The core of the building consists of a late seventeenth century five bay gabled house standing two storeys high. This central house has been extended to the N and S. A square turret built on to the S side of the range bears a plaque with the Nugent crest (WM013-014002-). Clonyn House described by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) as following; 'Remains of earlier five-bay two-storey house over basement house with attic level to the rear (west), built c.1680, having remains of pitched roof and stone chimneystacks, one set diagonally to roofline. Plaque with crest of Nugent Family, dated 1680, to façade. Various later extensions to house dating from the early-eighteenth century to the early-nineteenth century (early-nineteenth century additions in a Georgian Gothic-style). Extensive ranges of ruinous outbuildings to the north of the earlier house' (www.buildingsofireland.ie). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien and Frank Coyne Date of upload: 2 August 2017