Castle — Johnstown (forth By.)

Rathaspick parish was held by the Codd family in the 14th and 15th century, when the Esmond family held a small acreage (Brooks 1950, 124-6), but by the 17th century the Esmonds had displaced the Codds. According to the Civil Survey (1655-6) William Esmond owned 185 acres at Johnstown, 94 acres at Whitestown and 57 acres at Scaughmolin, in Rathaspick parish in 1641, while Nicholas Codd owned 80 acres at Rathaspick and Ballykelly (Simington 1953, 299). William Esmond was listed for transportation with 24 dependents in 1653 (Hore 1900-11, vol. 6, 503). In that year the lands were granted to Col. John Overstreet, the governor of Duncannon fort (WX044-015001-), and his widow later married Edmund Withers c. 1668. The estate then passed to Col. John Reynolds, whose daughter Mary married John Grogan, of merchant stock from Wexford town, and the estate remained in the Grogan family into the 19th century. Hamilton Knox Grogan Morgan, who died in 1854, extended the castle into the fine neo-Gothic mansion that survives to-day, and also landscaped the grounds. In 1948 the estate was handed over to the Irish State when the castle became an Agricultural Institute (Jeffrey 1979, 20-2). The castle and grounds are still maintained by Teagasc, while the Irish Agricultural Museum is located in the farm buildings c. 100m E of the castle. See this web-site for Johnstown castle, gardens and the Agricultural Museum: http://www.irishagrimuseum.ie/johnstown-castle-gardens/ The castle is situated on a slight rise c. 50m N of a N-S lake (dims c. 400m N-S; c. 30-80m E-W) that is probably artificial but was extant on the 1839 ed. of the OS 6-inch map. A tower house attributed to the early 16th century (Jeffrey 1979, 20 22) was removed c. 1945. The castle was expanded c. 1700 with the erection of tower connected to the original tower by a gallery. Further extension took place in the 19th century in a neo Gothic style but part of the 17th century building is thought to be incorporated into the NE front. See the attached view from the Down Survey parish map (N at bottom) reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Ireland (Ms 725). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1996). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload/revision: 27 May, 2013