Bailieborough Castle was located in
Bailieborough,
County Cavan
County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is base ...
,
Ireland. It was built in an enclosed
demesne
A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...
by 1629. Also known as Castle House, Lisgar House, or simply 'The Castle', the
country house
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
was located just to the south-west of Castle Lough in what is now known as Bailieborough Demesne, on the north-western edge of the town. It was largely destroyed by fire in the early 20th century and is now totally demolished.
There is a
walking trail around part of the former castle's property.
History
William Bailie
William Bailie (died ) was a native of Ayrshire, Scotland. In 1610, under the Ulster Plantation, William was given a grant of in the proportion of Toneregie, now Tandragee, in the Barony of Clankee in County Cavan
County Cavan ( ; gle, Co ...
, a
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
"undertaker" or
planter, was granted the lands of Tonergie (Tandragee) in
East Breffnie by
James I in 1610 on condition he enclosed a demesne, built a fortified house and settled on the estate a number of Scottish or English families. This he did by 1629. During the rising of 1641, the house was attacked and occupied for a month by a troop of Irish soldiers under Colonel Hugh O'Reilly.
William Bailie died c.1648 and the estate passed to his son, also
William Bailie
William Bailie (died ) was a native of Ayrshire, Scotland. In 1610, under the Ulster Plantation, William was given a grant of in the proportion of Toneregie, now Tandragee, in the Barony of Clankee in County Cavan
County Cavan ( ; gle, Co ...
, the
Bishop of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh. On the bishop's death in 1664 the estate was inherited by his only daughter Jane, who had married James Hamilton. James was succeeded by his son Henry, the M.P. for
Cavan
Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...
who was killed at the
siege of Limerick during the Jacobite war. His successor was his son, another James Hamilton, who sold the property in 1724 to Major Charles Stewart - nephew and co-heir of General
William Steuart - and left the area.
Charles Stewart died in 1740 and left the estate to his son, William Stewart, who was
High Sheriff of Cavan for 1749 and MP for Cavan county (1766–1768). He was followed by his son Charles, who was also MP for Cavan (1783–1793). He was killed in an accident in 1795, when the estate passed to a nephew, Thomas Charles Stewart Corry, who sold it to
Colonel William Young in 1814.
Colonel Young laid out the town of Bailieborough in its present location and was made 1st Baronet Young of Bailieborough in 1821. He died in 1848 and was succeeded by his son
John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar, who was at one time
Chief Secretary for Ireland
The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant", from the early 19th century un ...
and, at a later date,
Governor General of Canada. He was made 1st Baron Lisgar in 1870 and in his retirement renovated the house. After Lady Lisgar's death in 1895, the estate went into Chancery and some of the land was sold to the tenants under the
Ashbourne Act
The Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act 1885 ( 48 & 49 Vict. c.73), commonly known as the Ashbourne Act is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed by a Conservative Party government under Lord Salisbury. It extended the terms that had b ...
.
The house itself was sold to
Sir Stanley Cochrane, who later sold it to one of his nephews, W.L.B. Cochrane, a Bailieborough solicitor. The bulk of the land was sold in 1910 to the Forestry Division of the Department of Lands. In 1915, the house and the remaining 100 acres of land were sold to a religious order, the
Marist Brothers of Athlone. Several of the brothers are buried in a walled enclosure in the vicinity. In 1918, the house burnt down and although the brothers continued in a rebuilt section until 1936, they then decided to sell the house to the Department of Lands and leave. The house was demolished soon after.
Walking trail
A
tourist trail
Trail blazing or way marking is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail.
A blaz ...
, known as the 'Castle Lake loop', routes around Castle Lake and into Castle Lake Forest.
[ The route, which is suitable for cycling or walking, begins and ends at the car park on the lakeshore. It passes the graves of the Marist brothers who occupied Bailieborough Castle for a time before its eventual demolition.]
References
External links
Coillte.ie - Bailieborough - Castle Lake Walks amenity
{{Authority control
Castles in County Cavan
Houses completed in 1629
1629 establishments in Ireland
Former castles in the Republic of Ireland