Ballyoughter is an 18th-century house and park situated about 1.5 km south of

Elphin Elphin may refer to: Places Canada * Elphin, Ontario, a hamlet in North Sherbrooke, Lanark County Ireland * Elphin, County Roscommon, Ireland * Diocese of Elphin, a diocese in Ireland * Roman Catholic Diocese of Elphin Scotland * Elphin, Highl ...

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The earliest historical reference to Ballyoughter is in the Annals of Connaught which records that in 1542 Ulick Burke of Clanrickarde ‘took’ the residence of O Flannigan at Ballyoughter while on a military expedition in ‘Lower Connaught’.The Annals of Connaught
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The Goldsmith family acquired land at Ballyoughter in the 17th century. According to Prior, Robert Goldsmith the grandfather of the poet, playwright and novelist

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his pl ...

was the first of the family to settle at Ballyoughter. Charles Goldsmith the poet's father was born at Ballyoughter in 1690.

lived at Ballyoughter with his uncle John Goldsmith for two years in the 1730s while he attended Elphin Diocesan School. It is believed that it was at Ballyoughter that he heard the blind harpist and composer

Turlough O'Carolan Turlough O'Carolan ( ga, Toirdhealbhach Ó Cearbhalláin ; 167025 March 1738) was a blind Celtic harper, composer and singer in Ireland whose great fame is due to his gift for melodic composition. Although not a composer in the classical sense, ...

often referred to as the last of the Irish bards. The Goldsmiths continued in possession of Ballyoughter until 1883 when another John Goldsmith sold the property. Also in the parish of Elphin is Smith Hill where

's mother Anne Jones was born.

References

* Prior, James, ''Life of Goldsmith'', two volumes (London: John Murray, 1837) *Irving, Washington, ''Life of Oliver Goldsmith'' *Connellan, J. A., ''Oliver Goldsmith of Elphin'', Published for the Goldsmith Society (1935) *Gwynn, Stephen, ''Oliver Goldsmith'' (London: Butterworth, 1935) *Kelly, J. J., ''The Early Haunts of Oliver Goldsmith'' (Dublin: Sealy, Briers & Walker, 1900)
National University of Ireland Galway: Landed Estates Database
{{coord missing, County Roscommon Buildings and structures in County Roscommon