Bessborough House is a large Georgian house near

Piltown Piltown (), historically known as Ballypoyle, is a village in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It lies on the R698 regional road, which was the N24 national primary road before the locality was bypassed in 2002. Approaching Piltown from Carrick-on- ...

, Co. Kilkenny, and was the family seat of the Ponsonby dynasty,

Earls of Bessborough Earl of Bessborough is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1739 for Brabazon Ponsonby, 2nd Viscount Duncannon, who had previously represented Newtownards and County Kildare in the Irish House of Commons. In 1749, he was given t ...

. Originally built in the 1740s for the 1st Earl of Bessborough. It was designed by

Francis Bindon Francis Bindon (c.1690 – 1765) was a popular architect and painter in 18th century Ireland. Bindon was highly regarded by his contemporaries and was commissioned to design buildings and paint portraits for some of Ireland's most prominent fig ...

. The house was gutted by fire in February 1923, during the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United ...

. However, it was rebuilt in late 1929 for The 9th Earl of Bessborough, who served as the 14th

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...

in the early 1930s. The 9th Lord Bessborough sold the house in the late 1930s. Kildalton Castle and estate were owned by the Dalton Family, and was awarded to Colonel John Ponsonby, one of the leaders of the

Cromwellian invasion of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland wi ...

. The Oblate Fathers who established a seminary there in 1941, over the following 30 years some 360 were ordained for the order there, they would study philosophy at UCD and theology at the Our Lady's Scholasticate in Bessbrough. Bessborough House was sold by the Oblates in 1971 to the Department of Agriculture and was opened in 1980 as Kildalton Agricultural College.

References

Buildings and structures in County Kilkenny Palladian architecture in Ireland {{Ireland-struct-stub