Clonyn Castle also known as Delvin Castle, is a Victorian country house situated in

Delvin Delvin () is a village in County Westmeath, Ireland; it is located on the N52 road at a junction with the N51 to Navan. The town is from Mullingar (along the N52). The word Delvin comes from Delbhna. That tribe settled in what is present-d ...

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces o ...

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 ...

some 18 km from

Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, with a population of 20,928 in the 2016 census. The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543 proclaimed Westmeat ...

along the N52. It is a square, symmetrical, two-storey castle-like building of cut limestone with four tall, round corner towers at each corner. The interior has a large two-storey hall with a gallery and arcading. It was one of the last Victorian baronial castles to be built in Ireland. A golf course open to the public lies behind the castle, 500m from the centre of Delvin.

History

An early castle (now a ruin in the centre of the village of Delvin) is believed to have been built in

1181 Year 1181 ( MCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * King Philip II (Augustus) annuls all loans made by Jews to Christians, and takes a per ...

Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath, 4th Baron Lacy (; before 1135 – 25 July 1186), was an Anglo-Norman landowner and royal office-holder. He had substantial land holdings in Herefordshire and Shropshire. Following his participation in the Norman Inva ...

for his brother-in-law, Sir Gilbert de Nugent. Sir Gilbert de Nugent, originally from the

Nogent-le-Rotrou Nogent-le-Rotrou () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture and is located on the river Huisne, 56 kilometres west of Chartres on the RN23 and 150 kilometres south west of Paris, to which it is l ...

area in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, came to Ireland with Hugh de Lacy in 1171. Sir Gilbert was granted the title Baron of Delvin within the Lordship of Meath. A second castle was built in 1639 by

Richard Nugent, 1st Earl of Westmeath Richard Nugent, 1st Earl of Westmeath (1583–1642) was an Irish nobleman and politician of the seventeenth century. He was imprisoned for plotting against the English Crown in 1607, but soon obtained a royal pardon, and thereafter was, in gener ...

, on elevated ground overlooking the village of Delvin and may be referred to as either Delvin or Clonyn Castle. When Cromwell's army approached Nugent caused the house to be burnt down and fled to Galway. The castle was restored by his grandson and occupied until 1860. The present house was built a short distance away from the previous castle by Lord Greville and his wife Lady Rosa. Following the death of

George Nugent, 1st Marquess of Westmeath George Thomas John Nugent, 1st Marquess of Westmeath (17 July 1785 – 5 May 1871), styled Lord Delvin between 1792 and 1814 and known as The Earl of Westmeath between 1814 and 1821, was an Anglo-Irish peer. Background Nugent was born in Cl ...

in 1871, Clonyn had passed to Lady Rosa, his only surviving child. She had married Fulke Southwell Greville-Nugent, 1st Baron Greville, who in 1866 had assumed by Royal Licence the additional surname of Nugent. This latest building remained a Nugent residence until 1922, when Patrick Nugent sold it and moved to Scotland. It was afterwards home to a community of Australian nuns. In the post-World War II period, at the instigation of Rabbi

Solomon Schonfeld Rabbi Solomon Schonfeld (21 February 1912 – 6 February 1984) was a British Rabbi who was honoured as a British Hero of the Holocaust for saving the lives of thousands of Jews. Early life and career Schonfeld was the second son of Rabbi Av ...

, the castle served briefly as a home for Jewish children, most of them orphans of the Holocaust. Manchester businessman and philanthropist Yankel Levy was persuaded to buy the castle and associated land for £30,000 and some 100 children aged between 5 and 17 were temporarily housed before rejoining their families or starting new lives in England, America or Israel. Levy was consequently bankrupted. It is currently privately owned by Mrs Dillon.

Other Westmeath Castles

* Ballinlough Castle *

Killua Castle Killua Castle, and the nearby Raleigh Obelisk, are situated near Clonmellon, County Westmeath, Ireland. The present house was built in about 1780 by Sir Benjamin Chapman and consisted of a hall, dining room, oval drawing room, breakfast parlour ...

Knockdrin Castle Knockdrin () is a townland and Electoral division (Ireland), electoral division that is 5.6 kilometers northeast of Mullingar, in County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of the Westmeath Hunt, and its most notable buildin ...

Tyrrellspass Castle Tyrrellspass Castle, dating back to circa 1411, is situated in the town of Tyrrellspass, County Westmeath, Ireland. It is the only remaining castle of the Tyrrells, who came to Ireland around the time of the Norman Invasion. Architecture Th ...

Tullynally Castle Tullynally Castle, also known as Pakenham Hall, is a country house situated some 2 km from Castlepollard on the Coole village road in County Westmeath, Ireland. The Gothic-style building has over 120 rooms and has been home to the Paken ...

External links and references

The housing of the Jewish refugees
{{Coord, 53, 37, N, 7, 06, W, display=title, region:IE_type:landmark_source:GNS-enwiki Castles in County Westmeath Archaeological sites in County Westmeath National Monuments in County Westmeath