Dripsey Castle is a
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 ...
in the townland of
Carrignamuck
Carrignamuck () is a townland within the civil parish of Magourney and catholic parish of Aghabullogue, County Cork, Ireland. It is 363.76 acres in size, situate north-east of Coachford village, and north-west of Dripsey village.
One of the earl ...
, situated north-east of
Coachford
Coachford () is a village in County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the north side of the River Lee (Ireland), River Lee. The village is located in the civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Magourney. Coachford is part ...
village and north-west of
Dripsey
Dripsey () is a village in County Cork on the R618 regional road around west of Cork City. It is situated on a tributary of the River Lee, the Dripsey River. It is in the Catholic parish of Inniscarra. The Dripsey area hosts a water treatment ...
village. The house and demesne were dominant features in the rural landscape of Ireland, throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Location often reflected the distribution of better land, and this is evidenced in mid-Cork, where many of these houses are situated along the valley of the
River Lee
The River Lee (Irish: ''An Laoi'') is a river in Ireland. It rises in the Shehy Mountains on the western border of County Cork and flows eastwards through Cork, where it splits in two for a short distance, creating an island on which Cork's ...
and its tributaries.
The
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) maintains a central database of the architectural heritage of the Republic of Ireland covering the period since 1700 in complement to the Archaeological Survey of Ireland, which focuses on ar ...
describes it as a detached, seven-bay, three-storey country house, built ''c''. 1740, and having a central pedimented three-bay breakfront, a canted bay window on its southern side, and a three-bay, two-storey, flat-roofed wing on its northern side with recent extension. A farm complex of single and double-storey buildings lies to the west, having a central pedimented breakfront which reflects the design of the main house. Building continuity is evident, from the eighteenth century to the later north-wing addition of the twentieth century. Historic features include timber sash windows, a
Venetian window
A Venetian window (also known as a Serlian window) is a large tripartite window which is a key element in Palladian architecture. Although Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554) did not invent it, the window features largely in the work of the Italian a ...
in the breakfront, and a timber-panelled door. Dripsey Castle forms part of a larger group of demesne structures along the Dripsey River. The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork describes the house as being of late-eighteenth-century appearance, with the central door approached by a flight of stone steps.
Dripsey Castle originally dates from the 15th century, when it was commissioned by Cormac McTeige MacCarthy, 9th
Lord of Muskerry, who also built
Blarney
Blarney () is a suburban town within the administrative area of Cork City in Ireland. It is located approximately north-west of the city centre. It is the site of Blarney Castle, home of the legendary Blarney Stone. Blarney is part of the Dáil ...
and
Kilcrea Castles.
It was once the residence of the Colthurst family. Lewis (1837) describes it as 'Dripsey House, the residence of J.H. Colthurst, Esq'. The Ordnance Survey name book (c. 1840) refers both to the 'house and demesne' of Dripsey Castle as a gentleman's seat and to John Henry Colthurst, Esq. The mid-nineteenth-century Primary Valuation of Ireland (
Griffith's Valuation) records John H. Colthurst as occupying ''c''. 194 acres in Carrignamuck townland, consisting of a 'house, offices, and land', with the lessor being Margaret Colthurst.
Descendants of the Colthurst family occupied Dripsey Castle from the late eighteenth century to the early twentieth century. John Colthurst of Dripsey Castle married Jane Bowen of Oak Grove,
Carrigadrohid
Carrigadrohid () is a townland and village in the parish of Aghinagh, County Cork, Ireland. It is situated on the north bank of the River Lee, with the nearby village of Canovee to the south. Carrigadrohid is part of the Dáil constituency of ...
, Cork. A grandson of theirs, John Henry, resided at Dripsey Castle and another, George, at
Carhue House. Their granddaughter Peggy married Alfred Greer and they were residing at Dripsey Castle during the 1870s, with Greer having purchased part of the Dripsey estate, advertised for sale in October 1851, and comprising over 1900 acres. Their daughter Georgina succeeded to Dripsey Castle, and in 1878 married Robert Walter Travers Bowen, who took the additional name of Colthurst in 1882. It was their son, Captain John Bowen-Colthurst, who ordered the shooting of
Francis Sheehy-Skeffington in 1916. He was court-martialled, but successfully pleaded insanity. The family were subsequently boycotted, and ultimately left Dripsey Castle. The O'Shaughnessy family bought the castle in 1922. It was sold in 2015 for €2m to 'an overseas buyer'.
The Irish Tourist Association survey of 1944 held Dripsey Castle to be the principal residence in the parish, and built ''c''. 1746 by the Colthurst family. Within the drawing-room was a carved marble mantlepiece, and in the breakfast room a bookcase said to be made from timber originating in Carrigadrohid Castle.
At the entrance gate is a detached, single-storey gate lodge, built ''c''. 1850, and a circular ornamental tower (
folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings.
Eighteenth-cent ...
) built ''c''. 1840 having a crenellated parapet and rubble stone walls.
Within a wood a short distance to the south is a square tower of roughly same date as the house.
Dripsey Castle remains a private residence, and is not accessible to the public, but its gardens are sometimes used for local events.
See also
*
Dripsey Castle Bridge
Dripsey Castle Bridge is situated north-east of Coachford village, north-west of Dripsey village, and is depicted on both the 1841 and 1901 surveyed OS maps. It is located at the meeting point of Carrignamuck and Meeshal townlands, and lies w ...
*
Trafalgar Monument, Carrignamuck
The Trafalgar Monument is an ornamental tower (or folly) in Carrignamuck townland, north of Coachford village, County Cork, Ireland. It was built by Nicholas Colthurst, who served during the Napoleonic Wars, and was a midshipman aboard during ...
*
Colthurst's Bridge
Colthurst's Bridge is situated north of Coachford village in County Cork, Ireland, east of Aghabullogue village, and is depicted on both the 1841 and 1901 surveyed OS maps. The bridge is located at the meeting point of the townlands of Carr ...
*
Larchfield House, Carrignamuck
References
{{Reflist
Country houses in Ireland