Dangan Castle is a former stately home in

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

, Ireland, which is now in a state of ruin. It is situated by Dangan Church on the

Trim Road Trim Road ( Ottawa Road #57) is an arterial road in the eastern end of Orléans, Ontario, a suburb of Ottawa. It serves as the only road access to Petrie Island and its public beach in the Ottawa River. From Petrie Island, Trim runs south thro ...

. The castle is the former seat of the Wesley (Wellesley) family and is located outside the village of

Summerhill Summerhill or Summer Hill may refer to the following places: Australia * Summer Hill, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney *Summerhill, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston * Summerhill (Mount Duneed), a prefabricated iron cottage in Victoria Canada * ...

. It was the childhood home of

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister o ...

Wellesleys

The Wesley (later spelled and pronounced Wellesley) family had occupied the land since the conquests of

Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...

. The medieval castle, which was once their seat, now exists only as a ruined tower. The modern house was originally built in the early 1700s as Dangan House by Richard Colley, who demolished the old castle. Colley had inherited the estate from the childless Gerald Wesley, on condition that he changed his surname. He became the Right Honourable

Richard Wesley, 1st Baron Mornington Richard Colley Wesley, 1st Baron Mornington ( – 31 January 1758) was an Irish peer, best remembered as the grandfather of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Biography Richard Colley (as he was christened) was born around 1690, the son ...

, and spent a considerable sum of money improving and maintaining the gardens of 600 Irish acres. These included a lake covering 26 acres, with a fort, several islands, and several ships. These were described in detail by

Mary Delany Mary Delany ( Granville; 14 May 1700 – 15 April 1788) was an English artist, letter-writer, and bluestocking, known for her "paper-mosaicks" and botanic drawing, needlework and her lively correspondence. Early life Mary Delany was born at C ...

. Richard was succeeded by his son

Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington Garret Colley Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington (19 July 1735 – 22 May 1781) was an Anglo-Irish politician and composer, as well as the father of several distinguished military commanders and politicians of Great Britain and Ireland. Early lif ...

. Garret's son Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, spent most of his childhood at the castle and gardens. The property passed out of the hands of the Wellesley family after Arthur's older brother

Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, (20 June 1760 – 26 September 1842) was an Anglo-Irish politician and colonial administrator. He was styled as Viscount Wellesley until 1781, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of M ...

inherited it in 1781. He sold it to Thomas Burrowes of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

Later history

The castle was occupied in the early years of the 19th century by

Roger O'Connor Roger O'Connor (1762-1834) was an Irish nationalist and writer, known for the controversies surrounding his life and writings, notably his fanciful history of the Irish people, the '' Chronicles of Eri''. He was the brother of the United Irishma ...

, who acquired it from Burrowes on a permanently renewable lease. O'Connor, a passionate Irish nationalist, asserted that he had acquired it as "a suitable residence in which to entertain Napoleon" after the defeat of Britain.James Dunkerley, Americana: The Americas in the World Around 1850, Verso, 2000, pp.449-50. In 1809, during O'Connor's occupation, there was a serious fire that destroyed much of the building. Insurance fraud was suspected, but O'Connor's son

Francisco Burdett O'Connor Francisco Burdett O'Connor (12 June 1791 - 5 October 1871) was an officer in the Irish Legion of Simón Bolívar's army in Venezuela. He later became Chief of Staff to Antonio José de Sucre and Minister of War of Bolivia. Aside from Simón Bol ...

wrote in his autobiography 60 years later that he had accidentally started the fire himself when melting lead to create bullets. In 1817 O'Connor was accused of having plotted with his estate manager and labourers to rob a mail coach, during which a guard was shot and killed. He was acquitted after a sensational trial, but left the building soon afterwards. The already seriously damaged castle and grounds rapidly fell into a state of irretrievable disrepair after O'Connor's departure. By 1841, ''The Irish Penny Journal'' noted that "nothing but the outer walls remain, and the interior space, once formed into ample halls and chambers, has been converted into a flower garden". It added that in the recent past it had been "a place of concealment for plunder and a resort of thieves". In September 2013 Dangan Castle and its surroundings were put up for sale.

References

External links

Dangan Castle photographs
{{Historic Irish houses , state=collapsed Castles in County Meath Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Wellesley family