Killarney House is an Irish country home in

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...

, County Kerry, which was built as a replacement for

Kenmare House Kenmare House is located on the east shore of Lough Leane and was the principal residence of the Brownes of Killarney, Earls of Kenmare. History Sir Valentine Browne and his son, also Valentine Browne, were the first members of the famil ...

(1726) as the seat of the

Earls of Kenmare The title of Earl of Kenmare was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1801. It became extinct upon the death of the 7th Earl in 1952. All of the Earls bore the subsidiary titles of Viscount Castlerosse (1801), Viscount Kenmare (1798), and Baron ...

. The site was chosen by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

on her visit to Ireland in 1861.

First Killarney House

It was The 4th Earl of Kenmare who decided to build a new mansion on a hillside with views of

Lough Leane Lough Leane (; ) is the largest of the three lakes of Killarney, in County Kerry. The River Laune flows from the lake into the Dingle Bay to the northwest. Etymology and history The lake's name means "lake of learning" probably in reference ...

in 1872. The old manor,

, was demolished and an Elizabethan-Revival manor house on a more elevated site erected at a cost was well over £100,000 (). This house was supposed to have been instigated by Lady Kenmare (Gertrude Thynne, granddaughter of The 2nd Marquess of Bath) and inspired by Lord Bath's genuinely Elizabethan seat,

Longleat Longleat is an English stately home and the seat of the Marquess of Bath, Marquesses of Bath. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan prodigy house, it is adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of War ...

, Wiltshire (which is not red-brick); but it was not unusual for the descendants of Elizabethan or Jacobean settlers in Ireland to assert their comparative 'antiquity' in this period by building Jacobethan houses. The architect was

George Devey George Devey (1820, London – 1886, Hastings, Sussex) was an English architect notable for his work on country houses and their estates, especially those belonging to the Rothschild family. The second son of Frederick and Ann Devey, he was bo ...

but, according to Jeremy Williams, "... that feeling of being built up over the centuries that distinguished Devey's work was entirely lacking, partly due to the job being supervised by W.H. Lynn he Belfast architectat his most relentless ... The westernmost gate lodge, gabled and galleried, hich survives, isDevey at his most delightful." The house, in addition to its other defects, apparently did not sit happily in the landscape as it had many gables and many oriels. The interior was panelled and hung with Spanish leather. It was considered one of the finest mansions in Ireland. It was burnt out twice - once in 1879, just after its completion, and again, and finally, in August 1913 and never rebuilt. Instead, The 5th Earl of Kenmare decided to convert the nearby stable block of the old

for family use, also naming it "Kenmare House".

Knockreer House

In 1956, Mrs Beatrice Grosvenor

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(1915–1985), niece of the seventh Gerald Ralph Desmond Browne, 7th Earl of Kenmare (1896–1952) and granddaughter of the

Duke of Westminster Duke of Westminster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. It is the most recent dukedom conferred on someone not related to the ...

, built Knockreer House on the site of the former "Killarney House". The house was designed by Mrs Grosvenor's cousin

Francis Pollen Francis Anthony Baring Pollen, FRIBA (7 December 1926 – 4 November 1987) was an English architect who designed, amongst other significant buildings, Worth Abbey in West Sussex. He was born in London on 7 December 1926 and educated at Down ...

(1926–87). Knockreer House and the surrounding land, formerly part of the Kenmare Estate of the Earls of Kenmare, were later donated by Mrs Grosvenor to form

Killarney National Park Killarney National Park ( ga, Páirc Náisiúnta Chill Airne), near the town of Killarney, County Kerry, was the first national park in Ireland, created when the Muckross Estate was donated to the Irish Free State in 1932. The park has sinc ...

Second Killarney House

Also in 1956, Mrs Grosvenor sold the second "Kenmare House" together with to an American syndicate, which in turn resold it in 1959 to

John McShain John McShain (December 21, 1896 – September 9, 1989) was a American building contractor known as "The Man Who Built Washington". Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Irish immigrants, McShain graduated from St. Joseph's Preparatory S ...

(1898–1989), an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

building contractor A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...

. He and his wife Mary J. Horstmann (1907–1998) extensively renovated the building and renamed it "Killarney House". In 1978, Mr. McShain sold Killarney House and the greater part of the estate to the Irish State for a price well below market value at the time, having been assured that the house and estate would be incorporated into

. Mr and Mrs McShain reserved the house and surrounding 52

acres The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

to their use for their lifetime. Mr McShain died in 1989 and Mrs McShain lived in the house until her death in 1998, when the house and surrounding land reverted to the Irish State. Having been empty for several years, the building fell into some disrepair. In July 2011 Leo Varadkar, then the Irish Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, therefore announced a €7 million restoration of the manor. After the completion of the restoration works, Killarney House was opened to the public on 3 April 2016.Lucey, Anne
"Back to future at Killarney House and Gardens as it reopens"
''Irish Examiner''. Retrieved 19 August 2016.

References

External links

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland: "Introduction Kenmare Papers", November 2007

Killarney National Park: "Killarney House and gardens"
{{Historic Irish houses Buildings and structures in County Kerry Killarney