Kilronan Castle, previously known as Castle Tenison, is a large country house standing in of parkland on the shore of Lough Meelagh in County Roscommon, Republic of Ireland, from the village of Ballyfarnon. The house, originally constructed c.1820, was considerably expanded in the 1880s to form the current building. The newer part is a two storey, irregular building with a large baronial tower adjacent to the older building. It now functions as a spa hotel.

History

Towards the end of the 18th century the property later known as Castle Tenison, together with its surrounding estate, belonged to the Dundas family. They sold it in 1715 to Richard Tenison, of the English Tenison family, who was the son of the

Bishop of Meath The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric. History Unt ...

and MP for

Dunleer Dunleer () is a town and townland in County Louth, Ireland. Dunleer is situated midway between Dundalk and Drogheda and is located on the junction of the R132, R169 and R170 regional roads that intersect the town. Dunleer used to be the pr ...

. He died in 1726 and left the property to his son, William, who in 1746 was Lieutenant Colonel of the 35th Regiment of Foot and also an MP for Dunleer. William died shortly afterwards in 1728 without an heir and the estate passed to his uncle Thomas and thence to Thomas' son, Thomas jnr. Thomas jnr was High Sheriff of Leitrim for 1763 and MP for

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ga, Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County C ...

from 1776 to 1783. The property, now known as Kilronan Castle, passed to Thomas jnr's only son, yet another Thomas, who was High Sheriff of Roscommon in 1791, Leitrim in 1792 and MP for Boyle in 1792. His son Edward King-Tenison was High Sheriff of Leitrim in 1845, MP for Leitrim from 1847 to 1852 and

Lord Lieutenant of Roscommon This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of County Roscommon. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II of England, James II, when they were renamed governors. The office of Lord Lieutenant was recrea ...

from 1856 to 1878. On his death in 1878 the property was left to his son-in-law Henry King who had changed his name to Henry King-Tenison and inherited his brother's title to become the 8th Earl of Kingston. It was the 8th Earl of Kingston who built the present house in the 1880s as a large Gothic Revival extension to the older building. During his occupation much of the surrounding land was sold. After his death in 1896 the castle was not often occupied, the 9th Earl preferring to live elsewhere, and in 1939 the contents were sold at auction. The castle was later occupied by a section of the Construction Corps who were building a road in the Arigna Mountains. The Land Commission ultimately acquired the property and later sold the castle to Michael and Brendan Layden. It was subsequently converted into a luxury hotel by the Hanly group in 2006.

References

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External links

Official website
{{Castles in Connacht Buildings and structures in County Roscommon 1820s establishments in the United Kingdom