Mountshannon House was a large mansion in Lisnagry, near

Castleconnell Castleconnell (, historically ''Caisleán Uí Chonaing'') is a village in County Limerick on the banks of the River Shannon. It is from Limerick city and near the boundaries of counties Clare and Tipperary. History The ruins of the ' Castle ...

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

, built in the mid-18th century. It was the home of

John FitzGibbon, 1st Earl of Clare John FitzGibbon, 1st Earl of Clare PC (Ire) (1748 – 28 January 1802) was Attorney-General for Ireland from 1783 to 1789 and Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1789 to 1802. He was a controversial figure in Irish history, being described var ...

. It was burnt down during the

Anglo-Irish war The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

in 1920. Today it is mostly a ruin.

History

The house was built sometime in the mid-18th century, and was first occupied around 1750. It was subsequently purchased by the Fitzgibbon family, who were later to become the

Earls of Clare Earl of Clare was a title of British nobility created three times: once each in the peerages of England, Great Britain and Ireland. The title derives from Clare, Suffolk, where a prominent Anglo-Norman family was seated since the Norman Conques ...

. The estate covered of land, being bounded to the south by the Mulkear River, the Shannon to the west, and extending some 2 and a half miles along the main Limerick to Castleconnell road from

Annacotty Annacotty () is a suburban town on the outskirts of Limerick, Ireland, from the centre of the city. It is situated where the old N7 main road between Limerick and Dublin crosses the Mulkear River, upstream of where it flows into the River ...

to Newgarden. Many parts of the boundary wall still exist today, on the modern Mountshannon road. Mountshannon house interior

John FitzGibbon, later known as Earl of Clare or Lord Clare, was

Attorney-General for Ireland The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. With the ...

in 1783, then

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of ...

in 1789, (in which capacity he was first promoted to the Irish peerage). He was a controversial figure in Irish history, being described variously as a Protestant hardliner, a staunch anti-Catholic, and an early supporter of Union with England (which finally happened shortly before his death). He is said to have been an early opponent of measures for Catholic political relief (meaning the removal of some or all legal disabilities against Catholics) in both Ireland and Great Britain, and may have been the first to suggest to

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

that the King would violate his coronation oath if he consented to the admission of Catholics to Parliament. He lived in this house for most of his life and career. Despite this hardline reputation, the Fitzgibbon Family was known locally to be fair landlords. This local reputation, however, did not prevent Lord Clare from being known as "Black Jack Fitzgibbon" nationally, apparently because of his hardline opposition to Catholic emancipation.

Architecture

The house was built in

neo-Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

style. The front 7-bay entrance was adorned by four

ionic columns The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

, the rear had a large conservatory. Following its destruction in 1920, it has stood as a ruin, and has been partly demolished. However, the front columns still stand, as well as most of the main wings of the house. Images of both the current ruins and the building before destruction can be found on Limerick City's library site: Front of the hous

Rear of the house, with the conservator

Ruined façad

Interior photo of the Librar

References

Village by Shannon: the Story of Castleconnell and its Hinterland by Joe Carroll and Pat Tuohy Mountshannon House and the Fitzgibbons: by Carole Gurnet

Limerick City Museu

{{coord missing, County Limerick Buildings and structures in County Limerick