Vernon Mount (sometimes Vernon Mount House or Mount Vernon) is a ruined Georgian manor house in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Ireland. It was built between the 1780s and early 1790s to designs attributed to

Abraham Hargrave Abraham Addison Hargrave (1755–1808), sometimes referred to as Abraham Hargrave the Elder was an architect and building contractor who was active mainly in County Cork, Ireland, in the late 18th and early 19th century. Born near Leeds, England, ...

. Originally built for the merchant Hayes family, the house was named for

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

, the home of US president

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

. Passing through several owners, the house remained largely disused and subject to deterioration from the late 20th century. It was included in the

Record of Monuments and Places The Record of Monuments and Places (RMP; ga, Taifead ar Shéadchomharthaí agus Áiteanna) is a list of historical and archaeological sites the Republic of Ireland established under the National Monuments Acts. It can be consulted in county libr ...

by the National Monuments Service, and on the

Record of Protected Structures Conservation in the Republic of Ireland is overseen by a number of statutory and non-governmental agencies, including those with responsibility for conservation of the built environment and conservation of the natural environment in Ireland. Con ...

for

Cork County Council Cork County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Chorcaí) is the authority responsible for local government in County Cork, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and co ...

. It remained largely intact until 2016, when a significant fire largely gutted the house, and the building was subsequently listed on the derelict sites register. In 2021, the building was subject to a funding request for stabilisation works due to "risk of collapse".

Construction and design

Some sources imply that Vernon Mount was built in 1784, while others suggest it was completed after 1789 following the arrival of Abraham Hargrave in Cork. Hargrave designed a number of buildings in the city at this time, including Cork's military barracks. The house was built for and by Atwell Hayes (d.1799) a wealthy brewer and miller. Following the death of his wife, Atwell Hayes did not take up occupancy, but instead leased the estate to his son, Henry Browne Hayes (1762–1832). Browne Hayes reputedly spent significant sums on the interior of the house, including murals and other artworks by artist Nathaniel Grogan (1740–1807). Several of Grogan's works adorned doorways and other internal architectural elements, including a work depicting

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Roma ...

on a large curved ceiling. The curved elevations, staircase, oval atrium, and interior decorations made Vernon Mount, according to the

Irish Georgian Society The Irish Georgian Society is an architectural heritage and preservation organisation which promotes and aims to encourage an interest in the conservation of distinguished examples of architecture and the allied arts of all periods across Ire ...

"unique in the history of the Irish villa and .a building of national importance".

History and ownership

Following the death of his own wife, Henry Browne Hayes abducted a local heiress named

Mary Pike Mary Pike (1776 – 1832) was an Irish quaker heiress who was abducted by Sir Henry Browne Hayes. Early life and family Mary Pike was born in 1776, the only surviving daughter of Samuel Pike and Catherine née Hutchinson. Her father was in busi ...

, and in 1797 reputedly forced her into a marriage ceremony at the estate. Hayes was later convicted of kidnap, but had a death sentence commuted to

penal transportation Penal transportation or transportation was the relocation of convicted criminals, or other persons regarded as undesirable, to a distant place, often a colony, for a specified term; later, specifically established penal colonies became their ...

to Australia. Passing through several owners, by the late 20th century the Vernon Mount estate was owned for a period by the Cork and Munster Motorcycle and Car Club. The club used the demesne for motocross and similar events. The house was sold to a private investor in the 1990s, though a planning application for redevelopment as apartments and a hotel was not successful. As of late 2021, the company that owned the building had reportedly been "dissolved".

Today

The house was listed for protection on the

by the local authority, and also included in the

. The

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...

An Taisce An Taisce – The National Trust for Ireland (; meaning "the store" or "the treasury"), established in June 1948, is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) active in the areas of the environment and built heritage in Ireland. It considers itself t ...

and other stakeholder groups listed the building as a risk, and attempts were made to slow the effects of deterioration, roof damage, water issues and vandalism over a number of decades. Although in private ownership, public funds were allocated by the Department of Arts and Heritage which allowed

to undertake roof repairs in 2012. Despite recommendations for a

Compulsory purchase order A compulsory purchase order (CPO; , ) is a legal function in the United Kingdom and Ireland that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for p ...

(to bring the building into permanent state ownership and protection), a severe fire in July 2016 reduced the structure to a largely empty shell. Following the fire, there was some speculation as to the future of the house and site. In September 2016, Cork County Council voted in favour of prosecuting the owners of Vernon Mount for "fail reto secure the protected structure", and to "convey to the owners and occupiers of all

ther Ther may refer to: *''Thér.'', taxonomic author abbreviation of Irénée Thériot (1859–1947), French bryologist * Agroha Mound, archaeological site in Agroha, Hisar district, India *Therapy *Therapeutic drugs See also *''Ther Thiruvizha ''T ...

protected structures the need to uphold their societal responsibility". In 2017, there were renewed calls to bring the site into public ownership, and to stabilise the structure with a view to preserving its shell. ,

Cork City Council Cork City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Chorcaí) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Cork in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Prior to the enactment of the 2001 Act, ...

(the responsible local authority following the

2019 Cork boundary change The boundary between Cork city and County Cork, under the local jurisdiction of Cork City Council and Cork County Council respectively, was changed in mid 2019 when the Local Government Act 2018 came into force after the 2019 local elections, wit ...

) reportedly stated that the "strategy in relation to Vernon Mount" was "under review", but that it had no plans to consider a compulsory purchase order. In 2021, members of the council advocated the allocation of funding for stabilisation works as the remaining structures of the building were "at risk of collapsing".

References

{{Historic Irish houses, state=collapsed Buildings and structures in County Cork Georgian architecture in Ireland 2016 fires in Europe 2016 in Ireland