Abbeyleix House, sometimes called Abbeyleix Castle, is an Irish country house that was the residence of the Viscounts de Vesci in

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It was designed by architect James Wyatt and built by Sir William Chambers in 1773. The de Vesci family lived at Abbeyleix House until it was sold in the mid-1990s. Abbeyleix is the oldest planned estate town in Ireland.

History

The house was near the original Abbeyleix, that was built by the O'Mores near the

River Nore The River Nore ( ga, An Fheoir ) is one of the principal rivers (along with the River Suir and River Barrow) in the South-East Region of Ireland. The river drains approximately of Leinster and Munster, that encompasses parts of three counti ...

where there was a

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, founded in 1183. On the dissolution of the monasteries, of land were granted to the 10th Earl of Ormond. In 1675,

Denny Muschamp Denny or Dennie may refer to: People *Denny (given name), a list of people named Denny or Dennie *Denny (surname), a list of people surnamed Denny or Dennie *Denny (hybrid hominin) Places *Denny, California, a ghost town *Denny, Falkirk, a town i ...

, a wealthy landowner, bought the old abbey lands, these were inherited in 1699 by his daughter, who married Sir Thomas Vesey, 1st Baronet, who moved to Abbeyleix when he was created a baronet. In 1770, their grandson Thomas Vesey, 2nd Baron Knapton – later, in 1776, created Viscount de Vesci – commissioned the English architect James Wyatt to build him a new house in an elevated position. The area was prone to flooding and de Vesci, wishing to improve the view from his new mansion, relocated the dwellings of his estate workers and tenants to a new site farther east on higher ground alongside the coach road, as a planned estate town, with the estate and mansion to the southwest of the town. Recently owned and restored by the businessman Sir David Davies, Abbey Leix House and estate was placed on the market in 2019, continuing into 2020, for a region of €20 million. In June 2021,

John Collison John Collison (born 6 August 1990) is an Irish billionaire entrepreneur and the co-founder and President of Stripe which he co-founded in 2010 with his brother Patrick. Collison was the youngest self made billionaire in 2016. As of 2022, accord ...

purchased the estate for a sum in the region of the advertised €11.5 million.

The property

The large rectangular, three-storey house, with 117 windows, is considered to be one of the finest in Ireland. The property includes of grounds, including walled gardens and farmland, and ten estate houses and cottages.

References

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External links

''1773 – Abbeyleix House, Abbeyleix, Co. Laois''
Buildings and structures in County Laois Houses completed in 1773 Georgian architecture in Ireland