Bowen's Court was a historic

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

or Anglo-Irish big house near Kildorrery in

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

House

The house was built in the 1770s by Henry Cole Bowen (died 1788) and the design has tentatively been attributed to Isaac Rothery or his sons who designed nearby Doneraile Court and was also involved in the completion of Mount Ievers Court. The Bowen family were minor Irish gentry, of Welsh origin traced back to the late 1500s resident in County Cork since Henry Bowen, a "notoriously irreligious" Colonel in the army of the regicide Cromwell, settled in Ireland. In 1786, the house was referred to as Faraghy, the seat of Mr. Cole Bowen. The house was inherited by his son, Henry Cole Bowen who married Catherine, daughter of Henry Prittie, 1st Baron Dunalley. The house was attacked during the

Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Turn out'', ''The Hurries'', 1798 Rebellion) was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The m ...

. It was held at one time by Mrs Eliza Bowen (died 1868), wife of Henry Cole Bowen (1808-1841), when it was valued at £75. The house was then inherited by their son Robert St John Cole Bowen. Bowen's Court remained the Bowen family seat until 1959. The last owner was the novelist

Elizabeth Bowen Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen ( ; 7 June 1899 – 22 February 1973) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer notable for her books about "The Big House in Ireland, the Big House" of Irish Landed gentry, landed ...

. She had a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

in the 1950s and abandoned Bowen's Court leaving unpaid wages and bills, then sold it and stayed with friends and at hotels, before she rented a flat in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. Bowen's Court was purchased, then demolished, by a developer in 1959. The majority of the contents of the house were sold at auction in April 1960 while the contents of the library were sold in 1961.

Book

Elizabeth Bowen wrote a history of the house, entitled ''Bowen's Court'', in 1942 and it is featured in her 1929 novel '' The Last September''.

References

Houses completed in the 18th century 1770s establishments in Ireland 1961 disestablishments in Ireland Buildings and structures demolished in 1961 Buildings and structures in County Cork Country houses in Ireland Houses in the Republic of Ireland 1942 non-fiction books 20th-century history books Irish non-fiction books Georgian architecture in Ireland {{Ireland-struct-stub