Lynch's Castle
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Summerhill House was a 100-roomed
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 ...
house in
County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
,
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 ...
which was the ancestral seat of the Viscounts Langford and the Barons Langford. Built in 1731, it was likely designed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce and completed by
Richard Cassels Richard Cassels (1690 – 1751), also known as Richard Castle, was an architect who ranks with Edward Lovett Pearce as one of the greatest architects working in Ireland in the 18th century. Cassels was born in 1690 in Kassel, Germany. Although ...
in the
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, although
Sir John Vanbrugh Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restorat ...
, who was related to Pearce and with whom he trained, is thought to have also influenced the design of the house, which could be seen by the
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
details, great arched chimney stacks and the palatial grandeur and scale. The house demonstrated the power and wealth the Langford Rowley family had at the time. They owned vast amounts of land in counties
Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
,
Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...
,
Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...
, Londonderry, Antrim, and
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
as well as in
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
and
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. The house also welcomed royalty, and ranked architecturally amongst the finest and most modern mansions in Europe.
Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin Desmond John Villiers FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin (13 July 1937 – 14 September 2011)
rte.ie; accessed 1 May 2016 ...
and president of 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 ...
described its loss as "probably the greatest tragedy in the history of Irish domestic architecture".


History


17th century

In 1661, Sir Hercules Langford, 1st Baronet bought Lynch's Castle located on the Summerhill demesne in County Meath and many other townlands from The Rt Rev. Dr. Henry Jones, the Lord Bishop of Meath who had been awarded it by
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
. Fourteen years prior in 1647, the surrounding area had formed the battlefield for the
Battle of Dungan's Hill The Battle of Dungan's Hill took place in County Meath, in eastern Ireland on 8 August 1647. It was fought between the armies of Confederate Ireland and the English Parliament during the Irish Confederate Wars. The Irish army was intercep ...
. Earlier, John Rowley came to Ireland during the reign of
James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334 ...
, as sole agent for the building of the towns of
Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...
and
Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...
for the London Society. Upon the incorporation of the city of Derry in 1613, he was, by charter, appointed first Mayor of Derry city. He was later knighted for his services at the time of the Restoration. He also married Mary, daughter of Sir Hercules Langford, 1st Baronet. One of Rowley's daughters, Anne, married Sir Tristram Beresford, 1st Baronet, ancestor to the family of Tyrone. Another daughter, Mary, married James Clotworthy, and by him had an only daughter, who married
Robert FitzGerald, 19th Earl of Kildare The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...
, and who was grandmother of Lieutenant-General The 1st Duke of Leinster. He only left one son,
Hercules Rowley Hercules Rowley (1679 – 19 September 1742) was an Anglo-Irish politician. Early life He was the only son of Sir John Rowley who was knighted for his services at the time of the Restoration and the former Mary Langford eldest daughter and hei ...
and via his son's marriage to Frances Upton, his only son and heir,
Hercules Langford Rowley Hercules Langford Rowley Privy Council of Ireland, PC ( – 25 March 1794) was an Irish politician and landowner. Early life Rowley was born . He was the only son of Frances (née Upton) Rowley and Hercules Rowley, a Member of Parliament for Cou ...
, married in 1732, Elizabeth Ormsby, later created The 1st Viscountess Langford. It is likely the family still lived at Lynch's Castle until this time.


18th century

In the 1730s Langford Rowley constructed the vast Palladian Baroque house at Summerhill. Later in 1743, Langford also acquired what was to become
Langford House St Chad's College is one of the recognised colleges of Durham University. Founded in 1904 as St Chad's Hall for the training of Church of England clergy, the college ceased theological training in 1971 and now accommodates students studying th ...
on Mary Street in Dublin city as his town residence while sitting in parliament.
Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...
was engaged in 1765 to carry out an interior redecoration and interior remodelling of this house. At the same time he was also commissioned to complete an extension to the already sprawling Summerhill house however these designs composed of a quadrant link connecting two wings, were ultimately never executed. Summerhill House was damaged by fire 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 ...
.


19th century

In 1845, the Parliamentary Gazeteer and other sources describe the house as being in a state of decline, with much of its extensive mature woodlands having been removed. The house and estate had been inherited in 1854 by The 4th Baron Langford (1848–1919). He engaged the architect John McCurdy to restore parts of the house in 1869. The
Empress of Austria This is a list of the Austrian empresses, archduchesses, duchesses and margravines, wives of the List of rulers of Austria, rulers of Austria. The monarchy in Austria was abolished at the end of the First World War in 1918. The different title ...
visited Summerhill in February 1879 for a six week holiday for the purposes of hunting. When she was on one hunt in
Dunshaughlin Dunshaughlin ( or locally ) is a town in County Meath, Ireland. A commuter town for nearby Dublin, Dunshaughlin more than tripled in population (from 2,139 to 6,644 inhabitants) between the 1996 and 2022 censuses. The town is in a townland and ...
, as they came to Maynooth they came across two men repairing a demesne wall of the Catholic seminary. As the deer they were hunting jumped into the land of the college, the empress followed without knowing where she was going and nearly jumped on the President of the college, Professor William Walsh, who later became the
Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...
and
Primate of Ireland The Primacy of Ireland belongs to the diocesan bishop of the Irish diocese with highest Order of precedence, precedence. The Archbishop of Armagh is titled Primate of All Ireland and the Archbishop of Dublin Primate of Ireland, signifying that t ...
. Throughout her trip she was accompanied by George "Bay" Middleton who was widely rumoured to be her lover. On 13 November 2010 one famous riding whip appeared in a country house auction in Slane Castle held by Adams. This whip was owned by the Empress and was given to Robert Fowler who was the Master of the Meath Hounds at the time of her stay in Summerhill. The whip had been lost and had been found not long before the auction in Rahinston House. The whip was found in a mahogany presentation case with a silver crest plate bearing the Imperial Arms of Habsburg. The whip was estimated at €3,000-€5,000 but reached a total of €37,000.


20th century

It suffered problems when farm hands went on strike and damaged farming equipment in 1919. Republican workers and farm hands were evicted from their homes and after months of agrarian agitation eventually on 4 February 1921, the
Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
invaded and took the estate and distributed the lands and farms around the house equally amongst the workers and their families, before they set the house on fire where it was mostly destroyed. He was succeeded by his son, the young 5th Baron (1894–1922), who died prematurely and was in turn succeeded by his elderly cousin, Colonel William Chambre Rowley, who became the 6th Baron. In 1922,
Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
The 6th Baron Langford (1849–1931), who had only inherited the
baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...
y the previous year, sought compensation from the
Government of the Irish Free State The Executive Council () was the cabinet and executive branch of government of the 1922–1937 Irish Free State. Formally, executive power was vested in the Governor-General on behalf of Monarchy in the Irish Free State, the King. In practice, ...
. After three years of negotiation with the Compensation Board, a sum of £43,500 was paid to Colonel Lord Langford, approximately one third of the value of the house and contents destroyed in the fire. The elderly Lord Langford invested the money in gilt-edged stocks and moved to
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
in England. Even in a ruinous state, the house was still said to be one of the architectural wonders of Ireland and made the house even more romantic in some minds much like the ruined
Seaton Delaval Seaton Delaval is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Seaton Valley, in Northumberland, England, with a population of 4,371. The largest of the five villages in Seaton Valley, it is the site of Seaton Delaval Hall, comple ...
. The calcinating of the external limestone gave it a more patterned and less harsh look similar to rustication in a way that can be seen at
Russborough House Russborough House is a Georgian Palladian house between Blessington and Ballymore Eustace near the Blessington Lakes in County Wicklow, Ireland. The house was designed by Richard Castle for Joseph Leeson, 1st Earl of Milltown and built between ...
. Summerhill House stood as a ruin until it was totally demolished in 1970.


Architecture

The house stood on the summit of a hill with the main entrance from the village of Summerhill with another entrance from a mile long avenue on the Dublin road. In all, there were four avenues leading out to the four points of the compass. It consisted of a centre block and two wings, the mansion was massively built of limestone and of great length. Four semi-columns with Corinthian capitals ornamented the front; the main order was carried up the full height of the house like Renaissance Palaces in Rome. There was a portico in front of two sunken gardens behind with a raised grassy platform for a sundial; a large rose garden as well as another very large garden. When the Langford mansion was built the path went up the hill and around the portico. A broad flight of stairs led to the entrance of the mansion.


Gardens

The gardens to the front of the house contained a
Ha-ha A ha-ha ( or ), also known as a sunk fence, blind fence, ditch and fence, deer wall, or foss, is a recessed landscape design element that creates a vertical barrier (particularly on one side) while preserving an uninterrupted view of the lan ...
. A gothic mausoleum was also constructed around 1781 not far from the house and elements still survive at a religious institution in County Meath.


Interiors

The Lafranchini brothers are said to have designed some of the interior stucco work and ceilings of the house including the state dining room which was detached from the main block. There was a large and very lofty hall, which was similar to
Leinster House Leinster House () is the seat of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Originally, it was the ducal palace of the Duke of Leinster, Dukes of Leinster. Since 1922, it has been a complex of buildings which houses Oirea ...
in Dublin. The hall contained plaques, pastels and oil portraits by
Francesco Guardi Francesco Lazzaro Guardi (; 5 October 1712 – 1 January 1793) was an Italian painter, nobleman, and a member of the Venetian School (art), Venetian School. He is considered to be among the last practitioners, along with his brothers, of the clas ...
and
Hugh Douglas Hamilton Hugh Douglas Hamilton RHA ( – 10 February 1808) was an Irish portrait-painter. He spent considerable periods in London and Rome before returning to Dublin in the early 1790s. Until the mid- 1770s, he worked mostly in pastel. His style ...
as well as statuary of Mary Pakenham, daughter of the first Lord Longford by the sculptor Thomas Banks. To the right on entering was the library. The drawing room had a southern aspect, and contained several portraits of the Rowley family including by famous artists such as
Pompeo Batoni Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (25 January 1708 – 4 February 1787) was an Italian painter who displayed a solid technical knowledge in his portrait work and in his numerous Allegory, allegorical and mythological pictures. The high number of foreign vis ...
. Two symmetrical grand staircases led to the bedrooms. T.U. Sadlier, "Richard Castle, Architect", The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Sixth Series, Vol. 1, No. 3 (1911), 241-245


See also

* Desart Court


References


External links


Side view of the house showing ornamental gates and wings - Historical Picture ArchiveSide view of the house showing ornamental gates and wings
-
Courtauld Gallery The Courtauld Gallery () is an art museum in Somerset House, on the Strand, London, Strand in central London. It houses the collection of the Samuel Courtauld Trust and operates as an integral part of the Courtauld Institute of Art. The Court ...

CGIs of what the facade limestone stonework would have looked like - Craft Value1908 letter from Lord Langford regarding cattle theft and lawlessness - EBay1937 view of the beech drive to the ruined house from the National Library of Ireland O'Dea collectionUnexecuted design for an extension to Summerhill House in 1765 by Robert Adam - John Soane Museum
{{Historic Irish houses Country houses in Ireland Manor houses Houses completed in 1731 Palladian architecture in Ireland Houses in County Meath Demolished buildings and structures in the Republic of Ireland Edward Lovett Pearce buildings Richard Cassels buildings Former palaces Baroque architecture in Ireland