Castlecoote House
- Klasifikace
- Panské sídlo
- Země
- Irsko
- Region
- County Roscommon
- Adresa
- Castlecoote House, Castlecoote, Roscommon
- Období / styl
- Palladian (18th-century remodelling of a medieval castle)
Long before its association with the celebrated Gunning Sisters of 1750s London, Castlecoote was strategically important. In the early seventeenth century the medieval castle—possibly built by the McGerraghty family to guard a River Suck crossing—became a base for Sir Charles Coote, Vice President of Connaught. He improved its defences and renamed it Castle Coote. The castle withstood three Confederate attacks during the 1641 Rebellion before its owner died fighting in County Meath. Coote, who fought at the 1602 Battle of Kinsale, became the first Irish baronet in 1621 and accumulated estates across five counties. During the late seventeenth century the castle deteriorated and a new dwelling was built within its walls, designed for defence with corner towers and pistol loops. In the early eighteenth century the Gunning family acquired the estate. John Gunning's daughters became celebrated beauties and married into the nobility—Elizabeth wed the Duke of Hamilton and later the Duke of Argyll, becoming the mother of four dukes; Maria married the Earl of Coventry. The 1680s house underwent eighteenth-century Palladian remodelling. The property changed hands frequently; by the early twentieth century the horseman Henry D. Stevens owned it before its abandonment and ruin. Purchased in 1997 as a cavernous ruin lacking floors, stairs and windows, a five-year restoration followed, including structural repairs, foundation underpinning, consolidation of the castle towers, re-roofing, restoration of plaster ceilings, replacement of chimneypieces, joinery work and interior redecoration. The house sits attractively on the west bank of the River Suck, upstream from Castlecoote village and five miles west of Roscommon, framed by ruined castle towers and mill remains and accessible via a new bridge. Available as a film location; open May to September, 2pm–6pm, closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
Mike Searle / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0