Lorum Rectory
- Classification
- Manor
- Country
- Ireland
- Region
- County Carlow
- Address
- Lorum Rectory, Kilgreaney, Bagenalstown
- Period / style
- Victorian Gothic
The valley of the River Barrow is particularly beautiful, especially downstream from Bagenalstown where the river forms the boundary between Counties Carlow and Wexford, flowing along the western foothills of the Blackstairs Mountains. In the late 1850s Denis Pack-Beresford, a local landowner, donated land for a new church and rectory at Lorum near Kilgreaney. Lorum is a restrained Gothic building of warm, golden Carlow granite and "a fine example of a Victorian country rectory." Of two storeys with principal fronts of three bays, it features studied asymmetry, many gables, and a recessed entrance beneath a wide gothic arch serving as a porch. The interior features mild and restrained Victorian Gothic decoration, with bright and airy spaces. The building was likely designed by Welland and Gillespie, with a dominant influence from Augustus Welby Pugin's religious architecture. The first rector, Revd. King Smith, was installed in 1863. The house continued as a rectory until 1957, when it was purchased by Tennant Young. To the north is a small enclosed stable yard with coach house, stable and servant quarters. "Both house and grounds have been so little altered, a fate shared by few other Irish rectories." Available as a film location and offers overnight accommodation with dinner; closed December and January.
Alex Passmore / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0