Borris House
- Classification
- Manoir
- Pays
- Irlande
- Région
- County Carlow
- Adresse
- Borris House, Borris, Carlow
- Époque / style
- Tudor-Revival (Neo-Tudor)
Borris House in County Carlow is one of few Irish country houses built beside a town, with medieval origins. In the late 18th century, owner Thomas Kavanagh represented Kilkenny in the Irish Parliament and later Westminster. His 17th-century house, incorporating an earlier castle, was damaged in the 1798 rebellion. Architects Sir Richard Morrison and William Vitruvius Morrison restored and enlarged it in Tudor-Revival style. The Kavanagh family are hereditary kings of Leinster, descended from Dermot MacMorrough who invited the Normans to Ireland. Dermot married his daughter Aoife to the Norman leader Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke (Strongbow). Successive MacMorrough generations controlled South Leinster from Borris, maintaining Gaelic traditions. During Art McMorrough Kavanagh's reign (early 15th century), the family rebelled but gradually accepted the new status quo. The Morrisons retained the earlier structure's form and fenestration with defensive corner towers, adding Neo-Tudor decoration with battlements and a three-bay porch, completed in 1820. The innovative exterior contrasts with largely classical interiors; the hall plasterwork is notably ornate. Thomas Kavanagh's sister-in-law was Eleanor Butler, whose relationship with Sarah Ponsonby alarmed her family. In 1778 she escaped to Wales and they became famous as the "Ladies of Llangollen." Victorian owner Arthur MacMorrough Kavanagh, MP for County Carlow and Privy Councillor, was born without arms or legs yet became an able landlord, administrator, politician, explorer, yachtsman, horseman, and father of many children. The estate features an embattled entrance archway, early 18th-century piers and gates, and the River Barrow forming the Carlow-Kilkenny boundary. Available as a film location, open seasonally to the public, and a venue for concerts, recitals, educational visits, family celebrations and receptions, with country sports activities.
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