Enniscoe House
- Classification
- Manoir
- Pays
- Irlande
- Région
- County Mayo
- Adresse
- Castlehill, F26 EA34, Ballina
- Époque / style
- Late Georgian
Enniscoe stands in the shadow of Nephin mountain on the wooded shores of Lough Conn, a few miles south of Crossmolina in County Mayo. The house appears Georgian but contains a far earlier structure - an original 1740s building that was quite literally wrapped around by a fashionable new house in the 1790s. Francis Jackson, an officer in Cromwell's army, received land here in the 1650s. He initially lived in Crossmolina Castle before building beside Lough Conn. His great-grandson George constructed the 1740s structure, followed by his son George Two, who commissioned the successor building. The architect, likely 'Honest John' Roberts of Waterford, was nearing completion when the French invasion of 1798 damaged the structure. Post-repair, ambitious planting enhanced the demesne, visible in paintings by James Arthur O'Connor. The current building is a square, two-storey, five-bay structure with three formal fronts. It features elegant late-Georgian plasterwork and a very beautiful elliptical staircase leading to an oval landing above. Principal rooms have decorated cornices with early silk wallpaper surviving in the drawing room. George Two's granddaughter Madeline married Mervyn Pratt from Cabra Castle. They inherited in the 1830s, restored the house, and created an important garden. Their son Joseph and wife Ina continued improvements but limited finances preserved authenticity. Their bachelor son Mervyn, wounded in World War I, maintained the house while developing the garden extensively. Upon his death in 1950, his cousin Jack Nicholson inherited; his daughter Susan Kellett currently resides there with her son and family. Open April to September with overnight accommodation, a museum, holiday cottages and garden tours, and available as a film location.
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