Mount Loftus
History
Mount Loftus, near Goresbridge, is a 53-acre (21 ha) property in the townland of Mountloftus. The original estate house at Mount Loftus was built in 1750 by the first Viscount Loftus. In 1906, that house was demolished and a smaller house built in its place. This building was destroyed by fire in 1934, but the servants' wing was saved and built up to become the present house.
The current house, originally the staff wing of the larger manor house, contains six bedrooms and has a number of outbuildings. When offered for sale in 2001, the owners were described as horse trainers who, when they bought the property, refurbished the 11 stone-built stables and created guest accommodation for staff and visitors. Other structures on the site include a set of entrance gates, built in 1906, and a walled garden which was redesigned by landscape gardener Angela Jupe.
Also located on the estate are the ruins of a tower house, known as Drumroe Castle, which dates to at least the 16th century and was historically associated with the Kavanagh family. Described in Kilkenny's Record of Protected Structures as "fragmentary", the tower house was used for a period as a dovecote. It is largely demolished with the stone reputedly used in the construction of other buildings on the estate.
See also
- Loftus Hall, County Wexford
References
- ^ "Mount Loftus, Mountloftus, Kilkenny". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ "Appendix I: Kilkenny County Record of Protected Structures" (PDF). Kilkenny City and County Development Plan 2021-2027 (Report). Kilkenny County Council.
- ^ "Kilkenny estate gets season moving". Irish Times. 12 April 2001. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- ^ "Mount Loftus, Mountloftus, Kilkenny (gates/railings/walls)". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ Emmett, O'Byrne (2009). "MacMurrough Kavanagh, Domhnall". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.005066.v1.
- ^ Grattan-Bellew, Bettina (1971). "The Loftuses of Mount Loftus" (PDF). Old Kilkenny Review. Kilkenny: 23–35.
- ^ "Piece on memoir of Bettina Grattan-Bellew of Mount Loftus". kilkennypeople.ie. Archived from the original on 24 July 2015.
- ^ Grattan-Bellew, Bettina (1949). "Mount Loftus" (PDF). Old Kilkenny Review. Kilkenny: 47–49.