1834 – Bellingham Castle, Castlebellingham, Co. Louth

Architect: Thomas Smith

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Designed by Thomas Smith, an English architect who worked in Ireland for Sir Patrick Bellew, whose estates were in Co. Louth and Co. Meath. Smith was responsible for the hospital in nearby Dundalk as well as a couple of country houses in the area. In form it is pretty much a Georgian house with added castellations and small towers in a Gothic style.

The home for members of the Bellingham family from the 17th century until the late 1950s. The last Bellingham to live there was Brigadier General Sir Edward Bellingham, born in 1879, last Lord Lieutenant of Louth (1921), and elected to the Irish Free State Senate in 1925-36.

The house was purchased in 1958 from the Irish Land Commission for £3,065.00 and converted into a hotel, which it still is today.

Published April 21, 2022 | Last Updated June 13, 2024