1923 Big House Burnings

1703 – Castle Hacket, Co. Galway

CastleHacket House originally built by John Kirwan, Lord Mayor of Galway, in 1703. Destroyed in fire by IRA in 1923. Reconstructed in 1927 by O’Callaghan &

1733 – Desart Court, Callan, Co. Kilkenny

Architect: Edward Lovett Pearce

A Palladian house of two storeys over a basement, joined to two two-storey wings by curved sweeps from around 1733,

1744 – Bessborough House, Fiddown, Co. Kilkenny

Architect: Francis Bindon

Large Palladian house with wings, designed by Francis Bindon around 1744 on the site of an earlier house.

1785 – Moore Hall, Co. Mayo

Architect: John Roberts

Also known as Moorehall, the house was constructed between 1792 and 1795. The Moores were originally an English Protestant family but some became Catholic when John Moore married the Catholic Jane Lynch Athy of Galway,

1838 – Wilton Castle, Co. Wexford

Architect: Daniel Robertson

A late 17th century house was subsumed into a much larger and ornate building designed by Daniel Robertson of Kilkenny in 1836-38 as a spectacular castle.

1840 – Castleboro, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford

Architect: Daniel Robertson

Castleboro was a very large, imposing classical mansion built about 1840 for the 1st Baron Carew.

1858 – Knockabbey Castle, Louth, Co. Louth

Architect: William Caldbeck

When it was first built in 1399, it was called Thomastown Castle and consisted only of a towerhouse.

1860 – Durrow Abbey, Durrow, Co. Offaly

The story of Durrow Abbey House is framed by two fires. One in 1843 when the house was under construction destroyed the adjacent Georgian mansion and all the furnishings stored there,

1869 – Ballynastragh, Gorey, Co. Wexford

Architect: G.C. Ashlin

Largely remodelled by G.C. Ashlin in the late 1860s for local MP Sir John Esmonde, and destroyed in an arson attack in March 1923 when it belonged to his son Sir Thomas Esmonde,

1905 – Kilteragh, Foxrock, Co. Dublin

Architect: W.D. Caroe

Designed for Sir Horace Plunkett, by England-based William D. Caroe, in an Arts and Crafts style.