Lady Louisa (1743 – 1821)
after Sir Joshua Reynolds
(The Irish Architectural Archive)
Castletown
Castletown, Co. Kildare, is Ireland’s largest and finest Palladian-style
country house.
The Long Gallery
Redecorated in the mid
The construction of Castletown began
the decoration of some of the main
around 1722 for William Conolly,
rooms of the House.
The Long Gallery
Plasterwork detail.
(The Irish Architectural Archive)
Speaker of the Irish House of Commons.
1770s in the Pompeian
Until his death in 1729, the Conolly
style by two English artists,
Bedroom would have been used by
Charles Reuben Riley and Thomas
Speaker Conolly in the morning to
Ryder, the Long Gallery measures
receive important guests as was the
almost 27m by 7.5m. This was perhaps
custom in the French Court. The mock
Lady Louisa's favourite room and was
leather wall paper dates from the 1840s,
used as a living room. At either end of
when this room became a library.
the room over the chimney pieces, are
The facade of the main block was
The Entrance Hall and Staircase
with the advice of James, 1st Duke of Leinster,
of the furniture is original to the room and
designed by the Italian architect
The impressive two-storeyed entrance
her brother-in law. The ceiling is based on
is displayed in the formal arrangment of the
Alessandro Galilei (1691-1737) whose
hall with its black and white chequered
that in the first floor dining room in Leinster
18th century. The walls are covered in damask
The Healy Room
The glass chandeliers were made in
best known work is the facade that he
floor,was designed by Sir Edward Lovett
House, designed by Isaac Ware. On the west
probably dating from the late 19th century.
Originally a dressing or sitting room,
Venice. When they eventually arrived,
added to the old basilica of St. John
Pearce and is unchanged since the
wall, the posthumous portrait of William
this now contains photographic
Lady Louisa wrote that “the chandeliers
Lateran in Rome.
building of Castletown. At gallery level,
Conolly, in his robes as Speaker of the Irish
The Green Drawing Room
enlargements of drawings of horses
have arrived intact but they are the wrong
there are tapering pilasters with baskets
House of Commons, was painted by Stephen
Again, the whole design of this room reflects
belonging to Tom Conolly. The
blue for the room.” The statue of Diana
Built in the style of a 16th century
of flowers and fruit carved in wood. The
Catterson Smith and is based on Jervas' portrait
the influence of Isaac Ware’s interiors at
drawings are the work of the gifted
stands in the central niche with above
Italian town palace, most of the work
chimney-piece is of black Kilkenny marble.
in the Green Drawing Room. Original to
Leinster House. Originally lined with green
young Irish artist, Robert Healy.
it the painting of Aurora, goddess
Castletown are the two 18th-century giltwood
silk, traces of which survived, the wall
on Castletown was supervised by Sir
portraits of Tom and Louisa Conolly.
of the dawn, derived from a ceiling
decoration by Guido Reni.
Edward Lovett Pearce, a young Irish
The grand staircase of cantilevered
tables as are the three gilded mirrors or pier
covering has recently been replaced with
The Map Room or Closet
architect, employed by Speaker Conolly
Portland stone with its balustrade of
glasses.
green silk woven in France. This was the
The estate maps from the 1750s show
in 1724 to complete the project. Pearce
brass columns was not built until 1760,
principal reception room or saloon where the
the formal layout of the park, avenues
The Obelisk
had, at that time, recently returned
the work being carried out under the
The Butler’s Pantry
Conollys formally received visitors to the
and the orderly plantation of trees.
Paid for by his widow, the Conolly
from Italy, where he had been
direction of Simon Vierpyl, a protégé of
Here, food that had been brought from the
house. Either side of the central door are two
The panelling dating from the 1720s
Folly or Obelisk, closes the vista to the
acquainted with Galilei. He added the
Sir William Chambers. The walls were
kitchens in the west wing, quite a distance
portraits by Charles Jervas, on the right is the
has been painted over with Victorian
back of the House and can be seen from
colonnades linking the east and west
decorated in the rococo stuccowork
away, was reheated before being served in
portrait of Speaker Conolly and on the left
wood ‘graining’.
the Long Gallery. A monument to
manner, typical of the Swiss-Italian
the Dining Room.
that of his wife Katherine with her niece.
Lafranchini brothers. This incorporated
The Brown Study
family portraits including, at the foot
Used as an office and later as a breakfast
death in 1729 and it was only in
of the stairs, the bust of Tom Conolly,
1758, after the marriage of his
William's great-nephew. The four seasons
great-nephew Tom Conolly,
are represented by four heads on the
who had inherited Castletown,
piers at ground level.
pavilions to the main body of the
House. The interior was unfinished
at the time of Speaker Conolly’s
that this work recommenced.
Speaker Conolly, it was built in 1740 as
The Upper Corridors
a Famine Relief Scheme, the design being
The Print Room
On the first floor are the principal
attributed to Richard Cassels (Castle).
parlour, this room retains its original 1720s
One of the earliest print rooms and probably
bedrooms. Lady Louisa's apartment
pine panelling and tall narrow oak doors.
the only intact 18th century one left in
consists of her boudoir, bedroom and
The Family
Ireland, the decoration of this room is
dressing room.
William Conolly, (1662-1729) the son
of a prosperous Donegal innkeeper, was
The Red Drawing Room
attributed to Lady Louisa Conolly, wife of
One of a series of State rooms used on
Tom Conolly and her sister who, as was the
The Pastel Room
of a relatively humble background. He
During the 1760s and 1770s
The Dining Room
important occasions in the 18th century,
fashion for the time, cut out favourite prints
The pastel room contains a collection
was elected M.P. for the Borough
the restrained neo-classical
Originally two smaller panelled rooms,
it was redesigned in the mid 1760s and
and decorative borders to attach to the walls
of pastel portraits, including seven
of Donegal in 1692 and Speaker of the
the dining room was completed in 1767
completed c.1768. The ceiling is based on a
and screens.
by the Irish pastellist Hugh Douglas
Irish House of Commons in 1715. By
by Lady Louisa, wife of Tom Conolly,
published design by Sebastiano Serlio. Much
Hamilton.
the 1720s, he was acknowledged to
designs of the English architect,
Sir William Chambers influenced
Ceiling plasterwork in the
Long Gallery
Background: a design for the layout of the Park, c.1739
The Conolly Bedroom
Background: The Print Room
continued overleaf
First Floor Landing: Staircase Hall
Castletown
restoration work and the Foundation
now acts in an advisory capacity with
VISITORS’ GUIDE
regards to the interior and its contents.
With the exception of the contents,
ownership of Castletown together
with the Conolly Folly were transferred
to State care on 1 January 1994 and is
be the wealthiest man in Ireland, his
now managed by the Office of Public
fortune deriving from astute dealings
Works. The external fabric of the
in forfeited estates after the Jacobite
house and wings has been repaired
defeat of 1690. Castletown remained
and conserved and floors, plasterworks
unfinished at the time of Conolly's
and decorative finishes conserved.
death in 1729 although his widow
The top story of the main block which
continued to live there.
had been vacant for a number of years
The obelisk: A monument to Speaker Conolly.
(The Irish Architectural Archive)
has been restored as a research centre
It was not until after his great nephew
for the study of eighteenth century
Tom Conolly inherited Castletown and
buildings and demesnes. The West
married Lady Louisa Lennox (1743-1821)
Wing and West Yard, formerly the
in 1758 that work was recommenced.
kitchen wing and yard have been
Lady Louisa played an important part
restored as a visitor reception area.
in the alteration and redecoration of
Some forty hectare of parkland have
Castletown, supervising most of the
been purchased from the Honourable
work herself.
Desmond Guinness and the farm
buildings and farm yard have been
The Conolly family continued to live at
acquired. Historic landscape studies
Castletown until 1965 when the house
of the landscape have revealed a wide
and the land were sold.
range of 18th century elements. It
is hoped to restore many of these
The Later Years
features including river walks, folly
Purchased in 1967, by the Hon.
buildings and vistas.
Desmond Guinness, initial restoration
work commenced and
The long-term objective is, therefore,
Castletown was first
by means of restoration, conservation,
opened to the public.
acquisition of parkland and
In 1979, the house was
development of visitor facilities, to
handed over to the
preserve for future generations one of
Castletown Foundation
the most important houses in Ireland
who continued
and one of significance in terms of
the maintenance,
European architectural heritage.
management and
Castletown is managed by the O.P.W.
Background: The Staircase Hall
Celbridge, Co. Kildare