History
Castle Macgarrett was in the possession of the Brownes family for over five centuries. They were of Norman decent and came to Ireland in the 12th century, before Geoffrey Browne married into the Prendergast family. The old house became unsafe, so Geoffrey and his wife, Mary Prendergast built a new house in 1694.
This new home lasted for several generations until it was destroyed by fire in 1811.
Following the fire, Dominic Browne, (1787 - 1860), built the part of the present castle with its tower, on the right hand side of the main entrance. He became the first Lord Oranmore and Browne, the title Oranmore being taken in view of the family lands and property at Oranmore, Co. Galway. The Browne family were the largest landowners in Connaught at that time. He was made a Privy Councillor for Ireland in 1834 and became one of twenty eight elected representative Irish Peers.
He spent vast sums of money on electioneering. The Great Famine completed his ruin, with the exception of Castle Macgarrett and 2000 acres. Things improved under a later Geoffrey Browne, (1861- 1927), the third Baron. He was responsible for the building of the main part of the present manor, begun in 1907.
After being the home of the Browne family for hundreds of years, they finally sold up in the 1960s which saw the land being taken over by the Irish Land Commission and the house turned into a nursing home. It was sold for redevelopment in 2006 and again in 2016 but is currently empty and suffering from water damage internally.
The Explore
Visited with @AndyK, @SpiderMonkey and Jamie_P. This was our first success on our trip to Ireland, after a couple of fails. Although the exterior has had many additions and much of the first floor rooms have been divided into smaller bedrooms, there was a lot of interesting features internally, though it was sad to see many of the fine plaster work damaged by water ingress.
The front of the castle in the early 20th century
The front entrance leads to a rather nice staircase
One of the grand reception rooms
Some really serious water damage here
The vaulted dining room
First floor corridor
There were some very dated bathrooms
Thanks for looking
Castle Macgarrett was in the possession of the Brownes family for over five centuries. They were of Norman decent and came to Ireland in the 12th century, before Geoffrey Browne married into the Prendergast family. The old house became unsafe, so Geoffrey and his wife, Mary Prendergast built a new house in 1694.
This new home lasted for several generations until it was destroyed by fire in 1811.
Following the fire, Dominic Browne, (1787 - 1860), built the part of the present castle with its tower, on the right hand side of the main entrance. He became the first Lord Oranmore and Browne, the title Oranmore being taken in view of the family lands and property at Oranmore, Co. Galway. The Browne family were the largest landowners in Connaught at that time. He was made a Privy Councillor for Ireland in 1834 and became one of twenty eight elected representative Irish Peers.
He spent vast sums of money on electioneering. The Great Famine completed his ruin, with the exception of Castle Macgarrett and 2000 acres. Things improved under a later Geoffrey Browne, (1861- 1927), the third Baron. He was responsible for the building of the main part of the present manor, begun in 1907.
After being the home of the Browne family for hundreds of years, they finally sold up in the 1960s which saw the land being taken over by the Irish Land Commission and the house turned into a nursing home. It was sold for redevelopment in 2006 and again in 2016 but is currently empty and suffering from water damage internally.
The Explore
Visited with @AndyK, @SpiderMonkey and Jamie_P. This was our first success on our trip to Ireland, after a couple of fails. Although the exterior has had many additions and much of the first floor rooms have been divided into smaller bedrooms, there was a lot of interesting features internally, though it was sad to see many of the fine plaster work damaged by water ingress.
The front of the castle in the early 20th century
The front entrance leads to a rather nice staircase
One of the grand reception rooms
Some really serious water damage here
The vaulted dining room
First floor corridor
There were some very dated bathrooms
Thanks for looking
