When the newly married Lady Louisa took charge of the Castletown landscape in 1759, at the tender age of sixteen, she took over the care of a landscape which had a history going back longer than historical records did. Lady Louisa probably wasn’t aware of the Bronze...
‘No words can describe the affliction of this house.’ At six o’clock on the morning of 2nd August 1821 Lady Louisa Conolly took her last breath at Castletown, the home she had shaped and loved for over sixty years. Throughout the previous eight weeks her family had...
Movie Magic at Castletown (Act 2) The second instalment of the Movies at Castletown blog starts in the 1980’s. Castletown obviously lends itself to period drama, but there is also a WWII film with Lee Marvin and a 1980’s comedy with Robbie Coltrane and Dan Aykroyd. We...
Castletown’s Long Gallery is famous for its set of three Venetian chandeliers, believed to have been ordered by Lady Louisa Conolly when she was refurbishing the room in the 1770s. The chandeliers are unique in Ireland, and thought to be associated with...
One of our guides, Celine Hanratty, inspired by a recent post on the Conolly’s Folly stamp set about researching stamps related to Celbridge! Here is her list so far, please let us know if you have any to add. (Numbers relate to picture) Number 1 is, of course, Arthur...
Lady Louisa, The Story of Castletown House by Sandra Murphy In 1759, at the tender age of 15, Lady Louisa Lennox married young Tom Conolly. Louisa was descended from royalty, her great grandfather was Charles II of England and her grandmother was Louise de Kerouaille,...
Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 2nd Duke of Lennox and Duke of Aubigny of the French nobility (1701–1750). Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond was the only son of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond (1672-1723) and his wife, Anne (d.1722), widow of Henry, 2nd...
Speaker William Conolly died at his house in Capel Street on 30th October 1729 having collapsed in the House of Commons ten days earlier. His death was lingering, with Thomas Pearson talking of blisters on arms and thighs, continuing fluxes and purges and a fever. 23...
William Conolly (1662-1729) William Conolly was born in Ballyshannon in Co Donegal in 1662. He has been described variously as the son of an innkeeper, a miller or a land manager. He was a Protestant himself but his background was Catholic on his mother side,...
Sir Thomas Wentworth, created the Earl of Strafford in 1640, was the great grand uncle of Lady Anne Conolly of Castletown House. Wentworth, a powerful and controversial figure in Irish history, was the Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1632 to 1640 and one of Charles I...
