Eglish Castle
home Eglish House and the Holy Trinity Church viewed from field to the west
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(Last updated 16 March 2023)
Eglish Castle, Eglish Church and the Berry Burial Enclosure
Artist's impression of Eglish based on an early photograph taken before the Castle was partially demolished.
Eglish Castle 2008 from S showing remains of tower Eglish Castle viewed from SE in the 20th Century showing
house (right corner) and part of Eglish Church (far right). Palladian front and ruins of the tower house.
(photo: Pat David).
Eglish Castle 2011 from the NE showing back (N) and E side of the house. (photo:PFB)
Eglish Castle 2011 view from SW showing W side of the house (photo:PFB)
Introduction
“Eglish” is derived from the word “Eaglais” meaning church in the Irish language. The Irish pronunciation is somewhat like "Ah-glish".
Eglish Castle, a large country house, in the parish of Eglish, Kings County (now Offaly), was occupied by my Berry family from 1776 until c.1876. Its name is derived from the original tower house (castle) built by the O’Molloy family in the late 15th/early 16th Century, onto which the house was added in two stages. Sadly, it is now derelict and uninhabited. Eglish Castle and about three acres is currently owned by Mr S. Alexander. It is situated near Fivealley, in the heart of the Bog of Allen1 in the Irish midlands, a region not generally acclaimed for scenic features, apart from the heathery Slieve Bloom Mountains. However, the Bog is noted for the prehistoric and archaeological treasures it has yielded (e.g. the Dowris Hoard), as well as the rich natural history that survives in what remains of it.
Immediately adjacent to Eglish Castle is the Eglish graveyard which has been the site of human habitation dating back to medieval times and beyond. This is because local geomorphology results in a natural “bottleneck” that directs north/south travelers to pass it. This would have facilitated trade, collection of tax from travelers and strategic defence - hence the location of the O’Molloy castle. The present graveyard is on elevated ground surrounded to the south and east by a defensive earth mound and ditch, possibly originating in ancient times and is surrounded by a stone wall, probably built in the Tudor period. Some outlines of stone structures, probably medieval buildings, are still visible. An early church of which there are now no upstanding remains was recorded within the graveyard in the 19th century2. The now abandoned Holy Trinity Church, built in 1839, stands in the graveyard, along with the Berry burial enclosure which is surrounded by a stone wall. Other places of interest shown in the 1911 ordinance map are the ruins of the flax mill which was supplied with water via a canal leading from the Rapemill River SE of Eglish Castle and the grain mill associated with Irishtown House (home of James Armstrong Berry).
1911 Ordinance map showing Eglish Castle and precincts. I have marked the following localities of interest which are still present: A, flax mill ruin; B, Berry Burial enclosure, C, canal taking water to flax mill; D, hand water pump (position marked on map but no longer present); E, stables; F, walled orchard; H, mill associated with Irishtown House ruin; I, Rapemill River.
Eglish Castle/house
The tower house is said to have been built by the O’Molloys in the late 15th or early 16th Century. In 1532 it was attacked and taken from the sons of John O’Carroll by his rival, Ferganainm O’Carroll, assisted by his son-in-law, the Earl of Kildare. When King’s County was created in 1557, the ancient territory of Firceall was included in it and divided into the baronies of Eglish, Ballyboy and Ballycowan. The baronies were named after the strongest castle in each at the time. By 1612 the tower house was owned by the then Earl of Kildare. At some later date its ownership must have passed to the Loftus family who appear to have been in occupation when the house was added onto the west side of the castle. According to Pey3, the Loftus family connected to the Eglish Barony were descended from a Yorkshire family. Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin, came to Ireland in 1561 and lived at Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin. He was an uncle to Adam Loftus who was appointed Lord High Chancellor of Ireland in 1619. He was created Lord Ely in 1622 and represented the King in Parliament. Through these powerful offices the Loftus family were in a position to acquire numerous tracts of forfeited lands. Edward Loftus, who leased Eglish Castle from 1712 to 1756 was a great, great, grandson of Archbishop Adam Loftus.
Eglish Castle was purchased by Marlborough Sterling from the executors of Mrs Ellinor Loftus (widow of Edward Loftus) in about 1756. Ellinor lived at Eglish Castle from 1714 until her death in 1755. Knight Berry (1743-1807) of the ‘Dovegrove’ family first obtained the lease of Eglish from Lucy, widow of Marlborough Sterling in 1766, at a rent of £140. This lease he assigned to his son-in-law, Thomas Berry (1737-1815), on 15 June 1770 in return for an annuity of £98. In about 1776 Thomas bought the head interest of the Sterlings, which was sold in Chancery. He apparently farmed most of his estate himself. Eglish, together with land at Claughill amounted to 284 acres in 1809. Thomas’ eighth son, Francis Berry (1779-1864) succeeded to the lands of Eglish, Cloughill, Ballincollinda and Shanlone. The Rev. William Berry (1850-1920) succeeded to Eglish under Francis’ will. In 1872 William, then of Queens College Cambridge, leased Eglish Lodge, the townland of Shanacloon, part of Eglish with the Mansion House and outbuildings to his brother in law, Nathaniel Slator, who was married to Matilda Berry. However, in 1876 William sold Eglish Castle (to the Dillon family) and the rest of the estate under the Irish Land Acts. He owned 828 acres in King's Co., valued at £402 p.a.
For a summary of the history of ownership and leasehold of Eglish Castle and Townlands, see Pey3 (279-285).
Heritage architect Dr C. Southgate reported Eglish Castle to consists of ((Salters Sterling pers. comm. 2005):
(a) a late 15th early 16th Century tower house, built by the O’Molloys.
(b) a late 17th C addition on one side; and
(c) a mid 18th C addition with a Palladian front. (Sterling family history records that the Palladian addition was paid for with the dowry of Sophia Sterling, daughter of Capt. James Sterling and Patience Hansard, when she married Knight Berry).
Eglish Castle is registered on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH)4 (#14930004), which describes it as follows:
“Detached U-plan seven-bay two-storey over basement country house, built c.1770, with remains of castle abutting east side, with pediment and oculus window covered by growing ivy. Now in a ruinous state. Hipped slate roof with tooled stone eaves course and red brick chimneystacks. Roughcast rendered walls. Timber sash windows with tooled stone sills. Venetian window to rear. Round-headed door opening with timber fanlight having switch-track glazing bars and timber panelled door flanked by timber sash sidelights with tooled stone sills. Door accessed by tooled stone steps flanked by splayed rendered plinth wall with tooled stone capping.
Eglish Castle is in a state of disrepair, with its roof falling in. In spite of this the elegant nature and special character of the old country house remains. A round-headed doorway with decorative Gothic style timber fanlight, accessible via tooled steps, compliments the symmetrical façade with its six-over-six sash windows. In all, the house plays a significant role in the county's built heritage”
English house main stairwell Second Floor arched recesses either side of passage door.
Eglish house Venetian window in N wall of "ballroom"on First (Ground) Floor.
Eglish house Basement facing N wall below kitchen
Eglish house original stone gate pillars now at Whigsborough House.
In Sept. 2011 I visited Eglish Castle and, with the help of Messrs Sam and Richard Alexander, was able to draw floor plans of the building. Dimensions and proportions are approximate.
Eglish Castle is currently within a working farmyard. Ruins of original outbuildings and traces of the original yard at the rear (N) of the house include the stables on the E side and two small barns/outbuildings on the NW (shown on ordnance map above). Some cobbles remain in front of the stables. There are the remains of a high stone wall adjoining the NW corner of the house with gate hinges. The walled orchard was entered through high stone gateposts on the W of the house, only one of which remains partially intact. There is no sign of the hand water pump that was in the yard. This appears to have been the only source of water for the house, although the Alexanders built a concrete water tank in the recess between the original house and the Palladian addition on the the SE. This was filled by a downpipe from the roof.
The O’Molloy Tower House in the 21st Century
Kerrigan5 describes the O'Molloy tower house as follows: “...the remains of the poorly preserved tower house (ext. dims. 10.4m N-S x 9.9m E-W; wall T 1.9m) comprise portions of its N and W walls constructed of roughly coursed limestone rubble standing two stories high. There are traces of a slight base-batter on the surviving walls and the original entrance was probably located in the E wall. A later 18th century house adjoins the N Wall. A rebuilt doorway at the west end of the N wall gives access to a mural stairs running from W-E . The now destroyed first floor was reached from this mural stairs. Among the surviving features at this level are a mural passage in the west wall and a guardroom in the NW corner containing a musket loop. The support for a wall-walk is discernable on the N wall. A bawn wall which is largely intact adjoins the tower house at its SW angle and encloses the site on its S and E sides. Several later outbuildings adjoin the bawn, and cobblestone paving is visible in the SW corner of the courtyard. (Cooke 1875, 25-6; O’Flanagan 1933, vol 2, 2-6).”
According to Richard Alexander (pers. comm. 2011), stone from the castle was removed by his father probably in the 1950’s and used for roadworks at Thomastown. Additional observations I made in 2011 include recording the existence of two more musket loops high in the S and SE walls which are not visible externally, having been filled in presumably when the exterior of the north face of the castle was rendered to match the adjoining house additions. There are four doors between the house additions and the castle: The first, and possibly the main connection between the 17th C house, is a large arched doorway at the E end of the basement passage (see photo). This has been infilled with stone, presumably when the 18th C extension was done. Second is a rectangular door at the landing level of the steps between the first (ground) floor and basement. This is infilled with concrete. The third is in the E end of the first (ground) floor passage and enters the castle at ground level in the present shed. It is infilled with bricks, probably done when Sam Alexander sen. added the toilet. The fourth is from the stair landing between the second and third floors and is infilled with bricks which are now partially removed.
East wall of house Basement passageway showing arched entrance to Castle. (photo: PFB)
Steps in mural passage of castle W wall. (photo: PFB)
It is clear that the ground level at the time the 17th C house was added to the castle was lower than it is today because its basement windows and doors are below today’s level.
When I visited Eglish in 2011 I learned of the existence of a watercolour painting of Eglish Castle owned by Pat Alexander, but was unable to arrange to see it. The painting was created from an old black and white photograph by Birr artist, Chris O'Donoghue, in 1991 for Pat's husband, Dick Alexander. Brian Pey kindly photographed this painting for me and Lorraine Wilson recently produced another watercolour for me based on it (see above). I have been unable to find in the literature an illustration of the O'Molloy tower house or a detailed description of it before its partial demolition. As the original photograph from which O'Donoghue did his watercolour appears to be lost, his painting may be historically significant as the only record of what the tower house originally looked like.
Holy Trinity Church
Holy Trinity (Eglish) Church built in 1839 by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners stands just to the E of Eglish Castle. It is accessible through an opening in the graveyard wall on the N side of the Castle. Being so close to the house, the Church and the family burial enclosure must have been an integral part of the lives of my family at Eglish. The Church faces S and appears to be located on the original medieval road past the tower house. Unfortunately there is now a hole in the roof and some window panes are missing which allows birds and rain to enter and consequently deterioration of the interior appears to be happening quite rapidly. The under-floor heating system (where the sexton died of asphyxia 6 ) has been filled in. The graveyard contains outlines of stone structures, probably medieval buildings, and many very old and interesting burials, both Catholic and Protestant. Unfortunately there appears to be no available record of surviving inscriptions, something that should be undertaken. The church and graveyard is said to be for sale.
.
Holy Trinity Church, Eglish in 2008. (Photo: Pat David)
Undated early photograph of Holy Trinity Church, Eglish. The walled Berry burial enclosure is on the left.
Holy Trinity Church from the front. (photo: P. Berry 2011)
Holy Trinity Church, Eglish in winter of 2010. (Photos: B. Pey)
Interior of Church: view from rear to pulpit (B.Pey).
Interior of Church: view from pulpit to rear (G. Ma)
The Berry Burial Enclosure
View of interior; Church in background. (P.Berry)
View from exterior; Church in background. (P. Berry)
During my visit to Eglish in Sept. 2011 I drew the following plan of the burial enclosure and recorded all the tombstone inscriptions in it. My list of burials is not in total accord with the lists made in the late 1900's by the Rev. William Berry and Rev. J.T. Webster, or recorded as located there by L.A.Wilson.
The burial enclosure is surrounded by a 2m high stone wall. Although there is a view that this is built on the location of the old ruined church this is unlikely, though the wall may have been built on the outline of a medieval building.
List of people buried in the Berry enclosure
* = recorded as buried in the Berry enclosure by Rev. William Berry who died in 1920, and in 1921 by Rev. J.T. Webster.
^ = recorded by P.F. Berry in 2011
# = reported to be buried at Eglish by L. Wilson, but no marked grave found by P. F. B in 2011.
Red font = Dovegrove Family
Gravestone Inscriptions recorded by P.F.B. in 2011
Numbers corresponds to those in plan of Berry Burial enclosure above. Script is laid out as it is on the tombstones and I have tried to retain characteristics of the script used i.e. spelling, upper or lower case, underscored etc. ? denotes illegible.
(1)
The Remains of Knight Berry
Who Died the 27th of March 1793
In the 79th Year of his age
……………………………………….
(tombstone broken along next line of illegible script and missing)
(2)
Sacred to the Memory
Of Mrs FRANCES BERRY
Wife of Thomas Berry of Eglish Castle Esq
She Departed this Life May 26th 1807
AGED 63 YEARS
And was the Sole Heir
Of the late Knight Berry Esq
And Sophia his wife
(4)
(Inscription as recorded by Rev. William Berry)
The remains of the late Thomas Berry of Eglish Castle, Esqre are interred beneath this stone. He died Oct. 30th 1815 in the
79th year of hisage. The bodies of his two sons, John the eldest and Luke Michael, the ninth son, are deposited on each side.
(6, 7)
Sacred to the Memory
of
Robert Fleetwood Berry Esq
Who died August of 1822
Aged 45 Years
He won the enduring afection
Of his neighbours
Yet he sought not popularity
?through the awful impression upon his mind
Of the inestimable love of GOD
In a redeeming Saviour
Was ?vinced
In the integrity of his Transcention
The earnestness of his vigilance
For the Welfare
Of his Fellow men
He is laid in this Grave
To which he had himself
But three Weeks before his death
Committed the body of his daughter
Catherine was aged four years
(8,9,10,12,13)
Under This Tomb are interred the mortal remains of
Maria Berry who died on the 6th of November1824
Also
Of John Berry her twin brother who died on the 19th February 1825
Also
Of Frances Berry who died the 24th May 1825
In the 12th year of her age
Also
Of their Mother Mrs Dorothy Berry wife of
Sterling Berry Esqr of the City of Dublin
Who died on the 30 of July 1826 in the 46th year of living
And
Of Sterling Berry Esqr whom died on the 10th of April
1825 in the 57th year of his age
(11)
Within this Tomb
are deposited
the Mortal remains
of
Dorothea late Wife of
M P Berry
Tullamore
Who died 9th of November
1825
universally and deservedly
lamented
she assigned her pure soul
into the hand of her
MAKER
firmly relying on the
merits and intercession
of her generous and merciful
REDEEMER
for Salvation
and everlasting happiness
in a World
of
GLORY
(14,15)
Underneath this Stone Lie
the Remains of
Frances Berry
Daughter of Francis and Alice Berry
of Tullamore
Who died on the 12 July 1832
Aged 23 years
Also of her Mother Alice Berry
Who joined her Beloved
only Four* Months
on the 20th May
* apparently an error
(16) (stone broken longitudinally (along red lines))
Sacred To the | Memory
of Martha Berry|
Who Died March| 7th 1833
Like crowded forest trees|we stand
And some are marked| to fall
The axe will smite at G|ods command
And soon shall smi|te us all
God--------------| on high
We leave |delighted
|o hand
----------------|--------
This Tomb|
Was erect|ed
By her husba|nd
Smith Mas|sy Berry
(17,21,24)
The Remains of the Late
James Armstrong Berry of Eglish Esqr
Are Interred Beneath this stone
He died July 10th 1833 in the
Sixty second year of his age
Also Margaret his Wife
Who depd this life June 30th 1851
In the 61st Year of her age
ALSO THEIR DAUGHTER
SOPHIA
WHO DIED 2ND FEB 1860
AGED 38 YEARS
GOD IS LOVE
(18)
In
Memory
of
MARLBOROUGH PARSONS BERRY Esq
Late Barracks of the Buffs 64 Reg of Foot
Who departed this life
The 28th of October1842
Aged 69 Years
(20)
Sacred
To the memory of
Mrs ELIZABETH Berry wife of the late
ROBERT FLEETWOOD BERRY Esq
Of Shannon Harbour in Kings Co
She died April ?---
Aged ?----
(26, 30)
SACRED
TO THEMEMORY OF
FRANCIS BERRY ESQUIRE
OF TULLAMORE AND EGLISH
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
ON THE 31ST OF OCTOBER 1864
AGED 85 YEARS
ALSO
SUSANNA HIS WIFE WHO DIED
AT MONKSTOWN COUNTY DUBLIN
ON THE 3RD OF JULY 1876
AGED 60 YEARS
“THEM ALSO WHICH SLEEP IN JESUS
WILL GOD BRING WITH HIM”
1 THESS. v 14
(27/28/29)
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF ROBERT BERRY ELDEST
SON OF THE REV EDWARD BERRY RECTOR OF ATHLONE
AND OF PENELOPE HIS WIFE WHO DIED NOV 6 1864
AGED 18 YEARS ALSO EDWARD SECOND
SON OF THE SAMEWHO DIED JUNE 4 1869 AGED 21 YEARS
ALSO
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THE VEN
EDWARD FLEETWOOD BERRY
ARCHDEACON OF MEATH & VICAR OF TRAM
FORMERLY RECTOR OF ATHLONE
WHO DIED AT TREAM 29 APRIL 1875
AGED 58 YEARS
(31)
SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF
FRANCES
DAUGHTER OF
MARLBOROUGH P BERRY
CLONEEN
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
21 JULY 1882
AGED 12 YEARS
(35)
ERECTED BY
JAMES BERRY MITCHELL
IN REMEMBERANCE OF HIS BELOVED
MOTHER
MARGARET MITCHELL
DAUGHTER OF THE LATE
JAMES ARMSTROMG BERRY ESQR
DIED 18TH SEPTEMBER 1905
AGED 82 YEARS
WITH CHRIST IN PERFECT PEACE
(36)
IN LOVING MEMORY
OF
JAMES BERRY MITCHELL
CLOGHEEN MANOR BUTTEVANT Co CORK
DIED 30 DECEMBER 1935
AGED 73 YEARS
References
1 Bog of Allen http://www.ipcc.ie/bogofallenvisitorguide.html
2O’ Flanagan, 1933, vol. 2, 6).
3 Pey, Brian (ed) 2003. Eglish and Drumcullen A Parish in Firceall. p.90. Published by Firceall Heritage Group.
4 National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
5Kerrigan, Paul M., 1995. Castles and Fortifications in Ireland, 1485-1945. Collins Press, Cork, 1995.
6 Pey, Brian (ed) 2003. Eglish and Drumcullen A Parish in Firceall. p.33. Published by Firceall Heritage Group.
Copyright 2006-2024 Patrick Berry