Jenkinstown Castle was a country house using designs by William Robertson which incorporated the earlier Palladian building (pre-1798). This structure was built for Sir Patrick Bellew (1798-1866), first Baron Bellew of Barmeath at Jenkinstown Park,

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. However the design had serious structural issues and the Bellews hired architect

Charles Frederick Anderson Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

to remedy the situation. However some of that structure collapsed. The architect left Ireland and moved to the USA. The house was restored in a smaller version and remained occupied by the Bellew family until the 1930s. Once the family left the house, most of it fell into extreme disrepair. The chapel was used by the parish of Conahy. Some of the house was demolished. Today the castle is a manor house and was restored using material from the original building between 2013 and 2014. The chapel was converted into an auditorium.

Visitors

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...

was a guest staying in the house and wrote

The Last Rose of Summer "The Last Rose of Summer" is a poem by the Irish poet Thomas Moore. He wrote it in 1805, while staying at Jenkinstown Castle in County Kilkenny, Ireland, where he was said to have been inspired by a specimen of Rosa 'Old Blush'. The poem is ...

there in 1805.

References

{{coord, 52.7298, -7.2899, type:landmark_region:IE, display=title Castles in County Kilkenny Demolished buildings and structures in the Republic of Ireland