Kilronan Castle
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Kilronan Castle, previously known as Castle Tenison, is a large country house standing in of parkland on the shore of
Lough Meelagh Lough Meelagh () is a freshwater lake in the northwest of Ireland. It is located in north County Roscommon. Geography Lough Meelagh measures about long and wide. It lies about west of Drumshanbo, near the village of Keadue. The Kilronan Castl ...
in County Roscommon, Ireland, from the village of Ballyfarnon. The house, originally constructed c.1820, was considerably expanded in the 1880s to form the current building. The newer part is a two storey, irregular building with a large baronial tower adjacent to the older building. It now functions as a spa hotel.


History

Towards the end of the 18th century the property later known as Castle Tenison, together with its surrounding estate, belonged to the Dundas family. They sold it in 1715 to Richard Tenison, of the English Tenison family, who was the son of the
Bishop of Meath The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric. History Until the ...
and MP for Dunleer. He died in 1726 and left the property to his son, William, who in 1746 was Lieutenant Colonel of the 35th Regiment of Foot and also an MP for Dunleer. William died shortly afterwards in 1728 without an heir and the estate passed to his uncle Thomas and thence to Thomas' son, Thomas jnr. Thomas jnr was High Sheriff of Leitrim for 1763 and MP for
County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of Border Region, Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town ...
from 1776 to 1783. The property, now known as Kilronan Castle, passed to Thomas jnr's only son, yet another Thomas, who was High Sheriff of Roscommon in 1791, Leitrim in 1792 and MP for
Boyle Boyle may refer to: Places United States * Boyle, Kansas, an unincorporated community * Boyle, Mississippi, a town *Boyle County, Kentucky *Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, a neighborhood Elsewhere * Boyle (crater), a lunar crater * 11967 Boyle, ...
in 1792. His son Edward King-Tenison was High Sheriff of Leitrim in 1845, MP for Leitrim from 1847 to 1852 and Lord Lieutenant of Roscommon from 1856 to 1878. On his death in 1878 the property was left to his son-in-law Henry King who had changed his name to Henry King-Tenison and inherited his brother's title to become the 8th Earl of Kingston. It was the 8th Earl of Kingston who built the present house in the 1880s as a large Gothic Revival extension to the older building. During his occupation much of the surrounding land was sold. After his death in 1896 the castle was not often occupied, the 9th Earl preferring to live elsewhere, and in 1939 the contents were sold at auction. The castle was later occupied by a section of the Construction Corps who were building a road in the Arigna Mountains. The Land Commission ultimately acquired the property and later sold the castle to Michael and Brendan Layden. It was subsequently converted into a luxury hotel by the Hanly group in 2006.


References

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External links


Official website
{{Castles in Connacht Buildings and structures in County Roscommon 1820s establishments in the United Kingdom