Loftus Hall is a large
country house
image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...
on the
Hook peninsula,
County Wexford
County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...
, Ireland. Built on the site of the original Redmond Hall, it is said to have been haunted by the
devil
A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...
and the ghost of a woman.
Loftus Hall has a long history of ownership, through private residence, landlords, two different orders of nuns, and a hotel in the 1980s run by members of the Devereux family.
Purchased by Shane and Aidan Quigley in 2011, Loftus Hall was opened to the public in 2012 with guided tours of the house and a fully restored walled gardens. It was closed in 2020 and sold in 2021. By 2022, it was under renovation and not open to the public. As of 2025, it is currently up for sale.
Redmond Hall
In 1170
Raymond FitzGerald landed at what is now known as
Baginbun, named after his two ships La Bague et La Bonne, where he was to fight an important battle to safeguard the arrival of
Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Richard de Clare (c. 1130 – 20 April 1176), the second Earl of Pembroke, also Lord of Leinster and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Justiciar of Ireland (sometimes known as Richard FitzGilbert), was an Anglo-Norman nobleman notable for his leadi ...
, to Ireland. He acquired land in the area in County Wexford, upon which he built a
castle
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
known as Houseland Castle. The Redmond family replaced their original castle with another in about 1350, during the time of the
Black Death
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
. This second castle was also known as Redmond's Hall.
Irish Confederate Wars
During the
Irish Confederate Wars
The Irish Confederate Wars, took place from 1641 to 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, all then ...
, which broke out in 1641, Redmond's Hall was the scene of a skirmish in 1642. An
Irish Army
The Irish Army () is the land component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. ...
garrison of 100 soldiers under the command of
Lord Esmonde were stationed at a fort in
Duncannon next to the
Waterford Harbour
Waterford Harbour () is a natural harbour at the mouth of the The Three Sisters (Ireland), Three Sisters; the River Nore, the River Suir and the River Barrow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is navigable for shipping to both Waterford and N ...
. On 23 February 1642, the garrison was reinforced by 200 soldiers under the command of
captains Anthony Weldon and Thomas Aston along with six cannons. Four months later on 19 June, a detachment of soldiers from the fort on their way to
Tintern were attacked by
Irish Confederate rebels led by
Major
Major most commonly refers to:
* Major (rank), a military rank
* Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits
* People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames
* Major and minor in musi ...
James Butler near
Shielbaggan. Butler's men routed the Irish Army and forced them to retreat back to the fort. Redmond's Hall, which was clearly visible to the beleaguered garrison at Duncannon, was owned at the time by Alexander Redmond, who was known to sympathetic to the rebels and had provided them with aid.
Aston believed that Redmond's Hall could be easily taken and on 20 July 1642 set sail from
Duncannon with around 90 Irish Army troops and two small cannon, landing nearby. Although he was 68-years old, Alexander Redmond barricaded the hall and prepared to defend it. He was assisted by his sons, Robert and Michael, four of his tenants, two men at arms and an itinerant tailor who happened to be at work in the hall when the attack took place. The defenders numbered 10 in all and were armed with long-barrelled fowling pieces. Aston drew his men up in front of the building and demanded admission in the name of
Charles I of England
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649.
Charles was born ...
. Redmond retorted that Aston was welcome to come in providing that he left his soldiers and weapons outside. A lengthy firefight ensued. Aston discovered that his cannon were too small to make much impression on the main door. To add to his troubles, about half his men abandoned him to pillage the countryside. As the fight dragged on a thick sea-mist descended on the
Hook Peninsula.
Meanwhile, a force Confederate rebels, led by captains Rossiter and Thomas Roche, were encamped at Shielbaggan. Hearing of Aston's attack they marched rapidly to the aid of the defenders and surprised the attackers under cover of the fog. About 30 attackers escaped to their boats and back to the fort, while Aston and several of his men were killed. Several other soldiers of the Irish Army, including Lord Esmonde's nephews John Esmonde and Walter Esmonde, were taken prisoner. Several of the prisoners were summarily hanged the following day on Roche's orders, probably at
Ballyhack. On 20 August, 11 other prisoners of war were hanged at
New Ross
New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, on the River Barrow on the border with County Kilkenny, northeast of Waterford. In 2022, it had a population of 8,610, making it the fourth-largest t ...
, including one of Esmonde's nephews.
Dispossession and change of ownership
The official Redmond family pedigree (registered in the Ulster Office,
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle () is a major Government of Ireland, Irish government complex, conference centre, and tourist attraction. It is located off Dame Street in central Dublin.
It is a former motte-and-bailey castle and was chosen for its position at ...
1763) alleges that Alexander Redmond had to defend the hall one or even two more times against soldiers of
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
in the autumn of 1649 during the
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the Commonwealth of England, initially led by Oliver Cromwell. It forms part of the 1641 to 1652 Irish Confederate Wars, and wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three ...
. There is a tradition that the defenders used sacks of wool to block up breaches in the walls created by enemy cannon. These woolsacks and a representation of the hall can be seen in the coat of arms issued to one of their members in 1763. It is alleged that Alexander Redmond received favourable terms from Cromwell and died in the hall in 1650 or 1651 after which his surviving family were evicted, allowed only to retain a third of their original estates in County Wexford.
The
Loftus family were
English planters who had owned land in the area from around 1590 when Sir Dudley Loftus was granted the lands around Kilcloggan. Nicholas Loftus acquired the manor of
Fethard-on-Sea in 1634 and Fethard Castle became the family residence, that was afterwards occupied by the Redmond family after they were evicted from the house which is now Loftus Hall. After the end of Cromwell's campaign, Nicholas Loftus was given extensive lands in the south of County Wexford and purchased the hall from 'several Adventurers and soldiers', but it was only in 1666 when his son Henry moved to the hall from Dungulph that it became the principal residence of the Loftus family. To establish the new name of his property, he had the following inscription inscribed in stone on the entrance piers at Portersgate: 'Henry Loftus of Loftus Hall Esq. 1680'. Nonetheless, the old name remained in use till the end of the century. In 1684, Henry Loftus carried out extensive repairs to Loftus Hall, which needed repairing after the turbulent events of the previous decades. The Loftus family rose in the
peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks.
Peerages include:
A ...
over the following centuries. In 1800, the then owner of the hall,
Charles Loftus, Baron Loftus, was created
Marquess of Ely. It was his descendant,
John Loftus, 4th Marquess of Ely
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
, who between 1872 and 1884, refurbished the old hall, and used the existing structure, resulting in the present house.
The Redmond family had disputed the claim of the Loftus family in court but without success. In 1684, they were compensated with lands in the Barony of Ballaghkeene in the north of County Wexford. Some of their descendants joined the movement of the
Wild Geese and served in a number of foreign armies, most notably that of France. Others were involved in banking and politics, and became a local political dynasty in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in support of the
Irish Party of
Isaac Butt
Isaac Butt (6 September 1813 – 5 May 1879) was an Irish barrister, editor, politician, Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, economist and the founder and first leader of a number of Irish nationalist par ...
and
Charles Stuart Parnell. The most notable of these was
John Redmond
John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 – 6 March 1918) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist politician, barrister, and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. He was best known as leader ...
who led the party till his death in 1918.
Later developments
Between 1872 and 1884, John Henry Wellington Graham Loftus, 4th
Marquess of Ely (1849–1889), under the guidance of his mother Lady Jane Hope Vere Loftus (Lady in Waiting to
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
), undertook an extensive rebuilding of the entire mansion, adding several elements such as the grand staircase, mosaic tiled floor, elaborate parquet flooring and technical elements which had not been seen in houses in Ireland at the time, such as flushing toilets and blown air heating. Some of Lord Ely's inspiration was taken from
Osborne House
Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat. Albert designed the house in the style ...
, the Queen's summer residence on the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...
. The extensive works were believed to have been undertaken to facilitate a visit from the Queen, but this didn't happen and the family never got to fully enjoy the house, with the 4th
Marquess
A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wid ...
dying very young without issue and leaving the estate, in a poor financial state, to his cousin who eventually elected to place it on the market, classed as a three-storey non-basement mansion, nine bays to the front with a balustraded parapet. In 1917, Loftus Hall was bought by the
Sisters of Providence and turned into a convent and a school for young girls interested in joining the order. In 1983, it was purchased by Kay and Michael Devereaux who opened it as "Loftus Hall Hotel", which operated until its closure in the late 1990s.
In 2011, the house was purchased by the Quigley family. In more recent times the hall had been run as a tourist attraction with guided tours of the property and seasonal events, with some visitors taking part in paranormal investigations following ''
Ghost Adventures'' with Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin and Nick Groff. The gothic thriller ''
The Lodgers'' was shot on location at Loftus Hall in 2016 and premiered at the 2017
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
.
The hall was put on the market in 2020.
The name 'Loftus Hall' or 'Loftushall' is also applied to the townland surrounding the mansion. The entire
townland
A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...
of Loftus Hall, including the building itself, can be seen from
Hook Lighthouse.
Ghost stories
Charles Tottenham became Lord of the manor (having to adopt the Loftus name to inherit lands and title as per instructions of Nicolas Loftus 1752) by marrying the Honourable Anne Loftus, daughter of the first Viscount Loftus. They had six children, four boys and two girls – Elizabeth and Anne. However, his wife became ill and died while the girls were still young. Two years later, Tottenham married his cousin Jane Cliffe, and they lived together, along with Anne, in Loftus Hall.
One evening in 1775, Charles was resting in his home with his second wife and daughter from his first marriage, Anne, while the Loftus family were away on business. During a storm, a ship unexpectedly arrived at the
Hook Peninsula, where the mansion was located. A young man was welcomed into the mansion. Anne and the young man became very close. One night, the family and mysterious man were in the game room playing cards. In the game each player received three cards, apart from Anne who was only dealt two by the mystery man. A butler serving the Tottenham family at the table was just about to question the man when Anne bent down to pick up another card from the floor, which she must have dropped. It is said that when Anne bent down to pick up the card, she looked beneath the table and saw that the mysterious man had a cloven foot.
It was then that Anne stood up and said to the man: "You have a cloven foot!" The man went up through the roof in a ball of flames, leaving behind a large hole in the ceiling. Anne became mentally ill and never recovered from her ordeal. In the story, the family became ashamed of Anne and locked her away in her favourite room – where she would be happy, yet out of everyone's view – which was known as the Tapestry Room. She refused food and drink, and sat with her knees under her chin, looking out the Tapestry Room window and across the sea to where
Dunmore East is today, waiting for her mysterious stranger to return, until she died in the Tapestry Room in 1775. According to the story, the family could not straighten her body as her muscles had seized, and she was buried in the same sitting position in which she had died.
Media representations
A partially independent documentary film was made by
Waterford
Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...
man
Rick Whelan, which was released in 1993 as ''The Legend of Loftus Hall''. This film details the story, dramatising certain parts, such as the card game, with actors.
A further feature film, simply titled ''Loftus Hall'', was announced in early 2006 and development began on the project in 2007. Actors
Keith Duffy,
Samantha Mumba and
Adelaide Clemens were reportedly in talks at various stages to appear in the film. Samantha Mumba appeared in Dublin in January 2010 to promote the film. Duffy reportedly left the project midway through 2010 due to prior contractual commitments that would have interfered with the film's proposed schedule. In a 2010 interview at the launch party of Frilogy.com, Samantha Mumba stated that details on Loftus Hall were being kept top secret.
After suffering financial difficulties throughout 2010 that stalled the production, it was announced during a questions and answers session at the 2011 Galway Film Fleadh that funding had been secured and the project was being completely rebooted to make it much darker and grittier. The release date was originally set as 1 October 2012, which was later pushed back to 2013.
Loftus Hall was the inspiration for Fowl Manor, one of the primary settings of the franchise ''
Artemis Fowl'', author
Eoin Colfer having worked there as a child.
Elements of Loftus Hall, including the exterior, the main banqueting hall, and the grand staircase also left their mark on the design of Toad Hall in the award-winning stop motion animated ''
The Wind in the Willows (1983 film)''.
References
External links
Article in the Irish Times, 23 October 2008: "Mystery buyer for haunted house"The Times – Haunted Loftus Hall to be laid to rest{{Historic Irish houses
Buildings and structures in County Wexford
Tourist attractions in County Wexford
1640s in Ireland
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Redmond family
History of County Wexford
Houses in the Republic of Ireland
Irish folklore
Reportedly haunted locations in Ireland
Loftus family