THE SEAT OF THE EARL OF MOUNT CHARLES By MARK ODLUM James ll‘ yam‘, James Candon, Lancelot Brown and Francis Johnston were all involved at Slane, but in this article attention is conce on its remodelling by H enry Conyngharn in the years after he acquired it in 1 703, and on the schentes of his so 1st Earl Conyngham, who consulted James Wyattfrom 1773 to 1775. l—THE DISTANT \ II-I\\ OI-' SLANE C-\STLE FROM TEE BRIDGE O\ ER TH Ii BOYVE but irrfacr it1's'the,rivcr that provides the keyTo other houses T>f"U'tficc the same heir its history. The Battle ofthe Boync took place Tyme the Mansion house of the said a couple of miles upstream, and it was that Slane“. crul llllllhl [mi to time :|_tr'i\':l oftlae Conyngharn The Catholic Rebellion 0fl64l sho ufimmily at Sim: n tiew years hm:-t. to be among the most militant oi lFmnm:m film: mill"; Mtila mmnnlry the la::.3 Caiholi; families. and in thc aftcrrnatl mmnlult Emu: btmll haunt mmnnci he true Fl:n1Li:.'t5 reltwsllion al :l"_»:i: lands and oss finluilljy wtlrhrt ztwlmmmnti Lords a:'Sla:.~e l-J -:l;l~...i-_-".1; chose at Slanc, Wcrc forfgite Edwzmmfl lllllll The “Emmi” imwwyt ‘shows L11: in Crswrt. ET. 1th the accession to the tl lmr-WC‘ uihni tIWM";u5l.'i lmnmfi mi mmmlfw‘ e're:fr p?iI1.$l"C ‘:. jatzts ll it. 1685. the Catholic cause revi" ‘hr: Bnmwrm 2-timm what: ms"? are possessei ;—. 155' ii: :-amilfs exptctatimls were at Issue Wm a -m'I§'m 2 stain: liter rzori than 40 years when wri Bnrwba-nu-=2. :1 Coach: hm-use mi i:*'5'ts is§;:i_ reversing the orders of attain 0'.1:lawr§" on them, Two ye: ever, the family took i again for the Catholic cat A 111:: the twin defeats at tht and at Aughrim, their lan once more forfeited. The acts of forfeiture YCITlO“\'Cd the Fleming fami Slant for ever, coincided, ix history's gentler ironies, v improving fortunes of the ( harn family. Dean A Conyngham had come to Ir 1611 from Scotland to be llll thc parishes of Enver and K in Co. Donegal. Albert Conyngharn, his son, was maclc Lieutenant-Gr the Ordnance in Ireland 2 knighted by Charles II. Y succession ofjamcs II to Yhl he rctircd from public l remained in Donegal whcrc, ing to Lodge’: Peerage, “he Papists in such subjection, tl VFCYC HO l’l'l€'[Tlb€Y'$ l'C[U!'Y1C( _Iames’s Parliament fror county, or from the b Within it". With the arrival Williamitc armies in lrel; raised a regiment of dragco _ _ _ own expense, fought \vi:': ET. 2—THL E.\TRA_\CE FROIVF. James Wyatfs remodelling of the earlier house shown in Figure 3 the Boyne and at Liizueritlgl — ' H ‘tho ~;-enewed ein-tern-st / in"lrish i 2 Georgian architecture in recent years, Slanc has bocnme 2 mum: and more vmnlniug h—r. Icmmzwflll ml I bangs ha Iuwflllnll uh: immflbwmumm uf IE-I|ImmnI.fllH‘nmrilm\nnmq:ll|mmnmvg, in lnwwl it “ma at-K * mlmrl I~~;~- rm it II , wlrlilncllm us all that mos: mnwlillllllms lhmmmu nil? mt. Suzie '11; all fit: E mi a great irzicsne ::: _:l;::‘_-1:1. wlurnmnmmm; uast:_"_=::i gates azi 1 ;Iar:.e.i :1v.:. :.;sr:t; rem; r.::r-\;,\ t_>Li{1_Zf_f:I:\;. ‘.~ir:i.;.;; :nzde a resolute defence, and killed twenty-five of the handitti“. In 1695 his second son, Henry Conyng- ham, became Member of Parliament for the borough of Killybegs, and married the widowed Mary Lady Shelbnrne, an heiress in her own right who had been left large estates in Wales and Kent by her late husband. In 1696, Conynghain petitioned the Crown for some form of financial reimbursement following the fainily’s costly support of the Williarnite cause, and after a period of energetic lobbying, he Was e\'Ci:t\;allj.‘ promoted to Brigadier-General in 1'11. lr: the previous year he had come into ;:ss:s5;a:: of Slane. vchere Work on his new 101:5: :Tr;~: have started immediately. Little is iCIlQ‘»\'f1 about the house or castle then existing a: Sane. Th-; earliest surviving ground plan \Fig 6 suggests that Conyngharn-s new building incorporated an earlier structure. possibly a strong house of the eaxl} 1_th century. The t ree-towered SITrlIl'UIC was elcarly related to a characteristic czlmempofzfy type represented by Kanturk Castle. iregur. '31‘ 1“ E_»;'f.le g:*:?-e .§,~‘ ' "'1" As. at »/. _ .__ _ . "$'?r"-"5¥.a“iQ." ‘ii; A , “'§1,lt»'~- l 7.. r 1 .@ ==-as "§=f'l';::‘—,:L“'>,— 4? - »- , wflégé \ V _, .€_*‘ .. ';. __ ,~ __<.i‘,\_.,,‘s.~ - =;>_ ‘_M ‘M; l‘:&*,.-'~:'&-5i-W‘ , ‘ ' Q. .. ~ Ki 6?: ii. #34» p.’ ..~;;s ~ :=.@' L7 ___ s jig; A r _ ,- ‘(P42 1 = l»h\ _,e/1,“ ~.,l>§ l . 1 V7 c__‘...,;£.;;:_ -;._ ‘-:-p-;~ ~ - -- »\‘§§3-_~;;;§,¢ - “Va 1 1 la it I q , >\!‘» _. _;: ;‘ \ pl Q ,,_'z.: sfrern ; 4 lrgw-‘:.a_7_ '*f’5.’ L. -Y ~5“"?'”; ?'7‘:w..a F"-if "1 * -ean =' - sot, it-. 1:, _ 1 - , l-o-_)- ~ w ___,,o._,...r.i. ' -__...a L 4 ~ Z ' “F ~..i.i'.\\\X:\ :1 . t it . ‘ti ..._.t :”_?_,,s___ . — 1 ~ > 3——A DESIGN FOR HENRY CONYN(}H_Al\l‘S H OUSIQ. The asymmetrical roof and the corner towers indicate the furrn of the buildmg existing in 1703 s,-_»’ 4-—Sl,ANE ABOUT 1773. This detail of a missing painting by Thomas Roberts shows the house shortly before its alteration MacDona l1 MacCarthv sometime around 1609 and still tie basis of the present house. The large central hall dominated by a great fireplace is 5» 1 many houses of the period, such as Monscuawn Castle, begun in about 1636. The surviving building accounts for Conyngham’s work, kept by an “Ab . Wilson“, claim that it “first be an '5 13th ofjune 1703". The accounts show C%lE1El‘|€ was involved with the building of “Conynghani Hall" from 1703-1709, but payments were still being made in 1711 when £2 6s “was pd for cutting a pf of Corinthian eappitals for y¢ Hall Doorc". The slightly gauche design (Fig 3) may have been the work of a George Garret. A surviving petition from his Widow states that he was rought to Slane by Conyngham to be “Chief Mason and Stone Cuttr,” for which he was given 1O acres of land and a house with a 41-year lease. The house as built was L-shaped with a retaining wall running along the southern flank, beyond which the ground slopes steeply to the river. It was of two storeys with an attic lit by oval windows on the entrance or northern facade, and circular windows on the east facade. Its most arresting feature must have been its four-towered entrance front and the lantern over the central floating pedirnent. For an Irish house of the beginning of the 18th century it had an extremely busy roofline and What must have appeared as ronounccd chiaroscuro on the facade from the presence of the towers. Despite the attempts at symmetry, the rotifiine was jarringly asymmetrical. The outer towers ofthe main facade appear to have lJCCn those of the then cxisiting house, rc-roofed with pointed caps. and with more regular fenestration inserted, while the two inner ones enclosing staircases and with their strange bell-shaped roofs seem, from the groundplan, to have been added to aid access to the first floor. This facade is, despite the attentions of James V/yatt at the end of the century, the entrance facade of the present house (Fig Z). It must, nevertheless, have been a somewhat disconcerting building for it combined a rather studied form ofClassicisn1 as seen it; the Classical S—THE HOUSE FROM THE SOUTH-EAST >11. 5 marge _; ;, 1;, A b'>L»_~ i.a:._.‘1 _. window shapes, a strangely asymmetrical roof and a number ofmanneted details, such as the cornice strips over the arched windows. In this respect it differs markedly from the two nearest houses of contemporary architectural im- portance: Bealieu, outside Dro heda and dating from 1660-67, and Stackaliin I-louse. only 10 miles from Slane, of171O—16. Both are regular. red brick buildings of almost faultless ;'_::trnet?*1'. their rooflines dominated only by iisit prerrinerxt hipped roofs and regular ;h;::::';.s:z:i-cs. In contrast. the L—sh:|ped house .=.: Slat: ':.':th its as:-.-rznetric tool and the przisiorz :5 ::'-wars or. its facades shares little of the &FCl'Z1i€CT1lI'Ji priorities of ;rs neighbours. And it is 3l2ZLlfiCAII[ iltar visit the house came to be rebunt, it was the srclertng of the L- shaped ground plan into .2 square zhar :ool>; precedence over a more subdued t:ea:rr.:r1: of the roofline and facade. i While the building of the house cc.".:inue;l. there had been a series of unfortunate e\"er.ts ii: the family. The outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1702 meant that Briga- dier-General Conyngham was immediately called up for active service. Before his departure he made his brother—in—laW Williani (Speaker) Conolly of Castletown, Co. Kildare, one of the executors ofhis will. After a period m ;.Fll, me; \~ .-.'~te,.)~ 1 9 ~ , 1:1’ . g _ '_‘;_ _ I r . , . 1 5: 7? \ ~ 4 4 , . , _ g y . H , _ 1 1 ' 1 1 7*» , 2-‘ t £3‘, £5 _" 55 ‘ r , s “ 1 " 2 , 9' ~ ~ $ ' - ' * " ii ” ‘ ii I w ,4 <1 _ 4; 7‘ "' 1;-».§_' ._. , YT ' ' ’ '-11?‘ l '1 ‘ ' 1 L.’ 1 1 ' ‘ ' ;,’;;;;;",;",',~ ' - ~ H‘ ‘ '_“ ’ '7 ’ f' W ‘ ti‘ ‘1;Ei- ‘ f 5! n./»,.,1ta.».fl.- ' I’; 5 ‘ ~. :\ _ ‘V’ 5,‘..a¢g4,.< - ‘ e ;' ‘s ~ p31,.-/;4~ at ‘ '--_ '; a»..-,.!1&? 1.1 _ _ , I. Q; . . - §_1;j/511*»; (-7. - _..* -‘ I 4; e _ ; (J:/zf’ I _, - ~ § 5’-3<;?=/--, . eAr»,<»-4 Q‘ _ __, a _ I 1. ' I . pk 1*-*~,-;w,..1.>» " , i_"l£.' or 4! I “wig? fl';3,_-,+ s ‘A “'§‘__ ‘ .'. "' ‘ 1: ' W 37' 11' - »~ 5' ._)/k 1- .._ I ,3 , 7 ‘ ,3} 11 _" g , t ‘ A , _ y W M‘ ‘ Y Q t - 7 t. ‘A 6——-THE Pl.-\\ OF THE 1703 HOUSE. It suggests that an early-17111-celitury strong la is incorporated in it " ofthe 17705 in Paris. Certainly Arthur T 7—CAPABILITY BROWN’S IlI\'EXE(II,.'l‘kjl) DESIGN FOR THE ENTRANCE FRONT, ABOUT 1781-83 in Spain as Governor ofLetida, he was killed in action at the Battle of St Estevan in January 1706. Conolly had married Katherine C0nyng- ham, the Brigadier-Gcncral’s eldest sister, in 1694. It was also through marriage that Conolly first 1'11C[_l31I"1CS Bonnell who had been appointed Registrar to the Commissioners of Inquiry into forfeitures in 1693, and whose position may have considerably eased any problems with the purchase ot'Slanc. Bonnell atcr married jane Conyngham, Katherine's younger sister. Henry Conyhgham, later the first earl, was born in 1705. He was in Fact the Brigadier- Gcncral's third son. Albert, the eldest, had died in irrfaticy, and Williani, who succeeded his father, died in 1738. Henry Conyngham had an activefpublic career, being Member oti Parlia- ment or Killybcgs from 1727 to 1753. But he was also the first Conyngham to benefit from the new cstatcs in Wales and Kent, brought into the family by his mother Lady Shelburne, and was an English MP from 1747 to '54 for Tiverton, and for Sandwich in Kent from l756 to '74. The Family also acquired a London town house in St George's Street leadin into Hanover Square, which was sold on _]u%y Z‘), 1774, presumably to coincide with the end of his term as MP for Kent. The first earl seems to have been somewhat peripatetic and spent most i 1;,1;i;i‘?;;;:W. ~' K ;.1-ss1;~,,,. ‘; ‘F5. of s . 1, . ti ‘l 3‘ 3? ‘.32; 1, .1 <>W;\;L; at 5_P\v' H cw‘; ‘/9’! mg,“ , t l _ .. 5; ,1 <1 '~§*:~a” i!" ,. ,, 2? x x ‘I ¢ 7» ¥“~‘*-\_£:(~» <1» > Ra’ 456'} 1 W" K i‘ epé 2 ‘§‘*'_§aE~;~ -<;§£‘i.i 12;”; i g ~ »;% ‘ 1§1!§*.¥i*l:;l ll 1 1 it, .. ~ 1/» K ' »"" “""<= »‘”\>‘lal “* . . =§§1'.i}““""',<.:s Iv’ “Wt T1.r‘“i£$1 1?“ ’£’=I F777’ W thrcc months later. vtho visited Slane in june 1776, failed him, but was nevertheless impressed: Conyngham's keeping up Slarie Cast] spending great sums, though he rarely t iere, is an instance oi magnificence no met With; while it is common for abser drain the kingdom ofevery shilling they contrary a conduct ought to be held estimation which it justly deserves." Henry Conyngham was created Conyngham of Mount Charles in C 1753, and Viscount Conynghain in july 1’ creation which promlpted Emily, Duel y Leinster, to write to iet husband in he I superior manner that: “I suplpose ym heard that Conynghain is to ave the 1 last. The Duke of Bedford was vastly it, Righy says, and was obliged to do it l Hotham had got it here.“ But the e. when it did arrive was only briefly er Henry Conyngharn was created Baron al Conynghain o{Mount Charles in januar but he died at the beginning of April, le Since the first earl had no childrc A were complex problems of succession 53 ‘f z ~c>' .t.....c.,%k\ \ -.., -1-.- .‘~1‘ ~.,, “~45 1~ 5% -it Er , , 1 Qt K "~\ 5%?‘ 13; it at “J51 J ¢‘l'ii1:‘; ii, ‘?9’l‘l*',M" Cetw-§}r‘i~5": 5 1 1 1 a e. ,< - 1 ~~ a ' ~ / l r '1’ ” “W ;\ "625" ’ ‘ " ‘~ c ,r,;;:r»< T-1;. . ; c 5: .,~.,-y ~ s {xii 1 . 1._~..-.-u_»¢»-. ‘ »_ §_;;..,‘ ea AP it ,1, “ Z, - , 1, Ir. ~ at < . , ,)_,-1,, ,e\..~, _‘.K_:?,j‘€'~'~<' ;<~1.f*\ s ~€1.~t—?>>\ /1 fr *3»;-»t' _ I. \v "/‘ ,1; t at 7 ;__ t 7&7’-t4 _ ~ ’ ~ §,~_ ..= V, — .~ Q. 1, F‘ m1-e*>le;"”\§€;a,\:\,; as ” 1 1 :~~ ’ ...»~~’”" ‘hi it * ' ‘gt ya.‘ l c=r\,§P 1-316',» \/as s--“‘“"“““‘ . ‘X1’./“ ,,.,t~“» fiittlri "‘ it ,5-/5 _-;,*; ,.-t‘ '¢w:’""‘*e :31 1~ , it 1 -‘luv * _,a.e;‘§» 7"“ 435 1'» A / ,, Z,-or = \ t Q1“; /1, <1" 5 A i?1.‘»_.lr 1 ‘* ~ it ,. 1 ,1 fit» ~ ';;:\11.,_l *1’? .,,.;\d . { - ~ i 11 _\\~ 1 ‘rig.’ Vi‘. for the remodelling of the interior produced between 1773 and 1775 3—_]Al\/IES VWATTS DESIGN FOR THE HALL CEILING. One of a group of dr1 two ne_:~l".e\\'s were the nearest relatives of the ITI'bC earl, and in his will it was stated that Francis-Pierpoint should inherit the title and also the family estates in England, l/imerirtlt and Clare, while the younger brother should inherit the cstatcs in Doncgal and Slaiie. The will also specified that the two nephews should take the surname Conyngham. It is due to an artist, rather than an architect, that we have the only surviving piece of pictorial evidence oi‘ the external appearance of the house at Slane during the 17'/Os. It is a paiittin by Thomas Roberts, Slams Castle rm the River Boyne (Fig -ll. proiably executed in 1773. Though the painting is now rnissing, photographs can still capture the inarvellousl 2‘-'oca:i\'e nature of Roberts’s landscape. The house standz .::;osir.gly or. its eminence above the river, which fiows over a —T.‘.E.ll 1'-"::r towards the left foreground. On the right a woman ;"..i her two :oiri':ai1ions are almost obscured beneath the great, :1:-vain-Lg mass oia tree \\ hich frames the house. 3:1 Elmlti-en’; was also a tine topographical artist and a closer z:=.a:r;u::c-n :5 time picture sricws now accurate was his eye for ;::ail T‘:i;s i’:-ens 2:‘ the house is an important piece of ::::; :i:r;:':: 3TZiE'fl-Ii for :: Si‘.O'\\'$ :1-rat the house had :2::'.;:.e: azrgelv ";:;'r.a_~igei since zts erexion in 170341. TE: Yrs: arzhttert :0 be 1."u.Ql'-‘ei -.\:::h certainty in the rebuilt-11:1; 2:‘ 2:: 119:5-: 21.35 KY-xttt :. I“lPT5. He must have been approached E1: the Cor.‘-'?_;l':;rr..< if! London and given ground plans ofrhs l1G‘.‘.55. For he izi :r: 2151': Ir-ehnd until 1785. Iii 1773 his lrisli coi:iit11ssiQ:s. ;_:‘;r'. f::::1 his irawings for Slaiie, consisted only otia series of ;i1l:?.; istgns pro"-"iied for M\ " '_' " " t ~ s ' s _ ,--@515;-t' ' . ' t .. l k; » i" lib ' .1 l . - ‘“’i.~,:.,.‘l§i ~‘ ‘V a — . t J“ ,1 5* ' .@j i §_ ,g.-. 4 .;f_ 5 i —‘ < i, ta... . .» < —_, ,. e t ..~ Wt il ‘_ $3.‘?! if‘ ‘T-tame-,.i.~..i '~-av» . (i _ 5%,‘? ,~ g is E an __ ‘$3 .i,.;fQ‘~ is t t r <. st .--- . [ 7* 1].?‘ j at . 1 1 i ' "”"‘l"""étk§~+ _ ' f\.i.4 1. an I W‘ ‘ _.e,-, _t, ~ ~ ., , ~ t ».. ...-s*_ Ii‘. -. ¥ 3 ‘gt ‘ r ' " " ‘"7: L 31 ... fl‘ ,-:* ~._~ r~ . 9 and l0-—W'YATT"S D]‘1Sl(}.\ l-‘OR A BARREL-\'.-XLLTED HALL, 1775. “Whether or not the design was ianplenienlecl is unclear” aw W» """"I:, :'=s intended. the s".ir'v§\'ir_u drawings show- ?‘ .\‘ “ s . _ => . i . . 1... A .,v , v- ,, - jg prepare; designs :0: the library, dining 1‘ » -~---- ‘ ?4‘1'»- I V '-"'"~'" " room =rrd t.ir>i*"i"" room A further two ~ - W1- ii.-xi in s ‘ t . r ~v—-: r - . _~ V:-11":-r-’-1Y~1":'-1---=-”.0. at 15".0. High by Jaines Wy'att 1'/73—N0. 36 Newman Street" (National Library of Ireland). Wliilc four are of further ceiling designs which are inscribed “Lord Conynghain“ and “Colonel Burton”. The double inscription on the drawings suggests that William Burton Conyngharn was either maintaining Slaiic during the Earl’s absence in Paris, or was actively participating in the planned alterations to the house. The emphasis of the drawings on the interior of the house per- haps suggcst also that at first only an interior renovation .‘ , g \‘k_\\V\.-“;"v“ ‘ "air l1—THE HALL AS IT IS TODAY. Although the form is W'yalt’s, the design is by Francis Johnston in the mid 17905 ParkerSteel STEELSTQCKHOLDERS Parker CANTERBURY TEL (0227) 783333 FAX (0227) 783363/4 CAMBRIDGE TEL (0223) 440088 FAX (0223) 441411 ANDOVER TEL (0264) 357611 FAX (H264) 356443 PARTRIDGE GREEN TEL (0403) 711500 FAX (0403) 711460 ParkerSteeI THE NUMBER ONE 0H0|c= FOR RELIABLE DELIVER] ES Can we quote you for your next enquiry? - , _. ,;:ft/\ 1:» {L3 5;; ;;,.iu A - 1% ~~ I -4 ,J » K it V4‘, Jhi (. U .M_,{., A A , ‘H ”* 5' *< “Ti V7- =~» 0‘? ~< 5*?‘ /— 11 ic\r;2~ _.‘,_-- J Designed and Printed by our own Commercial Printing Division Can wc assist you with your Printing Requirements? — Phone Printing on (0227) 783415/7 Fax (0227) 783363,/4