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Ballyfin (Ballyfinn) 
Ballyfin, Clonenagh, Co. Laois, Ireland
Started 1822
Completed 1828
Status: Fully Extant
Ballyfin, Clonenagh, Co. Laois, Ireland
Started 1822
Completed 1828
Status: Fully Extant
Special Info / Location/ Date
Special Info
Phonetic Pronunciation of House Name
Location
Country
Ireland
District Today
Co. Laois
Historic County
Co. Laoighis, Co. Leix, Queen's County
City / Town / Village
Ballyfin, Clonenagh
Latitude
53.0597
Longitude
-7.41667
Date
Start Date
1822
Completion Date
1828
Circa Date
Images
The Entrance Front
Click on thumbnail for a larger view
;)
The Entrance Front
;)
The House from the Lake
;)
The Staircase Hall
;)
The Saloon
;)
The Gold Room
;)
The Library
;)
The State Dining Room
;)
The Van Der Hagan Room
;)
The Lady Caroline Coote Bedroom
;)
The Westmeath Bedroom
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The Conservatory
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The Garden and Cascade
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The Cascade
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The Walled Garden
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The House and grounds from the air
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Architects
| Designed | House, together with his father, Richard, for Sir Charles Coote |
| Date | 1822 |
| Designed | House, together with his son, William Vitruvius, for Sir Charles Coote |
| Date | 1822 |
Extant / Listed / References
Extant
Extant Type
Fully Extant
Extant Details
Listed
House Listed As
Unknown
Gardens Listed As
Unknown
On SAVE Britain's Heritage's List of Buildings at Risk
No
Country House: Yes
References
Vitruvius Britannicus
Vitruvius Scoticus
J.B. Burke (Burke's Visitation of Seats)
Country Life
CLIV, 702 plan, 774, 1973.
J.P. Neale (Neale's Views of Seats)
2.S. Vol. IV, 1828.
Access / Ownership / Seat
Access
Open to Public Please note: Houses listed as being open "By Appointment" are usually country house hotels or B&Bs.
By Appointment
Historic Houses Association Member
Phone Number If calling from the U.S., delete the first "0" in British numbers.
0578-755-866
Fax Number
0578-755-883
Email
Website
Awards
Top 10 Best New Hotels Worldwide 2011 - Forbes. Robb Report – Best of the Best 2012 – Best New Resort in the World. Hotels by Design 2012 – Best Interior Design. Conde Nast Russia – Hotlist – Top 50 Worldwide Openings 2011.
Current Ownership
Current Ownership Type
Corporation
Primary Current Ownership Use
Hotel
Current Ownership Use / Details
Today a luxury hotel
Seat ("Seat" is loosely defined
as any family that occupied the house for a period of 2 years or more)
Today Seat of
A Past Seat(s) of
O’More family. Crosby family. Pole and Wellesley-Pole family. Sir Charles Coote, 19th century.
Possible (Unsure) Seat of
History / Gardens & Park / Movies
History
Earlier House(s) / Building(s)
House Replaced By
Built / Designed For
Sir Charles Coote
House & Family History
The site of Ballyfin has been settled from ancient times and is steeped in Irish history. In succession, it was to become the ancestral seat of the O’Mores, the Crosbys, the Poles, the Wellesley-Poles – the family of the Duke of Wellington – and later the Cootes. The Coote family arrived in Ireland in 1601; by the 1820s Sir Charles Coote had erected the grand House that now stands at Ballyfin. Built to the designs of the great Irish father-and-son architectural team of Sir Richard and William Vitruvius Morrison, Ballyfin is the most lavish Regency house in Ireland and the masterpiece of the father-son collaboration. The Cootes enjoyed the house for exactly 100 years, employing a large team of servants in pursuit of a refined Edwardian way of life, with tea on the terrace or skating in the walled garden. With political change and the dawning of Irish independence, Sir Ralph Coote sold the Estate in 1928 to the Patrician Brothers (a Roman Catholic teaching order) who, for most of the 20th century, ran Ballyfin as a much-loved boarding school. In 2002 the Ballyfin Estate was purchased by the Krehbiel family of Chicago, who initiated an exhaustive restoration of the House that lasted eight years -- longer than it took to build it in the first place! In May 2011 Ballyfin opened as a luxury hotel. (We are grateful to Ballyfin Demesne for contributing to this history).
Collections
This field lists art objects that are currently or were previously in the collection of the house.
For information on the history of British currency, click here. To use a chart that allows you to compare the purchasing power of money In Great Britain from 1264 to any other year, including the present, click here. To use a currency conversion to see the current value of the British pound, click here.
For information on the history of British currency, click here. To use a chart that allows you to compare the purchasing power of money In Great Britain from 1264 to any other year, including the present, click here. To use a currency conversion to see the current value of the British pound, click here.
Comments
Gardens & Park
Garden, Park, Follies and Outbuildings
Stone walls enclose 610 acres of private parkland, a 28-acre lake,
ancient woods, garden buildings, follies, grottoes, the Walled Garden, and the medieval style 1860s tower. The landscape, laid out in the mid-18th century, is among the finest examples in Ireland of the natural style of gardening inspired by Capability Brown.
Chapel & Church
Movies
Location for Movies / TV
"The Count of Monte Cristo" (2002).
Bibliography
There are no references associated with this house.
Related Resources
There are no documents associated with this house.
