Ballinlough Castle
Ballinlough Castle ( Irish Caisleán Bhaile an Locha ) is a country house in the country town of Clonmellon in County Westmeath, Ireland . The 17th century house sits on a hill above the Westmeath Lakes and is the home of Sir Nicholas and Lady Nugent .
description
There is a large salon and dining room on the ground floor, and four bedrooms on the upper floor along a corridor with a vaulted ceiling . The rooms have the tallest windows built into private homes at the time; they offer an overview of forests and lakes. The mantelpiece in the drawing room is identical to a Wyatt mantelpiece at Curraghmore House in County Waterford .
The gardens with their walks along the lakes and through the sparse forest are no longer open to the public, but the Body & Soul Music Festival takes place there every June .
history
The country house was built in 1614 , according to the O'Reilly coat of arms above the front door. It was expanded around 1790; Sir Hugh O'Reilly had a wing added, which can probably be attributed to the amateur architect Thomas Wogan Browne , who was also responsible for the construction of Malahide Castle , the home of Sir Hugh O'Reilly's sister Margaret .
In 1812 the family changed their name from O'Reilly to Nugent . Hugh O'Reilly, who was promoted to baronet , took the surname Nugent with royal permission from a bequest from his maternal uncle, John Nugent . Since then, several generations of Baronets Nugent have lived in the house. They are one of the few 17th century Irish Catholic families still living in their ancestral home. The current owner is the 8th baronet.
Various concerts have taken place on the grounds of the country house. Artists who have been there since 2006 include Kenny Rogers , Van Morrison , the Pet Shop Boys , Tiësto , Alexandra Burke and Dwight Yoakam . The 4th annual Life Festival was held on the property in May 2009. In 2010 Ireland's first gay music festival, MILK , took place there.
swell
- Ballinlough Castle . Retrieved May 22, 2019.
Web links
Coordinates: 53 ° 38 '12 " N , 7 ° 1' 32.4" W.