Barretstown Castle
| Barretstown Castle | ||
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 Barretstown Castle |
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| Alternative name (s): | Caisleán Bhaile to Bhairéadaigh | |
| Creation time : | 15th or 16th century | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg | |
| Conservation status: | restored and converted into a children's camp | |
| Standing position : | Irish clergy | |
| Construction: | plastered | |
| Place: | Ballymore Eustace | |
| Geographical location | 53 ° 9 '11.4 " N , 6 ° 35' 50.4" W | |
| Height: | 186 m ASLTemplate: height / unknown reference | |
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Barretstown Castle ( Irish Caisleán Bhaile an Bhairéadaigh ) is a castle north of Ballymore Eustace in County Kildare, Ireland . It stands on the site of an Anglo-Norman castle from the late 12th century. Today there is a camp for sick children there.
history
Early history
The place is first documented in an inquisition held in 1547 after the dissolution of the English monasteries , where Barretstown Castle is listed as the property of the Archbishop of Dublin , from whom it was promptly confiscated by the Crown. Thereafter, the castle belonged to the Eustace family on the basis of successive "permanent leases".
In the 17th century, Sir Walter Borrowes married a daughter of the 16th Earl of Kildarevon, George FitzGerald, and purchased the property. The family kept the castle for over 200 years. Family members such as Sir Kildare Borrowes, 5th Baronet, represented County Kildare and the city of Harristown in the former Parliament of Ireland .
Unlike the Baronets Eustace in the 16th and 17th centuries, the five baronets of the Borrowes family, who owned them in the 19th century, played no role in public life. This quiet aristocratic reign ended with the ardent Sir Kildare Borrowes, 10th Baronet (1852-1924), whose father, Reverend Sir Erasmus Borrowes, 8th Baronet, had the family residence rebuilt in the medieval romantic asymmetrical style.
In 1918, Sir George Sheppard Murray, a Scot , bought the property after the Borrowes family left Ireland. He rededicated the property into a stud farm and had many exotic trees planted that dominate the landscaped garden today.
Arden and Weston
In 1962, Elizabeth Arden bought the castle from the Murray family. Over five years later, Arden had the castle extensively reconstructed, redecorated and re-equipped. Their influence dominates Barretstown Castle to this day. The castle gate is said to have been painted red after its famous perfume brand “Red Door” and it still has this color today.
After Arden's death in 1967, the international biscuitty coon W. Garfield Weston moved into the castle. Under his ownership, the property was significantly upgraded, in particular through the creation of a large lake in front of the castle.
Owned by the state
The Weston family, who owned the Brown Thomas department store in Dublin, sold the property to the Republic of Ireland in 1977. At that time it was used for national and international conferences and seminars and served as part of the Irish National Stud .
Barretstown Camp
The Republic of Ireland has leased the castle and estate to Barretstown Camp for a symbolic € 1.26 per year for 90 years. The camp, which is part of Paul Newman's SeriousFun Children's Network, opened in August 1994 and looked after 124 children. Since the completion of the new medical center and program hall in 1995, the camp has cared for nearly 300 children from Ireland, the United Kingdom , Germany , France , the United States, and areas affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster . In 2009 1900 children from all over Europe were treated there.
Web links
- About Barretstown Children's Charity . Barretstown, a SeriousFun Camp. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- Barretstown Castle, Ballymore Eustace . In: Kildare.ie . Retrieved January 25, 2019.