Mote Park House
{{Short description|Former house and estate in County Roscommon, Ireland}}
Mote Park House was a house and estate in Ballymurray, County Roscommon, Ireland, the ancestral home of the Crofton family who settled in the area in the sixteenth century.{{cite web |title=Mote Park |url=https://theirishaesthete.com/tag/mote-park/ |website=The Irish Aesthete |access-date=5 January 2024 |date=12 December 2018}} At its height around 1880, the estate contained around 7,000 acres.{{cite web |title=Mote Park House |url=https://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/history-heritage/big-houses-of-ireland/mote-park-house/ |website=www.askaboutireland.ie |access-date=5 January 2024}}
The house was finally demolished in 1961 while as of 2023 only the lion gates and lodges and some other ancillary buildings remain.{{cite web |title=Mote Park, MOTE DEMESNE, ROSCOMMON |url=https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/31942002/mote-park-mote-demesne-roscommon |website=Buildings of Ireland |access-date=5 January 2024}}
History
Mote Castle was originally constructed on the lands by George Crofton in the 1620s as both a defensive structure and dwelling.{{cite web |title=Crofton (Mote Park) |url=https://landedestates.ie/estate/1438 |website=www.landedestates.ie |access-date=5 January 2024}} It is likely that it was constructed on the site of a pre-existing O'Kelly tower which was used to protect an important crossing point on the Hind River near Derrydonnell Bridge.
Around 1777-87 a modern Georgian house was constructed on the lands.
The lion gates and gate houses were added around 1800, supposedly to a design by James Gandon.
The house was enlarged to a design by Richard Morrison around 1816 with an additional storey and portico added.{{cite web |title=CO. ROSCOMMON, MOTE PARK Dictionary of Irish Architects - |url=https://www.dia.ie/works/view/11925 |website=www.dia.ie |access-date=5 January 2024}}
This house was partially gutted by a fire in May 1865 and was rebuilt soon after.{{cite web |title=Destructive Fire at Mote Park House |url=https://www.irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy/timeline/destructive-fire-mote-park-house |website=www.irelandxo.com |access-date=5 January 2024 |language=en |date=1 January 1790}} By the 1870s, the Croftons owned 10,509 acres of land in County Roscommon.
The last of the Croftons eventually moved out of the house in the 1940s and the house and lands were acquired by the Irish Land Commission.{{cite web |last1=Society |first1=Irish Georgian |title=>Restoration of the Lion's Gate, Mote Park, Co. Roscommon |url=https://www.igs.ie/conservation/project/restoration-of-the-lions-gate-mote-park-co.-roscommon |website=IGS Craft (en-IE) |access-date=5 January 2024 |language=en}} At this time the contents were auctioned off and the house was left vacant from that point on until its eventual demolition in 1961. The house has been offered for sale by the Land Commission in 1958 either intact or demolished.
In 2015, the portico from the house was sold at auction for €12,000.{{cite web |title=‘Shed of turf’ the sleeper lot at Roscommon antiques auction |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/fine-art-antiques/shed-of-turf-the-sleeper-lot-at-roscommon-antiques-auction-1.2092939 |website=The Irish Times |access-date=5 January 2024 |language=en}}
As of 2023, much of the site of the former Mote Park House encompasses a forest and public park managed by state forestry company, Coillte.{{cite web |title=Mote Park |url=https://www.coillte.ie/site/mote-park/ |access-date=5 January 2024 |website=Coillte}}
{{Commons category|Mote Park House, County Roscommon}}
References
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{{Castles in Connacht|state=collapsed}}
{{coord missing|County Roscommon}}
Category:Houses in County Roscommon
Category:Castles in County Roscommon
Category:Demolished buildings and structures in the Republic of Ireland