Turvey House, County Dublin
{{Short description|Former mansion near Donabate, Ireland}}
{{use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{use Hiberno-English|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Turvey House
| native_name =
| native_name_lang = ga
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| status = Private mansion house
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| building_type = House
| architectural_style = Georgian architecture
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| location = Donabate
| address = Turvey, Donabate, County Dublin
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| location_country = Ireland
| coordinates = {{coord|53.4930|N|6.1734|W|display=inline,title}}
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| completion_date = 1500s (tower house), 1600s (main house)
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| demolition_date = 1987
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| material = Nap render finish
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| floor_count = 3
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Turvey House was a substantially altered 17th-century house, with tower house elements, synonymous with the townland of Turvey ({{langx|ga|Tuirbhe}}){{cite web |title=Tuirbhe/Turvey |url=https://www.logainm.ie/en/1436734 |website=Logainm.ie |access-date=15 February 2022 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=The Gobbán Saor and Donabate |url=https://www.fingal.ie/gobban-saor-and-donabate |website=Fingal County Council |access-date=15 February 2022 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Turvey Townland, Co. Dublin |url=https://www.townlands.ie/dublin/balrothery-east/lusk/lusk/turvey/ |website=www.townlands.ie |access-date=15 February 2022}} near Donabate in North County Dublin. Turvey is said to be a reference to the Irish mythical character Tuirbe Tragmar ("thrower of axes"), father of Gobán Saor.{{cite web |title=From Barrow Boy to Viscount |url=https://www.historyireland.com/from-barrow-boy-to-viscount/ |website=History Ireland |access-date=31 May 2022 |date=6 February 2013}} At various stages, the house and surrounding lands formed the family seat of the Barnewall family. The house is said to have been constructed with stone from the ruins of the nearby Grace Dieu Abbey by either Sir Christopher Barnewall or Sir Patrick Barnewall.{{cite web |title=Turvey |url=https://theirishaesthete.com/tag/turvey/ |website=The Irish Aesthete |access-date=13 February 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Casey |first1=Christine |last2=Hayes |first2=Melanie |title=Enriching Architecture: Craft and its conservation in Anglo-Irish building production, 1660–1760 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lyydEAAAQBAJ&dq=turvey+house+donabate&pg=PR12 |publisher=UCL Press |access-date=20 August 2024 |language=en |date=26 January 2023}}
The house was demolished in controversial circumstances by a construction company, the Murphy Group, in 1987.{{cite news |title=Still in the dark over the Turvey House tragedy |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/still-in-the-dark-over-the-turvey-house-tragedy-1.235507 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=13 February 2022 |language=en}}
History
The house was the home of the notable Barnewall family for many generations.
In 1570, James Stanihurst arranged for Sir Christopher Barnewall to hide the English Jesuit priest and martyr Edmund Campion in the house for a period of 10 weeks to keep him from the authorities and prevent his arrest. It is during this period of hiding that Campion wrote his book A Historie of Ireland.{{cite web |title=Campion, Edmund {{!}} Dictionary of Irish Biography |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/campion-edmund-a1436 |website=www.dib.ie |access-date=25 August 2022 |language=en}}{{cite journal |last1=Lennon |first1=Colm |title=Recusancy and the Dublin Stanyhursts |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25487414 |journal=Archivium Hibernicum |access-date=25 August 2022 |pages=101–110 |doi=10.2307/25487414 |date=1975|volume=33 |jstor=25487414 }}{{cite web |last1=Campion |first1=Edmund |title=A historie of Ireland, written in the yeare 1571 |url=https://archive.org/details/historieofirelan00campuoft/page/n5/mode/1up |publisher=Dublin : reprinted at the Hibernia Press for the proprietors |access-date=25 August 2022 |date=1809}}{{cite web |last1=McShane |first1=Bronagh Ann |title=Irish Women in Religious Orders, 1530-1700: Suppression, Migration and Reintegration |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=saKKEAAAQBAJ&dq=turvey+house&pg=PA72 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |access-date=20 August 2024 |language=en |date=2022}}
In 1590, Mabel Bagenal was sent against her will to Turvey by her father, Sir Nicholas Bagnel, to prevent her from marrying Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone.{{cite web |title=Bagenal, Mabel (c. 1571–1595) {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/bagenal-mabel-c-1571-1595 |website=www.encyclopedia.com |access-date=19 September 2022}} Ultimately, Mabel escaped from the house and eloped with O'Neill, marrying him at Drumcondra Castle near Dublin, the home of Sir William Warren.{{cite web |title=Bagenal (O'Neill), Mabel {{!}} Dictionary of Irish Biography |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/bagenal-oneill-mabel-a6953 |website=www.dib.ie |access-date=21 August 2023 |language=en}}
The house continued to be owned by a branch of the Barnewall family, the Trimlestones until 1927 when it was purchased by the Counihan family along with 155 acres.{{cite web |title=Turvey House, Donabate |url=https://heritagemaps.ie/documents/Therefore_ArchaeologyReports/92E0009.pdf |website=www.heritagemaps.ie |access-date=20 August 2024}}{{cite news |title=Council officials were fully aware of Turvey's status as a listed building |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/council-officials-were-fully-aware-of-turvey-s-status-as-a-listed-building-1.161965 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=20 August 2024 |language=en}}
The house was purchased by the Murphy Group in 1968. Dublin Corporation, under the direction of George Redmond, then assistant Dublin city and county manager, finally gave the order for its demolition in 1987.{{cite web |title=Redmond agreed £30,000 land deal |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/redmond-agreed-30000-land-deal-26126644.html |website=independent |access-date=7 June 2022 |language=en}}
Structure
The structure incorporated an earlier tower house, likely from the 15th century, as well as much of the original 16th-century house associated with the Barnewall family. Much of the original rubble masonry was said to have been salvaged from the remains of the Grace Dieu abbey which was located a few kilometres further north of the house. Archaeological monitoring of rubble removal in 1993 revealed remains of a barrel vault over the ground floor.{{cite web |title=ArcGIS Web Application |url=https://maps.archaeology.ie/historicenvironment/?REG_NO=11329003 |website=maps.archaeology.ie |access-date=15 February 2022}}
The top or third floor of the house featured distinctive lunette or diocletian windows which were created after the original triplicate Dutch-style gables were removed from the front of the house to create a more fashionable flat roof when an additional floor was added to the house between 1725-50. The house contained tall narrow windows grouped in threes which at the time of demolition were two panes wide and five panes high. The house also contained an unusual baroque door surround.{{cite web |title=17th C. – Turvey House, Donabate, Co. Dublin |url=https://www.archiseek.com/2014/17th-c-turvey-house-donabate-co-dublin/#:~:text=Turvey%20House%20was%20demolished%20in,ruins%20of%20Grace%20Dieu%20Nunnery.&text=As%20it%20stands%20it%20is,appear%20to%20have%20been%20incorporated. |website=Archiseek - Irish Architecture |access-date=14 February 2022 |date=18 February 2014}}{{cite web |title=Dublin Historical Record |url=https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/8696/1/FW_DHR_2008.pdf |website=maynoothuniversity.ie |access-date=19 September 2022}} Alterations were made to the house including the installation of a then-fashionable Venetian window during alterations by Robert Birch in 1773.{{cite web |title=THE TURVEY HOUSE COMMODE |url=https://www.ronaldphillipsantiques.co.uk/artworkdetail/818751/17800/the-turvey-house-commode |website=www.ronaldphillipsantiques.co.uk |access-date=13 February 2022 |language=en}}
The house was renovated and changed during the late 18th century to create a Georgian nine-bay, three-storey over raised basement property.{{cite web |title=Reviving Turvey legacy |url=https://www.independent.ie/life/home-garden/new-homes/reviving-turvey-legacy-36530796.html |website=independent |access-date=7 June 2022 |language=en}} The interior ceiling of the house contained an elaborate rococo ceiling in the library which was added during the eighteenth century. The large attic rooms in the house were said to have never been completely finished. The house also allegedly contained a secret or safe room.{{cn|date=August 2023}}
See also
External links
- RTE Stills Library (1965){{cite web |last1=Archives |first1=RTÉ |title=RTÉ Archives |url=https://stillslibrary.rte.ie/indexplus/image/0422/077.html |website=stillslibrary.rte.ie |access-date=31 May 2022 |language=en |date=5 July 2012}}
- Britain from Above (1948){{cite web |title=Search > Grid {{!}} Britain From Above |url=https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/search?keywords=turvey%20house&country=global&year=all |website=www.britainfromabove.org.uk |access-date=31 May 2022}}