Dangan Castle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Dangan Castle |
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Caisleán an Daingin
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Dangan Castle, c. 1840.
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| Former names | Dangan House |
| General information | |
| Status | Ruins |
| Town or city | Summerhill, County Meath |
| Country | Ireland |
| Coordinates | 53°30′19″N 6°45′11″W / 53.5052°N 6.7531°W |
Dangan Castle is an old, grand house in County Meath, Ireland. It's mostly in ruins now, but it was once a very important home. It belonged to the Wellesley family for many years. This castle is famous because it was the childhood home of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. He was a very famous general who later became the Duke of Wellington. The castle is located near the village of Summerhill, County Meath.
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The Wellesley Family and Dangan Castle
The Wellesley family (who used to spell their name Wesley) owned this land for a very long time. They had lived there since the time of Henry II of England. The original medieval castle is now just a ruined tower.
Building Dangan House
In the early 1700s, a new house called Dangan House was built. This was done by Richard Colley. He took down the old castle to make way for the new building. Richard Colley inherited the estate from Gerald Wesley, who had no children. A condition of inheriting was that Richard had to change his last name to Wesley.
Richard became a very important person, known as Richard Wesley, 1st Baron Mornington. He spent a lot of money making the gardens beautiful. These gardens covered a huge area, about 600 Irish acres. They even had a large lake, which was 26 acres big. On the lake, there was a fort, several islands, and even some ships! A writer named Mary Delany wrote in great detail about these amazing gardens.
Arthur Wellesley's Childhood Home
Richard Colley's son, Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington, took over the estate after him. Garret's son was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Arthur spent most of his childhood playing and growing up at Dangan Castle and its wonderful gardens.
However, the Wellesley family eventually sold the property. This happened after Arthur's older brother, Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, inherited it in 1781. He sold Dangan Castle to Thomas Burrowes, who worked for the East India Company.
Later Years of Dangan Castle
In the early 1800s, a man named Roger O'Connor moved into Dangan Castle. He rented it from Thomas Burrowes. Roger O'Connor was a strong Irish nationalist. He once said he wanted the castle to be a place where he could welcome Napoleon, a famous French leader, after Britain was defeated.
The Fire at Dangan Castle
In 1809, while Roger O'Connor lived there, a big fire broke out. Much of the building was destroyed. People at the time thought it might have been done on purpose to get insurance money. However, Roger O'Connor's son, Francisco Burdett O'Connor, wrote in his book 60 years later that he had accidentally started the fire himself. He said he was melting lead to make bullets when the fire began.
Roger O'Connor left Dangan Castle soon after this event. The castle was already badly damaged from the fire. After he left, the building and its grounds quickly fell apart even more.
The Castle Becomes Ruins
By 1841, a newspaper called The Irish Penny Journal wrote about Dangan Castle. It said that "nothing but the outer walls remain." The inside of the castle, which used to have big rooms, had become a flower garden. The article also mentioned that the castle had become a place where stolen goods were hidden.
In September 2013, Dangan Castle and the land around it were put up for sale.
