Dromore Castle (County Kerry) facts for kids
Dromore Castle is a beautiful old house, almost like a small castle, located in Templenoe, County Kerry, Ireland. It looks out over the Kenmare River. This special building was constructed in the 1830s for the Mahony family. It was designed by Sir Thomas Deane in a style called neo-gothic, which means it looks like old medieval castles but was built much later.
Building Dromore Castle
Dromore Castle was designed by the famous architect Thomas Deane, with help from his brother Kearns Deane. Building started in 1831, but most of the work happened after 1834. The castle was finally finished in 1839.
The house is built in a style that looks like a castle from the past, known as Gothic Revival. Its outside walls are covered with a special material called Roman Cement, and it has limestone details. Most of the windows have pointed arches and fancy patterns inside rectangular frames. This was a common style for Deane's buildings. The main entrance hall is very long and takes up a large part of the ground floor. One side of the castle has a round tower, and inside it, there's a spiral staircase within a smaller attached turret.
The Story of Dromore Castle
The idea for a large home at Dromore started even before Denis Mahony. His father, John Mahony, wanted to build a big house earlier in the 1800s. However, he stopped after his yacht, carrying lead for the roof and wine, sank in the Kenmare River right in front of the building site! After that, no more work happened until Thomas Deane began building for Denis Mahony in the 1830s.
Denis Mahony was a minister of the Church of Ireland. During the terrible Great Famine, he opened a soup kitchen at Dromore. He preached in the castle's chapel to the hungry people who came for food. While he helped many, some local people were not happy with his religious activities. In 1850, he was attacked in his church. When he returned to Dromore, he found an angry group who had pulled up flowers and cut down trees. They were about to burn the castle down, but it's said that the local Catholic priest, Fr John O'Sullivan, stopped them.
After Rev. Denis Mahony passed away in 1851, his son Richard John Mahony inherited the castle. Richard was good at managing the estate and even farmed oysters in the bay. When Richard died, the castle went to his son, Harold Segerson Mahony.
Harold Mahony was a very successful tennis player. He was the last Irish person to win at Wimbledon! His old tennis court can still be seen in the castle gardens. In the late 1800s, during Harold's time, a writer named Harold Boulton visited Dromore. Boulton is famous for writing the words to the "Skye Boat Song." It's believed he wrote the popular song "The Castle of Dromore" during his visit. This song was published in 1892.
Harold Mahony sadly died in a bicycle accident in 1905 and had no children. So, the castle went to his sister, Norah Hood. She then left it to her cousin, Hugh Bolton Waller. The Waller family owned the castle until 1993, when it was put up for sale. Today, Dromore Castle is owned by an investment company that is working to restore and fix up the house.
Exploring the Castle Grounds
Beyond the castle's gardens and smaller buildings, most of the land around Dromore Castle is now owned by Coillte Teoranta, which is the Irish national forestry board. The famous long-distance walking path called the Kerry Way goes right through the grounds. There are also many smaller paths that lead down to the Kenmare River. You can enter the grounds from the N70 road, which runs between Kenmare and Sneem. The entrance is through a special gatehouse that also looks like a small castle, designed by Thomas Deane.
