Strokestown Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Strokestown Park |
|
|---|---|
Strokestown Park House in 2011
|
|
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Palladian |
| Town or city | Strokestown |
| Country | Ireland |
| Coordinates | 53°46′37″N 8°06′14″W / 53.777°N 8.104°W |
| Current tenants | National Famine Museum |
| Completed | 1730 |
| Renovated | 1820 (portico added) |
| Technical details | |
| Material | limestone |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Richard Cassels |
| Developer | Thomas Mahon MP (1701-82) |
Strokestown Park House is a beautiful old mansion in Strokestown, County Roscommon, Ireland. It was built in the Palladian style, which is a type of architecture inspired by ancient Roman buildings. The house sits on a huge piece of land, about 300 acres (120 ha) in size.
Today, Strokestown Park House is owned by the Westward Group. Both the house and the National Famine Museum, which is located in its old outbuildings, are open for everyone to visit.
Contents
A Look Back at Strokestown Park's History
Strokestown Park House was the home of the Mahon family for a very long time, from the 1600s until 1981. The Mahons were a well-known family, especially in the military.
How the Mahon Family Got the Land
Captain Nicholas Mahon was the first in his family to get a large piece of land. In 1666, he was given about 2,700 acres in an area called the Barony of Roscommon. Later, in 1678, he received even more land, over 3,000 acres, in the baronies of Roscommon and Ballintober. This second grant of land used to belong to the O'Conor Roe family and eventually became the Strokestown estate.
In 1696, Captain Nicholas Mahon's son, John Mahon, finished building a house. It's thought that this house was built on the ruins of an older castle from the 1500s. That castle was reportedly destroyed in 1552.
By the early 1700s, the Strokestown estate had grown to more than 11,000 acres (4,500 ha). These lands were spread out across north-east County Roscommon. Later, Maurice Mahon, a great-grandson of Captain Nicholas, bought even more land. He became the first Baron Hartland in 1800, which was an important title in Ireland.
The Great Famine and Its Impact
The Great Famine was a very difficult time in Ireland. Many poor tenant farmers were forced to leave their homes. The Mahon family alone evicted about 3,000 people in 1847.
In November 1847, Major Denis Mahon was killed. This happened because many people from the Strokestown estate had died on ships sent to Canada during the Famine. Major Mahon's only daughter, Grace Catherine, was on her honeymoon when this happened. She decided she would never return to Strokestown.
Grace Catherine had just married Henry Sandford Pakenham. His family owned huge estates in other counties. Even though Grace Catherine never came back, her marriage helped save the Strokestown estate from going bankrupt. Before the Famine, the estate was in a lot of debt.
The marriage brought together the lands of both families, making the estate over 26,000 acres. This made Strokestown one of the biggest estates in County Roscommon until Henry Sandford Pakenham's death in 1893. The Pakenham family's money also helped improve the Strokestown estate. They invested in projects like drainage, turf cutting, and farming. They also helped develop the town of Strokestown. However, the family continued to help people move to Canada and clear tenant families from the land.
.jpg)
Strokestown Park in the 20th Century
In 1911 and 1912, over 8,600 acres of the estate were given to the Congested Districts Board for Ireland. This was done to help reduce poverty by sharing and using farmland more effectively.
Since 1979, the Westward Group, a company based in County Roscommon, has owned Strokestown Park. The last member of the Mahon family to live there, Olive Pakenham Mahon, left the house in 1981. She moved to England and passed away a year later.
Bringing Strokestown Park Back to Life
Strokestown Park has undergone some amazing restoration work to bring it back to its former glory.
In 1997, the beautiful 4-acre (1.6 ha) walled garden was officially opened. It had been carefully restored to look just as it did in the past. The President of Ireland at the time, Mary Robinson, was there for the opening.
In 2013, Strokestown Park House was featured in a TV show called The Big House on TV3.
After a lot of hard work, the National Famine Museum and the Palladian House reopened in 2022. The entire estate is still privately owned, but it is now looked after by the Irish Heritage Trust. This is a charity that works to preserve important historical places.
The National Famine Museum
The Strokestown estate is home to the Irish National Famine Museum. This museum has some of the best historical records from the time of the Great Famine. The Westward Group built the museum, and all the documents you see there come from the estate's own collection. The museum helps visitors understand the Great Famine and also shows how famines still happen in other parts of the world today.
