Bowen's Court
Bowen's Court was a historic country house or Anglo-Irish big house near Kildorrery in County Cork, Ireland.
| Bowen's Court | |
|---|---|
Henry Bowen on the terrace of Bowen's Court (July 1919) | |
| General information | |
| Status | Private dwelling house |
| Type | House |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
| Classification | Demolished |
| Town or city | Farahy, County Cork |
| Country | Ireland |
| Coordinates | 52°14′28″N 8°27′46″W / 52.2412°N 8.4628°W |
| Estimated completion | 1770 |
| Demolished | 1959 |
| Height | 30 m (98 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 3 over basement |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Isaac Rothery |
| Developer | Henry Cole Bowen |
| References | |
| [1][2] | |
House edit
The house was built in the 1770s by Henry Cole Bowen (died 1788) and the design has tentatively been attributed to Isaac Rothery or his sons who designed nearby Doneraile Court and was also involved in the completion of Mount Ievers Court.[3][4][5]
The Bowen family were minor Irish gentry, of Welsh origin traced back to the late 1500s resident in County Cork since Henry Bowen, a "notoriously irreligious" Colonel in the army of the regicide Cromwell, settled in Ireland.[6][7]
In 1786, the house was referred to as Faraghy, the seat of Mr. Cole Bowen.
The house was inherited by his son, Henry Cole Bowen who married Catherine, daughter of Henry Prittie, 1st Baron Dunalley.
The house was attacked during the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
It was held at one time by Mrs Eliza Bowen (died 1868), wife of Henry Cole Bowen (1808-1841), when it was valued at £75.
The house was then inherited by their son Robert St John Cole Bowen.[8][9]
Bowen's Court remained the Bowen family seat until 1959. The last owner was the novelist Elizabeth Bowen. She had a nervous breakdown in the 1950s and abandoned Bowen's Court leaving unpaid wages and bills, then sold it and stayed with friends and at hotels, before she rented a flat in Oxford.[10]
Bowen's Court was purchased, then demolished, by a developer in 1959.[11]
The majority of the contents of the house were sold at auction in April 1960[12] while the contents of the library were sold in 1961.[13]
Book edit
Elizabeth Bowen wrote a history of the house, entitled Bowen's Court, in 1942 and it is featured in her 1929 novel The Last September.[14]
References edit
- ^ "Bowen's Court, FARAHY, CORK". Buildings of Ireland. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ "Bowen's Court". www.landedestates.ie. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ "Dictionary of Irish Architects". www.dia.ie. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ "Houses: Bowen's Court". Ireland: NUI Galway. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
- ^ "1770 – Bowen's Court, Kildorrery, Co. Cork | Archiseek - Irish Architecture". 20 July 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Ireland, Bernard Burke, Harrison & Sons, 1912, p. 64, "Bowen of Bowen's Court" pedigree
- ^ "Bowen, Henry | Dictionary of Irish Biography".
- ^ College, Cheltenham (1890). "Cheltenham College Register, 1841-1889". Bell. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ "Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed & Official Classes". Kelly and Company. 1882. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ Glendinning, Victoria (7 February 2009). "I am in your keeping". Lives and letters. The Guardian.
- ^ Bol, John. "Demolition of the reputation of a writer". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- ^ "Excerpt: Elizabeth Bowen /". catalog.lib.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ Ltd, W. Marsh & Sons (1961). "Catalogue of Books Removed from Bowen's Court, Kildorrery, Co. Cork: To be Sold by Auction by W. Marsh & Sons Ltd at Their Salesroom, 70 South Mall, Cork, on Wednesday 5th April 1961, Commencing at 2 P.m. : by Instructions of Mrs E.D.C. Cameron (Elizabeth Bowen) : Also a Residue of Books for Massey Estate". W. Marsh & Sons Limited. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ "Elizabeth Bowen". Encyclopædia Britannica. 7 June 2014.