Temple House
| Temple House | |
| County Sligo | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | G61761840 |
| Location: | 54°6’48"N, 8°35’8"W |
| History | |
| Country house | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Converted to hotel |
| Owned by: | Perceval family |
| Website: | www.templehouse.ie |
Temple House is a Georgian mansion set in a family estate of over a thousand acres overlooking the lakeside ruins of a Knights Templar castle and which is now a luxury country guest house or hotel. It is found on the outskirts of Ballymote in the south of County Sligo.
Originally built in c. 1825, the house was substantially extended and embellished c. 1864.[1]
The castle
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Templehouse Castle now stands as a picturesue ruin on the esate. It was a rectangular keepless castle, built in 1181 located near the townland of Ballinacarrow.[2]
History
The Temple House lands were granted to the Knights Templar in 1216 and passed to the Knights Hospitaller when the Templars were disbanded in 1311. The castle was converted to a domestic residence in 1627 and besieged and badly damaged in 1641.[3]
The Perceval family has lived on the lands since 1665. George Perceval (1635–75) had settled in Ireland on acquiring the Temple House property by marriage to an heiress of the Crofton family of Longford House, Colooney. The property passed down in the Perceval family, several of whom were High Sheriffs of Sligo until it descended to Colonel Alexander Perceval (1787–1858) who was MP for Sligo in the British Parliament and Sergeant-at-Arms in the House of Lords.[4] He rebuilt the previous Gothic house c.1825.[3] He however spent too extravagantly and on his death the house had to be sold, but was bought back for the family by Alexander's third son, also Alexander, who had made a fortune in China. Alexander Jr then enhanced the building c.1864 by adding a 7-bay block at right angles to the existing 5-bay block.[5]
In 1920, the house was attacked by the Irish Republican Army, seriously injuring the wife of the then owner, Major Alexander Perceval.
The house, filled with heirlooms, currently operates as a guest lodge.[6]
Outside links
References
- ↑ "Temple House, County Sligo". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=SL®no=32403307. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
- ↑ Temple House Manor and Castle: History
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "INTRODUCTION TEMPLEHOUSE PAPERS". Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. http://www.proni.gov.uk/introduction__templehouse_papers_mic597.pdf. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
- ↑ "PERCEVAL, Alexander (1787-1858), of Temple House, Ballymote, co. Sligo". History of Parliament Online. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/perceval-alexander-1787-1858. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
- ↑ "Temple House, Sligo History". https://www.templehouse.ie/. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
- ↑ Daugherty, Christi: 'Temple House Manor & Castle': Frommer's Ireland 2010