Province Connacht | Phone +353 94 962 0014 | |
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Address Cloonalis, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon, Ireland Similar Strokestown Park, Ballymote Castle, Eyrecourt Castle, Bally Castle, Cappoquin House Profiles | ||
Tales from the big house episode 2 clonalis house
Clonalis House (Irish: Teach Chluain Mhalais), Castlerea, County Roscommon is the ancestral home of the O'Conor Don, who is a direct descendant of the last High King of Ireland, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair.
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Clonalis was constructed in 1878 by Charles Owen O'Conor as a replacement for an earlier house on the same site which was frequently damaged by flooding. Built of mass concrete, its design by the renowned Pepys Cockerell is of a mixture of styles drawing on the traditions of Italianate and Queen Anne Style architecture.
Its history reflects the turbulence of Irish history having once been occupied by the Irish Republican Army before it was shelled and captured by Free State Forces during the Irish Civil War.
Some 100,000 volumes are contained in the family archives and library of the O'Conor Don which are still held at Clonalis House, making it a valuable repository of Irish history.