Lisnavagh House

The Lisnavagh Estate lies just outside the village of Rathvilly in County Carlow, Ireland. Lisnavagh is the family seat of the McClintock-Bunbury family, Barons Rathdonnell. The first known house at Lisnavagh is thought to have been built by William Bunbury in 1696 in the parklands below the current house and there were farm buildings close by. A map from the 1840 Ordnance Survey shows the location of this house, grounds and buildings, but there is little else to tell what sort of a house this was, or what style it was in. The map also shows "Foundations of House" to the northwest, near the top of the hill, which is where a new house was planned but never completed. There is still a large square hole in the ground there. The new house was ultimately actually built nearer to the old house.

In 1847, Captain William McClintock-Bunbury commissioned Daniel Robertson to build a "New House at Lisnavagh". Daniel Robertson had already completed designs for Powerscourt Estate and Johnstown Castle, amongst other places, and Lisnavagh was probably one of the last serious designs that he undertook. As well as the house, which was designed in the Gothic Revival style, he also designed the gardens and pleasure grounds, and the farmyard about one mile away.

In 1952 approximately two thirds of the house was taken down and the house remodelled to take account of the significant reduction in house staff and the generally poor financial outlook at the time. Electricity was also introduced into the house at this time. The pleasure grounds and gardens had largely been "let go" in and around the World Wars and much of them became overgrown and abandoned.

In 2005, the house underwent a major renovation project, and is now available to hire for private events. In 2007, GQ magazine named Lisnavagh as one of the "Top 100 things in the world."