Survey Data
Reg No
22904012
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social
Original Use
Country house
Historical Use
School
Date
1700 - 1824
Coordinates
217645, 76643
Date Recorded
05/01/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three- or five-bay two-storey country house, extant 1824, on an L-shaped plan originally three- or five-bay two-storey on a rectangular plan with single-bay three-stage turrets to corners on circular plans; three-bay two-storey rear (south) elevation. Vacant, 1848-51. Sold, 1864. Vacant, 1901. Occupied, 1911. Vacated, 1918. In alternative use, 1920-1. Now in ruins. Pitched roof now missing. Ivy-covered rendered walls on rendered plinth; ivy-covered rendered surface finish (turrets) with battlemented parapets having lichen-spotted coping. Elliptical-headed central door opening with overgrown threshold, and concealed red brick block-and-start surround with no fittings surviving. Square-headed window openings with remains of lichen-spotted sills, and concealed red brick block-and-start surrounds with no fittings surviving. Square-headed window openings to rear (south) elevation centred on round-headed window opening (half-landing), remains of lichen-spotted sills, and concealed red brick block-and-start surrounds with no fittings surviving. Lancet window openings (turrets) with lichen-spotted sills, and concealed dressings with hood mouldings. Lancet window openings (second stages) with lichen-spotted sill courses, and concealed dressings with hood mouldings. Quatrefoil openings (top stages) with lichen-spotted sill courses, and concealed dressings with no fittings surviving. Interior in ruins. Set in unkempt grounds.
Appraisal
The ivy-enveloped shell of a country house erected by Jeremiah Coghlan [SMR WA040-050----] representing an important component of the domestic built heritage of south County Waterford with the architectural value of the composition, 'a gingerbread Carcassonne on a bare clifftop overlooking the Atlantic' (Bence-Jones 1978, 10), confirmed by such attributes as the angular plan form; the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression; and the monolithic battlements embellishing Georgian Gothic turrets as picturesque eye-catchers in the landscape: meanwhile, aspects of the composition illustrate the continued "improvement" of the house in the nineteenth century with a neo-medieval turret allegedly erected as a relief project at the height of the Great Famine (1845-9) in a display of 'humanitarianism quite different from the earlier towers built by "Madame" Coghlan to assist the smugglers landing in the secret harbour below the cliffs and subsidising the grandeur of her lifestyle' (Williams 1994, 359). Furthermore, adjacent outbuildings (----); a walled garden (----); and a nearby mausoleum (see 22904013), all continue to contribute positively to the setting of an estate having historic connections with Armand Charles Henri de La Croix de Castries (1807-62), the son of Armand Charles Augustin de la Croix de Castries (1756-1842) and Elisa de la Croix de Castries (née Coghlan) (d. 1817), who is registered as leasing the vacant Ardoginna House to the Directors of the National Bank (Griffith's Valuation); Marie Edmé Patrice Maurice de MacMahon (1808-93) and Elisabeth Charlotte Sophie de MacMahon (née de la Croix de Castries) (1834-1900) who sold the estate to the Chairman of the National Bank (1864); and Sir Joseph Neale M'Kenna (1819-1906) and Dame Amelia Anne M'Kenna (née Brooks) (d. 1907) 'late of Ardogena [sic] County Waterford' (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1907, 383). NOTE: The estate was subsequently rented (1920) by the Michéal Ó Foghlú (1879-1952)-founded Coláiste Deuglán and classes were held in Ardoginna House until a permanent college was opened (1921) 'in the historic district of Ardmore [where] a magnificent house [Monea House] has been secured with residential accommodation for forty [at] £2 to £3 per week' (Clock Labhrais 1920).