Westport House

About

Westport House in Westport, County Mayo, Ireland, is a Georgian country house, historically the family seat of the Marquess of Sligo and the Brownes. The house was designed by the architect Richard Cassels with later additions by Thomas Ivory and James Wyatt. The title and the house were separated in 2014, following the death of Jeremy Browne, 11th Marquess of Sligo, who left the estate to his five daughters. His titles passed to his first cousin, Sebastian Ulick Browne, a residential estate agent in Australia. In 2017, the house was purchased by the Hughes family, owners of Portwest.

Colonel John Browne (1638–1711), built the first Westport House on the site of the O'Malley castle of Cahernamart. He married Maud Bourke, daughter of Theobald Bourke, 3rd Viscount Mayo and the great-great-granddaughter of Grace O'Malley. He was a Roman Catholic who fought on the Jacobite side in the War of the Two Kings. At that time, the house did not have the lake or a dam and the tide rose and fell against the walls.

His grandson, also John Browne, however, converted to the established Church of Ireland, and prospered. He later became First Earl of Altamont.

The house was rebuilt by the Browne family in the 18th century to a design by the architect Richard Cassels in a Palladian style. This work corresponds with the modern east section of the house facing the town.

In 1773, Thomas Ivory later proposed additions however these plans were never executed and the house was later enlarged to a different plan, likely also by Ivory, around 1778.

James Wyatt later redesigned one of the interior dining rooms in 1781 while later in 1796 he designed a greenhouse for John Browne, 3rd Earl of Altamont.

In 1808, Henry Holland designed a gate towards the North East end of the town which was demolished around 1958.

In 1819, a South wing was added to the designs of Benjamin Wyatt. The wing, which contained a library, was burned soon after it was built around 1826 due to a defect in the heating system. It was subsequently rebuilt. After the fire, the Second Marquess covered in the open courtyard and made a new library by running a gallery around the now enclosed interior wall. The drawing room was reconstructed and the ceiling painted to represent sky, with cornices of painted Pompeian figures and a mantle piece by the then John Flaxman. He bought eighteen landscape pictures by the then unknown James A. O’Connor.

In 1858 George Wilkinson designed a grand Staircase of Sicilian marble for the Third Marquess of Sligo, replacing the library of the Second Marquess. This was made by Italian workmen. The balustrade of phosphor-bronze castings with the Browne eagle motif was by Skidmore, Coventry and cost around £6,000.

A model farm was built in the demesne during the early part of the 19th century, with accommodation for housing animals and animal feed. The remains of an old boathouse are open to the sea.

In 2003, a bronze statue of Grainne Mhaol Ni Mhaille (Grace O'Malley), the 16th-century pirate queen, was unveiled on the grounds of the house. The seven-foot, four-inch sculpture was created by artist Michael Cooper, who was commissioned by Lord Altamont, proprietor of Westport House. The work was considered challenging due to the absence of surviving images of O'Malley. The statue depicts her as both a seafarer and a fighter, with one hand on the tiller and the other on her sword. Positioned to face the nearby water, it stands close to land once associated with her castles. Lord Altamont described the monument as a long-overdue tribute to his ancestor, while Dr T. K. Whitaker who performed the unveiling, highlighted O'Malley's historical significance as a powerful leader and early example of female achievement.

In 2007, the privately owned estate received a grant of €1.314m for repairs to Westport House, from the state funded Heritage Council.

After the death of the 11th Marquess of Sligo in July 2014, the house passed to his five daughters, as a result of private legislation passed by Seanad in 1993, enabling him to disinherit his cousin Sebastian Browne, the heir to the peerages and estate.

In October 2015, it was revealed that the Westport House Estate was in NAMA for debts secured on the 380-acre (150 ha) estate, but not the house, for almost €10 million.

On 17 January 2017, the daughters of the 11th Marquess sold Westport House to the Hughes family, a local business family in Westport, ending the Browne family's association with Westport House lasting hundreds of years. The Hughes family planned to spend €50 million on refurbishment.

An Saighdiúir statue at the quay entrance Illustration by Albrecht Dürer upon which the statue was based In April 2022, after completing his "Climb with Charlie" fundraiser on Croagh Patrick, journalist and broadcaster Charlie Bird donated a wooden sculpture to Westport House as a gesture of thanks to the local community. The piece, titled An Saighdiúir (The Soldier), was created by Wicklow sculptor Seighean Ó Draoi. Standing eight feet tall and carved from Lebanese Cedar, it represents an ancient Irish soldier. The design was influenced by a 1521 work of German artist Albrecht Dürer depicting Irish fighters in Europe, and also draws on the history of dispossessed Irish known as Kerns and Tories, who resisted English settlement in the 16th century. Bird, accompanied by his wife Claire and their dog Tiger, presented the sculpture at the Quay entrance to Westport House. It was accepted by Harry and Cathal Hughes, owners of the estate, along with estate and construction manager Michael King. The donation followed Bird’s fundraising climb of Croagh Patrick in 2021, which raised more than €3.6 million for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association and Pieta House.

The house was rebuilt by the Browne family in the 18th century to a design by the architect Richard Cassels in a Palladian style. This work corresponds with the modern east section of the house facing the town.

In 1773, Thomas Ivory later proposed additions however these plans were never executed and the house was later enlarged to a different plan, likely also by Ivory, around 1778.

James Wyatt later redesigned one of the interior dining rooms in 1781 while later in 1796 he designed a greenhouse for John Browne, 3rd Earl of Altamont.

In 1808, Henry Holland designed a gate towards the North East end of the town which was demolished around 1958.