Turvey House - A History

Discussion for Donabate/Portrane Local History
Post Reply
User avatar
Ken
Site Admin
Posts: 1480
Joined: 21 Sep 2012, 13:03
Has thanked: 34 times
Been thanked: 59 times

Turvey House was located on the site of the now defunct Turvey Golfclub. The original house would have stood just behind the golfclub house as can be seen in the picture below.

TurveyMap.jpg

The house was built in the 16th century by Patrick Barnewall using stones from the Grace Dieu Nunnery which originally stood on the site. A later 17th century house was then built around the original 16th century tower house.

The Barnewalls were one of the three big landed families on the peninsula. The others being the Cobbe’s (Newbridge House) and the Evans’s (Portrane Demesne later to become the site of the psychiatric hospital).

Archiseek.com cites a 1906 description of the house – “the mansion, situated in North County Dublin, close to the village of Donabate, is probably one of the oldest houses standing in Ireland. It is a plain building having suffered in appearance through the removal if its gabled roof. As it stands, it is a 17th century house, though part of the earlier structure that occupied the site would appear to have been incorporated. The original plan consisted of a centre block, in which was the entrance, with wings at right-angles to it at either side. But one of these has been entirely removed, and the rest of the building considerably altered, apparently in the second quarter of the 18th century, to which most of the fireplaces and nearly all the joinery, including the principal staircase, may be ascribed. There is another staircase, now disused, Jacobean in plan, with twisted balusters and a central well. Here and there are specimens of 17th century panelling, but the panels in the reception rooms are early Georgian.

Formerly the house had three gables in front, but these had the spaces filled in and a parapet added. The semi-circular windows belong to the same transformation.

There is a secret room, the windows of which have been built up, which was apparently reached from a sliding panel on the old staircase, but as the opening was blocked when the panelling was removed, there is now no way of access.”

TurveyHouse.jpg
TurveyHouseRear.jpg
TurvenHouseAir.jpg
TurvenHouseAir.jpg (9.31 KiB) Viewed 2053 times

In his book Donabate & Portrane – a History, Peadar Bates describes the fate of Turvey House. “It was sold to a company named J.M.S.E. in 1964 for the sum of £112,000. In 1968, the Office of Public Works made an order listing Turvey for preservation under the National Monuments Act. However, the building was left unprotected. Four years later, its interior was systematically destroyed by a gang in the course of one night. The magnificent balustrades were smashed into pieces, the ornate plasterwork, which included centuries old Barnewall medallions suffered a similar fate, as did the antique timber wall panelling and the Jacobean staircase. Some of the more valuable items found their way to the black market.

The house deteriorated further over the years and a demolition order was applied for and granted in 1987. The house was demolished in a matter of hours with heavy machinery, as were the substantial outbuildings. Destroyed with the house were three centuries of history and a house of great historical and architectural importance.”

The demolition of Turvey House was investigated as part of the Flood Tribunal. However, the investigation led only to a cul-de-sac, and failed to throw any light on the destruction of one of north county Dublin's finest houses. In any case, all the tribunals in the world couldn't bring Turvey House back.

A number of artifacts recovered from Turvey House are on display by the Donabate Historical Society in Newbridge House.
Regards,

Ken.
pat mustard
Posts: 393
Joined: 22 Sep 2012, 11:23
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 11 times

thanks for that Ken
Lilipot
Posts: 4
Joined: 24 Jun 2020, 19:59

Thanks for sharing, very interesting.
Post Reply