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Summerhill House
Summerhill House was a 100-roomed Palladian house in County Meath, Ireland which was the ancestral seat of the Viscounts Langford and the Barons Langford. Built in 1731, it was likely designed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce and completed by Richard Cassels in the Palladian style, although Sir John Vanbrugh, who was related to Pearce and with whom he trained, is thought to have also influenced the design of the house, which could be seen by the Baroque details, great arched chimney stacks and the palatial grandeur and scale.
The house demonstrated the power and wealth the Langford Rowley family had at the time. They owned vast amounts of land in counties Meath, Westmeath, Cork, Londonderry, Antrim, and Dublin as well as in Devon and Cornwall in England. The house also welcomed royalty, and ranked architecturally amongst the finest and most modern mansions in Europe.
Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin and president of the Irish Georgian Society described its loss as "probably the greatest tragedy in the history of Irish domestic architecture".
In 1661, Sir Hercules Langford, 1st Baronet bought Lynch's Castle located on the Summerhill demesne in County Meath and many other townlands from The Rt Rev. Dr. Henry Jones, the Lord Bishop of Meath who had been awarded it by Oliver Cromwell. Fourteen years prior in 1647, the surrounding area had formed the battlefield for the Battle of Dungan's Hill.
Earlier, John Rowley came to Ireland during the reign of James I, as sole agent for the building of the towns of Derry and Coleraine for the London Society. Upon the incorporation of the city of Derry in 1613, he was, by charter, appointed first Mayor of Derry city. He was later knighted for his services at the time of the Restoration. He also married Mary, daughter of Sir Hercules Langford, 1st Baronet.
One of Rowley's daughters, Anne, married Sir Tristram Beresford, 1st Baronet, ancestor to the family of Tyrone. Another daughter, Mary, married James Clotworthy, and by him had an only daughter, who married Robert FitzGerald, 19th Earl of Kildare, and who was grandmother of Lieutenant-General The 1st Duke of Leinster.
He only left one son, Hercules Rowley and via his son's marriage to Frances Upton, his only son and heir, Hercules Langford Rowley, married in 1732, Elizabeth Ormsby, later created The 1st Viscountess Langford. It is likely the family still lived at Lynch's Castle until this time.
In the 1730s Langford Rowley constructed the vast Palladian Baroque house at Summerhill.
Summerhill House
Summerhill House was a 100-roomed Palladian house in County Meath, Ireland which was the ancestral seat of the Viscounts Langford and the Barons Langford. Built in 1731, it was likely designed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce and completed by Richard Cassels in the Palladian style, although Sir John Vanbrugh, who was related to Pearce and with whom he trained, is thought to have also influenced the design of the house, which could be seen by the Baroque details, great arched chimney stacks and the palatial grandeur and scale.
The house demonstrated the power and wealth the Langford Rowley family had at the time. They owned vast amounts of land in counties Meath, Westmeath, Cork, Londonderry, Antrim, and Dublin as well as in Devon and Cornwall in England. The house also welcomed royalty, and ranked architecturally amongst the finest and most modern mansions in Europe.
Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin and president of the Irish Georgian Society described its loss as "probably the greatest tragedy in the history of Irish domestic architecture".
In 1661, Sir Hercules Langford, 1st Baronet bought Lynch's Castle located on the Summerhill demesne in County Meath and many other townlands from The Rt Rev. Dr. Henry Jones, the Lord Bishop of Meath who had been awarded it by Oliver Cromwell. Fourteen years prior in 1647, the surrounding area had formed the battlefield for the Battle of Dungan's Hill.
Earlier, John Rowley came to Ireland during the reign of James I, as sole agent for the building of the towns of Derry and Coleraine for the London Society. Upon the incorporation of the city of Derry in 1613, he was, by charter, appointed first Mayor of Derry city. He was later knighted for his services at the time of the Restoration. He also married Mary, daughter of Sir Hercules Langford, 1st Baronet.
One of Rowley's daughters, Anne, married Sir Tristram Beresford, 1st Baronet, ancestor to the family of Tyrone. Another daughter, Mary, married James Clotworthy, and by him had an only daughter, who married Robert FitzGerald, 19th Earl of Kildare, and who was grandmother of Lieutenant-General The 1st Duke of Leinster.
He only left one son, Hercules Rowley and via his son's marriage to Frances Upton, his only son and heir, Hercules Langford Rowley, married in 1732, Elizabeth Ormsby, later created The 1st Viscountess Langford. It is likely the family still lived at Lynch's Castle until this time.
In the 1730s Langford Rowley constructed the vast Palladian Baroque house at Summerhill.
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