Duckett’s Grove is the ruined remains of a 19th-century mansion located near Carlow. Formerly the centre of a 12,000-acre (49 km²) estate belonging to the Duckett family, the house dominated the area for more than two centuries. It was surrounded by stables and farm buildings, as well as two interconnected walled gardens with greenhouses. The County has restored these gardens as a public park.
The first house was built around 1745 as a two-storey Georgian country residence. From the mid-1820s onwards, it was redesigned in a castellated Gothic Revival style by the English architect Thomas Cobden for John Dawson Duckett, the owner and head of the family. The Ducketts had accumulated wealth through advantageous marriages over generations.
The Ducketts were a very famous family in Great Britain, being descended from the Norman and Plantagenet Kings and descendants of William the Conqueror and of King Edward I. Sir George Duckett was the first of the Ducketts to arrive in Ireland. Like many other English landlords, he travelled to Ireland during the Cromwellian period of the 1650s.
Our guide was very enthusiastic about the history of Duckett Grove, telling us many fascinating tales of grand parties and lavish lifestyles. They managed to grow many exotic fruits in their heated greenhouse, including pineapples. These were not only used to decorate the feast table, but were also rented out to neighbours for the same purpose.
Another fascinating detail were these stones, which revealed a natural cross when cut in half. The stonemasons were able to use these stones for the entrance to the chapel.
After the death of William Duckett in 1908, last in the male bloodline, his second wife, Maria Georgina Duckett, lived on in the property until 1916.
During the War of Independence (1919 to 1921), the house was used as a base by the local IRA and its flying column (a small, independent, military land unit). Possibly due to the Duckett’s good treatment of their tenants and employees over the years, the interiors and furniture were left intact upon the IRA’s departure from the house.
Maria Duckett had moved to Dublin and auctioned off all the furnishing in 1921 & 1923. The house was destroyed by a major fire in the 1930s. It may have been deliberately started to avoid a new tax.
Maria Duckett made many enemies with her strange behaviour in her later years. She was no longer on speaking terms with her only daughter, Olive. The outcome of this was the disinheritance of her daughter following her death in 1937, leaving her what is known as “the angry shilling”, just one shilling, from an estate valued at £97,735 (equivalent to €9,250,000 in 2023).
Thanks to our guide, we learnt a lot about this house and its fascinating history. It is certainly just one of the many grand Irish houses that have not survived over time, but the ruins still remind us of the grandeur of the English landlords who once lived here.
Next, we are looking for some dolmen in the area – more follows.