Ruinhunter - Ardfry House

Ardfry House, Oranmore, Co Galway

Ardrey House was built in 1770 by the Blake family, later the Earls of Wallscourt. The Wallscourts lived there until the second wife of the fourth Earl frittered away all the family money on gambling. She even sold the lead of every roof on the estate. The house was left empty and was dismantled in the 1930s.

I am always most delighted to find a ruin with roofs intact and Ardfry still has the upper roof above each wing (though holey and dripping!). Also, unlike the houses which were burned in the Troubles, Ardfry still has a few perishable features such as wooden window frames and plaster column decoration in the hall. There are some very attractive decorative touches on the outer stonework and a wonderfully eerie underground corridor which would have probably run past the cellars and store-rooms. This house must have been very elegant and well-proportioned and, though littered with the remains of ceilings and overgrown with elder, still is.

Map Reference: M347213

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Ardfry House, Oranmore, Co Galway
Ardrey House was built in 1770 by the Blake family, later the Earls of Wallscourt. The Wallscourts lived there until the second wife of the fourth Earl frittered away all the family money on gambling. She even sold the lead of every roof on the estate. The house was left empty and was dismantled in the 1930s.

I am always most delighted to find a ruin with roofs intact and Ardfry still has the upper roof above each wing (though holey and dripping!). Also, unlike the houses which were burned in the Troubles, Ardfry still has a few perishable features such as wooden window frames and plaster column decoration in the hall. There are some very attractive decorative touches on the outer stonework and a wonderfully eerie underground corridor which would have probably run past the cellars and store-rooms. This house must have been very elegant and well-proportioned and, though littered with the remains of ceilings and overgrown with elder, still is. Map Reference: M347213

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