Conolly's Folly
Encyclopedia
Celbridge
Celbridge is a town and townland on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Ireland. It is west of Dublin. As a town within the Dublin Metropolitan Area and the Greater Dublin Area, it is located at the intersection of the R403 and R405 regional roads....
and Maynooth
Maynooth
Maynooth is a town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to a branch of the National University of Ireland, a Papal University and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick's College...
, both in north County Kildare
County Kildare
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
History
The follyFolly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...
was built within Castletown Estate (containing Castletown House
Castletown House
Castletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland's is a Palladian country house built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of a estate...
), which contains two follies, both commissioned by Katherine Conolly, the philanthropic widow of Speaker William Conolly
William Conolly
William Conolly , also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish politician, Commissioner of Revenue, lawyer and landowner.-Career:...
to provide employment for hundreds of the poor of Celbridge when the famine of 1740-41
Great Irish Famine (1740-1741)
The Irish Famine of 1740–1741 in the Kingdom of Ireland was perhaps of similar magnitude to the better-known Great Famine of 1845–1852. Unlike the famine of the 1840s, which was caused in part by a fungal infection in the potato crop and, separately, extreme government regulations, that of 1740–41...
was at its worst. The Obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
was built in 1740 after a particularly severe winter. As a folly, it could be seen from the back of Castletown some 2.5 miles (4 km) away.
The folly was built on land that was near to, but not on, the Conolly estate. It therefore belonged to neighbouring Carton
Carton House
Carton House was one of Ireland's greatest stately homes and one time ancestral seat of the Earls of Kildare and Dukes of Leinster. Located west of Dublin, in Maynooth, County Kildare, the Carton demesne runs to 1,100 acres . For two hundred years it possessed the finest example in Ireland of a...
, the home of the FitzGerald family, Dukes of Leinster.
Designed by Richard Castle
Richard Cassels
Richard Cassels , who anglicised his name to Richard Castle, ranks with Edward Lovett Pearce as one of the greatest architects working in Ireland in the 18th century. Cassels was born in 1690 in Kassel, Germany. Although German, his family were of French origin, descended from the...
, it is 42 metres (140 feet) high and is composed of several arches
Arches
-Places:* Arches National Park in the U.S. state of Utah* Arches, Cantal, a commune of the Cantal département, in France* Arches, Vosges, a commune of the Vosges département, in France-Other:* Arches of the foot...
, adorned by stone pineapples and eagles, topped by a massive obelisk pillar. It was restored in 1965 by the Irish Georgian Society
Irish Georgian Society
The Irish Georgian Society aims to encourage an interest in and to promote the conservation of distinguished examples of architecture and the allied arts of all periods in Ireland...
, and nearby is the grave of Mariga, first wife of the Hon. Desmond Guinness
Desmond Guinness
Hon. Desmond Guinness is an Irish author on Georgian art and architecture and a conservationist.He was the second son of the author and brewer Bryan Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne and Diana Mitford...
of Leixlip Castle.
It is currently undergoing restoration work by the OPW as it has fallen into disrepair.
Spelling
The name Conolly is used, rather than the more common spelling ConnollyConnolly
Connolly may refer to:* Connolly, Western Australia, a suburb in Perth, Western Australia* Connolly, County Clare, Ireland* Dublin Connolly railway station in Dublin, Ireland...
, as it was the spelling used by William Conolly and by all his descendants. It derived from the Gaelic 'Ui Conghaile'.
See also
- The Wonderful BarnThe Wonderful BarnThe Wonderful Barn is a corkscrew-shaped barn built on the edge of Castletown House Estate of the Conolly family, which borders Leixlip and Celbridge, Ireland. It was built in 1743 on the Leixlip side of the Castletown Estate...
- Nearby towns of: MaynoothMaynoothMaynooth is a town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to a branch of the National University of Ireland, a Papal University and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick's College...
, LeixlipLeixlip-Politics:Since 1988 Leixlip has had a nine member Town Council , headed by a Cathaoirleach , which has control over many local matters, although it is limited in that it is not also a planning authority...
and CelbridgeCelbridgeCelbridge is a town and townland on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Ireland. It is west of Dublin. As a town within the Dublin Metropolitan Area and the Greater Dublin Area, it is located at the intersection of the R403 and R405 regional roads.... - Kildare History and Society 2006 ed. Nolan W. & McGrath T., at pp. 327–348. ISBN 978-0-906602-57-7
External links
- Paintings of the Obelisk
- Fantastic Follies (Photos of well known Irish Follies)
- Description of the Obelisk
- Tourist Guide, with Description of Connolly's Folly