Kenmare House

THE EARLS OF KENMARE WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY KERRY, WITH 91,080 ACRES 

This family deduces its descent from SIR VALENTINE BROWNE, Knight, of Croft, Lincolnshire, treasurer of the town of Berwick, auditor of the exchequer in England; and constituted Auditor-General of Ireland in the reigns of EDWARD VI and QUEEN MARY.

Sir Valentine died in 1568, leaving a son,

THE RT HON SIR VALENTINE BROWNE (d 1589), his heir,

Who, in 1583, received instruction, jointly with Sir Henry Wallop, for the survey of several escheated lands in Ireland. He was subsequently sworn of the Privy Council, and represented County Sligo in parliament in 1585. In the same year, Sir Valentine purchased from Donald, Earl of Clancare, all the lands, manors, etc in counties Kerry and Cork, which had been in the possession of Teige Dermot MacCormac and Rorie Donoghoemore.

Sir Valentine married firstly, Alice or Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Alexander, of London, and had issue, a son.

He wedded secondly, Thomasine, sister of the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, Sir Nicholas Bacon, and had further issue (with a daughter), two sons.

Sir Valentine's eldest surviving son,

SIR NICHOLAS BROWNE, Knight, of Ross, County Kerry, who wedded Sicheley Sheela, daughter of O'Sullivan Beake, and had issue,

VALENTINE, his heir;
Anne.

Sir Nicholas died in 1616, and was succeeded by his son,

VALENTINE BROWNE, High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1623, who was created a baronet in 1622, designated of Molahiffe, County Kerry.

Sir Valentine, after his father's decease, presented a petition to JAMES I, praying an abatement of the yearly rent reserved on the estate which he held from the Crown, as an undertaker, at the annual sum of £113 6s 8d, in regard of the small profit he made of it, being set out in the most barren and remote part of County Kerry; which request was complied with, and he received a confirmation, by patent, of all his lands at a reduced rent.

He married Elizabeth, fifth daughter of Gerald, Earl of Kildare, and was succeeded by his grandson,

THE RT HON SIR VALENTINE BROWNE, 3rd Baronet (1638-94); who was sworn of the Privy Council of JAMES II, and created by that monarch, subsequently to his abdication, in 1689, Baron Castlerosse and Viscount Kenmare.

His lordship, who was Colonel of Infantry in the army of JAMES II, forfeited his estates by his inviolable fidelity to that unfortunate monarch.

He wedded Jane, only daughter and heir of Sir Nicholas Plunket, and niece of Lucas, Earl of Fingall, and had five sons and four daughters.

The 1st Viscount was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR NICHOLAS BROWNE, 4th Baronet (called 2nd Viscount); an officer of rank in the service of JAMES II, and attainted in consequence, who espoused, in 1664, Helen, eldest daughter and co-heir of Thomas Brown, by whom he obtained a very considerable fortune, but which, with his own estates, became forfeited for his life.

The crown, however, allowed his lady a rent-charge of £400 per year for the maintenance of herself and her children.

Sir Nicholas died in 1720, leaving four daughters and his son and successor,

SIR VALENTINE BROWNE, 5th Baronet (called 3rd Viscount) (1695-1736), who continued outlawed by the attainder of his father and grandfather.

He married, in 1720, Honora, second daughter of Colonel Thomas Butler, and great-grandniece of James, Duke of Ormonde, by whom he had issue, Thomas, his successor, and two daughters.

Sir Valentine espoused secondly, in 1735, Mary, Dowager Countess of Fingall, by whom he left a posthumous daughter, Mary Frances.

He was succeeded by his only son,

SIR THOMAS BROWNE, 6th Baronet (called 4th Viscount) (1726-95), who wedded, in 1750, Anne, only daughter of Thomas Cooke, of Painstown, County Carlow, by whom he had a son and a daughter, Catherine, married to Count de Durfort-Civrac.

He was succeeded by his son,

SIR VALENTINE BROWNE, 7th Baronet (called 5th Viscount) (1754-1812), who was created (the viscountcy of JAMES II never having been acknowledged in law), in 1798, Baron Castlerosse and Viscount Kenmare.

His lordship was further advanced to the dignity of an earldom, in 1800, as EARL OF KENMARE.

He married firstly, in 1777, Charlotte, daughter of Henry, 11th Viscount Dillon, and had an only daughter, Charlotte.

His lordship wedded secondly, in 1785, Mary, eldest daughter of Michael Aylmer, of Lyons, County Kildare, and had issue,

VALENTINE, his successor;
Thomas;
William;
Michael;
Marianne; Frances.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

VALENTINE, 2nd Earl (1788-1853), PC, who espoused, in 1816, Augusta, daughter of Sir Robert Wilmot, 2nd Baronet, though the marriage was without issue, when the family honours devolved upon his brother,

THOMAS, 3rd Earl (1789-1871), who married, in 1822, Catherine, daughter of Edmond O'Callaghan, and had issue,

VALENTINE AUGUSTUS, his successor;
Ellen Maria; Mary Caroline.

His lordship was succeeded by his son,

VALENTINE AUGUSTUS, 4th Earl (1825-1905), KP PC JP, High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1851, Knight of St Patrick, 1872, who wedded, in 1858, Gertrude Harriet, daughter of the Rev Lord Charles Thynne, and had issue,

VALENTINE CHARLES, his successor;
Cecil Augustine;
Margaret Theodora May Catherine.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

VALENTINE CHARLES, 5th Earl (1860-1941), CVO, last Lord-Lieutenant of County Kerry, 1905-22, who espoused, in 1887, Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Charles Baring, and had issue,

VALENTINE EDWARD CHARLES, his successor;
Maurice Henry Dermot (1894-1915);
GERALD RALPH DESMOND, 7th Earl;
Dorothy Margaret; Cecilia Kathleen.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

VALENTINE EDWARD CHARLES, 6th Earl (1891-1943), Captain, Irish Guards, who married twice, without issue, when the titles devolved upon his brother,

GERALD RALPH DESMOND, 7th Earl (1896-1952), OBE, Major, 1st Dragoons, who died unmarried, when the titles expired.

The original Kenmare House (above) was built in 1726, after the estates were recovered by Sir Valentine Browne, 5th Baronet and 3rd Viscount Kenmare in the Jacobite peerage.

It was a grandiose structure with the characteristics of a French château, perhaps influenced by the Brownes' time spent exiled in France with JAMES II.

Lord Kenmare designed the house himself: It was two stories high and had dormered attics and steep, slated roofs.

There were thirteen bays in front of the house, with three bays on each side of the centre breaking forward. A servant’s wing was added around 1775.

In 1861 Valentine, Lord Castlerosse, played host to Queen Victoria at Killarney.

During the visit of the Queen to Kenmare House, Her Majesty chose the site of Killarney House, a vast Victorian-Tudor mansion, which was the successor to Kenmare House.

The 4th Earl of Kenmare decided to build a new mansion (above), on a hillside with spectacular views of Lough Leane in 1872.

The old house was demolished and an Elizabethan-Revival manor house erected on a more elevated site at a cost exceeding £100,000.

This house was supposed to have been instigated by Lady Kenmare (Gertrude Thynne, granddaughter of Thomas, 2nd Marquess of Bath, and inspired by Lord Bath's genuinely Elizabethan seat, Longleat in Wiltshire (which is not red-brick).

It was not unusual for the descendants of Elizabethan or Jacobean settlers in Ireland to assert their comparative antiquity in this period by building "Jacobethan" houses.

The house, which in addition to its other defects apparently did not sit happily in the landscape as it had many gables and oriels.

The interior was panelled and hung with Spanish leather.

It was considered to be one of the finest mansions in Ireland.

Kenmare House was burnt twice: once, in 1879, just after its completion; and again, and finally, in November, 1913.

It was never rebuilt.

The stable block of the older Kenmare House, however, was converted for family use.

Killarney House and the Browne estate in Kerry were donated by Mrs Grosvenor (niece of 7th Earl) to form Killarney National Park.

The Victorian mansion was demolished in 1872 by the 4th Earl, when it was accidentally destroyed by fire in 1913 and never rebuilt; instead, the stable block was converted into the present Kenmare House.

In 1866, King Leopold II of Belgium visited the Kenmares at Killarney.

Sir Edwin Lutyens (the architect for Lady Kenmare's brother, the 3rd Baron Revelstoke, at Lambay Castle on Lambay Island, County Dublin, advised Lord Kenmare to build the new Kenmare House.

This Kenmare House was later abandoned and sold when a new Kenmare House was built.

This new manor was confusingly constructed on the site of the former Killarney House by Mrs Beatrice Grosvenor in 1956.

Less than twenty years later, in 1974, the house was replaced.

This last Kenmare House was built on the Killorglin Road, beside the Killarney golf course and the Castlerosse Hotel.

The sale of Kenmare House in 1985 to Denis P Kelleher effectively marked the end of the Kenmare family's proprietary connection with Killarney, after 450 years.

First published in August, 2011.