Monday, 20 March 2023

Edermine House

THE POWER BARONETS, OF EDERMINE, WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY WEXFORD, WITH 10,205 ACRES

JAMES POWER, an innkeeper, Proprietor of the New Sun Inn, 109, Thomas Street, Dublin, established a distillery for the production of whiskey at his premises in 1791.
The site selected by Mr Power was in the suburbs of Dublin, just outside the city walls, upon a plot of ground formerly known as the Friary Gardens of St John, adjacent to Wormwood (Ormond) Gate, the principal western entrance to the city, and was the property of the Countess of Charleville, by whom it was leased to James Power, by indenture bearing date 29th September, 1785.
James Power continued to extend the distillery until his death in 1817.

He was buried in St James's churchyard, Dublin.

Mr Power was succeeded by his son,

JOHN POWER JP DL (1771-1855), of Roebuck House, County Dublin, and Sampton, County Wexford, who married, in 1799, Mary, eldest daughter of Thomas Brenann, County Wexford, and had issue,
JAMES, his successor;
Mary; Catherine; Margaret; Elizabeth; Emily; Ellen.
Mr Power was created a baronet in 1841, designated of Edermine, County Wexford.

He was succeeded by his only son,

SIR JAMES POWER2nd Baronet, JP DL (1800-77), MP for County Wexford, 1835-47, High Sheriff of County Wexford, 1849, Dublin City, 1859, who married, in 1843, Jane Anne Eliza, daughter and co-heiress of John Hyacinth Talbot DL MP, of Castle Talbot, County Wexford, and had issue,
JOHN TALBOT, his successor;
JAMES TALBOT, 5th Baronet;
THOMAS TALBOT, 6th Baronet;
Mary Jane; Gwendoline Anna Eliza; Francis Mary Ursula.
Sir James, Governor of the Bank of Ireland, Chairman, Dublin, Wicklow & Wexford Railway, and, for many years, Commissioner for Charitable Bequests in Ireland, was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR JOHN TALBOT POWER, 3rd Baronet, JP DL (1845-1901), of Edermine, County Wexford, MP for County Wexford, 1868-74, High Sheriff of County Wexford, 1880, who espoused, in 1876, Frances Emma, daughter of Captain Henry Segrave, of Kiltymon, County Wicklow, and had issue,
JAMES DOUGLAS TALBOT, his successor;
Eileen Maréli.
Sir John was succeeded by his only son,

SIR JAMES DOUGLAS TALBOT POWER, 4th Baronet (1884-1914), of Edermine, Lieutenant, 3rd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, who died unmarried, and was succeeded by his uncle,

SIR JAMES TALBOT POWER, 5th Baronet, DP DL (1851-1916), High Sheriff of County Dublin, 1906, who married, in 1877, Gertrude Frances, only child of Thomas Hayes, of Grenville House, Cork.

Sir James dsp 1916, and was succeeded by his brother,

SIR THOMAS TALBOT POWER, 6th Baronet (1863-1930), who wedded, in 1884, Margaret, daughter of Thomas S Martin, of Beaufield, Stillorgan, County Dublin.

Sir Thomas died without issue, when the title expired.


THE last member of the Board of Power's whiskey with a family connection was Sir Thomas Talbot Power Bt.

Ownership remained in the family until 1966, when Power's joined with the only other remaining distillers in the Irish Republic, the Cork Distillers Company, and their Dublin rivals, John Jameson & Son, to form the Irish Distillers Group.

In 1989, Pernod-Ricard successfully bid for ownership of the Irish Distillers.

Photo credit:  The Rev Canon Patrick Comerford

EDERMINE HOUSE, near Enniscorthy, County Wexford, is a two-storey Italianate house, built about 1839 for the Power family.

It has an eaved roof on a bracket cornice and a three-bay front with a pillared porch.


There is a five-bay side elevation with a central Venetian window, recessed in a huge blind arch.

The interior is Grecian, with fluted Doric columns in the hall; paired Ionic columns and pilasters on the staircase landing.

A Gothic chapel was later built at one side of the house, to designs by Pugin, a family friend.

This chapel was originally free-standing, though was later joined to the house by an extension to the rear which includes a small Italianate campanile.

Photo credit:  The Rev Canon Patrick Comerford

Adjacent to the chapel is a splendid, early Victorian iron conservatory, joined to the chapel by a cast-iron veranda.

First published in February, 2013.

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