Castle Morres House

THE DE MONTMORENCYS OWNED 4,808 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY KILKENNY

MAJOR HERVEY RANDALL SAVILLE PRATT DL (1782-1859), third son of the Rev Joseph Pratt, of CABRA CASTLE, County Cavan, by the Hon Sarah de Montmorency his wife, daughter of Harvey, 1st Viscount Mountmorres, of Castle Morres, County Kilkenny, High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1836, wedded, in 1811, Rose Lloyd, daughter of the Rt Rev John Kearney, Lord Bishop of Ossory, and had issue,

JOHN, his heir;
Joseph;
Hervey Mervyn;
Raymond;
Anne Sarah; Letitia; Elizabeth; Sarah; Fanny.

Mr Pratt, who, upon the death of his father, succeeded his mother in the Kilkenny estates, which she and her sister, the Marchioness of Antrim, had jointly inherited as co-heirs of their brother Hervey Redmond, 2nd Viscount Mountmorres.

He assumed, in 1831, the surname and arms of DE MONTMORENCY.

Mr de Montmorency was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN PRATT DE MONTMORENCY (1815-68), of Castle Morres, who married, in 1838, Henrietta O'Grady, daughter of Standish, 1st Viscount Guillamore, and had issue,

HERVEY JOHN, his heir;
WALLER, successor to his brother;
Mervyn Standish, barrister;
Raymond Oliver;
Katherine Maria; Rose Emily.

Mr de Montmorency was succeeded by his eldest son,

HERVEY JOHN DE MONTMORENCY JP (1840-73), of Castle Morres, High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1872, late 2nd Dragoon Guards, who espoused, in 1867, Grace, daughter of Sir Thomas Fraser Grove Bt, of Ferne, Wiltshire, leaving issue, a daughter, Henrietta Kathleen.

He was succeeded by his brother,

THE VEN WALLER DE MONTMORENCY JP (1841-1924), of Castle Morres, Archdeacon of Ossory, who wedded, in 1872, Mary, daughter of the Rt Rev James Thomas O'Brien, Lord Bishop of Ossory, Ferns and Leighlin, and had issue,

JOHN PRATT, his heir;
Geoffey FitzHervey, b 1876.

The Archdeacon was succeeded by his elder son,

CAPTAIN JOHN PRATT DE MONTMORENCY CMG DL RN (1873-1960), High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1921, who espoused firstly, in 1908, Margaret Elinor, eldest daughter of Colonel Samuel Pym; and secondly, in 1934, Norah, daughter of Colonel Mervyn de Montmorency, by whom he had issue,

Jane Avril, b 1936;
Sarah Anne, 1943-97.

CASTLE MORRES, Kilmaganny, County Kilkenny, was a splendid mid-18th century mansion by Francis Binden.

It comprised three storeys over a basement, with a nine-bay front.

There were single wings on either side of the centre block.

There was a three-bay central break-front with quoins and a rusticated ground floor.

The roof parapet had balustrades.

A balustraded perron and double stairway led to the doorway, which had Ionic columns and pediment.

There was a magnificent black marble chimney-piece in the hall, resplendent with a military trophy under a scroll pediment; and an eagle spreading its wings above.

Captain John Pratt de Montmorency sold Castle Morres to the Irish Land Commission in 1926.

In the 1930s its roof was removed; and the once great mansion house suffered its ultimate fate in 1978 when it was demolished.

First published in March, 2016.