Ballinlough Castle

THE NUGENT BARONETS, OF BALLINLOUGH, OWNED 4,697 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY WESTMEATH

HUGH O'REILLY, of Ballinlough Castle, County Westmeath, married Katherine, daughter of Christopher Plunkett, of Clonabreany, County Meath, and was succeeded by his son,

JAMES O'REILLY, of Ballinlough Castle, who wedded Elizabeth, daughter of Walter White, of Pitchfordstown, County Kildare, by Mabel his wife, daughter of George Aylmer, of Lyons, in the same county, and was succeeded by his son,

HUGH O'REILLY, of Ballinlough Castle, who espoused Eleanor, daughter of Sir Daniel O'Neill, 3rd Baronet, of Killeleagh, County Antrim, and granddaughter of Sir Henry O'Neill, 1st Baronet, of Killeleagh, by Eleanor his wife, daughter of Sir William Talbot, 1st Baronet, of Carton, and sister of Richard, Duke of Tyrconnell, by whom he had a son,

JAMES O'REILLY, of Ballinlough Castle, who married Barbara, daughter of Andrew Nugent, of Desart, County Westmeath, by Lady Katherine, his wife, daughter and co-heir of 4th Earl of Westmeath, and had issue,

HUGH, 1st Baronet;

James;

Andrew, General in the Austrian Army;

Margaret; Barbara.

Mr O'Reilly was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR HUGH O'REILLY, afterwards NUGENT (1741-1821), Lieutenant-Colonel, Westmeath Militia, who wedded, in 1781, Catherine Marianne, only daughter and heiress of Charles Mathew, of Thurles, County Tipperary, uncle of 1st Earl Landaff, and had issue,

JAMES, his successor;
JOHN, 3rd Baronet;
Lavelin;
Eliza; Barbara; Isabella.

Mr O'Reilly was created a baronet in 1795, designated of Ballinlough, County Westmeath.

Sir Hugh O'Reilly, on the death of his uncle, John Nugent, of Tullaghan, assumed, 1812, his maternal surname of NUGENT solely. 

His eldest son,

SIR JAMES NUGENT, 2nd Baronet, who espoused, in 1811, Susan Victoria Regina Mary, only daughter of Baron D'Arabet, of the Holy Roman Empire, and dying sp, 1843, was succeeded by his next brother,

SIR JOHN NUGENT, 3rd Baronet (1800-59), a Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Chamberlain to the Emperor of Austria,  and an officer of rank in the Austrian Service, who married, in 1842, Letitia Maria, daughter of Charles Whyte Roche, of County Limerick, and had issue,

HUGH JOSEPH, his successor;
CHARLES, 5th Baronet;
John Nicholas;
James O'Reilly;
Andrew Greville;
Letitia Mary; Kathleen Mary Georgina; Helena Mary.

Sir John was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR HIGH JOSEPH NUGENT, 4th Baronet (1845-63), who was accidentally killed while shooting, and was succeeded by his next brother,

SIR CHARLES NUGENT, 5th Baronet (1847-1927), 2nd Count, Lieutenant, 17th Lancers, who wedded, in 1871, Emily Ruth Eades, daughter of Thomas Walker, and had issue, an only child,

SIR HUGH CHARLES NUGENT, 6th Baronet (1904-83), 3rd Count, who espoused, in 1931, Margaret Mary Lavallin, daughter of the Rev Herbert Lavallin Puxley, and had issue,

JOHN EDWIN LAVALLIN, his successor;
David Hugh Lavallin.

Sir Hugh was succeeded by his elder son,

SIR JOHN EDWIN LAVALLIN NUGENT, 7th Baronet (1933-2009), JP, 4th Count, High Sheriff of Berkshire, 1981, Lieutenant, Irish Guards, who married, in 1959, Penelope Anne, daughter of Brigadier Richard Nigel Hanbury. and had issue,

NICHOLAS MYLES JOHN, his successor;
Grania Clare.

Sir John was succeeded by his son,

SIR NICHOLAS MYLES JOHN NUGENT, 8th and present Baronet (1967-), 5th Count of the Holy Roman Empire, of Ballinlough Castle, Director, Goff’s Bloodstock Sales, who married, in 1999, Alice Mary, daughter of Captain Peter Dane Player, of Whatton Manor, Nottinghamshire, and has issue,

Lucy Rose, b 2001;
Katie Violet (2003-10).

BALLINLOUGH CASTLE, Clonmellon, County Westmeath, was reconstructed in the 1730s.

The main part of the castle, however, was built in the early 17th century: "1614" is the date on the O'Reilly coat-of-arms above the front door, although this may be inaccurate by several decades.

The newer wing at Ballinlough was added by Sir Hugh O'Reilly, afterwards Nugent, 1st Baronet, ca 1790, and is probably attributable to the amateur architect Thomas Wogan Browne, also responsible for Malahide Castle, County Dublin, the home of Sir Hugh O'Reilly's sister Margaret, Baroness Talbot of Malahide.

The ground floor contains a large drawing-room and dining-room, with four first-floor bedrooms approached by a vaulted corridor above.

The spacious interiors have what may be the tallest windows in a private house of this period, overlooking the woods and lake.

The chimneypiece in the drawing-room is identical to a Wyatt chimneypiece at Curraghmore, County Waterford.

The Nugents of Ballinlough are almost unique in being a Catholic Celtic-Irish family who still live in their family castle.

First published in September, 2018