| Westport House & Irish Pirate Queen Grinne N | | | | Earl Howe. During his lifetime the French-inspired 1798 |
| Mhille | | | | Rebellion occurred. Aided by the arbitrarily actions of |
| During the 16th century, Grinne N Mhille or Granuaile | | | | Denis Browne, his younger brother, against the Irish |
| was a famous Pirate Queen of Connaught. After her | | | | insurgents (which earned him the reputation of `black |
| death, a report stated that for forty years was the | | | | sheep' of the family) the Rebellion was crushed. John |
| stay of all rebellions in the west. She was chief of | | | | became Marquess of Sligo after the Act of Union in |
| the O'Malley Clan and ruled the seas around Mayo. | | | | 1800. He seldom attended parliament in London being |
| Grinne N Mhille had several castles in the west of | | | | more content at home in Westport. |
| Ireland and it was on the foundations of one of | | | | His only son Howe Peter Browne, 2nd Marquess of |
| these that Westport House was actually built. There | | | | Sligo, inherited in 1809 at the age of twenty-one. |
| is still an area of her original castle in the basement of | | | | Extravagant and generous, his early life subscribed to |
| the House (the Dungeons), which is on view to | | | | the popular image of a 'regency buck'. Friend of |
| visitors. | | | | Byron, de Quincy and the Prince Regent, he travelled |
| There is a Bronze statue of Grinne N Mhille by the | | | | extensively throughout Europe. He excavated at |
| artist Michael Cooper situated on the grounds of | | | | Mycenae and discovered the 3,000 year old columns |
| Westport House. | | | | of the Treasury of Atreus. To bring them back to |
| The original House was built by Colonel John Browne, | | | | Westport, he took some seamen from a British |
| a Jacobite, who was at the Siege of Limerick, and his | | | | warship, and was subsequently sentenced to four |
| wife Maude Bourke. Maude Bourke was Grinne N | | | | months in Newgate Prison. He married Hester, the |
| Mhille great-great granddaughter. The House then did | | | | Earl of Clanrickard's daughter, by whom he had |
| not have the lake or a dam and the tide rose and fell | | | | fourteen children, and settled down to life in |
| against the walls. | | | | Westport. He added the north and south wings, the |
| Architecture | | | | library, and commissioned much furniture, china, silver |
| The East front of the house as it is today was built | | | | and paintings for the House. He bred many famous |
| in 1730 by Colonel John Browne's grandson, also John | | | | race horses both at Westport and at the Curragh. |
| - 1st Earl of Altamont, who hired the famous German | | | | One of his horses, Waxy, won the Derby. He owned |
| architect Richard Cassels. It is built with the finest | | | | the last two of the breed of Irish wolfhound. In |
| limestone taken from the quarry south of the estate | | | | 1834, he was appointed Governor General of Jamaica |
| farmyard and was executed by craftsmen. Richard | | | | with the difficult task of overseeing the |
| Cassels also designed Carton, Haselwood, | | | | 'apprenticeship system', in a period prior to the full |
| Russborough and Leinster House. Westport House | | | | emancipation of the slaves. He met with great |
| was completed by James Wyatt, one of the | | | | opposition from plantation owners and other vested |
| greatest English architects, who also laid out the | | | | interests. He was first to emancipate the slaves on |
| town of Westport. On the south facade is the date | | | | the family's Jamaican plantations. The first 'free village' |
| 1778, inside, many of the ceilings, cornice and | | | | in the world, Sligoville, was subsequently named in his |
| fireplaces are examples of his finest works. The | | | | honour. A liberal, he was one of the few Irish peers |
| Large Dining room is perhaps the finest remaining | | | | to vote for Catholic Emancipation. He died in 1845 as |
| example of his work. The doors are mahogany | | | | the clouds of the Great Famine descended over |
| brought back from the family estates in Jamaica. | | | | Mayo. |
| There are still a number of original James Wyatt | | | | His son, George, the 3rd Marquess, inherited a terrible |
| drawings on show, together with some of his son, | | | | legacy. The West of Ireland was worst affected by |
| Benjamin Wyatt, who also did some work in the | | | | the famine. Westport House was closed and with no |
| house. | | | | rents forthcoming, George borrowed where he could, |
| There are several architecturally stunning rooms on | | | | spending 50,000 of his own money to alleviate the |
| show in Westport House. | | | | suffering of the tenants. He imported cargoes of |
| Westport House Art & Antiques | | | | meal to Westport Quay and subvented the local |
| Westport House is also unusual in that it is complete | | | | workhouse, then the only shelter available to the |
| with original contents, most of which have a long | | | | destitute. He wrote tirelessly to the British |
| association with Ireland. Among the pictures are | | | | Government, demanding that they do more to help |
| portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds of the 1st Earl of | | | | the famine victims. He wrote and had published a |
| Altamont, of the Rt. Hon. Denis Browne, brother of | | | | pamphlet outlining many pioneering reforms of the |
| the 1st Marquess of Sligo and a member of Grattan's | | | | economic conditions that had led to the famine. In |
| Parliament; by William Beechey, of Howe Peter - the | | | | 1854 on being offered the Order of St Patrick, an |
| 2nd Marquess of Sligo, who spent four months in an | | | | honour once held by his father and grandfather, |
| English jail for bribing British seamen in time of war to | | | | disillusioned by England's Irish policy (a recurring |
| bring his ship, full of antiquities from Greece, to | | | | sentiment at Westport House!) the 3rd Marquess |
| Westport. Howe Peter was a friend of George IV | | | | wrote 'I have no desire for the honour.' |
| and the poet Byron. | | | | John succeeded his brother as 4th Marquess. He had |
| There is a portrait of Earl Howe - Admiral of the | | | | to contend with the huge changes that occurred in |
| Fleet, father of the 1st Marchioness of Sligo, by John | | | | the ownership of land in Ireland in the late nineteenth |
| Singleton Copley. Artworks also include a magnificent | | | | and early twentieth century. Above all he was a |
| collection of landscapes painted in the locality by | | | | 'professional' farmer, whose main contribution was to |
| James Arthur O'Connor. Other artists such as Chalon, | | | | transform a reduced and almost bankrupt estate into |
| Barrett, Gibson, Opie, Brooks and Lavery are part of | | | | a profitable one, solely from agriculture. This work |
| the collection. | | | | was continued by the 6th Marquess who added a |
| There is also a collection of waxwork figures by | | | | sawmill, a salmon hatchery and planted extensively. |
| Gems Display Figures, which are a tribute to the | | | | He also modernised the interior of the House and |
| literary, arts and music achievements of the W | | | | created the Italianate terrace to the west. |
| Ireland. Including William Butler Yeats, Lady Gregory | | | | The compulsory acquisition of the main entrance to |
| and Turlough Carolan. | | | | the House for local public housing occurred in the time |
| Other original items on show in Westport House are | | | | of the 8th Marquess, which altered the historic |
| a fine collection of old English and Irish silver, which | | | | relationship that had existed between the House and |
| include some 18th-century Irish "potato" or dish rings; | | | | town of Westport. |
| Waterford glass; a library with many old Irish books | | | | In 1960, the 10th Marquess, Denis Edward, his wife |
| and the Mayo Legion Flag which was brought to | | | | Jose and son Jeremy opened Westport House and |
| Ireland by General Humbert when he invaded the | | | | the grounds to the visiting public. It was a pioneering |
| country in 1798, and which has been in Westport | | | | venture in a place and at a time that was remote |
| House since. Westport House was occupied by | | | | and depressed. Over the succeeding decades the |
| General Humbert troops. | | | | 11th Marquess and his family have developed the |
| Westport House & The Browne Family | | | | estate into a major tourist attraction. From 5,000 |
| The story of Westport House and the Browne family | | | | visitors in the first year, Westport House has now |
| is a microcosm for the wider and, at times, turbulent | | | | welcomed over 4 million visitors. |
| history of Ireland. Each generation has had to | | | | Today, the Browne family continue the long links that |
| contend with and adapt to the prevailing social, | | | | bind Westport House to its Family. By hard work and |
| political and religious changes encountered along the | | | | dedication, they aim to ensure that Westport House |
| way. Despite revolution, invasion, plantation, famine | | | | will survive and continue to contribute to the |
| and confiscation, the bond uniting Westport House | | | | economic development of the West of Ireland. |
| and its family remains unbroken. | | | | Westport House being repaired in 2007 |
| The Browne family came to County Mayo from | | | | References |
| Sussex in the sixteenth century. Through marriage | | | | ^ 'Westport House a Brief History' Westport House |
| with the daughters of native Irish landowners and by | | | | 2008 |
| purchase they built up a small estate near The Neale. | | | | External links |
| As a Catholic family they were fortunate that their | | | | Westport House web site |
| lands were situated in Connaught thereby escaping | | | | GaelForce West websitev d e |
| notorious confiscations of Cromwell. | | | | Historic Irish houses and castles |
| It is with John Browne III (1638-1711) that the | | | | Connacht |
| connection with Westport House commenced. A | | | | Ashford Castle Ballymore Castle Ballymote Castle |
| successful lawyer, he married Maud Bourke, daughter | | | | Clonalis House Dunguaire Castle Lissadell House |
| of Viscount Mayo and great-great granddaughter of | | | | Parke's Castle Tyrone House Westport House |
| the Pirate Queen, Granuaile (Grace O'Malley | | | | Dublinras an Uachtarin Ardgillan Castle Ashtown |
| 1530-1603). John Browne greatly increased his estate | | | | Castle Carrickmines Castle Castleknock Castle |
| in Mayo and Galway including Cathair-na-Mart (the | | | | Chichester House Clontarf Castle Deerfield |
| Fort of the Beeves) a ruinous O'Malley fortress on | | | | Drimnagh Castle Dublin Castle Farmleigh Frescati |
| the shores of Clew Bay. | | | | House Howth Castle Iveagh House Leinster |
| John good fortune was soon swept away as Ireland | | | | House Luttrellstown Castle Malahide Castle |
| was plunged into chaos in the Williamite wars. A | | | | Manderley Castle Mansion House Mornington |
| Catholic, John supported the Jacobite cause and was | | | | House Rathfarnham Castle Swords Castle |
| a Colonel in the Jacobite army. From the iron mines | | | | Munster |
| on his lands near Westport, he supplied the army | | | | Bantry House Black Castle Blarney Castle |
| with cannon balls and weapons. The defeat of the | | | | Bourchier's Castle Bunratty Castle Cahir Castle |
| Jacobite army at Aughrim and Limerick in 1691 | | | | Craggaunowen Castle Desmond Castle Doonagore |
| brought financial ruin in the confiscations that | | | | Castle Dromoland Castle Dunboy Castle Fota |
| followed. At his death in 1711 his estate was reduced | | | | House King John's Castle Knappogue Castle |
| to Cathair na Mart and a few hundred acres. The | | | | Leamaneh Castle Lismore Castle Muckross |
| Penal Laws which followed left his grandson, John IV, | | | | House O'Dea Castle Ormonde Castle |
| with little option but to conform to the prevailing | | | | Parkavonear Castle Redwood Castle Rock of |
| religion in the hope of surviving the confiscations and | | | | Cashel Ross Castle |
| political upheaval. | | | | Leinster |
| John gradually revived the family fortune. Young and | | | | Allenstown House Ardbraccan House Avondale |
| ambitious he set about extending his estate and | | | | House Barberstown Castle Bellinter House |
| transforming the old O'Malley castle into modern day | | | | Belvedere House Birr Castle Carton House |
| Westport House. He replaced the old village of | | | | Castletown House Castle Durrow Castle Roche |
| Cathair-na-Mart with a new town of Westport where | | | | Castletown House Dardistown Castle Darver |
| he established a thriving linen industry. An excellent | | | | Castle Dunsany Castle Durhamstown Castle Emo |
| farmer, he set about improving the fertility of his | | | | Court Foulksrath Castle Kilkea Castle Killeen |
| lands, which, for the most part, were of poor quality. | | | | Castle, Dunsany Kilkenny Castle Kinnitty Castle |
| He became the first Earl of Altamont. In 1752, his son | | | | Leap Castle Loftus Hall Maynooth Castle |
| and heir, Peter, 2nd Earl of Altamont, married the | | | | Middleton Park House Powerscourt House Rock of |
| heiress, Elizabeth Kelly from Co Galway, whose | | | | Dunamase Russborough House Slane Castle |
| estates in Jamaica further enhanced the family | | | | Stradbally Hall Trim Castle |
| fortune. | | | | Ulster |
| John 3rd Earl of Altamont, continued the innovative | | | | Altinaghree Castle Arthur Cottage Bailieborough |
| farming tradition of his grandfather. He created the | | | | Castle Belfast Castle Castle Caulfield Castle |
| lake to the west of Westport House, planted trees | | | | Leslie Castle Saunderson Clandeboye House Doe |
| employed James Wyatt to decorate the beautiful | | | | Castle Donegal Castle Florence Court Glenveagh |
| Gallery and Dining Room. He laid out the principal | | | | Castle Gosford Castle Grianan of Aileach Lough |
| streets of present town of Westport, and many of | | | | Eske Castle Mount Stewart Rossmore Castle |
| the streets in Westport today are named after | | | | Springhill House Tynan Abbey |
| Browne family members such as Peter Street, James | | | | See also: Historic houses in Northern Ireland | Historic |
| Street, Altamont Street and John's Row. He also | | | | houses in the Republic of Ireland |
| established a theatre at the Octagon and built the | | | | Coordinates: 53482 9328 / 53.80056N 9.53556W / |
| town of Louisburgh. In 1787, he married Louisa | | | | 53.80056; -9. |
| Catherine, daughter and heiress of the famous English | | | | |
