Historic site
Castletown House
33 locals recommend,
Location
Celbridge, County Kildare
Castletown
Tips from locals
Castletown is Ireland's largest and earliest Palladian style house. Built between 1722 and 1729 for William Conolly, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and the wealthiest commoner in Ireland. The façade was almost certainly designed by the Italian architect, Alessandro Galilei, while the Irish architect Sir Edward Lovett Pearce added the wings.
William Conolly was born in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, in 1662, the son of a local innkeeper. From such humble origins, he rose to become the wealthiest and most powerful politician in Ireland. The Conolly family were presumably of Catholic Irish background, although it is likely they had converted sometime before William’s birth. He trained as an attorney in Dublin, where he practiced law in the 1680s. His career, however, only took off following the Williamite war of 1688-91. In 1689, Catholic James II of England fled to Ireland following the ‘glorious revolution’ which swept his son-in-law William of Orange to power in Britain and Ireland. King William pursued his rival to Ireland, where
William Conolly was born in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, in 1662, the son of a local innkeeper. From such humble origins, he rose to become the wealthiest and most powerful politician in Ireland. The Conolly family were presumably of Catholic Irish background, although it is likely they had converted…