A Future for Irish Historic Houses - Irish Heritage Trust

Hilton Park, Clones, Co. Monaghan
Hilton Park is located near Clones in County Monaghan. It is owned by John Madden,
whose ancestors built the house in 1734:
- Hilton Park is one of only three great houses in Monaghan still in the
ownership of the original families.
- It contains an important collection of furniture, dating from 1820 to around
1875.
- The pleasure grounds and gardens have been restored thanks to funding
from the European Union.
Its main problems are:
- The maintenance of the house is very much dependent upon farming and
tourism and at present the 400-acre estate is simply not enough to maintain
a house of this size.
- To supplement income, the house now operates as a country house bed and
breakfast from April to September and caters for house parties in the
winter. Opening to the public as a guesthouse was not easy in the 1980s
given Hilton Park’s close proximity to the border and the attendant
tensions in the Clones area. Neither was it economically viable given the
poor image of Monaghan as a tourist attraction area. However, following
the easing of border tensions from the early 1990s as a result of the peace
process, business has gradually improved.
- Contents have had to be sold off in the past. There was a large auction in
1984, which was necessary to refinance the running of the house and to
carry out the refurbishment necessary to make it suitable for a bed and
breakfast. Much of the family porcelain, for example, was sold.
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