A Future for Irish Historic Houses - Irish Heritage Trust

Ardgillan Castle, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin
Malahide Castle and Newbridge House have been included in this summary as,
together with Ardgillan, the three houses are all now owned by Fingal County
Council.
The three houses were purchased with their demesnes, by Dublin County Council:
Malahide in 1975, Ardgillan in 1982, and Newbridge in1985. Their acquisition was
largely influenced by the need to provide a necklace of major parks in the greater
Dublin area. Today, Malahide, for example, attracts around 75,000 paying guests per
annum, while the park attracts over one million visitors.
Ardgillan Castle is located near Balbriggan. It is an eighteenth-century house,
originally belonging to the Taylour family who were also associated with Headfort in
County Meath. The central section of the house was built in 1738 and the wings were
added in the late eighteenth century. Opened to the public since 1992, the furniture on
show was originally provided on loan, but is now owned by the County Council
Malahide Castle, is located in Malahide. It has been described as ‘the most
distinguished of all Irish castles’. Until it was sold in the mid 1970s, its owners, the
Talbots de Malahide, had the distinction of being the longest resident original family
in an Irish country house, having lived there for almost 800 years. It has a number of
interesting historical and cultural heritage features:
- Malahide contains the only surviving medieval great hall in Ireland to have
retained its original form.
- The rococo plasterwork is attributed to Robert West.
- Some of its original contents were bought back by Bord Failte. Individuals
have loaned other contents, while a number of portraits purchased by the
National Gallery of Ireland are also on loan.
- It houses the important MacDonnell collection of eighteenth-century Irish
furniture.
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