A Future for Irish Historic Houses - Irish Heritage Trust

Enniscoe, Crossmolina, Co. Mayo
Enniscoe is located outside the town of Crossmolina in County Mayo. It is presently
owned by Mrs Susan Kellett who is a direct lineal descendant of the Jackson family
who built it:
- Enniscoe is an attractive, small, two-storey Georgian house dating to
around 1790, probably to the design of John Roberts.
- It has been described as ‘a pure Georgian house’ meaning that because the
family was short of funds from the early nineteenth century, no
remodelling or even alterations were carried out in the Victorian or later
eras to change its structure or character.
- It is one of only about three houses in Mayo that have survived with the
original families and with their original contents. The collection of
contents, it should be noted, is quite small, most of them having been sold
or removed in the 1830s as a result of family circumstances.
- The interior of the house is characterised by very elegant late-Georgian
Adamesque plasterwork.
- No archives survive for the pre-1834 period but there is a good archive for
the period thereafter, which is currently kept in the house and is being
copied and indexed in the heritage centre on site.
The house is located on an estate of 160 acres, which is totally insufficient to maintain
a house of this size. At present, the house is successfully run as a country house bed
and breakfast. The house, along with its interpretative centre, gardens, shop, tearooms
and so on, is now the biggest employer in the area.
Structurally, the condition of the house is quite good, mainly because a lot of money
has been expended upon it since 1984, including funding from the Heritage Council
and the Irish Georgian Society. As a result:
- There are no dry rot problems.
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