A Future for Irish Historic Houses - Irish Heritage Trust

Glin Castle, Glin, Co. Limerick
Glin Castle is located about one mile west of Glin village in Co. Limerick. It is
presently owned by Desmond FitzGerald, 29 th Knight of Glin, whose family
associations with the area date back to the early fourteenth century:
- Glin was built in the 1780s by Col. John FitzGerald, 24 th Knight of Glin,
originally as a three-storey double bow-fronted house with a long service
wing that incorporated a seventeenth century thatched ‘long house’. It was
subsequently castellated by his successor.
- Over the last number of years, Glin has been splendidly restored. Even the
third floor of the main block that had not actually been completed in the
eighteenth century has now been finished. Glin, therefore, offers a sharp
contrast to the other great houses in the survey:
o It has been said of Glin that ‘no Irish museum or country house
presents such an integrated view of the eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries.’
o The entrance hall is devoted to FitzGerald history, its walls covered
by family portraits. The main architectural feature of the hall is a
Portland stone chimneypiece.
o The house is characterised by superb woodwork, particularly the
unique ‘flying’ bifurcating grand staircase.
95