Derelict castle site to be turned into park

Carlow County Council yesterday took possession of Ducketts Grove, a derelict castellated Gothic mansion.

The ruins of the imposing Georgian building, formerly home to the Duckett family, will be stabilised and its 11 acres of walled gardens will be developed for use as a public park.

At a ceremony to mark National Heritage Week, council chairman Cllr Michael Meaney said this was "a great acquisition" in cultural and civic terms, and the facility would be a major tourist asset for Co Carlow.

The council last year unanimously voted to purchase the mansion and lands at a cost of €600,000.

County manager Joe Crockett said yesterday it was estimated the restoration of the gardens would cost an additional €500,000.

The council was seeking half of that amount from Fáilte Ireland.

Although the main house was destroyed by a fire in 1933, Mr Crockett said the impressive ruin, with its towers and turrets and surrounding landscape, is one of the most romantic buildings in Ireland. The first priority was to stabilise and make the mansion at Ducketts Grove safe, and it was estimated this would cost €300,000, he said.

The restoration of the gardens would follow, subject to securing funding from Fáilte Ireland. It was hoped the park would open to the public next year.

The Duckett family are believed to have come to Ireland at the time of the Cromwellian invasion. Ducketts Grove was once the centre of a 12,000-acre estate and the mansion was transformed into a castellated Gothic fantasy in 1830 by architect Thomas A Cobden for JD Duckett. Cobden also designed Carlow and Downpatrick cathedrals.

The last member of the Duckett family is believed to have left the estate some time after 1908, and the estate was reduced under the Land Acts.

It was used as a training camp by the IRA in the 1920s, was owned by a local farmers co-operative for a time and was later taken over by the Land Commission.

Ducketts Grove was destroyed by fire in unclear circumstances in 1933. It was in private ownership from the 1930s until it was acquired by Carlow County Council last year.