Cairnsfoot House was built in the 1830s by Sligo landowners, the Coopers of Markree Castle. It was a Georgian style, three-bay, two-storey square block house with a hipped roof and pedimented front porch which stood on rising ground at Rathquarter near Sligo town.
It was originally leased to Sir Edmond de Gonville Bromhead of Thurlby Hall, Lincolnshire, a member of a famous British military family. After his marriage to Ms Judith Wood, the couple resided at Cairnsfoot on and off until the 1850s.
After the house was purchased by the Bromheads it was leased to Mr Peter O'Connor, a leading local merchant. According to Sligo historian, Mr John McTiernan, he was a direct descendant of the famous Sligo O'Connor clan.
As well as being an extensive landowner, O'Connor served on the grand jury and was "the personification of justice" in his duties as a magistrate.
The house was later leased by a solicitor, Mr James Fitzgerald, and a Mr Howard McCormick.
Ms Judith Bromhead sold the house and stables, along with its 10 acres of grounds, in 1936 to a local businessman, Mr Patrick Browne, who was the proprietor of a famous public house called Greys Inn.
After his death in 1962, the house remained vacant for some time. It was eventually bought by a German family, the Zdarskeys, who developed the property as apartments.
It had become vacant in recent years, boarded up and was partially damaged by fire.