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Derrycarne House and Lands

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Derrycarne wood is in Annaduff Co.Leitrim which is in the province of Connacht. It was once part of an estate owned by lots of wealthy people and its height consisted of almost 2'500 acres. A house was built on the estate in1800. The house was built in a square with an inner yard which was 200 sq feet. The yard contained a well 60 feet deep and the water from this was used by the family. Water for washing and for use in the kitchen came from the River Shannon. Later in time a pumping engine was installed and a 1000-gallon tank helped supply the gardens, cattle and sheds. The house itself had 30 rooms kitchen, bedrooms, sculleries, library and armoury room ( which later was turned into a hunting room ) and various other rooms. It was built with three stories at the back with parapets around it, two towers and cellars, which were 7 feet under the ground and were used for storing wine and growing mushrooms.

The gardens surrounding the house contained two acres of vegetables and flowers. The house faced the River Shannon and was in an ideal position to control the River Shannon. The entrance to the estate consisted of a road about a mile long with a house at the end called the gate- house. The gates that hung at the entrance are now at the entrance to a house in Dromad village which is about three miles from Derrycarne and is owned by a local doctor called Dr Hardiman. The first owners of the house were the Nisbitt family (1800-1852). The name Nisbitt which is chiefly associated with Derrycarne can be traced back to the 12th century. This family originally came from Scotland in around1800. Members of the Nisbitt family include the following:- James Nisbitt and Ursular Nisbitt. The Nisbitt family owned vast tracks of land in South Leitrim in the mid seventeenth century. They established an estate and a fairly modest house by the standards of the time at Derrycarne on the River Shannon near Dromad. The Nisbitts also owned Aughry house in Dromad, which is now owned by the Hardiman family. The last member of the Nisbitt family to own Derrycarne was Major Frances Nisbitt who was an officer in the 14th Hussars. He died in 1854 and was buried in a family vault at Annaduff old graveyard. His wife erected a memorial for him at Annaduff Church. The Nisbitts went bankrupt in 1852 as a result of the famine and were forced to sell the house for £10,025 to a Mr Edward Willis . The sum of £10,000 was a very large amount in those days so it proves that the estate was very valuable. Edward Willis (1852-1855) was a very wealthy person judging by the amount of money he paid for the Derrycarne Estate.

He was seldom in his residence at the house and was very often away from the estate which leads me to believe that he only bought it as an investment. This is also proved by the fact that he sold it only three years later. Another owner to purchase the estate was William Richard Ormsby Gore, the second Baron Harlech who purchased it in 1858. Buying Derrycarne was very important to him at that time as he had lost his job as MP for Sligo and was looking for a new political base. He had just been sent out of the army after 20 years service due to bad health. He has known to be a good landlord and was fair to his tenants and workers. The locals today still speak kindly of him. His family lived at Willowbrook, County Sligo before he lived at Annaduff as he had been MP for Sligo from 1841-1852. He became High Sheriff for County Leitrim in 1857 and was MP for Leitrim from 1858-1876 and JP and DC for County Sligo and Salop during these years. Before his election to the parliament he was major in the 13th Light Dragoons. His estate in counties Sligo and Leitrim amounted to 32,467 acres in the mid nineteenth century. In County Leitrim alone he owned 7,000 acres. The family kept their estates in County Leitrim until 1924 and the lands were managed by a Mr Goodman who was Chief Steward. He died in 1924. Baron Harlech did not want to sell his lands but increasing pressure at that time from the tenants for land of their own and the fact that many other large estate houses had been burned down led him to believe that he should not keep the land any longer.

In 1924 after the death of Mr Goodman, Lord Harlech had sold most of the estate to the Land Commission who divided it into 10 lots and sold it to the locals. There was about 80 acres of land left when the house was resold to the next owner. These extracts came from a letter-dated 19.11.19 on the House of Commons notepaper. It was addressed to the Representatives of the tenants at Derrycarne signed William Richard Ormsby Gore, M.P. The Harlech family are still rich and powerful today but they have no connection with Annaduff today. Colonel Kirkwood (1924-1936) was from Cloongowna in Carrick-on-Shannon. He bought the house in 1924. He was also related to the Kirkwoods of Woodbrook who were the subject of a book called 'Woodbrook'. Colonel Kirkwood and the family lived in Derrycarne until 1936 when they moved to Carlingford in County Down. The head gardener at that time was a Mr Charles Oates and a local man by the name of Harry Thornton worked with him as well. Harry Thornton's wife and daughter and her family still live in the same house on part of the old estate. James Kiernan (1937-1945) bought the house in 1937. He was the County Registrar for Leitrim. He lived there with his wife and two daughters, Maeve and Maureen. These daughters were interested in horses and dogs and the oldest daughter Maeve bred many hunting champion horses and amongst the most famous was Foxtrot and Silvertrot. Her favourite was Valetta who was a prizewinner in shows all over Ireland for style and appearance. A large field to the rear of the house was converted into an arena with jumping fences and high banks for the horses to practise. This has since been reverted to grazing land and meadow. The second daughter Maureen was a breeder of Irish setters. Whilst Mr Kiernan lived at Derrycarne there were many important visitors from the legal profession and the High Court Judge, Justice Finaly, was a regular visitor. Ron Hayward the actor who wrote the screenplay for the Quite Man was another visitor to come to the house. Harry Thornton of Killyfad recalls seeing him painting one of Maeve's horses Foxtrot on a beautiful Summers evening long ago. A Commander Mack from the Navy and his wife Dorothy purchased Derrycarne in 1947. They resided there until 1952. Commander Mack bred greyhounds at Derrycarne. Many people still recall his numerous victories at Longford and Harolds Cross tracks. His wife bred horses. In 1952 she decided to move to Dublin. Harry Thornton recalls her purchasing Cappamore House and fourteen acres of land beside the ninth lock on the canal near Clondalkin. A company of auctioneers, Potterton in Athboy were instructed by Dorothy Mack to sell the house but there were no purchases. The contents of the house were sold. Hearing that nobody had bought the house she instructed Harry Thornton to demolish it. He laid out for auction 10,000 first class blue banger slates along with timbers and joists. The land commission took over the remaining land and planted it. To day the wood forms part of the fine amenity area of Derrycarne. Up to the year 1900 or later there were at least thirty County Mansions in Co. Leitrim. Families who had been established there for generations owned these. Only a few of these mansions remain to day. Derrycarne house was one such casualty. Others dot the landscape of Leitrim. Many fishermen come from different places of Ireland even England to fish in the River Shannon that surrounds Derrycarne. It was a big mistake to demolish Derrycarne house because it was really beautiful.