| Description |
The area around Glaslough was part of the MacMahon territory granted to Sir Thomas Ridgeway in 1608, who built a castle on his newly acquired lands. In 1665, Glaslough was bought from the Ridgeway trustees by Bishop Leslie and the castle became the home of the Leslie family. By the 1830s, Castle Leslie ‘situated about 6 chains to the north of the town of Glasslough’ was described as ‘a poor building and in a dilapidated state’. The present house, a Victorian edifice, sometimes known as Glaslough House, is described in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage as ‘undoubtedly the finest country house in County Monaghan’. It was built for John Leslie in the 1870s to the design of Sir Charles Lanyon and William Henry Lynn. Located close to the site of the original Castle Leslie which it would appear from Shirley’s ‘History of the County of Monaghan’ was still extant in 1877 (page 147, includes drawing) but was demolished soon afterwards. In the mid-19th century the building was valued at £55 and held by Charles P. Leslie in fee. A caretaker’s house and farm buildings valued at £60 were located in the townland of Kiltybegs to the north east. By 1906, the rateable valuation of this mansion was £300. It was occupied by a butler and other servants in 1901 and by Sir John Leslie in 1911. Castle Leslie now functions as a hotel run by Sammy Leslie, see https://www.castleleslie.com/ |
