| Description |
Ballynagall, a six-bay two-storey Regency style house, built in the early 19th century for James Gibbons at the cost of £30,000 (Lewis) and was reputedly built using the fabric of an existing castle on site, known as Castle Reynell (boi). Reynell of Castle Reynell is recorded on the Taylor and Skinner maps of the late 1770s. The interior plasterwork was executed by George Stapleton, son of the stuccadore Michael Stapleton. The Smyth Papers in the National Library contain letters to James Gibbons from John Robinson and Francis Johnston relating to the building of Ballynagall, 1810-1815 (Mss 18,926-18,927). Ballynagall remained in the possession of the Gibbons family until 1846 when ownership passed to James Middleton Berry, nephew of James Gibbons. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation (publ. 1854) the buildings were valued at £110 and held by JWM Berry in fee. Inherited by Thomas James Smyth of the Drumcree family in 1855, it remained in Smyth ownership until sold in 1963 (O’Brien). It is now a ruin. |
