Castlecoote
Castle
Castlecoote House
Castlecoote House is situated on the site of a medieval castle, thought
to have been built between 1570 and 1616. It was a strategic site, and may
have been the base of the Chieftains of Fuerty, the MacGeraghty clan. In 1616
it fell into the hands of Sir Charles Coote, who improved and refortified
the castle. The castle was attacked three times by the confederate forces
in the 1640's. The house was built in the second half of the seventeenth
century, within the enclosure of the old castle which had by now fallen
into ruins. In the basement tower rooms, musket chambers still overlook
the entrance steps.
In the 18th century the property passed into the ownership of the Gunnings,
rumoured to have won it in a poker game. The two Gunning sisters, who were
later to become the Duchesses of Hamilton and Argyll, were renowned for
their beauty. In the 20th century, the house was owned by Henry D.
Strevens, a noted equestrian. The present owner bought Castlecoote
House in 1997. The house was a cavernous ruin, with no floors, no ceilings,
no stairs, no windows and crumbling interior walls. The entire basement
was submerged beneath the earth and the main entrance steps had collapsed.
The restoration work took five years (www.castlecootehouse.com).
