Corbalton Hall for auction next week with €11 million guide

John Donohoe

Published: Wed 29 May 2019, 7:36 PM

Last updated: Wed 29 May 2019, 8:38 PM

It is described as 'a stunning Georgian villa at the heart of a magical estate'. Corbalton Hall in Skryne has been completely upgraded and tastefully refurbished throughout, and stands on lands of outstanding quality suitable for all agricultural enterprises.

Goffs Property and Coonan Property are joint agents for the auction of Corbalton, taking place on Thursday 6th June at Carton House, in three lots. The agents are guiding €11 million for the trophy home in one of the most sought after parts of not only the county, but the eastern seaboard, due to its proximity to both the capital city and the Boyne Valley.
Home for 150 years to the Corbally-Stourton family, it was bought 20 years ago by Riverdeep software businessman, Pat McDonagh, and his family. The family has now flown the nest, and the McDonaghs are downsizing from the 358 acre/148 hectare estate in the heart of Meath.
A three storey house was constructed on the Skryne-Ratoath road in the 18th century, to which a new wing was attached about 1801.
The two storey villa wing was designed by the distinguished Irish architect, Francis Johnston. It is suggested that the extension was as a result of the prosperity in the Irish corn market due to the Napoleonic wars. The older building and the new were joined at an acute angle.
Three vaulted rooms as well as associated walls of the original house were incorporated into the main 1801 house.
The front of Johnston’s addition became the new entrance front. The older section, called Cookstown House after the townland name, was demolished in 1970, leaving a gap between the stable block and the 1801 house. The farmyard was located away from the house on one of the entrance avenues.
The Barnewalls held the property in the 17th century. Elias Corbally, a rich miller, acquired Cookstown about 1800 from a Mr White.
The Corbally family was Catholic and Bishop Plunkett of Killeen Castle was a regular visitor at their original home at nearby Sydenham.
As a lieutenant in the Ratoath yeoman cavalry, Elais Corbally was captured by rebels on the first day of the 1798 rebellion, but rescued by members of the Clonsilla yeoman cavalry. Corbally was active in various Catholic committees in Dublin and Navan attempting to secure better rights for Catholics.
Corbally was a major contributor to the chapel at Skryne and donated the site for a new parochial house. In the 1830s, Corbalton Hall was described as the elegant and spacious mansion of Elias Corbally, Esq, standing in a remarkably well-wooded demesne of about 1,000 acres.
Elias died in 1837 and is commemorated by a memorial in the ruined Rathregan church.
In 1817 Arthur James Plunkett, Lord Killeen, and later ninth Earl of Fingal, married Louisa, the only daughter of Elias Corbally of Corbalton Hall. The Plunkett family lived at Corbalton Hall and their children were born there.
Matthew Elias, son of Elias, was born in 1791. Living until 1870 Matthew was MP for Meath, a justice of the peace and Deputy Lieutenant for County Meath. Matthew married Matilda Preston, daughter of the 12th Viscount Gormanston in 1842. Matilda died in 1889, and husband and wife are buried in the vault in Skryne church. They had one child, Mary Margaret, in 1845. Matthew is said to have planted 14 lime trees along the cowfield and asked his daughter to have as many children.
In 1865 Mary married Alfred Joseph, 20th Lord Stourton and they had 10 children - six boys and four girls. In 1876, she held 5,033 acres in county Meath. Alfred Joseph died in 1893, aged 64, in Paris. Mary Margaret died in 1925, aged 79. Their son, Edward, inherited the estate in 1925 and took the additional surname of Corbally. He sold the estate in 1951, and moved with his wife, Bea, and family, to Dunsany. The Von Schmieder family purchased the estate in 1964 and held the property until its sale to the McDonaghs.
The property is approached via an impressive stone pier entrance leading to a driveway that sweeps amidst a mature, parkland setting. There is also a separate entrance to the yard.
The residence has a handsome three-bay façade, a breakfront centre and a Wyatt window above a single-storey portico. The house is dominated by a grand entrance hall with ornate plasterwork on the ceiling and a fine marble fireplace. It has an inner hall with a cantilevered staircase lit by a large stained glass window and there are two elegant reception rooms on either side of the entrance hall.
Once considered only a basement, today it is very much a part of the accommodation of the house containing both a cinema and a gym. The residence is surrounded by parkland and there is a large, restored walled garden, beautifully laid out with immaculate hedges. The stable yard is built of attractive cut stone and is exceptionally well maintained, as is the entire property.