durrow abbey co. offaly conservation plan - Offaly County Council

NINETEENTH-CENTURY HISTORY
Ownership
By 1802 ownership of Durrow had passed to Herber
t Rawson Stepney. In 1815 John Toler, First Lord
Norbury, purchased Durrow. John Toler was succeeded
in 1831 by Hector John Toler who held the
estate until 1839, when he was assassinated. The
estate has remained in the Toler family until the
1950s.
Church
The eighteenth century church was repaired in
1802, with a gift of £450, and a loan of £50, from
the Board of First Fruits 26 , and contains monuments
to the Stepney and Armstrong families.
In about 1896 Rev. Sterling De Courcy Williams of
the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland described
the area above the west door of the church as
having “some imitations of loaves of bread and co.
in stone, which, however, are too Georgian in their
appearance to allow us to attribute any great age
to them” 27 .
Durrow Demesne
The first edition ordnance survey map of 1837/8
shows a mature and well planted demesne at
Durrow Abbey. Throughout the nineteenth century
additional buildings and features were incorporated
into the demesne design these included gate
lodges, cottages and an interesting octagonal ended
structure in the walled garden. On top of the motte
a rusticated stone structure was built using grotesque
river worn limestone.
Griffith’s Valuation of 1854 indicates the total area
of the Durrow Demesne to be approximately 605
acres at that time.
Durrow Abbey
The architect William Murray was employed by
John Toler after he acquired the estate in 1815, to
produce drawings for the extension and remodeling
of Durrow Abbey House. Proposal drawings
dating from 1829 survive in the Irish Architectural
Archive. These show proposals for an enlargement
of the existing eighteenth century house with the
addition of classical motifs on the main façade.
There is also a series of drawings for the erection
of extensive farm buildings.
It is thought that the proposals for the house were
never implemented although a revised version of
the scheme for the stable and cour tyard was built.
Following his succession to the estate in 1831 it is
William Murray proposals for Durrow Abbey,
IMAGE NEEDED FROM IAA
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