Location: County Limerick Map
Constructed: 1658 by Captain Robert Oliver
Official site
Castle Oliver is a magnificent chateau in the south County Limerick in Ireland. Oliver Castle was erected in 1658 by Captain Robert Oliver.
The land on which the castle and estate Oliver received ownership in
1658, captain Robert Oliver – one of the officers of Oliver
Cromwell, who suppressed the rebellion for Irish independence
1641-1652 years. After the suppression of the rebellion, the land
was confiscated from the previous owners and distributed to British
soldiers and officers. The present castle Oliver replaced the old
castle Oliver, which stood a thousand yards from the present castle.
Old castle Oliver was the birthplace of Eliza Oliver-mother of the
notorious Lola Montez-mistress and favorite of king Ludwig I of
Bavaria.
For many centuries, the castle was known as castle Klonoff. Klonoff
the name comes from the ancient Irish name of the area: forestry and
hunting Committee of an Otahd – Stone Otbah (Otway).
A descendant of captain Robert Oliver-Richard Oliver married a lady
who was heir to a large fortune in Yorkshire. As a result of the
marriage, he inherited considerable wealth and property in West
Yorkshire, and left Ireland, settled in Parlington Hall near the
Abbey, leaving castle Oliver in a deplorable state in the hands of
the bailiff. Their daughters, Maria Isabella and Elizabeth Oliver
Gasken, were both married to men from the trench Woodlawn family of
County Galve. Younger sister Elizabeth married Frederick Mason
Trench II Baron Ashtan in 1852. The sisters were highly skilled
craftsmen who were engaged in the design and execution of both
stained glass Windows. Much of their work has survived. The elder
sister, Maria Isabella, was a highly skilled woodworker, she
published (under a male pseudonym) an authoritative book on the
subject: "the Art of woodworking", which is still an important
source of information on the subject.
The sisters engaged in the repair of Oliver castle in 1845. The
restoration and rebuilding of the castle was designed by York
architect George Fowler Jones. The rebuilding was carried out in the
Scottish baronial style. The castle is built of local pink
Sandstone, which was mined on the estate. Fowler Jones built several
notable structures for the sisters in the North of England,
including charities and churches. While Mary Isabella and her
husband were building their house in Yorkshire in Gaskeny
(Parlington Hall), Elizabeth and her husband were building castle
Oliver. The house was later inherited by Elizabeth's descendant, the
Hon. William Cosby trench.
The last member of the trench family to live at Oliver castle, Mrs.
Lynn trench, sold the castle to racing driver Billy Coleman in 1978.
After that, the castle changed owners several times, eventually
became the property of the local Bank, divided the estate into
separate lots. The castle itself could not be sold, the castle began
to collapse. In addition, the castle was destroyed by vandals and
thieves. Castle Oliver appeared in the book the destroyed houses of
Ireland.
In 1988, the castle was acquired by Damian Haughton, which,
according to the next owner, stopped the destruction of the castle.
In 1998, Nicholas brown bought the castle, continued the restoration
work and turned it into a residential building. In 2006, Oliver
castle became the property of Declan and Emma Cormack, who performed
full restoration work and made the castle their home. In 2015, the
Cormacks sold it to an unnamed family from Melbourne, Australia,
using the castle "for a few months of the year".