Ardfry House

Ardfry House is a ruined country house located on a peninsula in Galway Bay near Oranmore in County Galway, Ireland. It was built in the 18th century on the site of a 9th century moated castle. It is a two-storey, double-pile house. The surrounding estate includes outbuildings and a walled orchard. Ardfry was originally home to politician Joseph Blake and became the seat of the Baron Wallscourt. By the 1820s, the house had fallen into a state of dilapidation. The 3rd Baron Wallscourt used his wife's dowry to pay for restoration work, which added a number of Gothic Revival features to the house such as pinnacles and quatrefoils. An oyster farm was created by Lord Wallscourt in the Bay in 1902. Ardfry suffered a small fire in the hall in 1910, which damaged the mantlepiece and flooring. In the early 1920s, the second wife of the 4th Baron Wallscourt sold the lead from the roof in order to pay gambling debts, while a large number of items were stolen from the house. Ardfry eventually fell into disrepair and was abandoned. In 1950, the three granddaughters of the 4th Baron reclaimed the house and estate, and lived in one of the outbuildings. The house was used as a set in the 1973 British film The Mackintosh Man. New windows and a roof were added, before it was deliberately set alight. The fire burned the remaining internal features and the house was left in ruins. Ardfry was sold in 2000 and the owner planned to turn it into a five-star hotel, however, the house was placed back on the market in 2001 and again in 2004, with planning permission given for restoration of the house and conversion of the remaining buildings into houses and apartments. In 2013, Galway County Council issued the owners with an enforcement notice after they carried out "unauthorised" demolition of part of the house. Ardfry and its surrounding land was put up for auction again in April 2015. In 2019, An Taisce (The National Trust for Ireland) stated that Ardfry was at high risk of collapse due to structural problems and continued deterioration.