Kilbrogan House

Kilbrogan House is an early 19th century Georgian house situated in Bandon, 16 miles west of Cork City, Ireland.  The house was built in 1818 and was originally part of the Bandon estate of the 6th Duke of Devonshire.

History 
Kilbrogan House, and its accompanying stables, has stood on its site since 1818. Some original Georgian features include ornate cornicings in the main reception rooms and above the stairwell and entrance hall.  A cantilever stairs leads upwards to the second floor.

The house was leased by the Devonshire Estate to John Hornibrook, a local tanner. In 1896, Spencer Compton, the 8th Duke of Devonshire, sold the freehold to George Thomas Jones who was a land agent.  He held on to the house for only four years and on 16 March 1900 he sold the freehold to his business partner, Richard Wheeler Doherty.  An auction of the effects of George Thomas Jones took place in the house in 1900 and included rare and expensive paintings, oil and water colours, engravings as well as furniture and Dresden and other ornaments.

A large greenhouse was erected on the south wall of the garden in 1901 and the conservatory on the first floor of the house was most likely added at the same time. Richard Wheeler Doherty leased the house to a family of McCarthys who were solicitors in the town.  They moved out in 1912 and the house was then leased to Joseph Brennan who lived in the house until 1946.

Brennan's business interests in the town included a bakery, a brewery, a corn merchants, a mill and electric company and a grocery and wine business.  He had flour mills on the northern side of the river adjacent to the weir and supplied electric power to the town from 1919 until 1939.  The mills were destroyed by fire in May 1968.  Joseph Brennan's son, also Joseph Brennan, was a civil servant who became Secretary of the Department of Finance, Chairman of the Currency Commission from 1927 until 1943 and was governor of the Central Bank of Ireland from 1943 to 1953.  His signature appeared on the Irish Currency notes for many years. The house became known locally as "Jo Pound Note".

The freehold of the home passed from Richard Doherty to his wife and then to his daughter in 1939. She sold the freehold of the property in 1967 to Eugene Callanan, a medical doctor who owned the leasehold of the house since 1946 when the Brennans moved out. The house passed from Eugene Callanan's daughter Margaret to her son Ben Shorten. In 1992, the present owner started renovating the house and in March 2004 opened the formerly private residence for guest accommodation including bed and breakfast and self-catering.

References
 History of our Currency, from the pound to the euro.  With a note on Joseph Brennan, first Governor of the Central Bank.  Bandon Historical Journal. No 16. 2000

External links
Kilbrogan House: Official website
Kilbrogan House Blog

Category:Buildings and structures in County Cork
Category:Bed and breakfasts