Bishopscourt, County Kildare

Infobox Irish Place
name = Bishopscourt
gaeilge =
crest

motto =
map

pin coords = left: 72px; top: 45px
north coord = 53.3 | west coord = 6.5 | irish grid =
area = | elevation = 61 m
province = Leinster
county = County Kildare
population
census yr =
web = |

Bishopscourt is a townland and historic site in County Kildare, Ireland near Kill, Ardclough and Straffan and beside the N7. The estate was once held by the Bishops of Kildare.

Calendar and historical references

In 1527 Thomas, Bishop of Kildare granted Bishopscourt to Piers Butler Earl of Ormond and his wife Margaret. In 1537 it passed to John Alen, Lord Chancellor of Ireland. In 1676 it passed to John Margetson, later to die at the Siege of Limerick in 1690 fighting for William of Orange. His daughter married Brabazon Ponsonby, recorded in folklore as a fortune hunter.

Ponsonby Family

The Ponsonby family because the most powerful political dynasty in 17th century Ireland. John Ponsonby, was speaker of the Irish House of Commons (1753-1761) and William Ponsonby, leader of the Irish Whigs (1789-1803) and birthplace of his brother George Ponsonby (1755–1817) leader of the Whig Party in the British House of Commons at Westminster (1808 –1817), his uncle Major-General Sir William Ponsonby (1772–1815) whose inept charge at the Battle of Waterloo resulted in his death at the hands of the Polish Lancers and was studied as an example of failed battle strategy for generations afterwards, and of his sister Mary Ponsonby, wife of Charles Grey, British Prime Minister from 1830 to 1834 and best known nowadays as the Earl Grey of the tea brand. Ponsonby descendants include Sir Alec Douglas-Home (British Prime Minister from 1963-4) and William Windsor, heir to the British throne.

The House

The fabric of the house was constructed to the design of an unknown architect in 1790. It was on the grounds of the estate that Daniel O’Connell fought a duel with John d’Esterre in 1811.

cott, Kennedy, McGillycuddy

In1838 Bishopscourt was sold by Frederick Ponsonby to John Scott, Earl of Clonmel and in 1914 sold on to Edward Kennedy from Baronrath, at the time the most famous breeder of racehorses in Ireland. Kennedy’s stallion The Tetrarch, standing at Bishopscourt, is confirmed as the most successful sire in the world in 1919. In 1938 the house passed to Edward’s daughter Patricia Kennedy and her husband, Dermot McGillycuddy, heir to Senator McGillycuddy (of the Reeks). It is now home to the Farrell family.

References:

*Tony Carr: Time to Kill: Memories of Kill Village (2004)
*Eoghan Corry and Jim Tancred: The Annals of Ardclough (2004).
*Journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society, Volume II : 278. Volume III : 489. Volume IV : 114, 240. Volume V : 214. Volume VI : 479. Volume XII : 340. Volume XVII : 35.