Clonalis House, Victorian stately home in Castlerea, Ireland
Clonalis House is a 19th-century stately home that combines Italianate and Queen Anne architectural styles, with multiple chimneys and large windows overlooking the gardens. The building contains numerous rooms filled with period furniture, family heirlooms, and displays that showcase the owners' collections accumulated over many generations.
The house was built in 1878 on a site where an earlier structure had suffered from flooding problems. The residence was created by the O'Conor family, whose roots trace back to the medieval kings who once ruled Connacht.
The O'Conor family has accumulated an extensive collection of manuscripts and books that tell the story of Irish life across centuries. You can sense in the rooms how this family has maintained and passed down their Irish heritage to each new generation.
Visitors can arrange guided tours to walk through the rooms and see how the family lived while exploring the landscaped grounds around the property. Booking in advance is recommended as tours are organized at set times throughout the day.
The family maintains a private library containing over 100,000 volumes, an unusually large collection for a private home. These books and manuscripts span multiple centuries and reveal the wide-ranging interests the family pursued across generations.
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