Clonyn Castle, Victorian country house in Delvin, Ireland

Clonyn Castle is a Victorian country house in County Westmeath, Ireland, with four round corner towers and crenellated walls running along its facade. A two-story entrance hall sits at its center, giving the building a castle-like appearance despite its domestic origins.

The current building replaced an older fortified structure from the 17th century that belonged to Richard Nugent, First Earl of Westmeath, and was built in the latter half of the 19th century. It is considered one of the last major Victorian baronial projects completed in Ireland.

The castle's name comes from the Nugent family's Delvin estate, and the present house was built by Lord Greville and Lady Rosa Greville-Nugent after 1871. In the postwar years Rabbi Solomon Schonfeld arranged for Manchester philanthropist Yankel Levy to buy the castle for £30,000, and about 100 children aged 5 to 17, mostly Holocaust orphans, stayed here before rejoining family or resettling in England, America or Israel. Levy was bankrupted by the purchase.

The site is in County Westmeath and can be reached by road from Mullingar, the nearest main town. Because it is a protected national monument, it is worth checking access conditions before you travel.

The entrance hall inside is lined with marble and Caen stone and decorated with Romanesque arcading, a detail that stands in sharp contrast to the fortress-like exterior. After World War II, the property sheltered around 100 Jewish children who had survived the war in Europe.