In July 1722 construction began on Conolly’s great country house at Castletown. From the moment of its conception it was clear that it was no ordinary house. Two years previously the London Journal had reported that Mr Conolly was building a great house near Dublin, which would be ‘the finest in the whole kingdom of Ireland’. Meanwhile as the building began to take shape, the philosopher George Berkeley hoped that it would be an ‘ornament to the country’, while his friend Lord Perceval hoped that it would be ‘the epitome of the kingdom’. These expectations were largely realised, as Castletown became an enduring symbol of not just Conolly’s great wealth and power, but also of the Protestant ascendancy that he helped to shape. Despite the voluminous literature concerning Castletown, and its established ubiquitous position in every survey of Irish country houses, many questions remain about its conception and meaning. This chapter examines some of these questions, looking at the construction of Castletown in terms of Conolly’s career, and at the motivations that lay behind the construction of a building that had no contemporary parallel in Ireland, while also setting it the wider context of his career.

Amongst the many puzzling questions regarding Castletown is why it was built in the first place, or, put more simply, why would a childless couple in their sixties decide to build such a large house? Dynastic considerations often played a part in such decisions, but the Conollys had no direct heir. Moreover, in 1719, when Conolly first determined to build anew at Castletown, it was still unclear, who was going to be his ultimate heir, Williams Conyngham or William Conolly junior. This lack of clarity on the succession to his fortune, together with his eventual decision to leave his widow, Katherine, a life interest in Castletown, suggests that dynastic issues were not at the forefront of Conolly’s mind, and that the answer to this question lies elsewhere.

Of course, Conolly needed somewhere commensurate with his status to entertain on a grand scale, but he already had a townhouse, in Dublin on the then fashionable Capel Street, built in the 1680s, which was one of the largest houses in the city.