Queen Elizabeth I granted Balyna Estate to the O'Moore family, who had lost their lands in Laois.

Papal permission was granted to the family to erect a small chapel on the grounds as a reward for their loyalty, and Sunday mass was celebrated there up until 1914.

[2][3] The first record of any house on the estate dates back to 1815, when Major Ambrose O'Ferrall built a large mansion.

This burned down in 1878 and the present Italianate mansion, designed by William Henry Byrne, was built on the existing vaulted basement of the older house.

[5] Douglas Hyde often took part in shooting parties on the estate in his time as president of Ireland, as did the historian Eoin "Pope" O'Mahony.