Destruction of Irish country houses (1919–1923)

The houses of some Roman Catholic unionists, suspected informers, and members or supporters of the new Irish Free State government were also targeted.

The former landlords could afford to employ gardeners and household staff as they had received, as a group, the equivalent of over €60 billion (in 2019 euro) in compensation from the British government.

In the destruction of the country houses of the aristocracy and landed gentry, the IRA hoped to overcome a culture of deference towards the landowning class.

Anglo-Irish landowners typically held no influence over British counterinsurgency policies in any given area, and reprisal attacks on big houses by the IRA were bolstered by the assumption that their owners were always unionists.

'"[11] At least 76 country mansions were destroyed in the Irish War of Independence; 30 big houses were burned in 1920 and another 46 in the first half of 1921, mostly in the conflict's Munster heartland, i.e. the counties of Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Clare and Limerick.

[7] Similarly, a study of the border region of counties of Louth, Cavan and Monaghan found no such burnings until June and July 1921, coinciding with a sizeable British Army offensive in the area and that the main motive was to deny the soldiers potential billets.

Mrs Mary (or Maria) Lindsay, an elderly Protestant from Coachford, was shot and killed, with her driver, in an outbuilding while her house was burning, after the authorities refused to commute the capital sentences of six IRA volunteers who were executed after Mrs. Lindsay had informed the authorities of a pending nearby ambush, after her efforts and that of a local priest to stop the pending ambush were ignored by the IRA.

[citation needed] Liam Lynch, anti-Treaty IRA Chief of Staff, after the execution of four senior Republicans in Mountjoy Prison, issued a General order on 8 December 1922 that, "all Free State supporters are traitors and deserve the latter's stark fate, therefore their houses must be destroyed at once", and, on 26 January 1923, issued another order for property destruction and possible killing of Free State Senators in reprisal.

[18] Most country houses were isolated and in rural areas, and targeting them forced the National Army to allocate their stretched resources to protecting landowners, while also creating an atmosphere of panic among Anglo-Irish people, as well as unionists in general.

[20] The assault on the "Big Houses" was part of a wider campaign against Free State supporters as a reprisal for the executions policy of the Government.

In Dublin for instance, out of 28 homes burned by the IRA between 10 December 1922 and the end of April, nine could be counted as Big Houses or mansions associated with the Anglo-Irish aristocracy.

[citation needed] Some Free State TDs, such as Liam Burke and Seán McGarry, were targeted; in the case of the latter causing the death of his seven-year-old son, Emmet.

The library of Moore Hall, County Mayo, containing ancient manuscripts relating to Irish and world history, was entirely destroyed in February 1923.

Ebenezer Pike claimed £62,000 for the destruction of Kilcrenagh House, arguing his losses were "enormous, for valuable furniture, paintings, and art treasures were all consumed in the flames.

In The Last September (1929), Elizabeth Bowen mythologised the big houses as an ideal of civilisation and order, yet one which had its origins in injustice and could not be expected to survive in the modern world.

[citation needed] During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the practice of targeting the big house was revived by the Provisional Irish Republican Army, although there were relatively few of these in the six counties.

The Official IRA were believed to be responsible[30] On 16 May 1981 Killeen Castle in Dunsany, County Meath was extensively damaged in an arson attack carried out by republican sympathisers.

An IRA statement released afterwards claimed that British soldiers guarding the house were the intended target[32][33] and the unit involved had fired over seven hundred rounds.

[35][36] On 14 March 1973 a British Army Technical Officer discovered two bombs inside a monument on the grounds of the estate dedicated to the 2nd Earl of Caledon.