Description:

Kildrought House was built by Robert Baillie in 1719 to the design of Kildare architect Thomas Burgh who served as Surveyor General of Ireland and designed the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. Baillie was responsible for bringing tapestry weaving to Ireland. The house became the Celbridge Academy in 1782 and subsequently served as a fever hospital, vicarage and dispensary. By the 1850s the house was in poor condition and suffered from decay, though it was soon renovated. However, by 1985 the house was awash with inappropriate alterations and cement pointing, and its outbuildings were scheduled to be demolished. The new owners took it upon themselves to begin a programme to authentically restore the house to its original form in order to create a comfortable family home.

Set back from the street, Kildrought House is a magnificent mid-sized urban home of two storeys to the front elevation and three to the rear (including a basement) set within its own grounds. It is five bays wide with a central entryway on the front facade with six-over-six sash windows to the basement and ground floor levels. The first-floor sash windows are of a three-over-three configuration except for the central Palladian window, all of which are set into lime-based, wet dash rendered walls. There is a slate, hipped roof with a facade gable. In addition to the gravel forecourt, there is also a detached three-bay, single-storey, curvilinear and gable-fronted outbuilding with attic which is seven bays wide on its northeast elevation. Beautiful, terraced gardens with stone retaining walls run to the rear of the property down to the River Liffey, which are complemented by a red brick summer house of one storey and three bays. Kildrought House is of particular importance as it boasts a level of refinement and grandeur ordinarily reserved for houses and estates of much larger scale.

Grants Awarded:

2003: €12,500 grant through IGS Inc (US) towards a broad range of repairs, including reinstating the original lime-based wet dashed walls which, in addition to being the historically accurate finish for the walls, also contributed to the elimination of damp; removing inappropriate additions; repairing roof slates and making the building watertight, as well as removing the concrete pointing to prevent future damage; and the dismantling, underpinning and restoring of the carriage entrance opening onto Celbridge main street.

2022: €3,000 grant through the IGS London Chapter towards the repairs of windows. Contractor, Jason Millea.

NIAH Listing:

https://www.buildingsofireland...

References in IGS Bulletins & IGS Journals:

‘A Dublin streetscape in 1703: an urban legacy of the Dongan estate’
Author: Neil Crimmins
Irish Architectural and Decorative Studies Vol XX — 2017
http://search.igsjournal.ie/single-search?rule1=and&terms1=kildrought&field1=all&from_pub_year=1958&to_pub_year=2024&pdf_type=Select+publication+type&pdf_id=282

‘William Baillie, a man of many parts’
Author: Nesta Butler
Irish Architectural and Decorative Studies Vol IX — 2006
https://search.igsjournal.ie/single-search?rule1=and&terms1=kildrought&field1=all&from_pub_year=1958&to_pub_year=2024&pdf_type=Select+publication+type&pdf_id=125

‘The Conollys of Castletown’
Author: Lena Boylan
Irish Georgian Society Bulletin XI 1968 Issue 3
https://search.igsjournal.ie/single-search?rule1=and&terms1=kildrought&field1=all&from_pub_year=1958&to_pub_year=2024&pdf_type=Select+publication+type&pdf_id=385