The Kavanaghs of Borris House
The Kavanaghs of Borris House in Carlow were descendants of the infamous Irish King of Leinster, Dermot MacMurrough.
Borris House, Carlow
This photo shows the front approach to Borris House, seat of the Kavanagh family. The house dates originally from the late 18th Century and incorporates an old castle. Details of the Tudor style are evident in the battlements and hood mouldings. The Bagenalstown and Wexford Railway ran through part of the Kavanagh estate.
Carlow County LibraryBorris House, Carlow
Carlow County Library
Carlow County Library
Borris House, Carlow
This photo shows the front approach to Borris House, seat of the Kavanagh family. The house dates originally from the late 18th Century and incorporates an old castle. Details of the Tudor style are evident in the battlements and hood mouldings. The Bagenalstown and Wexford Railway ran through part of the Kavanagh estate.
Carlow County LibraryBy 1798, however, the Kavanaghs of Carlow had changed religion to the Established Church of Ireland.
The head of the family at the time, Thomas Kavanagh, did this so he could be elected to the English House of Commons.
His first marriage to Lady Elizabeth Butler, who died in 1822, produced two daughters and one son, Walter.
Thomas soon remarried in 1825, to Lady Harriete Margaret La Poer Trench, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Clancarty. Our hero, their third son Arthur, was born on 25 March 1831, making him fourth in line to succeed his powerful father.
Not much was expected of little Arthur. He had three older brothers to contend with and was born with no arms and no legs.