Knockatrina House

Knockatrina House at the turn of the Twentieth Century

Knockatrina House, built in the nineteenth century, was the residence of Robert Thomas Flower, Eight Viscount Ashbrook, for almost fifty years.

Knockatrina House at the turn of the Twentieth Century

Knockatrina House at the turn of the Twentieth Century

Knockatrina House, built in the nineteenth century, was the residence of Robert Thomas Flower, Eight Viscount Ashbrook, for almost fifty years.

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On March 25th 1946, twelve months prior to the Rt. Hon. Frances Mary White's death, Knockatrina House and farm were purchased by Miss Mary Mooney. This magnificent nineteenth century house, residence of Robert Thomas Flower, Eight Viscount Ashbrook for almost fifty years, had by now succumbed to the ravages of time and to the family's changing fortunes. Except for the fact that the interior needed some refurbishing, the building was structurally sound. Perched on a hill just outside the town, fronting the Ballyragget Road to the south, and overlooking the river Nore to the east, its stately walls and tall chimney stacks are still admired by tourists today. The circumstances which lead to its demolition commenced when Ernest Mercier's wife, Amy, died in 1954.

Amy bequeathed her estate, which included Ormsby House, her Tinvier farm and other small holdings to her life-long companion Miss Mary Mooney. In the same year, Miss Mooney employed a steward to manage her affairs and this he did, until Miss Mooney's death on March 16th 1968. By this time, Tinvier had been disposed of, Knockatrina House had been reduced to ruins and the farm sold. In the late Spring of 1958, a county Clare demolition firm were given the contract of removing the roof and stripping the interior of this house, and during the wet summer of that year, its slates, lead flashing, pitchpine roof timbers, guttering, interior woodwork and fittings were laid out against the backdrop of its towering walls and sold by public auction.