Wednesday 22 November 2023

Duckett's Grove

THE DUCKETTS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY CARLOW, WITH 4,923 ACRES


THOMAS DUCKETT, who first settled in Ireland, and purchased, 1695, Kneestown and other estates in County Carlow, from Thomas Crosthwaite, of Cockermouth, Cumberland, is stated, by Sir William Betham, Ulster King of Arms, to have been the son of JAMES DUCKETT, of Grayrigg, Westmorland, by his third wife Elizabeth, daughter of Christopher Walker, of Workington, Cumberland.

James Duckett, of Grayrigg, was tenth in descent from JOHN DUCKETT, of Grayrigg, during the reign of RICHARD II (1377), who obtained that estate by his marriage with Margaret, daughter and heir of Willian de Windesore, Lord of the Manor of Grayrigg, in Westmorland.

John Duckett, of Grayrigg, was son of HUGH DUCKETT, of Fillingham, Lincolnshire, during the time of JOHN and HENRY IIIThis descent is elaborately given in a pedigree certified by Sir William Betham, Ulster King of Arms, in 1842.

The first settler in Ireland,

THOMAS DUCKETT, of Kneestown, County Carlow, married Judith, daughter and heir of Pierce Power, of Killowen, County Waterford, and was father of

THOMAS DUCKETT, of Phillipstown (which he purchased from the Earl of Ormond), who married, in 1687, Jane, daughter of John Bunce, of Berkshire, and had, with other issue, a son,

JOHN DUCKETT, of Phillipstown, and Newton, County Kildare, who wedded Jane, daughter of Thomas Devonsher.

The fourth son,

JONAS DUCKETT (1720-97), of Duckett's Grove, County Carlow, married Hannah, daughter of William Alloway, of Dublin, and had issue,
WILLIAM, his heir;
John;
Thomas;
Jonas;
Frederick;
Mary Alloway; Hannah; Jane.
The eldest son,

WILLIAM DUCKETT, of Duckett's Grove, born in 1761, wedded, in 1790, Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of John Dawson Coates, of Dawson Court, banker in Dublin, and had issue,
JOHN DAWSON, his heir;
William;
Joseph Fade;
Thomas Jonas;
Elizabeth; Elizabeth Dawson.
The eldest son,

JOHN DAWSON DUCKETT (1791-1866), of Duckett's Grove, County Carlow, and Newtown, County Kildare, High Sheriff of County Carlow, 1819, wedded, in 1819, Sarah Summers, daughter of William Hutchinson, of Timoney, County Tipperary, and had issue,
WILLIAM;
John Dawson;
Eliza Dawson;
Anne, m, in 1856, HARDY EUSTACE;
Sarah; Victoria Henrietta.
Mr Duckett was succeeded by his eldest son,

WILLIAM DUCKETT JP DL (1822-1908), of Duckett's Grove, High Sheriff of County Carlow, 1854, Queen's County, 1881,  who wedded firstly, in 1868, Anna Maria (dsp 1894), third daughter of Thomas Harrison Morony JP, of Milltown House, County Clare.

Mr Duckett espoused secondly, in 1895, Marie Georgina, eldest daughter of Captain R G Cumming, and widow of T Thompson JP, of Ford Lodge, County Cavan.

He dsp in 1908, when the family estate devolved upon his nephew, Colonel John James Hardy Rowland Eustace, who assumed the additional arms and surname of DUCKETT. 

JOHN JAMES HARDY ROWLAND EUSTACE-DUCKETT JP (1859-1924), of Castlemore and Hardymount, County Carlow, High Sheriff of County Carlow, 1895, Colonel, 8th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps, wedded, in 1895, Gertrude Amelia, daughter of Algernon Charles Heber Percy, of Hodnet Hall, Shropshire, and had issue,
Hardy Rowland Algernon (1896-7);
OLIVER HARDY;
Rowland Hugh, b 1902;
Elizabeth Gertrude; Doris Anna; Diana.
The eldest surviving son,

(OLIVER) HARDY EUSTACE-DUCKETT, espoused, in 1926, Barbara Kathleen,  daughter of Major William Charles Hall, and had issue,
Hardy, died in infancy;
Olive; Kathleen; 
*****

WILLIAM DUCKETT JP DL (see above).

Following William Duckett's death in 1908, his widow Maria continued to live at Duckett's Grove until 1916, when she abandoned the estate.


DUCKETT'S GROVE, near Carlow, County Carlow, was formerly at the centre of a 12,000-acre estate that dominated the landscape of the county for over 300 years.

It was built in 1830 for William Duckett.

It was designed in a castellated Gothic-Revival style by Thomas A Cobden ca 1825.

The mansion house incorporates numerous towers and turrets of varying shapes – round, square and octagonal.

One tall, octagonal turret rises from the structure.


Duckett’s Grove is elaborately ornamented with oriels and niches containing statues.

Several statues on pedestals surrounded the building and lined the approaches.

The house itself is situated in the townland of Rainstown, between Carlow and Tullow; but the estate comprised several large townlands and parts of others.

Following the departure of the Ducketts, the estate was managed by an agent until 1921; then by local farmers; and later by the Irish Land Commission.

The division of the lands was completed by 1930.

Duckett’s Grove was destroyed by fire in 1933, the cause never having been determined.

In September, 2005, Carlow County Council acquired Duckett’s Grove and commenced the restoration of two inter-connecting walled gardens.

It was officially opened in September, 2007, for use as a public park.

The first of the gardens, the Upper Walled Garden, has been planted with historical varieties of shrub roses and a collection of Chinese and Japanese peonies.

The second garden, the Lower Walled Garden, which was once the site of the family's old orchard, now contains a variety of fruits, including figs and historical varieties of Irish apples.

The borders were planted to contain a variety of shrubs and perennials.

First published in February, 2013.

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