If Walls Could Talk: The rise and fall of Castletroy’s forgotten grandeur

WRITING in 1837, Samuel Lewis noted that ‘the principal seats in Castletroy included Newcastle, the residence of M. O’Brien, Plassey, of Reuben Harvey, Milford, of T. Fitzgerald, Shannon View, of T. Kelly, and Willow Bank of Capt. Hickey’. Of these mansions, just Plassey and Milford remain, both having been repurposed.

One of the finest houses in Castletroy was Willow Bank (c.1810) situated east of Plassey just beyond the footbridge over the millrace. It was part of the estate of the Gloster family. It contained a ‘drawing room, dining room, parlour, five bedrooms, kitchen, several out offices, well stocked gardens and the best fishing on the Shannon’. It was held by the representatives of Samuel Young when it was leased by Capt. B. Hickey and Mrs Hickey in the 1820s.

Capt. Hickey was a veteran of the Peninsular War that was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom against the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1812, Hickey lost an arm at the defence of the bridge at Valladolid on the retreat from Burgos in Spain.

Capt. Hickey’s sister, Arabella, died at her house on Glentworth Street on 15 December 1848. A note from 1852 stated that ‘Willow Bank contained sixteen acres plantation measure with the dwelling-house and offices as occupied by Capt. Hickey. The holding is bounded by the River Shannon, and Willow Bank is a charming villa residence on the banks of the Shannon.’ Captain Hickey died in 1854 and the contents of the house were sold.

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In 1859, Alexander Duffield acquired the lease and appears to have resided at Willow Bank until 1863 when he rented it to Mr and Mrs John Shaw. Duffield was a partner in the firm of Shaw & Duffield, provision merchants in Limerick. Georgina Shaw married Richard White Fry, son of William Fry, 13 Lower Mount Street, Dublin on 2 August 1876.

William Fry was a noted solicitor and established his practice in 1847, it remains one of Ireland’s leading corporate law firms. After John Shaw left Willow Bank, his son Sir Alexander William Shaw (1847-1923) took over the lease and resided there for some time. In August 1874, a successful trial of cutting edge mowing machines took place at Willow Bank.

Duffield advertised the house again in 1880. The following year, Joseph James Phelps leased Willow Bank. He set about enlarging it and spent £3,000 upgrading it to a handsome villa. Phelps was not a typical country squire; he led a very interesting life. He emigrated to Australia in the early 1830s and from 1864 to 1877 served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales.

He resided in Albemarle, River Darling, New South Wales. Phelps was an industrious individual and acquired vast tracts of agricultural land. He was a brother of John Lecky Phelps (1815-1881) of Waterpark House, Clonlara, Co. Clare. Waterpark was an enormous house and one of seventeen mansions in the area.

After retiring from politics, Joseph James Phelps returned to Ireland. He married Mary (née Allen) on 24 March 1877 at Clonlara Church. They had a son named Thomas Herbert, on 26 July 1879. Joseph James Phelps purchased Willow Bank outright in 1885. He died at the house on 13 April 1890, aged 73. His estate was left to Thomas, his only child. In 1893, one of the Phelps’ Australian properties, amounting to a staggering 740,000 acres along with 108,000 sheep, was sold. It had been in the possession of the family since 1857.

Thomas H. was still living at Willow Bank in January 1905 when a fire broke out. The damage was estimated to be in the region of £1,500 and included the destruction of a Napier motor car. Thomas Herbert Phelps died in Fitzroy Nursing Home, Fitzroy Square, London on 18 April 1911, aged 28. He left an immensely valuable estate of over £185,500. It included extensive lands in Tasmania, New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria. Probate was granted to his uncle, Henry Augustine Allen of 33 Belgrave Square, Rathmines. Precisely when Thomas’s widowed mother left Willow Bank is unclear, but her sister, Agnes married Dr. Charles Holcroft Blood on 26 February 1908 and they took up residence in the house.

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Dr Blood was very involved in the civic life of the neighbourhood. On 1 January 1911, he presented a silver challenge cup to the winners of a hurling game that took place at Kilmurry. The teams were Killonan and Kilmurry, the latter team being declared winners on the day. The field was put at the disposal of the teams by Patrick Ryan of Raheen. Charles Holcroft Blood died 17 April 1924, aged 66. Agnes died on 21 September 1934 and an auction of ‘modern and antique furniture, motors, and outside effects’ of Willow Bank took place on the 18th and 19th of October. Agnes’s estate was valued at £13,750.

In mid-c.1930s, Willow Bank was acquired by Martin McGuire, a merchant who bought John R. Tinsley's salt importing and distribution business in 1890. John Rickard Tinsley served as mayor of Limerick in 1865. He established Tinsley Salt Importers in 1840, ‘importing salt in bulk from England, packaging it into smaller units and selling it, in those pre-refrigeration days, for the preservation of meats and food stuff.’ James McGuire of Elm Lodge, Ennis Road, Limerick, merchant died 3 June 1942. Probate was granted to his nephew, Martin McGuire, merchant of Willow Bank. The McGuires were also proprietors of the Curraghgower Mills.

The McGuire family held onto Willow Bank until c.1970 when it appears to have been acquired by Shannon Free Airport Development Company. Sadly, that company took the decision to demolish the distinguished house – once home to decorated naval officers, pioneering farmers, bacon merchants, members of parliament, doctors and supporters of the GAA.

The demolition of Willow Bank occurred on 24 July 1974 when the house was razed to the ground. In the 1990s, the University of Limerick built Kilmurry Student Village on a site close to Willow Bank. All is not lost, however, and reminders of one of the principal seats of Castletroy appear from time to time in the shape of fine fragments of cut limestone found strewn around the site.

Dr Paul O’Brien lectures at Mary Immaculate College.