Rockingham House with an Imperial Marble White Staircase

Written by Ben Kesp

Rockingham estate, Co. Roscommon, the lands of the MacDermotts can be traced to the 13th century. The family ruled the region for centuries and it was Brian Og MacDermott who built a grand house on the lands in 1578. Following the abolishment of the Irish titles by Queen Elizabeth I, Rockingham estate fell into the hands of the King family in 1617 and it was the descendant, Sir John King, an active Cromwellian who destroyed the MacDermott House. King’s ambitions were to build a grand castle that eventually became a show piece as he and his family lived mostly in Kingston Lodge which was located nearby in the local town of Boyle in Co. Roscommon. Rockingham grew to become a vast estate and during the 18th century, it contained over twenty-six thousand acres. 

In 1809 Rockingham House was built replacing the existing house. The house was designed by John Nash, the architect for planning regency London. Therefore Rockingham was built as a Regency mansion with a dome and semi-circular iconic colonnade. The interior of the house was affluently designed and decorated. Its spacious hall was top lit and a screen of Corinthian columns divided it from a grand imperial white marble staircase and a round drawing room. A feature that was different than most big houses in Ireland was that it had no back entrance and servants in addition to tradesmen used tunnels to enter the house. In 1822 the house lost its dome due to the expansion of a third floor. Added to this the house commanded magnificent views of the surrounding lands and Lough Key including the beautiful ruin of MacDermott’s castle. Today you can access the island by boat and stroll around this almost haunted looking castle ruin. 

Staircase 

The house remained within the King-Harman family. Sir Cecil King-Harman was the last of the family to live at Rockingham House. In September 1957 a fire started in the basement, however, despite the quick action by the fire services, the fire had spread to the higher levels of the house, destroying it. Locals helped to salvage family possessions however the house was destroyed with the exception of the servant tunnels. It was sold to the state following this and destroyed by the Land Commission. Sir Cecil moved to Co. Kildare where he died in 1987. 

With the Third Floor