Cappoquin House and Gardens

Cappoquin House is an 18th century Georgian mansion built on the site of an old Fitzgerald castle. It dominates the river Blackwater at the point where, due to an ice age blockage, the river turns south and ploughs its way through the hills to the sea. The Keane family have lived at Cappoquin for the last 300 years. They are an Old Irish family descended from the O’Cahan clan of Ulster who were feudal tenants of the O’Neils. Probably designed by Roberts, architect of several important buildings in Waterford, the house was built by George Keane’s grandson. The house is little changed today even though it was burnt to a shell on February 19th 1923 along with many others. Inside the house are many reminders of the Afghan war of 1839 when an expeditionary force under the command of General Sir John Keane, a younger brother of Sir Richard Keane of Cappoquin, the second baronet, entered Afghanistan from India to forestall what was thought to be an imminent Russian invasion. There are prints depicting the fall of the Ghuznee Fort to the east of the Bolan Pass. The garden was laid out in the middle of the 19th century but there are vestiges of earlier periods in walls, gateways and streams. It was taken in hand by Lady Olivia Keane in the 1950’s and expanded by her in the late 1970’s. It reflects much of her taste and extensive knowledge of plants.