The destruction of country houses in Ireland was a phenomenon of the Irish revolutionary period (1919–1923), which saw at least 275 country houses deliberately burned down, blown up, or otherwise destroyed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).^[1] The vast majority of the houses, known in Ireland as big houses, belonged to the Anglo-Irish upper class known as the Protestant Ascendancy. The houses of some Roman Catholic unionists, suspected informers, and members or supporters of the new Irish Free State government were also targeted. Although the practice by the IRA of destroying country houses began in the Irish War of Independence, most of the buildings were destroyed during the Irish Civil War (1922–23).^[2] Today, most of the targeted buildings are in ruins or have been demolished. Some were restored by their owners, albeit often smaller in size, or were later rebuilt and re-purposed.^[3]

By the start of the Irish revolutionary period in 1919, the Big House had become symbolic of the 18th and 19th-century dominance of the Protestant Anglo-Irish class in Ireland at the expense of the native Roman Catholic population, particularly in southern and western Ireland.^[4]

The Anglo-Irish, as a class, were generally opposed to Irish republicanism and held key positions in the Dublin Castle administration. The Irish nationalist narrative maintained that the land of Irishmen had been illegally stolen from them by the Anglo-Irish aristocracy, who had mostly arrived in Ireland as Protestant settlers from Great Britain during the plantations of Ireland. The Anglo-Irish big house was at the administrative centre of the estates of the landowners, as well as being the family seat from which the Anglo-Irish exerted their political control over the island.^[5]

This perception was popularly held by nationalists, despite a considerable increase in Irish landownership in the previous decades due to the Irish Land Acts. Whereas in 1870, 97% of land was owned by landlords and 50% by just 750 families, by 1916, 70% of Irish farmers owned their own land.^[6] Catholics had been emancipated in 1829 and the political dominance of the Anglo-Irish in Ireland had consequently declined following the electoral successes of the Catholic nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party through much of the 19th century.^[7]

The former Protestant Ascendancy had lost its economic power following the Great Famine of 1845-49, and the Long Depression of the 1870s; and then lost its political power after the Representation of the People Act 1884. By 1915 the Irish Land Commission had transferred over 60% of Irish farmland to tenant farmers, leaving most of the former landed gentry with a house and a home farm known as a "demesne". The former landlords could afford to employ gardeners and household staff as they had received, as a group, the equivalent of over €60 billion (in 2019 euro) in compensation from the British government.^[8] Burning country houses from 1919 was therefore a largely symbolic act.

Most of the properties targeted by the IRA were abandoned following the attacks. The widespread use of petrol and other incendiaries ensured that most of the buildings were completely gutted by fire and rendered uninhabitable. The state of the buildings, as well as fear of a repeat attack, meant that few of the country houses were rebuilt. Most were demolished, while others remain as ruins. Most of the owners sought compensation from the Irish Free State government. Ebenezer Pike claimed £62,000 for the destruction of Kilcrenagh House, arguing his losses were "enormous, for valuable furniture, paintings, and art treasures were all consumed in the flames."^[24]

Both of Sir Augustus Digby Warren's properties in County Cork were destroyed. William Downes Webber sought compensation from the Irish Free State totalling £149,000 for the rebuilding and £18,000 for the contents of Mitchelstown Castle; £27,500 for the building and the full £18,000 for the contents were eventually awarded by Justice Kenny in 1926. Webber deemed the award for rebuilding too small and relocated to Dublin.^{[citation needed]}

The period of the destruction of the Big Houses came to play an important part in Irish culture.^[25][26][27] William Butler Yeats decried the targeting of big houses in the poem Meditations in Time of Civil War (1924). In The Last September (1929), Elizabeth Bowen mythologised the big houses as an ideal of civilisation and order, yet one which had its origins in injustice and could not be expected to survive in the modern world.^[25] The destructions were also haphazard and case-by-case. Some mansions like Dunsany Castle, owned by Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, were spared because of his fame and because the house contained holy relics of the martyred Saint Oliver Plunket, that were revered and visited by local people. Other families such as the Shackleton family or the Guinness family were unaffected because of their local popularity, even though they were not supporters of Irish independence.^{[citation needed]}

During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the practice of targeting the big house was revived by the Provisional Irish Republican Army, although there were relatively few of these in the six counties. Most notoriously, Tynan Abbey was attacked on the night of 21 January 1981. The 86-year-old Sir Norman Stronge and his only son James, (both former MPs), were killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The house was then burnt to the ground. The bodies of Norman and James were later recovered from their burning home.^[28][29]

On 5 November 1973 a 50 lb (23 kg) bomb wrecked a milking parlour on the grounds of Cappoquin House, home of Sir Richard Keane, at Belmont, Cappoquin, County Waterford. The attack took place amidst a dispute between Sir Richard and his 65 tenants in Cappoquin over ground rents. The Official IRA were believed to be responsible^[30]

On 16 May 1981 Killeen Castle in Dunsany, County Meath was extensively damaged in an arson attack carried out by republican sympathisers. The men involved spread petrol in several rooms before setting it alight. The attack came at the height of the H-Block campaign for political status for republican prisoners in Northern Ireland and an ongoing hunger strike. The castle was by that point owned by an Irish businessman, Basil Brindley; one of the men accused of carrying out the attack later said he would not have burned the house if he knew it was owned by an Irishman.^[31]

On 11 May 1991 a Provisional IRA unit armed with assault rifles and machine guns sprayed Caledon House in County Tyrone. An IRA statement released afterwards claimed that British soldiers guarding the house were the intended target^[32][33] and the unit involved had fired over seven hundred rounds.^[34] Previously, a bomb attack on 10 November 1972 had caused extensive damage to the building. The 40 lb (18 kg) bomb demolished a wall, blew out windows and caused other damage. Police believed the residence was targeted because Lord Caledon was a company commander in the Ulster Defence Regiment.^[35][36] On 14 March 1973 a British Army Technical Officer discovered two bombs inside a monument on the grounds of the estate dedicated to the 2nd Earl of Caledon. The 80 foot tall monument was destroyed when the soldier attempted to neutralise the two bombs in a controlled explosion, instead detonating the devices.^[37]

• Moydrum Castle in County Westmeath, burned in July 1921, provided the background cover art image for the 1984 long-player release The Unforgettable Fire by the rock band U2.^[38]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (February 2015)

Additionally, 21 houses are being investigated as burnt in 1920: Ballintubber House, Ballyclough/Ballyclogh House, Ballyvary/Bellavary House, Beechlawn House, Birdhill (Marlfield Co Tipperary), Castlelambert/Castle Lambert House, Coolkellure/Coolkelure House, Crotto/Crotta House, Crowsnest, Doolin House/Castle, Glenart Castle, Glenfarne Hall, Hermitage (Co Limerick), Kilturra, Malin Hall, Moorock House, Mount Massey/Massy House, Roxborough House, Saunders Grove, Tanavalla/Garryantanvally.

Note: The 'Date of attack' is assumed to be overnight, either late at night on that day, or continuing/beginning in the early hours of the next day, unless clarified by the notation p.m. or a.m.

• Anglo-Irish big house
• Destruction of country houses in 20th-century Britain