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Ballygonnell School
Main manor house in the 1920s.
Ballyconnell House was built around 1763 by the Olpherts, a family of Dutch landowners. It is set in a wooded park of around 500 acres. Wybrants Olphert bought the property from Captain Henry Harte who was granted lands in Cloughaneely for his loyalty to the Crown during the Ulster Plantation. In 1921, the house was occupied by the Irish Free State Army and later purchased by the Irish Land Commission. The property was transferred to the Loreto nuns, who added a new chapel, classrooms, and dormitories, and it became Col´aiste Bhr´ıde, a preparatory college for girls. In 1965, it was purchased by the Diocese of Raphoe and became Holy Cross College, a boarding school for boys. It was used as a residence for boarding students until 1986. Údarás na Gaeltachta bought the estate in 1987. The Olphert motto ”Dum Spiro Spero” is still legible over the front door. It appears it closed in the mid 2000s, probably due to maintenance fees with regions of the structure in a bad way. It was passed to the state as has since been derelict.
Visited on our 2021 Ireland Summer trip before we looked at the seaside hotel. Pretty straightforward then, despite there being cameras everywhere, there were a fair few blind spots. Inside, we were pleasantly surprised as the building was in quite a perfect state of decay with lots of equipment and belongings left, too. The main atrium was pretty special. I haven't seen much of it since, despite many trudging that way to the hotel afterwards, not many have gone!
The property is quite large, with four wings leading off from the main atrium that would have housed the school, whilst the adjoined manor house from the 1700s is extended after one wing.
We began in the modern block that was built in the 1960s full of dormitories.
Classroom.
Laundry room.
]
This corridor lead us to a room that gleamed gold with the sunlight entering.
Atrium.
Main hall apparently.
Games room.
Kitchen.
Top of the atrium.
Small canteen.
Lecture theatre.
Into the old mansion. It was absolutely wrecked in here, with most rooms having collapsed.
We also made a video on this school. You can watch here if you want:
Thanks for reading
Main manor house in the 1920s.
Ballyconnell House was built around 1763 by the Olpherts, a family of Dutch landowners. It is set in a wooded park of around 500 acres. Wybrants Olphert bought the property from Captain Henry Harte who was granted lands in Cloughaneely for his loyalty to the Crown during the Ulster Plantation. In 1921, the house was occupied by the Irish Free State Army and later purchased by the Irish Land Commission. The property was transferred to the Loreto nuns, who added a new chapel, classrooms, and dormitories, and it became Col´aiste Bhr´ıde, a preparatory college for girls. In 1965, it was purchased by the Diocese of Raphoe and became Holy Cross College, a boarding school for boys. It was used as a residence for boarding students until 1986. Údarás na Gaeltachta bought the estate in 1987. The Olphert motto ”Dum Spiro Spero” is still legible over the front door. It appears it closed in the mid 2000s, probably due to maintenance fees with regions of the structure in a bad way. It was passed to the state as has since been derelict.
Visited on our 2021 Ireland Summer trip before we looked at the seaside hotel. Pretty straightforward then, despite there being cameras everywhere, there were a fair few blind spots. Inside, we were pleasantly surprised as the building was in quite a perfect state of decay with lots of equipment and belongings left, too. The main atrium was pretty special. I haven't seen much of it since, despite many trudging that way to the hotel afterwards, not many have gone!
The property is quite large, with four wings leading off from the main atrium that would have housed the school, whilst the adjoined manor house from the 1700s is extended after one wing.
We began in the modern block that was built in the 1960s full of dormitories.
Classroom.
Laundry room.
]
This corridor lead us to a room that gleamed gold with the sunlight entering.
Atrium.
Main hall apparently.
Games room.
Kitchen.
Top of the atrium.
Small canteen.
Lecture theatre.
Into the old mansion. It was absolutely wrecked in here, with most rooms having collapsed.
We also made a video on this school. You can watch here if you want:
Thanks for reading
