Castle Gurteen de la Poer

Gurteen de la Poer, or Gurteen le Poer, is a monumental Elizabethan Revival house in County Waterford, Ireland, situated on the south bank of the River Suir, close to Kilsheelan and about 8 km east of Clonmel.

The estate belonged to the de la Poers, an Anglo-Norman family whose affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church led to their eventual expulsion from the Protestant English establishment. Count Edmund de la Poer, 18th Lord le Poer and Curraghmore, a Knight of Malta and Private Chamberlain to Pope Pius X, commenced the building of the present castle in 1863 to replace an earlier house which itself replaced an earlier house.

The large Barional house was designed by Samuel Ussher Roberts (1821-1900), great-grandson of the noted 18th century Waterford architect John Roberts. The design of Castle Gurteen was probably influenced by Scottish architect William Burn, an architect responsible for several Tudor-Baronial mansions in Britain.

The entrance facade has a large square tower with attached polygonal turret, which faces across a forecourt of castled walls. The interior of Gurteen is spacious and in the centre of the house is a top lit great hall with a gallery, divided by a screen of Gothic arches behind which is a staircase.

There are similar arches in the first floor gallery, which like the staircase, has a balustrade of wrought Iron. The library which is lined with bookcases has red walls and the drawing room and ballroom open into each other along the garden front.

The dining room, on the other side of the hall, is to a Victorian Baronial style, with faded red walls above a dado of brown oak paneling. The chimney piece, of carved oak has heraldic angels holding shields of the family arms, and its head of St. Hubert's Stag - the family crest - with antlers and crucifix mounted on top of the mantle shelf.

The le Poer family claims descent from Sir Robert De Poer, who came to Ireland with Strongbow, A.D. 1172. King Henry II of England, who, by charter, granted to Robert the City of Waterford, with "the whole province thereabouts;" and made him marshal of Ireland.

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