Kenmare House

Kenmare House is located on the east shore of Lough Leane and was the principal residence of the Brownes of Killarney, Earls of Kenmare.

Sir Valentine Browne and his son, also Valentine Browne, were the first members of the family to settle in Ireland being appointed Surveyor General of Ireland in 1559. Sir Valentine Browne made an agreement with MacCarty Mor for a lease on the lands of Coshmang and Ross in 1588, the year of the Armada. Unlike most of the English settlers since the Reformation, the Brownes soon reverted to the old religion and the family continued to be given the royal title "Viscounts Kenmare" by King James II of England in 1689. It may be remarked here that this title is derived from Kenmare Castle, near Hospital, part of the Co. Limerick estate of the Browne family, and not, as might naturally be supposed, from the town of that name, which, though not actually on the Browne estate The family's first residence in Killarney was Ross Castle.

The original Kenmare House was built in 1726, after the estates were recovered by the 5th Baronet and 3rd Viscount Kenmare. It was a grandiose structure with the characteristics of a French chateau, perhaps influenced by the Brownes' time spent in France with King James II in exile at Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The house was part of the 137, 000 acre estate of the Brownes, who remarkably retained their lands during the Penal Laws as Catholics.

Viscount Kenmare designed the house himself. The house was two stories high and had dormered attics and steep, slated roofs. There were thirteen bays in front of the house, with three bays on each side of the center breaking forward. A servant’s wing was added around 1775.

It is the 4th Viscount Kenmare, Thomas Browne, who is credited with bringing tourism to Killarney. He was also the head of the Catholic Committee. In the years that followed poets such as Tennyson and Wordsworth, and, writers such as Sir Walter Scott and Jane Austen all visited Killarney.

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