THE GASCOIGNES
CASTLE TIMELINE
Over it's life, Castle Oliver has passed through many hands, each of whom left their own definitive mark on the Castle's history. The timeline below details its life from the time it was built to the modern day.
1658
The lands where the castle stands were settled in about 1658 by Capt. Robert Oliver, one of Oliver Cromwell's soldiers. The present castle replaced the former Castle Oliver, which stood a thousand yards to the south-west and was the birthplace of Eliza Oliver, mother of the notorious Lola Montez, who became the lover and favourite of King Ludwig I of Bavaria.
1812
Capt. Robert Oliver's descendant Richard Oliver married a Yorkshire heiress through whom he inherited substantial wealth and property in West Yorkshire and moved away to live in Parlington Hall near Wetherby, leaving Castle Oliver to deteriorate in the hands of a bailiff, James Calloway. Richard had four children, of which only two daughters survived, Mary Isabella and Elizabeth Oliver-Gascoigne. The sisters were highly accomplished artisans, designing and executing both the stained glass work and verre eglomise (back-painted glass panels) which ornamented the ballroom fireplace. Much of their work has survived. The elder sister, Mary Isabella, was a highly skilled wood-turner who published (under a male pseudonym) an authoritative book on the subject, "The Art of Wood-Turning", still a respected source of information on the subject.
1837
By 1837 the estate was reported as being in ruins, with Galloway being blamed for letting this happen. His ghost is said to still haunt the demesne today.
1845
The sisters commissioned the present castle in 1845. It was designed by the York architect George Fowler Jones in the Scottish Baronial style and built in a local pink sandstone, quarried on the estate. Fowler Jones had designed several substantial commissions for the sisters in the north of England, including almshouses and churches.
The construction of the castle brought great relief to the area by providing employment to the local tenants during the famine years. According to names and dates found high on the ceilings, Elizabeth & Marry were still finishing Castle Oliver 12 years later.
1850
~
1852
Both sisters married members of the Trench family of Woodlawn, County Galway.
In 1850 Mary married Captain Frederick Charles Trench, and then in 1852 Elizabeth married her brother-in-laws cousin Captain Frederick Mason Trench 2nd Baron Ashtown. The Trench coat of arms and family motto appears on stained glass and fireplace tiles throughout the castle.
1900's
In the 1900s the Land Commission divided much of the original land amongst the local farmers, with the size of the Castle's lands steadily decreasing over time.
1978
~
1998
Mrs Lynn Trench who was the last member of the Trench family to live at Castle Oliver sold the property to the Millstreet racing driver Billy Coleman in 1978. Much of the Castle's furnishings and decorations were sold in an attempt to alleviate debts, including a large number of the trees in the gardens to be sold for their timber value. Suffering vandalism and theft the castle fell into a period of decline.
1998
~
2006
In 1998 Castle Oliver is sold to Nick Browne. During the Browne family ownership, the decline of the Castle's state was properly documented and restoration efforts slowly began.
2006
~
2015
In 2006 Declan and Emma Cormack bought Castle Oliver and set about restoring it to it's former glory. The couple and their three children lived on site and oversaw the restoration personally, before moving on to other projects.
2015
~
present
In 2015 the Cormack's sold Castle Oliver to it's current owners, a family from Melbourne who intend to finish the restoration and refurbishment of the castle.