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There is an inescapable air
of frivolity at Ballyvolane - the name itself means 'the
place of springing heifers' and is testament to the fertility,
richness and natural diversity of the land on which the
estate lies.
Originally built in 1728 by Sir Richard Pyne, a retired
Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Ballyvolane was designed
in the classic Georgian country house style with three
storeys, as illustrated in picture below (bottom right).
An amorous descendent, Jasper Pyne, acquired sufficient
capital from his marriage to three wealthy women to have
the house considerably enlarged in the early 19th century.
The three-storey house was modified in 1847 by Jasper’s
nephew and heir, George Pyne. |
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He had the building pulled
apart and then, by removing the top storey, recreated
a two-storey house rendered in Italianate style, with
an extensive west end wing. A few years after the original
house was built the intriguing drama of a well known local
LEGEND
was to unfold revealing the mysteries of some long lost
buried treasure.  |
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| Ballyvolane has known three
families; the Coppingers originally lived here in a much
older building from sometime during the middle Ages, until
the land was acquired by the Pyne family in the early
18th century. The Pynes built the present house and lived
here until 1955, when it was bought by the late Cyril
Hall Green, on his return from Malaya, where he had managed
rubber plantations since the 1930's. Ballyvolane was passed
on to Cyril's son, Jeremy, who ran it as a mixed tillage
and dairy farm until the mid 1980's when it became one
the founding members of the Hidden
Ireland group, an association of town and country
houses offering a unique and exclusive style of accommodation
and chosen for their architectural merit and interesting
characteristics. Ballyvolane was managed as a successful
country house guesthouse by Jeremy and his wife, Merrie
until January 2004, when the reins were handed to his
son Justin and his wife, Jenny. Four generations of the
Green Family now live at Ballyvolane. |
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