The Two Cabra Castles,
and the Pratt Family 1699 - 1964
The Original Cabra Castle,
the ruins of which still stand on high ground above the Wishing
Well - not far from Cromwell's Bridge, was situated to the west
of the Kingscourt - Carrickmacross Road.
The Castle and the land surrounding
it is believed to have belonged to the O'Reilly Family until
it was confiscated in the mid 17th century by Cromwell's orders
and given to Colonel Thomas Cooch. Colonel T. Cooch was born
in Donegal in 1632 and was the grandson of Sir Thomas Cooch K.C.
Sir Thomas Cooch K.C. had migrated to Ireland very early in the
17th century and was given a grant of 1,000 acres in Donegal
by James 1.
Colonel Thomas Cooch, first
owner of Cabra Estate, married Elizabeth Mervyn, sister of Audley
Mervyn (Speaker of the Irish House of Commons), and they had
an only daughter and heiress, Elizabeth.
This Elizabeth Cooch married
firstly Nathaniel Pole, Sergeant of Arms of Ireland, of Geraldstown,
Co. Meath, but he died in 1685 without any heirs. Elizabeth then
married Joseph Pratt, who lived not far off at Jaradice, Co.
Meath, a property which he received when he migrated from Leicestershire
to Ireland in 1641.
This marriage (which was also
Joseph Pratt's second) took place in 1686 and a son, Mervyn Pratt,
was born in 1687.
At this time, Colonel T. Cooch
was still the owner of Cabra but in 1695, he made a will leaving
all his property to Mervyn Pratt, his grandson, and when Colonel
T. Cooch died in 1699 the Cabra property came into the possession
of the Pratt Family. Mervyn Pratt was then only twelve years
old. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, and married Elizabeth
Coote, daughter of Sir T. Coote, Judge, and lived at Cabra, near
the Wishing Well.
The castle had been destroyed
during the Cromwellian War and the Pratt Family at that time
is summarised in the following information.
The Pratt Family continued
to reside near the Wishing Well and to occupy Cabra land, including
the site of the present town of Kingscourt. There was an old
village of Cabra near the site of Kingscourt, but in 1780 Mervyn
Pratt ( Grandson of Captain Mervyn Pratt, and son of the Reverend
Joseph Pratt, who succeeded Captain Marvyn Pratt as owner of
Cabra) laid out a new town of Kingscourt - an Anglicisation of
Dun A Ri. He leased town plots with one rood of garden adjoining
each, for 999 years, for one guinea a year per acre.
This scheme was continued by
Mervyn Pratt's brother - another Reverend Joesph and it was during
his time that the Kingscourt Rectory was built in 1816 with a
gift of £100 and the site, and a loan of £825 from
the Braid of First Fruits.
During this period the land
on the opposite side (East) of the Carrickmacross Rd (where the
present Cabra Castle stands) was owned by the Foster Family -
whose main seat was at Dunleer. This land which contained an
old round tower castle, called Cormey Castle. The main building
was in ruins - destroyed during the Cromwellian War, however
it's adjacent courtyard remained in good repair. In 1795 this
land and Castle belonged to John Tomas Foster but he died leaving
two young sons, both minors (Augustus being the eldest), who
went to live with their mother (the Dowager Duchess of (Devonshire)
in England.
Mr Henry Foster, cousin of
the late John Foster, was appointed their Trustee and Executor,
and in 1808 he rebuilt Cormy Castle. In doing so he exhausted
the personal estate of his ward Auguetus, and incurred debts
which made it necessary for the Castle and land to be sold.
At that time (1810) Colonel
Joseph Pratt was the owner of Cabra Estate. Born in 1755 - he
was the son of Rev. Joseph Pratt the second - referred to previously.
His aunt, Ann Pratt, sister of Rev. Joseph Pratt, had married
another Foster, and had lived at Cormy at a slightly earlier
period - therefore there was a clso link between the Pratts and
the Fosters.
It also seems possible that
Colonel Pratt lent Mr. Henry Foster money prior to his insolvency.
There was an enquiry and Mr. Henry Foster was declared insolvent,
and the remains of the Estate was taken over by Mr. Augustus
Foster, the rightful Heir.
Colonel Joseph Pratt bought
Cormy Castle with about 400 acres of Cormy Land from Mr Augustus
Foster in 1813, and moved from Cabra House near the Wishing Well)
to Castle in that year. For a few years he continued to use the
origional name of Cormy Castle for his new home, but later -
in about 1820 - Colonel Pratt renamed it Cabra Castle, and it
has been known by this name ever since.
Colonel Joseph Pratt had married
Jamina, daughter of Sir James Tynte, and had ten children. The
eldest - Mervyn, born in 1807, married Madeleline Jackson, only
daughter and heiress of Colonel Jackson of Enniscoe, Co. Mayo.
They inherited this property when Colonel Pratt died. He suceeded
his father, Col. Joseph Pratt, as owner of Cabra in 1863, but
from this time onwards the interests of the Pratt Family were
divided between Cabra in Co. Cavan, and Enniscoe in Co. Mayo.
Mervyn Pratt died in 1890 and was suceeded on his death by his
eldest son - Major Mervyn Pratt, in 1927.
Major Mervyn Pratt was badly
wounded in the Boer War and never married. He lived pernamently
at Enniscoe, and left Cabra unoccupied. His younger brother,
Colonel Audley Pratt, was killed in the First World war and also
was unmarried.
Major Mervyn Pratt died at
Enniscoe in December 1950, and left Cabra to his nearest male
relative -Mervyn Sheppard, a Malayan Civil Servant. The burden
of death duties, taxation, rates, cost of repairs to the Castle,
and farm losses made it impossible for him to live there. In
1964, he reluctantly disposed of the property, 265 years after
Cabra land first came into the family possession.
In 1964, a local family - the
Brennan Fanily, bought Cabra Castle. They renovated the building
and converted it into a 22 bedroom hotel. It was in their ownership
up until 1986, when it was then sold to a group of Arabs. They
closed down the hotel, finished off prebooked functions, and
then kept the building as a private house.
In 1991, the present owners
- the Corscadden Family, bought Cabra Castle. They re-opened
the hotel, and have recently converted the old courtyard area
into modern bedrooms (with a unique authentic atmosphere), thus
leaving the hotel with 68 bedrooms.
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