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Christ Church, Lough Eske, Co Donegal
Following the Flight of the Earls in 1607, the Plantation of Ulster saw this area of Donegal granted to Sir Basil Brooke, who rebuilt and extended Donegal Castle.
About this time a manor was also constructed on the shores of Lough Eske by Scottish settlers, a corner stone at the manor was later noted to have been inscribed with the date 1621. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the Brooke family estates were passed to Thomas Young (who changed his name to Thomas Brooke) of Lough Eske Manor, through marriage with the heiress to the estate, Jane Grove.
Thomas first bulilt a new Church of Ireland called Christ Church on the southern shore of the Lake in 1846, before hiring the Derry architect Fitzgibbon Louch to completely redesign the existing manor house; the result was a grand Elizabethan-style residence finished in 1868 which became known as Lough Eske Castle. The castle was sold at the end of the century and later became a guest house; by the mid-twentieth century it was in a state of ruin, but was reopened as the Solis Lough Eske Hotel in December 2007.
Meanwhile, the Church constructed in 1846 is still used as the parish church.
Christ Church, Lough Eske belongs to the Church of Ireland Diocese of Derry and Raphoe and the church belongs to the Donegal, Killymard, Lough Eske and Laghey grouping.
Christ Church, Lough Eske, Co Donegal
Following the Flight of the Earls in 1607, the Plantation of Ulster saw this area of Donegal granted to Sir Basil Brooke, who rebuilt and extended Donegal Castle.
About this time a manor was also constructed on the shores of Lough Eske by Scottish settlers, a corner stone at the manor was later noted to have been inscribed with the date 1621. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the Brooke family estates were passed to Thomas Young (who changed his name to Thomas Brooke) of Lough Eske Manor, through marriage with the heiress to the estate, Jane Grove.
Thomas first bulilt a new Church of Ireland called Christ Church on the southern shore of the Lake in 1846, before hiring the Derry architect Fitzgibbon Louch to completely redesign the existing manor house; the result was a grand Elizabethan-style residence finished in 1868 which became known as Lough Eske Castle. The castle was sold at the end of the century and later became a guest house; by the mid-twentieth century it was in a state of ruin, but was reopened as the Solis Lough Eske Hotel in December 2007.
Meanwhile, the Church constructed in 1846 is still used as the parish church.
Christ Church, Lough Eske belongs to the Church of Ireland Diocese of Derry and Raphoe and the church belongs to the Donegal, Killymard, Lough Eske and Laghey grouping.