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Hugh Rooney | all galleries >> Galleries >> A Circuit of Ireland - Short Stories and Tall Tales > Ireland - Co.Westmeath - Belvedere House - Jealous Wall.
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08-MAY-2017

Ireland - Co.Westmeath - Belvedere House - Jealous Wall.

On the face of it this is just another ruined Irish castle but all is not as it seems and quite a tale lies behind this wall. The so called Jealous wall is located in the grounds of Belvedere House and Gardens 8 kilometres from Mullingar County Westmeath. The house was built for Robert Rochfort 1st Earl of Belvedere by the famous architect Richard Cassels in 1740. The Jealous Wall which was actually built to look like a ruin was also built by Earl Robert Rochfort, who always had trouble with one family member or another. He locked his wife Mary indoors for 31 years when she was accused of adultery with his brother Arthur. He then sued Arthur and had him tossed into a debtors prison when he couldn’t pay. When his other brother George who lived across the way on the adjacent estate at Tudenham built a grander house, Robert built this enormous folly so he wouldn’t have to look at it. It is in fact the largest folly in Ireland


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