INTRODUCTION

Quarrymount is a regency style Georgian house of two storeys over basement located near the village of Milltown in Co. Galway. It has a five bay entrance front with a one bay central breakfront and there is a shallow bow at the West elevation. Originally the house had a four column Tuscan portico, of cut limestone, but this was removed and sold in the early 1980's. The house was built by J.J. Bodkin, J.P., M.P. for County Galway. According to local legend, it replaced a thatched house on the same site. This is debatable and probably untrue. The Bodkins of Quarrymount were a branch of the infamous Bodkin "tribe", one of the fourteen families which controlled the commercial life of the city of Galway from medieval times until the late 19th century. These fourteen families, or "tribes" give Galway its alternative name of "The City of the Tribes".

A listing for Quarrymount in "Burkes Guide to the Irish Country House" states that the house dates from the 1840's. However, there is physical and documentary evidence which indicates that the house was completed earlier and some of the interior detail would suggest that the house dates from the Regency period. Quarrymount was extensively re-modelled in 1879 giving it a more Victorian appearance externally. This makes the dating of the original building difficult.

The house has lain derelict since the mid 1970's and is currently being restored with private funding.

Being located just 300 yards off the N17, the primary route from Galway to Sligo, the house is a familar sight to many people who travel that route. However, because of insurance implications and for security reasons, visitors are asked to contact us before entering the property.

This web site attempts to provide historical and architectural information about the house, chronicle the decline and painfully slow restoration, and look at alternatives to provide a sound commercial footing on which the house can be maintained for future generations. As such, we hope to update this site with our progress and we also hope to be in a position to offer an investment opportunity to interested parties in the near future.