The largest country house in Ireland, with over 65,000 sq feet, twenty four formal bedrooms, plus many more accommodations for staff and servants. Coollattin House, which boasts a link to the Kennedy family through President John F. Kennedy’s sister Kathleen, features a staggering 117 rooms in total and takes an hour and a half to view in its entirety.
Early history of Coollattin recounts that it was originally part of the ‘Lands of Cosha’, the hereditary lands of the Byrne family. It changed hands both peaceably and forcibly over the centuries, coming into the possession of Thomas Wentworth, First Earl of Strafford and Lord Deputy of Ireland under Charles 1st.
Wentworth bought Coollattin in 1637 as part of his total holding of ten-thousand acres which he called ‘Fairwood’. The property which had extensive woodland was used by Wentworth as a deer park. Wentworths actions as Charles’ ‘ablest’ advisor made him one of the most unpopular men in England. Wentworth’s enemies eventually brought a charge of High Treason against him resulting in his execution at the Tower of London in 1641.
