The House
Milford House- formerly Lisheenboy House
History
The oldest visible signs of human habitation on the site date to approximately the 11th century. There is a sunken rectangular walled structure to south of the main building that was probably a fortified house or bawn. Material from that structure may have been used to build the later farmhouse in about 1630. The lands at that time were owned by the O’Carroll’s evidenced by geneology that mentions Lisheenboy house in the seventeenth century and a Chancery bill regarding a dispute over the leasing of some land dated 1721 It is also known that the final O’caaroll owners opf the estate were Stone masons and they regularly made trips to Dublin for work. They were Jacobites and were destitute by the 1730’s. The rather grander structure built to the east side of the farmhouse in about 1750 -70 was built by the Smiths who had come from the north of England to the Midlands of Ireland presumably at the behest of Oliver Cromwell in the late seventeenth century. It is not known how they came to be awarded the lands by the English regime. They only held the lands for a century or so because a delegation of local farmers ordered them off the lands in 1849 and they subsequently emigrated to Australia. The house was sold under the encumbered estates act in 1857 to a local famer by the name of Murphy. There is evidence from the graffiti revealed under layers of wall paper in the House and from clearing the barns that there was possibly an old IRA cell or at least strong sympathy for the cause . The graffiti dates around 1914 – 21.
Landscape
The house is set in 17 acres of slightly undulating land 5 kilometres walk from the shores of Lough Derg in North Tipperary. It was grazed by cattle until summer 2020 however it has three areas of recovering woodland. Furthermore, it has many beech, oak, scots pine and lime trees some of which may be up to 300 years old. In summer and autumn the foliage is alighted upon by a wide range of butterflies and the native Irish black bee. There are red squirrel, hare, pine martin two species of bat, the soprano pipistrel and the long eared bat in residence on the lands. There are ravens, barn owls & buzzards on the lands and once a white tailed eagle was spotted very high in the sky. There is an ancient orchard with both cooking and delicious eating apples not to mention four cherry trees
Accommodation
The house is currently in a consultation process for restoration and repair, subject to planning, it will contain eight live in artist studios, a cinema and performance room, a dance and movement studio a library and a drawing room.
The barns are being cleared out to provide additional studio spaces and eventually subject to planning, will include a printmaking studio and a ceramics area
There is also a cottage suitable for artist couples or those with children.