Why the Carden family left Templemore

Auction of massive local estate

By Ronan Loughnane

Sir John Craven Carden, Fifth Baronet, left Templemore for Edinburgh in 1902 following the break-up of his marriage to Sybil Baker, whom he married in 1891. She was a daughter of General Valentine Baker, head of the Egyptian Police from 1882 until his death in 1887. Sir John stayed at the North Station Hotel in Edinburgh, now the Balmoral, until his death in 1931. Whether he lived there on a continuous basis throughout those 29 years is unknown. Shortly after the break-up Sybil and the children, John Valentine, aged 10 years and Audrey, five, returned to England to live in Dartmouth.

In a subsequent marriage settlement case, held in London in January 1907, Sybil was awarded £12,661. This was a phenomenal amount of money for its time and left Sir John with a hefty bill.

Meanwhile back in Templemore the Abbey was under lock and key under the supervision of Carden’s agent, Henry Morgan, who resided at Abbey Cottage, later the Scott family home. Within a year of the settlement Sir John directed Bennett and Son, Auctioneers, Dublin, to sell the entire contents of the house. We don’t know for certain that this action was taken to pay the debt owed to Sybil, but considering that it generated £7,164, it is a more than a reasonable assumption.

The auction took place over six days in late March and early April, 1908. Advertisements in the local newspapers anticipated visitors from across the United Kingdom and Europe, so vast was the collection on offer. Purchase of the catalogue, which included entry to the auction, was priced at two shillings and sixpence, beyond the reach of many locals at that time. The house along with 1,230 acres of land was sold to a consortium of five local businessmen in October 1920 for £50,000. This consortium, often referred to as the 'Big Five', comprised John Egan, George’s Street; Richard Meagher, George’s Street; Thomas Maher, Talavera; Michael Meagher, Main Street and William Meagher, Richmond.

They held another auction in January 1921, before the military occupied the house in late January. Following the departure of the military in May 1921, the consortium grew from five to 11 with Canon Daniel Kiely, PP; James Shelley, Mary Street; John Larkin, Cobbs; Patrick Pratt, Main Street; Michael Cahill, Templemore and William Armitage, Bank Street, contributing £25,000 between them on June 14, 1921.

Five days later the house was destroyed by fire. In October 1921, the compensation court paid out £35,000 in damages to the consortium. A detailed description of the burning of the house, given by Seán Scott in 1957, can be found in the Bureau of Military History, and is available to read online.

A large quantity of the cut stone from the Abbey was purchased for £500 by Mount St Joseph, Roscrea, at an auction in 1923 and was used in the decoration of their church and grounds. The magnificent Gothic Templemore Abbey, built between 1856 and 1861, was amongst the finest country houses in Ireland and we can only speculate what the future may have held for the town of Templemore had the house remained intact.