The first Oliver to reside in this area was a Captain Robert Oliver who was a Cromwellian soldier. The land had been confiscated from Sir Edward Fitzharris during the Cromwellian War. Oliver is supposed to have been offered all the land he could see from Seefin, initially taking over 1,950 acres around 1660AD. Oliver became a M. P. and became very powerful, building up his estate to around 20,000 acres. Arthur Young, the British Agriculturist who toured Ireland in 1776 gave a very good account of the magnificent job done there by the Olivers. There were 80 labourers working there, it carried 45 horses and 10 plough oxen at that time. Various government acts however, reduced the power of the Olivers.

A Richard Oliver married a member of the Gascoigne family from Yorkshire, Parlington, a township in the parish of Aberford lower division of Skyrack on the Liberty of Pontefract. This has been the seat of a branch of the ancient family of Gascoignes of Gawthorpe. The baronetage of which became extant on the death of Sir Thomas Gascoigne When Richard Oliver Esq. of Parlington later inheriting his father-in- law's estate, and in compliance with Sir Thomas, assumed the name Gascogine. He moved to live there in 1812. He left the estate in the care of a very bad steward and the lot fell into disrepair. An English army officer named Gilbert married one of the Olivers and they must have lived on the estate, for it was there that the famous or infamous Lola Montez was born in 1818- an extremely beautiful lady or rather loose morals, she caused trouble wherever she went. Married many times, she at one stage was mistress to King Ludwig of Bavaria. She practically ruled that country until both herself and Ludwig were forced into exile. A turning point came in her life when she met an old school pal who was helping outcasts in society. Lola joined her but died from a creeping paralysis 3 years later. She is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery, New York - a strange coincidence for the wood, which overlooks the house where she was born, is also called "The Greenwood".

Castle Oliver as we know it today was built for Elizabeth & Isabella Oliver Gascoigne in the 1845- 1850 period. It is built of red sandstone and contains 40 bedrooms. The designer was Fowler Jones. The building of the castle and the walling in of the reduced estate brought great relief to the local tenants during the famine years. A Captain Trench from Galway stationed at the Glenosheen Barracks married a Miss Oliver Gascoigne after the famine and she thereby became the first Mrs. Trench to reside in the new Castle. After his father's death, Captain Trench got the title of Lord Ashtown. In later years the Land Commission divided much of the original land amongst the local farmers. The last Mrs. Trench who lived here sold the property to the Millstreet racing driver Billy Coleman but it has been sold several times in recent years.

Kindly compiled by Carmel Fennessy O'Sullivan and Michael .I. Hennessy. Photos by Carmel Fennessy O'Sullivan.

For info on the nearby village of Ballyorgan click here