The Wonderful Barn

The Wonderful Barn was constructed in 1743 at Barnhall, near Leixlip, on the Castletown Estate. Commissioned by Katherine Conolly, widow of William 'Speaker' Conolly, the structure was built as a relief scheme in response to the devastating famine of 1740-41, known as the 'Year of the Slaughter' or the 'Black Spring', when crop failures and livestock starvation caused widespread death and hards...