Built / Designed For: Owen Wynne

House & Family History: Owen Wynne bought 14,500 acres in Sligo in 1722 and built a Palladian house on a peninsula in Lough Gill in 1731 to the designs of Richard Castle. Hazlewood is a house with a center block of three stories and bays bays over a basement joined by quadrants that link to two-story wings, each three bays long and three bays deep. The Hall has Doric half-columns, pilasters, a frieze, and niches with drapery swags in the surrounds. The Wynnes held high positions in the county and the nation, being regularly high sheriffs of the county and members of Parliament in Dublin, and were, according to the standards of the time, very good landlords. During the potato famine John Wynne reduced his tenants' rent and helped families who wished to emigrate, paying £13 or £14 per family for the voyage to Canada. Lord Palmerston came to stay at Hazlewood in 1808. The Estate stayed in the Wynne family until 1937, when it was sold to the Land Commission. During World War II the Irish Army occupied the House. Hazlewood was put up for sale in 1946, the buyer being required to demolish the House, remove all the materials, and level the site. A leading article in the "Sligo Champion" commented: "The Land Commission specializes in the destruction of some of our most ornate buildings; whereas in England such houses are acquired by the National Trust, in Ireland the value of such a house is measured by the content of lead in the roof." Fortunately, the House was withdrawn from sale and became a mental hospital. In 1969 the Italian fiber company SNIA bought Hazlewood and used it as their Irish headquarters and factory, employing 500 people at one point. In 1983 Saehan Corporation (a South Korean company) purchased Hazlewood and built in the grounds a videotape factory. The House still stands, though it is not open to the public; there are, however, beautiful public walks through the woods by the lakeside, which used to form part of the Estate. (We are most grateful to David Parsons for providing this history of Hazlewood).

House Listed: Unknown

Park Listed: Unknown

Past Seat / Home of: Owen Wynne, 18th century; Wynne family here from 1722 until 1937.

Current Ownership Type: Corporation

Primary Current Ownership Use: Other

Ownership Details: Today a factory owned by Saehan Corporation

House Open to Public: No

Historic Houses Member: No