Built / Designed For: Long family
House & Family History: Longfield is a late 18th century house of three stories with a curved bow in the center of the Entrance Facade. The Long family made their fortune in India; they purchased the estate of 1,000 acres and built the current house, to the designs of an unknown architect, in 1770. In 1846, after the potato famine had obliterated the rents and Captain Richard Long's father had been murdered, the Estate was sold to Charles Bianconi for £22,000. Bianconi, called the "King of the Irish Roads," came to Ireland penniless and made a fortune by operating an efficient and fast system of horse-drawn cars that transported mail and passengers over the whole of Ireland. Bianconi's daughter married a nephew of Daniel O'Connell ("The Liberator"), from whence Longfield passed into the O'Connell family. The House is today part of Coolmore Stud Farms.
Garden & Outbuildings: Charles Bianconi (1786-1875) laid out a formal Italian garden with yew hedges and urns and statuary imported from Italy.
Title: Guide to Irish Country Houses, A
Author: Bence-Jones, Mark
Year Published: 1988
Publisher: London: Constable and Company
ISBN: 0094699909
Book Type: Hardback
Title: Great Irish Houses and Castles
Author: O'Brien, Jacqueline; Guinness, Desmond
Year Published: 1992
Publisher: New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
ISBN: 0810933659
Book Type: Hardback
House Listed: Grade II
Park Listed: Not Listed
Past Seat / Home of: Long family. Charles Bianconi. O'Connell family.
Current Ownership Type: Corporation
Primary Current Ownership Use: Other
Ownership Details: Part of Coolmore Stud Farms
House Open to Public: No
Historic Houses Member: No