This substantial Georgian mansion, built in the 18th century with early 19th century additions, was once a grand two storey residence over a basement. Today, visitors to what is now a forest park will find only the hollow shell of the building; its walls still standing but with doors and windows blocked up, the result of a devastating fire that gutted the house in 1941.

There’s been some historical confusion about whether Curragh Chase House sits on the site of an earlier castle. The antiquarian Thomas Johnson Westropp, writing in the early 1900s, suggested the house might have been built where Curragh Castle once stood, a fortification mentioned in the Desmond Roll. However, more recent archaeological assessment indicates this isn’t the case; the castle referenced in that medieval document is more likely the one located about two kilometres north in the townland of Currahchase North.

The demesne surrounding the ruined house has been transformed into a public forest park, allowing visitors to wander through the grounds where the local gentry once strolled. While the blocked openings and empty interior speak to the house’s tragic end, the enduring walls offer a glimpse into the grandeur of Anglo Irish country house architecture, even as nature slowly reclaims the estate that once dominated this corner of Limerick.