Glencairn House

George Gresson had a successful career as a solicitor in Dublin. He never married and in the year after his death (1877) his heirs sold Glencairn to the Rt. Hon. Justice James Murphy, a Privy Counsellor and Judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature. Murphy became a household name in Ireland after convicting "The Invincibles" - a splinter group of the Irish Republican Brotherhood - of the 1882 Burke and Cavendish murders in Phoenix Park. The murders struck a blow at the whole nation as they had no effect other than completely derailing the life's work of Charles Stewart Parnell who had been on the cusp of winning Home Rule for Ireland. A few years after Judge Murphy died his widow sold the 35-acre estate in 1904 to the notorious Irish-American, "Boss Croker".

Before becoming the Leader of New York's once all-powerful political machine known as Tammany Hall, The New York Times described Croker as a “Dictator, Gang Leader, Prize Fighter, Alderman, and Coroner;" and, despite occupying a post without a salary, by 1900 he had managed to accrue a fortune of between $3-5 million principally through extortion, prostitution, bribes, and pay backs from those he awarded with lucrative council contracts. According to David Slattery's book on unusual Irish lives, Boss Croker (prounced 'Crocker') was, "probably the most corrupt person in the world at that time".

New York, England to Ireland

After his fortune came under scrutiny in New York, Croker retired to England in 1901 where he bought an estate at Wantage in Oxfordshire and settled down to raising and training thoroughbreds for a shot at the turf's most prestigious prizes. But, his reputation had preceded him and that combined with his training methods saw him treated with a distinct cold-shoulder by the English racing community, culminating in the Jockey Club refusing him permission to establish his racing and breeding operation in Newmarket.

Boss Croker's Gothic Makeover

On hearing of King Edward VII's official visit to Ireland in 1903, Croker was reminded of the country he left when he was just six years old. On a whim, he purchased Glencairn that boasted a large conservatory, walled fruit gardens, and formal gardens with a croquet lawn. Nonetheless, he spent a further £75,000 hiring James Franklin Fuller to give the house a Gothic makeover with crenelations and a tower that was added to a new wing flanked on three sides by an Italianate pavilion with pillars crafted from Leinster granite. On completion in 1909, Glencairn didn't look entirely dissimilar to Lyndhurst in New York, the country home of the infamous 'robber baron,' Jay Gould.

In addition to the works on the house itself, Fuller added stabling for 40-horses with its own electricity supply from a gas-powered generator. For a further £6,000 he then laid out another six acres of formal gardens with a pond and maze.

Inside, the renovation saw the house fitted with stained glass windows, a mahogany staircase, polished oak floors and an "impregnable strong room" for Croker's ill-got ingots . After his son Howard's death from an apparent drug overdose in California, Croker converted one of the upstairs rooms into a private chapel with stained glass windows and a vaulted ceiling - although Croker had started life as a Protestant he converted to Catholicism to marry his first wife. There were six family bedrooms upstairs and the reception rooms included the Grand Hall, Oriental Room, Study, Library, Billiard's Room, and Drawing Room. The poet and future state senator, Oliver St. John Gocarty, noted with wry amusement that Croker (who was remembered as a man with a limited vocabulary) had ordered his library to be filled with a thousand volumes of algebra, "to decorate its walls" intermingled with his less than high-brow detective novels and comics.

Partying in the "American Bar" and "The Biggest Tusks Outside Africa"

Soon after moving in, Croker invited all his staff and their families to a party in the 'American Bar' he fitted at Glencairn: "Hewn from solid oak, the counter was shaped like a horseshoe and a silver footrest ran its full length. Upholstery on its high stools was of regal purple and gold, a theme continued in the expensive fabric wallpaper. Spittoons placed around the walls were golden, too. Richard (Croker took) the occasional sip of Jack Daniel's. Most of the time however he stood behind the counter pulling a gold-trimmed ivory pump to dispense draught Guinness for all who wanted it. He did not bother using the silver measures when he was serving Irish whiskey or bourbon, fine wines, brandy or champagne. He discarded his expensive cigar for a humble Wild Woodbine 'coffin nail' cigarette. Music blared from a phonograph and coloured lights played on the first ballroom crystal sphere ever installed in Ireland. After a lavish buffet, he brought neighbours on a tour of his elaborately furnished reception rooms and bedrooms, billiard hall and library, stocked with a bizarre mixture of comic cuts, algebra texts and detective novels. He pointed to a pair of elephant tusks on the wall and remarked, "Did yez ever see anything like them yokes? Them's the biggest tusks outside Africa".

"Orby" and the First Irish Horse to Win the Epsom Derby

Adept at placing money into the hands that mattered (although it was no secret that Croker entertained prominent Irish rebels here) the Black-and-Tans were always careful to leave him and his house alone. But, Irish independence was of minor importance to Croker in comparison to his ambition to see his horses win on the turf and horse training facilities here saw the estate grow to over 500-acres. In 1907, he exceeded all expectations when his horse, "Orby" (who was actually born in England but was raised at Glencairn) became the first Irish-trained horse to win the coveted Epsom and Triple Derby.

Croker's Contested Coffers

The Boss died here in 1922 and after a mass in his private chapel he was buried in the grounds. His widow, Bula, was his second wife, forty years his junior, and generally referred to in the press as "an Indian Cherokee Princess". All but one of Croker's surviving children started legal proceedings against their father during his lifetime after he gave Bula power of attorney over his millions. The litigation intensified after his death and it wasn't until 1943 that what remained of his will was finally settled. In the meantime, lawyer's fees saw Bula file for involuntary bankruptcy in 1937. She had already mortgaged so heavily against Glencairn and their home in Palm Beach ("Wigwam") that by then her debts totalled a million dollars whereas her assets amounted to a mere $400.

The British Ambassador's Residence

In 1939, Bula sold Glencairn for £8,000 to Michael O'Neill who wasted no time in removing Croker's remains to Kilgobbin cemetery. Parcels of land were variously sold off and the housing estate known as "The Gallops" was built where Croker had once trained his horses. By the 1950s, the British government were looking for a new ambassadorial residence and Glencairn came onto their radar described as large and ugly and, "horrible inside, but £5,000 might put that straight". It was purchased in 1957 by the British for £30,000 (plus another £5,000 for the interiors) and it was just outside its gates that Ambassador Christopher Ewart-Biggs and his secretary Judith Cook were assassinated by the IRA in 1976. In 1999, it was sold for £24-million when the British intended to move to Marlay Grange but when the move fell through Glencairn was repurchased and it has remained as the official residence of the British Ambassador in Ireland ever since.