Ardress House

Ardress House is a historic house in County Armagh, cared for by the National Trust. Read about its history, architecture and gardens, plus how to visit and what's nearby.

About Ardress House

Ardress House near Annaghmore in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, began as a 17th-century farmhouse.

George Ensor, an architect who married into the Clarke family, remodelled it between 1778 and 1783 into a refined Georgian residence with fine plasterwork interiors.

The property retains its farmyard with historic farm implements.

The National Trust now manages the house and grounds.

History of Ardress House

The house began as a plain farmhouse before George Ensor, an architect who married into the Clarke family that owned it, extended and refashioned it between 1778 and 1783. The National Trust later took on the property, preserving both the main house and its working farmyard as a record of rural estate life in Ulster.

Architecture of Ardress House

The house shows a clear contrast between its original plain farmhouse structure and the refined Georgian additions made by George Ensor, including decorative plasterwork in the neoclassical style popular in Ireland at the time.

Worth knowing

George Ensor's marriage into the family that owned Ardress brought him the commission that shaped the house's Georgian character.

Gardens & grounds at Ardress House

The grounds include an orchard and parkland typical of small Ulster estates of the period, though the farmyard is the more distinctive outdoor feature.