Bundoran from Henry Coulter’s "The West of Ireland," 1862
Historically known as Bundoran Lodge, Ireland’s oldest historic building of seaside tourist accommodation was renamed and rebranded The Viscount Guesthouse in 2019.
Named after Viscount Enniskillen, William Willoughby Cole, 1st Earl of Enniskillen (1736-1803), The Viscount, as it is called in the seaside town, was built by Viscount Enniskillen as his summer home in 1777.
The lodge is Bundoran’s “oldest prominent building,” as stated by Donegal Tourism Officer and former Bundoran Tourism Officer, Shane Smyth.
While it is generally claimed by Donegal historians and Discover Bundoran tourist officials that Bundoran Lodge was built in 1777, it is actually an older structure.
Bundoran Lodge and Viscount Enniskillen’s name is depicted on an old Donegal strip map from surveyors Taylor and Skinner in 1777. Taylor and Skinner surveyed Donegal in 1777, and the presence of Bundoran Lodge on this map suggests that the building predates 1777.
Bundoran Lodge on Taylor and Skinner’s map, 1777.
The 18th century, particularly during the Georgian period (1714–1837), marked a peak in the construction of coastal and country lodges and houses in Ireland.
Although elements of Bundoran Lodge have modernised when it was rebranded The Viscount Guesthouse in 2019, the Ascendancy features are historically still identifiable today with a mid to late 18th-century Georgian design, characterised by architectural symmetry, pitched roof, large sash windows, and multiple, elegant chimneys.
Bundoran Lodge.
Viscount Enniskillen named his beautifully situated summer home Bundoran Lodge after the beautiful seaside village of Bundoran. In 1777, Bundoran Lodge was originally surrounded by picturesque meadows and commanded a scenic view of Donegal Bay.
The humble thatched village of Bundoran was a proud fishing and farming community, working hard to survive under the harsh constraints of plantation, colonial rule, and oppressive landlordism.
Long before Bundoran officially became “the Surf Capital of Ireland,” its awe-inspiring surf in 1777 was one of its most stunning natural attractions.
The reason the architect of Viscount Enniskillen’s Bundoran Lodge situated the lodge in a slight north-western direction is because it offered the ideal view to best overlook the reef break and surf at the world-renowned surf spot, The Peak.
A long row of oak trees was planted alongside the landscaped boundary of the lodge ,sloping down to the seafront – framing symmetrical A-frame waves.
The landscaping was designed by one of Ireland’s greatest landscape gardeners of the time, William King, in 1777. He also landscaped Florence Court’s undulating main drive for Viscount Enniskillen.
Another additional, historic reason for its location is that the O’Donnells once had a small medieval coastal watchtower that was directly situated at the lodge’s seafront, across the road from today’s 7 Bay View Terrace.
Built by Hugh Roe O’Donnell (1429-1505), this tower was used as a lookout to oversee Donegal Bay and guard the southern maritime approaches to Tyrconnell. It also functioned as a fishing house for the O’Donnells’ fisheries in Bundoran and Ballyshannon.
In 1777, Viscount Enniskillen repurposed the tower as an amenity. However, the 300-year tower was razed when the new landlord from Pettigo, Hazlett Hamilton, landed in Bundoran in the early 1830s.
Viscount Enniskillen and his wife, the Countess of Enniskillen, Anne Lowry-Corry, and their young children enjoyed their summers at Bundoran Lodge. The family entertained many guests from Ireland and around the world.
Newspapers reported Bundoran Lodge over the years as it was “TO BE LET FURNISHED FOR THE ENTIRE OF BATHING SEASON” for tourists and visitors:
Dublin Evening Post, February 28, 1818: "a comfortable BATHING-LODGE, at Bundoran, with Coach-house and Stable, and Six acres of prime Meadow Ground."
Enniskillen Chronicle and Erne Packet, Apr 15, 1824: "That Capital House and Offices" the "MOST COMMODIOUS BATHING-LODGE AT BUNDORAN, WIth Grass for Horses, &c. if required."
Enniskillen Chronicle and Erne Packet, June 16, 1825: “WITH Grass for a Cow and the use of a garden.”
The Enniskillen Chronicle and Erne Packet, May 4, 1843: “WITH ABOUT 15 ACRES OF GROUND AND AN EXCELLENT GARDEN . . . it contains Drawing and Dining-Rooms, small Parlour and four excellent Bed-rooms, with Servants apartments and Offices.”
Two watercolour on ivory portraits of the Earl and Countess were created during summertime in Bundoran Lodge by the artist, Horace Hone (1718-1784).
1st Earl of Enniskillen c. 1790 and Countess of Enniskillen c.1785.
Horace was the son of artist Nathaniel Hone the Elder RA (1718-1784), one of the founding members of the Royal Academy. These portraits are held at the Cole’s ancestral seat of Florence Court.
The Hone family was familiar with Bundoran. Horace’s great nephew, Nathaniel Hone the Younger, painted several paintings of Bundoran’s seascape that are displayed in The Ulster Museum and The National Gallery of Ireland.
Bundoran Sands, Stormy Day by Nathaniel Hone the Younger (The Ulster Museum)
The Younger was one of the most important Irish landscape painters of his generation, and also stayed in the lodge when visiting Bundoran.
Bundoran Head by Nathaniel Hone the Younger (The National Gallery of Ireland)
However, 20 years into Viscount Enniskillen’s stay in Bundoran Lodge, class tensions between the native Irish and the Ascendency clashed in Bundoran in the lead up to the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
United Irishmen conducted armed raids on big houses in south Donegal, and Viscount Enniskillen’s “beautiful bathing lodge” was burnt down. A good part of the lodge remained intact, and it was rebuilt after the revolutionary leader, Wolfe Tone, was captured off the coast of Donegal in October, 1798.
True Briton reported that Viscount Enniskillen’s wife, the Countess of Enniskillen, died in the lodge on October 4, 1802, from a “bursting of a blood-vessel,” and the Earl died a year later at Florence Court.
The late Bundoran native and historian, Fr. Paddy Gallagher, in his book "Where Erne and Drowes meet the sea" (1961), stated that “Viscount Enniskillen, when he built Bundoran Lodge, seems to have set the fashion of frequenting this watering-place.”
From a tourist viewpoint, Viscount Enniskillen’s Bundoran Lodge laid the cornerstone that inspired the building of many other famous bathing lodges, big houses, and hotels in Bundoran such as Rochfort Lodge (named after Captain Rochfort who fought at the Battle of Waterloo), Fair View Lodge (later Dane Ville), the Gore-Booth’s Seaview, Rose Lodge (Dingleicoush) and Allingham Lodge.
Viscount Enniskillen could be considered Ireland’s 1st Earl of Seaside Tourism as the Northwest’s tourist industry developed from Bundoran Lodge, “The Brighton of Ireland.” The construction of Bundoran Lodge represented the early, foundational model for successful Irish seaside tourist resorts in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.
Other than the gentry and “the fashionables,” many famous artists stayed in the lodge throughout the years as they created their romantic artworks of Bundoran, such as G.F. Sargent and Josiah Wood Whimper in the 1830s and David Hall McKewan in 1855.
Bundoran Lodge, first building in the background on the far left. G.F. Sargent c.1830.
Bundoran by David Hall McKewan, 1855. Courtesy of Éamon Ó Caoineachán.
Famous Ballyshannon poet William Allingham frequently visited the lodge, which was located adjacent to Allingham Lodge, owned by Allingham’s first cousin, Florinda Allingham.
Allingham Lodge was built on the land owned by Viscount Enniskillen and can be observed in McKewan’s painting. Sadly, Allingham Lodge obstructs the view of Bundoran Lodge, which was located directly behind it.
Allingham composed his iconic poem, "The Winding Banks of the Erne," partly inspired by Bundoran:
Bundoran! and your summer crowds that run
From inland homes to see with joy th'Atlantic-setting sun.
To breathe the buoyant salted air, and sport among the waves;
To gather shells on sandy beach, and tempt the gloomy caves;
To watch the flowing, ebbing tide, the boats, the crabs, the fish;
Young men and maids to meet and smile, and form a tender wish;
The sick and old in search of health, for all things have their turn—
And I must quit my native shore and the winding banks of Erne!
Sparking the growth of seaside tourism in Ireland, Bundoran Lodge gave rise to “The most celebrated watering place on the whole northwest coast of Ireland,” according to Dubliner John Savage’s "Picturesque Ireland" (1877).
The recently rediscovered historic guide-book of Bundoran, one of the finest of its kind in Ireland, T.C. Connolly’s "Bundoran and its Neighourhood" (1896) stated: “As a tourist resort and delightful watering-place, Bundoran is well known and widely appreciated . . . among the best appreciated in Ireland.”
Connolly noted that in the 1890s, “Nearly all the Irish seaside and health resorts are young,” but remarked that 60 years ago, in the 1830s, Bundoran was unique in Ireland “and yet it was no uncommon site to witness, even them a car-load of 'visitors' proceeding to Bundoran, attended by a cart conveying all the household 'goods and chattels' necessary for a few weeks ‘ residence at the 'salt-water.'"
Viscount Enniskillen’s Bundoran Lodge established Bundoran as Ireland’s most popular seaside resort and coastal destination for a century, causing The Enniskillen and Bundoran Railway to construct their railway line to Bundoran in 1866, followed by the building of The Great Northern Hotel in 1894.
The trains that journeyed to Bundoran from around Ireland for the next century carried hundreds of thousands of excited travellers to the Atlantic seaside.
One person who travelled on that train to Bundoran from Dublin multiple times is Irish photographer Robert French, who took over 200 photographs for the Lawrence Collection of Bundoran, the most taken of any town in Donegal.
Bundoran Lodge features in the background of a couple of his photographs from c.1904-1905. The three buildings around the lodge, Christ Church c.1839, Bay View Terrace c.1890, and the New York Tourist Hotel (American House) c.1905, as well as every tourist lodge, hotel, and business in Bundoran today – all owe their origin and success to Bundoran Lodge bringing tourism to Bundoran.
Bundoran Lodge c.1904-1905 by Robert French (National Library of Ireland)
This summer, locals and tourists have questioned why Bundoran Lodge, now The Viscount Guesthouse, Bundoran’s oldest historic building, has yet to be listed in Donegal's Record of Protected Structures.
Great work is currently underway with the conservation of Finner Church and Graveyard through the Community Monuments Fund thanks to Val O'Kelly, Danielle and Seanie Carty (in honour of Sean Meehan); however, no historic building in Bundoran has been listed on the Record of Protected Structures since 2007. Indeed, other than Bundoran Lodge, many historic buildings of built heritage need to be protected in Bundoran since some are under threat of being demolished such as Hamilton Hall 1893, Rochfort Lodge and gatehouse c. 1820, St. Patrick’s House (East End) c.1800, and Asgard House (West End) c.1800 to name just a few.
For well over two centuries, Bundoran Lodge has symbolised Bundoran’s rich tourism history, and the local and tourist community hope that it will be protected in time to celebrate and commemorate the significant history-making event of its 250th anniversary in 2027.
Unfortunately, this historic building of built heritage is no longer accessible to locals and tourists on Bundoran’s Historical Walking Trail, which was researched and produced by Magh Ene Historical Society, neither is it currently a tourism resource nor a valuable asset to Bundoran and Donegal’s economy.
Once at the historic centre for attracting Irish and international tourists to Bundoran, the building as it stands today, with its proud yet unprotected history – Ireland’s most historic building of seaside tourist accommodation – operates as an International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centre.
Bundoran Lodge (The Viscount Guesthouse)
*Éamon Ó Caoineachán (Eddie Keenaghan) is a poet, writer, and historian, originally from Bundoran, Co Donegal, but now living on the Gulf Coast of Texas. He is currently a PhD postgraduate in Arts at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick.