The novelist George Moore never lived at Ashbrook, but was well aware of it; it represents an important part of his Irish identity. He recalled a visit there in Chapter 7 of Parnell and His Island (1887) and Chapter 1 of Hail and Farewell! Vale (1914).
Ashbrook House near Strade in County Mayo is about 30 kilometers or 18 miles north of Moore Hall — a 30 minute drive today but a full day on foot or horseback in the 1790s.
Captain George Moore, a distinguished veteran of King William’s army at the Battle of the Boyne, was granted the lands of Ashbrook as a reward for his service. A few years later he built Ashbrook House as a three- or five-bay, two-story farmhouse with a walled garden.
The Moore family history of this time is recorded though somewhat ambiguous. Refer to the Moore Family Tree for a rudimentary chronology; and to Saving a Part of Mayo’s Heritage and Our Irish Heritage.
The captain and his descendants who occupied Ashbrook House during the eighteenth century were buried on the grounds of the family chapel. The last to be buried there was George Moore (1729-1799) the novelist’s great-great grandfather who founded Moore Hall in 1795.
The main Ashbrook House fell into ruins during the 19th century, though a two-story section is still intact; quite recently it was carefully restored by the private owner with the aid government funding.
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