Conolly's Folly

The Conolly Folly. The Obelisk is an obelisk structure and National Monument located near Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. The folly become constructed simply outdoor Castleton Estate containing Castletown House, which includes follies, both commissioned by Katherine Conolly, the philanthropic widow of Speaker William Conolly, at a cost of £400 to offer employment for the bad of Celbridge while the famine of 1740 to forty one changed into at its worst. The Obelisk was constructed in 1740 after a especially extreme wintry weather. As a folly, it may be seen from the returned of Castletown a few 4 kilometers away and its miles constructed exactly perpendicular to the centre of the residence. It turned into meant to mark the rear entrance gateway to Castletown house together with an street main to the house.

The folly becomes built on land that was close to, but no longer on, the Conolly estate. It therefore belonged to neighboring Carton, the house of the FitzGerald family, Dukes of Leinster. Designed by using Richard Castle, it's far forty two meters high and consists of several arches, embellished by using stone pineapples and eagles, crowned by means of a large obelisk pillar. It was restored in 1961 to 65 through the Irish Georgian Society, and below is the grave of Mariga, first wife of the Hon. Desmond Guinness of Leixlip Castle.