The destruction of the Barnane mansion

After 1932, when Captain Andrew Carden died, the mansion came into the possession of Walter Thompson, his 'good friend.'  The Thompson family had been associated with Barnane for several generations, and Andrew's father had let a large part of the estate to them. I recently met Walter Thompson's son, a bishop-abbot in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Apparently after destroying the mansion by selling the lead on the roof and other acts to meet his heavy debts, Walter Thompson married Annie, only daughter of H J Butler-Lloyd of Lloydsboro', a nearby mansion.  Their son, baptised as Mervyn Thomson-Butler-Lloyd, but now known as Father Demetrius, was born in 1939. Walter served at Dublin Castle during the war.

More about Walter Thomson and Father Demetrius, whose photographs appear here, will appear in my forthcoming supplement to Carden of Barnane.

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