for Galway and High Sheriff of County Galway for 1681. On his death in 1685 the property passed to his eldest son John (known as Proud Eyre). From him it passed in turn to John's son George (High Sheriff in 1706 but who died young in 1710), then to George's brother, John (High Sheriff in 1724) and then to a third brother, the Revd. Giles, Dean of Killaloe and Clonfert. From Giles it passed to Giles' son John, who was made Baron Eyre. Lord Eyre died childless in 1781 and the peerage became extinct. The house, however, was inherited by his nephew Lieutenant-Colonel Giles Eyre (High Sheriff in 1798), who spent a lot of money on unsuccessful electioneering. He left it to his own eldest son, John (1794–1856). John was killed whilst hunting and it passed to his son, yet another John (1820–1890). On the latter's death in 1890 it descended to William Henry Gregory Eyre, an Assistant Land Commissioner. In 1883 the Eyres were considered insolvent and the estate was offered for sale. By the 1920s the house was falling into decay and around 1950 the staircase was purchased by William Randolph Hearst. Since then the house has been left to collapse although the staircase still exists in storage at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Notes and references Rolf Loeber, Early Classicism in Ireland: Architecture before the Georgian Era in Architectural History Volume 22 (1979) Peter Harbison, Ireland's Treasures: 5000 Years of Artistic Expression (2004), Pigot & Co's Provincial Directory of Ireland 1824 Slater's Directory of Ireland 1846 Memoirs of Richard Cumberland Written by Himself, chapter 3 (1806) See also Plantations of Ireland Edmund Ludlow Miyazaki House External links Detailed description of the house in the Irish Arts Review (subscription required) Further reading M. Bence-Jones, A Guide to Irish Country Houses (London, 1988) Ida Gantz, Signpost to Eyrecourt (1975) Harman Murtagh, Early Modern Times in The Shell Guide to the River Shannon Buildings and structures in Galway (city) Castles in County Galway Eyre family Houses in the Republic of Ireland Ruins in the Republic of Ireland