Irish Manor House : History of Coopershill
Coopershill was first occupied by Arthur & Sarah’s son, Arthur Brooke Cooper, who married a lady from a nearby ancient Irish family, Jane Francis O’Hara. The next owner of the house was Arthur Brooke & Jane’s second son, Charles William Cooper. At this time, the head of the O’Hara family at nearby Annaghmore was Charles King O’Hara, a bachelor. Wishing to perpetuate the name of his family, Charles King offered to leave in his will the vast estates and Country House of Annaghmore to his nephew, Charles William Cooper, provided that the latter would change his name to O’Hara, his mother’s maiden name. This he did by Royal Warrant in 1860 and looking for more luxury in Sligo, moved with his wife Annie to Annaghmore. He retained ownership of Coopershill, and left his two spinster sisters to continue living there. Charles William & Annie had 14 children, 5 of whom died before reaching the age of 28. The surviving 9 were sufficient to ensure that Simon is related to a large number of the present day residents in the area!
Annaghmore was inherited by Charles William & Annie’s eldest son Charles,and Coopershill by their second son Arthur. Arthur died in 1934 and Charles in 1947. Both were bachelors and they left their properties to Simon’s Great Grandfather, Freddie. Although Freddie was 12th to be born and not the next in line, he had married Muriel Henn from County Clare, and they already had sons to eventually inherit both properties. This was considered very important at the time and so Annaghmore was subsequently inherited by Freddie & Muriel’s eldest son Donal, and Coopershill by their second son Frank, Simon’s Grandfather. Frank had married an English woman, Joan Bridgeman, during his career of tea planting in India. After Freddie’s death in 1947, Frank & Joan moved to Coopershill to start a new life in agriculture, quite a challenge at the time of farm mechanization of the early 1950s.
After Frank & Joan’s family of 6 had grown up, they created a new source of modest income from taking in families for holidays in the summer months. An Irish Country House Hotel right at the beginning of tourism in Ireland. A big attraction were the ponies in the stables at that time, and some families came year after year for the childrens’ riding. Frank died in 1982, and Joan continued for another 4 years on her own, joining a growing group of owners of large manor houses from all over Ireland who could only keep their houses in shape with the aid of income generated by taking paying guests. Joan died in 2008 at home in Coopershill after 95 years of remarkable energy and boundless cheerfulness.
Simon’s parents, Brian & Lindy, came to take over the Country House Hotel in early 1987, adding 3 more guest bedrooms to the original 5 and investing much love, attention and funds in the renovation and care of the mansion until their retirement in 2007. They came to set the standard for luxury accommodation in Co. Sligo. They now live in a new stone house beside the stables and have 3 sons. The eldest, Paul, lives in Hong Kong with his wife Katie and daughters Megan and Lucy. The youngest, Sean, lives in the UK with his wife Julia and son Seamus. Simon, the latest custodian and inhabitant of Coopershill has a son, Kian O’Hara Zapata, who lives in Mexico City. Brian & Lindy also run a fallow deer farm, and Brian’s younger brother Tim, his wife Jane & son Mark have a sheep farm and vegetable processing business on the adjoining property.
Simon’s 2nd cousin Durcan O'Hara now lives at Annaghmore Manor House, just 8 miles from Coopershill.
