History Continued

Coopershill was first occupied by Arthur and Sarah Coopers' 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 and 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 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, when he moved with his wife Annie to Annaghmore. He retained ownership of Coopershill, and left his two spinster sisters to continue living there.

Charles William and Annie had 14 children, 5 of whom died before reaching the age of 28. The surviving 9 were sufficient to ensure that the present O'Hara's are related to a large number of residents in the area! Annaghmore was inherited by Charles William and Annie's eldest son Charles, while Coopershill was inherited by their second son Arthur. Arthur died in 1934 and Charles in 1947. Both were bachelors and they left their properties to the present owner's 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 and Muriel's eldest son Donal and Coopershill by their second son Frank, Brian's father.

Frank had married an English woman, Joan Bridgeman, during his career of tea farming in India. After Freddie's death in 1947, Frank and 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 and Joan's family had grown up (Brian is the eldest of 6), they created a new source of modest income from taking in families for holidays during the summer months.

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 paying guests.

The present owners of Coopershill, Brian and Lindy, took over the business in early 1987, adding three more guest bedrooms to the original five. They have 3 grown up sons, one in England, two are married, one living in Hong Kong, with a daughter, and one in Mexico City, with a son. Brian's mother, a vigorous 92 year old, lives right next door in what used to be the coachman's house. Brian and Lindy also run a deer farm, with Fallow deer, and Brian's younger brother Tim, his wife Jane and son Mark have a sheep farm and vegetable processing business on the adjoining property.

Brian's 1st cousin Dermot and his family now live at Annaghmore, just 8 miles from Coopershill.

Coopershill Historic Country House Hotel, Co Sligo, Ireland

Coopershill House, Riverstown, Co Sligo, Ireland, T +353 (0) 7191 65108 ~ F +353 (0) 7191 65466 ~ E