K Club

The Kildare Hotel and Golf Club is a golf and leisure complex in the Republic of Ireland, located at Straffan, County Kildare, west of Dublin. It is built on the original grounds of the Straffan estate, incorporating the 1830s Straffan House, and was owned by Michael Smurfit.

In 1831, Hugh Barton of the wine firm Barton and Guestier bought land at Straffan and nearby Barberstown Castle from the Henry family and had Straffan House built whilst he and his wife stayed at Barberstown. Completed in 1832, the design was based on a French chateau, with the later addition of a bell-tower, and now forms the east wing of the present complex. From Hugh the property passed, via his eldest son Nathaniel, to his eldest son Hugh Lynedoch, after which it passed to Hugh Lynedoch's brother, Bertram Francis. All served in turn as High Sheriff of Kildare. The estate remained in the Barton family until 1949, when Derick Barton was forced to sell the property to manufacturer John Ellis.

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