Large areas of Munster were seized by the English Crown following the collapse of the Desmond Rebellion in 1583.
Three years later Queen Elizabeth I granted lands at Castlelough, near Killarney, to the Welshman Sir William Herbert of St. Julians.
By the early eighteenth century members of the Herbert family had settled at Muckross.
Henry Arthur Herbert
He was the eldest son of Charles John Herbert (1785-1823) and his wife Louisa Middleton (1796-1828).
Henry Arthur Herbert was born at Muckross.
By the time Henry was thirteen years of age his parents and younger brother, Charles, had died. Having spent much of his early years in England, Henry inherited the Muckross estate in 1837 and immediately set about improving the estate. He built new farm buildings, school and a church in Cloghereen (Muckross) village.
Mary (1817–1893), daughter of James Balfour and Lady Eleanor Maitland of East Lothian, Scotland was a talented writer and artist.
She met Henry Arthur Herbert (1815–1866), while holidaying in Rome with her family during the winter of 1835.
Charles Balfour had helped to educate Henry at Cambridge University and was then enjoying a European tour.
James Balfour agreed to the marriage of his daughter Mary to Henry as he considered the latter to be a responsible, intelligent and admirably wealthy young man.
The young couple were married by William Gladstone at the Balfour family home, on the 25th of September 1837.
Upon their return to Muckross, Henry and Mary lived in Torc Cottage, before moving into a house that stood at the foot of Torc Mountain.
Soon afterwards, William Burn, the Scottish architect, was engaged to design the present Muckross House, which was completed in 1843.」
From the 1870s onwards the Muckross Estate was heavily mortgaged to the Standard Life Assurance Company of Scotland.
Following his divorce, Mary Herbert spent time in America and Muckross was let out for its hunting, shooting and fishing.
Retired Captain Edward Amphlett periodically leased the estate for this purpose in the late 1870s and 1880s.So too did Mr. Ralph Sneyd, who left the estate in the late 1890s.
The Standard Life Assurance Company foreclosed on the Herbert mortgage in 1898. A year later, following another auction that gave rise to Lord Ardilaun, of the Guinness brewing family.
He, in turn, sold it in 1911 to Mr. and his wife Agnes. They presented Muckross as a wedding present to their daughter Maud, upon her marriage to Arthur Rose Vincent of CooIanla, County Clare.
Following Maud’s early death her parents gifted Muckross to the Irish people.」