Jeanne Meldon was until her untimely death following a short illness in August 2024 vice-chair of the Castletown Foundation. A Town planner by training Jeanne had a long and active career in conservation and environmental protection. Her professional expertise proved essential to to the Foundation over many years and was crucial to successful campaigns to protect the integrity of the demesne landscape and estate. Working closely with Celbridge Action Alliance and other local groups Jeanne played a key role in persuading An Bord Pleanala to refuse housing developments on the Donaghcomper lands across the River Liffey from Castletown. These lands part of the original designed landscape at Castletown are now the property of Kildare County Council.
Jeanne’s role on the Foundation extended far beyond planning issues. She had an encyclopedic knowledge of the collections and their provenance and played a key role in shaping the interpretation of the house. She was a strong advocate for supporting dialogue with other local interest groups in Celbridge encouraging people recognise Castletown as an essential and vibrant part of their community.
Paying tribute to Jeanne, Mary Heffernan from the Office of Public Works described how:
The people of Celbridge, the wider conservation community in Ireland and further afield and the State owe a great debt to Jeanne for her tireless work to protect and enhance for posterity the extraordinary inheritance that Castletown represents.
David Sheehan Chairperson of the Foundation has described how:
Jeanne made a tremendous contribution over many years to the work of the Castletown Foundation at every level, be it on planning issues, research, improvement to the fabric of the house and its presentation, initiating new projects and being a constant and effective advocate for the work of the Foundation. She came after the ‘greats’ such as The Knight of Glin and Professors Anne Crookshank and Kevin B. Nolan and inherited a mantle that she wore with love and pride.
The Castletown Foundation 