X-Nico

Nalžovské Hory

Eduard Taaffe, 11th Viscount Taaffe (1833-1895), Austrian politician, died at Ellischau Castle

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In 1769 the Ellischau estates were acquired by Nicholas Taaffe, 6th Viscount Taaffe, chamberlain to Empress Maria Theresa, from the compensation he had received for his seized Irish possessions.

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The Viscounts Taaffe had an artificial ruin resembling their former Irish family home, Ballymote Castle, built in the nearby Prašivice Forest about 1840.

Viscount Taaffe

However, on the death of his last male-line descendant Richard in 1967 no eligible heirs remained and the title effectively became extinct.

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With the money he acquired the castle of Ellischau (Nalžovy) in Bohemia; he had also inherited other property in the Habsburg dominions.

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The 2nd Earl's younger brother, Francis, studied at the University of Olomouc (Olmütz) in the Imperial Margraviate of Moravia, and served at the court of Emperor Ferdinand III as well as under Duke Charles IV of Lorraine, whose most intimate friend he became.

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Richard Taaffe (1898–1967), entitled to petition for restoration of the viscountcy, but never did so.

see also