Bellinter House

THE PRESTONS OWNED 7,415 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY MEATH

THE HON MARTIN PRESTON, son of Jenico, 3rd Viscount Gormanston, by the Lady Catherine FitzGerald, eldest daughter of Gerald, 9th Earl of Kildare, and brother of Christopher, 4th Viscount Gormanston, married, in 1584, Alisona Herbert, and was father of

HUGH PRESTON, of Bolton, Lancashire, who by marriage with a daughter of Jocelyn Nangle, of Navan, acquired with her the lands of Tara and Ardsallagh, County Meath, and Emo, Queen's County.

His son,

JOHN PRESTON (1611-86), of Dublin, and of Ardsallagh, County Meath, Mayor of Dublin, 1653, MP for Navan, 1661-66, married firstly, Mary, daughter of John Morris, of Bolton, and had issue,

Phineas, of Ardsallagh;
Samuel, of Emo, Queen's County;
Mary.

He wedded secondly, in 1660, Katherine, daughter of John Ashburnham, and widow of Sir John Sherlock, Knight, but by her had no issue.

Mr Preston espoused thirdly, in 1676, Anne, daughter of Alderman Richard Tighe, of Dublin, and widow of Theophilus Sandford, and had further issue,

JOHN, of whom hereafter;
Nathaniel, MP for Navan.

Mr Preston's third son,

JOHN PRESTON (1677-1732), of Bellsone, County Meath, MP for County Meath, 1709-32, married firstly, in 1698, Lydia, daughter of Joseph Pratt, of Cabra; and secondly, in 1720, Henrietta, daughter of Sir Thomas Taylor, 1st Baronet.

He was succeeded by his son and heir,

JOHN PRESTON (1700-53), of Bellinter, County Meath, MP for Navan, 1732-53, who wedded Anne, youngest sister of Peter, 1st Earl Ludlow, and had issue,

JOHN, his heir;
Joseph.

The elder son,

JOHN PRESTON (c1731-81), MP for Navan, 1761-81, espoused, in 1758, Mary, sister of the Rt Hon Sir Skeffington Smyth Bt, of Tinny Park, who died in 1781, leaving issue,

JOHN, his heir;
James;
Joseph;
Skeffington;
Francis;
Mary; Elisha; Elizabeth; Emma.

The eldest son,

JOHN PRESTON (1764-1821), MP for Navan, 1783-1800, was elevated to the peerage, in 1800, in the dignity of BARON TARA, of Bellinter, County Meath.

His lordship married, in 1801, Harriet, daughter of Thomas Jelf-Powis, of Berwick House, Shropshire; but died without issue, in 1821, when the title expired.

Entrance Front (Image: TripAdvisor, 2019)

BELLINTER HOUSE, near Navan, County Meath, is a Palladian mansion of 1750, designed by Richard Castle for John Preston MP.

The centre block comprises five bays and two storeys, with a basement.

A pair of smaller wings, of five bays and two storeys, are adjoined to the main block by straight arcades.

Garden Front (Image: TripAdvisor, 2019)

There is a niche between the first floor windows, directly above the porch which probably contained a statue.

The Hall (Image: TripAdvisor, 2019)

The hall is notable for having a magnificent stone chimneypiece with a Bacchantic mask.

Bellinter passed out of the Preston family in 1892, when John Joseph Preston bequeathed the estate to Gustavus Villiers Briscoe, High Sheriff of County Meath, 1897, said to be a family friend.

The Briscoes sold Bellinter in 1955 to the Holdsworth family, who lived there until 1966; and thereafter it was acquired by a religious order, the Sisters of Sion, who sold it to the present owners in 2004.

Bellinter House is now a hotel.

Drumilly House

THE COPES WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY ARMAGH, WITH 9,367 ACRES

In very remote periods this family possessed considerable estates in Northamptonshire, whence the descendants of JOHN COPE (c1355-c1415), of Adstock, Buckinghamshire, and Denshanger, Northamptonshire (the first upon record), extended themselves into Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, Staffordshire, Gloucestershire and County Armagh. This John Cope, MP for Northamptonshire, 1397-1406, was a very eminent person in the reigns of RICHARD II and HENRY IV. In the latter, he represented the county of Northamptonshire in parliament, and was twice High Sheriff.

John Cope died about 1415, and from him lineally descended

ANTHONY COPE (c1548-1614), of Hanwell, Oxfordshire, who was created a baronet, in 1611, designated of Hanwell.

Sir Anthony, High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, MP for Banbury, married firstly, Frances, daughter of daughter of Sir Rowland Lytton, of Knebworth, Hertfordshire, and had issue,

William, (Sir), his heir;
Anthony, of Loughgall Manor;
RICHARD, of whom we treat;
Anne; Elizabeth; Mary.

The third son,

RICHARD COPE, espoused Anne, sister of Sir William Walter, and left at his decease a son and heir,

WALTER COPE, of Drumilly, County Armagh, who married Abigail, daughter of the Rt Rev Thomas Moigne, Lord Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh, and had issue,

WALTER COPE, of Drumilly, who married Jane, daughter of the Very Rev James Downham, Dean of Armagh, and was father of

WALTER COPE, of Drumilly, who wedded Sarah, daughter of Thomas Tippling; and dying in 1724, he left a son,

WALTER, of whom presently, and five daughters, all of whom died unmarried, except the youngest, Abigail, who espoused, in 1758, Archdeacon Meade, and had one daughter, SARAH ARABELLA ABIGAIL, of whom hereafter.

Mr Cope died in 1724, and was succeeded by his son,

THE RIGHT REV DR WALTER COPE (1712-87), of Drumilly, Lord Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin, who married Anne, daughter of Sir Arthur Acheson Bt, of Gosford, County Armagh; but dsp 1787, and was succeeded by his niece,

SARAH ARABELLA ABIGAIL MEADE, who assumed the surname of COPE.

She wedded Nicholas Archdale, of Castle Archdale, County Fermanagh, and had issue (besides one daughter, ANNA, who succeeded her brother), three sons,

Walter, died unmarried;
Samuel Walter, died unmarried;
ARTHUR WALTER, of whom we treat.

The youngest son,

ARTHUR WALTER COPE (1787-1846), of Drumilly, espoused Caroline Lester, and had one daughter, Caroline Arabella Archdale (d 1906), who married Francis Wilson Heath, of New Grove, Lisburn.

Mr Cope was succeeded, under the will of his great-uncle, Bishop Cope, by his sister,

ANNA COPE (1791-1867), of Drumilly, who wedded, in 1814, Nathaniel Garland, of Michaelstowe (d 1845).

Mrs Garland, on succeeding to Drumilly, assumed the name of COPE, and by will devised her estates to her third daughter,

GEORGINA CATHERINE COPE, of Drumilly, who espoused, in 1848, JOHN ALEXANDER MAINLEY PINNIGER JP, High Sheriff of County Armagh, 1868.

They assumed, in 1867, the name and arms of COPE.

Mr Cope died in 1892, aged 68, having had issue,

Edgar Broome (1849-91), died unmarried;
JOHN GARLAND, of whom presently;
Arthur Mainley;
George Cope;
Frederick Lorance; Amy; Anna Martha Georgina; Mary Constance.

Mrs Cope died in 1895, and was succeeded by her eldest surviving son,

JOHN GARLAND COPE JP DL (1850-1920), of Drumilly, who married firstly, in 1878, Theresa Charlotte, daughter of Ralph S Obré, of Clantylew, County Armagh, and had issue,

JOHN RALPH OBRÉ, b 1879.

He wedded secondly, in 1900, Mary Edith, daughter of Colonel Lonsdale A Hale, Royal Engineers.

DRUMILLY HOUSE, Loughgall, County Armagh, remarked Mark Bence-Jones, was

"A plain, vaguely Georgian house with a remarkable two-storey elliptical structure of glass and art-nouveau ironwork projecting from its centre and constituting the entrance.”

It was demolished in 1966.

*****

THE VILLAGE of Loughgall developed slowly under the benign guidance of the Cope family, assuming a distinctly English appearance.

During the 18th and early part of the 19th century, a number of houses were built in the elegant Georgian style of architecture.

The two Cope families, of Loughgall Manor and Drumilly respectively, did not take a very active part in politics; however, as residential landlords, they pursued a policy of agricultural development on their own estates and greatly encouraged the improvement and fertility of their tenants' farms.

Drumilly, Main Entrance

Apple-growing over the past two centuries has become a major factor in the economic development of County Armagh, with Loughgall at the heart of this important industry.

To this day there is no public house in Loughgall.

The Copes, at some stage in the past, actively discouraged the sale and consumption of alcohol by buying several public houses in the village and closing them down.

In their place they established a coffee-house and reading-room.

*****

The last generation of both the Loughgall Manor and Drumilly families had daughters only.

Of the Manor House family, a Miss Cope married a clergyman, the Rev Canon Sowter; while Ralph Cope, of Drumilly, had two daughters, one of whom, Diana, married Robin Cowdy of the local Greenhall linen bleaching family at Summer Island.

Both the Manor House and Drumilly estates were purchased by the Northern Ireland Ministry of Agriculture and now play a prominent part in testing and development in the horticultural field.

Both estates remain intact and have not been developed for housing or industry; they form part of Loughgall Country Park.

With considerable areas of mature woodland interspersed with orchards and cultivated fields, this area must surely be one of the most pleasant stretches of countryside in County Armagh.

Former London residence ~ 28 Burton Court, Chelsea.

First published in January, 2014.

Kilkenny Palace

The See of OSSORY, which, like that of Meath, takes its name from a district, was originally established at Saiger, about 402 AD, by St Kieran, after his return from Rome, where he had remained 20 years in the study of the Christian faith, and had been consecrated a bishop.

He was accompanied on his return by five other bishops, who also founded sees in other parts of Ireland, and after presiding over this see for many years is supposed to have died in Cornwall.

Of his successors, who were called Episcopi Saigerenses, but very imperfect accounts are preserved.

Carthage, his disciple and immediate successor, died about the year 540, from which period till the removal of the see from Saiger to Aghaboe, about the year 1052, there appears to have been, with some few intervals, a regular succession of prelates.

The monastery of Aghaboe was founded by St Canice, of which he was the first abbot, and in which he died ca 600 AD; and after the removal of the see from Saiger, there is little mention of the bishops of Aghaboe.

Felix O'Dullany, who succeeded him in 1178, removed the see from Aghaboe to the city of Kilkenny, as a place of greater security, where he laid the foundation of the cathedral church of St Canice, which was continued at a great expense by Hugh de Mapilton, and completed by Geoffrey St Leger, about 1270.

Richard Ledred, who was consecrated in 1318, beautified the cathedral and rebuilt and glazed all the windows.

He also built the episcopal palace, near the cathedral.

The diocese of Ossory continued to be a separate see until 1835, when, on the death of Dr Elrington, Lord Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin, both those dioceses were annexed to it, and their temporalities vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

The diocese, which is one of the five that constitute the ecclesiastical province of Dublin, constitutes almost the whole of County Kilkenny, a good part of the Queen's County (Laois), and some of the King's County (Offaly).

It extends 46 miles in length from north to south, and 29 in breadth.

THE PALACE, Kilkenny, is a Georgian house built on the foundations of an older medieval palace.

It was probably built by the Right Rev Charles Este, Lord Bishop of Ossory from 1735-40.

The palace has a plain façade.

In 1760, Bishop Pococke constructed a Doric colonnade which joined the palace to St Canice's Cathedral, including a splendid, single-storey, pedimented, bow-ended robing-room.

The colonnade was subsequently demolished; the robing-room, however, remains a feature of the palace garden.

The palace was restored about 1963 by Bishop McAdoo (later Lord Archbishop of Dublin).

The last bishop to live at the palace was the Right Rev John Neill, from 1997-2002.

Ross Willoughby has written about her childhood there.

In 2008, the palace became the headquarters of the Irish heritage council.

First published in November, 2015.

Mountcollyer Street, Belfast

Historic Map of Mount Collyer ca 1830

Having been to see the Belfast film at Cineworld, my curiosity was aroused about that well-known actor, Sir Kenneth Branagh.

I've known about him since his acting role in the "Billy Plays" produced by BBC Northern Ireland and set in the late 1970s.

Certainly he had a convincing Belfast accent in those dramas, though Sir Kenneth actually lost his local accent within a few years of moving to Reading, Berkshire, from his home town of Belfast about 1970.

Kenneth Branagh sounds, to all intents and purposes, English. I wonder how easily he can revert to a Belfast accent?

At any rate, I was curious to find his roots in Belfast; so, with the assistance of Google maps and "sat-nav," I found the location of the Branagh home fairly easily.

They lived at 96 Mountcollyer Street until young Kenneth was about nine, when, because of civil unrest and a degree of intimidation, I think, his father decided to begin a new life away from Northern Ireland.

Mountcollyer Street runs from 32 Crosscollyer Street to Parkside Gardens; and, in 1974, there were 170 houses; John Brannagh [sic] lived in number 49; Henry Brannagh in 83.

Mount Collyer House ca 1889 (NMNI/WA Green)

MOUNT COLLYER HOUSE appears to have been a Georgian dwelling of two storeys over a high basement, double-gabled.

Following several prominent clergymen including Dr William Hamilton Drummond, the textile manufacturer ANDREW MULHOLLAND, father of the first Baron Dunleath, resided at Mount Collyer till about 1846, when they moved to Springvale (Ballywalter Park) on the Ards Peninsula.

The Rev Dr James Saurin, Vicar of Belfast, died at Mount Collyer in 1772.

The Rowans seem to have been the last family to live there before the old house was demolished, and the grounds were developed for the Mountcollyer and Crosscollyer housing about 1882.

Mount Collyer features in DAB Dean's Plight of the Big House in Northern Ireland, as does Jennymount Castleton, the larger house to the north of Mount Collyer in the old map.

Mountcollyer Street, 2006, prior to Demolition (Chris Paton, Scotland)

Was Mountcollyer Street hit by a bomb during the Blitz? I believe so, in 1941.

The only photograph I've seen appears to be of a post-second world war terrace.

Mountcollyer Street faces Alexandra Park, so the terrace seemed only to have been built on one side.

The northern park side has always had railings as far as I know.

Young Kenneth Branagh walked through the park to Grove primary school in the 1960s (the school closed in 2010).

It's on a gentle slope, and was probably a pleasant part of town to live in, being so close to the park and playgrounds.

Local residents insisted that it's not in "Tiger's Bay" area.

Approximate Location of 96 Mountcollyer Street (Timothy Ferres, 2022)

I encountered three local residents, two of whom remembered the street before it was demolished.

They pointed out the approximate location of Number 96.

I imagine that new houses will eventually be built on the present wasteland.

First published in 2021.

Benburb Manor

THE BRUCES OWNED 9,230 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY TYRONE

This is a scion of the Bruces of Stenhouse, a suburb of Edinburgh, springing from

SIR ALEXANDER BRUCE, of Airth, Stirlingshire, who wedded Janet, daughter of Alexander, 5th Lord Livingston, and had issue,

WILLIAM, his heir;
Robert, of Kinnaird;
John (Sir), of Kincavil;
Alexander (Sir), of Bangour;
Robert, of Garvel;
Marion; another daughter.

Sir Alexander died in 1600, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

WILLIAM BRUCE, who wedded Jean, daughter of John, 5th Lord Fleming, and sister to John, Earl of Wigtown, and had issue,

John, his heir, male line extinct;
William (Sir), of Stenhouse; cr a baronet;
Alexander;
Robert;
Alexander;
PATRICK, of whom we treat.

The youngest and third surviving son,

PATRICK BRUCE, had the estate of Newton and Bothkenner, and espoused, in 1627, Janet, daughter of John Jackson, a merchant in Edinburgh, and had issue,

Patrick, dsp;
William, his heir;
MICHAEL, of whom we treat.

The youngest son,

THE REV MICHAEL BRUCE (1635-93), settled as a presbyterian minister at Killinchy, County Down, but was driven, with other ministers, thence into Scotland by Colonel Venables and the parliamentarians, for his fidelity to the King.

He returned to Killinchy, however, in 1669, after undergoing great hardships, and a long imprisonment in England and Scotland.

The Rev Michael Bruce married Jean, daughter of Robert Bruce, of Kinnaird (and sister of Colonel Robert Bruce, of Kinnaird, and of the Life Guards of CHARLES I, who died of wounds received at Worcester); he suffered much persecution of religious grounds; and had issue,

JAMES, his heir;
Robert;
Michael;
Anna.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

THE REV JAMES BRUCE (c1660-1730), Minister of Killyleagh, County Down, who espoused, in 1685, Margaret, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel James Traill, of Tolychin, County Down, and had issue,

MICHAEL, his heir;
Patrick (Rev), Minister of Killyleagh; ancestor of THE BRUCE BARONETS;
William;
Hans;
Mary; Eleanor; Magdalen.

The eldest son,

THE REV MICHAEL BRUCE (1686-1735), Minister of Holywood, County Down, married, in 1716, Mary Ker, and had issue,

James;
SAMUEL;
William;
Eleanor.

The second, but eldest surviving son,

THE REV SAMUEL BRUCE (1722-67), Minister of Wood Street Presbyterian Church, Dublin, married, in 1751, Rose, daughter of Robert Rainey, of Magherafelt, County Londonderry, and had issue,

Michael, drowned at Carrickfergus, 1779;
WILLIAM, of whom presently;
Robert;
Samuel;
Elizabeth; Mary; Eleanor.

The eldest surviving son,

THE REV WILLIAM BRUCE (1757-1841), Minister of First Presbyterian Church, Belfast (whose portrait hangs in the Linenhall Library, Belfast), wedded Susannah, daughter of Robert Hutton, and had issue,

SAMUEL, his heir;
William (Rev), Minister of 1st Presbyterian Church, Belfast;
Haliday;
Henry;
Eliza; Emily; Maria; Susannah.

The eldest son,

SAMUEL BRUCE (1789-1845), of Thorndale, County Antrim, wedded Annette, daughter of James Ferguson, of White Park, County Antrim, and had issue,

William Robert, of Rockford, County Dublin;
JAMES, of whom we treat;
Samuel, of Norton Hall, Campden, Gloucestershire.

The second son,

JAMES BRUCE JP DL (1835-1917), of Benburb, County Tyrone, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1886, married, in 1877, Mary, daughter of Dr William Thompson, of Lisburn, and widow of George Mitchell, though the marriage was without issue.

Mrs Bruce dsp 1893.

Benburb Manor (NLI, R French/Lawrence Collection)

THE MANOR HOUSE, Benburb, lies between Armagh and Dungannon in County Tyrone.

It was built in 1888-90, to the designs of the architect William Henry Lynn, for James Bruce, a Belfast businessman who had bought the Benburb estate from the Viscount Powerscourt a few years previously.

In order to make way for the new house Bruce had to demolish many of the dwellings on the south side of the village’s main street, including Benburb House, a large residence previously occupied by a Mr Brush, Lord Powerscourt's agent.

The new dwelling (which is generally similar in style to other Lynn compositions of this period, such as Riddel Hall and Campbell College), was constructed by the Belfast firm of James Henry & Sons.

Benburb Manor (NLI, Robert French/Lawrence Collection)

James Bruce died childless in 1917 and the manor house and remaining lands (307 acres in all) were sold to a consortium of three men, Robert Pollock and James Cooper of Enniskillen and James Smith of Liverpool.

Soon Cooper sold out to Pollock and Smith to William Todd, who was in partnership with Robert Boyd.

They then bought out Pollock’s share and planned to turn the house into a hotel, but by 1935 Todd was declared bankrupt and much of the outlying, remaining lands were sold.

The building appears to have remained vacant until the beginning of the 2nd World War, when it was requisitioned by the War Office for use as a military hospital.

When the war ended Boyd put the estate up for sale, and in 1946 it was acquired for by the Catholic Parish of Clonfeacle for £12,000.

Local clergy originally intended the building to be used as an orphanage or a collegiate, but in 1949 they sold it (for £26,000) to an American branch of The Servite Fathers.

The Order retains the property to this day.

In the 1950s the large great hall extension was added to the west end of the house, on the site of a large conservatory or greenhouse.

The south wing of the stable yard was rebuilt at this time, too.

James Bruce built a new police station in the village, the Post Office and a number of houses, one of which is the present Church of Ireland rectory.

*****

In the 1980s the Servites decided to release the buildings, which had been used by the students, for use by the wider community.

A new community group, the Benburb Centre, was established in 1985.

The Benburb Centre is a registered charity and has become a company limited by guarantee.

It is managed by a voluntary Board, composed of representatives of both communities.

Benburb was originally a Plantation period demesne incorporating a 17th century bawn set on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Blackwater River.

It had been built from 1611 on the site of an earlier castle by Sir Richard Wingfield, 1st Viscount Powerscourt.

*****

William Haldane (1858-1929) was the head gardener at the Manor for about thirty years.

While waiting for a house to be prepared for him in the village, he lived for a short while in the cottage within the walls of the manor-house.

The village house was a substantial three-storey affair, now demolished, more in keeping with the landscape gardener/architect that he was, though the term was not in common parlance at  the time.

William's youngest son was born in Benburb in 1910 (the last of eleven children) and remembers walking with Mr Bruce in the greenhouses and being given a peach to eat.

His trademark was Golden Yew, which he is said to have planted in prominent positions in every garden he developed, with one over the family grave in St Mark's parish church, Armagh.

*****

The main estates of the Wingfields, Viscounts Powerscourt, were based on the lands granted to Richard, 1st Viscount of the 1st creation.

As part of the plantation of Ulster he received 2,000 acres in County Tyrone, including the Benburb estate.

The demesne features mature trees and lawns; a hermitage; pinetum; walled garden and glasshouses disused across the road.

Gate lodges: east lodge, 1887, also by Lynn; and West Lodge.

First published in January, 2012.

The Hogg Baronets

WILLIAM HOGG, having moved to Ulster from Scotland towards the latter end of the 17th century, settled in Lisburn, County Antrim.

He married Abigail Hamilton, and had issue (with one daughter),

William;
EDWARD, of whom presently;
James, of Lisburn.

The second son,

EDWARD HOGG (1722-1809), of Lisburn, espoused, in 1752, Rose, daughter of the Rev John O'Neill, of Largy, and had issue, two sons and three daughters, of whom,

WILLIAM, his successor;
James;
Abigail; Mary.

The eldest son,

WILLIAM HOGG (1754-1824), espoused, in 1783, Mary, daughter of James Dickey, of County Antrim, and had issue,

JAMES WEIR, his heir;
Charles;
Mary; Clara; Rosina; Lily Anne Maria.

The eldest son,

JAMES WEIR HOGG (1790-1876), married, in 1822, Mary Claudine, daughter of Samuel Swinton, of Swinton House, Berwickshire, and had issue,

JAMES MacNAGHTEN, his heir;
Charles Swinton, grandfather of the 6th and 7th Baronets;
Fergusson Floyer;
Stuart Saunders (Sir);
Frederick Russell (Sir);
Stapleton Cotton;
Quintin;
Isabella; Constance; Florence; Mary Rosina; Letitia; Amy; Annie Claudina.

Mr Hogg, MP for Beverley, 1834-47, a barrister, was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1872.

The Rt Hon Sir James Weir Hogg, 1st Baronet (Image: British Library)

He was created a baronet in 1846, designated of Upper Grosvenor Street, Middlesex.

Sir James, who resided at 40, Upper Grosvenor Street, and 4, Carlton Gardens, London, was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR JAMES MacNAGHTEN McGAREL-HOGG, 2nd Baronet (1823-90), KCB, who wedded, in 1857, Caroline Elizabeth Emma, daughter of Edward, 1ST BARON PENRHYN, and had issue,

JAMES DOUGLAS, his successor;
DUDLEY STUART, succeeded his brother;
RONALD TRACEY, succeeded his brother;
Archibald Campbell;
Edith Mary.

Sir James was elevated to the peerage, in 1887, in the dignity of BARON MAGHERAMORNE, of Magheramorne, County Antrim.

He added the surname of McGAREL in 1877 on inheriting the estates of Charles McGarel, his brother-in-law.

His lordship, of MAGHERAMORNE HOUSE, County Antrim, was succeeded by his eldest son,

JAMES DOUGLAS, 2nd Baron (1861-1903), born in London, a captain in the Life Guards, who married the Lady Evelyn Ashley-Cooper a year before succeeding to the titles.

Seemingly the 2nd Baron lived a dissolute life, and was unsuccessful in business. He was declared bankrupt in 1900 in Dublin and died just over two years later in Paris.

His lordship was succeeded by his brother,

DUDLEY STUART, 3rd Baron (1863-1946), second son of the 1st Baron.

In later life he retired to Bournemouth and was living in a nursing home in Surrey at the time of his death.

The barony subsequently devolved upon his brother,

RONALD TRACY, 4th Baron (1863-1957), who was unmarried, when the barony expired.

The Hogg baronetcy, however, reverted to his cousin,

SIR KENNETH WEIR HOGG, 6th Baronet (1894-1985), OBE, great-grandson of the first Baronet, Lieutenant-Colonel, Irish Guards, who married, in 1936, Aline Emily, daughter of Oswald, 2nd Baron Doverdale; the marriage, however, was without issue, and the title reverted to his cousin,

SIR ARTHUR RAMSAY HOGG, 7th Baronet (1896-1995), MBE, great-grandson of the first Baronet, who wedded, in 1924, Mary Aileen Hester, daughter of Herbert Philip Lee-Evans, and had issue,

MICHAEL DAVID, his successor;

Mark Arthur Philip;

Simon Charles;

Anthea Aileen.

Sir Arthur was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR MICHAEL DAVID HOGG, 8th Baronet (1925-2001), who married, in 1956, Elizabeth Anne Thérèse, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Terence Edmond Patrick Falkiner Bt, and had issue,

PIERS MICHAEL JAMES, his successor;

Adam Charles;

Oliver John.

Sir Michael was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR PIERS MICHAEL JAMES HOGG, 9th and present Baronet (1957-), who wedded, in 1982, Vivien, daughter of Dr Philip Holman, and has issue,

JAMES EDWARD;

Sarah Alice. 

The merchant and philanthropist Quintin Hogg, seventh son of the first Hogg Baronet, was the father of Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham, twice Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom.

First published in October, 2010.

Fermanagh Antiquities

EDITED EXTRACTS FROM THE TOPOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF IRELAND, 1837

The number of Danish raths in all parts is very great, but none of them are peculiarly singular in their construction.

Tumuli also occur, surrounded with circles of upright stones; when opened, urns and stone coffins have been found in them.

At Wattlebridge, three miles from Newtownbutler, on the banks of the Finn, are the remains of a Druid temple [Annaghmore Glebe].

There are but few remains of monastic institutions: those of Devenish and Gola are the only structures in which traces of the original buildings can be discovered: the abbeys of Inishmacsaint, Cleenish, Kilskeery, and Rossorry have been converted into parish churches: those of Aredmuilt, Derough, Domnachmore (Donagh?), Inniscasin [sic], Iniseo, Inisrocha, and Loughuva [Lough Nahoo] are now known only by name.

About a mile from Pettigo stand the ruins of Castle Magrath, the residence of the first Protestant Bishop of Clogher [Miler Magrath], from whom the building took its name.

Lisgoole, a castle on the bank of the Rale [sic] opposite to Enniskillen, also suffered during the civil war of 1641, being burnt by the Irish.

The ruins of Callowhill Castle are near Florencecourt.

Castle Hume is now a pile of ruins.

Enniskillen, which was little more than a fort in ELIZABETH I's time, has since completely changed its character.

First published in January, 2024.