High Flyer

I was thirteen years old when this picture was taken.

Believe it or not, I won the senior 100 yards, long jump, triple jump and, I think, the 220 yards; and went on to win the Victor Ludorum.

The occasion was the annual Brackenber House School sports day, which took place at North of Ireland Cricket Club grounds, Ormeau Road, Belfast, in 1973.

The gentleman wearing the hat was Mr Bull, the PE teacher; Mike Bull's father.

First published in January, 2013.

Ballinderry Park

THE COMYNS OF BALLINDERRY OWNED 1,473 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY GALWAY

ANDREW COMYN, of Ryefield, County Roscommon, married, in 1786, the sister and heir of Lewis Ward, of Ballymacward and Ballinderry, County Galway, and had an eldest son,

NICHOLAS COMYN (1787-1843), of Ballinderry and Ryefield, who wedded, in 1830, Sabina, daughter of John Joyes, of Woodquay, County Galway, and had issue,

ANDREW NUGENT, his heir;
John Ward;
Mary Ellen; Sabina; Elizabeth.

Mr Comyn was succeeded by his eldest son,

ANDREW NUGENT COMYN JP (1831-1917), of Ballinderry and Ryefield, who married, in 1867, Mary, second daughter of John O'Connell MP, and granddaughter of Daniel O'Connell, of Derrynane, and had issue,

NICHOLAS O'CONNELL, his heir;
Andrew Daniel;
Lewis James;
Elizabeth Mary; Geraldine Mary; Eily Mary.

The eldest son,

NICHOLAS O'CONNELL COMYN JP (1869-1945), of Ballinderry, High Sheriff of County Galway, 1917, wedded, in 1911, Mary Cecilia Hyacinth, daughter of Francis Walter Mahony, of St Helen's, Blarney, County Cork, and had issue,

ANDREW FRANCIS MICHAEL O'CONNELL;
Nugent Gerald Ward;
Arthur;
Reginald;
Frederick;
Marguerite Mary Cecilia; Maureen; Veronica Joan Mary.

BALLINDERRY PARK, Kilconnell, Ballinasloe, County Galway, is a plain Georgian house of ca 1740, rising from the plans of east County Galway.

It originally belonged to Kilconnell Friary, a Franciscan foundation of 1280.

In the late 17th century the land passed to the Diocese of Clonfert and was leased to Henry Stanford, who shortly afterwards leased his house to Lawrence Ward from a local family in the vicinity.

His tenancy was inherited by his sister and passed to her son, Nicholas Comyn.

Nicholas Comyn's descendants farmed this small property, sandwiched between some of County Galway’s largest estates, where they were closely involved with horses and hunting.

They purchased the freehold from the Church of Ireland following its disestablishment in 1871.

Nicholas’s son Andrew married Mary, granddaughter of Daniel O’Connell ‘The Liberator’.

Nicholas O'Connell Comyn was the last of the family to live at Ballinderry and when he died, in 1945, the estate was acquired by the Irish Land Commission, which subdivided the property.

The house thereafter became derelict.

George and Susie Gossip bought Ballinderry in 2000 and began a careful restoration.

They reversed some Victorian alterations to the façade and, by 2005, work had progressed sufficiently to allow them to move in.

The hall, staircase and landings, which take up a third of the house, have been authentically restored; while the principal rooms have been panelled in the early 18th century style and given early chimney-pieces.

The Gossips have filled the house with their collection of furniture, pictures, porcelain and objects.

Much of this was passed down from Susie’s ancestors, the Dillon family from nearby Clonbrock, so that it is, in effect, returning home.

Ballinderry is surrounded by fine specimen trees, including a large and remarkable London plane tree, rarely, seldom found in a parkland setting.

First published in November, 2017.  Select bibliography: Irish Historic Houses Association.

Jameson of Windfield

THE JAMESONS OWNED 3,123 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY GALWAY

WILLIAM JAMESON, of Alloa, Clackmannanshire, married, in 1737, Helen Horne, of Thomanean, Kinross-shire, and had, with other issue, a son,

JOHN JAMESON (1740-1824), Sheriff Clerk of Clackmannanshire, who wedded, in 1768, Margaret, elder sister of James Haig, of Blairhill, Perthshire, and Lochrin, Midlothian, and had issue,

Robert (1771-1847), died unmarried;
John, of Prussia St, Dublin;
William, b 1777; dsp;
JAMES, of whom presently;
Andrew, b 1783;
Margaret; Anne; Jennett.

JAMES JAMESON (1781-1847), succeeded to the fortune of his immediate elder brother, William, of Merrion Square, Dublin, and purchased the estate of Windfield, County Galway, and the demesne of Montrose, County Dublin.

He married, in 1815, Elizabeth Sophia, youngest daughter of the Rev William Woolsey, of Priorland, County Louth, by his wife Mary Anne, youngest sister of Sir William Bellingham Bt, of Castle Bellingham, County Louth, and had issue,

JOHN, his heir;
William, of Montrose;
James, of Airfield;
Sydney Bellingham;
Robert O'Brien;
Mary Anne; Elizabeth Sophia.

Mr Jameson, a director of the Bank of Ireland and Deputy Governor at the time of his death, was succeeded in his Windfield estate by his eldest son,

THE REV JOHN JAMESON (1816-72), of Windfield, who espoused, in 1845, Isabella Anne, eldest daughter of General Sir Henry David Jones GCB, and had issue,

JAMES FRANCIS, his heir;
Harry William, Lt-Col RIR;
Arthur Bellingham;
Charlotte Elizabeth; Edith Sophia Inkerman.

The eldest son,

JAMES FRANCIS JAMESON JP (1848-96), of Windfield, Major, 4th Battalion, Connaught Rangers, wedded, in 1879, Helen Maud, eldest daughter of William Jameson, of Montrose, County Dublin, and had issue,

MAURICE EYRE FRANCIS BELLINGHAM JAMESON (1888-1950), of Windfield, who espoused, in 1915, Amelia May Moss, and had issue,

JOHN MAURICE RICHARD, born 1917;
Patricia Joan, born 1915.

THE JAMESONS were best known as distillers of Irish whiskey.

Portmarnock Hotel

THE PORTMARNOCK HOTEL, Portmarnock, County Dublin, stands on land which was originally part of the Jameson family estate.

The house itself was called St Marnock's.

EDWARD VII often visited the Jamesons.

On his last official visit in 1907, His Majesty unveiled a plaque which was designed specially for the occasion of the marriage between members of two great distilling families, Jameson and Haig. The plaque is still to be seen in what was the secret south garden.

The Jameson family had a nine-hole golf course on the site over a century ago.

This course is now part of both Portmarnock Golf Club and the Bernhard Langer-designed Dublin Golf Links course.

Sutton House

SUTTON HOUSE, Sutton, County Dublin, was also a Jameson residence.

It is Victorian-Tudor in style, with mullions, gables and huge chimneys.

One end of the mansion has a tower of four storeys.

Sutton House subsequently became a hotel.

*****

WINDFIELD HOUSE, County Galway, was purchased by James Jameson in the 1820s.

The family owned Windfield for over a century.

First published in October 2017.

Hold your tongue, Ross!

A Caricature of Richard Dowse, by Ape,
published in Vanity Fair in 1871

An extract from Chapter XVI of The Years of my Pilgrimage, by the Rt Hon Sir John Ross Bt, last Lord Chancellor of Ireland:-

"It was several years before I learned the first duty of a Judge, and that is, to hold his tongue on the Bench.

There is a great temptation to be facetious in the presence of a most appreciative audience, but in the case of the ordinary Judge, it is well to resist the temptation.

The parties interested in the matter look upon the hearing as  very serious affair; their whole future and the future of their families may depend on the result; their minds have been obsessed by it night and day for many months.

To find the presiding Judge treating it all as a subject for jesting, disturbs them and weakens their confidence in the administration of the law.

On the other hand, where you have Judges like the late Baron Dowse, or Lord Darling, with such an intense sense of humour, the case is different.

The jests pour out naturally and spontaneously; the Judge would not be himself at all, if he were compelled to refrain.

The litigants soon get to understand in such cases, and do not resent it."

Prince Edward in NI

THE EARL OF WESSEX has arrived in Northern Ireland for a series of engagements.

His Royal Highness was greeted at Belfast City Airport by Mr Adrian Donaldson MBE DL.

HRH, Royal Colonel, The Rifles, visited the 2nd Battalion at Thiepval Barracks, Lisburn, County Antrim.

Prince Edward afterwards visited Lisburn City Church Community Trust, and was received by Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim, Mr David McCorkell.

During the afternoon The Earl of Wessex visited Unicorn Group, Lisburn.

His Royal Highness later visited Denroy Plastics, Bangor, County Down, and was received by the Lord-Lieutenant of County Down, Mr David Lindsay.