Ballinlough Castle

THE NUGENT BARONETS, OF BALLINLOUGH, OWNED 4,697 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY WESTMEATH

HUGH O'REILLY, of Ballinlough Castle, County Westmeath, married Katherine, daughter of Christopher Plunkett, of Clonabreany, County Meath, and was succeeded by his son,

JAMES O'REILLY, of Ballinlough Castle, who wedded Elizabeth, daughter of Walter White, of Pitchfordstown, County Kildare, by Mabel his wife, daughter of George Aylmer, of Lyons, in the same county, and was succeeded by his son,

HUGH O'REILLY, of Ballinlough Castle, who espoused Eleanor, daughter of Sir Daniel O'Neill, 3rd Baronet, of Killeleagh, County Antrim, and granddaughter of Sir Henry O'Neill, 1st Baronet, of Killeleagh, by Eleanor his wife, daughter of Sir William Talbot, 1st Baronet, of Carton, and sister of Richard, Duke of Tyrconnell, by whom he had a son,

JAMES O'REILLY, of Ballinlough Castle, who married Barbara, daughter of Andrew Nugent, of Desart, County Westmeath, by Lady Katherine, his wife, daughter and co-heir of 4th Earl of Westmeath, and had issue,

HUGH, 1st Baronet;

James;

Andrew, General in the Austrian Army;

Margaret; Barbara.

Mr O'Reilly was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR HUGH O'REILLY, afterwards NUGENT (1741-1821), Lieutenant-Colonel, Westmeath Militia, who wedded, in 1781, Catherine Marianne, only daughter and heiress of Charles Mathew, of Thurles, County Tipperary, uncle of 1st Earl Landaff, and had issue,

JAMES, his successor;
JOHN, 3rd Baronet;
Lavelin;
Eliza; Barbara; Isabella.

Mr O'Reilly was created a baronet in 1795, designated of Ballinlough, County Westmeath.

Sir Hugh O'Reilly, on the death of his uncle, John Nugent, of Tullaghan, assumed, 1812, his maternal surname of NUGENT solely. 

His eldest son,

SIR JAMES NUGENT, 2nd Baronet, who espoused, in 1811, Susan Victoria Regina Mary, only daughter of Baron D'Arabet, of the Holy Roman Empire, and dying sp, 1843, was succeeded by his next brother,

SIR JOHN NUGENT, 3rd Baronet (1800-59), a Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Chamberlain to the Emperor of Austria,  and an officer of rank in the Austrian Service, who married, in 1842, Letitia Maria, daughter of Charles Whyte Roche, of County Limerick, and had issue,

HUGH JOSEPH, his successor;
CHARLES, 5th Baronet;
John Nicholas;
James O'Reilly;
Andrew Greville;
Letitia Mary; Kathleen Mary Georgina; Helena Mary.

Sir John was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR HIGH JOSEPH NUGENT, 4th Baronet (1845-63), who was accidentally killed while shooting, and was succeeded by his next brother,

SIR CHARLES NUGENT, 5th Baronet (1847-1927), 2nd Count, Lieutenant, 17th Lancers, who wedded, in 1871, Emily Ruth Eades, daughter of Thomas Walker, and had issue, an only child,

SIR HUGH CHARLES NUGENT, 6th Baronet (1904-83), 3rd Count, who espoused, in 1931, Margaret Mary Lavallin, daughter of the Rev Herbert Lavallin Puxley, and had issue,

JOHN EDWIN LAVALLIN, his successor;
David Hugh Lavallin.

Sir Hugh was succeeded by his elder son,

SIR JOHN EDWIN LAVALLIN NUGENT, 7th Baronet (1933-2009), JP, 4th Count, High Sheriff of Berkshire, 1981, Lieutenant, Irish Guards, who married, in 1959, Penelope Anne, daughter of Brigadier Richard Nigel Hanbury. and had issue,

NICHOLAS MYLES JOHN, his successor;
Grania Clare.

Sir John was succeeded by his son,

SIR NICHOLAS MYLES JOHN NUGENT, 8th and present Baronet (1967-), 5th Count of the Holy Roman Empire, of Ballinlough Castle, Director, Goff’s Bloodstock Sales, who married, in 1999, Alice Mary, daughter of Captain Peter Dane Player, of Whatton Manor, Nottinghamshire, and has issue,

Lucy Rose, b 2001;
Katie Violet (2003-10).

BALLINLOUGH CASTLE, Clonmellon, County Westmeath, was reconstructed in the 1730s.

The main part of the castle, however, was built in the early 17th century: "1614" is the date on the O'Reilly coat-of-arms above the front door, although this may be inaccurate by several decades.

The newer wing at Ballinlough was added by Sir Hugh O'Reilly, afterwards Nugent, 1st Baronet, ca 1790, and is probably attributable to the amateur architect Thomas Wogan Browne, also responsible for Malahide Castle, County Dublin, the home of Sir Hugh O'Reilly's sister Margaret, Baroness Talbot of Malahide.

The ground floor contains a large drawing-room and dining-room, with four first-floor bedrooms approached by a vaulted corridor above.

The spacious interiors have what may be the tallest windows in a private house of this period, overlooking the woods and lake.

The chimneypiece in the drawing-room is identical to a Wyatt chimneypiece at Curraghmore, County Waterford.

The Nugents of Ballinlough are almost unique in being a Catholic Celtic-Irish family who still live in their family castle.

First published in September, 2018

Narrow Water Castle

THE HALLS OWNED 3,648 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY DOWN
AND  2,656 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ARMAGH

The first of this family in Ulster was Brigadier-General Hall, a soldier in Cromwell's army, who distinguished himself at Poyntzpass, County Armagh, and thereafter obtained grants of lands in counties Down and Armagh. These lands were bequeathed to General Hall's elder son and are still in possession of the senior branch, the Halls of Narrow Water Castle. 

WILLIAM HALL settled in Ulster in the 17th century, and died at Red Bay, County Antrim, 1640, leaving a son,

FRANCIS HALL, of Mount Hall, County Down, who married Mary, daughter of Judge Lyndon, and had issue,

ROGER, of whom presently;
Edward, of Strangford; ancestor of HALL of Knockbrack;
Alexander Trevor;
Frideswide.

The eldest son,

ROGER HALL, of Mount Hall, High Sheriff of County Down, 1702, wedded, in 1686, Christian, daughter of Sir Toby Poyntz, of Acton, County Armagh, and had issue,

TOBY, his heir;
Roger;
Rose.

The eldest son,

TOBY HALL (1691-1734), of Mount Hall, High Sheriff of County Down, 1715, married, in 1712, Margaret, daughter of the Hon Robert FitzGerald, and sister of the 19th Earl of Kildare, and left at his decease, two daughters, Christian and Elizabeth, and a son,

ROGER HALL, of Mount Hall, High Sheriff of County Armagh, 1739, County Down, 1740, who wedded, in 1740, Catherine, daughter of Rowland Savage, of Portaferry, and had issue,

SAVAGE, his heir;
Dorcas; Anne; Catherine; Elizabeth; Sophia.

The son and heir,

SAVAGE HALL (1763-), of Narrow Water, High Sheriff of County Armagh, 1795, County Down, 1800, married, in 1787, Elizabeth, fourth daughter of John Madden, of Hilton, County Monaghan, and had issue,

ROGER, his heir;
Savage (Rev), father of SAVAGE and WILLIAM JAMES;
SAMUEL MADDEN FRANCIS, succeeded his brother;
Anne; Catharine; Elizabeth; Jane.

The eldest son,

ROGER HALL JP DL (1791-1864), of Narrow Water, High Sheriff of County Armagh, 1815, County Down, 1816, wedded, in 1812, Barbara, fourth daughter of Patrick Savage, of Portaferry, County Down; though dsp 1864, and was succeeded by his brother,

SAMUEL MADDEN FRANCIS HALL JP DL (1800-73), of Narrow Water, High Sheriff of County Armagh, 1869, who espoused, in 1845, Anne Margaret, youngest daughter of Andrew Savage Nugent, of Portaferry; though dsp 1873, and was succeeded by his nephew,

WILLIAM JAMES HALL JP DL (1835-96), of Narrow Water, Major, Royal Artillery, High Sheriff of County Down, 1878, County Armagh, 1880, who married firstly, in 1863, Elizabeth Theodosia Catherine, second daughter of the Rev William Brownlow Forde, of Seaforde, County Down, and had issue,

ROGER, his heir;
William Charles.

He married secondly, in 1875, Florence Selina, youngest daughter of George Brooke, of Ashbrooke, County Fermanagh, and had further issue,

Francis, born in 1876.

Major Hall was succeeded by his eldest son,

ROGER HALL MC JP DL (1864-1915), of Narrow Water, High Sheriff of County Armagh, 1900, County Down, 1901, Captain, 2nd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, who married, in 1891, Elvira Adela, daughter of John Meade, of Earsham Hall, Norfolk, and had issue,

ROGER;
Elizabeth Adela.

Captain Hall was succeeded by his son,

ROGER HALL JP DL (1894-1939), of Narrow Water, High Sheriff of County Down, 1926, who wedded, in 1919, Marie de Lourdes, daughter of Sir Joseph Armand Patron CMG OBE, and had issue,

ROGER, his heir;
William Joseph (Sir), KCVO, b 1934;
Noël, b 1936;
Moira; Christian; Margaret.

Mr Hall was succeeded by his eldest son,

ROGER HALL (1929-2007), of Narrow Water, who married, in 1953, Maeve Patricia, daughter of  Robert John Pryce, and had issue,

TOBY ROGER, b 1954;
Marcus Savage, b 1965;
Lassara Mary, b 1966.

*****

An entry in the deaths column in the Belfast Newsletter in 2007 reads:

Roger Hall, who had lived in the Co Down mansion all his life, passed away peacefully at the Southern Area Hospice on Saturday following an illness. He was in his seventies. Tributes were paid yesterday to a “very charming, pleasant man” who treated everyone the same, whatever their political or religious beliefs.

Mr Hall was the son of a staunch unionist, Roger Hall, Senior, who fell in love with a Catholic girl from Spain. According to historian and close family friend Dr Liam Bradley, his new wife insisted their children be brought up as Catholics after they married. While Mr Hall’s father paid the price of losing many of his unionist associates as a consequence, he gained respect from people on both sides of the community.

The Hall family still live at their ancestral home.

Sir William Hall, KCVO, was HM Lord-Lieutenant for County Down, 1996-2009.

NARROW WATER CASTLE, near Warrenpoint, County Down, is a large, imposing Tudor-Revival mansion of about 1836, by Thomas Duff of Newry.

It replaced an earlier house, known as Mount Hall, of which a wing survives.

There are many oriels and gables with finials.

At one corner of the entrance front there is a gatehouse tower with four cupolas, inspired by various English originals, such as the gatehouse at Tixall in Staffordshire.

At the other side of the house is a tall, polygonal, battlemented tower with a round turret.

The granite stone for the new Victorian mansion came from the family estate at Mullaghglass in County Armagh.

Many of the interior features, like the library fireplace, were carved by Curran and Sons of Lisburn.

*****

WILLIAM HALL is believed to have arrived in Ulster in 1640, settling in Red Bay, County Antrim.

His son, Francis Hall, is said to have purchased the original Narrow Water Castle estate, including the town of Warrenpoint, in the 17th century for £1,500 and constructed Mount Hall, the family residence prior to Narrow Water Castle, in 1707.

The house subsequently passed down the family line from father to son, Francis Hall, Roger Hall, Toby Hall to Savage Hall.

By 1820, it was the property of Roger Hall.

In the early 1830s he employed Thomas Duff of Newry to enlarge Mount Hall, and also to erect gate lodges and screens.

The new house (Narrow Water Castle) was completed in 1837, with Mount Hall remodelled as servants’ accommodation.

Roger Hall was married to Barbara Savage, whose family crest and monogram appear with his own throughout the house and on some of its purpose made furniture which was manufactured by Curren & Sons of Lisburn.

Joseph Paxton and Thomas Smith were employed to landscape the demesne with serpentine walks and formal gardens.

Byrne states that,

a mound on the North-West of the castle is crowned with seven gigantic oaks in a circle, inside of which are rustic seats … A little northward of the house is a tastefully constructed rustic bower, inlaid with seats all round, with a circular rustic table in the centre. 

The floor is paved with variegated pebbles. The bower is surmounted with a carved golden eagle with outspread wings.

Roger Hall was also responsible for the erection of Warrenpoint Shambles in 1834; and the gallery in Warrenpoint Parish Church.

When he died, the property passed to his son Samuel Madden Hall; on whose death it passed to his nephew, William James Hall, who erected the farmyard to North-West of the walled garden.

He died in 1896 (a memorial tablet and the chancel window of Warrenpoint Parish Church were installed in his memory).

The estate passed to his son, Roger Hall (one of the nave windows in Warrenpoint Parish Church was installed in his memory).

In 1939, the estate became controlled by trustees but remained occupied by the Hall family.

During the 2nd World War the upper floors and basement of the house were used by British and American Troops, as was the demesne.

The house was vacated as a family residence in October, 1999.

It is presently used as a function and conference centre.

*****

Today there are still over 300 acres of parkland and farmland; and another 400 acres of forest, lakes and woods.

Inside, all of the rooms overlook beautiful scenery.

A map of 1800 shows this house with garden, grove and shrubbery, orchard, pasture, woods, and parkland trees.

It is thought that Sir Joseph Paxton made plans for the Italian Garden, notable for its impressive grass terraces, balustrading, cut-stone steps and urns.

Horizontal ground was once filled with flower beds, remembered in photographs but now grassed.

Early 20th century photographs also show the wild garden in the Pleasure Grounds to the north-west of the house, said to have been created by Thomas Smith of Newry.

This is no longer maintained.

Articles in garden journals at the end of the 19th century mention the garden; and remarkable trees are noted in Trees of Great Britain and Ireland of 1909 and 1910.

A folly summer-house survives on high ground in woodland.

There are extensive plantations of trees.

The parkland trees, though, are few and far between.

The walled garden is not cultivated and the glasshouses have gone.

The Head Gardener’s House (or Steward’s House) is impressively large; and 18th century outbuildings are listed.

Two gate lodges survive: Castle Gate and Tudor Lodge by Duff, contemporary with the house.

However, Duff’s Newry Gate has gone, as has the earlier rear gate.

The south-east corner of the demesne is a golf course.

First published in August, 2010.

Gurteen Le Poer

THE LE POERS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY WATERFORD, WITH 13,448 ACRES

This family was founded by SIR ROBERT LE POER, Knight, Marshal and Lord of Waterford in 1179. In 1177 he was joined in commission with Hugh de Lacy in the government of Ireland, and from him have descended the Barons of Donoyle, and the Lords Power of Curraghmore.

SIR RICHARD POWER, Knight, of Curraghmore, County Waterford, Sheriff of the county, 1535, whose ancestors had been summoned to attend Parliament as feudal barons, was created, by patent, in 1535, Baron Poer or Power, of Curraghmore, County Waterford.

He married the Lady Katherine Butler, daughter of Piers, 8th Earl of Ormonde, and had issue,

Thomas, d 1564;
PIERS, his successor;
JOHN, 3rd Baron;
Katherine; Ellice; Margaret; Ellen.

His lordship died ca 1538, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

PIERS, 2nd Baron (c1526-45), a minor at his father's death, and granted in ward to James, 9th Earl of Ormonde, in 1540.

He took part in the siege of Boulogne, and died of his wounds at Calais, unmarried, in 1545.

His lordship was succeeded by his brother,

JOHN, 3rd Baron (c1529-92), a minor, who married the Lady Elinor FitzGerald, daughter of James, 15th Earl of Desmond, and had, with three younger sons,

RICHARD, his successor;
Piers.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

RICHARD, 4th Baron (1550-1607), who espoused Katherine, daughter of James, Viscount Buttevant, and had issue,

JOHN, killed by "The White Knight"; father of 5th Baron;
Piers;
Thomas;
Edmond.

His lordship was succeeded by his grandson,

JOHN, 5th Baron (c1599-1661), who wedded Ruth, daughter of Robert Phypoe, of St Mary's Abbey, Dublin, and had issue,

RICHARD, his successor;
David;
John;
Piers;
Eleanor; Katherine.

His lordship was excused from transplantation, 1654, at the hands of CROMWELL, as he was bereft of reason, and had been so for twenty years.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

RICHARD, 6th Baron (1630-90), who was created, in 1673, Viscount Decies and EARL OF TYRONE (2nd creation).

He married, in 1654, the Lady Dorothy Annesley, daughter of Arthur, 1st Earl of Anglesey, by whom (who was buried in Waterford Cathedral) he had issue,

Arthur;
JOHN, his successor, 7th Baron & 2nd Earl;
JAMES, 8th Baron & 3rd Earl.

His lordship, 1st Earl of Tyrone (2nd creation), was imprisoned in the Tower of London, as a Jacobite, where he died in 1690, and was buried at Farnborough, Hampshire, when he was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN, 7th Baron and 2nd Earl (c1665-93), who died unmarried in Dublin, and who was buried at Carrick-on-Suir, when he was succeeded by his brother,

JAMES, 8th Baron and 3rd Earl (1667-1704), who wedded Anne, daughter of Andrew Rickards, of Dangan Spidoge, County Kilkenny, by whom he had an only daughter,

THE LADY KATHERINE POWER, who espoused, in 1717, SIR MARCUS BERESFORD Bt, of Coleraine, and brought her husband the Curraghmore estates.

Her ladyship died in 1769.

Sir Marcus (1694-1763), ancestor of the Marquess of Waterford, was created, in 1746, EARL OF TYRONE (3rd creation).

Lord Power, 3rd Earl of Tyrone, died without male issue in 1704, when his earldom and viscountcy became extinct; but his barony of POWER, of Curraghmore, reverted to his heir male,

JOHN, de jure 9th Baron Power, who, being a colonel in the army of JAMES II, and attainted and outlawed on account of the rebellion in 1688, could not take his seat, but he was allowed a pension of £300 per annum by the Crown.

He died in Paris, 1725, and left, with two daughters, Charlotte and Clare, an only son,

HENRY, 10th Baron, but for the attainders of his father and grandfather.

His lordship took out administration to his father in 1725, and petitioned the Duke of Bolton, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, for the Curraghmore estate, as heir male, upon which petition the Lords Stanhope and Harrington made a favourable report to His Grace, but the petition never came to a hearing.

He died intestate and unmarried in 1742, and was buried at St Matthew's Church, Irishtown, Dublin.

Administration was granted to his sisters in 1743.

Upon his death the whole male descendants of Richard, 4th Baron, became extinct, and the representation of the 1st Baron Power devolved on the heir male of Piers Power, of Rathgormuck, the brother of the 4th Baron,

JOHN POWER, of Gurteen, County Waterford, and of Grange, County Galway,

Served in France under his maternal uncle, Colonel John Power, 9th Baron Power, and on his return to Ireland he wedded, in 1703, Mary, daughter and co-heir of Richard Power, of Ballydrimney, County Galway, at the request of his kinsman, he being the next relation in blood of the male line.

By this lady he had five daughters,

Helen;
Mary;
Bridget;
Katherine;
Elizabeth.

Mr Power died at Grange in 1743, and was succeeded by his brother,

WILLIAM POWER (FitzEdmond), of Gurteen, who died without an heir at Gurteen, 1755, and was buried at Kilsheelan.

He was succeeded by his nephew,

EDMOND POWER, of Gurteen, who espoused, in 1739, his cousin Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of John Power (FitzEdmond), of Gurteen, and had issue,

WILLIAM, his heir;
John;
James;
Richard;
Elizabeth; Katherine.

Mr Power was succeeded by his son and heir,

WILLIAM POWER (1745-1813), of Gurteen, who married, in 1765, Mary, daughter of Captain Walter Delamar.

*****

JAMES succeeded, 1755, as de jure 13th Baron La Poer.

His great-grandson,

EDMOND, 16th Baron (1775-1830), of Gurteen, 8th Light Dragoons (later 8th Hussars), fought in the Flanders Campaign, under the Duke of York.

His second son,

JOHN WILLIAM, 17th Baron, JP DL (1816-51), MP for County Waterford, 1837-40; Dungarvan, 1837, High Sheriff of County Waterford, 1841, was succeeded by his eldest son,

EDMOND JAMES, 18th Baron, JP (1841-1915), MP for Waterford, 1866-73. was created Count de la Poer [Papal States] in 1864.

The Count was High Sheriff of County Waterford, 1879, Private Chamberlain to HH Pope Pius IX, HM Lord-Lieutenant for the County and City of Waterford, 1909.

His second son,

JOHN WILLIAM RIVALLON JP, 19th Baron and 2nd Count (1882-1939), 4th Battalion, Leinster Regiment, High Sheriff of County Waterford, 1913.

In 1922, he claimed the barony of Le Poer and Curraghmore.

The Committee of Privileges in the House of Lords decided that, but for the attainder of John Power in 1691, the claim had been established.

Mr de la Poer was the last Lord-Lieutenant of County Waterford, from 1915 until 1922.

His eldest son,

EDMOND ROBERT ARNOLD, 20th Baron, TD, 3rd Count, was commissioned, in 1936, in the London Irish Rifles, and fought in the 2nd World War.

He succeeded as 20th Baron le Power and Coroghmore in 1939; Captain, Royal Ulster Rifles; awarded the Territorial Decoration; was an engineer.]

He lived in 1976 at Gurteen.

In 1998, the world-renowned artist, painter and photographer Gottfried Helnwein purchased Gurteen House, where he presently lives with his family.

GURTEEN LE POER, near Kilsheelan, County Waterford, is a large Tudor-Baronial house of great importance, which retains its original form and massing together with important salient features and materials, both to the exterior and to the interior.

Built in 1866 to designs prepared by Samuel Roberts for Edmond, 1st Count de la Poer, the architectural quality of the house is enhanced by the complex arrangement of gables, towers and turrets, all of which enliven the skyline.

The construction in limestone ashlar attests to high quality stone work, which is particularly evident in the fine detailing throughout.

A group of gateways to the grounds enhances the artistic design quality of the site, while a garden turret contributes to ornamental quality of the battlemented enclosure, itself augmenting the medieval tone of the grounds.

The house is of additional importance in the locality on account of its associations with the de la Poer family.

The main block is massive, with a lower service wing to one side.

The garden front has the same grouping of gables and three-sided bows, with a great tower in the entrance front.

The interior of Gurteen is commodious and agreeable, the centre boasting a galleried top-lit great hall, divided by a screen of Gothic arches.

Perhaps one of the most notable rooms in the house is the dining-room, said to contain one of the most perfect Victorian-Baronial interiors in Ireland.

The chimney-piece, of carved oak, is most exquisite with its heraldic angels holdings shields of the family arms, and its head of St Hubert's Stag - the family crest - complete with antlers and crucifix, mounted atop the mantel-shelf like a trophy.

First published in November, 2012.   Colour photographs by kind permission of Gottfried Helnwein.

Michael Longley CBE

Honorary Burgess of the City of Belfast

Elected and admitted by the Council of the City of Belfast under the municipal privilege (Ireland) Act, 1875:-

Michael Longley CBE

Commander of the civil division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire

The honour was bestowed upon Mr Longley by Belfast City Council in recognition of the positive contribution he has made to the city through his acclaimed poetry and writing legacy over five decades.

Stormont Castle

THE CLELANDS OWNED 4,385 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY DOWN

This is a County Down family, claiming descent from James Cleland of that ilk, Lanarkshire.

THE REV JOHN CLELAND (1755-1834), second son of Moses Cleland, of County Down, married, in 1805, Esther, daughter and co-heiress of Samuel Jackson, of Storm Mount, County Down, by his wife Margaret, only child and heiress of Paul Peter Isaac Vateau, descendant of a French Huguenot family, and had issue,

SAMUEL JACKSON, his heir;
Robert Stewart, b 1810; died under age;
Sarah Frances, m Robert Richard Tighe, of Woodstock.

John Cleland was a student at the Rev William Neilson's Classical Academy in Rademon, County Down; tutor to Lord Castlereagh; Prebendary of Armagh; Rector of Newtownards, 1789-1809; murder attempt occurred against him, 1796; he passed on information against the United Irishmen, 1797; Lord Londonderry's agent, 1824; bought land in Killeen & Ballymiscaw, 1830.

The Rev John Cleland's eldest son,

SAMUEL JACKSON CLELAND (1808-42), of Storm Mount, Dundonald, County Down, married Elizabeth (1817-92), daughter of James Joyce, of Thorn Hill, Belfast, and had issue,

JOHN, his heir;
James Vance, Captain (1838-86), of Ennismore, co Armagh;
Robert Stewart, Lieutenant-Colonel (1840-81), died of his wounds at Muree;
Samuel Frederick Stewart (1842-1902);
Margaret.

Samuel Jackson Cleland's premature death, aged 34, is said to have been caused by the sudden collapse of a wall at Rose Park (which he was demolishing at the time), close to his new residence, Stormont Castle.

The CLELAND MAUSOLEUM at Dundonald grave-yard, which was erected in his memory, cost the considerable sum of £2,000 to build in 1842 (about £228,000 today).

Samuel Jackson Cleland's eldest son,

JOHN CLELAND JP DL (1836-93), of Stormont Castle, Dundonald, County Down, High Sheriff of County Down, 1866, wedded, in 1859, Therese Maria, only daughter of Captain Thomas Leyland, of Haggerston Castle, Northumberland, and Hyde Park House, London, and had issue,

ARTHUR CHARLES STEWART, his heir;

Andrew Leyland Hillyar, b 1868;

Florence Rachel Therese Laura, b 1894; m  E U Blackett, of Wylam, Northumberland.

The eldest son, 

ARTHUR CHARLES STEWART CLELAND (1865-1924), of Stormont Castle, Lieutenant, 3rd Battalion, Prince of Wales Leinster Regiment, wedded, in 1890, Mabel Sophia, only daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel H T D'Aguilar, Grenadier Guards.

Mr Cleland died at Field Green, Hawkhurst, Kent.

STORMONT CASTLE, Dundonald, County Down, is a Scottish-Baronial mansion of 1858, built by the Belfast architect Thomas Turner. 

It replaced a previous house.

The entrance front comprises three storeys high and eight bays wide, with a two-storey canted bay window.

Remaining windows have square-topped sashes, with bartizan turrets at either end.

There is a tall tower at the eastern end, with a large door surround and balustrade on top, turrets on tower corners, crow-stepped castellation, and three rounded arch windows at top.

Gryphons brandish shields at either side of the main staircase

Cleland arms

The Castle's lofty tower is reminiscent of The Prince Consort's Tower at Balmoral Castle. 

John Cleland's grandson began extending the Georgian house after 1842, though work did not begin on the new mansion until 1858.

It was at Storm Mount that, ca 1830, Cleland created what was described as "a plain house": A mid or late Georgian house of a traditional type, it was in the form of a plain rectangle with a central projection to the south, presumably for the entrance. 

Associated plantings were very modest; there was a small fringed meadow at the front and an orchard on the hillside to the north west.  

A directory entry of 1837 referred (probably inaccurately) to the house as 'Storemont'; and, by 1864, the "Parliament Gazetteer" still did not rank it amongst the principal residences of the area. 

In those days the most substantial such residence was Rose Park, a name still in use in the residential area.

It was in the course of removing Rose Park, in the process of consolidating Cleland's holdings, that his son Samuel Jackson Cleland was killed by the collapse of a wall in 1842.

In 1858, the Cleland family commissioned the local architect Thomas Turner to convert the existing plain dwelling into a flamboyant baronial castle.

To what extent the original house survives is not clear. Conventional wisdom, supported by some map evidence, is that the symmetrical five-bay block facing south is the "baronialised" shell of the Georgian dwelling.

To this, Turner added the entrance tower to the east.

The whole image and particularly the outline of the building was given a baronial character with turrets, battlements, bartizans with conical caps, iron cresting and weather vanes. 

The Cleland monogram was used on the shields held by the snarling stone gryphons which still guard the main entrance to the Castle.

The 1850s also saw extensive development of the demesne which was extended to the main Upper Newtownards Road, with the old lodge for Rose Park becoming the lodge for the remodelled baronial Stormont.

The Clelands finally left in 1893, preferring to live elsewhere, and the demesne was let out. 

At some stage Stormont Castle was rented by Charles E Allen JP, a director of the shipbuilding firm of Workman and Clark Limited. 

On his departure from Belfast, the Castle became vacant and, in April, 1921, both it and the surrounding land were offered at auction, but withdrawn when no bid higher than £15,000 was obtained.

Later in 1921, however, it was acquired, with 235 acres of land, as a site for the Parliament Buildings of the new Northern Ireland state. 

On September 20th, that Parliament resolved that 

Stormont Castle demesne shall be the place where the new Parliament House and Ministerial Buildings shall be erected, and as the place to be determined as the seat of the Government of Northern Ireland as and when suitable provision has been made therefore. 

While there was initial uncertainty about the use to be made of Stormont Castle itself, it was later decided that it should become the official residence of the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. 

Sir James Craig (later 1st Viscount Craigavon) lived there until 1940, when he moved out to make more room for officials engaged in War work.

Lord Craigavon was succeeded in office by Mr J Andrews and thereafter by Sir Basil Brooke Bt (later 1st Viscount Brookeborough).

While both had offices in the Castle, no Prime Minister resided there with any regularity between 1940 to 1969.

On the arrival in office of Captain Terence O'Neill in 1963, substantial reinstatement and improvement works were carried out.

These included the removal of an ugly glass entrance canopy and the restoration of the old ballroom as an improved Cabinet Room.

In those days the Prime Minister occupied what became the Secretary of State's office, with the Secretary of the Cabinet using the other major front room on the ground floor.

Captain O'Neill (afterwards Lord O'Neill of the Maine), Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, resided, when in Belfast, at nearby Stormont House, originally built as a residence for the Speakers of the NI House of Commons.

His successor, Major James Chichester-Clark (later Lord Moyola), had premises on the first floor converted into a self-contained flat and regularly stayed there.

Since 1974, when Northern Ireland reverted to direct rule from Westminster, the Castle became the administrative headquarters for successive Secretaries of State.

Today, Stormont Castle serves as the Office of the First and Deputy First Ministers.

Although Stormont Castle is a house of the 1850s, the grounds date from the time of a former house of 1830.

There are a few mature trees from that era.

There is a fine restored glasshouse with 'bothies' on the back (ca 1857).

Formal bedding in the vicinity of the glasshouse and immediately to the west of the Castle was recorded, in its original form, in R Welch’s photographs of 1894 but have now gone. 

The demesne was purchased over the period 1921-78 for the Parliament Buildings and now amounts to about 400 acres.

First published in January, 2011.

Shanbally Castle

THE VISCOUNTS LISMORE WERE THE LARGEST LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY TIPPERARY, WITH 34,945 ACRES

This was one of the very few native families which had been dignified by the Peerage of Ireland. The O'Callaghans were formerly princes of the province of Munster, and were seated at Dromaneen Castle. Their Chief, CORNELIUS O'CALLAGHAN, enjoyed very extensive territorial possessions in 1594, according to an inquisition taken by Sir Thomas Norris, Vice-President of Munster, in that year.

From this Cornelius descended 

CORNELIUS O'CALLAGHAN (c1681-c1742), a very eminent lawyer, MP for Fethard, 1713-14, who married Maria, daughter of Robert Jolly, and had three sons, the youngest of whom,

THOMAS O'CALLAGHAN, wedded, in 1740, Sarah, daughter of John Davis, and had, with a daughter (married to Robert Longfield, of Castle Martyr), an only son,

CORNELIUS O'CALLAGHAN (1741-97), MP for Fethard, 1768-85, who was elevated to the peerage, in 1785, in the dignity of Baron Lismore, of Shanbally, County Tipperary.

His lordship married, in 1774, Frances, second daughter of Mr Speaker Ponsonby, of the Irish House of Commons, and niece, paternally, of William, Earl of Bessborough, and niece, maternally, of William, 3rd Duke of Devonshire, and had issue,

CORNELIUS, his heir;
Robert William (Sir), GCB, lieutenant-general;
George;
Louisa; Elizabeth; Mary.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

CORNELIUS, 2nd Baron (1775-1857), who was created, in 1806, VISCOUNT LISMORE, of Shanbally, County Tipperary.

He married, in 1808, the Lady Eleanor Butler, youngest daughter of John, 17th Earl of Ormonde, and sister of the Marquess of Ormonde, by which lady he had issue,

Cornelius;
William Frederick;
George Ponsonby;
Anne Maria Louisa.

His lordship, Privy Counsellor, 1835, Lord-Lieutenant of County Tipperary, 1851-57, was succeeded by his second son,

GEORGE PONSONBY, 2nd Viscount (1815-98), an officer in the 17th Lancers, High Sheriff of County Tipperary, 1853, Lord-Lieutenant of County Tipperary, 1857-85, who wedded, in 1839, Mary, daughter of George Norbury, and had issue,

George Cornelius Gerald (1846-85);
William Frederick Ormonde (1852-77).

His lordship's sons both predeceased him, when the titles became extinct.

SHANBALLY CASTLE, near Clogheen, County Tipperary, was built about 1812 for Cornelius O'Callaghan, 1st Viscount Lismore.

It was said to have been the largest of John Nash's Irish castles.

Shanbally was long and irregular, of a silver-grey ashlar.

This great mansion was 281 feet above sea-level, and about 80 feet above the level of the adjacent brook.

Shanbally Castle had numerous machicolations, towers and battlements.

The entrance front was pointed-arched, with a vaulted porte-cochere under a porch-tower.

The garden front had a round tower at one end and an octagonal tower at the other, with a central feature boasting two square turrets.

There was a stylish Gothic veranda.

Shanbally demesne is beautifully situated on low ground, in the centre of the valley, between the Galtee mountains on the north and the Knockmealdown mountains on the south.

It commands the most magnificent views of the slopes, escarpments, summits, and groupings of both of these alpine ranges.

Shanbally Castle was situated in a picturesque landscape, bounded to the north and south by two mountain ranges, the Galtees and the Knockmealdowns.

It is said that Shanbally bore a remarkable resemblance to Nash and Repton's joint venture, Luscombe Castle in Devon, though Shanbally was considerably larger.

The 2nd and last Viscount left Shanbally to his cousins, the Lady Beatrice Pole-Carew and the Lady Constance Butler, daughters of the 3rd Marquess of Ormonde.

Shanbally was sold in 1954 by Major Patrick Pole-Carew.

Following attempts by the Hon Edward Sackville-West (5th Lord Sackville) to rescue the Castle, it was demolished in 1957 and its ruin was blown up.

The following is a composition by Bill Power of the Mitchelstown Heritage Society:

Few acts of official vandalism rival the decision by the Irish Government in 1957 to proceed with plans to demolish Shanbally Castle.

Built for Cornelius O'Callaghan, 1st Viscount Lismore, ca 1810, the mansion was the largest house built in Ireland by the famous English architect, John Nash.

When the Irish Land Commission purchased the Shanbally estate in 1954, one of the immediate questions which it addressed was what should become of the castle.

For a brief period it seemed that a purchaser could be found in the form of the London theatre critic Edward Sackville-West, 5th Lord Sackville, who had a tremendous love of the Clogheen area, which he had known since childhood.

He agreed to buy the castle, together with 163 acres, but pulled out of the transaction when the Irish 
Land Commission refused to stop cutting trees in the land he intended to buy.

Consequently, by 1957, the fate of the mansion was sealed.

The Irish Land Commissioners, with Irish Government approval, decided to proceed with plans to demolish the castle on the grounds that they had no use for it and that it was in poor condition.

They ignored suggestions that a religious community might be found for the building, and also 
rejected its suitability as a forestry school.

In that year, Professor Denis Gwynn, wrote an article in the Cork Examiner in which he exhorted the authorities to reverse their decision:

"Shanbally Castle has been well known for years as one of the most graceful and original examples in Ireland of late Georgian architecture," he said. "Its formal gardens, which have run wild, could easily be brought back to order."

The Professor pointed out that Shanbally Castle was designed by one of the most famous of all modern architects, who also planned all the well known terraces that surround Regent's Park in London, and so many other celebrated buildings in England, `What conceivable justification can there be for incurring the great expense of demolishing this unique Irish mansion,' he asked.

"All around the house, with its long avenues, the land has been admirably laid out and planted with fine trees in groups to enhance the views and to produce valuable timber,' he continued. `More recently there has been wholesale clearance of the timber. Last summer I saw cutting in progress at many places, and big gaps had been made in the boundary walls to assist removal of the felled trees.

Describing the order to demolish the castle as an `act of vandalism,' Professor Gwynn called for an inquiry into the circumstances of the decision. There is no sense whatever in squandering public money on the destruction of a beautiful house which is well known to students of Nash's domestic architecture,' he added.

But Professor Gwynn's article was already too late: Despite some local opposition and widespread critical comment, the roof was removed and some of its impressive cut stones were being removed by hand and broken into smaller pieces for use in road building.

The house, with its twenty stately bedrooms, extensive drawing rooms, dining room, library, marble fireplaces and mahogany staircase was rapidly reduced to a state of ruin.

In 1960, The Nationalist newspaper reported the final end of a building which was once the pride of the neighbourhood: "A big bang yesterday ended Shanbally Castle, where large quantities of gelignite and cortex shattered the building", it said.

In the weeks prior to the explosion, demolition workers bored 1,400 holes, 18 inches above ground, into the cut stone of the castle.

Each hole was then filled with explosives which were detonated on the 21st March, 1960.

Almost all of this material was used for road building.

The protests against the demolition of Shanbally Castle came from some local sources, An Taisce and a few academics such as Professor Gwynn.

Politically, the Fianna Fail Government had no love for houses of the ascendancy.

However, remarkably, it was from within the ranks of Fianna Fail that the only political voices were raised against the demolition plans, albeit privately.

One was Senator Sean Moylan, the Irish Minister for Agriculture until his death in 1957, and the other was his close friend and TD from Mitchelstown, John W Moher.

They were over-ruled by the Cabinet and failed to get wider political support, even from opposition deputies.

When the explosion finally came, the Irish Government saw fit to issue a terse public statement in response to protests favouring the retention of Shanbally Castle for the nation.

"Apart from periods of military occupation the castle remained wholly unoccupied for 40 years," said the statement.

First published in October, 2011.

Delamont Park

THE GORDONS OWNED 4,768 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY DOWN

THE MANOR OF FLORIDA WAS GRANTED BY KING CHARLES I, WITH MANORIAL RIGHTS AND ROYALTIES

This family, a branch of the ancient and ennobled line of the same name in Scotland, is stated to have gone from Berwickshire to Ulster during the period of the civil wars in Scotland. Following the destruction of the family papers, the lineage cannot be traced accurately.

Nevertheless, it is known that many years after the period of the Scottish settlement, General Lord Adam Gordon, fourth son of Alexander, 2nd Duke of Gordon, during a visit to Ulster, resided with his cousin, John Gordon, of Florida Manor, County Down.

At a subsequent epoch, in 1783, the intercourse was renewed upon the occasion of some members of the Gordon family visiting Scotland, when they were received with much kindness by Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon, who fully recognized the relationship.

The representative of the Ulster branch at the close of the 17th century,

ROBERT GORDON, of Ballintaggart, County Down, married, in 1689, a daughter of George Ross, of Portabo, and sister of Robert Ross, of Rostrevor, in the same county, ancestor of GENERAL ROSS, who fell at the battle of Bladensburg, and had issue,

JOHN, his heir;
Robert (Rev).

Mr Gordon died in 1720, and was succeeded by his elder son,

JOHN GORDON (1690-1771), of Ballintaggart, who wedded, in 1720, his cousin Jane, daughter of Hugh Hamilton, of Ballybrannagh, County Down, and had issue,

ROBERT, his heir;
Jane, m David Johnston.

Mr Gordon espoused secondly, Grace, daughter of Thomas Knox, of Dungannon, County Tyrone, and had further issue,

Thomas Knox;
John;
Margery; Elizabeth.

He bequeathed his estate at Ballintaggart to Thomas Knox Gordon, the eldest son by his second marriage.

The eldest son by his first wife,

ROBERT GORDON (1722-93), of Florida Manor, married, in 1755, Alice, widow of Thomas Whyte, and only daughter of James Arbuckle and his wife Anne, daughter of John Crawford, and niece and heir-at-law of David Crawford, of Florida Manor, and had issue,

JOHN CRAWFORD, his heir;
David, of Delamont, successor to his brother;
Robert;
Alexander, of Castle Place, Belfast, father of ROBERT FRANCIS GORDON;
Alice; Anne.

Mr Gordon was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN CRAWFORD GORDON JP (1757-97), of Florida Manor, Captain, 50th Regiment, who died unmarried, and was succeeded by his brother,

DAVID GORDON JP DL (1759-1837), of Florida Manor and Delamont, High Sheriff of County Down, 1812, who married, in 1789, Mary, youngest daughter of JAMES CRAWFORD, of Crawfordsburn, and sister of Anne, 1st Countess of Caledon, and had issue,

ROBERT, his heir to Florida Manor;
JAMES CRAWFORD, succeeded to Delamont;
Jane Maria.

Mr Gordon was succeeded by his elder son,

ROBERT GORDON JP DL (1791-1864), of Florida Manor, High Sheriff of County Down, 1833, County Tyrone, 1843, who wedded, in 1825, Mary, daughter of William Crawford, of Lakelands, County Cork; though dsp 1864, and was succeeded by his brother,

THE REV JAMES CRAWFORD GORDON (1796-1867), of Florida Manor and Delamont House, Precentor of Down Cathedral, 1828-41, who espoused Geraldine, daughter of James Penrose, of Woodhill, County Cork; though dsp 1867, and was succeeded by his cousin, 

ROBERT FRANCIS GORDON JP DL (1802-83), of Florida Manor and Delamont, High Sheriff of County Down, 1873, who dsp, and was succeeded at Delamont by his nephew, ALEXANDER HAMILTON MILLER HAVEN, and at Florida Manor by his nephew,

ALEXANDER FREDERICK ST JOHN GORDON JP (1852-86), of Florida Manor; who dsp, and was succeeded by his cousin,

ALEXANDER MILLER HAVEN GORDON JP DL (1842-1910), of Florida Manor and Delamont, who wedded, in 1881, Ada Austen, eldest daughter of John Edward Eyre, Governor of Jamaica, of The Grange, Staple Aston, Oxfordshire, and had issue,

ALEXANDER ROBERT GISBORNE, his heir;
Eyre, CSI CIE;
John de la Hay;
Edward Ormond;
Henry Gisborne;
Eldred Pottinger;
Ivy Dorothy Catherine; Margerie Frances; Honor; Marion Alice.

Mr Gordon was succeeded by his eldest son,

THE RT HON  SIR ALEXANDER ROBERT GISBORNE GORDON GBE DSO (1882-1967), of Delamont, who married, in 1914, his first cousin, Alice Mary Dorothea, daughter of Robert Francis Gordon, though the marriage was without issue.

Delamont was subsequently held in trust by his niece, Patricia Lillas, for her son, Archibald Arundel Pugh, who assumed the additional surname of GORDON in 1968.

When they took up residence at Delamont in 1968, they altered and modernised the house to the designs of the architect Arthur Jury.

The remaining buildings around the back yard were removed, and water mains and electricity were installed.

To keep maintenance costs down, they ceased using the front avenue and approached the house via the back.

The farm and land were let and, when their son came into his inheritance he, too, continued to let the land.

In 1978, Mr Gordon-Pugh applied for, and obtained, outline planning permission for a hotel, marina and associated development along the shore, together with additional approval for a leisure park and golf course over the rest of the estate.

The proposals were not implemented though the house was, for a period, used as a restaurant and hired out for private parties and functions.

Delamont was sold by Mr Gordon-Pugh in 1985.

DELAMONT HOUSE (above), near Killyleagh, County Down, is a mildly Tudor-Revival 19th century mansion of two storeys with an attic and dormer gables.

Its front has a central, polygonal bow, raised above the skyline to provide the effect of a tower flanked by two narrow oriels and topped by dormer gables.

There is a rather irregular, gabled side elevation, notably longer than the front. A slender, polygonal turret with cupola is at the back of the house.

By the late 16th, early 17th centuries, much of County Down had been acquired by Scottish and English Landlords such as the Hamiltons and Montgomerys.

They, in turn, settled the area with tenant farmers, Scots in the north east and English in the rest; while the native Irish were relegated to the less fertile areas.

These early settlers were required to build fortified dwelling houses or bawns and, in the Thomas Raven maps of 1625, there appears a substantial one-and-a-half storey stone house with a wall around it on approximately the same site as the present Delamont House.

This house was approached by a long, tree-lined avenue, which does not correspond with the line of the present avenue.

The house was also on a hilltop, appearing to lie surrounded by a deer-park.

The land at the time was in the ownership of Lord Claneboye, so his tenants must have been quite prosperous farmers to have afforded such a large house.

This early Victorian period saw most of the major developments and improvements to the estate.

In 1841, the Rev James Crawford substantially extended the farm buildings and planted a second avenue to service the farm, orchard and walled garden.

A second gate lodge was built and is known as the “Gardners Cottage” [sic]. He also improved the main entrance to the estate.

Much of the planting of Delamont was carried out in the years between David Gordon’s death and 1859, most notably Kinnegar Wood and the two wooded hilltops, the “Corbally Planting” and the “Ringwood Planting”.

Gibbs Island was also planted and the wooded area round the house extended.

It would appear that the form of the present house also dates form this period.

The formal terraced gardens were laid out at the same time and provide an integral link between the house and the landscape beyond, carefully leading the eye down through the various levels and making full use of the superb natural setting.

The main terrace directly in front of the house was gravelled, with the others kept as lawn.

The flower beds at the front of house and to the side would have been planted with seasonal bedding plants. There was formerly a rose garden.

The demesne was considerably larger than at the present day, extending west of the Downpatrick Road and Island Road and, in Griffiths Valuation of 1863, the Rev James Crawford Gordon held the land in the townland of Tullykin as well as Mullagh.

He also held the right of collecting and taking seaweed from the shore.

The Rev James Crawford Gordon died in 1867 and, having no children, the estates of Florida Manor and Delamont passed to his first cousin, Robert Francis Gordon (1802-83), son of Alexander Gordon and Dorothea Gisborne.

He apparently altered the house in 1875. He remained unmarried.

Robert Francis Gordon never married and following his death, in 1883, the two estates were divided: Florida Manor was left to a nephew, Alexander Frederick St John Gordon (1852-86); and Delamont to another nephew, Alexander Hamilton Miller Haven Gordon (1842-1910).

However, the nephew who inherited Florida Manor died without issue, thence Florida passed back to Alexander Hamilton Miller Haven Gordon.

Thus the two estates were again united in the Gordon family.

This late Victorian period at Delamont was when the Long Avenue was planted, as it does not appear on the 1856 Estate Map, but it features on the Ordnance Survey Map of 1903.

Alexander Gordon appears to have taken an active interest in his estate, and his obituary in 1910 describes him as a man

naturally attracted to the necessity for cultivating the soil in an agricultural country like Ireland. He was foremost in promoting any effort to introduce modern improvements and was himself an extensive farmer, both at Delamont and Florida Manor.

The Delamont estate is now run as a country park for the use of the general public.

Up until the time of the 2nd World War, the estate seems to have flourished: Sir Alexander's land steward, Mr Carlisle, developed the farm and improved the land; fruit and vegetables from the walled garden were sold; and Mr Moreland, who was employed as gardener in the 1920s, remembers half an acre devoted purely to rhubarb.

At that time, the estate employed five indoor servants plus a chauffeur, whose duties included carrying drinking water twice a day from a well by Kinnegar Wood up the hill to the house.

Eventually water was pumped up the hill and stored in a reservoir built on top of the rath.

Delamont appears to have been quite self-sufficient in those days, even generating its own electricity.

Sir Alexander made alterations to the house at the rear, by demolishing some of the sixteen servants' rooms which were no longer needed.

He also altered the porch ca 1938.

Whether Delamont was actually purchased by the Gordons or acquired by marriage is unclear, but their other estate in County Down, Florida Manor at Killinchy, was acquired through the fortuitous marriage or Robert Gordon to Alice Arbuckle in 1755, who was niece and heiress-in-law to David Crawford of Florida Manor.

It is thought that their son, David Gordon (1759-1837), first came into Delamont in 1793.

David Gordon purchased Delamont for £8,360 in 1793 (about £1 million in today's money) from Lord Northland and Matthew Forde, who were acting as executors for Mrs Margery Delahay.

Thomas Delahay acquired the property from Lord Limerick in 1733 for £1,117.

He had married in 1721, Margery, the sister of the Rt Hon Thomas Knox MP and predeceased her in 1747. The name "Delamont" obviously derives from the surname.

Unlike his father and grandfather, who were wine and general merchants, David Gordon entered the legal profession and also established the banking house of Gordon and Company in 1808, which later became the Belfast Banking Company.

He married Mary Crawford, of Crawfordsburn, in 1789 who was, by all accounts, a very wealthy lady.

The Delamont demesne dates from the 17th century. Raven’s picture map of 1625 shows a straight avenue leading to a previous house apparently on top of a drumlin, with mature trees and deer.

The present house was built in the mid-19th century on high ground with extensive views over Strangford Lough.

The ground undulates and the site is very attractive.

There are fine parkland trees, woodland belts and stone enclosed clumps on the hill tops.

The tree-lined ‘Long Walk’ was laid out post-1860 and has recently been shortened by a road-widening scheme. There is a narrow ornamental garden at the house which is not kept up and the conservatories are gone.

To the south of the house there is an enclosure, which has been adapted as a garden feature with encircling, tree-lined walks.

There are farm buildings of 1841, a walled garden and walled orchard. The walled garden is cultivated as a nursery.

There are two gate lodges built ca 1855. Delamont Country Park owned by Down District Council and is open to the public, as is the nursery garden.

Delamont House is presently owned by the Belfast Education & Library Board.

FLORIDA MANOR

FLORIDA MANOR comprised the townlands of Ballybunden, Drumreagh and part of the townland of Kilmood.

In 1791, the estate was described as containing 1,300 acres of arable land and 400 acres of bog and it was let for £1,000 per annum.

In 1867, when Robert Francis Gordon took possession of the Florida Manor estate, it was valued at £4,634.

However, the bulk of Florida Manor, including the townlands of Ballygraffan, Ballyminstragh, Kilmood, Lisbarnet, Raffrey, Ravara and Tullynagee, formed part of the Londonderry Estates.

There is very little information relating directly to Florida Manor, though it is possible to draw together some information about the building of the house or, at least, to establish an approximate date of when the house was completed.

A bill of complaint declares that, when John Crawford Gordon died in 1797, his brother, David, succeeded to the estate which included the mansion-house called Florida Manor and demesne.

Moreover, a survey of 1794 for the Florida demesne of John Crawford recorded that it comprised just over 100 acres.

A memorandum of agreement between Robert Gordon and Hugh Agnew, a brick-maker, for 'fifty thousand bricks or any greater number...' is dated 1775.

First published in July, 2010.