Straffan House

STRAFFAN HOUSE IS NOW BETTER KNOWN AS THE K CLUB HOTEL AND LEISURE COMPLEX

THE BARTONS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY KILDARE, WITH 5,044 ACRES

This family was established in Ireland by THOMAS BARTON (1553-1626), of Norwich, who is said to have accompanied the Earl of Essex's army, in 1599, to that kingdom.

Mr Barton, one of the first burgesses of Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, obtained a grant of land, in 1610, comprising a district called Druminshin and Necarne, in the same county. Some of these lands were exchanged by him for others in the neighbourhood still in the possession of the elder branch of the family.

This Thomas Barton married Margaret Lloyd, and had a son,

ANTHONY BARTON, who left issue a son,

WILLIAM BARTON (c1630-93), of Boa Island and Curraghmore, County Fermanagh, who married Jane Hannah Forster, and had two sons,

Edward, of Boa Island;
WILLIAM, of whom we treat.

The younger son,

WILLIAM BARTON, of Boa Island and Curraghmore, wedded Elizabeth, daughter of John Dickson, of Ballyshannon, and had issue,

THOMAS, his heir;
George;
James;
Elizabeth (Anna); Everina.

The eldest son,

THOMAS BARTON (1695-1780), established the house of business at Bordeaux, France, 1725, and acquired a considerable fortune.

He purchased the estate of Grove, County Tipperary, in 1752.

This gentleman established the famous vintners Barton & Guestier.

He and his wife, Margaret Delap, of Ballyshannon, and had issue, an only child,

WILLIAM BARTON (1723-92), of Grove, who married, in 1754, Grace, eldest daughter of the Very Rev Charles Massy, Dean of Limerick, and sister of Sir Hugh Dillon Massy, 1st Baronet, and had issue,

Thomas, his heir;
William, of Clonelly;
Charles, of Waterfoot;
HUGH, of whom hereafter;
Robert (Sir), KCH, Lieutenant-General;
Dunbar, of Rochestown;
Grace; Elizabeth; Margaret Everina.

The fourth son,

HUGH BARTON (1766-1854),

Who, by his own energy, industry, and activity, acquired at Bordeaux a very large fortune, which he invested in the purchase of the Straffan estate and other lands in Ireland in 1831, and also in the purchase of the Château Langoa, and a portion of the adjacent property of Leoville, both in the parish of St Julien Medoc, near Bordeaux. 

During the reign of terror, in 1793-4, he was imprisoned as an alien, but by the connivance of his wife, daughter of a naturalised Frenchman of Scottish origin, he effected his escape to Ireland. During his absence the business in Bordeaux was managed by Daniel Guestier, with whom he entered into partnership in 1802.

Mr Barton, High Sheriff of Kildare, 1840, married, in 1791, Anne, daughter of Nathaniel Weld Johnston, of Bordeaux, and had issue,

Hugh, died young;
NATHANIEL, his heir;
THOMAS JOHNSTON, of Glendalough;
Daniel;
Hugh;
Susan; Anna; Grace; Isabella; Susan Elizabeth; Charlotte.

His eldest surviving son,

NATHANIEL BARTON JP DL (1799-1867), of Straffan House, County Kildare, High Sheriff of County Kildare, 1851, married, in 1823, Mary Susanna, daughter of Harry Harmood Scott, consul at Bordeaux, and had issue,

HUGH LYNEDOCH, his heir;
Harry Fitzgerald (1826-48);
BERTRAM FRANCIS, succeeded his brother;
Charles Thomas Hugh;
Francis Savile;
Mary Esther Isabella; Anna Susan Frederica; Isabel Charlotte; Alice Catherine Harriet.

The eldest son,

HUGH LYNEDOCH BARTON JP DL (1824-99), of Straffan House, High Sheriff of County Kildare, 1861, Major, Kildare Rifles, former Lieutenant, 6th Inniskillings, wedded, in 1855, Anna Emily, eldest daughter of Eyre, 3rd Lord Clarina, though died without issue, when the estate devolved upon his brother,

BERTRAM FRANCIS BARTON (1830-1904), of Straffan House, High Sheriff of County Kildare, 1903, who married, in 1855, Fannie Annie, eldest daughter of Commander Frank Cutler RN, of Upton Lodge, Brixham, Devon, and had issue,

BERTRAM HUGH, his heir;
Harry Scott;
Mary Fannie; Isabel Eleanor.

Mr Barton was succeeded by his eldest son,

BERTRAM HUGH BARTON JP DL (1858-1927), of Straffan House, High Sheriff of County Kildare, 1908, who wedded, in 1899, Lilian Edith Laura, only daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Frederick Walter Carden Bt, and had issue,

FREDERICK BERTRAM, his heir;
Hugh Ronald, b 1902;
Storeen Lily, b 1906.

Mr Barton was succeeded by his eldest son,

FREDERICK BERTRAM (DERICK) BARTON (1900-93), of Straffan House, who espoused, in 1927, Joan Aileen, daughter of Major-General Robert St Clair Lecky, and had issue,

Christopher Bertram Ronald, b 1927;
Anthony Frederick, b 1930.

Captain Barton sold Straffan House in 1949.

Thereafter he lived at The Glebe, Straffan.

He was President, Royal Dublin Society, 1966-68.

In 1976, Captain Barton lived at 18 Waltham Terrace, Blackrock, County Dublin.

Derick Barton sold Straffan House to the motorcycle manufacturer, John Ellis, for £15,000. Other owners in the interim periods between the Barton family and the current owner included: Car importer Steven O’Flaherty (1960); the film producer responsible for the James Bond film Thunderball, Kevin McClory (1973); Iranian Air Force founder, Nader Jahanbani (1977) who was executed around the time of the downfall of the Shah Reza Pahlavi government; Patrick Gallagher (1979); and the property magnate Alan Ferguson (1981).

STRAFFAN HOUSE, near Straffan, County Kildare, is a stately 19th century mansion with the appearance of a French-Italianate château.

The main block is of two storeys with an attic of pedimented dormers in a mansard roof.

There is a seven-bay entrance front, the centre bay breaking forward, with a tripartite window above a single-storey, balustraded, Corinthian portico.

Straffan has tall chimney-stacks.

The main block is prolonged at one side by a lower, two-storey wing, from which rises a lofty, slender campanile tower, with two tiers of open belvederes.

The garden was formal, with an elaborate Victorian fountain.

The mansion house was reduced in size about 1937 by Captain Barton, the four bays of the main block furthest from the wing being demolished.

IN 2005, Sir Michael Smurfit KBE (with Gerry Gannon) purchased Straffan estate.

It was transformed into a luxury hotel and leisure complex, the Kildare Hotel & Golf Club, known simply as The K Club.

Sir Michael is now the sole owner.

Under Sir Michael's ownership, Straffan House has in effect been doubled in size, using a granite porch from Ballynegall in County Westmeath, to fuse the two sides together.

Not only has a de luxe hotel been created, but it has also been furnished with important works of art.

First published in December, 2012.

Archdale Watercolours

PETER ARCHDALE KINDLY SENT ME TWO WATERCOLOURS PAINTED AT CASTLE ARCHDALE IN 1895

CASTLE ARCHDALE was one of the largest estates in County Fermanagh.

Ely Lodge, Crom, Florence Court, Colebrooke Park, and Castle Archdale all comprised about 30,000 acres or more in Victorian times.

I have already written at length about the manor house and Archdales.

The Rock Garden (click on image to enlarge)

The Rock Garden was painted by Beatrice Emma Parsons in 1895.

Manor House: Front Lawn (click on image to enlarge)

The painting above depicted the view from the front of the manor house in 1895.

There used to be a tennis-court here.

*****

Beatrice Emma Parsons (1869-1955) was a sister of Karl Parsons, the stained-glass artist.

First published in August, 2011.

Killynether House: I

I first discovered  Killynether Wood in December, 2007.

Such a beautiful spot.

Deep in the woods there is a sea of bluebells in May each year.

Killynether Wood, in County Down, lies on a hill overlooked by Scrabo Tower, that august landmark and memorial to the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry.

The nearest town is Newtownards; the Woods are roughly between Comber and Newtownards.

I had no idea, until I was told, that there used to be a large country house here, called Killynether House.

Killynether was the second property acquired by the National Trust since it became established in Northern Ireland

The owner in 1937 was Jessie Helen Weir ( b 1856).

She donated her property that year, including 42 acres of mixed woodland and an endowment of £2,000, to the Trust.

I believe that the house was built in 1858.

In 1907 Killynether House was described in the street directory as Killynether Castle, the owner being Arthur James Weir (b 1863); though in a directory of 1886 the occupier was none other than James Brownlow, a local magistrate; and shortly thereafter Brownlow resigned as Lord Londonderry's land agent.

Andrew Cowan, another local magistrate, also occupied Killynether at one stage.

Killynether and the surrounding land formed part of the Londonderry Estates; and we also know that James Brownlow was Lord Londonderry's land agent in 1886; and that there was a Cowan Inheritance in the 17th century.

This was a Victorian, Tudor-Gothic mansion with a mullioned roof and various towers.

This, at least, we can deduce from old photographs.

The house was already being used as a youth hostel in 1937, so the Trust agreed that the YHA tenancy should continue.

At the start of the Second World War, the House and grounds were requisitioned by the Army; and the tenure of the Estate, including those austere but functional Nissen huts, was not actually released by the Ministry of Defence till the 31st May, 1949.

The concrete bases of the huts remained, despite considerable pleas from the Trust to the MoD about this.

The Northern Ireland Committee of the National Trust was concerned that the property should be utilized to its full potential following the army's departure, so an umbrella group representing the YHA, Federation of Boys' Clubs, Civil Service Social Service Society and National Council of YMCAs was formed and the Trust granted them a short lease for their activities.

In June, 1947, Killynether House was still found to be in reasonably good condition.

About five years later, in 1952, the youth hostel grouping's tenure expired, though the YHA was permitted to remain until November, 1953.

Regrettably, dry rot had begun to take hold of the house; nevertheless some remedial repairs were undertaken.

At this stage the Trust wished to find suitable private tenants for the property though, sadly, during a period when the house was empty, it succumbed to inevitable vandalism.

Eventually a tenant was found in September, 1955.

The perennial problems associated with dry rot persisted and Killynether House became uninhabitable to such an extent that, by 1966, the matter came to a head and the National Trust felt that regrettably they had no option other than to demolish the old house.

First published in May, 2009.

Belfast Department Stores

In 1974 Belfast boasted no less than twelve department stores. I remember most of them.

Robinson & Cleaver, at 56 Donegall Place, was "Northern Ireland's most famous Department Store."

One of my favourite ties, a navy blue, polka dot silk tie which I wear to this very day, was purchased at Robinson Cleaver's.

The Bank Buildings, at Castle Place, was a lovely store in its time. It had been taken over by House of Fraser, I seem to recall.

The Belfast Co-operative Society's store was by far the largest of them all. It was vast, in fact.

• Anderson & McAuley, 1-9 Donegall Place, and 2-16 Castle Street
• Arnott, John & Co, of Belfast, 26-32 High Street, and 16 Bridge Street
• Bank Buildings, The, Castle Place
• Belfast Co-operative Society, 12-44 York Street
• Brands Birdcage Walk, 1-8 Brand's Arcade, and 49 Donegall Place
• Brands & Normans, 18-26 Castle Lane
• British Home Stores (BHS), 24-26 Castle Place, 13-25 Castle Lane, and 11-15 and 14-18 Castle Arcade
• Leahy, Kelly & Leahy, 2-6 Castle Place
• Littlewoods Mail Order Stores, 5-17 Ann Street, and 14-30 William Street South
• Marks & Spencer, 48-52 Donegall Place
• Robinson & Cleaver, 56, Donegall Place
• Woolworth, F W, 11-15 High Street, 2-6 Ann Street, 4-10 Cornmarket, and 127-161 North Street

Three of the aforesaid stores survive, viz. Bank Buildings (being re-built after a catastrophic fire); Marks & Spencer (to their credit throughout the Troubles); and the former Woolworth's store (now Dunnes Stores).

In addition there is a Frasers (House of Fraser) store.

New Belfast DL

APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY LIEUTENANT

Dame Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle DBE, Lord-Lieutenant of the County Borough of Belfast, has been pleased to appoint:-

Professor Sir Michael Oliver McBride 

Belfast

To be a Deputy Lieutenant of the County Borough, his Commission bearing date the 27th day of April 2026.

Signed: Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle DBE DStJ LLD (Hon QUB)

Lord Lieutenant of the County Borough

The Burroughs Baronetcy

This family, and several others in England and Ireland, which now bear the names of De Burgh, Burgh, Bourke, Burke, Buroughs, Burrough, and Burroughs,  derive their origin from Robert de Burgh, who came from Normandy with William the Conqueror.

One branch of the family went to Ireland in the reign of HENRY II, and there gave rise to the noble families of Clanricarde, Mayo, and several other families of distinction in that kingdom.

Another branch, from which the Burroughs Baronetcy was descended, settled in Lincolnshire, and was advanced to the dignity of the peerage by ELIZABETH I, who, on sending Sir Thomas Burgh, KG, to Ireland, as Lord Deputy, created him a peer.

Thomas, Lord Burgh, died in the government, without male issue, when the title became extinct, and his estates in Lincolnshire passed into the Newcastle and Gainsborough families.

He was accompanied to Ireland by a collateral relation of the same name, who acquired a large landed property in County Wicklow, and was the immediate ancestor of Sir William Burroughs, first (and last) Baronet.

THOMAS BURROUGHS, who married Elizabeth Lewis, had a son,

FRANCIS BURROUGHS, who wedded Miss Mushet, niece to the then Lord Bishop of Derry, and had issue,

Thomas;

LEWIS, of whom we treat;

Mary.

The younger son,

THE VEN. LEWIS BURROUGHS DD (1714-86), Archdeacon of Derry, espoused Mary, daughter of Richard Cane, of Laraghbryan, County Kildare, by Anne Lyons, of River Lyons, in the King's County, who was almost allied to the noble families of Drogheda, Mount Cashell, Wellesley, Charleville, Boyne, and Harberton, and by her had issue,

Medlicott;

Newburgh (Ven), Archdeacon of Derry;

WILLIAM, of whom hereafter;

Thomas;

Mary Anne; Frances; Selina Frances.

The third son,

WILLIAM BURROUGHS (c1753-1829), a barrister, MP for Enniskillen, 1802-6, Colchester, 1817-18, Taunton, 1818-19, went to India, and was appointed Advocate-General of Bengal by Lord Cornwallis.

Sir William Burroughs Bt (Image: National Portrait Gallery)

On his return he was created a baronet, in 1804, designated of Castle Bagshaw, County Wicklow.

Sir William married Letitia, daughter of William Newburgh, of Ballyhaise and Drumcarn, County Cavan,  and had issue,

William;

Letitia; Maria Isabella; Louisa.

Sir William's only son,

WILLIAM BURROUGHS (1784-1814), a captain in the Coldstream Guards, died of wounds received at the battle of Bayonne.

Sir William's only son having predeceased him, the baronetcy became extinct.

First published in April, 2022.

Sketches of Olden Days

In Coleraine, County Londonderry, there used to be a little book-shop tucked up a little side street - Society Street - close to the parish church, which sold vintage books among other items.

On one occasion, I think in 2015, I found a small hardback book written in 1927, six years after the formation of Northern Ireland.

Click To Enlarge

It was by the Rev Canon Hugh Forde, with a forward by the Rt Hon Sir James Craig Bt (later 1st Viscount Craigavon), first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

Hugh Forde was born in Derry in 1847, educated at Dungannon Royal School, County Tyrone, and Trinity College, Dublin, where he achieved a master's degree and a doctorate.

The Roamer column in the Newsletter newspaper remarks that, following curacies in Macosquin and Maghera, Hugh became Rector in Kilcronaghan, Ballynascreen, and Tamlaght Finlagan (Ballykelly) successively before becoming a Canon of St Columb's Cathedral, Londonderry, from 1897 to 1922.

He had five children, including Kathleen, during his first marriage to Mary Ross from Limavady.

After Mary died he married Dorothea Millar from Buncrana, in 1884, and had three more children, one of whom, Lieutenant Kenneth Forde, was killed in action in Flanders on the 24th July, 1915, during the 1st World War.

Canon Forde retired to Portrush, County Antrim, in 1922 where he remained until his death in 1929.

He wrote and published four books: Round the Coast of Northern Ireland; Ulster at Bay; The Giant’s Causeway and Dunluce Castle; and Sketches of Olden Days in Northern Ireland.

I heartily concur with Lord Craigavon when he wrote:

In commending these brilliant sketches to the people of Ulster, and to visitors to our shores, I do so with all the more pleasure, although our native country is teeming with historical interest and is well supplied with ancient monuments, suitable books of reference are comparatively few. 

Canon Forde has done a public service in compiling so accurate a record of Olden Days, and providing an interesting glimpse of the life led by Ulstermen of bygone times.

Seek it out if you can.

First published in July, 2016.

Dromore Castle

THE MAHONYS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY KERRY, WITH 26,173 ACRES

The O'Mahonys were, in early times, powerful chieftains in the province of Munster, and had extensive estates along the sea-coast of counties Cork and Kerry.

Opposite Horse Island, off the former county, was their castle of Rosbrin, boldly erected on a rock over the sea; and its proprietor, in the time of ELIZABETH I, availing himself of the natural advantage that it possessed, led a life of such successful piracy, that Sir George Carew, when Lord President of Munster, was obliged to demolish it.

From old family documents, it appears that the ancestors of RICHARD JOHN MAHONY, of Dromore Castle, held for a long period the office of Seneschal of Kerry, even down to the time of the Commonwealth.

In 1639, MacDermot O'Mahony was confirmed as High Sheriff of Kerry by CHARLES I. Not long after, the O'Mahonys, true to their allegiance, suffered fine and confiscation, and finally sought in foreign climes the distinction denied them at home.

COLONEL DERMOT O'MAHONY, of Rosbrin, a faithful adherent of JAMES II, fought and fell at Aughrim.

His brother, DANIEL MAHONY, received the honour of knighthood from that monarch at St Germain's for his gallant conduct at Cremona, and afterwards for his good services in France, Spain and Italy, obtained the title of Count from LOUIS XIV.

This was the celebrated General Count MAHONY, of the Spanish service, so distinguished at Almanza and in Sicily as Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish troops.

A chief line of the great House of Mahony resident in County Kerry was

JOHN MAHONY, of Dromore Castle, who married firstly, in 1794, Miss Higginbotham, of Bath, who died without issue; and secondly, Miss Day, daughter of the Ven Edward Day, Archdeacon of Ardfert, of Beaufort House, County Kerry, and had issue,

DENIS, of whom presently;
Richard.

He married thirdly, Miss Godfrey, daughter of Sir William Godfrey Bt, of Kilcoleman Abbey, County Kerry, by whom he had a daughter, Agnes, who wedded R C Hickson, of Fermoyle, County Kerry.

Mr Mahony died in 1817, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

THE REV DENIS MAHONY JP, of Dromore Castle, who married firstly, in 1827, Lucinda Catherine, only child of John Segerson, of West Cove, County Kerry, and had a son,

RICHARD JOHN, of whom hereafter.

He wedded secondly, in 1829, Jane, daughter of Sir John Blake Bt, of Menlo Castle, and by her had issue,

Denis;
Edward;
Henry;
John;
Rose; Margaret.

He espoused thirdly, in 1843, Katherine, daughter of Mathew Franks, of Merrion Square, Dublin, by whom he had one daughter, Mary Ellen.

The Rev Denis Mahony died in 1851, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

RICHARD JOHN MAHONY JP DL (1828-92), of Dromore Castle, High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1853, who married, in 1856, Mary Harriette, eldest daughter of John Waller, of Shannon Grove, County Limerick, and had issue, with a daughter,

HAROLD SEGERSON MAHONY JP (1867-1905), of Dromore Castle, County Kerry, who succeeded his father in 1892.

When Harold Mahony was killed in a bicycle accident in 1905, he left no heirs.

The estate passed to his sister, Norah Eveleen Mahony, wife of Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Hood TD JP, who, in turn, left the castle to her cousin, Hugh Bolton Waller.

DROMORE CASTLE, near Templenoe, County Kerry, looks out over the River Kenmare.

It was built in the 1830s for the Mahony family to a neo-gothic design by Sir Thomas Deane.

It was designed and built for Denis Mahony.

Work began in 1831, although the account books show that only a negligible amount had been carried out before 1834.

Building work was completed in 1839.

The house is in the castellated Gothic-Revival style, with an external finish of Roman cement with limestone dressings.

With the notable exception of the grand south-facing window with its pointed arch, the windows consist of pointed tracery contained within rectangular frames, a style characteristic of Deane's domestic work.

The entrance hall, which is in the form of a long gallery, takes up half of the area of the ground floor.

The west wing of the Castle takes the form of a round tower, with a spiral staircase contained within an attached turret.

Although Dromore Castle appears to have been built on the instructions of Denis Mahony, his father John Mahony had made the decision to build a large residence earlier in the 19th century, but apparently abandoned the attempt after his yacht, returning from London with lead for the roof and wine for the cellar, sank in the River Kenmare, in view of the site of the house.

Thereafter, no further work took place until Deane began building work for Denis Mahony in the 1830s.

Denis Mahony was a rector of the Church of Ireland and a keen proselytiser.

He is known to have set up a soup kitchen at Dromore during the time of the Irish Potato Famine, and preached in the chapel at Dromore to the hungry who came for food.

His proselytizing activities did not make him a popular figure in the locality, and in 1850 he was attacked in his church at Templenoe.

On returning to Dromore, he found a further angry group had uprooted flower beds, felled trees and were about to set fire to the castle; it is claimed that they were only stopped by the intervention of the local priest.

After the Rev Denis Mahony's death in 1851, the castle was inherited by his son, Richard John Mahony, who successfully ran the estate in addition to farming oyster beds in the bay.

When Richard Mahony died, the castle then passed in turn to his son, Harold Segerson Mahony.

Harold was an extremely successful tennis player, and indeed was the last Irish winner at Wimbledon.

His tennis court can still be found in the gardens at the Castle.

It was in the late 1800s, during Harold Mahony's time as head of the household, that Harold Boulton, best known for writing the lyrics of the Skye Boat Song, came to visit Dromore, and it is then that he is thought to have written the words to the popular song "The Castle of Dromore," published in 1892.

When Harold Mahony was killed in a bicycle accident in 1905, he left no heirs, and the castle was passed to his sister, Norah Hood.

She in turn left the castle to her cousin, Hardrass Waller, and the castle remained in the hands of the Waller family until 1993 when it was offered for sale.

Dromore Castle is now owned by an investment company who are attempting to restore the building.

Beyond the Castle's gardens and outbuildings, the majority of the Castle grounds are now owned by  the Irish forestry board.

The Kerry Way runs through the grounds, and there are various footpaths leading to the Kenmare River. Entrance to the grounds is through a castellated gatehouse, also by Thomas Deane.

First published in June, 2012.

Dunsandle House

THE BARONS DUNSANDLE AND CLANCONAL WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY GALWAY, WITH 33,543 ACRES

The family of DALY, or O'DALY, is of very ancient origin, deducing its descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages, monarch of Ireland in the 4th century, who was also common ancestor of the O'NEILLS of Tyrone and O'DONNELLS of Tyrconnell, from whom the pedigree of this family is lineally traced in the Heralds' office.

THE RT HON DENIS DALY (c1638-1721), son of James Daly, of Carrownakelly, by his wife, Anastase D'Arcy (niece of Patrick D'Arcy), had a son,

DENIS DALY, of Carrownakelly, whose son,

JAMES DALY (1716-69), MP for Athenry, 1741-68, Galway Borough, 1768-9, married firstly, Bridget, daughter of Francis, 14th Baron Athenry; and secondly, Catherine, daughter of Sir Ralph Gore Bt, by whom he had issue,

St George;
DENIS, of whom we treat.

The younger son,

THE RT HON DENIS DALY (1748-91), of Dunsandle, County Galway, married, in 1780, the Lady Henrietta Maxwell, daughter of Robert, 1st Earl of Farnham, and had issue,

JAMES, his heir;
Robert (Rt Rev), Lord Bishop of Cashel and Waterford;
Henrietta; Katharine; Charlotte; Elizabeth; Emily; Mary.

Rt Hon Denis Daly (Image: Wikipedia)

Mr Daly was succeeded by his eldest son,

JAMES DALY (1782-1847), MP for County Galway, 1812-27, who was elevated to the peerage, in 1845, in the dignity of BARON DUNSANDLE AND CLANCONAL, of Dunsandle, County Galway.

His lordship  married, in 1808, Maria Elizabeth, second daughter and co-heiress of Rt Hon Sir Skeffington Smyth Bt, MP, of Tinny Park, County Wicklow, and had issue,

DENIS ST GEORGE, his successor;
Charles Anthony;
SKEFFINGTON JAMES, 3rd Baron;
Bowes Richard;
Robert;
Margaret Eleanor; Rosa Gertrude Harriet.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

DENIS ST GEORGE, 2nd Baron (1810-93), DL, Captain, 7th Dragoons, who wedded, in 1864, Mary, daughter of William Broderick, though dying without legitimate male issue, the family honours devolved upon his next brother,

SKEFFINGTON JAMES, 3rd Baron (1811-94), who died unmarried, when the family honours reverted to his cousin,

JAMES FREDERICK, 4th Baron (1849-1911) (son of the Hon Robert Daly, youngest son of the 1st Baron), Assistant Private Secretary to Lord Beaconsfield, 1874-80, Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Treasury, 1885-87, Assistant in the National Debt Office, 1888.

The 4th Baron died unmarried, when the titles became extinct.

Dunsandle House (Image: Irish Times)

DUNSANDLE HOUSE, near Athenry, County Galway, was a five-bay, three-storey country house, built ca 1780, now in ruins and roofless.

It was said to have been the finest house in the county, famed for its neo-classical plasterwork. 

Various visitors commented that it had a good cellar and a fine library.

The basement housed some of the servants, the money room, and the boiler.

On the ground floor were the drawing room, the bathrooms, the function room and one of the sitting rooms.

There was also a spacious hallway which led into a highly decorative interior with neo-classical plasterwork.

Photo credit: Eamonn McNally

The second floor had more sitting rooms, several bedrooms and a very large bath, and the attic was used for storage and for water tanks.

According to The Buildings of Ireland,

Although ruinous, the high quality of construction employed in this country house is clearly evident. String courses, cornice and window surrounds are the work of skilled stonecutters and masons. The associated outbuildings and the fine entrance archway enhance the house. The detailing hints at the formerly splendid architectural quality that has been lost in the ruination of Dunsandle House.

The centre block had three storeys over a basement with five-bay entrance and garden fronts, each with a three-bay pedimented breakfront; joined by long, straight screen walls with pedimented doorways and niches to low and wide-spreading two-storey wings.

The saloon had elaborate plasterwork; a coved rococo ceiling in the morning-room; Adamesque ceiling in the drawing-room.

Dunsandle was sold by Major Bowes Daly MC, grandson of the 2nd Lord Dunsandle, about 1954.

Major Daly was aide-de-camp to the Viceroy of India, and Master of the Galway Blazers.

 A reader has provided me with more information:

Major Bowes Daly divorced his first wife Diane Lascelles to marry a divorcee Mrs Hanbury (whose first husband Guy Trundle had an affair with Wallis Simpson). This created a scandal in Country Galway on a par with the abdication crisis of 1936!

Major Daly was the last of his family to reside at Dunsandle House and the furore over his re-marriage led to the Catholic clergy boycotting the Galway Blazers of which he was Master. He sold up in 1954 and the house was later demolished.

After going to East Africa he returned to Ireland and lived his last years on Lord Harrington`s estate in Co. Limerick. He is buried in Loughrea near his former home. 

The Irish land commission demolished parts of Dunsandle House and sold all the valuable parts of the house in 1958.

They divided the land of the estate between the local farmers.

Dunsandle arms courtesy of the NLI.  First published in December, 2011.

Robin Bryans, 1928-2005

Some time ago I recommended an anecdotal travel book to readers by an author called Robin Bryans.

The book is entitled Ulster: A Journey Through The Six Counties.

Merely by chance, a regular reader has drawn my attention to the fact that Mr Bryans has a website dedicated to him.

Robin Bryans was born in 1928, just off the Newtownards Road in east Belfast, his family moving shortly afterwards to Donegall Avenue in the city.

Before becoming a professional writer, he had a variety of jobs including shipyard worker and cabin boy on a dredger.

He was later to study at Barry Religious College in Wales and went to Canada as a missionary.

Later, in Canada, he lived as a trapper.

The common realities of his childhood among the Protestant working class in the 1930s – grinding poverty, mission halls, theatres, music, the ‘Bog Meadows’ – along with the desperate accident to his father which changed the life of the small family, became the subject matter of his most powerful writing,

‘We walked as though through a forest whose trees were made of steel, harshly etched against the morning sky. Instead of leaf-laden branches stretched out to catch the sun’s rays, I saw a multitude of cranes, swinging poles and a phalanx of gantries.’

During the 1960s and early 1970s, his output was prolific.

Published by Faber and Faber and acclaimed by critics worldwide, he embarked on a series of travel books celebrating Iceland (1960), Denmark (1961), Brazil (1962), the Azores (1963), Malta (1966) and Trinidad & Tobago (1967).

His Ulster: A Journey Through the Six Counties (1962) has long been regarded as a perceptive introduction at a critical moment in the history of Northern Ireland and a classic of the genre.

In the same period came the books on which his reputation as a writer rests, the four remarkable volumes of autobiography: No Surrender (1960), Song of Erne (1960) – a vivid and moving account of childhood excursions to Fermanagh.

Up Spake the Cabin Boy (1961) and The Protégé (1963) and two volumes of short stories, Tattoo Lily (1961) and The Far World (1962), also from Faber.  

No Surrender was hailed as the first book by an Ulster Protestant writer from the working class published by an international publishing house to receive national renown.

The Times described his autobiographical writing as

‘on all planes at once; humorous, detailed and objective as a Breugel village scene; quietly indignant over injustices practised by the toffs; puzzled, exploratory, expectant as a growing boy … He writes as one with a true sense of poetry.’

The volumes of autobiography have rarely been out of print since their first publication and are currently available from Blackstaff Press.

Selected Stories was published in 1996 by Lagan Press in Belfast, which occasioned a memorable reading in the Old Museum arts centre in his native city.

In his later life, Harbinson was dramatically involved in sensational and sometimes scandalous events among the political aristocracy.

A riveting account of these and of their parallels among Ulster’s political class from the 1940s until the 1960s can be read in his last three books The Dust Has Never Settled (1992), Let the Petals Fall (1993) and Checkmate, all from Honeyford Press under his own name of Robin Bryans.

A courteous, witty and gentle man, Robin Bryans’ last years were spent in London where, in addition to writing, he was involved in a school of music set up particularly to encourage the work of young composers.

He died at his home in London on Saturday, June 11, 2005. 

First published in April, 2012.

1st Viscount Allen

JOHN ALLEN, the founder of this family in Ireland, settled there some time towards the close of ELIZABETH I's reign.

He came from Holland to Dublin as factor for the Dutch merchants (the family had emigrated from England to Holland in 1580), and beside amassing a very large fortune, distinguished himself by a refined taste in architecture.

Mr Allen was greatly esteemed, and consulted by the most eminent of the nobility and gentry in their buildings; particularly by the Earl of Strafford, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in his large, intended edifice near Naas, County Kildare.

Mr Allen laid out the plan of his own house at Mullynahack, near Dublin, leaving it to be executed by his son.

He died ca 1641, and was father of

SIR JOSHUA ALLEN, an eminent and opulent merchant of Dublin, who served the office of Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1673, and received the honour of knighthood.

Sir Joshua, High Sheriff of Dublin City, 1664, completed the house at Mullynahack begun by his father, called "Allen's Court."

He married Mary, daughter of John Wybrow, of Cheshire, and had issue,

JOHN, his heir;
Eleanor; Elizabeth; Mary.

Sir Joshua died in 1691, and was succeeded by his son,

THE RT HON JOHN ALLEN (1660-1726), Privy Counsellor, High Sheriff of County Dublin, 1691, MP for County Dublin, 1692-3, County Carlow, 1695-9, County Dublin, 1703-13, County Wicklow, 1713-14, County Dublin, 1715-17.

Mr Allen wedded, in 1684, Mary, daughter of the Rt Hon Robert FitzGerald, and sister of Robert, 19th Earl of Kildare, and had issue,

JOSHUA, his successor;
Robert;
Richard, father of the 4th and 5th Viscounts.

He was elevated to the peerage, in 1717, in the dignities of Baron Allen, of Stillorgan, County Dublin, and VISCOUNT ALLEN, County Kildare.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOSHUA, 2nd Viscount (1685-1742), MP for County Kildare, 1709-26, who espoused, in 1707, Margaret, daughter of Samuel du Pass, of Epsom, Surrey, and had issue,

JOHN, his successor;
Frances; Elizabeth.

His lordship was succeeded by his son and heir,

JOHN, 3rd Viscount (1713-45), MP for Carysfort, 1733-42; who, being insulted in the public streets by some disorderly dragoons, in 1742, received a wound in the hand, which occasioned a fever and caused his death soon afterwards.

Since he died unmarried, his sisters became his heirs, and the title devolved upon his first cousin (refer to the children of the Hon Richard Allen, youngest son of the 1st Viscount),

JOHN, 4th Viscount, MP for County Wicklow, 1742-5, at whose decease unmarried, in 1753, the honours passed to his next brother,

JOSHUA, 5th Viscount (1728-1816), MP for Eye, 1762-70, who married, in 1781, Frances, daughter of Gaynor Barry, and had issue,

JOSHUA WILLIAM, his successor;
Letitia Dorothea; Frances Elizabeth.

His lordship was succeeded by his son and heir,

JOSHUA WILLIAM, 6th Viscount (c1782-1845), a military officer, who served under the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular Wars.

His lordship died unmarried, when the title expired.

STILLORGAN HOUSE, Stillorgan, County Dublin, was begun in 1695 by John Allen MP, afterwards 1st Viscount Allen.

It comprised a two-storey, seven-bay centre block, and single storey, seven-bay wings.

The house had dormered attics and high-pitched roofs.

The centre block had lofty, slender chimneys, two at each end.

The demesne had formal gardens, an obelisk, and a grotto by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce.

The mansion was demolished in 1860 and only the grotto and obelisk remain.

First published in August, 2018.  Allen arms courtesy of the NLI.

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.

Glenmore Lodge

THE STYLE BARONETS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY DONEGAL, WITH 39,564 ACRES 

This family, which was originally of Ipswich, Suffolk, derives from

WILLIAM STYLE, of that place, whose son,

SIR JOHN STYLE, obtained an aldermanic gown in London, and wedded Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Guy Wolston, Knight, of London, by whom he had

SIR HUMPHREY STYLE, Knight, of Langley Park, Beckenham, High Sheriff of Kent, 1543, during the reign of HENRY VIII, and one of the Esquires of the Body to that monarch.

This gentleman espoused Bridget, daughter of Sir Thomas Baldrey, Knight, and had three sons, viz.

Edmund;
OLIVER, of whom presently;
Nicholas, Alderman of London.

The second son,

OLIVER STYLE (1542-1622), after serving the office of Sheriff of London, 1606, purchased the manor of Wateringbury, Kent, and retired there.

He was succeeded by his only surviving son, 

THOMAS STYLE (1587-1637), of Wateringbury, High Sheriff of Kent, 1634, who married Elizabeth, only daughter and heiress of Robert Foulkes, of Mountnessing, Essex, and had issue,

THOMAS, his successor;
Elizabeth; Susan; Anne.

Sir Thomas was created a baronet in 1627, designated of Wateringbury, Kent.

He was succeeded by his only son,

SIR THOMAS STYLE, 2nd Baronet (1624-1702), who married firstly, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Airmine Bt, of Osgodby, Lincolnshire, and had, with other issue,

Thomas;
OLIVER, succeeded his father;
Elizabeth; Mary; Susan; Anne.

Sir Thomas wedded secondly, Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Twisden Bt, of Bradburne, Kent, one of the judges of the Court of King's Bench, and had, with other issue,

THOMAS, succeeded as 4th Baronet;
Margaret.

Sir Thomas was succeeded by the only surviving son of his first marriage,

SIR OLIVER STYLE, 3rd Baronet (c1670-1703), who died a few months after he inherited, and leaving no issue, the title devolved upon his half-brother,

SIR THOMAS STYLE, 4th Baronet (c1685-1769), who pulled down the ancient mansion of Wateringbury Place, and erected a new seat, where he kept his shrievalty in 1710.

He espoused Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Charles Hotham Bt, and had issue, with two daughters,

CHARLES, his successor;
Robert (Rev);
William, Lieutenant-General.

Sir Thomas was succeeded at his demise by his eldest surviving son,

SIR CHARLES STYLE, 5th Baronet, who married, in 1770, Isabella, daughter of Richard, 1st Viscount Powerscourt, by whom he had Dorothy, wife of John Larking, and a son, his successor at his demise in 1774,

SIR CHARLES STYLE, 6th Baronet (d 1804), who wedded, in 1794, Camilla, eldest daughter of James Whatman, of Vintners, Kent, and had issue,

THOMAS, his successor;
THOMAS CHARLES, 8th Baronet;
Isabella Anne; Mary.

Sir Charles was succeeded by his elder son,

SIR THOMAS STYLE, 7th Baronet (d 1813), an officer in the army; at whose decease, unmarried, in Spain, the title devolved upon his brother,

SIR THOMAS CHARLES STYLE, 8th Baronet (1797-1879), MP for Scarborough, 1837-41, who wedded, in 1822, Isabella, daughter of Sir George Cayley Bt, of Brompton, Yorkshire, and had a daughter, EMMA (1828-34).

• Sir William Henry Marsham, 9th Baronet (1826–1904);
• Sir Frederick Montague, 10th Baronet (1857–1930);
• Sir William Frederick, 11th Baronet (1887–1943);
• Sir William Montague, 12th Baronet (1916–81);
• Sir William Frederick, 13th Baronet (b 1945).

The heir apparent is the present holder's only son Shannon Gay Style (b 1969).

*****

The Rev Robert Style, younger brother of the 5th Baronet, was Vicar of Wateringbury and Rector of Mereworth.

His eldest son,

CHARLES STYLE (1777-1853), of Glenmore, Stranorlar, County Donegal, married, in 1812, Frances, eldest daughter of John Cochrane, of Edenmore, Stranorlar.

*****

SIR THOMAS CHARLES STYLE, 8th Baronet, JP DL, inherited the Glenmore estate in County Donegal. His cousin,

SIR WILLIAM HENRY MARSHAM STYLE, 9th Baronet (1826-1904), JP DL, of Glenmore.

It is thought that Sir William Frederick Style, 13th Baronet (born 1945) lives in the USA.

THE LODGE, Glenmore, County Donegal, was a Georgian house, built in the mid to late 18th century.

It was renovated for Sir William Style, in the Neo-Tudor style, in the early 20th century.

The house was demolished in the 1990s.

The Glenmore estate is renowned for its game activities.

First published in November, 2014.  Style arms courtesy of European Heraldry.