1st Earl of Belmore

Lineage of Corry

JOHN CORRY, former provost of Dumfries in Scotland, settled, in 1639, at Tullynagardy, in the Ards, County Down.

The Corrys were probably well-known in Newtownards during the 17th and 18th centuries: Another John Corry (1771-1851), a farmer, married Susan White. They farmed at Concord Farm, Tullynagardy, built about 1800, but beside ruins ca 300 years old.

Later in life he established a timber business in Belfast called Corry & Montgomery, in 1814, and it was the foundation of the James P Corry & Company in 1814. John moved to Ballyalton House, beneath Scrabo Hill, after he gave the Tullynagardy farm to his daughter Mary, born in 1794. They called it Concord Farm. John Corry and his wife Susan had eight children.

Yet another branch established the Corry's Star Shipping line. They owned Scrabo Quarries and helped to build early Belfast. One of their ships was named the Jane Porter. Robert Corry is remembered as having introduced Scrabo Stone to Ireland as a building material.

He started the firm originally as building contractors and became a great timber merchant; and he founded a major shipping line. 

The original John Corry was appointed a freeman of Belfast in 1654.

Corry spent only a brief period in Belfast and Lisburn before purchasing lands in County Fermanagh.

Corry thrived and, in 1646, bought the Coole estate from Roger Atkinson for £860.

Its extent was about 4,576 acres.

He married Blanch Johnston and had a son,

COLONEL JAMES CORRY (1634-1718), of Castle Coole, MP for Fermanagh, 1692-1718, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1671, and County Monaghan, 1677, who married firstly, in 1663, Sarah, daughter of Oliver Anketell, of Anketell Grove, County Monaghan, and had, with other issue,

JOHN, of whom presently.

He wedded secondly, 1683, Lucy, daughter of Henry Mervyn, of Trillick, without further issue.

Colonel Corry was succeeded by his only son,

COLONEL JOHN CORRY (1667-1726), of Castle Coole, MP for Enniskillen, 1711-13, County Fermanagh, 1719-26, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1711, who espoused, in 1701-2, Sarah, third daughter and co-heir of William Leslie, of Prospect, County Antrim, and had issue,

LESLIE, of Castle Coole;

Martha, m Captain Edmund Leslie;

SARAH, m Galbraith Lowry; mother of Armar, 1st Earl of Belmore;

Mary; Elizabeth.

Lineage of Lowry

JAMES LOWRY or LAURIE (who is said to have been of the family of Laurie of Maxwelton), moved from Scotland to Ulster during the 17th century, settled at Ballymagorry, County Tyrone, before 1641, and died intestate 1665.

He was succeeded by his son,

JOHN LOWRY (1609-89), of Aghenis, County Tyrone, who married firstly, Mary, daughter of James Buchanan, and by her had, with other issue,

ROBERT, of whom presently.

He wedded secondly, Jane, daughter of William Hamilton, of Ballyfatten, and by her had further issue.

He was present with his second wife at the siege of Derry, where he died in 1689.

His eldest son,

ROBERT LOWRY, of Aghenis, one of the Commissioners for the counties of Armagh and Tyrone, 1698, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1707-8 and 1719, espoused Anna, daughter of the Rev John Sinclair, of Holyhill, County Tyrone, by Anna Galbraith, and died in 1729, having had issue,

Robert, dsp;
GALBRAITH;
James (Rev), founded the branch seated at Pomeroy House.

Robert Lowry (Image: National Trust, Castle Coole)

The second son and eventual heir,


GALBRAITH LOWRY-CORRY (1706-69), of Aghenis, MP for County Tyrone, 1748-68, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1733, and County Monaghan, 1743.

He assumed, 1764, on the death of his sister-in-law Martha, wife of Edmund Leslie-Corry MP, the additional surname and arms of CORRY.

Galbraith Lowry-Corry MP (Image: The National Trust)

He wedded, in 1733, Sarah, second daughter and eventual co-heir of Colonel John Corry MP, of Castle Coole, and had issue,

ARMAR, his successor;
Anne, m William, 1st Earl of Enniskillen.

Mr Lowry-Corry was succeeded by his son,

ARMAR LOWRY-CORRY (1740-1802), MP for County Tyrone, 1768-81, who assumed the additional surname and arms of CORRY.

Mr Lowry-Corry was elevated to the peerage, in 1781, in the dignity of Baron Belmore, of Castle Coole, County Fermanagh.

1st Earl of Belmore (Image: the National Trust)

His lordship was advanced to a viscountcy, in 1789, as Viscount Belmore; and further advanced, in 1797, to the dignity of an earldom, as EARL OF BELMORE.

He espoused, in 1772, the Lady Margaret Butler, eldest daughter of Somerset, 1st Earl of Carrick, by whom he had an only surviving child,

SOMERSET, styled Viscount Corry.

His lordship married secondly, in 1780, Harriet, eldest daughter and co-heir of John, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, by whom he had an only daughter, Louisa Mary Anne, who wedded, in 1804, George, 6th Earl of Sandwich.

He married thirdly, in 1794, Mary Anne, daughter of Sir John Caldwell Bt, but by her had no issue.

His lordship was succeeded by his son and heir,

SOMERSET, 2nd Earl (1774-1841), MP for County Tyrone, 1797-1800, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of Jamaica, 1828-32, who wedded, in 1800, the Lady Juliana Butler, daughter of Henry, 2nd Earl of Carrick, and had issue,

ARMAR, his successor;
Henry Thomas;
Sarah.

2nd Earl of Belmore (Image: the National Trust)

His lordship was succeeded by his elder son,

ARMAR, 3rd Earl (1801-45), High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1832, who espoused, in 1834, Emily Louise, daughter of William Shepherd, and had issue,

SOMERSET RICHARD, his successor;
Armar, grandfather of 7th Earl;
Frederick Cecil George;
Henry William.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

SOMERSET RICHARD, 4th Earl (1835-1913), GCMG PC JP, Governor of New South Wales, 1868-72, who married, in 1861, Anne Elizabeth Honoria, daughter of Captain John Neilson Gladstone, and had issue,

ARMAR, his successor;
CECIL, 6th Earl;
Ernest;
Theresa; Florence; Madeline; Mary; Winifred; Edith; Violet; Margaret; Dorothy; Kathleen.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

ARMAR, 5th Earl (1870-1948), JP DL, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1901, Captain, Inniskilling Fusiliers, who died unmarried, and was succeeded by his brother,

CECIL, 6th Earl (1873-1949), JP DL, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1916, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1922, who died unmarried, and was succeeded by his cousin,

GALBRAITH ARMAR, 7th Earl (1913-60), JP DL, Major, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, who married, in 1939, Gloria Anthea, daughter of Herbert Bryant Harker, and had issue,

JOHN ARMAR, his successor;
Anthea Geraldine (the Lady Anthea Forde);
Sarah Lilian.

His lordship was succeeded by his only son,

JOHN, 8th and present Earl (1951-), of the Garden House, Castle Coole, who married, in 1984, the Lady Mary Jane Meade, daughter of John, 6th Earl of Clanwilliam, and has issue,

JOHN ARMAR GALBRAITH, styled Viscount Corry;
Montagu Gilford George;
Martha Catherine.

I have written an article about the Lowrys of Pomeroy here.

As 1st Earl of Belmore, Armar Lowry-Corry's three names represented the three components of his future inheritance: Armar, the valuable church-lands in Fermanagh; Lowry, his paternal estate in Tyrone; and Corry, the remainder of his Fermanagh estate and his country seat.

Belmore Mountain - or Mount Belmore - is a hill in west County Fermanagh.

 I've written about the 8th and present Earl.

In 1852 the Fermanagh estate amounted to 7,140 acres in addition to the 14,900 acres of church-land leased from the Lord Bishop of Clogher; while the Tyrone lands comprised 41,448 acres.

The Belmore estates also encompassed counties Monaghan, Longford, Armagh and Dublin. This amounted, in all, to 72,715 acres.

In 1789 the gross rentals were as follows: Fermanagh church-lands £2,700; Fermanagh estate £1,400; Longford estate plus miscellaneous small properties £1,565; and Tyrone estate £7,130: giving a total rental of £12,795. By 1800 this had increased to £16,645.

The income generated by the estates allowed Castle Coole to be constructed at a cost of £57,000 in 1798, equivalent to approximately £20 million today.

The Belmores were one of the most powerful and influential landed families of their time.

Apart from their County Fermanagh seat, the palatial Castle Coole, the Belmores had a London house at 56 Eaton Place.

The family today live at the Garden House in the grounds of Castle Coole.

First published in December, 2009.  Belmore arms courtesy of the NLI.

Killymoon Castle

Early in the reign of JAMES VI and I,

JAMES STEWART (1595-1679) moved from Scotland, and purchasing Cookstown, County Tyrone, and the adjacent lands from Dr Allen Cooke, settled himself at Ballymenagh; while his brother, Andrew Stewart (ancestor of SIR JOHN STEWART, of Athenree, created a baronet, 1803), settled at Gortigal in the same county.

He married Barbara Lindsey, of Leith, and dying at Derryloran, County Tyrone, left a son,

WILLIAM STEWART (1625-1706), who moved to Killymoon, County Tyrone, which his father had purchased in 1634, and wedded Margaret, eldest daughter of John Shaw, of BALLYGALLY, County Antrim, by whom he had issue,

JAMES;
Alexander;
Henry, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1711;
John, drowned in the river Killymoon whilst yet a boy;
Margaret; Mary.

The eldest son,

JAMES STEWART (1665-1726), of Killymoon, married, in 1709, Helen, daughter of Patrick Agnew, of KILWAUGHTER, County Antrim, and had issue,

WILLIAM, his heir;
Patrick;
Margaret, m William Agnew, of Kilwaughter.

The eldest son,

WILLIAM STEWART (1710-97), of Killymoon and Ballymenagh, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1738, MP for County Tyrone, 1747-68, espoused, in 1740, Eleanor, eldest daughter of Sir Henry King Bt, of Rockingham, and had issue,

JAMES, of Killymoon, MP;
HENRY, of whom presently;
Edward, of London;
Isabella; Frances.

William Stewart (Image: the National Trust)

The eldest son,

JAMES STEWART (1742-1821), of Killymoon, MP for County Tyrone, 1768, married, in 1774, Elizabeth, daughter and eventually co-heir (with Lady Ponsonby, wife of 1st Lord Ponsonby, and Mrs Staples, wife of the Rt Hon John Staples, of Lissan) of Richard, 3rd Viscount Molesworth, had, with other issue,

WILLIAM (1780-1850), at whose death Killymoon was sold;
Louisa, m H J Clements MP, of Ashfield Lodge.

James Stewart (Image: Ulster Museum)

James Stewart was Colonel of the Strabane Volunteers, 1780, Captain, Cookstown Cavalry, 1796, and served in the Newmills Yeomanry, 1802.

KILLYMOON CASTLE, Cookstown, County Tyrone, was built in 1802-3 for Colonel James Stewart MP, to the designs of John Nash.

Colonel Stewart's family had held the property since 1634.

He had obtained plans for a new house incorporating parts of the old one, which had been destroyed by fire ca 1800, from the Dublin architect, Robert Woodgate; however, in 1802 he was replaced by Nash.

Nash exhibited two drawings for his scheme at the Royal Academy in 1802.

Killymoon was Nash's first castle in Ireland, and reputedly cost £80,000 to build (about £7.4 million today).

It was described in the Irish Penny Journal of 1841 as "one of the most aristocratic residences in the province of Ulster", with state apartments consisting of "a breakfast-parlour, dining room, ante-room and drawing-room, all of which are of noble proportions and their woodwork of polished oak".

When sold in the 1880s the details of the sale referred to the demesne being almost entirely surrounded by a wall of 10 to 12 feet in height, the demesne being entered by four lodges and avenues, containing two stone quarries, a huge quarry and kiln, a gravel pit, labourers' cottages, and two ornamental cottages; a walled garden and kitchen gardens, with lawns and ornamental shrubberies; vineries, peach and fig houses; a conservatory, stove, mushroom and forcing houses, potting sheds, tool houses, two excellent gardeners' dwelling houses, and an ice house.

This park was clearly approved of by Sir Joseph Paxton, who wrote:

I have visited most of the celebrated country seats in the Kingdom and a very large number on the continent, and I have never seen one - for the extent of it - more compact, more perfect in itself, or where the highest natural beauties have been more aided by refined taste and judgment, than Killymoon.

This demesne was, in 1922, nevertheless, decimated and sold off in lots, mostly for its timber.

Part of it is now used as a golf course.

The gate lodges and the two gardeners' houses no longer stand; the conservatory is ruinous; though substantial 18th century outbuildings, for farm use, and an 18th century saw mill remain intact, close to the castle.

Colonel James Stewart was an absentee client for Nash and much of the supervision of the new castle fell to his wife.

She is known, through surviving correspondence, to have been discussing the design of two cottages with Nash as late as 1805.

For his part, Colonel Stewart is notorious for having 'lost' his new castle in a night's gambling, but the next day the winner, the Prince Regent (later GEORGE IV), told him he could keep his "little cabin" in Ireland.

In 1850 the property was sold, following the decease of William Stewart, who was a bachelor, and was bought by the Moutray family.

The present owner's family bought it at the break-up of the estate in 1922.

*****

TODAY'S CASTLE has a romantic silhouette in a splendid location above the Ballinderry River with a back-drop of sweeping woodland and parkland.

The principal front is dominated by an almost central battlemented, machicolated round tower and turret; at one end, an octagonal tower with similar features; and at the other end the profile of the square tower in the adjoining front, the base of which is arched to form a porte-cochére.

The latter tower has slender, octagonal corner turrets with cupolas.

The windows are pointed, grouped together under segmental hood mouldings, which Nash and his ilk regarded as being Saxon.

There is good interior planning with square, circular and octagonal rooms fitted together.

The hall has a double staircase and is lit by a Gothic lantern on a plaster, fan-vaulted ceiling.

The Library is in the form of a Gothic chapel, with stained-glass windows.

Extensive stables, out-houses and labourers cottages were built on the demesne, and on completion of the residential quarters Colonel Stewart had the 585 acres of the Killymoon demesne enclosed by a wall 10 to 12 feet high.

Entrance to the demesne was by way of four stone lodges and avenues at various points along the boundary wall.

The Killymoon estate remained the property of the Stewart family for six generations; however, their extravagant lifestyle caused the Stewart family to fall on hard times, especially during the years of the Irish famine.

The Killymoon estate was sold in 1852 for £100,000.

In 1857, the castle had again been sold to the Cooper family; and, in 1865, Colonel Bolton, an English gentleman, purchased the castle.

A mere ten years later, Mervyn Stuart Thomas Moutray JP,  became the owner of Killymoon Castle until 1916, when Gerald Macura bought the castle and town of Cookstown for almost £100,000.

By 1918, Macura was also in financial difficulties and was compelled to sell off his assets.

Hence, in 1922, John Coulter bought the castle and grounds for the merely £100.

Today the castle remains the home of the Coulter family.

In addition, situated on what was previously some of the castle’s estate lands, is an 18-hole golf course.

Shortly before embarking on his long parliamentary career, the young James Stewart did the Grand Tour in Europe. A splendid portrait of him (now in the Ulster Museum) was painted in Italy some time in 1767 by Pompeo Batoni.

Stewart succeeded his father as one of the MPs for County Tyrone in 1768, retaining the seat continuously and without a contest for the next thirty-two years in Dublin and a further twelve after 1800 at Westminster. 

The Stewart of Killymoon Papers are held at the Public Record Office of NI.

From Killymoon Castle there are views across the parkland, where few trees remain.

The grounds were possibly designed by W S Gilpin for the present house.

Grass terraces to the south of the house descend to the river and are enlivened by yew trees.

Rowan quotes Paxton,

"I have visited most of the celebrated country seats in the kingdom and a very large number on the continent, and I have never seen one – for the extent of it - more compact, more perfect in itself, or where the highest natural beauties have been more aided by refined taste and judgement, than Killymoon."

Unfortunately the demesne is not as it once was: Ornamental garden buildings are lost; the vistas are over bare farmland to distant woods.

Extensive walled gardens, with some glass, are partially kept up.

The gardener’s house is ruinous; 18th century offices that pre-date the present house are extensive; one of three gate lodges survives; the northern part of the estate is now a golf course.

First published in November, 2010. 

Lissan House

THE STAPLES BARONETS OWNED 3,078 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY TYRONE

This family settled in Ulster during the reign of JAMES I. THOMAS STAPLES, of Lissan, the founder of the family in Ulster, came from Bristol ca 1610, as part of the plantation of Ulster. This Thomas, fifth son of Alexander Staples, settled in Moneymore, County Londonderry (then being constructed as part of the terms of the plantation grant to the Worshipful Company of Drapers, which had been granted large swathes of the new county in 1611).

His stone house is marked in a map of 1635 as in the centre of Moneymore, beside the Market Cross. 

ALEXANDER STAPLES, of Yate Court, Gloucestershire, married firstly, Avis, daughter of Richard Browne, of Marlborough, Wiltshire, and secondly, Elizabeth.

Tomb of Alexander Staples (Image: Lissan House)

He had issue,

George, purchased the Manor of Fovant, Wiltshire;

Richard, of Boreham;

Alexander, of Nottingham;

Edward;

THOMAS, of whom hereafter;

William.

Mr Staples died in 1590. His fifth son,

THOMAS STAPLES, of Lissan, County Tyrone, and of Faughanvale, County Londonderry, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1640, wedded, ante 1623, Charity, only child and heiress of Sir Baptist Jones, of the Worshipful Company of Vintners, and had issue,

BAPTIST, his successor;
ALEXANDER, 3rd Baronet;
Thomas;
ROBERT, 4th Baronet;
Charity; Elizabeth.

Mr Staples was created a baronet by CHARLES I in 1628, designated of Lissan, County Tyrone.

About the same date, Sir Thomas purchased several leases, including the lands of the town of Cookstown and 180 acres at what now comprises the Lissan demesne.

It is thought that a dwelling existed on the estate at this time along with an Iron Forge which was used to smelt the iron deposits found across the estate.

Mainly as a result of the existence of the forge, the dwelling house survived the Rebellion of 1641.

Sir Thomas died in 1653, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR BAPTIST STAPLES, 2nd Baronet (1630-72), of Lissan and Faughanvale,, who died unmarried, and was succeeded by his brother,

SIR ALEXANDER STAPLES, 3rd Baronet, of Lissan and Faughanvale, MP for Strabane, 1661-5, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1661, who married Elizabeth Conynham, and had issue,

Elizabeth;
another daughter.

Sir Alexander died in 1673, and was succeeded by his brother,

SIR ROBERT STAPLES, 4th Baronet (1643-1714), of Lissan, MP for Dungannon, 1692-3, Clogher, 1696-9, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1703, who wedded, in 1681/2, Mary, daughter of the Most Rev John Vesey, of Abbey Leix, County Laois, and had issue,

JOHN, his successor;
Robert, died in infancy;
another son, died in infancy;
Thomlinson;
ALEXANDER, 6th Baronet;
Thomas (Rev), 1702-62; father of Rt Hon John Staples MP;
Jane; Ann; Rebecca; Mary.

Sir Robert was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR JOHN STAPLES, 5th Baronet (1684-1730), who espoused Mary Goslin, and had issue,

Isabella Elizabeth;
two other daughters.

Sir John died without male issue, and was succeeded by his brother,

SIR ALEXANDER STAPLES, 6th Baronet (1693-1741), who wedded, in 1735, Abigail, daughter and heiress of Thomas Townley, of County Cavan, and had an only son,

SIR ROBERT STAPLES, 7th Baronet (1740-1816), who espoused firstly, in 1761, Alicia, daughter of the Rev Thomas Staples, of Lissan, by whom he had one daughter, Sarah, who married Samuel Jacob, of Mowbamam, County Tipperary.

He married secondly, Mary, eldest daughter of Sir William Barker Bt, and had issue,

ROBERT, his successor;
Anna Maria, m, 1790, R Smyth.

Sir Robert wedded thirdly, in 1776, Jane, third daughter of John Denny, Lord Knapton, and sister to the Viscount de Vesci, by whom he had issue,

Isabella; Elizabeth Selina; Anne; Catherine.

Sir Robert was succeeded by his only son,

Sir Robert Staples, 8th Baronet

SIR ROBERT STAPLES, 8th Baronet (1772-1832), who died unmarried in 1832, when the title reverted to his cousin,

SIR THOMAS STAPLES, 9th Baronet (1775-1865), a barrister, MP for Knocktopher, 1800, son of the Rt Hon John Staples, of Dunmore, Queen's County, who espoused, in 1813, Catherine, daughter of the Rev John Hawkins.

Sir Thomas Staples, 9th Baronet,  by Martin Cregan

The marriage was without issue, and the baronetcy reverted to his cousin,

SIR NATHANIEL ALEXANDER STAPLES, 10th Baronet (1817-99), DP DL, son of the Rev John Molesworth Staples, Captain, Bengal Artillery, who wedded, in 1844, Elizabeth Lindsay, daughter of Captain James Head, and had issue,

JOHN MOLESWORTH, his successor;
James Head (1849-1917);
ROBERT PONSONBY, successor to his brother;
Cecilia; another daughter.

Sir Nathaniel was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR JOHN MOLESWORTH STAPLES, 11th Baronet (1848-1933), who died unmarried, and was succeeded by his brother,

SIR ROBERT PONSONBY STAPLES, 12th Baronet (1853-1943), who married, in 1883, Ada Louise, daughter of Mr H Stammers, and had issue,

ROBERT GEORGE ALEXANDER, his successor;
Violet Hope; Beatrice Joyce Head; Nora Lettice Mary.

Sir Robert was succeeded by his only son,

SIR ROBERT GEORGE ALEXANDER STAPLES, 13th Baronet (1894-1970), of Lissan, Lieutenant, Royal Army Service Corps, who wedded, in 1922, Vera Lilian, daughter of John Jenkins, and had issue,

HAZEL MARION, of Lissan;
Elizabeth Hope (1924-70).

Sir Nathaniel Alexander Staples, 10th Baronet (1817-99);
Sir John Molesworth Staples, 11th Baronet (1848–1933);
Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples, 12th Baronet (1853–1943);
Sir Robert George Alexander Staples, 13th Baronet (1894–1970);
Sir John Richard Staples, 14th Baronet (1906-89);
Sir Thomas Staples, 15th Baronet (1905–97);
Sir Gerald James Arland Staples, 16th Baronet (1909–99);
Sir Richard Molesworth Staples, 17th Baronet (1914–2013).

LISSAN HOUSE, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, is now open to visitors.

It owes its existence to Sir Thomas's third son, Sir Robert, 4th Baronet.

There is some evidence of building on the site ca 1580.

Construction of the present building began about 1620.

It was reconstructed ca 1690, with notable alterations in ca 1780, 1840 and  1880.

Lissan House today is mainly a plain, three storey, nine bay Georgian residence (with the later additions).

At one end there is a single-storey wing with a three-sided, mullioned bow.

The other end has a gable-ended office range; and in the middle of the entrance front, a "single-storey protuberance of unusual depth" embodying a porch and a bow-fronted porte-cochére with windows.

At some stage, after the mid-18th century, a garden was laid out here with "an artificial sheet of water with cascades and a picturesque bridge".

Lissan House was originally built ca 1690 by Sir Robert Staples, 4th Baronet.

It was extended in the early 1800s, and altered and extended again in the 1870s, including the addition of a clock tower in 1878 and a windowed porte-cochére ca 1880.

The main staircase and entrance hall were enlarged about 1888.

A long gallery wing to the west integrated with house in the early 1900s to permit easier access to the first floor of the house.

Apart from its 17th century origins and later Victorian additions, the house as it stands now is basically of the 18th century in general form and exterior appearance, while the interior is largely of the 19th century, with some 18th century elements.

The original house of the late 17th century was built of brick made on the estate; local stone, probably from a quarry near the house; and massive oak beams thought to have come from the woodlands on the estate.

Part of this 17th century building can still be seen in the core of the house, particularly in the kitchen area where the walls are between six and eight feet thick; and in the basement, where very old timbers survive.

The form and siting of Thomas Staples' first residence at Lissan is uncertain, but it may have been in the block attached to the south-west corner of the present house, known today as the Creamery.

The house remained the home of the Staples family for over three centuries, reputedly the longest occupation by any single family of a country house in the western part of Ulster.

The last owner and occupant, and last descendant of the Staples family, was Hazel Dolling, daughter of Sir Robert George Alexander Staples, 13th Baronet, who died in 1970.

She died in 2006 and passed the house and estate in trust, bequeathing the house to the community, intended by her to become a centre for music and arts for central Ulster.

The extensive estate, which is over 250 acres, includes a number of other buildings, including old farm buildings, an ice house, old stone bridges over the Lissan Water river, a walled garden of four and a half acres, a gardener's cottage, a gate lodge and pillars, an 18th century bridge and cascade designed by the architect Davis Ducart, and a generator house dating from 1902.

A 19th century ballroom is attached to the east side of the house.

The ornamental gardens have gone and the five acre walled garden (three walls) is today used as community allotments.

The Gardener’s House and offices are no longer used.

There are mature trees and forest planting.

The Lissan Water flows near the house, wooded on either side, and there are several bridges crossing the river, which is also the county boundary.

There were at least two gate lodges: the Cooktown entrance lodge of about 1830, which was derelict in 1994; Castor's gate lodge (demolished), en route to Lissan parish church; and a third Moneymore lodge, not far in a south-easterly direction from Castor's Lodge.

Lissan House and demesne is now run by a Trust.

Other former residence ~ 2, Barkfield, Freshfield Road, Formby, Lancashire.

First published in November, 2010.

Seskinore House

THE McCLINTOCKS OWNED 4,553 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY TYRONE

JAMES PERRY, of Welsh descent, had a free farm grant of the lands of Mullaghmore, County Tyrone, from SIR AUDLEY MERVYN in 1662.

He had three sons, viz.

Francis, of Tattyreagh; m Francis, daughter of J Lowry, of Ahenis; dsp;
Samuel, m 1st Catherine, daughter of J Lowry, of Pomeroy;
GEORGE, of whom presently.

The third son,

GEORGE PERRY, of Mullaghmore, married Angel, daughter of the Rev James Sinclair, of HOLYHILL, near Strabane, County Tyrone, and had issue,

SAMUEL, of whom presently;
George;
Margaret; Letitia.

The eldest son,

SAMUEL PERRY, of Perrymount and Mullaghmore, wedded the daughter of _______ Olphert, of Ballyconnell House, County Donegal, and had issue,

GEORGE, of whom hereafter;
Mary, m A McClintock; mother of SAMUEL, heir to his uncle.

The only son,

GEORGE PERRY (1762-), of Perrymount and Mullaghmore, a cornet of horse, espoused Mary, daughter of John Burgess, and niece of Sir John Smith Burgess Bt.

He dsp, and was succeeded by his nephew, the second son of his only sister, Mary,

SAMUEL McCLINTOCK JP (1790-1852), of Newtown, County Louth, and Seskinore, County Tyrone, High Sheriff of County Louth, 1843, who married firstly, Jane (d 1837), daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Lane; and secondly, in 1839, Dorothea, fourth daughter of John Knox, by whom he had issue,

GEORGE PERRY, his heir;
Samuel John, d 1856.

The elder son,

GEORGE PERRY McCLINTOCK JP DL (1839-87), of Seskinore, Lieutenant-Colonel and Honorary Colonel, 4th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1865, ADC to the Duke of Abercorn and the Earl Spencer when Lords Lieutenant of Ireland, married, in 1860, Amelia Henrietta, daughter of the Rev Samuel Alexander, Rector of Termon, and had issue,

BERESFORD GEORGE PERRY, 1861-70;
JOHN KNOX, of whom we treat;
Harry Edward, 1865-6;
Augustus, DSO;
Leopold Arthur;
Hubert Victor;
Guy Reginald;
Dorothea Selina Navarra; Amelia Charlotte Olivia; Eleanor Harriette Woodrop;
Madeline Frances Edith; Florence Beatrice Hanna.

His eldest surviving son,


COLONEL JOHN KNOX McCLINTOCK CBE JP DL (1864-1936), of Seskinore, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1891, ADC to the Governor of Northern Ireland, married, in 1893, Amy Henrietta, eldest daughter of John Stuart Eccles DL, of ECCLESVILLE, County Tyrone, and had an only daughter,

AMELIA (Leila) ISOBEL McCLINTOCK (1898-1937), of Seskinore, who married twice.

By her second husband, Wilfred (Tony) Heyman Joynson-Wreford (1896-1940) she had an only daughter,

XENIA PENELOPE JOYNSON-WREFORD, born in 1935.

*****

A TRAGIC series of events befell the McClintocks and Seskinore in 1937: Leila McClintock died suddenly, aged 38, of Meningitis.

Her beloved husband Tony, already broken-hearted at his wife's death, died himself, three years later, aged 44, of Tuberculosis.

They are both buried beside each other at the family burial ground in Seskinore.

Xenia was left an orphan.

Amy (Amelia Henrietta) McClintock died in 1942 and was buried at St Lawrence Church in Effingham, Surrey.

Her gravestone, shared with her sister Anna, stills bears a very clear inscription and their burials are recorded solidly in the church’s Burial Register.

At this stage, the Seskinore estate comprised 129 acres.

*****

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS TAKEN FROM THE BELFAST NEWSLETTER NEWSPAPER OF 2008

THE lost heiress of an Ulster village has been found after 70 years – on the other side of the world.

Xenia Lewis, who has lived in Australia most of her life, has been crowned the rightful owner of the McClintock estate in Seskinore, just outside Omagh.

The 73-year-old, who was born in the tiny hamlet, only realised she was entitled to the inheritance when she joined a social networking site on the web.

Mrs Lewis, formerly Xenia Penelope Joynson-Wreford, made the connection to her true roots when she discovered an email on Friends Reunited – from a half-brother she never knew existed.

Pat Joynson-Wreford – a son from their father Pat’s first marriage – had posted the message in a bid to track down ancestors of the family.

While Pat never dreamed a living relative would be found, he found himself reunited with his long-lost sister.

Initially, Xenia thought someone was playing a joke on her when she first found the email earlier this year – but eventually replied and the pieces of her disjointed family history fell into place.

Xenia’s mother, Lila, died from meningitis when she was only 15 months old; and her father died from TB when she was four.

She was put in the custody of guardians who were friends of her parents – but they told her nothing of her family.

She was moved around the world, from France to India, before she settled "Down Under".

Her family estate, which once had 4,553 acres, a mansion house and mill, was sold to fund her privileged upbringing.

Xenia never knew trustees handling her parents’ money supported her through boarding and finishing school.

Even though her schooling turned her into a lady, she was kept in the dark over the title she had at home and her connections to the McClintock family.

Xenia, who paid a whirlwind visit to Northern Ireland a fortnight ago to pick up her father’s will, now knows she is the granddaughter of Colonel John Knox McClintock CBE.

Money from her estate is long-gone – only pictures tell of its statures – and there is no title to go with her birthright.

But Xenia is annoyed she cannot remember anything of her early life at Seskinore,

“I don’t know if I have just blocked it out because I was taken away from my family. I would dearly love to remember something of my father but I just can’t do it. I have not even got any memories of this house. I would dearly love to remember something.”

On discovering her parents graves in a garden on the estate, Xenia said,

“They are happy and where they would want to be – together. I just wish I did not live so far away where I can’t look after them. But I will be back again next year to come and see them. Like Pat said to me, they are probably sitting up there saying to each other at least you have now found us.”

SESKINORE HOUSE, near Fintona, County Tyrone, comprised two storeys and a mid-19th century aspect.

The entrance front had two bays on either side of a pedimented breakfront, with three narrow, round-headed windows above; and a balustraded Ionic portico below, the outside columns coupled. 

There was a curved end bow.

The house was remodelled and extended in 1862 to a design by Sir Charles Lanyon, and included five reception rooms and ten bedrooms plus staff quarters. 

Seskinore Forest Walk goes through Seskinore Forest and passes the courtyard and stable block, all that now remains of the McClintock Estate.

The forest is predominantly mixed or deciduous and therefore changes with the seasons.

It is thought that the estate was sold  to the Northern Ireland forest service in 1941, following Tony Joynson-Wreford's death.

Seskinore House was demolished by the forest service in 1952.

The small chapel of ease of 1873 remains, though. 

It was erected on the McClintock estate to designs of Robert A Ferguson, of Londonderry, and located to the north side of Seskinore Road.

The main body of the church is simply detailed and enlivened by the ornate plate tracery windows with carved label-stops.

The church has strong historical association with the McClintock Family who owned the estate prior to the erection of the church.

The family's private burial ground remains to the east of the church, a good example of a small rural chapel of fine workmanship in original condition. 

The McClintock of Seskinore website contains information and images of Seskinore House, the McClintocks and associated families.

I am grateful to Alex Watson.

First published in October, 2010.

Parkanaur Manor

THE BURGESES OWNED 2,485 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY TYRONE

The surname of this family, as appears from ancient documents, was formerly De Burges, afterwards Burches, and subsequently, in 1747, the present one was adopted. Richard De Burges was High Sheriff of Herefordshire, 1351-2.

SAMUEL BURCHES, born in Dublin, ca 1645, married, in 1684, Margaret Williams, of Llanelian, North Wales, and had issue,

David (Rev), Rector of St Mark's, Dublin;
Wilham;
JOSEPH, of whom we treat;
Katherine; Deborah.

Both brothers eventually moved northwards to the city of Armagh during the primacy of Archbishop Lindsay, with whom they were connected.

The youngest son,

JOSEPH BURCHES (1689-1747), baptized at St Michan's Church, Dublin, wedded, in 1716, Elizabeth, daughter of Ynyr Lloyd, of East Ham, Essex (Deputy Secretary of the East India Company), and had issue,

Joseph (Rev), 1717-46;
JOHN, of whom hereafter;
YNYR, of East Ham;
Molly; Margaret; Alice.

Mr Burches' second son,

JOHN BURGES (1722-90), espoused, in 1763, Martha, daughter of Robert Ford, and had issue,

JOHN HENRY, his heir;
Mary, m 1784, G Perry, of Mullaghmore, Co Tyrone;
Martha, m 1787, J Johnston, of Knappagh, Co Armagh;
Alice, died in infancy.

His only son and heir,

JOHN HENRY BURGES JP (c1768-1822), of Woodpark, Tynan, and Parkanaur, both in County Armagh, High Sheriff of County Armagh, 1802, married, in 1795, Marianne, eldest daughter and eventually co-heir of Sir Richard Johnston Bt, of Gilford, and had issue,

JOHN YNYR, his heir;
Richard, deceased;
Margaret Anne;
Matilda, d 1805.

The only surviving son,

JOHN YNYR BURGES JP DL (1798-1889) of Parkanaur, County Tyrone, Thorpe Hall, Essex, and East Ham, Essex, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1829, wedded, in 1833, the Lady Caroline Clements, youngest daughter of Nathaniel, 2nd Earl of Leitrim KP, and had issue,

YNYR HENRY, his heir;
Charles Skeffington, 1835-45;
Clements Keppel, d 1840;
John Richard Alexander Wamphray, 1843-50;
Mary Anne Margaret; Alice Caroline.

The eldest son,

YNYR HENRY BURGES JP DL (1834-1908), of Parkanaur, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1869, espoused, in 1859, Edith, third daughter of the Hon Richard Bootle-Wilbraham, and sister of the 1st Earl of Latham, and had issue,

YNYR RICHARD PATRICK (1866-1905), High Sheriff of Co Tyrone, 1898; father of YNYR ALFRED;
John Ynyr Wilbraham (1871-95);
Edith Alice; Ethel Margaret; Lilian Adela; Myrtle Constance; Beatrice Annette; Irene Caroline.

Colonel Burges, officer commanding 6th Brigade, Northern Ireland Division, Royal Artillery, married secondly, in 1896, Mary, daughter of George Pearce, of Bishops Lydeard, Somerset.

He was succeeded by his grandson,

YNYR ALFRED BURGES JP DL (1900-83), of Parkanaur, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1939, County Armagh, 1951, who wedded, in 1930, Christine, daughter Colonel George Iver Patrick O'Shee (by his wife, the Lady Edith King-Tenison), and had issue,

MICHAEL YNYR, b 1931;
Susan Elizabeth, b 1934;
Patricia Anne, b 1936.

Major Burges, who lived, in 1976, at Catsfield Manor, Battle, Sussex, was succeeded by his son,

MICHAEL YNYR BURGES, Lieutenant, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers; in the Belfast Linen trade, 1950-74, at Belfast; who lived, in 1976, at Skinners, Edenbridge, Kent.

*****

The BURGES estate, East Ham, Essex, was established by Ynyr Burges, Paymaster, East India Company, between 1762 and his death in 1792, at a total cost of £20,700.

He was succeeded by his daughter Margaret, wife of Sir John Smith-Burges Bt, a director of the East India Company.

In 1799, the estate comprised 422 acres.

Sir John died in 1803.

In 1816, his widow married John, Earl Poulett.

Lady Poulett, who was childless, was succeeded by John Ynyr Burges, grandson of her father's elder brother.

In 1838, the estate produced an income of £1,549, but by 1840 this had been increased to £2,471. An estate map drawn in 1881, which includes details of recent and later changes, shows that most of the property lay near the present town centre.

John Ynyr Burges, who died in 1889, was succeeded by his son, Colonel Ynyr Henry Burges, who was largely responsible for developing the estate for building.

He had started to do so, on his father's behalf, about 1887, and continued until his own death in 1908.

Colonel Burges was succeeded by his grandson, Major Ynyr Alfred Burges, who completed the development of the estate during the 1920s.

Ynyr Burges (d 1792) lived at East Ham for most of his life.

As a boy he was adopted by his uncle, Ynyr Lloyd, deputy secretary of the East India Company.

PARKANAUR MANOR, near Castlecaulfield, County Tyrone, is a large, rambling, romantic, Tudor-Revival house which has evolved over many years.

Originally the land was held by the O’Donnellys until granted by JAMES I to Sir Toby Caulfeild in the early 1600s.

The growing importance of the house from retreat to home to seat is reflected in the graduated scale of the different parts.

When Ynyr Henry Burges settled on the estate in the 1820s, the cottage was enlarged.

His son, John Ynyr, added further to the building from 1839-54, encasing the original building and adding a west wing.

This new house was then named Parkanaur and was built from block rubble on a larger scale.

Parkanaur has a grand, terraced front with octagonal shafts (or pinnacles) and gables at each projection of the façade; a big bay window and an upper oriel; and is comparable to Narrow Water Castle in County Down, again by the Newry Architect, Thomas Duff.

The original two-storey dwelling is still visible with the new building adjoined to it.

The large plate windows of the 1820 and 1839 additions have mullioned windows with leaded lights and transformed frames.

They are shielded by block drip-stones.

The present, higher west wing, lying along the terrace, was laid in 1843.

It doubles back to form an upper yard which has a coach house and a tower intended for hanging meat.

A free-standing office block was added in 1870.

A plaque above the doorway leading to the court is inscribed “This house and offices were built by John Ynyr and Lady Caroline Burges without placing any debt upon the property (A.D. 1870)”.

The cost of the works was specified not to exceed £5,000.

The house remained within the ownership of the Burgeses until 1955, when Major Ynyr Burges and his family moved to Catsfield Manor in East Sussex.

The house lay vacant until 1958 when it was bought by the millionaire Thomas Doran for £13,000 as a gift for his friend, the Rev Gerry Eakins.

Mr Doran had originally come from near Castlecaulfield but had emigrated to the USA as a teenager, where he made his fortune as the founder of The Cheerful Greetings Card Company.

The reason for purchasing the house was to facilitate his friend Gerry Eakins in developing a new centre for the education of handicapped young adults.

The house reopened in 1960 as The Thomas Doran Training Centre (Parkanaur College) and much of the house continues today in this role.

Parkanaur boasts rich, Elizabethan-style interiors.

It has a great hall lit by its three perpendicular windows, with a Tudor-style, arched screen and minstrel's gallery at its south end.

Older work includes the 17th Century Jacobean carved, wooden mantel with male and female figures, and an imported dining-room chimney-piece dated 1641 with Ionic columns, decorated with bunches of grapes and interspersed with spiralling vines and cherub heads below the shelf.

In the Duff Wing, Mrs Burges's sitting room, the drawing room (which has a strap work mantel) and a further octagonal room have lofty Jacobean ceilings.

There is a pretty, mid-17th century Baroque organ-case in the gallery.

Parkanaur is set in beautiful grounds. It boasts a rare herd of white fallow deer.

Much of the original estate remains in the ownership of the NI Forest Service.

As previously stated, the present Tudor-Revival house was begun in 1839 by John Ynyr Burges after he succeeded to the property in 1838, though this building may incorporate elements of the 18th century house on the site.

A wing was added by Duff in 1858 and the whole complex of house and yards completed by 1870 as detailed above, including stable-yard, terrace, retaining wall, gates and urn.

The mansion is enhanced by lawns and parkland, with a small, modern ornamental garden.

Formal gardens on the west side of the house are not planted, but yews and a terrace survive.

The demesne dates from the late 18th century and is on undulating ground; is well planted, with a mixture of mature trees in woodland and parkland, including some unusual trees, exotics and forest planting.

The NI Forestry Service is developing the site as an oak forest and for native conifers.

It is referred to now as ‘a lowland broad-leaved estate’.

This continues a tradition noted by Deane, who describes the demesne thus:

… immaculately tended grounds, wooded by the planting of 40,000 trees by John Henry (Burges) are two avenues leading from two gate lodges added in the mid 1840s.

There is a walled garden, no longer planted up, which has a castellated potting shed in the eastern corner and a large, fine lean-to glasshouse used for peaches, with an extending centre piece.

This was erected in 1873 by J Boyd & sons for £250.

There are remnants of an ornamental area east of the house, between the house and the walled garden, which is oval in shape; retained paths, yews and an urn.

A pond and riverside walks in woodland have been maintained by the Forest Service.

The gate lodge, gates and screen, also by Duff ca 1845, are fine and are listed.

The local and main road have been realigned.

In 1976 the NI Department of Agriculture bought 161 hectares and subsequently more land was acquired, including the stable yard, to allow the provision of facilities for the Forest Park.

Five white fallow deer arrived from Mallow Castle, County Cork, in 1978 and they are the basis of the present herd.

The grounds were opened to the public as Parkanaur Forest Park in 1983.

Parkanaur is open to visitors for functions. 

First published in October, 2010.  Burges arms courtesy of the NLI.