Clonfert Palace

THE SEE of Clonfert was founded near the end of the 6th century.

It lies chiefly in County Galway; a small part of County Roscommon belongs to it; with a single parish, on the east of the River Shannon, in County Offaly.

The greatest length of this diocese is twenty-nine miles, and the greatest breadth twenty-five miles.

CLONFERT HOUSE, near Eyrecourt, County Galway, stands close to the small medieval cathedral.

It is a long, low, narrow building of two storeys with an attic of dormer gables.

Clonfert House was built ca 1635 and extended in the late 18th century.

The entrance front comprises eight bays.

There were Venetian windows set in arched openings; 17th century oak beams and joists; and the roof might also have dated from this time.

When the diocese of Cashel was united with those of Killaloe and Kilfenora in 1833, the episcopal palace and See lands were purchased by John Eyre Trench, a distant kinsman of the Earls of Clancarty.

Thereafter the Trenches of Clonfert owned 5,409 acres of land in the county.

In 1951, John Arthur Burdett Trench sold Clonfert House to Sir Oswald Mosley Bt, who proceeded to renovate Clonfert with his wife Diana, Lady Mosley, and their two sons.

The building was largely destroyed by an accidental fire in December, 1954, and has remained ruinous since then.

THE FIRST Church of Ireland prelate to reside at Clonfert House was probably the Rt Rev Robert Dawson, Lord Bishop of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh, 1627-43.

Bishop Dawson, who succeeded to the prelacy in 1627, repaired (or rebuilt) and beautified Clonfert Palace.

A further twenty-two bishops followed, including the Right Rev Christopher Butson, in office from 1804-34, when the diocese merged with that of Killaloe and Kilfenora.

First published in September, 2015.

Temple House

THE PERCEVALS OWNED 7,821 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY SLIGO

GEORGE PERCEVAL (1635-75), youngest son of Sir Philip Perceval, Knight, the distinguished statesman (great-grandfather of John, 1st Earl of Egmont), by Catherine Ussher his wife, daughter of Arthur Ussher and granddaughter of Sir William Ussher, Clerk of the Council, was Registrar of the Prerogative Court, Dublin.

George Perceval married Mary, daughter and heir of William Crofton, of Temple House, County Sligo, and had issue,

PHILIP, his heir;
William, ancestor of PERCEVAL-MAXWELL of Finnebrogue;
Charles;
Catherine.

George Perceval was drowned near Holyhead on his voyage to England with the 2nd Earl of Meath and other persons of distinction.

His eldest son and heir,

PHILIP PERCEVAL (1670-1704), of Temple House, wedded, in 1691, Elizabeth, daughter of John D'Aberon, of Wandsworth, Surrey, and left, with other issue, a son and heir,

JOHN PERCEVAL (1700-54), of Temple House, High Sheriff of County Sligo, 1728 and 1742, who wedded, in 1722, Anne, daughter of Joshua Cooper, of Markree, County Sligo, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

PHILIP PERCEVAL (1723-87), of Temple House, High Sheriff of County Sligo, 1775, who espoused Mary, daughter and co-heir of Guy Carleton, of Rossfad, County Fermanagh, and was succeeded by his son,

GUY CARLETON PERCEVAL, who dsp 1792, and was succeeded by his brother,

THE REV PHILIP PERCEVAL, of Temple House, who married, in 1783, Anne, daughter of Alexander Carroll, of Dublin, and had issue,

Philip, died unmarried;
ALEXANDER, his heir;
Guy, died unmarried;
Anne; Mary.

The second son,

ALEXANDER PERCEVAL JP (1787-1858), of Temple House, High Sheriff of County Sligo, 1809, MP for County Sligo, 1831-41, wedded, in 1808, Jane Anne, eldest daughter of Colonel Henry Peisley L'Estrange, of Moystown, King's County, and had surviving issue,

PHILIP;
Henry (Rev);
ALEXANDER, of whom hereafter;
Charles George Guy;
Elizabeth Dora; Frances; Sophia; Georgina Sarah; Maria Frances; Emily Jane.

Colonel Perceval's third son,

ALEXANDER PERCEVAL (1821-66), of Temple House, Barrister, espoused, in 1858, Annie, youngest daughter of George de Blois, and had issue,

ALEXANDER, his heir;
Robert Jardine;
Philip Dudley;
Jeannie; Sophie.

Mr Perceval was succeeded by his eldest son,

ALEXANDER PERCEVAL JP DL (1859-87), of Temple House, High Sheriff of County Sligo, 1882, who married, in 1881, Charlotte Jane, eldest daughter of Charles William O'Hara, of Annaghmore, County Sligo, and had issue,

ALEXANDER ASCELIN CHARLES PHILIP SPENCER, his heir;
Sibyl Annie (1882-84).

Mr Perceval was succeeded by his son and heir,

ALEXANDER ASCELIN CHARLES PHILIP SPENCER PERCEVAL DL (1885-1967), of Temple House.

TEMPLE HOUSE, Ballymote, County Sligo, takes its name from the Knights Templar, the wealthiest of the three military orders founded during the crusades.

Fierce warriors and able administrators, their power stretched across Europe where they operated as a separate sovereign administration within each independent state.

The knights reached Ireland with the Normans and quickly became established, building a castle at Temple House in County Sligo, their most westerly foundation, shortly after 1200.

In 1312 the Pope suppressed the order, citing their alleged heretical and blasphemous practises in justification.

In France, Templars were burnt at the stake and their land seized by the crown, but other countries adopted a more measured approach, transferring their property to the Knights Hospitallers, known today as the Knights of Malta.

As English influence waned in the remote west of Ireland, Temple House was reoccupied by the O’Haras, the principal sept in that region, who built a new castle in 1360.

In 1565 William Crofton was appointed Auditor and Escheator General, and used his position to amass extensive estates in Counties Leitrim, Roscommon and Sligo.

These included Temple House, or Tagh-temple, which passed with his great-granddaughter Mary on her marriage to George Perceval, the younger son of another distinguished Irish administrator, and grandson of Richard Perceval, ‘confidential agent’ to Queen Elizabeth’s minister, Lord Burleigh, who correctly identified preparations for the Spanish Armada and was rewarded with Irish estates.

By the 1760s George and Mary’s descendants had replaced her parent’s thatched dwelling of ca 1630 and their new house was further extended in 1825.

Unfortunately the Irish famine ruined the family and the estate was sold to a Mr Hall-Dare along with the town of Ballymote.

Happily, a younger son, Alexander Perceval, went to seek his fortune in China and amassed vast riches in the development of Hong Kong as Tai-Pan for the great trading house, Jardine Matheson.

He returned to Ireland, repurchased the estate and tripled the size of the house in 1864, cladding it in cut-stone in a strict classical style, with three formal fronts and a porte-cochere, always a convenient feature in the wet West of Ireland.

The result is broadly symmetrical, with the Georgian house still clearly evident in the centre of the east front.

The interior has a superb suite of large, grand rooms, lit by serried ranks of vast plate-glass windows.

There are lofty ceilings, the vestibule rises to some thirty-two feet, and decoration of a very high order, reminiscent of the grander London clubs, while much of the furniture was specially commissioned for the house.

The house reputedly contains more than ninety rooms.

Alexander’s neighbours suggested he might be over-spending but he assured them of his imminent return to make an even larger fortune in Hong Kong.

Unfortunately, he caught sun-stroke fishing on Temple House Lake and died in 1866, leaving a widow with a large young family and rather less capital than his heirs would have liked to maintain their vast new home.

But they did survive and today the estate comprises 1,200 acres of pasture, woodland, lake and bog, and is home to Alexander’s great-great-great grandson Roderick, along with his wife Helena and their family, the thirteenth and fourteenth generations in almost continuous occupation since the late sixteenth century.

First published in May, 2020. Select bibliography: Irish Historic Houses Association.

Belfast in 1836: II

Castle Place, Belfast, ca 1890

BELFAST SIXTY YEARS AGO [1836]: RECOLLECTIONS OF A SEPTUAGENARIAN, BY THE REV NARCISSUS G BATT

FROM ULSTER JOURNAL OF ARCHÆOLOGY, SECOND SERIES, VOLUME II, NUMBER TWO, 1896

THE COTTON-SPINNING INDUSTRY did not flourish in Ireland, nor did calico-printing, which my father attempted at Hydepark (so called after my mother, Anne Hyde).

The firm was Batt, Ewing & Co.

The Ewings, after leaving their house at Cotton-mount, resided in Donegall Street (where the premises of the Brookfield Linen Co. now stand).

Robert Ewing was married to a daughter of David Bigger, of the Trench, Molusk [Mallusk], who had, in conjunction with Moses and Aaron Staunton, started the Carnmoney Cotton Printing Works (now the Mossley Mills).

Robert Anderson, a poet who contributed many pieces to the Belfast News-Letter, was a designer in this firm, having been brought over from the North of England by them for this purpose.

Some specimens of these printed calicoes are still in the possession of one of the editors of this Journal, a grandson of David Bigger.

The old Belfast Bank was at the opposite corner of Donegall Street; where it now stands was the Assembly Rooms, where public balls were given and panoramas exhibited.

I saw one of the siege of Antwerp, at that time a recent exploit.

The Northern Bank was facing Castle Place, where the Bank Buildings now stand.

I was fond of seeing the machinery in the great factories on the Falls Road, but have a clearer recollection of a quaint garden there, where there were little ponds and islands, figures of Dr Syntax and other celebrities carved and painted, and a water-wheel, which, as it turned, made music on bells.

In those days watchmen cried the hours at night.

Postage was heavy, and "franks" from members of Parliament were in great request.

Our letters were folded square and sealed, without envelopes, and often crossed, making them hard to read, space was so valuable.

Small-pox was very common, and blind and marked people were met with everywhere.

I was not only vaccinated, but inoculated, by Moore, of Corn Market, who, I fear, broke the law to please my mother.

He was a most popular apothecary and practitioner, the husband of a Greek lady.

Beside Dr MacDonnell, Dr Purdon and Dr Thompson were the chief physicians in Belfast.

Typhus fever was often prevalent.

At Newtownards I ventured to take a house that had been used as a temporary fever hospital, and some of my friends were afraid to visit me, but this was later on.

I met Lord Dufferin there, fresh from college, and evidently full of talent.

Andrew Nichol, who drew many of the views in the Dublin Penny Journal, taught me drawing.

He excelled in his water-colour drawings of the coast scenery of Ireland. Sir J Emerson Tennent took him with him to Ceylon.

There was also a promising young artist named James Atkins, who died in Malta in 1835, where my aunt and other friends had sent him to study.

He copied the large picture, The Martyrdom of St Stephen, now in the Queen's College.

I recollect an exhibition of his paintings for his mother's benefit.

In religious matters we were all exceedingly "low church."

I was not confirmed till near my ordination by Bishop Mant, at his last ordination, at Hillsborough, in 1848.

The great controversies of the day were between the "old light" and the "new light" Presbyterians.

Dr Cooke was the leader of the old lights, and I have often been taken to hear him preach, and can remember his favourite text, Col. i. 19.

I liked better to go to the Parish Church, St Anne's, where a military band sometimes played, and the Sovereign sat in his stall.

I went to see a public disputation between Rev John Scott Porter, a Unitarian, and Dean Bagot, afterwards Vicar of Newry.

It ended, as usual, in both parties thinking their champion victorious.

Our own church was St George's, which our family helped to build.

It was a very dull Georgian building, with a huge "three-decker " pulpit in the midst.

The oak seats, however, were handsome in their way, and so was the beautiful Corinthian portico.

It was carved in Italy for Lord Bristol, the Volunteer Bishop of Derry, and, when his palace at Ballyscullion was demolished, Dr Alexander, Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore, purchased it for St George's.

The Rev R W Bland, late of Whiteabbey, was the incumbent; his curate, Rev William Laurenson, an Oxford graduate, was a popular preacher, and, though he preached extempore, was never too long.

It seems Mrs Laurenson, in the gallery, made a signal with her pocket-handkerchief when it was time to wind up the discourse.

As High Street was not always orderly in the evenings, the young ladies in our street went in a company to St George's for mutual protection, and took notes of the sermons.

Rev A C Macartney was Vicar of Belfast.

The Rev William Laurenson succeeded Rev William Macllwaine.

I heard him preach his first sermon as curate; he has told me that he unintentionally offended some of us by referring to "bats" as creatures unfriendly to the light, not knowing that there were Batts in the congregation.

He was a learned man, and tried to make St George's into a pro-cathedral, and did beautify it a good deal, brightening up the dull services; but the architecture of the church was too much against him.

There used to be a transparency in the East window of David playing the harp.

The National Board of Education was a great subject of dispute among religious people; but my uncles were from the first in its favour, and put their village schools under the National system.

I must not conclude without a few words about the mail coaches, by which we used to get, by day or night, in about twelve hours from Belfast to Dublin or Derry.

In fine weather an outside seat on the top of the Royal Mail was an exceedingly agreeable mode of travelling; we saw the country to much more advantage than from the railway, and, instead of skirting the dismal suburbs of the towns on the way, we dashed straight up the best streets to the chief hotel, where horses were changed, and a little crowd always collected to admire.

The inside, however, was always stuffy, and often crowded; and the outside dangerous and uncomfortable in cold and wet weather.

Besides, it was necessary to bespeak a place beforehand.

I have driven ten miles to Dromore for three successive mornings before I could get a seat in the Dublin coach.

The red-coated coachmen and guards were fine manly fellows, and very friendly with the passengers, who, to be sure, always tipped them.

The caravans, machines, and long cars that started from public-houses in Cromac Street, or in Ann Street at The Highlandman, to take us to Ballynahinch or Newtownards, were poor affairs.

Castle Place, looking towards the Bank Buildings, 1843

The Derry coach started from the Donegall Arms, Castle Place, and the Dublin coach from 10, Castle Street.

The Carrickfergus and Larne coaches stopped in Donegall Street and North Street.

NOTES: 1. Narcissus Batt was Founder of the Belfast Bank; 2. Narcissus and Thomas were members of the Corporation for preserving and improving the port and harbour of Belfast.

First published in June, 2013.

Clanabogan House

THE GALBRAITHS OWNED 3,826 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY TYRONE

JOHN GALBRAITH settled at Roscavey, County Tyrone, and died in 1668, leaving a son and successor,

CAPTAIN JAMES GALBRAITH, of Roscavey, who marred Mary, widow of Captain James Gledstanes, of FARDROSS, County Tyrone, and left an only son,

JOHN GALBRAITH (c1670-1742), of Roscavey, who wedded Anne Maria, eldest daughter of the Rev Richard Forbes, Rector of Ballinderry, and was father of

JOHN GALBRAITH (c1711-51), of Roscavey, Barrister, who espoused Katherine, daughter of Samuel Perry, of Mullaghmore, and had issue,

JAMES, his heir;
George (Rev);
John Forbes;
Samuel, of Greenmount and Omagh;
Katherine; Mary; Anne.

Mr Galbraith was succeeded by his eldest son,

JAMES GALBRAITH JP, of Roscavey, Deputy Governor of Tyrone, who married, in 1762, Mary, third daughter of Brabazon Noble, of Donaghmoyne, County Monaghan, and had issue, two sons and five daughters, who all died unmarried except the second son,

JAMES GALBRAITH, of Roscavey, who wedded his cousin Katherine, daughter and eventually heiress of Samuel Galbraith, of Greenmount and Omagh, and had issue,

James, died unmarried;
John, of Greenmount and Roscavey;
George;
SAMUEL, of whom we treat.

Mr Galbraith died in 1800, and was succeeded by his youngest son,

SAMUEL GALBRAITH JP (1797-1864), of Clanabogan and Riverstown, County Tyrone, and of Crowdrumin, County Longford, who succeeded to the entailed estates of his uncle, Arthur Lowry Galbraith in 1819, and to those of his mother in 1832.

He espoused, in 1824, Susanna Jane, second daughter of the Rev Dr Robert Handcock, and had issue,

JOHN SAMUEL, his heir;
Robert;
Samuel;
GEORGE (Very Rev), of Clanabogan;
James;
William Arthur;
Jane; Katherine.

Mr Galbraith, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1833, County Longford, 1840, was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN SAMUEL GALBRAITH JP DL (1828-1903), of Clanabogan and Riverstown, and Crowdrumin, High Sheriff of County Longford, 1874, Tyrone, 1875, who died unmarried, and was succeeded by his brother,

THE VERY REV GEORGE GALBRAITH (1829-1911), of Clanabogan, Dean of Derry, who married, in 1874, Florence, youngest daughter of ACHESON LYLE, of The Oaks, County Londonderry, and had issue,

SAMUEL HAROLD LYLE, his heir;
James Ponsonby;
Eleanor Georgina Susannah.

The Dean was succeeded by his elder son,

SAMUEL HAROLD LYLE GALBRAITH (1876-1922), of Clanabogan, Captain, Royal Irish Regiment.

CLANABOGAN HOUSE, near Omagh, County Tyrone, is a two-storey, three-bay, 18th-century rendered house, built ca 1750, developed during the 19th century and largely remodelled in the early 20th century.

It is asymmetrical, with Georgian detailing that has an elaborate spatial arrangement indicative of the differing periods of ownership and occupation.

Clanabogan is well preserved in its various phases.

It remains a fine example of an evolved eighteenth century residence.

Alistair Rowan describes Clanabogan as

‘... a typical gentleman’s estate in mid Victorian Ulster, created by Samuel Galbraith Esquire, with house, family church for a specially created curacy , and a modern rectory ... large, plain double pile house... mid-18th century ... inherited by Samuel Galbraith from his uncle in 1819."

The main double-pile block has thick internal wall construction and its proportions are indicative of a mid-18th century date.

There is evidence of at least two distinct periods of remodelling.

The plasterwork in the parlour appears to be Victorian in character; while the oak staircase is of early 20th-century appearance.

It is thought that major remodelling occurred in the early 20th century.

The present owner, who purchased Clanabogan in 1994, believes that part of the house was occupied by evacuated families during the 2nd World War, hence the division of the house, with separate stairwells leading to the first floor.

Clanabogan was converted to bed & breakfast accommodation in 2002.

First published in August, 2017.

Barton of The Waterfoot

THE BARTONS OF THE WATERFOOT OWNED 1,591 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY FERMANAGH

This family was established in Ulster by THOMAS BARTON, of Norwich, Norfolk, who is said to have accompanied the Earl of Essex's army into Ireland. Mr Barton was one of the first burgesses of Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.

In 1610 he obtained a grant of land comprising a district called Druminshin and Necarne, County Fermanagh. Thomas Barton was an applicant for a "small proportion" of 1,000 acres, and obtained a grant of Druminshin, which included the island of Inishclare, also in Lurg, in 1610; and he parted with Lettermore in 1613 to Mr Christopher Irvine, Rossfad to Mr Lancelot Carleton in the same year.

The Manor of Bannaghmore (Bannagh Mor) , extending from the river Bannagh to beyond the Waterfoot was purchased and controlled by the Barton family. Some of these lands were exchanged by him for others in the neighbourhood still in the possession of the elder branch of the family.

Thomas Barton married Margaret Lloyd, and had a son,

ANTHONY BARTON, father of

WILLIAM BARTON (c1630-93), of Boa Island and Curraghmore, who wedded Jane Hannah Forster, and had issue,

Edward, his heir; ancestor of BARTON of Greenfort;
WILLIAM, of whom we treat.

The younger son,

WILLIAM BARTON, of Curraghmore, County Fermanagh, espoused Elizabeth, daughter of John Dickson, of Ballyshannon, and had issue,

THOMAS, his heir;
George, died unmarried;
James;
Elizabeth; Everina.

Mr Barton died in 1695, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

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

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

Mr Barton married, in 1722, his cousin Margaret, youngest daughter of Robert Delap, of Ballyshannon, County Donegal, and had issue, an only child,

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

Thomas, his heir;
William, of Clonelly, County Fermanagh;
CHARLES, of whom hereafter;
Hugh, of Straffan;
Robert (Sir), KCH, Lieutenant-General in the Army;
Dunbar, of Rochestown;
Grace; Elizabeth; Margaret.

The third son,

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL CHARLES BARTON (1760-1819), espoused, in 1800, Susannah, daughter of Nathaniel Weld Johnston, of Bordeaux, France, and had issue,

HUGH WILLIAM, his heir;
Nathaniel Dunbar, Lt-Col Bengal Cavalry;
Thomas Charles, of Bonn, Germany;
Robert, of Sydney, Australia;
Albert Evelyn;
Susannah; Anna Eleanor.

His eldest son,

HUGH WILLIAM BARTON JP DL (1800-70), of The Waterfoot, County Fermanagh, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1837, Lieutenant-Colonel, 2nd Life Guards, married, in 1832, Mary Caroline, eldest daughter of Robert Johnston, of Kinlough House, County Leitrim, and had issue,

CHARLES ROBERT, his heir;
James, Captain, Royal Artillery;
Folliott;
Hugh St George, Captain, 60th Rifles;
Robert, Royal Navy;
Thomas Lloyd;
Nathaniel Albert Delap, Major, 88th Regiment;
Florence Anna; Mary Everina.

The eldest son,

CHARLES ROBERT BARTON JP DL (1832-1918), of The Waterfoot, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1863, Captain, Fermanagh Militia, wedded, in 1872, Henrietta Martha Mervyn, daughter of Henry Mervyn Richardson DL, of Rossfad, County Fermanagh, and had issue,

WILLIAM HUGH, his heir;
Henry Charles Johnston;
Charles Nathaniel;
Bertram James Richardson;
Mary Jane Florence; Everina Margaret; Caroline Angel Charlotte; Henrietta Emily Violet;
MILDRED PENELOPE MATILDA, of whom hereafter;
Susanna Cecil Grace.

Captain Barton was succeeded by his eldest son,

WILLIAM HUGH BARTON DSO JP DL (1874-1945), of The Waterfoot, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1924, Lieutenant-Colonel, Royal Army Service Corps, who married, in 1917, Ardyn Marion, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Tyrwhitt Stanniforth Patteson, and had issue,

JOHN CHARLES;
Ruth Ardyn (1921-51).

The only son,

CAPTAIN JOHN CHARLES BARTON (1918-43), Royal Artillery, died in 1943, aged 25, at north Africa, from wounds received in action, unmarried.

Captain Barton's cousin,

MISS MILDRED PENELOPE MATILDA BARTON (1885-1971), married, in 1918, Simon Christopher, son of Robert Loane, of Kesh, County Fermanagh, and had issue, four sons.

Click to Enlarge

THE WATERFOOT, Letter, near Pettigo, County Fermanagh, is a late Georgian house with two simple, two-storey ranges with eaved roofs at right angles to each other.

It was built by Lieutenant-General Charles Barton and completed by his son, Hugh William Barton.

The demesne was established in the 17th century, bounded by the river Waterfoot and Lower Lough Erne.

The house dated from the late 18th century with mature parkland, shelter trees, pleasure ground and a walled garden with an orchard.

The Waterfoot subsequently passed to Mr R B Loane, whose mother, Mildred Penelope Matilda Loane, née Barton, was a daughter of Captain Charles Robert Barton, of The Waterfoot.

The River Waterfoot defines the Boundary of the UK and Ireland

Charles Robert Barton

I am particularly grateful to Patricia Barton for the images.

First published in October, 2019.

The Harland Baronetcy

EDWARD JAMES HARLAND (1831-95), son of Dr William Harland and his wife Anne, was born at Newborough, Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

Dr William Harland, MD (1787-1866), was thrice Mayor of Scarborough and a successful physician, with his own medicinal baths at the bottom of Vernon Place in the town. His mother, Anne Pierson, was a talented artist who helped her husband with his engineering drawings.

In 1846, aged 15,  he took an apprenticeship at the engineering works of Robert Stephenson and Company, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Afterwards he was employed in Glasgow and again in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, before moving to Belfast in 1854 to manage Robert Hickson's shipyard at Queen's Island.

Four years later Mr Harland bought the yard and renamed the business Edward James Harland & Company.

In 1861, he formed a business partnership with Gustav Wilhelm Wolff, his former personal assistant, creating Harland & Wolff.

Later, Harland recruited William James Pirrie (afterwards 1st Viscount Pirrie) as another partner.

Messrs Harland, Wolff and Pirrie ran a successful business, receiving regular orders from the White Star Line, before Harland's retirement in 1889, leaving Wolff and Pirrie to manage the shipyard.

Sir Edward Harland, Baronet (Image: Belfast City Hall)

Harland also served as a Belfast Harbour Commissioner.

In 1885, he was granted a knighthood and a baronetcy:

LONDON GAZETTE, Friday, July 24, 1885:-

WHITEHALL, JULY 23

THE QUEEN has been pleased to direct Letters Patent to be passed under the Great Seal granting the dignity of a Baronet of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland unto Edward James Harland, of Ormiston, in the parish of Holywood, in the county of Down, and of Brompton, in the North Riding of the county of York, Esq., mayor of the borough of Belfast.

Sir Edward served the office of Mayor of Belfast, 1885-86.

The Harlands' Belfast residence was for a period ORMISTON HOUSE.

He later moved to London and served as North Belfast MP until his death on Christmas Eve, 1895, at his Irish home, GLENFARNE HALL in County Leitrim.

Harland left no heir to his baronetcy, which expired on his death in 1895.

There is a statue of Sir Edward in the grounds of Belfast City Hall.

First published in September, 2010.

Kilwaughter Castle

THE AGNEWS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY ANTRIM, WITH 9,770 ACRES 

PATRICK AGNEW, of Kilwaughter Castle, said to be a kinsman of the Agnew Baronets, of Lochnaw, Wigtownshire, a collector of rents in County Antrim, married Janet Shaw, and had a son,

JOHN AGNEW, who wedded his cousin, Eleanor Shaw, and had a son,

PATRICK AGNEW, who married and purchased the remaining lands at Kilwaughter which, until 1660, were owned by the Agnews of Lochnaw:

Sir Patrick Agnew, 1st Baronet, 8th Hereditary Sheriff of Lochnaw, father of Colonel Alexander Agnew, of Whitehills, who, with Andrew his brother, afterwards 9th Sheriff, was frequently in Ulster.

Mr Agnew, High Sheriff of Antrim, 1669, was succeeded by his son,

PATRICK AGNEW, who married and had issue,

PATRICK, of whom we treat;
Margaret, m James Crawford;
Jean, m Robert Blair, of Blairmount;
Helen, m James Stewart.

Mr Agnew died in 1724, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

PATRICK AGNEW, who wedded Martha Houston (or Houseton), of Craig, County Antrim, and had issue,

WILLIAM, of whom we treat;
Frances;
John;
James (?);
Patrick (?);
Henry, m Grace Harries, and left issue;
Hugh (?).

The eldest son,

WILLIAM AGNEW, married his cousin, Margaret Stewart, of Killymoon Castle, Cookstown, County Tyrone, and had issue,

James, died unmarried;
William, died unmarried;
MARIA, of whom we treat;
Jane, m Henry Shaw, afterwards of Ballygally.

Mr Agnew's elder daughter,

MARIA AGNEW, wedded firstly, James Ross; and secondly, Valentine Jones, by whom she had issue (with a daughter, Margaret), a son,

EDWARD JONES-AGNEW (1767-1834), MP for Antrim County, 1792-96, who succeeded his grandfather and assumed the additional surname of AGNEW.

He married Eleanor Galbraith, and and issue,

William;
Maria, m T C Simon.

Edward Jones-Agnew was succeeded by his only son,

WILLIAM AGNEW (1824-91), who died unmarried, and was succeeded in the Kilwaughter estate by his niece,

AUGUSTA, COUNTESS BALZANI (1847-95), only child of T C Simon and Maria (Agnew) Simon.

The Countess died in 1895, leaving two daughters,

Gendoluni, Madame Valensin;
Nora.

KILWAUGHTER CASTLE lies about three miles in a westerly direction from Larne in County Antrim.

The original tower-house was four storeys high with turrets, built for the Agnew family, tax collectors for JAMES VI.

The present building incorporates a Scottish style plantation house of ca 1622, built by Patrick Agnew, whose sister-in-law lived at Ballygalley Castle, which is near by.

Between 1803-07 the present Georgian castle was built for Edward Jones Agnew by John Nash in his "romantic castle" style.

There is a wide, round tower at one corner; and a polygonal tower at another.

The castle incorporates the substantial remains of a 17th century tower house.

The exact date and origin of the tower house is uncertain, though when it first became exposed due to dereliction in the 1950s it was identified as being of T-plan, four storeys in height, in Scottish style.

There are corbelled bartizan turrets at the four main corners, originally with narrow slit windows which were later enlarged.

The process of remodelling begun by Nash continued for some years, until at least 1830, when the oriel window on the east front was added.

Entrance Porch, Shipley-Bringhurst-Hargraves Collection, University of Delaware, Newark, USA

The chief architect was recorded in 1840 as John Nash, but Millar and Nelson of Belfast were seemingly also employed as architects.

Old photographs show that the Nash remodelling originally had elaborate Gothic-style timber tracery in all main windows on the south and east fronts.

The single-storey block on the south front was inserted between the original 17th century castle and the square end tower at some stage between 1832 and 1857.

On Edward Jones Agnew's death in 1834, ownership passed to his granddaughter who married her music teacher, an Italian count called Balzani.

The Music Room, Shipley-Bringhurst-Hargraves Collection, University of Delaware, Newark, USA

On the death of Count Ugo Balzani in 1916, the property passed to his daughters, Madame Valensin, of Florence, and her sister, Signorina Nora Balzani, of Rome.

At the outbreak of the 2nd World War in 1939, the sisters being resident in Italy, Kilwaughter Castle was declared "enemy holding" by the Custodian of Enemy Property and was transformed into an army camp.

Various British regiments were based there and finally it became an American Transit Camp.

It was occupied by military forces until 1945 and thereafter abandoned.

In 1951 it was bought by E H McConnell (Metals) Ltd of Belfast, who purchased it in order to recover lead, woodwork, slates and other fittings.

Subsequently it was left to decay.

At present the castle ruin is part of a farm.

The roof (part of which was originally sheathed with mere sand and tar) has collapsed, as have the floors.

Kilwaughter's parkland is early 19th century, possibly the work of the landscape gardener, John Sutherland; and provided a setting for the now-ruinous house.

The Ordnance Survey Memoirs of 1835 noted that the date "1566" was inscribed on a piece of iron on an oak door existing at that time; and it is known that the site had a Norman origin, because the remains of a motte exist nearby.

The 18th century house was set in a formal landscape, with a straight approach avenue aligned on the front door.

The parkland of ca 1810 has had its extensive shelter belts depleted and many parkland tress have been lost.

The artificial lake, created as a result of massive damming, is in danger of silting up.

The walled garden, in separate ownership from the greater part of the park, is partly cultivated.

There is an ice house near the lake.

The main entrance gates were designed by Nash ca 1807, but the lodge, ca 1835, is possibly by Millar and Nelson; a picturesque cottage with barge-boards and latticed windows.

First published in March, 2010.