Forkhill House

THE ALEXANDERS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY ARMAGH, WITH 8,324 ACRES

NATHANIEL ALEXANDER (1689-1761), of Gunsland, County Donegal, second son of JOHN ALEXANDER, of Ballyclose, County Londonderry, and of Gunsland, County Donegal, and grandson of ANDREW ALEXANDER, of Ballyclose, alderman of Derry, 1755, married Elizabeth, daughter of William McClintock, of Dunmore, County Donegal, and had issue,

WILLIAM, of London, Barrister;
ROBERT, of Boom Hall;
James, created EARL OF CALEDON;
Mary Jane; Rebecca.

The second son,

ROBERT ALEXANDER (1722-90), of Boom Hall, County Londonderry, wedded, in 1759, Anne, daughter of Henry McCullogh, and had issue,

NATHANIEL, his heir;
Henry, of Glentogher;
William, Lieutenant-General;
James, of Somerhill, Kent;
Josias Du Pré, East India Company;
Elizabeth; Anne.

The eldest son,

THE RT REV AND RT HON NATHANIEL ALEXANDER  (1760-1840), of Portglenone House, married, in 1785, Anne, daughter of the Rt Hon Richard Jackson MP, of Coleraine, and had issue,

Robert (Rev), of Portglenone;
James (Rev);
Nathaniel;
HENRY, of whom presently;
George;
William Stuart;
Anne; Mary; Eliza; Henrietta Frances.

The fourth son,

HENRY ALEXANDER (1803-77), of Forkhill House, County Armagh, High Sheriff of County Armagh, 1856, a barrister, espoused, in 1839, Louisa Juliana, second daughter of Thomas, 2nd Earl of Ranfurly, and had issue,

GRANVILLE HENRY JACKSON, his heir;
Henry Nathaniel;
Claud Henry;
Ronald Henry;
Frederick Henry Thomas;
Dudley Henry, CMG;
Blanche Catherine; Alice Mary Juliana;
Constance Henrietta Georgina; Emily Louisa; Edith Ellen.

Mr Alexander was succeeded by his eldest son,

GRANVILLE HENRY JACKSON ALEXANDER JP DL (1852-1930), of Forkhill House, High Sheriff of County Armagh, 1883, Captain, 3rd Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers, who married, in 1880, Daisy, daughter of M Mathews, of San Francisco, USA, though the marriage was without issue.

Captain Alexander sold most of his estate under the 'Wyndham' Land Act about 1905; and the remainder, including Forkhill House, in 1924.

FORKHILL HOUSE, Forkhill, County Armagh, sometimes spelled Forkill, is an 18th century house of three storeys and two bays.

The walls are rendered.

It was built for Richard Jackson (who endowed many schools in the area) ca 1780, along with the farmyard.

The house is said to have been occupied by John Foxall in 1836.

George Bassett, writing in 1888, remarked,

An extensive property owner here, has lately spent from £6,000 to £7,000 improving his fine residence, Forkhill House. The demesne is open to the public, and is much frequented by excursion and picnic parties. A trout lake, containing between eight and ten acres, romantically situated, affords good sport for angler.

The improvement was likely in a hip-roof annex built on to the left front of the original house.

This section which was burned during the troubles in the 1920s, and subsequently demolished. 

Though known as Forkhill House, the pre-1834 building has gone, with the exception of one wing. 

The part-walled demesne of 100 acres is in an outstanding position on the south-facing slopes of Tievecrom Mountain. 

At the present time it is practically treeless, but the grounds contain some very interesting ornamental features that are not operational, but could be.

The ponds are drained but artificial islands, with parts of rustic buildings and a boat-house in good condition remain.

A mountain top turret view point affords excellent views.

The walled garden is used for grazing.

The gate lodge has been enlarged and decorated many times during the 19th century. 

First published in August, 2010.  Alexander arms courtesy of the NLI.

Cleggan Notes

LORD RATHCAVAN TELLS ME ABOUT CLEGGAN LODGE, COUNTY ANTRIM

"I BELIEVE Fisher was a Manchester merchant who was involved in the iron ore mining in North Antrim above the Glens."

"Hence Fisher's Pond and the scutch mill which he also constructed, powered by the water from the Pond." 

"I presume he rented from O'Hara and that, when he left after the iron ore mining failed, O'Hara sold."

"I have a copy of the offer for sale in 1897 when my great-grandfather bought it, not for the Shane's Castle Estate but as a personal asset."

"My great-grandmother née Cochrane considered living there and they added a top floor (very badly) and I think the double staircase."

"But the idea was dropped with World War I and the death of their son in World War I."

"It fell into disrepair until my grandfather bought Cleggan from his father in 1927."

"Cleggan was always part of the medieval O'Neill Estate and was mortgaged to Lord Mount Cashel and became part of the disputed Estates Office in Dublin from whom the 1st and last Earl O'Neill rented it in 1820 after Shane's Castle was burnt in 1816."

"It was he who built this thatched Cottage Orné with eyebrow windows."

"At the same time he built architecturally similar houses on Ram's Island."

"Lough Beg and in the Shane's Castle deer park, where he and his brother (both bachelors) entertained women and gambled.'

"They also owned Tullymore Lodge near Broughshane and had a private racecourse there which is now the Ballymena Golf Club, whose freehold, I believe, is still owned by The Shane's Castle Estate."

First published in June,2010.

Sir James Matheson Bt

SIR JAMES NICOLAS SUTHERLAND MATHESON, BARONET, WAS THE GREATEST LANDOWNER IN ROSS-SHIRE, WITH 406,070 ACRES

Of the Shiness branch of the Mathesons, so named from their having held that place as a mortgage for several centuries, there are several notices in Sir Robert Gordon’s History of the Earldom of Sutherland, who mentions the family as chief of the name, in 1616.

Of this family was Colonel George Matheson, who accompanied Sir Donald Mackay of Farr, afterwards Lord Reay, into the service of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, and obtained a grant of the family coat of arms from CHARLES I, in 1639.

In the last century the family was represented by

NIEL MATHESON (1700-75), having had an only son,

DUNCAN MATHESON, who died young, in 1746, from wounds received in a skirmish connected with the rebellion of 1745.

He married Elizabeth Mackay, of Mowdil.

His widow married secondly, Dr Archibald Campbell, with whom she emigrated in 1772 to America, and had a numerous progeny. Her youngest son, George Washington Campbell, was finance minister of the United States in 1813, and in 1818 was appointed ambassador extraordinary to the court of St Petersburg.

Duncan Matheson had an only son,

CAPTAIN DONALD MATHESON (1746-1810), who married Catherine, eldest daughter of the Rev Thomas Mackay, minister of Lairg, by whom he had three sons and six daughters.

His second son,

JAMES NICOLAS SUTHERLAND MATHESON (1796-1878), of Achany and the Lews, married, in 1843, Mary Jane, fourth daughter of M H Perceval, of Quebec.

Mr Matheson was created a baronet in 1851, designated of The Lews, Ross-shire.

Sir James died without issue, in 1878, when the baronetcy expired.

LEWS CASTLE is located west of the town of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland. 

The castle was built ca 1847-57 as a country house for Sir James Matheson, who had bought the whole island for £500,000 (about £54 million today) a few years previously with his fortune from the Chinese Opium trade.

It was designed by the Glasgow architect Charles Wilson.

On Sir James's decease in 1878 the estate fell to his widow, Mary, and subsequently to his nephew Donald and grand-nephew Colonel Duncan Matheson.

For financial reasons the Lewis estate and the Castle were put on the market in 1917.

In 1918, the Lewis estate, including the castle, was bought by industrialist Lord Leverhulme from the Matheson family.

He gifted the castle to the people of Stornoway parish in 1923.

During the 2nd World War the Castle was taken over as accommodation for air and ground crew of 700 Naval Air Squadron, who operated a detachment of six Supermarine Walrus aircraft from a slipway at Cuddy Point in the Grounds. The base was referred to as HMS Mentor.

After the war, the Castle was also used for accommodation for students of Lews Castle College in the 1950s.

Today the building is owned by the local council and is protected as a category A listed building.

Lews Castle was awarded £4.6 million by the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2011, to enable it to be converted into a bilingual museum and cultural centre. 

In 2016, the ground floor of the castle, including a restored ballroom and a cafe, reopened to the public.

In 2017, Natural Retreats, a luxury holiday property company, opened apartments in the castle

First published in January, 2014.

Hugh Boulter DD

On the wall of the west aisle of the north transept in Westminster Abbey is a memorial to the Most Rev and Rt Hon Dr Hugh Boulter, Lord Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland, and Metropolitan.

His Grace was buried nearby in the transept on 12th November 1742.

The memorial was designed by Sir Henry Cheere and includes a bust of the archbishop with decorations of a mitre, crozier, lamps, sprays of oak leaves and acorns.

The coat of arms at the base once showed the arms of the See of Armagh impaling Boulter.

The inscription reads:-

DR HUGH BOULTER, late Archbishop of ARMAGH and Primate of all IRELAND.

A prelate so eminent for the accomplishments of his mind, the purity of his heart, and the excellency of his life, that it may be superfluous to specify his titles, recount his virtues, or even erect a monument to his fame:

His titles he not only deserv'd but adorn'd, his virtues he manifest in his good works, which had never dazzled the public eye if they had not been too bright to be conceal'd;

And, as to his fame, who so every has any sense of merit, any reverence for piety, any passion for his country, or any charity for mankind, will assist in preserving it fair and spotless;

That when brass and marble shall mix with the dust they cover, every succeeding age may have the benefit of his illustrious example.

His Grace was born on the 4th January, 1671, was consecrated bishop of BRISTOL, 1718, he was translated to the Archbishopric of ARMAGH, 1723, and from thence to Heaven, Sept. the 27th 1742.

The date of his birth is given in Old Style dating on the monument which is now called 1672.

Son of John Boulter, of the parish of St Katharine Cree, City of London, by Bebecca his wife, who administered to her husband's estate 27 Sep. 1709,

He was educated at the Merchant Taylors' school and Oxford and was later a chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

He was Rector of St Olave in Southwark and also Dean of Christ Church, Oxford.

In 1719 he married Elizabeth Savage but they had no children.

She was buried with him on 28th February 1754, aged 60.

The Archbishop was a philanthropist and established a school at Santry in County Dublin.

First published in March, 2020.

Linen Hall Library

Linen Hall Library from Wellington Place (Image: Timothy Ferres)

The Linen Hall Library was founded in 1788 by a group of artisans as the Belfast Reading Society and in 1792 became the Belfast Society for Promoting Knowledge.

It adopted a resolution in 1795,

That the object of this Society is the collection of an extensive Library, philosophical apparatus and such products of nature and art as tend to improve the mind and excite a spirit of general enquiry.

It began to acquire books (with a particular focus on those relating to Irish topics, publishing, for example Ancient Irish Music by Edward Bunting in 1796) and also other items which could be used to advance knowledge.

The society declined in the later 1790s however, as it owned no permanent premises and struggled with official attempts to control radical thought.

In 1802, the Library moved into permanent premises in the White Linen Hall (from which it took its name, though legally it is still the Belfast Society for Promoting Knowledge).

The Library struggled, however, through most of the 19th century.

It became more conservative, attempting to exclude students from Queen's College and debating whether or not to include fiction.

As the Library's centenary approached it was hit by another setback as it lost its premises in White Linen Hall to make way for the construction of the new City Hall.

The Library moved into a warehouse at Donegall Square North (previously used for linen), which was designed by Charles Lanyon and his firm, and which the Library occupies today.

Linen Hall Library (Image: Robert John Welch)

At the same time it made the transition from being a private company to one with public duties with regard to care for its collections.

This was also a period when the Library became much more ambitious, collecting books with a new vigour and implementing many cultural programmes.

By the end of the 1970s the Library was on the brink of closure, with large amounts of material (including an extensive collection relating to the Troubles) but a poor building, few users and serious money problems.

In response, the Department of Education threatened to withdraw its grant and in 1980 proposals were made to close the Library permanently.

After 1980 a fight began to save the library.

Linen Hall Library, January, 2021 (Image: Timothy Ferres)

It was decided that it should begin to allow and encourage free public reference access and to concentrate particularly on Irish studies, politics and culture, both because it was already strong in these areas and so as not to compete with the expanded Central Reference Library.

The move was successful: the number of subscribers began to increase and the library increased its role as a cultural centre, both facilitating research and fostering close links with the wider community.

It quickly became apparent that lack of space was holding back the library's revival.

After spending ten years exploring various options, the Library acquired a 999-year lease on the upper floors of some neighbouring property in 1996.

This was followed by an extensive fundraising campaign to pay for the development of this new property.

Construction began in 1999 and was completed in time for the opening in September, 2000.

The Library celebrates its CCXXVth anniversary in 2013 (Timothy Ferres)

The Librarian of the Linen Hall Library in 2013, John Killen, remarked,

"In 1793 we printed our first catalogue and there were 137 titles. We now have the best part of a million books on these premises. We have become computerised, all our catalogues are now on computer and on the web we have digitised a number of our collections. It's all down to content and the library has oceans of content."

First published in May, 2013.

The Archdale Baronets

The first of the family of ARCHDALE, who settled in Ulster during the reign of ELIZABETH I, was JOHN ARCHDALE, of Norton Hall, in Norfolk. In 1612 he was granted 1,000 acres of land in County Fermanagh as part of the Plantation of Ulster.

This gentleman, by the inscription over the gateway in the ruinous castle, appears to have erected the old mansion-house of Archdale.

John Archdale married and had two sons,

EDWARD, of whom we treat;
John (Rev), Vicar of Luske, 1664.

John Archdale died in 1621, and was succeeded by his elder son,

EDWARD ARCHDALE, who espoused Angel, daughter of Sir Paul Gore (ancestor of the Gores, Earls of Ross), and had issue.

During his time, the castle which his father had erected was taken and burned by the rebels under Sir Phelim O'Neill, in 1641, and only two children of a numerous family survived. One, a daughter, who was absent and married; the other, an infant son, WILLIAM, preserved by the fidelity of his nurse, an Irish Roman Catholic, which

WILLIAM ARCHDALE,  after succeeding to the estates, married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Mervyn, of Omagh Castle and Trillick, both in County Tyrone, and had two sons and a daughter, viz.

MERVYN, his heir;
EDWARD, heir to his brother;
ANGEL.

He was succeeded by his elder son,

MERVYN ARCHDALE (1685-1726), of Castle Archdale, who died unmarried, and was succeeded by his brother,

EDWARD ARCHDALE (1694-1728), of Castle Archdale, who wedded firstly, Frances, eldest daughter of Sir John Caldwell Bt; and secondly, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of John Cole, of Florence Court.

Dying without issue, however, the family estates devolved upon his only sister,

ANGEL ARCHDALE, who thus became heiress and representative of the family.

She espoused NICHOLAS MONTGOMERY, of Derrygonnelly, County Fermanagh, MP for County Fermanagh, 1731-60, who assumed the surname and arms of ARCHDALL, and left, at her decease about 1742 or 1743, an only son,

MERVYN ARCHDALL (1725-1813), of Castle Archdale and Trillick, MP for County Fermanagh, 1801-2, who espoused, in 1762, the Hon Mary Dawson, daughter of William Henry, Viscount Carlow, and sister of John, 1st Earl of Portarlington, and had issue, 

Mervyn, his heir;
William, an army officer;
EDWARD, of whom we treat;
Henry, an army officer;
Mary; Angel; Elizabeth; Sidney.

In 1773, this gentleman built the manor house of Castle Archdall or Archdale.

The third son, 

EDWARD ARCHDALL JP DL (1775-1864), of Riversdale, County Fermanagh, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1813, married, in 1809, Matilda, daughter of William Humphrys, and had issue,

Mervyn Edward, of Castle Archdale;
William Humphrys Mervyn, of Castle Archdale;
Edward, of Clifton Lodge, Lisnaskea;
Henry Montgomery (Rev), Rector of Trory;
NICHOLAS MONTGOMERY, of whom hereafter;
John;
Hugh Montgomery, of Drumadravy;
Audley Mervyn;
James Mervyn;
Mary; Letitia Jane; Richmal Magnall.

The fifth son,

NICHOLAS MONTGOMERY ARCHDALE JP DL (1820-77), of Riversdale and Crocknacrieve, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1861, married, in 1852, Adelaide Mary, daughter of Rev John Grey Porter, of Belleisle, County Fermanagh, and had issue,

EDWARD MERVYN, his heir;
John Porter, of Belleisle;
William Henry;
Henry Butler;
Nicholas Francis;
Theodore Montgomery;
Margaret Eleanor; Matilda Lavinia.

Mr Archdale was succeeded by his eldest son,

THE RT HON EDWARD MERVYN ARCHDALE JP DL (1853-1943), Privy Counsellor, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1884, Lieutenant-Commander RN, MP for North Fermanagh, 1898-1903 and 1916-22, Enniskillen, 1929-43.

Mr Archdale was created a baronet in 1928, designated of Riversdale, County Fermanagh.

Sir Edward Archdale Bt, Photo Credit: Ulster Museum

He married, in 1880, Alicia Bland, daughter of Quintin Fleming, and had issue,

NICHOLAS EDWARD, his successor;
William Porter Palgrave, CBE;
Audley Quintin, Lt-Col;
Dominick Mervyn;
Humphries, DSC, Captain RN;
Angel.

Sir Edward was succeeded by his eldest son,

VICE-ADMIRAL SIR (NICHOLAS) EDWARD ARCHDALE, 2nd Baronet (1881-1955), CBE, who married, in 1920, Gerda Henriette, daughter of Frederik Christian Sievers, and had issue,

EDWARD FOLMER, his successor;
Alice Gerda (1923-87).

Sir Edward fought in the 1st World War, with the submarine flotillas; was Aide-de-Camp to HM King George V, 1929; General Inspector, NI Ministry of Home Affairs, 1931-46.

Sir Edward distinguished himself in the Royal Navy.

He was succeeded by his only son,

CAPTAIN SIR EDWARD (Ted) FOLMER ARCHDALE, 3rd Baronet, (1921-2009), DSC, RN, who married, in 1954, Elizabeth Ann Stewart, daughter of Major-General Wilfred Boyd Fellowes Lukis, and had issue,

NICHOLAS EDWARD, his successor;
Lucinda Grace.

Sir Edward distinguished himself in the Royal Navy , serving as aide-de-camp to HM The Queen prior to his retirement in 1971.

He lived at Comber, County Down.

Sir Edward, 3rd Baronet, was succeeded by his only son,

SIR NICHOLAS EDWARD ARCHDALE, 4th and present Baronet (1965-).

The heir presumptive is his cousin, Peter Mervyn Archdale (b 1953).

The heir presumptive's heir apparent is his son, Jonathan Talbot Archdale (b 1982).

CROCKNACRIEVE, near Enniskillen, is a Georgian house originally owned by the Richardsons of Rich Hill.

It was acquired by the Archdales through marriage by a cousin.

The first Baronet sold the property in 1901.

RIVERSDALE HOUSE formed part of a 5,627 acre estate.

It is now the regional office for the Northern Ireland Rivers Agency.

I have written about Castle Archdale here.

First published in June, 2010.  Archdale arms courtesy of the NLI.

Holyhill House

THE SINCLAIRS OWNED 2,152 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY TYRONE

THE REV JOHN SINCLAIR, son of James Sinclair of the Caithness family, was the first of the family who settled at Holyhill, County Tyrone.

Mr Sinclair, Rector of Leckpatrick, 1665-6, was succeeded by JOHN his son, father of JOHN, whose son,

WILLIAM SINCLAIR, who died before his father, married Isabella, daughter of Thomas Young, of Lough Eske, County Donegal, and had issue,

JAMES, his heir;
Thomas;
Rebecca.

The eldest son,

JAMES SINCLAIR DL (1772-1865), of Holyhill, wedded, in 1805, Dorothea, daughter and heir of the Rev Samuel Law, and had issue,

WILLIAM, his heir;
James;
Alexander Montgomery;
Mary; Dorothea; Marion; Rebecca; Ann; Isabella; Caroline Elizabeth.

Mr Sinclair was succeeded by his eldest son,

WILLIAM SINCLAIR JP DL (1810-96), of Holyhill, County Tyrone, and Drumbeg, County Donegal, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1854, Barrister, who espoused Sarah, daughter of James Cranborne Strode, and had issue,

JAMES MONTGOMERY, his heir;
William Frederic;
William Frederic;
Donald Brooke;
Alfred Law, Lt-Col, DSO;
Jemima Sarah; Dorothea Mary.

Mr Sinclair was succeeded by his eldest son,

JAMES MONTGOMERY SINCLAIR JP (1841-99), of Holyhill and Bonnyglen, Inver, County Donegal, High Sheriff of County Donegal, 1899, who married, in 1868, Mary Everina, youngest daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Barton, of The Waterfoot, County Fermanagh, and had issue,

WILLIAM HUGH MONTGOMERY, his heir;
Everina Mary Caroline; Rosabel.

Mr Sinclair was succeeded by his only son,

WILLIAM HUGH MONTGOMERY SINCLAIR (1868-1930), of Holyhill and Bonnyglen, called to the Irish Bar, 1897; Vice-Consul at Manilla, 1900-02; at Boston, 1902-4; Buenos Aires, 1904-7; Emden, 1907-9; Consul for the States of Bahia and Sergipe, 1909.

Mr Sinclair wedded, in 1924, Elizabeth Elliot (Bessie) Hayes, of Philadelphia, USA, though the marriage was without issue.

HOLYHILL HOUSE, near Strabane, County Tyrone, is a plain, three-storey, five-bay Georgian house.

The demesne and house, located in the townland of Hollyhill and the parish of Leckpatrick, date from the late 17th century.

Holyhill House, whitewashed, three-storey with five bays, seems be ca 1736, when William Starratt surveyed of the estate.

It was originally attached in front of an earlier house, which was removed in the early 19th century and replaced with the present building.

*****

William Hugh Montgomery Sinclar served from 1900 in the consular service in Manilla, Boston and Buenos Aires, during which time his mother sold off most of the estate to its tenants between 1904-05 under the terms of the 1903 Land Act.

William Sinclair married the American heiress Elizabeth Elliott Hayes.

Upon her death in 1957, the estate was left to a distant Sinclair relation, Major-General Sir Allan Adair Bt, who sold many of the heirlooms and burned a lot of the estate records.

When Ballymena Castle was demolished it in 1957, Sir Allan installed ten stained-glass windows from the castle, where they remain today.

Sir Allan sold the property in 1983 to Hamilton Thompson, a Strabane pharmacist.

During the Plantation of Ulster, the lands were held by the 1st Earl of Abercorn, who granted them sometime before 1611 to his younger brother, Sir George Hamilton, of Greenlaw, who built a timber house that year.

A document of ca 1680 records that

Ballyburny alias Holihill belonged to “James Hamilton Esq. a Minor Sonne to Sir George Hamilton ye Elder” before 1641 and was distributed to Sir George Hamilton afterwards. 

This first house was burned in 1641, and at some time thereafter the property was granted to the family’s agent in the Strabane barony, David Maghee, whose son, Captain George Magee, sold the house to the Rev John Sinclair, who came to Ulster from Caithness and was instituted in the parish of Leckpatrick (in which Holyhill is located), in 1665-66, and to Camus, 1668.

The residence purchased was rebuilt after 1641, either by James Hamilton or one of his immediate descendants.

The Rev John Sinclair purchased Holyhill with incomes from two parishes: his 1703 memorial re-erected in Leckpatrick Parish Church lauds his staunch defence of the established church and persecution of dissenters.

The Abercorn Papers contain numerous letters about and between the Earl of Abercorn and Mr Sinclair going back as early as 1749.

In 1756, Lord Abercorn wrote to his agent, Nathaniel Nisbitt,

When you chance to see Mr Sinclair of Hollyhill, tell him I have not the counterpart of his deed of Holyhill; and that I therefore desire he will give me a copy of it. If he seems to think his title called in question, you may say you know of no such thing, but that you believe I am desirous of having my privileges ascertained.

On his retirement in 1757, Nisbitt recommended to Lord Abercorn that Sinclair take his place as he was “a rough honest man.”

With income as Abercorn's agent, John expanded his demesne in the late 1760s.

He was succeeded at Holyhill by son George, who had been apprenticed to a linen merchant.

George Sinclair died in Limerick between 1803-04, with his body being buried in the old parish graveyard in 1804.

George was succeeded by his nephew, James, who later served as JP in counties Donegal and Tyrone, and took part in parliamentary inquiries in the 1830s and 1840s, including the Devon Commission and the inquiry into the Orange Order, which he held in very low regard, and spoke in favour of Catholic Emancipation at a public meeting of “the nobility, gentry, clergy and freeholders of the County of Tyrone.”

*****

The house is set in a maintained ornamental garden with herbaceous borders and lawns.

A water garden was added in the 1970s.

There are mature trees beyond, in what was described by Young in 1909 as a, ‘… richly wooded park.’

These form a shelter belt round this fine parkland, together with and stands of woodland.

The walled garden is partly cultivated and retains glasshouses.

First published in February, 2017.