Belfast Castle: III

AN ARTICLE FROM EDDIE'S BOOK EXTRACTS

THE VIEW from the gardens and the castle was, perhaps, unsurpassed for the beauty of its quiet landscape.

The fertile valley through which the Lagan wended its seaward course had as a background the hills of Castlereagh (Grey Castle) with the old residence of Con O'Neill occupying a prominent position on the summit; while the slopes of the Holywood hills were visible across the twenty-one arches of the Long Bridge.

The Cromac wood, at that time the undergrowth of the primeval forest, lay to the south, skirting the west bank of the Lagan and extending westward as far as the present Shaftesbury Square.

The River Blackstaff meandered in its zig-zag course from the Great Bridge of Belfast, alias Brickhill Bridge, alias Saltwater Bridge, to its outlet at the south of the Long Bridge and, in its course, supplying fresh water to the Castle fish pond, situated at the present Arthur Square.

To the west rose the Black Mountain, a basaltic range of hills, one of which is still known as the Squire's Hill, converted into a deer park by the Lord Deputy, a district now known as Old Park, with the grazing ground covered with sites for residential dwellings.

To the north arose the clear outline of Ben Madigan, with its streaks of limestone glistening in the sunshine, and the contour of its summit bearing a striking resemblance to the profile of Napoleon Bonaparte.

The trees of the new deer park, so-called to distinguish it from the Old Park, sloped in an easterly direction from the Cave Hill to the shores of the Belfast Lough, terminating at Parkmount.

Early on Sunday morning, 25th April, 1708, the Castle was reduced to a mass of smouldering ruins and there perished in the flames the three youngest daughters, Lady Jane, Lady Frances, and Lady Henrietta Chichester.

The daughter of the Vicar, the Rev Mr Barklie, and a servant maid, Catherine Douglas, and a maid, Mary Teggart, escaped from the devouring flames.

The cause of the fire is said to have been due to the carelessness of a servant who lit a wood fire in a room recently washed, and took no precautions to watch for sparks.

All the goods were also destroyed before the men of the town could get in within the walls to help; and these walls were twelve feet high.

Such is the account, written by a prominent Belfast resident at the time of the occurrence.

A considerable quantity of silver plate and objets d'art were apparently rescued from the Castle.

First published in July, 2012.

Franklin Maxims: V

Wink at small faults; remember thou hast great ones.

First published in May, 2020.

The Adair Baronetcy

The family of ADAIR was settled in Scotland, and later in Ulster, for many generations, and, according to tradition, derived its descent from a junior branch of the noble house of FitzGerald, Earls of Desmond.

The Rt Rev Archibald Adair was Lord Bishop of Raphoe, and Lord Bishop of Waterford and Lismore.

WILLIAM ADAIR, of Kinhilt, Wigtownshire, who was served heir to his father, Ninian Adair, of the same place, in 1608, married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir James Gordon Bt, of Lochinvar, and settled at Ballymacoss, County Antrim.

He died in 1626, and was succeeded by his son,

SIR ROBERT ADAIR, of Ballymena, County Antrim, who was served heir to his father and grandfather, in the Scottish estates, 1629.

He married Jane, daughter of Archibald Edmonstone, of Duntreath, in Stirlingshire, and dying in 1655, was succeeded by his eldest son,

WILLIAM ADAIR, of Ballymena, who dying in 1661, leaving, by his wife, Anna Helena Scott, his wife (to whom he was married ca 1658), an only son,

SIR ROBERT ADAIR (1659-1745), of Kinhilt and Ballymena, who raised a regiment of foot and a troop of horse in the service of WILLIAM III, and received the honour of knighthood from that monarch on the field after the battle of the Boyne.

Sir Robert died in 1745, having married four wives; by the first of whom, Penelope, daughter of Sir Robert Colville, Knight, he left a son,

WILLIAM ROBERT ADAIR, of Ballymena, a captain of horse, who wedded Catherine Smallman, of Ludlow, Shropshire, and died in 1762, leaving two sons,

ROBERT, his heir;
William, in holy orders, of Portsmouth.

The elder son,

ROBERT ADAIR, of Ballymena, married, in 1753, Anne, daughter of Alexander McAuley, of the city of Dublin, barrister-at-law, and had two sons,

WILLIAM, his heir;
Robert, of Acton, Middlesex.

The elder son,

WILLIAM ADAIR (1754-1844), of Ballymena, FLIXTON HALL, Suffolk, and Colehayes Park, Devon, wedded, in 1784, Camilla, daughter and heir of Robert Shafto, of Benwell, Northumberland, and had issue,

ROBERT SHAFTO, his heir;
William Robert, died at Harrow School;
Alexander, of Hetherton Park;
Camilla.

Mr Adair was succeeded by his eldest son,

ROBERT SHAFTO ADAIR (1786-1869), of Flixton Hall, Suffolk, and Ballymena, County Antrim, who wedded, in 1810, Elizabeth Maria, daughter of the Rev James Strode, of Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, and had issue,

ROBERT ALEXANDER SHAFTO, his successor;
Hugh Edward.

Mr Adair was created a baronet in 1838, designated of Flixton Hall, Suffolk.

His elder son, 

SIR ROBERT ALEXANDER SHAFTO ADAIR, 2nd Baronet (1811-86), of Ballymena Castle, married Theodosia, daughter of GENERAL THE HON ROBERT MEADE, second son of John, Earl of Clanwilliam.

Sir Robert, MP for Cambridge, 1847-57, was elevated to the peerage, in 1873, in the dignity of BARON WAVENEY, of South Elmham, Suffolk.

In 1865, Adair began the construction in the demesne of Ballymena Castle, a substantial family residence in the Scottish baronial style. The castle was not completed until 1887, and was demolished in 1957 after having lain empty for some years and being vandalised; the site is now a car park. In 1870, Adair donated a People's Park to Ballymena, engaging fifty labourers to work for six months landscaping it.

The barony became extinct on his death in 1886, and he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his younger brother,

SIR HUGH EDWARD ADAIR, 3rd Baronet (1815-1902), JP DL, of BALLYMENA CASTLE, who wedded, in 1856, Harriet Camilla, daughter of Alexander Adair, and had issue,

Hugh Alexander (1858-68);
FREDERICK EDWARD SHAFTO, his successor;
ROBERT SHAFTO, succeeded his brother;
Camilla Beatrix Mary.

Sir Hugh was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

SIR FREDERICK EDWARD SHAFTO ADAIR, 4th Baronet (1860-1915), JP, of Ballymena Castle, who died unmarried, when the family honours devolved upon his brother,

SIR ROBERT SHAFTO ADAIR, 5th Baronet (1862-1949), JP DL, who married, in 1890, Mary, daughter of Henry Anstey Bosanquet, and had issue,

Robert Desmond Shafto, died in infancy;
ALLAN HENRY SHAFTO, of whom hereafter;
Camilla Mary Shafto.

Sir Robert was succeeded by his only surviving son,

MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ALLAN HENRY SHAFTO ADAIR, 6th and last Baronet (1897-1988), GCVO CB DSO MC JP DL, who espoused, in 1919, Enid Violet Ida, daughter of William Humble Dudley Ward, and had issue,

DESMOND ALLAN SHAFTO, predeceased his father;
Robert Dudley Shafto (1923-25);
Bridget Mary; Juliet Enid; Annabel Violet.

Sir Allan's only son,

Captain Desmond Allan Shafto Adair, born in 1920, died in 1943 at Italy, killed in action.

When the 6th Baronet died in 1988 the title became extinct.

THE CASTLE, Ballymena, County Antrim, was a large Scottish-Baronial Victorian house built in 1869 for Sir Robert Adair, later 1st Baron Waveney.

It had a massive seven-storey tower at one end was built by Lanyon & Lynn of Belfast.

The original castle, built by the Adairs, was burnt in 1720.

The Adair estate at Ballymena was sold to the tenants in 1904 and the castle fell into disuse.

The castle was still standing in 1953, but badly damaged by arson in 1955 and condemned as unsafe the following year.

When the local council demolished it in 1957, Sir Allan Adair bought Holy Hill House, near Strabane, County Tyrone, and installed ten stained glass windows from the castle there, where they remain today.

Other residences ~ 55, Green Street, Grosvenor Square, London; Anmer Hall, King's Lynn, Norfolk.

First published in October, 2010.

McCance of Suffolk

THE McCANCES OWNED 1,522 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ANTRIM

The family of McCance is said to have moved from Scotland to Ulster about 1710.

DAVID McCANCE (1684-1747), of Woodbourne, Dunmurry, County Antrim, married Isabella __________ (c1669-1724), and had issue,

JOHN McCANCE (1711-86), of Dunmurry, who wedded firstly, Rachel _______, and had issue,

David (1736-93), of KNOCKNAGONEY, County Down;

JOHN, of whom presently;

William (1746-1810), of Wellington Place, Belfast; and of Suffolk House.

Mary, m James Stouppe.

He espoused secondly, Easter _____.

Mr McCance was buried at Drumbeg parish church.

The second son,

JOHN McCANCE (1744-1811), of Farmhill (Blacks Road today), Dunmurry, married Jane, daughter of JOHN CHARLEY, of Seymour Hill, and had issue,

JOHN;

Mary.

The only son,

JOHN McCANCE JP (1772-1835), of Farmhill, and Suffolk House, Dunmurry, High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1825, MP for Belfast, 1835.

Mr McCance inherited the family linen business as well as becoming chairman of the Northern Banking Company. He was involved with the various activities of his times, being a magistrate, high sheriff, a Police Commissioner, Vice-President of the Royal Belfast Academical Institution (Inst), and a Trustee of the Botanic Gardens, Belfast. He also became MP for Belfast, following a strenuous contest with Lord Arthur Chichester.

He wedded, in 1799, Maria, daughter of William Finlay, of Carrickfergus, County Antrim, and had issue,

WILLIAM, his heir.

His first wife died, possibly as a result of childbirth, in the same year; and, ca 1800, John McCance wedded, secondly, Jane, daughter of William Russell, who died, without issue, in 1812.

John McCance (Image: Ulster Museum)

He espoused thirdly, in 1813, Sarah, daughter of James Law, by whom he had further issue,

James Law;

John Wellington Stouppe, JP (1816-63);

Joseph;

David;

George;

Henry Jones, JP DL (1829-1900);

Jane; Mary; Elizabeth; Charlotte.

A stained-glass window in memory of John and Henry McCance adorns First Dunmurry Presbyterian Church.

Henry Jones McCance (Image: Ulster Museum)

The eldest son,

WILLIAM McCANCE JP (1801-65), of Glenville, and Suffolk House, Dunmurry, married, in 1824, Isabella, daughter of John Russell, of New Forge, County Down, and had issue,

John (1826-69), died unmarried;

William;

FINLAY, of whom hereafter;

Holmes;

William;

Catherine Helen; Isabella; Isabella; Maria; Jane.

The third son,

FINLAY McCANCE JP (1829-90), of Suffolk House and Glenville, wedded, in 1860, Annie Lillias, daughter of James Macaulay, of Strathearn, Dunmurry, and had issue,

JOHN STOUPPE FINLAY;

Isabella; Susan Evelyn.

The only son and heir,

JOHN STOUPPE FINLAY McCANCE JP DL (1865-1926), of Suffolk House, Dunmurry, married, in 1890, Mary Letitia, daughter of James Thomson Bristow, and had issue,

Finlay (1891-1915), killed in action;

Henry Bristow, father (?) of Reginald Finlay McCance (d 2008);

Robert Alexander;

Elizabeth Lillias.

Suffolk House (Image: Planet Suffolk)

SUFFOLK HOUSE, Dunmurry, County Antrim, faced south-east across the Lagan Valley with its back to Collin Mountain. 

Though not the oldest part of the mansion, the main front block with its hipped roof was most impressive.

It was re-built in 1824, with a modest portico and two columns, stepped quoins at each corner; regular bays of windows, with a projecting band of stone dividing the storeys.

In the middle of the small park was a planted pond.

Suffolk House from an engraving by E K Proctor, 1832 (Image: Ebay)

Suffolk House was inhabited by the McCances until 1923, when the house and grounds were leased (or purchased) by the family of Gaffikin.

The Gaffikins lived at Suffolk until 1927, when it remained vacant for ten years.

Suffolk was purchased by Mr Cameron in 1937.

He leased part of the house, and several rooms were utilized for the storage of food during the 2nd World War.

Suffolk House ca 1830 (Historic OS map)

At the end of the war, in 1945, one wing of the house was leased to Otto Harriman, of London.

A section of Suffolk house was demolished about 1958 to make way for road improvements; and in the late 1970s the remainder of the house was completely demolished (a reader informs me that they recall delivering the Belfast Telegraph newspaper to the house about 1979-80)         .

The mansion house stood near the site of Margaretta Park; and the grounds today form part of Colin Glen Park.

Roots, the History of an Outstanding Ulster Family, is written by R F McCance.

First published in July, 2022.

The Hermitage

THE BARONS MASSY WERE THE GREATEST LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY LEITRIM, WITH 24,571 ACRES

The first of this noble family that settled in Ireland was GENERAL HUGH MASSY, who had a military command to repress the rebellion of 1641. General Massy was descended from Hamon de Massey, one of the companions in arms of WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, who obtained large grants in the counties of Durham and Cheshire, and was created Baron of Dunham Massy.

General Massy wedded Margaret Percy, and had a son,

HUGH MASSY, of Duntrileague, who espoused Amy, daughter of John Benson, and had issue,

HUGH, his heir;
John, of Knockaneevan, County Limerick;
William, of Stoneville, County Limerick;
Charles (Very Rev), Dean of Limerick, ancestor of the Massy Baronets;
Margaret, m William Baker.

The eldest son,

COLONEL HUGH MASSY (1685-1757), of Duntrileague, married Elizabeth, daughter of the Rt Hon George Evans, and had issue,

HUGH, his successor;
George (Ven), Archdeacon of Ardfert;
John, killed in a duel;
Godfrey, in holy orders;
William; 
EYRE, 1st LORD CLARINA;
Charles;
Amy; Elizabeth; Catharine.

Colonel Massy was succeeded by his eldest son,

HUGH MASSY (1700-88), of Duntrileague, who, having represented County Limerick in several parliaments, was raised to the peerage, 1776, in the dignity of BARON MASSY, of Duntrileague, County Limerick.

His lordship espoused firstly, Mary, daughter and heir of James Dawson, of Ballinacourty, County Tipperary, and had issue,

HUGH, his successor;
James;
John;
Elizabeth.

He married secondly, Rebecca, daughter of Francis Dunlap, of Antigua, and had further issue,

Francis Hugh;
Eyre;
George;
Margaret; Rebecca Frances; Caroline; Amy.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

HUGH, 2nd Baron (1733-90), who wedded, in 1760, Catherine, eldest daughter and co-heir (with her sister Sarah, Countess of Carrick) of Edward Taylor, of Ballymore, County Limerick, and had issue,

HUGH, his successor;
Edward;
George Eyre;
John;
Catherine; Mary Anne; Jane; Sarah.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

HUGH, 3rd Baron (1761-1812), who married, in 1792, Margaret, youngest daughter of William Barton, of Grove, County Tipperary, and had issue,

HUGH HAMON, his successor;
George William;
John;
Dawson, in holy orders;
Grace Elizabeth; Catherine; Susan Maria; Margaret Everina; Elizabeth Jane Sarah Anne.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

HUGH HAMON, 4th Baron (1793-1836), who wedded, in 1826, Matilda, daughter of LUKE WHITE, of Luttrellstown Castle, County Dublin, and had issue,

HUGH HAMON INGOLDSBY, his successor;
John George Hugh.

The 5th Baron died young, and the 6th Baron, a young man of 19, inherited up to 38,000 acres.

He was said to have an affluent lifestyle with little regard to pecuniary matters.

Grand parties took place at Killakee, and numerous hunting expeditions both there and in Limerick. 

His great-grandson, the 6th Baron, sat in the House of Lords from 1876 to 1915.

As of 2010, the title is held by the latter's great-great-grandson, the 10th Baron, who succeeded his father in 1995.
 

THE HERMITAGE, Castleconnell, County Limerick, was an imposing Georgian house built about 1800 for George Evans Bruce, a disgraced banker.

It was situated in a spectacular location overlooking the Falls of Doonass on the River Shannon.

The Hermitage had a five bay entrance front with a pediment supported by paired huge Corinthian pilasters which framed the centre bay.

The Hermitage (Image: Dr Paul O'Brien)

There was a balustraded roof parapet.

The garden front consisted of five bays, the end bays having quoins. 

There was a modest, though richly decorated hall with statue niches.

The Hermitage is now demolished.

Seemingly only the foundations now remain of the once beautiful house; broken steps, old kitchen garden walls and the dilapidated fountain all indicating that this was once a very wealthy estate.

During the 18th century, Duntrileague was the seat of the Massys, but in the 19th century their main residence was The Hermitage, close to Limerick city.

In the 1870s Lord Massy owned 8,568 acres in County Limerick and 1,120 acres in County Tipperary; however, his largest estate was in County Leitrim, amounting to over 24,000 acres in 1878.

The Massy family had property in north County Leitrim following the bequest of the White estate at Lareen to John, 6th Lord Massy.

In the 1830s, the Massy estate also comprised property in the parish of Killora, County Galway, where the agent was George Falkner.

This property seems to have been leased by Richard Rathbourne, of Ballymore.

It was offered for sale in the Encumbered Estates court in 1852.

Most of the Massy lands were sold in the last two decades of the 19th century; followed by the family residences in the early years of the 20th century.

There is a good article about the Massy family here.

First published in May, 2011.  Massy arms courtesy of European Heraldry.
^[update

Franklin Maxims: IV

THE ROTTEN APPLE SPOILS HIS COMPANION.

First published in April, 2020.

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.