Franklin Maxims: II

• HE THAT WOULD LIVE IN PEACE AND AT EASE, MUST NOT SPEAK ALL HE KNOWS, NOR JUDGE ALL HE SEES.

First published in April, 2020.

Cairndhu House

CAIRNDHU HOUSE, near Larne, County Antrim, was built for Mr Stewart Clark at some stage after 1878.

Mr Clark was a wealthy Scottish textile industrialist. He married Annie (daughter of John Smiley and sister of SIR HUGH HOUSTON SMILEY Bt). Their daughter Edith married Sir Thomas Dixon in 1906. 

Cairndhu comprises two storeys and many gables; though it's style is vaguely Oriental, given that it boasts ornate, openwork bargeboards and an elaborate wooden veranda and balcony running for most of the frontage.

The house was later extended, in 1897-8, to the designs of Samuel P Close.

A collection of small buildings were on the site, presumably a farm, which in 1857 was called Seaview, the property of Robert Agnew.

Mr Clark bought Seaview in 1878, and would appear to have rebuilt it rather than remodelled or extended it, as there is now no trace of any earlier buildings.

The architect of the initial phase of Clark's building may have been Mr Close.

Cairndhu was extended by Mr Clark at various times, the last time reportedly being in 1906.

Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon purchased Cairndhu in 1918.

They added the servants' dining hall.

In 1947, the Dixons donated the house and 162 acres of land to the Northern Ireland Hospitals Authority. 

*****

SIR THOMAS DIXON, 2nd Baronet, married Edith, youngest daughter of Mr Stewart Clark, of Dundas Castle, South Queensferry, Scotland, and Cairndhu, in 1906, at Dalmeny Church, South Queensferry.

Edith Clark was the sister of Sir John Stewart-Clark, 1st Baronet.

After their marriage, the Dixons lived for varying periods at Graymount House, Hillsborough Castle, Drumadarragh, Luttrelstown, and Lucan, before purchasing Lady Dixon’s childhood summer residence, Cairndhu.

The estate increased in size to nearly 500 acres when the adjoining properties of Droagh (formerly Sir Edward Coey’s estate) and Carnfunnock (William Chaine’s property) were purchased.

The Dixon family held many house and garden parties and entertained public dignitaries with grouse shooting in the Antrim Hills. 

More improvements were made to the house including the servants' dining hall.

The house was beautiful and Cairndhu had a large workforce, with 20 indoors staff, kitchen staff, ladies maids and upstairs staff .

Sir Thomas occupied his time with livestock farming, including a herd of dairy cows.

The farm office, stables and cattle byres were based at Hillhead Farm, now the clubhouse of Cairndhu Golf Club. 

Mr. Frank Brownlow was responsible for looking after the extensive herds of cattle and sheep at Carnfunnock, Cairndhu and hill land at Ballyboley.

He travelled to auctions all over Ireland to purchase cattle for Sir Thomas and managed the farm at Cairndhu. 

The land at Cairndhu was used for grazing cattle, mainly Shorthorns and Galloway cattle, which were bred for beef.

Two or three mornings per week they would inspect the cattle together and if Mr Brownlow pointed out to Sir Thomas that neighbouring farms were for sale, such as Droagh Farm, Sir Thomas would buy them and knock down hedges to have his fields extended for grazing. 

Sir Thomas often had his chauffeur, Sandy Moreland, drive him round the fields in his yellow and black Rolls-Royce to see his cattle, land stewards and head gardeners.

There were twenty-two gardeners and estate workers. 

In 1937, when Carnfunnock was merged with Cairndhu, Mr Brownlow was responsible for the management of the whole estate, which consisted of 500 acres.

In September, 1939, at the outbreak of World War II, Sir Thomas, as Mayor of Larne (1939-41), handed over his Larne residence for use as a War Hospital Supply Depot and organised the YMCA canteen at the harbour. 

Lady Dixon was president of the Ulster Fund and War Hospital Supply Depot for Serving Forces (Larne Depot) with donations requested in October 1939 to purchase necessary materials.

Sir Thomas provided his land, though he and Lady Dixon were able to live independently in Cairndhu without being affected.

The Carnfunnock walled garden grew cabbage, cauliflower and other vegetables that were used in Cairndhu or taken to Lady Dixon’s friends and family. 

In 1940 Lady Dixon gave one of their three Rolls-Royces to be converted into an ambulance for first-aid parties to the Larne A.R.P. Ambulance Service.

In May, 1947, Sir Thomas celebrated his 79th birthday, and the occasion was marked by announcing a generous gift: After forty years at Cairndhu, the Dixons donated their 60-room family home, with 100 acres of the estate, to the Ministry of Health and Local Government for use as a convalescent home and hospital. 

At the time, Lady Dixon said that she was very sorry to be going away from the house that her father built: “It’s too big for us now, though. It was different in the days when we could entertain.”

Sir Thomas died on holiday at the Majestic Hotel, Harrogate, on 10th May, 1950, aged 81.

His body was brought back on the Stranraer steam-boat en route to his last residence, Wilmont House in Dunmurry.

The funeral service was held at Belfast Cathedral before burial at Dundonald Cemetery.

His younger brother Herbert, who had already been elevated to the peerage as 1st Baron Glentoran, succeeded him in the baronetcy.

At the time of Sir Thomas’s death, his effects were valued at over £389,000.

Cairndhu was officially opened as a convalescent hospital in 1950, but funding difficulties meant that, in 1986, it was closed down by the Department of Health and Social Services. 

In 1995, the Lord Rana purchased Cairndhu House and the surrounding gardens from the council.

A public consultation was held in 2018 over plans to develop the site of the derelict mansion into 'retirement village' facilities and a care home.

*****

CAIRNDHU was originally built as a summer residence in 1875 on a beautiful site overlooking the sea, which hitherto had a small amount of planting around a former smaller house called Sea View.

The trees, forming an effective shelter-belt, date from the late 19th century.

The site benefited initially from the shelter-belts of the adjoining property, Carncastle Lodge (now Carnfunnock Country Park).

These adjacent sites are now both administered by Larne Borough Council.

Gardens developed round the house with steeply terraced lawns.

The grounds rise on a steep slope from sea level, east to west.

The productive gardens were to the west side of the house at the most elevated level.

Vestiges of these remain and some dilapidated glass-houses.

There are good specimens of mature trees, shrub planting and lawns.

The northern end is now a golf course.

First published in August, 2010.

Learmount Park

In June, 2026, I paid my first visit to Learmount Park, formerly the country estate of the Beresfords, scions of the Marquesses of Waterford.

The forest park is adjacent to the tiny village of Park in County Londonderry.

There is a small car park beside the former estate schoolhouse and adjoining teacher's residence.

This schoolhouse was built by (it is presumed) Henry Barré Beresford in 1824; and once had sixty-four pupils.

It closed as a school in the 1960s.

Learmount parish church (Timothy Ferres, 2026)

THE little parish church stands close to the schoolhouse. It was erected in 1831 and cost £747 (equivalent to almost £70,000 in 2026).

Memorial to Henry Barré and Eliza Beresford (Timothy Ferres, 2026)

This neo-Gothic church is surrounded by a graveyard and is in very good condition.

Memorial to Rev William Montgomery Beresford (Timothy Ferres, 2026)

I walked the short distance through woodland and forest to the derelict Learmount Castle.

Learmount Castle (Timothy Ferres, 2026)

Sadly the house has been unoccupied since 1983, when it operated as a youth hostel.

I couldn't see the roof; the fabric of the building is not, however, beyond redemption. It could potentially be restored.

Learmount Castle (Timothy Ferres, 2026)

A large wing, which was set back, was demolished by the Northern Ireland forest service in 1970. 

The Beresford arms are still above the main entrance, which is stepped.

Visitors were greeted by a pair of gruesome bearded mask dripstones (one remains) on the hood moulding around the main door.

Remaining sculpted mask (Timothy Ferres, 2026)

At the top of the stepped parapet there was a sculpted buck’s head (de la Poer crest); two dragons’ heads (Beresford crest) adorned the lower sections of the stepped parapet.

The Buck looked straight ahead; whereas the dragons looked to the left and right.

Were Learmount Castle (likely named "castle" after an earlier dwelling) ever to be restored, these sculpted heads could be replicated with advice from Lord Waterford or other members of the family.

Pond in the walled garden (Timothy Ferres, 2026)

The erstwhile coach-house behind the house is in good condition and is used as accommodation; while the former walled garden of about 1⅓ acres has been grassed over and contains a circular pond. 

Quintin Castle

QUINTIN CASTLE is located on the Ards Peninsula, about 2½ miles east of Portaferry,  County Down.

It is one of the very few inhabited Anglo-Norman castles in Ulster.

The original castle was built by John de Courcy in 1184.

In the later middle ages the castle was held by the Smiths, a dependent family of the Savages.

In the mid-1600s, Sir James Montgomery, a relation of the Savages, purchased the castle and the surrounding lands from Dualtagh Smith.

Sir James and his son William renovated the castle, adding a large house to it as well as a walled courtyard.

At some period after an interlude in the 1650s, when a Cromwellian officer held Quintin, the Montgomerys sold the castle to George Ross, a member of an influential local family who held lands at Kearney.

Ross never lived at the castle, which remained in its mid-17th century form until the 1850s, when one of his descendants, Elizabeth Calvert, set about remodelling it.

Entrance Front of Quintin Castle. Image: Robert John Welch (1859-1936)

Quintin Castle was, by that time, a ruinous structure, much of whose stone, according to the OS Memoirs, had been taken by local people.

This remodelling included the raising in height of the central keep, the construction of drawing and dining rooms and the general decoration to the entire building, as well as rebuilding the courtyard walls, gates and outer towers.

In 1897, the estate was sold by the Land Commission.

The house, however, remained with the descendants of the Calverts, one of whom, Magdalen King-Hall, became a writer whose many works included The Wicked Lady, a story of highwaymen and women, which later became a successful film.

The King-Halls sold the castle in the 1920s and Quintin passed though a series of owners, one of whom, James O'Hara, ran the building as a nursing home during the 1980s.

It may have been at this stage that that the secondary entrance in the front facade was added, perhaps to provide easier access for some of the elderly residents.

The central keep was raised; a walkway constructed within the battlements; a drawing-room which opened into the inner gardens; and a dining-room constructed on the lowest floor of the great tower. 

Most of the grounds were also enclosed by a massive stone wall.

In the 1870s the estate comprised 1,007 acres.

*****

Quintin Castle was extensively refurbished by the builders McGimpsey and Kane, changing hands most recently in 2006.

It underwent a further restoration ca 2006, when it was bought by the property developer, Paul Neill.

In 2011, one bank moved against him taking control of two of his retail parks in Bangor over a £37m debt. 

Mr Neill was subsequently declared bankrupt.

Consequently, the Irish government's National Asset Management Agency (Nama) repossessed the castle in 2012.

In June, 2013, Quintin Castle was sold (asking £1.65m with 22 acres) to the Tayto Group (owned by the Hutchinson family's Manderley Food Group).

In July, 2016, the new owners applied for planning permission to convert the castle into an eight-bedroom "boutique hotel," with permission to utilize the courtyard for functions such as weddings.

*****

The original demesne is now split up, but the house retains stone-walled terrace gardens, which were depicted as being fully planted up.

The walled garden is in separate ownership.

There is medieval-style gateway leading into the grounds of ca 1855, and a tall octagonal rubble-constructed folly tower within the grounds.

First published in January, 2011.

Kilmood Vicarage

The Vicarage (Image: Rev Dr Stanley Gamble, Vicar of Kilmood)

The Rev Dr Stanley Gamble has sent me a photograph of the vicarage, parish of Kilmood, County Down.

This handsome glebe house was built in 1825, partly by a gift of £415 [about £40,000 in 2020] from the patrons, Lord Downshire and Mr Gordon, and a loan of £129 from the Board of First Fruits.

The Gordon Family, in consideration of getting the alternate presentation, gave 10 acres of land as a glebe, and endowed the vicarage with a rent charge of £40 payable out of their estate of Florida.

The Vicarage, Kilmood, 2021 (Image: Anon)

This is a lofty dwelling, with two storeys over a basement; its main entrance at a protruding porch on a side gable.

Georgian sash windows enhance its appearance.

The other side of the house has a single-storey extension, thought to have been used as storage.

The Rev Thomas Tenison was possibly the first incumbent to reside in the vicarage; followed by the Rev Frederick Flood.

Side Porch at the Vicarage, 2021 (Image: Anon)

It is thought that the property continued to serve as the vicarage until ca 1923, when the parish of Kilmood (and Tullynakill) united with that of Killinchy.

The old vicarage is located at Ballybunden Road, about a mile outside Kilmood.

First published in April, 2021.

Back Fire!

Back Fire: A Passion For Cars And Motoring (2001) is one of my favourite motoring books.

It's a collection of the Hon Alan Clark's columns for the magazine Classic Cars and other journals along with a few extracts from his celebrated diaries.

I had a sneaking admiration for Alan Clark, despite his reputation.

He eventually became Right Honourable, as a Privy Counsellor.

His father, the Lord Clark, was the famous art historian and broadcaster.

I have the collection of Alan Clark's Diaries and Back Fire.

If Mr Toad hadn't pre-dated Alan Clark by some 21 years ~  The Wind in the Willows was published in 1908 and Clark born in 1929 ~ one could make a good case for Clark's having been the model for Kenneth Grahame's daredevil, outrageous, but loveable, rogue.

Conservative MP, historian, man about town, notorious womaniser ~ and at the same time fiercely loyal husband and father ~ he died in 1999.

He bought his first car, a six-and-a-half litre vintage Bentley, while he was still at Eton and only 17 - it was typical of the stylish flamboyance which became his trademark.

Many a Jaguar, Rolls Royce, Porsche, Buick and Chevrolet followed. So did old Citroens, a VW Beetle and latterly a beloved and "totally reliable" Discovery.

He was a collector par excellence, who was addicted to the buying and selling of cars all his adult life.

Every garage and enclosed space at Saltwood Castle, the family home in Kent, remains full of Clark's cars.

Clark's son James writes in Back Fire that "Outside the family, I truly believe, cars were my father's greatest love".

But he didn't approve of over-enthusiastic restoration.

When he drove his 1920 Silver Ghost, of which there is a photograph in Back Fire on the 1993 Rolls Royce Enthusiasts' Alpine Commemorative Run, a fellow competitor remarked, to Clark's amusement, that

if he can't afford to maintain his car properly he shouldn't be allowed on the event.

Whatever else Clark was or wasn't, he was never dull and he was certainly a writer,

What do we want a classic car for? Showing off, of course. Nothing wrong with that; they are more idiosyncratic than beach jewellery.

First published in March, 2014. 

General Gage

The family of GAGE, which is of Norman extraction, derives its descent from De Gaga, Guage, or Gage, who accompanied WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR into England, and was rewarded with large grants of land in the Forest of Dean and Gloucestershire; adjacent to which forest he fixed his abode, and erected a seat at Clearwell. He also built a large mansion house in the town of Cirencester, where he died, and was buried in the abbey there.

The ancestor of the present Lord Gage,

JOHN GAGE, whose name is found in deeds during the time of HENRY IV, and who was lineally descended from the Norman, left a son,

JOHN GAGE, who married Joan, daughter and co-heir of John Sudgrove, of Sudgrove, Gloucestershire.

The son and successor of this John,

SIR JOHN GAGE (c1420-86), Knight, made great additions to his estate by purchases, and, further, by marrying Eleanor, daughter and heir of Thomas St Clere, lord of the manor of Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, and had issue,

WILLIAM;
John, ancestor of GAGE OF RATHLIN ISLAND;

The elder son,

WILLIAM GAGE (c1456-96), who resided at Burstow, in Surrey, wedded Agnes, daughter of Benjamin Bolney, and was succeeded by his son,

THE RT HON SIR JOHN GAGE KG (1479-1556), a distinguished soldier and statesman in the reigns of HENRY VIII, EDWARD VI, and QUEEN MARY, whose services are thus detailed in an ancient manuscript written by his third son, Robert Gage.

This eminent person espoused Philippa, daughter of Sir Richard Guildford KG, and had issue,

EDWARD, his heir;
John;
Robert;
William;
Alice; Anne; Elizabeth Cicily.

Sir John was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR EDWARD GAGE KB, of Firle, Sussex, who married Elizabeth, daughter of John Parker, and had issue,

JOHN, his heir;
Edward;
Thomas;
Agnes; Philippa; Mary; Margery; Lucy; Margaret.

Sir Edward died in 1568, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN GAGE, at whose decease, in 1595, without issue, the estates, including no less than fifteen manors, devolved upon his nephew,

JOHN GAGE, who was created a baronet in 1622, designated of Firle, Sussex.

Sir John wedded Penelope, daughter of Thomas Darcy, 1st Earl Rivers, and had issue,

THOMAS, his successor;
John;
Edward;
Henry;
Frances; Penelope; Elizabeth; Anne.

Sir John died in 1633, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR THOMAS GAGE, 2nd Baronet, who wedded, in 1635, Mary, eldest daughter and co-heir of John Chamberlain, of Sherburn, Oxfordshire, and had issue,

THOMAS, his successor;
JOHN, 4th Baronet;
Henry, dsp;
Joseph, of Sherburn;
Catherine; Mary; Frances.

Sir Thomas died in 1654, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR THOMAS GAGE, 3rd Baronet, who died unmarried in 1660, and was succeeded by his brother,

SIR JOHN GAGE, 4th Baronet (c1642-99), who espoused firstly, Mary, daughter of Robert Middlemore, of Edgebaston, Warwickshire, and had issue,

Bridget; Mary.

He married secondly, Mary, daughter of Sir William Stanley Bt, and had further issue,

JOHN, 5th Baronet;
THOMAS, 6th Baronet;
WILLIAM, 7th Baronet;
Mary.

Sir John was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR JOHN GAGE, 5th Baronet (c1691-1700), who was succeeded by his brother,

SIR THOMAS GAGE, 6th Baronet (c1694-1713), who died on his travels, and was succeeded by his only surviving brother,

SIR WILLIAM GAGE, 7th Baronet (1695-1744), KB, who, conforming to the Church of England, was elected to the last Parliament of GEORGE I, as MP for Seaford, 1727-44.

Sir William died unmarried, in 1744, and his sisters, Lady Shelley and the Viscountess Fauconberg, became his co-heirs, while the title reverted to his kinsman,

THOMAS GAGE, as 8th Baronet (c1702-54); who was created, in 1720, Baron Gage, of Castlebar, County Mayo, and VISCOUNT GAGE, of Castle Island, County Kerry.

His lordship married firstly, in 1717, Benedicta Maria, Theresa, only daughter and heir of Benedict Hall, of High Meadow, Gloucestershire, and had issue,

William Hall, his successor;
THOMAS, of whom we treat;
Theresa.

He wedded secondly, in 1750, Jane, widow of Henry Jermyn Bond, by whom he had no child.

His lordship's younger son,

THE HON THOMAS GAGE (c1718-87), the celebrated General Gage, Commander-in-Chief, North America, 1763-75, Governor of Massachusetts Bay, 1774-5, wedded, in 1758, Margaret, daughter of Peter Kemble, President of the New Jersey Provincial Council, and had issue,

HENRY, his successor;
John;
William Hall (Admiral Sir, GCB);
Maria; Charlotte; Harriet; Louisa; Emily.

General Gage was succeeded by his eldest son,

MAJOR-GENERAL HENRY GAGE (1761-1808), who succeeded to the viscountcy of Gage following the decease of his uncle, the 2nd Viscount.

• Henry Hall, 4th Viscount  (1791–1877);
• Henry Charles Gage, 5th Viscount (1854–1912);
• Henry Rainald Gage, 6th Viscount (1895–1982);
• George John St Clere Gage, 7th Viscount (1932–1993);
• (Henry) Nicolas Gage, 8th Viscount (born 1934).

The heir apparent is the present holder's son, the Hon Henry William Gage (b 1975).

Gage arms courtesy of European Heraldry.