Shaftesbury Square

Shaftesbury Square ca 1900

Shaftesbury Square, Belfast, was first recorded in 1887.

It runs from Fulton Street to Dublin Road.

The square was named after the Earl of Shaftesbury.

There was a drinking fountain at the centre of the Square, designed by W J Barre.

Number 1-11 was a three-storey terrace with dormers, known as Shaftesbury Buildings.

Shaftesbury Buildings were built between 1884-87, though they suffered a devastating fire in 1968.

This curved terrace was replaced about 1973 by Carlton House, an office block which housed social security offices and a post office on the ground floor.

Number 12-13, at the corner of Botanic Avenue and Bradbury Place, used to be Oxford Buildings.

A new three-storey, neo-Georgian block was built ca 1961, which opened as the Northern Bank.

14-15, Shaftesbury Square, is located at the beginning of Donegall Road.

This building is now called Shaftesbury House, built about 1845, though re-faced in 1935.

It is of three storeys and has elevations at  1-7 Donegall Road.

The black marble cladding masks the original houses which remain behind it.

In 1974, Number 14 was B S Loughheed, menswear and dress hire.

Number 16-24 is a three-storey Georgian terrace of 1822-35, though the façade now protrudes with shop-fronts.

In 1900, this terrace had small gardens with railings fronting on to the Square.

The original terrace is now barely recognizable, though a few traces remain.

In 1974, occupants included a hairdresser, a bar, a laundry, an off-licence, and a ladies fashion retailer.

We now have a bookmaker's, a restaurant, a football supporters' club; Paul Rankin's Roscoff restaurant was at the end of the terrace.

Lesley House, built in 1986, is located at 25-31 Shaftesbury Square.

This used to be a continuation of numbers 16-24 and in the 20th century was occupied by various businesses, including the Belfast School of Motoring, Christie's Wallpapers, Kayley's carpets, a chiropodist, and another hairdresser.

Number 32-34, built in 1863, was a pair of three-storey stucco houses with tulip-pot chimneys.

Number 34, swept away in 1993, was a manse, presumably for the minister of Great Victoria Street Presbyterian Church.

Shaftesbury Square also had underground municipal toilets, built ca 1935.

I gather that these former conveniences were closed many years ago and could have potential use as a bar or restaurant.

The Ulster Bank premises, technically at 136-142 Great Victoria Street, were built in 1960.

This used to be the Magdalene School House, built in 1853 by Sir Charles Lanyon.

It was formerly a Sunday school and church hall for St Mary Magdelene parish church in Donegall Pass, prior to demolition in 1930.

Magdalene School House (1853-1930)

The old schoolhouse had a square pinnacled tower, a gable looking on to the Square, and a taller tower behind it.

In 1888, it was decided not to carry on with the day school because of the danger to children owing to heavy traffic in the growing area.

The schoolhouse became used solely as a parochial hall.

During 1916-17, it was decided to sell the old schoolhouse and parochial hall.

It was considered unsuitable because of the distance from the church and the increasing volume of traffic.

It was finally sold at the end of 1919 for £5,000 (about £220,000 today), demolished, and replaced by a block of shops.

First published in February, 2014.  See Central Belfast: A Historical Gazetteer, by M Patton OBE, p298.

The Close Baronetcy

RICHARD CLOSE, the first of the family who settled in Ulster, was the younger son of a respectable house in Yorkshire, and held a commission in the Army, sent from England, in the reign of CHARLES I, 1640. Mr Close acquired property in County Monaghan, but after the Restoration fixed himself at Lisnagarvey (Lisburn), County Antrim.

There he lived and died, leaving a son and heir,

RICHARD CLOSE, who inherited the County Monaghan estates, and married Mary, sister of SAMUEL WARING, of Waringstown, MP for Hillsborough.

Mr Close received a grant of lands from Mr Waring, contiguous to Waringstown, on which he built a good house and resided.

Richard Close considerably enlarged the family estate by purchasing a tract of land on the River Bann, between Rathfriland and Castlewellan, County Down, and after the disturbances in 1688, which obliged him to leave his home and join the Protestants, then united at Lisburn, under Lord Conway and Sir Arthur Rawdon, he returned (subsequently to the battle of the Boyne) having suffered great losses during the harassing conflicts of the times. 

He left at his decease five sons and three daughters.

The eldest son,

Richard Close, wedded, in 1708, Rose, daughter of Roger Hall, of NARROW WATER CASTLE, County Down, and had issue, now extinct.

The second son,

THE REV SAMUEL CLOSE, who was presented to the rectory of Stewartstown, County Tyrone, 1721, married Catherine, daughter of Captain James Butler, of Bramblestown, County Kilkenny, by Margaret, Lady Maxwell, widow of Sir Robert Maxwell Bt, and daughter and heiress of Henry Maxwell, of Elm Park, and had, with four daughters, a son and successor,

MAXWELL CLOSE, High Sheriff of County Armagh, 1780, who succeeded his grandmother, Lady Maxwell (who died in 1758), in the possession of Elm Park, County Armagh, and the lands settled upon him.

He married, in 1748, Mary, eldest daughter of  Captain Robert Maxwell, of FELLOWS HALL, County Armagh, brother of John, Lord Farnham, and had issue,

SAMUEL, his heir;
Robert, died unmarried;
BARRY, of whom we treat;
Farnham;
Grace; Catherine; Margaret; Mary; Elizabeth.

The third son,

SIR BARRY CLOSE (1756-1813), born at Elm Park, a very distinguished military officer in the East India Company, attained the rank of major-general.

Sir Barry Close, 1st Baronet (Image: Manchester City Gallery)

General Close was created a baronet in December, 1812, designated of Mysore.

Memorial to Sir Barry Close Bt in St Mary's Church, Madras

Sir Barry died, unmarried, four months afterwards, when the title expired.

First published in January, 2014.  Close arms courtesy of the NLI.

The Carlton, Part II

Richard Graham has sent me further details about Belfast's Carlton Grill and Lounge Bar

"Although The Carlton ceased trading on Wellington Place in the mid 1990s, the name and the business was transferred (for the second time) to first floor premises in the Scottish Provident Building on Donegall Square West."

Moore House, beside the Carlton, Donegall Place,
demolished ca 1935 (Image: the Hogg Collection/NMNI)

"The directors (the Andrews family of the Percy Street Flour Mill ... and of course Titanic designer fame) then decided to change the name of the business to 'Truffles' (under the management of Rita Murphy) but despite having a good reputation for food and drink, it suffered from not having a ground floor presence (it was reached by a narrow staircase) and the footfall required to cover the costs of running a city centre restaurant never materialised."

"The building was then taken over as a new hospitality venue named 'The Apartment' under the directorship of Michael Stewart, formerly of Bob Cratchit's at the Russell Court and The Fly on Lower Crescent."

"As with all the former premises, Michael Stewart soon created in The Apartment one of the coolest venues in the city centre."

"Ownership of The Apartment changed hands and as with most city centre venues it was given several makeovers evolving into 'Hellcat Maggie's', a modern day gastro pub, which is about as far away as you can get from the original ethos of The Carlton in its heyday!"

"On a sidenote, the Andrews family also owned the Ormo Coffee Shops in Donegall Place - one of which was in the department Store of Anderson & McAuley."

"Henry (Harry) Toner, another director of The Carlton on Wellington Place, was also the proprietor of the Windsor Hotel, Knocknagoney, a popular East Belfast wedding venue which competed with the Glenmachan Tower Hotel nearby."

'The Windsor Hotel was originally Knocknagoney House, home of the McCance family of Suffolk, one of the leading linen families in Ulster."

"The building is now owned by the PSNI [Police Service of Northern Ireland], who use it for forensic science purposes."

"The PSNI also own the nearby estate of Garnerville - residence of the Garner family until the mid 20th century ... but I digress!"

"Suffice to say the Carlton name did live on after Wellington Place ... but not for long, as it was felt the name did not reflect modern changes in hospitality at that time."

"Sadly, by then the 'boozy' G&T lunches frequented by the businessmen of the city and which went on until late in the afternoon /early evening had become distinctly unfashionable, and were consigned to the history books in favour of lighter lunches with no brandy or cigars, and where returning to the office after lunch was mandatory!'

Beardiville House

THE LECKYS OWNED 1,492 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ANTRIM

This family is of Scottish extraction, and settled, it is stated, in County Londonderry, in the 17th century.

ALEXANDER LECKIE OF THAT ILK (1599-1643), a laird from Stirlingshire, owing to various troubles of that period, had to take refuge in Ulster where he spent the years 1633-40.

He wedded Grizel, daughter of Sir John Murray of Polmais; and dying in 1643, he was succeeded by his younger son, 

CAPTAIN ALEXANDER LECKY (c1631-c1717), who, like his father, removed to Ulster and settled at Derry.

He was High Sheriff of Londonderry, 1677, and Mayor, 1691 and 1695.

Captain Lecky took a considerable part in the siege of Derry, being captain of one of the six companies raised for the protection of the city; but on his refusal to accept the Test Act of 1704, he had to relinquish his office of alderman of the city and all his other offices.

His younger son, 

HENRY LECKY (1689-1761), of Agivey, County Londonderry, married, in 1715, Mary, daughter of Randal McColIum, of Lemnalary, Glenarm, County Antrim, and had a son,

HUGH LECKY, of Agivey, who married, in 1765, Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev John Gage, of Rathlin, County Antrim, and had issue,

JOHN GAGE, his heir;
Hugh, father of HUGH;
Mary; Anne.

Mr Lecky died in 1796, and was succeeded by his elder son,

JOHN GAGE LECKY (1773-1819), of Agivey and Bushmills, who wedded, in 1818, Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev Oliver McCausland; though died without issue, when he was succeeded by his nephew,

HUGH LECKY (1804-81), of Beardiville, County Antrim, High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1835, who espoused, in 1837, Matilda, daughter of George Hutchinson, of Ballymoney, County Antrim, and had issue,

HUGH, his heir;
George;
John Gage;
Harry;
Elizabeth.

Mr Lecky was succeeded by his eldest son, 

HUGH LECKY JP (1845-1918), of Beardiville, who married, in 1876, Rebecca Mary, daughter of Robert Crookshank, of Glenmanus House, Portrush, and had issue,

HUGH, his heir;
Robert;
Randall and
James, twins;
Olivia.

Mr Lecky was succeeded by his eldest son,

CAPTAIN HUGH LECKY DL (1880-1962), High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1930, who wedded, in 1905, Annie Margaret, daughter of Anthony Traill, though the marriage was without issue.

BEARDIVILLE HOUSE is situated at Cloyfin, between Coleraine and Bushmills, County Antrim.

This is a mid-18th century house originally inhabited by the Macnaghtens of Dundarave.

It comprises two storeys over a basement, with five bays.

The central bay breaks forward.

There is a porch with Tuscan-style columns, which were added afterwards.

The drawing-room was in the single-storey 19th century wing.

There is a simple pedimented archway at the demesne's entrance, flanked by single-storey lodges. Diocletian windows are partly blocked up.

The demesne was established in the 17th century and the present house dates from around 1710-12.

The property had been leased by Francis Macnaghten from the Earl of Antrim in 1709 and the house, with its steep, hipped roof (which once had dormers), has an armorial plaque over the main door bearing the date 1715.

An earlier survey by Thomas Roe of the demesne in 1712 shows ‘house, orchard, garding, stead and meadow or moss’.

There is part of a shelter belt of trees on the west side, which is most necessary in this area of the county, but a continuation along the road to the south has gone.

Two clumps of trees in parkland to the south of the house, and other trees near the house, remain from late 18th or early 19th century planting.

There is a walled garden, set out as an ornamental garden for a dwelling that is occupied.

The building may have originally been an apple store.

The area south of the walled garden was formally an orchard.

There is a pond fed from a spring, mature shrubs, herbaceous border, lawns, a tennis court and wall plants in the walled garden.

It appears that improvements in landscaping took place in the early 19th century, as a winding avenue through parkland was emphasised through the addition of a new gate lodge on the south side.

This is maintained as a folly.

It was built ca 1810 in basalt rubble, with two rooms and a joining arch, possibly by Richard Elsam.

Another matching pair of lodges, ca 1790 at the north entrance, probably flanked the original entrance and are now derelict.

The property passed hands in 1845 to Hugh Lecky, whose son, also Hugh, went to live in the Apple House in the walled garden just before the start of the 2nd World War.

Beardiville House remained empty until sold in 1965.

It has subsequently been restored.
 
First published in August, 2011.  Lecky arms courtesy of the NLI.

Convamore House

THE EARLS OF LISTOWEL WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY KERRY, WITH 30,000 ACRES.

This ancient family claims descent from the house of HARCOURT, in Lorraine, who were Counts in Normandy. In 1461,

JOHN HARE, son of Thomas Hare, by Joyce, his wife, daughter of John Hyde, of Norbury, resided at Homersfield, in Suffolk and was father of

NICHOLAS HARE, father of

JOHN HARE, who, by Elizabeth Fortescue, his wife, had two sons, viz.

NICHOLAS;
JOHN. 

The younger son,

JOHN HARE, having eventually inherited the estates of his brother, Sir Nicholas, became of Stow Bardolph.

He had a numerous family, seven sons and three daughters. Of the former,

RICHARD, the eldest, was ancestor of the HARES of Stow Bardolph, raised to the degree of Baronet in 1641; and

JOHN HARE, the youngest, a bencher of the Middle Temple, wedded Margaret, daughter of John Crouch, of Cornbury, Hertfordshire, and had a son,

HUGH HARE, a faithful adherent of CHARLES I, by whom he was created, in 1625, BARON COLERAINE,  of County Londonderry.

His lordship married and was father of

HENRY, descended the Barons Coleraine; and from a younger son, HUGH, sprang the HARES of Listowel, the representative of which branch, 

RICHARD HARE, of Ennismore (third son of John Hare, of Cork, a native of Norfolk), the immediate founder of this family, married Catherine Maylor, and had issue,

WILLIAM, his successor;
John, died unmarried, 1774;
Mary; Margaret Anne.

The elder son and successor,

WILLIAM HARE (1751-1837), represented Cork and Athy in the Irish parliament from 1796 until the final dissolution of that assembly.

Mr Hare was elevated to the peerage, in 1800, in the dignity of Baron Ennismore; and advanced to a viscounty, in 1816, as Viscount Ennismore and Listowel.

His lordship was further advanced to the dignity of an earldom, in 1822, as EARL OF LISTOWEL.

He married firstly, in 1772, Mary, only daughter of Henry Wrixon, of Ballygiblin, County Cork, and aunt of Sir William Wrixon-Becher Bt, and had issue,

RICHARD, father of WILLIAM, 2ND EARL;
William Henry;
Margaret Anne; Mary; Louisa; Catharine.

He espoused secondly, in 1812, Anne, second daughter of John Latham, of Meldrum, County Tipperary.

His lordship was succeeded by his grandson,

WILLIAM (1801-56), 2nd Earl.

• William Hare, 2nd Earl (1801–56);
• William Hare, 3rd Earl (1833–1924);
• Richard Granville Hare, 4th Earl (1866–1931);
• William Francis Hare, 5th Earl (1906–97);
• Francis Michael Hare, 6th Earl (b 1964).

The heir presumptive is the present holder's brother, the Hon Timothy Patrick Hare (b 1966).

*****

THE PRINCIPAL family seat was Convamore, County Cork, though they were also seated at Ennismore Park, County Kerry, which was sold by the Bailey family to the Hares in the late 18th century.

William, 1st Earl of Listowel, built a new house beside the River Blackwater in the early 19th century.

He was residing at Convamore in 1814.

It remained the family seat in 1894.

The house was burned in 1921 and is now a ruin.

The family's town residence was Kingston House, Knightsbridge, London. The 3rd Earl, the then owner of the Kingston House estate, was admitted as copyholder and secured the ground's enfranchisement from manorial control.

In 1855, the substantial portion of the estate built up with houses and stables in the 1840s and early 1950s was sold by the 2nd Earl, but the greater part, including Kingston House itself, remained in the possession of the Hare family until shortly before the Second World War.

With the death of the 4th Earl in 1931, the estate passed not to his eldest son, the socialist 5th Earl, but on trust to a younger son, the Hon John Hare, later 1st Viscount Blakenham. 


The 3rd Earl died at Kingston House in 1924, and the last occupant was his widow, who in turn died there in 1936. In March, 1937, the contents were sold and that autumn the house itself was demolished for the building of flats.

CONVAMORE HOUSE was a large and plain two-storey early 19th century mansion, situated above a fine stretch of the River Blackwater in County Cork.

The entrance front had a single storey Doric portico; while the block with the main rooms was faced with Victorian stucco and plate-glass windows.

The walls of the old Roche castle are said to be stained with tar from a beacon that was lit when EDWARD VII paid a visit as Prince of Wales.

The castle belonged lately to a Major Hirtch, whose father built a gabled fishing lodge beside it.

These decorative cast-iron entrance gates and finely carved piers of solid limestone blocks exhibit high levels of craftsmanship.

The gateway to Convamore House was erected for a visit by the Prince of Wales in 1886.

Listowel arms courtesy of European Heraldry.   First published in February, 2012.

County of Tyrone

Tyrone is an inland county, bounded in the north and north-east by County Londonderry; on the east, by Lough Neagh; on the south-east by County Armagh; on the south by County Fermanagh, and County Monaghan; on the south-west by County Fermanagh; and on the west and north-west, by County Donegal.

The boundary line, over about eleven miles in the central part of the north, is formed by the watershed of the Sperrin Mountains; over six miles in the eastern part of the north to Lough Neagh by the river Ballinderry; over the whole of the line of contact with County Armagh, by the River Blackwater.

Over about seven miles of the line of contact with County Monaghan, by the River Blackwater; and over ten miles of contact with the counties of Monaghan and Fermanagh, by the watershed of the Slieve Beagh mountains; over a large aggregate distance, but with many intervals or interruptions, of the line of contact with counties Fermanagh and Donegal, by mountain brooks, and especially by lofty watersheds; and over about ten miles of the terminating contact with County Donegal, down to the junction point with County Londonderry by the rivers Finn and Foyle.

The outline of the county, in a loose or general sense, exhibits a broad parallelogram, extending in the direction of south-east by east.

The greatest length of the county, in the direction of south-east by east, and along the southern border, from the summit of the Croagh mountains, a few miles east of the Barnesmore Gap to the River Blackwater at the village of Caledon, is 38 miles. 

Its greatest breadth, in the opposite direction, and along the western border, over Strabane and Lough Derg, is 30 miles; whereas its least breadth, across the eastern district, and almost over the village of Donaghmore, is 16 miles.

The area of the county comprises about 807,000 acres.

The county town is Omagh.

The highest mountain in The Sperrins is Sawel Mountain, at 2,224 feet.

First published in February, 2018.

Clarisford Palace

THE diocese of Killaloe was founded early in the 6th century.

In the 12th century it was incorporated with the ancient bishopric of Roscrea founded in 620.

In 1752, the See of Kilfenora, which had been established about the 12th century, was united to it; and although very small in extent and value, had continued separate until the Restoration, when it was first annexed to the archbishopric of Tuam.

That union continued 81 years, till 1741, when Ardagh being annexed to Tuam, this bishopric was given in commendam to the Lord Bishop of Clonfert.

THE diocese of Killaloe stretches about 100 miles in length, through the counties of Clare and Tipperary, into the King's County, and includes also a small part of the Queen's County, Galway, and Limerick.

It varies in breadth from 9 to 32 miles.

Kilfenora is confined to the baronies of Burren and Corcomroe, and extends only 23 miles by 11.

THE PALACE, Killaloe, County Clare, is a late 18th century block comprising three storeys over a basement.

The demesne is beside the River Shannon outside the town.

It was built between 1774-78 by the Right Rev Robert Fowler, Lord Bishop of Killaloe and Kilfenora, 1771-79.

The palace has a five-bay front and a triple window above the porch; a Doric doorcase with pedimented porch on two columns.

There are steps with iron railings leading up to the hall door.

The side elevation comprises three bays.

The demesne includes a walled garden, outbuildings, and an entrance lodge.

It remained in use as an episcopal palace until 1977.

The last Bishop to reside at Clarisford was the Right Rev Edwin Owen, Lord Bishop of Killaloe and Clonfert, 1972-76.

Thereafter the see was united with the diocese of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe.

Clarisford Park is now privately owned.

First published in October, 2015.