King's Castle

THE RUSSELLS OWNED 417 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY DOWN

The family of RUSSELL was seated very early in Ireland, in the counties of Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, and Waterford; and also in counties Dublin, Kildare, Louth, and Meath. The Russells of Killough, County Down, said to be living at Kingston Russell in Dorset, came to Ulster with John De Courcy. It appears by the records that in all these places they held their lands by noble tenure, and occupied the highest rank in society. 

The Ulster branch of the family always bore arms similar to those of the noble house of Bedford; and although the precise connection cannot now be ascertained, there can be no doubt of their having a common origin with that family.

Thomas Russell, feudal baron of Killough, 1316, is supposed to have been fifth in descent from the companion of De Courcy.

GEORGE RUSSELL, of Ballystrew, County Down, wedded, in 1749, Elizabeth Norris, and had issue,

CHARLES RUSSELL (1759-1828), of Killough, County Down, a merchant at Quay Lane, Killough, who married firstly, in 1784, Rose McCoy, and had numerous issue, of whom

ARTHUR, his heir.

He wedded secondly, in 1799, Anne, daughter of Thomas McEvoy, of Drogheda, and had issue.

Mr Russell was succeeded by his son and heir,

ARTHUR RUSSELL (1785-1845), of Seafield House, Killowen, County Down, and of Newry, who espoused, in 1825, Margaret, widow of John Hamill, of Belfast.

His elder son,

Baron Russell of Killowen (Government Art Collection)

THE RT HON CHARLES ARTHUR, BARON RUSSELL OF KILLOWEN (1832-1900), GCMG KB PC QC DL, MP for Dundalk, 1880-85, and for Hackney, 1885-95, who married, in 1858, Ellen, daughter of Dr Joseph Stevenson Mulholland, of Belfast, and had issue,

Arthur Joseph (1859-64);
Charles (Sir), 1st Baronet, designated of Littleworth Corner;
Cyril;
Francis Xavier Joseph, cr. Baron Russell of Killowen;
Bertrand Joseph;
Lilian Frances; Eileen Mary; Mary Gertrude; Lilian; Margaret.

KING'S CASTLE, Ardglass, County Down, is an imposing, early 19th century castellated house, built on a commanding situation in the middle of Ardglass.

The house was possibly erected on the site of an earlier building, though this is today indiscernible.

King's Castle must have been abandoned shortly thereafter, because it was occupied as "a temporary barrack".

By 1845, it was "much dilapidated, and rapidly loosening towards extinction".

The house itself is square and uses black stone in its composition.

One corner has a square tower; while another is octagonal.

The Castle was for sale in 1973, with offers invited in the region of £65,000 (about £750,000 in today's money).

It was then owned by Mr and Mrs Louis Gilmore bought the Castle about 1967, and it has been their intention to convert it into a hotel.

Mr Gilmore, a retired building and civil engineering contractor, had plans drawn up and given planning approval, bit his failing health has prompted him to give up development of the property.

The castle stands in more than six acres of elevated grounds on the highest part of Ardglass and looks across the harbour and out to sea.

During the 19th century it was the home of the Russell family.

The Russells had substantial property in the Ardglass and Killough area and one of them, Charles William Russell (1812-80), became president of St Patrick's College, Maynooth; whose nephew Charles, 1st Baron Russell of Killowen, became Lord Chief Justice of England.

It is believed that the Russells sold King's Castle prior to the First World War.

Since then it has functioned as a hotel, a residence, and a monastery.

The castle contains three reception rooms, ten bedrooms and three bathrooms.

Today the castle operates as a private nursing home.

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Charles Russell (1838-91), of King’s Castle, Ardglass, married, in 1876, Frances de Palatiano.

Their third son, Henry Russell, added his maternal grandfather’s surname to become Henry Hartley Russell in the 1920s.

First published in February, 2018. Russell arms courtesy of the NLI.

The Brooke Baronets (1822)

SIR BASIL BROOKE (1567-1633) was one of the Captains of the English Army selected to take reinforcements to Ireland in 1598. He served in Munster and under Lord Docwra in the conquest of Ulster; was a servitor in the Plantation and one of the Commissioners for the settlement of the Irish Church.

He was Governor of Donegal County and therein received large grants of land, including the Borough and Castle of Donegal, both of which he rebuilt, and in the banqueting hall of the latter are still to be seen the arms of the Brookes of Leighton impaling Leycester of Toft, Cheshire.

He was knighted in 1616; died 1633, and was interred in St Werburgh's, Dublin.

Sir Basil married Anne, daughter of Laurence Leycester, of Chester, and granddaughter of Sir Ralph Leycester (c1518-72), of Toft, Cheshire, by whom he had issue,

HENRY, his heir;

Anne; Elizabeth.

His only son,

SIR HENRY BROOKE (c1613-71), Knight, of Brookeborough, County Fermanagh, Governor of Donegal, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1669, MP for Donegal, 1661-6, received, in recompense for his services during the rebellion of 1641, grants of lands in County Fermanagh.

Sir Henry married firstly, Elizabeth, daughter of Captain John Wynter; and secondly, Anne, daughter of Sir George St George Bt, of Carrickdrumrusk, County Leitrim.

For his third wife, Mr Brooke espoused Elizabeth, daughter of Henry, Lord Docwra.

He died in 1671, and was succeeded by the eldest son (by his second wife),

THOMAS BROOKE, of Donegal, Major, Williamite Regiment of Foot, MP for Antrim Borough, 1695-6, who wedded Catherine, daughter of Sir John Cole Bt, of Newlands, County Dublin, and sister of Cole, Lord Ranelagh.

Captain Brooke died in 1696, leaving a son,

HENRY BROOKE (1671-1761), of Colebrooke, MP for Dundalk, 1713-27, County Fermanagh, 1727-60, Governor of County Fermanagh, who married, in 1711, Lettice, daughter of Mr Alderman Benjamin Burton, of the city of Dublin.

Mr Brooke left at his decease, in 1761, four daughters and two sons, of whom

ARTHUR BROOKE, MP for County Fermanagh, 1761-83, Maryborough, 1783-5, was created a baronet, 1764, which honour ceased at his demise in 1785; and

FRANCIS BROOKE, who wedded, in 1765, Hannah, daughter of Henry Prittie, of Dunalley, County Tipperary, and sister of the 1st Baron Dunalley, and had issue,

Arthur (Sir), KCB, lieutenant-general;
Richard Prittie, major-general;
Francis, lieutenant-colonel;
HENRY, of whom presently;
George Frederick;
Caroline; Harriet; Elizabeth.

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

HENRY BROOKE (1770-1834), of Colebrooke, County Fermanagh, who was created a baronet in 1822, designated of Colebrooke, County Fermanagh.

Sir Henry married, in 1792, Harriet, daughter of the Hon John Butler, and granddaughter of Brinsley, 1st Viscount Lanesborough, and had issue,

Francis, fell at Waterloo;
Henry, died young;
ARTHUR BRINSLEY;
Butler (Rev);
Edward Basil, major-general;
Richard, later HOWARD-BROOKE;
Thomas;
George Augustus Frederick;
Harriett Elizabeth; Maria; Selina.

He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

SIR ARTHUR BRINSLEY BROOKE, 2nd Baronet (1797-1854), who wedded, in 1841, Julia Henrietta, daughter of Lieutenant-General Sir George Anson, and had issue,

VICTOR ALEXANDER, his successor;
Harry Vesey (Sir);
Arthur Basil;
Constance Henrietta.

Sir Arthur was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR VICTOR ALEXANDER BROOKE, 3rd Baronet (1843-91), who espoused, in 1864, Alice Sophia, daughter of Sir Alan Edward Bellingham Bt, and had issue,

ARTHUR DOUGLAS, his successor;
Ronald George;
Butler;
Victor Reginald;
Alan Francis (Field-Marshal), cr Viscount Alanbrooke;
Alice Mildred; Hylda Henrietta.

Sir Victor was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR ARTHUR DOUGLAS BROOKE, 4th Baronet (1865-1907), JP, DL, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1896, who married, in 1887, Gertrude Isabella, daughter of Stanlake Batson, and had issue,

BASIL STANLAKE, his successor;
Victor Mervyn;
Arthur Francis;
Sylvia Henrietta; Sheelah.

Sir Arthur was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR BASIL STANLAKE BROOKE, 5th Baronet (1888-1973), KG CBE MC, who was elevated to the peerage, in 1952, in the dignity of VISCOUNT BROOKEBOROUGH, of Colebrooke, County Fermanagh.

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The Brookes of Colebrooke remain one of the oldest landed families in Ulster.

The Brookeborough Papers are deposited at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

The Rt Hon Sir Basil, 5th Baronet, was the third Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

His second but eldest surviving son, John, 2nd Viscount, and 6th Baronet, was also a notable politician.

Alan, 3rd and present Viscount, and 7th Brooke Baronet, succeeded in 1987.

Lord Brookeborough, a Knight of the Garter, is Lord-Lieutenant of County Fermanagh.

First published in November, 2010.

Dunleckney Manor

THE NEWTONS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY CARLOW, WITH 5,134 ACRES

This family, originally from Lancashire or Cheshire, accompanied WILLIAM III to Ireland in 1688.

The first settler was Bartholomew Newtown, whose son,

JOHN NEWTOWN, wedded, in 1730, Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Lodge, of County Kilkenny and the city of Dublin, and founded the family residence at Bennekerry, a short distance from the town of Carlow, which, though still in the family's possession, was not then the family seat.

He died in 1748, leaving an eldest son,

BARTHOLOMEW NEWTOWN (d 1780), of Busherstown, County Carlow, who married, in 1767, Anne, daughter of Philip Bernard (by whom he acquired considerable property in the town of Carlow), and had issue (with a daughter, Catherine) two sons,

JOHN, Colonel, Carlow Militia, High Sheriff of Co Carlow, 1797; d unm;
PHILIP, of whom we treat.

The second son, 

PHILIP NEWTON (1770-1833), married, in 1785, Sarah, daughter of Beauchamp Bagenal, of Dunleckney, and had issue,

WALTER, his heir;

John;

Henry;

Philip;

Beauchamp Bartholomew. 

Sir Nicholas Bagenal came to Ulster as Marshal of ELIZABETH I's army, settled in County Carlow and founded Bagenalstown.

The family's first house at Dunleckney was built ca 1610, but a new house was built for Walter Newton, who inherited the estate from his mother, the Bagenal heiress, about 1850.

Mr Newton was succeeded by his son,

WALTER NEWTON (1790-1853), of Dunleckney, County Carlow, High Sheriff of County Carlow, 1827, who married, in 1817, Anne, fifth daughter of the Hon George Jocelyn (second son of Robert, 1st Earl of Roden), and had issue,

PHILIP JOCELYN, his heir;
Thomasina Jocelyn.

Mr Newton was succeeded by his only son,

PHILIP JOCELYN NEWTON JP DL (1818-95), of Dunleckney Manor, High Sheriff of County Carlow, 1846, who married, in 1841, Henrietta Maria, daughter of John Kennedy, of Dunbrody, County Wexford, and Cultra, County Down, and had issue,

Maria Charlotte;
ANNE HENRIETTA, of whom hereafter;
Adeline Sarah.

Mr Newton died without male issue, and was succeeded by his second daughter,

ANNE HENRIETTA, MRS W M VESEY (d 1927), of Dunleckney Manor, whose elder son,

SYDNEY PHILIP CHARLES VESEY CBE JP (1873-1932), Captain, King's Royal Rifle Corps, married, in 1902, Edith Blanch Power.

Dunleckney was sold in 1942.

It was subsequently owned by Mr Thomas Donnelly, who re-sold in 1958.

DUNLECKNEY MANOR, Bagenalstown, County Carlow, is a 19th century Tudor-Gothic house by Daniel Robertson of Kilkenny.

An early Irish example of the Tudor-Gothic style, the manor house, built about 1850, incorporates parts of an earlier house.

Robertson was a talented architect with a large country house practise, who worked comfortably in a variety of styles, from Classical to Gothic. His major buildings are at All Souls, Oxford, Johnstown Castle and Castle Boro, both in County Wexford.

Robinson's work at Dunleckney is certainly of a very high order.

The smooth ashlar surfaces make a superb foil to the crisp, delicately carved tracery details of the tower, door-case and oriel windows.

The interior has fine plaster fan vaulting in the late Perpendicular-Gothic style, and an elaborate wooden staircase which incorporates number of medieval wooden carvings ‘rescued’ from St Canice's Cathedral in Kilkenny.

Helen and Derek Sheane purchased the house in 1989, and have spent the ensuing years in restoration.

They have carried out considerable works to the garden and parkland though the superb, straight, 18th century lime avenue was a casualty of long neglect.

First published in November, 2012.

Loughanmore House

THE ADAIRS OF LOUGHANMORE OWNED 2,071 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ANTRIM

This is a scion of the ancient family of ADAIR. Early in the 17th century Captain James Adair settled at Loughanmore, County Antrim.

Captain Adair married Annabel Blair, and dying about 1686, left issue, a son,

BENJAMIN ADAIR (1655-1730), of Loughanmore, who married Anne, daughter of Waterhouse Crymble, of Ballygallagh, County Antrim, was father of

THOMAS BENJAMIN ADAIR (1705-65), of Loughanmore, who wedded Margaret, eldest daughter of Charles Crymble, of Ballygallagh, County Antrim, and had (with two other sons, Benjamin and William Robert, and two daughters, Anne and Elizabeth) an eldest son and successor,

CHARLES ADAIR (1737-1810), of Loughanmore, who espoused, in 1776, Millicent, eldest daughter of Henry Ellis, of Prospect, Carrickfergus, County Antrim, and had issue,

THOMAS BENJAMIN, his heir;
Henry.

The elder son,

THOMAS BENJAMIN ADAIR (1776-1855), of Loughanmore, High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1801, Mayor of Carrickfergus, 1832, married, in 1806, Amelia, second daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Benjamin Adair, Royal Marines, and had issue,

CHARLES, died unmarried;
HENRY, succeeded his brother;
Benjamin Clements, died unmarried;
Thomas Benjamin, in holy orders; died unmarried;
William Robert, died unmarried;
Millicent;
AMELIA SOPHIA, succeeded her brother;
Susanna;
ELEANOR MARGARET, succeeded her sister.

The second son,

HENRY ADAIR JP DL, High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1871, who restored Donegore Parish Church in 1871, died unmarried, and was succeeded by his sister,

MISS AMELIA SOPHIA ADAIR, who, in turn, was succeeded by her sister,

MISS ELEANOR MARGARET ADAIR, who married the Rev James Hunt, Rector of Ahascragh, County Galway (who predeceased her).

Mrs Hunt died on the 13th April, 1909, without having had issue, whereupon the Loughanmore estate (including some property near Ahoghill) devolved upon General Sir William Thompson Adair KCB,  a great-great-grandson of Benjamin Adair (1655-1730).

LOUGHANMORE HOUSE, near Donegore, County Antrim, was built in 1798 by Thomas Benjamin Adair.

It was remodelled following Henry Adair's succession to the estate in 1866, when it was crenellated, towered, and turreted.

A tower was in course of erection in 1870 when flags were hoisted on it to celebrate the visit of Prince Arthur to nearby Castle Upton (as recorded by Peden in 1878).

Further alterations were carried out after the property was bought by Charles MacKean in 1920, designs being prepared for him by Guy Elwes, architect of London, in 1936, for a new dining-room with canted end, new stairs and landings, and the removal of the front tower.

In 1961 more renovations were carried out under the direction of the Belfast architect Arthur Jury, when the top floor was taken down and crenellations were removed.

Finally, in 1988, the house was demolished.

It was described in the first survey in 1972 as

A two-storey, five-bay house with basement, much altered in 19th century, now partly restored to original appearance. 

Windows are plain sashed; on first floor, central window is surmounted by a triangular pediment, side windows by segmental pediments. 

Ground floor windows are in eaved architraves; extensions have splayed ends; keystones on ground floor of main roughcast block have sculptured masks. 

There are modern lamp-holders before this block and a Doric porch front service entrance.

The 1857 Ordnance Survey map shows a gate lodge at that south-west entrance, on the opposite side of the road from it, as well as a lodge and main entrance to the north-east, rebuilt in 1929.

There is another gate lodge further to the north-east (demolished to make way for the M2 motorway about 1967).

In 1880 the demesne wall was built.

Other structures on the estate include an ice house surmounted by a columnar tower and a garden tower with spire, both of uncertain date.

General Sir William Thompson Adair KCB (1850-1931)

The Adair family connection ceased when General Adair sold the estate to Charles MacKean of Larne in 1920.

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The former stable block, coach-houses and outbuildings survive.

The exact date of building is uncertain as the structure evolved over a period of time.

The courtyard layout appeared on a map of 1832, and most of the blocks to the rear may be taken to date from then.

Most of the front block presumably dates from 1866, when Henry Adair succeeded to the estate and is known to have begun alterations and improvements.

The architect for the remodelling of the stable block seems to have been John Boyd of Belfast, who is known to have been involved in re-roofing the stable offices for Henry Adair in 1887.

Incidentally, Boyd was employed by Adair in the virtual rebuilding of Donegore Parish Church in 1871, and was in charge of building the demesne wall for him at Loughanmore in 1880.

Following Henry Adair's death in 1887, a chapel was created out of a coach-house, in the mid-to-late 1890s, to the right of the clock tower.

This chapel was converted to domestic purposes about 1984, when the stained-glass windows were removed to Donegore Parish Church, and the entire front block was renovated to become the main residence on the estate.

The chapel had been built in consequence of the unfriendly conduct of the then clergyman of Donegore Parish Church toward the Adair family, and was instituted as a memorial to the Rev James Hunt, of Loughanmore, who had married a daughter of Colonel Benjamin Adair, and who had died in 1894.

There seems to be no record of its consecration.

The chapel's congregation, which comprised about twenty family and staff, preferred to worship there in severe weather rather than walk up to the parish church.

It had an organ, communion table, reading-desk, chairs, and a communion service of silver.

When General Adair sold the estate to Charles MacKean in 1920 he offered to pass the furnishings to the tenant for life of Loughanmore if the chapel's function was intended to be continued.

The date when the crenellations were removed from the clock tower of the stable block is uncertain, but may have been connected to the renovations to Loughanmore House in 1961.

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The setting for the former dwellings is a fine and extensive parkland, with mature shelter belts, clumps, avenue trees and new planting.

Former productive and ornamental gardens that were in a partially walled garden decorated with crenellations, have now gone but a stone tower and weather vane remain.

Three of four gate lodges survive: two of pre-1832 and the Arts-and-Crafts gate lodge of ca 1910.

The lodge of ca 1860 is listed.

First published in February, 2018.

St Patrick's School

ST PATRICK'S NATIONAL SCHOOL, Donegall Street, Belfast, was built in 1828 to the designs of the Newry architect, Timothy Hevey.

It was the first Roman Catholic school to be built in the city of Belfast.

The land was donated by the 2nd Marquess of Donegall, and had been the town dump until the school was built.

Operated by the Christian Brothers for a large portion of its history, the school continued to serve the educational needs of north Belfast until it closed in 1982.

Before then it had been the place of schooling for the comedian Frank Carson; the Lord Fitt, founding Leader of the SDLP; and former World Champion boxer, Rinty Monaghan, as well as countless generations of children from across north Belfast.

Squat and brown bricked, people speak fondly of its pointed Gothic windows and Dutch gable.

After it closed it served briefly as a parish community centre and survived until a fire caused severe damage in late 1995.

The damage so severe that the owners wished to have the building demolished for public safety and to enable expansion of a car park.

The threat to the future of Belfast’s last remaining Neo-Gothic building was the impetus for the foundation of the Belfast Buildings Trust.

With a package of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Architectural Heritage Fund, various charitable trusts and the Belfast Building Trust's own borrowings, the group ensured a completed project at a cost of £1.2 million.

Reopened in 1999 by the Lord Dubs, Minister for the Environment, St Patrick’s now houses offices, a bookshop and a restored classroom that is used for events ranging from creative writing classes to business seminars.

First published in August, 2011. 

Lowry of Pomeroy

THE LOWRYS OWNED 8,158 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY TYRONE

This is a junior branch of the Earls of Belmore. STEPHEN LAURIE or LOWRY purchased the Maxwelton estate, Dumfriesshire, during the reign of JAMES VI, King of Scots, from the Earl of Glencairn.

He had issue, three sons,

John, whose son was created a baronet in 1685, designated of Maxwelton;
Robert, who settled in Cumberland;
JAMES, of whom hereafter.

The youngest son,

JAMES LOWRY or LAURIE, settled at Ballymagorry, County Tyrone, before 1641.

The Lowry coat-of-arms contains a garland of laurel branches.

Ballymagorry lies several miles north of Strabane, County Tyrone, and has been a settlement since Plantation times, being founded in the early 17th century by Sir George Hamilton, of Greenlaw, brother to James, 1st Earl of Abercorn.

He died in 1665, and was succeeded by his son,

JOHN LOWRY (1609-89), who settled at Aghenis, County Tyrone, and married firstly, Jane, daughter of William Hamilton, of Ballyfallow, by whom he had issue,

William, died unmarried;
Elizabeth; Margaret; Mary.

He wedded secondly, Miss Mary Buchanan, a Scottish lady, and had further issue,

John, died unmarried;
ROBERT, succeeded his brother;
Catherine; Rebecca; Anne; Jane.

Mr Lowry died at the celebrated siege of Londonderry, and was succeeded by his surviving son,

ROBERT LOWRY (c1660-1729), of Aghenis, who espoused Anne, daughter of the Rev James Sinclair, of Hollyhill, County Tyrone, Rector of Clogherny, and afterwards of Desertcreat, County Tyrone (second son of Sir James Sinclair, of Caithness), and had issue,

Robert, of Melbury, dsp;
Galbraith, ancestor of THE EARLS OF BELMORE;
JAMES, of whom we treat.

Robert Lowry, Photo Credit: The National Trust

Mr Lowry was succeeded in his principal estates by his elder surviving son, while the younger,

THE REV JAMES LOWRY (1707-87), of Tullyhogue, County Tyrone, Rector of Clogherny, founded the branch seated at Pomeroy House.

He married Hester, daughter of William Richardson, of Richhill, MP for Armagh, and sister of Mary, Viscountess Gosford, and had issue,

ROBERT, his heir;
John (Rev);
James, from whom the ROCKDALE branch;
Hester.

The eldest son,

ROBERT LOWRY (1748-1802), of Pomeroy, wedded, in 1777, Elizabeth, daughter of Major William Tighe, of Ballyshannon, and had issue,

James, died unmarried;
ROBERT WILLIAM, of Pomeroy;
John;
Armar;
William, of Drumreagh, Commander RN;
Everina; Hester; Elizabeth; Maria.

The eldest surviving son,

ROBERT WILLIAM LOWRY JP DL (1787-1869), of Pomeroy, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1812, espoused, in 1815, Anna, eldest daughter of Admiral Samuel Graves, the elder brother of of Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Graves KB, and had issue,

ROBERT WILLIAM, of Pomeroy;
John Fetherstonhaugh;
Anna Jane.

Mr Lowry was succeeded by his eldest son,

ROBERT WILLIAM LOWRY JP DL (1816-99), of Pomeroy House, Barrister, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1849, who married, in 1852, Frances Elizabeth, youngest daughter and co-heir of Benjamin Humphrey Geale Brady, of Mount Geale, County Kilkenny, and had issue,

Robert Geale, died in infancy;
ROBERT THOMAS GRAVES, of whom hereafter;
Mary Anna Catherine; Letitia Maria Isabella.

He wedded secondly, in 1880, Dorothea Elizabeth, second daughter of George Folliott, of Vicar's Cross, Cheshire.

The surviving son,

ROBERT THOMAS GRAVES LOWRY JP DL (1857-1947), of Pomeroy House, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1896, Major, 1st Dragoon Guards, was succeeded by his sister,

MISS MARY ANNA CATHERINE LOWRY (d 1951), who wedded Colonel Charles Murray Alexander, of Termon House and Enagh House, and had issue, a son and heir,  

MAJOR CHARLES ADAM MURRAY ALEXANDER MC JP DL (1889-1958), Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, of Termon House and Pomeroy House, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1936, who married, in 1918, (Gladys) Sylvia Macgregor Greer (b 1896), by whom he had issue,

(Evelyn) Ruth Dorinda Mary (1921-2010);

Margaret Sylvia Daphne, born in 1925.

Major Alexander fought in 1st World War, was wounded and mentioned in despatches, and was awarded the Military Cross in 1917. He was a director of the Ulster Bank; on the board of the Pigs Marketing Board, Northern Ireland, the Great Northern Railway, and the Electricity Board, Northern Ireland; Ferguson Ltd, Dublin; Bessbrook Spinning Company Ltd; Harry Ferguson Motors Ltd; J N Richardson Sons & Owden Ltd.

Former estates ~ The Manor of Chichester and Leggin, including Pomeroy; and property at Baskine, County Westmeath, acquired by marriage. 

Pomeroy House: garden front (Image: Society of Irish Foresters)

POMEROY HOUSE, near Pomeroy, County Tyrone, was built 1789-92 for Robert Lowry.

It consisted of three storeys over a basement, the top storey treated as an attic, above the cornice.

A single-storey extension of about 1850 was added on its east side by Robert William Lowry.

The house was orientated north-west, facing the rectangular stable-yard, eighty feet in distance from the front door.

Later in the 19th century a second rectangular yard was added on its north side, some ranges of which also still survive.

Further north of this a kennel building ca 1860 survives.

The entrance front had a central, three-sided bow, one bay on either side of it.

(Historic OSNI map)

Later there was a projecting porch added to the bow, with Ionic corner-pilasters.

The garden front (above) was of five bays, prolonged by a single-storey dining-room wing of 1815, with Wyatt windows in a three-sided bow and a polygonal lantern on the roof.

The main reception rooms were at the garden front.

Pomeroy House: entrance front opposite stableyard ca 1958 (Image: McClintock of Seskinore)

Following Major Alexander's death, Pomeroy House was sold by his widow in 1960 to the Northern Ireland Forest Service.

It is thought that the mansion house was demolished about 1970; presumably it was still standing for some years after the forestry school was built and opened in front of it in 1963.

The mansion house stood in a commanding position on top of a hill, now the location of a new visitor centre.

The site is now largely forestry

There is, however, a very fine stand of Scots pine within the forest.

There are other old demesne trees and the management is replacing hard-woods. 

The walled garden, on lower ground about 500 feet to the east of Pomeroy House, is practically ruinous with a few crumbling walls remaining.

Shoots and Christmas trees add to the commercial use. 

On land not owned by the forestry service, now outside the demesne on the south side of the road, is the Alexander Vault, which is listed, with the last few specimen of a monkey puzzle avenue to the vault.

There were two gate lodges.

First published in January, 2012.

Coollattin Park

THE EARLS FITZWILLIAM WERE THE GREATEST LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY WICKLOW, WITH 89,981 ACRES

In 1565, HUGH FITZWILLIAM (c1534-c1576), of Emley, Sprotbrough, and Haddlesey, Yorkshire, collected the records of his family, and from these records the following particulars are partly deduced: SIR WILLIAM FITZ GODRIC, cousin to EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, left a son and heir, SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM, who, being ambassador at the court of WILLIAM, Duke of Normandy, attended that prince in his victorious expedition against England, as marshal of the army, in 1066; and for his valour at the battle of Hastings, THE CONQUEROR presented him with a scarf from his own arm.

This Sir William was father of

SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM, Knight, who wedded Eleanor, daughter and heiress of Sir John Emley, of Emley and Sprotbrough, by which marriage the Fitzwilliams obtained the lordships of Emley and Sprotbrough, which continued with them until the reign of HENRY VIII, when those lordships were carried, by co-heirs, into the families of Suthill and Copley.

Sir William was succeeded by his son,

SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM,

Lord of Emley and Sprotbrough, living in 1117, as appears from a grant made by him of a piece of the wood in Emley to the monks of Byland. To this grant, in a round seal, is represented a man on horseback, completely armed and circumscribed S. Willmi Filij Willmi Dni de Emmalaia; and on the reverse, the arms of FITZWILLIAM, viz. Lozenge. This Sir William, or one of his descendants, caused a cross to be set up in the high street of Sprotbrough; which cross was pulled down in 1520.

From Sir William we pass to his descendant,

SIR JOHN FITZWILLIAM, who founded, in 1372, the Chantry of St Edward in the church of Sprotbrough; and having married Elizabeth, daughter of William de Clinton, 1st Earl of Huntingdon, had three sons, the eldest of whom,

SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM, married Maud, daughter of Ralph, 3rd Lord Cromwell, of Tattershall, and co-heir of the Lord Treasurer Cromwell, by whom he had one son and two daughters.

He was succeeded by his son,

SIR JOHN FITZWILLIAM, who wedded Eleanor, daughter of Sir Henry Green, of Drayton, and had six sons.

The youngest son,

JOHN FITZWILLIAM, of Milton Hall and Greens Norton, in Northamptonshire, espoused Eleanor, daughter of William Villiers, of Brooksby, Leicestershire, by whom he had three sons and two daughters, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

THE RT HON SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM (c1460-1534), Knight, of Milton and Gaynes Park, Essex, and also of the city of London, of which he was sheriff in 1506.

Sir William married firstly, Anne, daughter of Sir John Hawes, Knight, of the city of London, and had,

WILLIAM, his heir;
Richard;
Elizabeth; Anne.

He wedded secondly, Mildred, daughter of Richard Sackville, of Withyham, Sussex, and had three sons and two daughters,

Christopher;
Francis;
Thomas;
Eleanor; Mary.

Sir William was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM, Knight, who espoused Anne, daughter of Sir Richard Sapcote, of Elton, Huntingdonshire; and was succeeded by his son and heir,

SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM (1526-99), Lord Deputy of Ireland and Lord Justice, who wedded Anne, daughter of Sir William Sydney, and aunt of the 1st Earl of Leicester, and had issue,

WILLIAM, his heir;
John;
Mary; Philippa; Margaret.

Sir William was succeeded by his son,

SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM, Knight, of Milton and Gaynes Park Hall, who was elevated to the peerage, in 1620, in the dignity of Baron Fitzwilliam, of Lifford, County Donegal.

His lordship wedded Catherine, daughter of William Hyde, of Denchworth, Berkshire; and dying in 1644, was succeeded by his elder son,

WILLIAM, 2nd Baron (c1609-58), who espoused, in 1638, Jane, daughter and co-heir of Alderman Hugh Perry, of London, and had issue,

WILLIAM, his heir;
Charles;
Jane, m Sir Christopher Wren, the celebrated architect.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

WILLIAM, 3rd Baron (1643-1719), who was advanced, in 1716, to the dignities of Viscount Milton, County Westmeath, and EARL FITZWILLIAM, of County Tyrone.

His lordship married Anne, daughter and sole heir of Edmund Cremor, of West Winch, Norfolk, by whom he had four sons and six daughters.

He was succeeded by his third, but eldest surviving son,

JOHN, 2nd Earl (1681-1728), who wedded Anne, daughter and sole heir of John Stringer, of Sutton-cum-Lound, Nottinghamshire, and left, with three daughters, a son and successor,

WILLIAM, 3rd Earl (1719-56), then a minor, who was, in 1742, enrolled amongst the peers of Great Britain, by GEORGE II, by the style and title of Lord Fitzwilliam, Baron Milton, in Northamptonshire.

His lordship was advanced, in 1746, to the dignities of Viscount Milton and EARL FITZWILLIAM, in the same county.

He espoused, in 1744, the Lady Anne Watson-Wentworth, eldest daughter of Thomas, Marquess of Rockingham, and sister and co-heir of Charles, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, by whom he had issue,

WILLIAM, his successor;
Charlotte; Frances Henrietta.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

WILLIAM, 4th Earl (1748-1833), Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for a very short period, in 1795, who married firstly, in 1770, the Lady Charlotte Ponsonby, second daughter of William, 2nd Earl of Bessborough, by whom he had an only child, CHARLES WILLIAM WENTWORTH, his heir.

Charles William, 5th Earl (1786-1857);
William Charles, Viscount Milton (1812-35);
William Thomas Spencer, 6th Earl (1815-1902);
William, Viscount Milton (1839-77);
William Charles de Meuron, 7th Earl (1872-1943);
(William Henry Lawrence) Peter, 8th Earl (1910-48);
Eric Spencer, 9th Earl (1883-1952);
William Thomas George, 10th Earl (1904-79). 

The titles expired following the decease of the 10th and last Earl.

COOLLATTIN PARK, is near Shillelagh in County Wicklow.

The history of the Wentworth/Fitzwilliam families has been well documented, but what is less well known is the influence they had on the history of the kingdom of Ireland.

As well as the family seat of Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire (where they owned 22,000 acres in 1870), the Earls Fitzwilliam also resided at Malton House (later Coollattin House) in County Wicklow, from where they managed their vast estate.

Coollattin is now a golf club.

The 4th Earl built Coollattin House (it was originally called Malton, one of his grandfather’s titles as Earl of Malton).

The house was designed by the leading architect John Carr, who was also responsible for the grandiose “stable block” at Wentworth Woodhouse as well as the Keppel’s Column and Mausoleum monuments near Wentworth.

The building was started around 1794 but before completion it was burned down in a rebellion in 1798 (along with 160 other houses in the nearby village of Carnew and several Catholic churches).

Work resumed again in 1800 and the house was completed in 1807.

As well as rebuilding their house and the village, the Fitzwilliams contributed to the repairs of the Catholic churches and gave land for other churches (whilst other landlords would not even allow a Catholic church on their estate).

Throughout the family’s time in Ireland they did not take sides in the various Irish struggles through the centuries, and perhaps as a consequence their house was left untouched in the last dash for independence.

As well as undertaking building and agricultural projects, the 4th Earl was also the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for a short time in 1795.

In 2003, The Times newspaper wrote: 

When the 10th and last Earl died in 1979 the remnants of the huge Coollattin estate, for centuries the Irish seat of the Earls Fitzwilliam, was sold by the last Earl’s widow, Lady Juliet De Chairoff, and in the following years, it was broken up and sold on bit by bit.

In 1983, the sprawling Coollattin House, with its vast lands attached, was resold for €128,000. 

When the farm land value was removed, this amounted to just £8,000 for the house itself — which, with its 120-plus rooms, is still among the largest private houses in the country. 

In the same year the average price of a standard new home in Dublin was more than four times that, at £35,000.

In living memory, the once-grand Coollattin estate had spanned 88,000 acres, had 20,000 tenants and comprised one quarter of Co Wicklow. 

There has long been a rumour that the estate harboured a vast tunnel used by inhabitants of the house to escape to the lodge.

The estate began falling apart in 1948 when the last earl, Peter Fitzwilliam, was killed in a plane crash with JFK’s sister, Kathleen (Kick) Kennedy, with whom, it was speculated, he had been having an affair.

His estate tenants genuinely grieved. 

The Fitzwilliams had a history of being among the most liberal landlords in Ireland. 

They had paid tenants more, invested in their education and had worked hard to ensure that the built environment in their towns was above average.

When the Great Famine came, the Fitzwilliam family were at least decent enough to ship their excess tenants to America rather than simply turn them off the land as many landlords did. 

Thousands were sent abroad to start new lives in this manner.

Perhaps this was the reason Coollattin House survived the great burning sprees that erupted through and after the war of independence, when working classes took their revenge on the less benevolent owners of big house.

Former seats ~ Coollattin Park, County Wicklow; Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire; Milton Hall, Cambridgeshire.

Former town residence ~ 4 Grosvenor Square, London.

First published in July, 2011.