At Home with Lord O'Neill

RAYMOND, fourth Baron O'Neill, KCVO, TD, has had a remarkable and extraordinary life.

Born in London, the Hon Raymond Arthur Clanaboy O'Neill was only nine years old when his father Shane, the third Baron, was killed in action in Italy during the 2nd World War, in 1944.

I remember him well as regional chairman of the National Trust in Northern Ireland, at the annual general meetings which were held in those days, certainly the 1980s.

I also have fond memories of the Shane's Castle Railway, a miniature railway he established in April, 1971, which began at a platform near the Antrim gate lodge and terminated close to that romantic ruinous pile, SHANE'S CASTLE, at the shore of Lough Neagh, County Antrim.

Clare Weir of the Antrim Guardian had an utterly fascinating interview with Lord O'Neill in 2018, and I'd like to share Lord O'Neill's reminiscences with readers:-

WITH OVER 80 years of memories to share, it’s hard to know where to start when telling the story of Lord O’Neill of Shane’s Castle.

Born in [1st September] 1933 in London, the young Raymond O’Neill was moved out to rural Berkshire during the war.

“We didn’t go to school, we had a Governess. There were half a dozen of us,” he said.

When older he attended Ludgrove School and then went to Eton.

From there, he had four years in France, learning the language.

His wife, the late Georgina [granddaughter of 7th DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH], he says, spoke much better French after going to school in Switzerland.

In 1952 he joined the army, and went into the 11th Hussars in honour of the father of his great friend and contemporary, [4th] LORD DUNLEATH [also born in 1933], of Ballywalter.

He spent time in both England and Germany, before returning home to Shane’s Castle in the mid 1950s.

The original castle had burned to the ground accidentally in 1816 and the second, built by his great-great grandfather, was torched by the IRA in 1922 [article HERE].

“They (the IRA) were rather more polite in those days,” he said.

“My great-great-grandfather was in a wheelchair and they gave everyone a reasonable amount of time to get out.”

At the time, his great-uncle, SIR HUGH O'NEILL, was the target, being the first speaker at Stormont.

“The house then had ecclesiastical overtones, being designed by an ordained minister of the Church of Ireland,” Lord O’Neill explains.

“The main room was said to be more akin to a chapel, very long and high with two log fires and an organ. Some of the organ music written by the Rev William O’Neill [1st Baron O'Neill] is still used in Drummaul Parish in Randalstown. When I first came here I lived ‘over the yard’ above the stables until the new house was built in the late 1950s. There was no room. There were plenty of cottages dotted here and there but no room for all the family relics.”

The estate was requisitioned by the army during the war and some of it was used as an armaments depot.

“There were tin huts all round the forest. When I came they had handed half of it back and it was split in two with a wire fence and one had to sign in at the gate. They [the army] didn’t leave until 1955.”

Lord O’Neill joined the North Irish Horse, part of the Territorial Army, in memory of his father, who had been killed in action during the war, and also attended the Royal Agricultural College and did a stint in the City of London, lodging in a family mews house near Harrod's as he learned how to manage finances.

Following the death of his father, Lord O’Neill’s mother Ann married first Lord Rothermere, whose family owned the Daily Mail, and then Ian Fleming, a British Naval Intelligence officer who later became famous as the author of the James Bond novels.

Fleming had purchased a 20-acre plot in Oracabessa, Jamaica, which became known as Goldeneye.

“I loved it out there,” Lord O’Neill said.

“It was still part of the British Empire and there were governors with cocked hats wandering around. It was right on the edge of the sea and you could see the fish swimming around. I became fascinated by the underwater world, I loved snorkelling, there was no plastic in the oceans back then. Diving was a different matter, you can’t do that on your own or you will get into trouble!”

Lord O’Neill admits that Fleming didn’t quite know what to do with his stepson, and whilst whiling away the hours on the island, he became pals with society figure Blanche Blackwell, part of the old Jamaican establishment, who he describes as ‘a great friend’.

She was descended from the Lindo family of Jewish immigrants who had made their fortune from rum and sugar in the 19th Century and was mother of Chris Blackwell, who went on to found Island Records and went into the hospitality business.

His father was Joe Blackwell from Waterford, a captain in the Irish Guards and heir to the Crosse & Blackwell foods fortune.

Ironically, Chris has now turned Goldeneye into a luxury hotel as well as turning around the fortunes of a series of hotels along Miami Beach.

The Blackwell family also sold land to Noel Coward who built his own villa nearby.

Blanche passed away in 2017 at the ripe old age of 104 and a photo of her, surrounded by colourful parrots, takes pride of place in Lord O’Neill’s living-room.

“Goldeneye wasn’t luxurious at all in those days,” he recalled.

“There was no more than a net over the window to stop the bugs from coming in, it was just a place for Ian to write his books. Noel Coward’s place was a much more comfortable home.”

Another friend was the artist Lucian Freud, who painted Lord O’Neill’s mother.

Lord O’Neill also spent time in the Cayman Islands.

“It was so odd, a tiny little place, full of banks, the Rolls-Royces would turn up at the end of the day to take people home and drive all of five miles to the outskirts.”

Lord O’Neill’s mother Ann and Ian Fleming only had one son, Caspar, who met a tragic end.

“Caspar was fascinated by Egyptology and went to read it at Oxford - there must only have been three in his class. He loved to come to Shane’s Castle and go digging for artefacts and he adored the Antrim Hills. However he got himself in with a bad crowd and he was addicted to drugs. He took sleeping tablets and then he needed ‘uppers’ to wake himself back up again. He took his own life aged only 23 and then Ian died aged only 58. He used to smoke 60 or 70 a day and he had been warned, but he wouldn’t listen.”

Lord O’Neill says that he has tried to stay out of politics.

His uncle Terence was a one-time leader of the Official Unionist Party who became the fourth Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

Terence O’Neill [later a life peer as the Lord O'Neill of the Maine] was known for his moderate and conciliatory approach, which angered some of his rivals.

“When I saw Paisley shouting ‘O’Neill must go’, I decided to join the Alliance Party,” said Lord O’Neill.

“I have never been active but I have always been a firm supporter.”

He has also been involved with the Ulster Countryside Committee, the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.

“When I first became involved, no-one wanted to come here,” he recalls.

“Northern Ireland was in turmoil, there were bombs going off and daily shootings, it was certainly a hard sell.”

He was also on the board of the National Trust in Northern Ireland and is still involved in regimental associations.

A former Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim (he was succeeded by Joan Christie), Lord O’Neill was tasked with welcoming dignitaries to Northern Ireland.

Avowed anti-royalist Mo Mowlam ‘pretended I wasn’t there’, he remembers, adding that he enjoyed long chats about his beloved jazz music with former US president Bill Clinton.

“We exchanged stories about Presentation Hall in New Orleans. He, like I, was a big jazz fan,” Lord O’Neill said.

“On that first visit to Belfast City Hall, he was supposed to play the saxophone, but he ran out of time, it never happened. In fact I kept him so long on the tarmac after he landed, it was probably my fault!”

Not surprisingly, perhaps his greatest passion is for steam.

Shane’s Castle hosts the annual May Day Steam Rally and also had its own railway in the not-too-distant past.

Lord O’Neill is an avid collector of rail memorabilia and has had a number of paintings of his favourite trains commissioned by top artists.

One depicts him in his racing Mercedes, one of only a handful ever made, with a train chugging alongside.

The car itself was later sold to a collector for an eye-watering sum - Lord O’Neill had bought it for £1,000.

In his office hangs a painting of the former railway at the castle, which closed to the public in 1994, and one of his favourite engines, Quo Vadis.

The Showman's road locomotive was built in 1922 by Burrells in Thetford, Norfolk, and was later sold to Dorset and was even shipped to New Zealand for an exhibition.

Two of the trains which used to ferry visitors around the grounds of Shane’s Castle were sold to the ill-fated Causeway rail project and are now lying in storage.

Lord O’Neill admits he would like to buy them back one day, but is pleased that the station is still being used for corporate meetings and private functions.

Other engines and carriages have gone off to museums and heritage railways around the UK and Ireland.

Shane’s Castle is still very much a working estate and has hosted such diverse events as scout jamborees to the dance event Planet Love.

The Game Fair and Antrim Show are also annual fixtures, along with the religious event ‘Open Skies’.

And of course, the smash hit HBO series Game of Thrones has also used the grounds of the old castle as a film location - although Lord O’Neill says he has no interesting celebrity gossip to share - preferring to ‘leave them all to it’.

Eldest son Shane attended Cirencester College and takes charge of the day-to-day running of the 3,500 acres, 2,000 of which lie inside the estate walls.

This includes 800 acres of farmland ‘and quite a lot of bog’, as well as some trees thought to be over 200 years old.

Some were damaged in the storms in 2018, which Lord O’Neill says is ‘really rather sad - some were totally uprooted’.

Other features include two bridges and the ‘big gate’ at Randalstown, which Lord O’Neill describes as ‘the most impressive entrance in Northern Ireland’.

He takes a keen interest in his family history and gets tipped off by Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction houses if ‘something of interest’ is coming on the market.

His house in the grounds of the castle is full of paintings, drawings and etchings of the old castle as it looked in the glory days, which he has either collected or had commissioned.

Copies of more illustrious pieces are kept, with the originals loaned out to top galleries.

Lord O’Neill is especially fascinated by the story of Laura Bell, who lived in a cottage on RAM'S ISLAND, which is also part of the estate and is now leased to the River Bann and Lough Neagh Association Company.

Miss Laura Eliza Jane Seymour Bell from Glenavy was a ‘very good looking lady of ill repute’ who entertained her guests for a short time at the cottage, and drew the ire of local people living on the shoreline because of her very noisy parties.

In the 1860s, Laura experienced a religious conversion and became an established woman evangelist, preaching in public and holding evangelical tea parties at her home.

The cottage burned to the ground after a particularly raucous party held by American and Canadian airmen stationed at Langford Lodge.

“I’m afraid when you have a cottage on an island, you have to have someone living in it or it will fall into disrepair,” said Lord O’Neill.

Also hanging on the walls of his home are the plans of a ‘cottage orné’ once owned by the family on the shores of Lough Beg.

The Rev William Chichester became an heir after two of the O’Neill brothers died without having children and changed his name to O’Neill.

“By the time he visited the cottage, word was that it had become a brothel, frequented by the great and the good of the day. He was said to have been so appalled that he ordered it be burned down. I doubt it is true, but it’s a good story!”

I wish to express my gratitude to Clare Weir, Deputy Editor of the Antrim Guardian.  O'Neill arms courtesy of European Heraldry and the NLI.

Malone Place, Belfast

Malone Place at Sandy Row, May, 2020 (Timothy Ferres)

MALONE PLACE, Belfast, is a short, narrow terrace of little houses tucked away from the madding crowd.

You might catch a glimpse of it if you are travelling past the beginning of the Lisburn Road.

It's actually at the very end of Sandy Row, leading to Bradbury Place.

This diminutive terrace is one-sided, as it were.

The Toll-house Garden, May, 2020 (Timothy Ferres)

There's an enclosed 'garden' opposite the houses, with railings, locked up, without any seating.

Incidentally, King William Park (aptly named, being adjacent to loyal Sandy Row) has no seating, either; so bring a picnic rug!

In the middle of this small enclosure there is a plaque which tells us that the gardens of the toll gate cottage were close to this location.

The old toll-gate cottage certainly was across the street, at the corner of the present Tollgate House of 1987-88, quite a large prosaic block on Bradbury Place.

The Toll-gate Cottage, looking towards Shaftesbury Square, ca 1910

In the name of Progress the little cottage, built about 1815, was swept away in the autumn of 1961.

Let's be thankful that Malone Place survives.

The Northern Ireland Department for Communities' Historic Buildings Database has written a lot about Malone Place, and has already compiled information from the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

Malone Place, May, 2020 (Timothy Ferres)

Malone Place commences at the very end of Sandy Row, where its junction with the Lisburn Road begins.

It terminates at the Malone Place General Practitioners' Maternity Hospital, a block of ca 1925.

Blondin Street runs from here to Gaffikin Street.

In the 1974 Belfast street directory there are fifteen houses, all odd-numbered:-

• 1 ~ 'Scotts, General Dealers.'
• 3-5 ~ Vacant.
• 7 ~ Thompson, WJ & Sons ~ Boot & Shoe Repairers and Retailers.
• 9 ~ Robertson, Miss A.
• 11 ~ Walmsley, Richard B.
• 13 ~ Delaney, William John.
• 15 ~ Turley, James.
• 17 ~ Greer, Mrs Margaret.
• 19 ~ McNamara, John.
• 21 ~ Madill, Miss M.
• 23 ~ Evans, Francis.
• 25 ~ Burgess, W.
• 27 ~ Irwin, Mrs Ellie.
• 29 ~ Watson, Mrs Florence.

Number One, known as Malone Place Apartment, is available for rent.

Number Five (the ground floor) was for sale in May, 2020.

Number Seven seemed to be a private residence from between 1843-49, when it was built, till about 1895, when it became a shop. It remained a shop until about 2004, when it reverted back to being a domestic residence.

Number Nine has always been a residential property. About 1850 a railway clerk lived here, followed by several other clerks, and a reporter in the Belfast Telegraph in 1884.

Number Seventeen, like the rest, was built about 1850. In 1867, one Jane Crosbey was summonsed to appear in court on a charge of having been disorderly in the public street, information having been received by magistrates ‘as to the character of the house she kept’.

The Historic Buildings database, dated 2011, remarks that Number Twenty-three is:

"A two-storey, two-bay Victorian mid-terrace dwelling built ca1860. Forming part of the latter half of the terrace, the exterior of the house has retained its general character, although some historic features of interest have been lost following refurbishment of the terrace in ca2000." 

"The overall intact external appearance of the terrace ensures that it is a good surviving example of housing of this type. Number 23 adds significant value to the group as a whole, makes a positive architectural contribution to the character of the area."

That evaluation may be applicable to many of the others. 

First published in May, 2020.

Derrycarne House

THE BARONS HARLECH  WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY SLIGO, WITH 21,019 ACRES

This family derives from a common ancestor with the noble house of GORE, Earls of Arran, the Earls of Ross, and the Barons Annaly; though more immediately from the GORE BARONETS of Magherabegg.

WILLIAM GORE (1779-1860), of Woodford, County Leitrim, MP for County Leitrim, 1806-7, married, in 1815, Mary Jane, daughter and heiress of Owen Ormsby, of Willowbrook, County Sligo, and Porkington, Shropshire, whose name he assumed.

Mr Ormsby-Gore was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN RALPH ORMSBY-GORE (1816-76), who wedded, in 1844, Sarah, daughter of Sir John Tyssen Tyrrell Bt, of Boreham House, Essex.

Mr Ormsby-Gore was elevated to the peerage, in 1876, in the dignity of BARON HARLECH, of Harlech, in the County of Merioneth.

His lordship died without issue, and was succeeded by his brother,

WILLIAM RICHARD, 2nd Baron (1819-1904), MP for County Sligo, 1841-52, County Leitrim, 1858-76, High Sheriff of County Leitrim, 1857, who married, in 1850, Emily Charlotte, daughter of Admiral Sir George Francis Seymour, and had issue,

William Seymour, died in infancy;
GEORGE RALPH CHARLES, his successor;
Henry Arthur;
Seymour Fitzroy;
Mary Georgina; Emily.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

GEORGE RALPH CHARLES, 3rd Baron (1855-1938), KCB TD JP, High Sheriff of County Leitrim, 1885, who espoused, in 1881, the Lady Ethel Margaret Gordon, daughter of Charles, 10th Marquess of Huntly, and had issue, an only child,

WILLIAM GEORGE ARTHUR, 4th Baron (1885-1964),

• William George Arthur Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron (1885–1964);

• (William) David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Baron (1918–85);

• Francis David Ormsby-Gore, 6th Baron (1954–2016);

• Jasset David Cody Ormsby-Gore, 7th Baron (b 1986).

The 3rd Baron was the last Lord-Lieutenant of County Leitrim, from 1904 until 1922.

DERRYCARNE HOUSE, near Dromod, County Leitrim, was built ca 1800 on a promontory in the River Shannon between Lough Boderg and Lough Bofin.

It was of two storeys with a three-bay, bow-ended, late-Georgian front with Wyatt windows and an enclosed Doric porch.

A two-storey, four-bay castellated wing extended back at right-angles.

The house itself had thirty rooms: kitchen, bedrooms, sculleries, library and armoury room ( which later was turned into a hunting room ) and various other rooms.

It was built with three stories at the back with parapets around it, two towers and cellars, which were seven feet under the ground and were used for storing wine and growing mushrooms. 

It also had a two-bay castellated wing extending back at right-angles.

The gardens surrounding the house contained two acres of vegetables and flowers.

The house faced the River Shannon and was in an ideal position to control the river.

The 2nd Lord Harlech purchased Derrycarne in 1858.

Buying Derrycarne was very important to him at that time as he had ceased to be MP for Sligo and was looking for a new political base.

He was known to be a good landlord.

Lord Harlech and his family lived at Willowbrook, County Sligo, before he lived at Annaduff as he had been MP for Sligo from 1841-52.

The family kept their estates in County Leitrim until 1924.

Lord Harlech did not want to sell his lands but increasing pressure at that time from the tenants for land of their own and the fact that many other large estate houses had been burned down led him to believe that he should not keep the land any longer.

Derrycarne changed hands again several times before being acquired by the Irish Land Commission in 1952.

The house was demolished shortly thereafter.

First published in January, 2012.  Harlech arms courtesy of European Heraldry.

1st Baron Maguire

The Maguires supplied Chiefs or Princes to Fermanagh from about 1264. They were inaugurated at Cornashee, a mound near Lisnaskea.

The Maguires possessed all of Fermanagh, hence called "Maguire's Country;"  and maintained their independence as Lords of Fermanagh until the reign of JAMES I, when their lands were confiscated like other parts of Ulster; but CONNOR ROE MAGUIRE obtained re-grants of 12,000 acres of the forfeited lands of his ancestors. His successors were created BARONS MAGUIRE.

Historic map of the mound at Cornashee circa 1830 (OSNI)

THOMAS MOR MAGUIRE (c1375-1430), Lord or Prince of Fermanagh, chief of the house of MAGUIRE, married Margaret, daughter of Con O'Neill, Prince of Tyrone, and had issue,

Philip, m Deborah Blennerhassett (née Mervyn);
THOMAS, of whom we treat.

The second or, according to some, elder son,

THOMAS OGE MAGUIRE, Prince of Fermanagh, died in 1480.

Maguire arms credit: NLI

His lineal descendant, 

SIR BRYAN MAGUIRE (c1589-1633), Knight, was elevated to the peerage by CHARLES II in 1628, in the dignity of BARON MAGUIRE, of Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, with limitation of the dignity to the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten.

He wedded Rose, daughter of Art O'Neill, of Carrickastickan, County Armagh, and sister of Owen Roe O'Neill, and had issue,

CONOR, his heir;
Rory, a colonel in the army.

His lordship was buried in Aghavea, County Fermanagh.

The elder son,

CONOR, 2nd Baron (1616-45), was one of the chief leaders in the rebellion of 1641, and one of its chief victims.

He was tried for high treason in London, 1644, and being found guilty, was hanged at Tyburn.

With him, the title became attainted.

He had espoused Mary, daughter of Thomas Fleming, of Castle Fleming, King's County, and had a son.

ROGER MAGUIRE (c1641-1708), who, but for the attainder of 1641, would have been 5th Baron Maguire, elder son and heir of the Hon Rory (or Roger) Maguire, by his wife Deborah, widow of Sir Leonard Blennerhassett, daughter of Sir Henry Mervyn; succeeded his father in 1648; and had summons to the Irish Parliament which met in Dublin, in 1689, as Baron Maguire, of Enniskillen, and took his seat accordingly.

He was Lord-Lieutenant of County Fermanagh, 1689; and Colonel of an infantry regiment raised by himself, with which he was present at the battle of Aughrim, 12th July, 1691.

Colonel Maguire wedded Mary, daughter of Philip MacHugh O'Reilly, and had issue,

ALEXANDER, his successor;

Bryan Oge;

Rose; Marion; Catherine.

The elder son,

ALEXANDER MAGUIRE, a lieutenant-colonel in Cuconaght Maguire's regiment, retired to France, where he died without an heir after 1719, when the male issue of his father became extinct.

The title, however, continued to be assumed, as under:-

PHILIP MAGUIRE, but for the attainder of 1641, 7th Baron Maguire, uncle and male heir, married Mary, sister of Brigadier-General Gordon O'Neill, and daughter of Sir Phelim O'Neill.

THEOPHILUS or THOMAS MAGUIRE, but for the attainder 8th Baron, son and heir, espoused Margaret, daughter of _________ O'Donnell, of Tyrconnel.

ALEXANDER MAGUIRE (1721-), but for the attainder 9th Baron, entered the French army as Lieutenant Réformé in the Irish infantry regiment of Berwick, 1740; retired on half-pay, 1763; Knight of Saint Louis, 1763.

Several of the Maguire family, many of whom were in foreign service, assumed and were styled Lords Maguire.

John O'Donovan has written an article about the Maguires of Fermanagh here.

Maguire arms courtesy of European Heraldry.  First published in January, 2011.

Strokestown Park

THE PAKENHAM-MAHONS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY ROSCOMMON, WITH 26,980 ACRES

NICHOLAS MAHON, a captain in CHARLES I's army, who was distinguished for his loyalty in the civil wars, married Magdalene, daughter of Arthur French, of Movilla Castle, County Galway,

Captain Mahon was granted Strokestown as a royal deer park, as one of the '49 officers. He was a captain in the Royalist Army, distinguished for his loyalty to the two CHARLESES, having fought in the English Civil War.

By his wife Captain Mahon had issue,

JOHN, his heir;
Peter (Very Rev), Dean of Elphin;
Nicholas.

Captain Mahon, High Sheriff of County Roscommon, died in 1680, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN MAHON, who wedded, in 1697, Eleanor, daughter of Sir Thomas Butler Bt, and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

THOMAS MAHON (1701-82), MP for Roscommon Borough, 1740-59, Roscommon County, 1763-82, who wedded, in 1735, Jane, eldest daughter of Maurice, 1st Baron Brandon, and sister of William, 1st Earl of Glandore (by the Lady Anne Fitzmaurice his wife, eldest daughter of Thomas, Earl of Kerry, and sister to John, Earl of Shelburne, father of William, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne KG), and had issue,

MAURICE, his heir;
Thomas (Rev);
Anne; Jane; Theodosia.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

MAURICE MAHON (1738-1819), High Sheriff of County Roscommon, 1785, MP for Roscommon County, 1782, who was elevated to the peerage, in 1800, in the dignity of BARON HARTLAND, of Strokestown, County Roscommon.

He wedded, in 1765, Catherine, daughter of Stephen, 1st Viscount Mount Cashell, and had issue,

THOMAS, his heir;
Stephen, Lieutenant-General, d 1828;
MAURICE, heir to his brother.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

THOMAS, 2nd Baron (1766-1835), a lieutenant-general in the army, who espoused, in 1811, Catherine, daughter of James Topping, of Whatcroft Hall, Cheshire; but dsp in 1835, and was succeeded by his only surviving brother,

MAURICE, 3rd Baron (1772-1845), in holy orders, who married, in 1813, Isabella Jane, daughter of William Hume MP, of Humewood, but dsp in 1845, when the title became extinct.

His cousin and heir,

MAJOR DENIS MAHON (1787-1847), of Strokestown, wedded, in 1822, Henrietta, daughter of the Rt Rev Henry Bathurst, Lord Bishop of Norwich.

Major Mahon was barbarously murdered in 1847, leaving issue, THOMAS, born in 1831, who died unmarried; and

GRACE CATHERINE MAHON, of Strokestown House, who espoused, in 1847, HENRY SANDFORD PAKENHAM JP DL, eldest son of the Hon and Very Rev Henry Pakenham, Dean of St Patrick's, by Elizabeth his wife, niece and co-heir of Henry, 2nd Baron Mount Sandford

Mr Pakenham assumed, by royal licence, the additional surname and arms of MAHON, and died in 1893 leaving issue,

HENRY, his heir;
Henrietta Grace; Florence; Maud.

Their only son,

HENRY PAKENHAM-MAHON JP DL (1851-1922), of Strokestown Park, married, in 1890, May, only daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Sidney Burrard, Grenadier Guards, and had issue, an only child,

OLIVE HALES-PAKENHAM-MAHON, born in 1894, who married firstly, in 1914, Captain Edward Charles Stafford-King-Harman, son of the Rt Hon Sir Thomas Joseph Stafford Bt, and had issue, a daughter,

Lettice Mary.

She wedded secondly, in 1921, Wilfred Stuart Atherstone, son of Colonel Herbert Marwick Atherstone Hales, and had further issue,

NICHOLAS;
Elizabeth Henrietta; Denys Catherine.

The only son,

LIEUTENANT-COLONEL NICHOLAS HALES-PAKENHAM-MAHON (1926-2012), was raised on the family's Roscommon estate and educated by a governess until he went to Winchester College.

Because of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, where he had served in Londonderry during the rioting of the early 1970s as in the Grenadier Guards, he knew that he could not return to claim his inheritance of Strokestown House because his ancestry was known to IRA intelligence.

As heir to the property he convinced his ailing parents to sell the Palladian mansion, which was then in a bad sate of repair, in 1979 to Jim Callery of the Westward Garage group based in Strokestown.

Strokestown Park now houses the National Irish Famine Museum.

The Ordnance Survey Field Name Books record Thomas Conry as agent to Lord Hartland.

In the 1850s Henry Sandford Pakenham-Mahon held land in the County Roscommon parishes of Dysart, barony of Athlone, Kilglass and Kilmore, barony of Ballintober North, Kilbride, Kilgefin, barony of Ballintober South, Cloonfinlough, Bumlin, Aughrim, Elphin, Kilbride, Kiltrustan, Lissonuffy, barony of Roscommon.

Over 8,600 acres of the Mahon estate was vested in the Congested Districts' Board in 1911-12.

STROKESTOWN PARK, Strokestown, County Roscommon,  was built by Thomas Mahon MP (1701-82) on lands which had been granted to his grandfather, Nicholas, in the latter half of the 17th century.

The family continued its association with Strokestown until 1979, when, eight generations later, Mrs Olive Hales-Pakenham-Mahon moved to a nursing home in England, at the age of eighty-seven.

Bence-Jones states that the mansion consists of a centre block and wings, in the Palladian manner, the centre block being mainly 17th century and finished in 1696; though altered and re-faced during the late-Georgian era.

It consists of three storeys over a basement and seven bays.

There is a fanlighted doorway under a single-storey, balustraded Ionic portico.

The wings are of two storeys and four bays, joined to the central block by curved sweeps as high as they are themselves; possibly added ca 1730.

One wing contains a splendid stable and vaulting carried on a row of Tuscan columns.

One addition at the rear of the mansion is a magnificent library with a coved ceiling and original 19th century wallpaper of great beauty.

The entrance to the demesne is a tall Georgian-Gothic arch at the end of the tree-lined street of the town, one the Ireland's widest main streets.

Apparently the 2nd Lord Hartland intended to create a street wider even than the Ringstrasse in Vienna.

Strokestown's main street is the second-widest street in Ireland, after Sackville Street - now called O'Connell Street - in Dublin.

The initial intention of Westward Garage was to keep the few acres they needed to expand their business and to sell on the remainder of the estate to recoup their finances.

At that stage Westward was a young emerging company, with limited cash resources.

However, when they spent some time in the house and saw what was there, they decided that Strokestown Park was far too important from a heritage point of view to risk losing it.

They negotiated a deal with the Mahon family to ensure that virtually all of the original furnishings would remain at Strokestown Park.

They also pleaded with the family to leave behind the documents that remained in the estate office.

By doing so they had ensured the salvation of a huge part of the heritage of County Roscommon, particularly relating to the Irish famine.

The first public role for the house was when it was used for the making of the film ‘Anne Devlin’, based on the 1798 Irish Rising, in 1984.

What then followed was a restoration project of such enthusiasm and energy that it was to be acknowledged as the single best private restoration in the history of the Irish state.

The house was opened to the public in 1987 and is "unique" in that it affords visitors the opportunity to browse through the public rooms on professionally guided tours, surrounded by the original furnishings of the house.

The House is unchanged from the time when the Mahons lived there, as evidenced by photographs which can be seen in the house.

Strokestown Park is now open to the public as a visitor attraction.

Former London residence ~ 35 St George's Road, Eccleston Square.

First published in October, 2011.

The Hamilton Baronetcy (1814)

JAMES (c1519-75), 2nd Earl of Arran, Duke of Châtellerault in France, and Regent of Scotland, grandson to James, 2nd Lord Hamilton, by the Princess Mary, sister of JAMES III, King of Scots, married the Lady Margaret Douglas, daughter of James, 3rd Earl of Morton, and had issue,

James, 3rd Earl of Arran;

Gavin, died young;
John, ancestor of the ducal house of Hamilton;
David, died 1611;
CLAUD, of whom hereafter;
Barbara; Jean; Anne; Margaret.

The youngest son,

THE HON CLAUD HAMILTON (1546-1621), created, in 1587, LORD PAISLEY, wedded Margaret, daughter of George, 7th Lord Seton, and had issue,

James, 1st Earl of Abercorn;
John;
CLAUD, of whom we treat;
George;
Frederick;
Margaret.

The third son

THE HON CLAUD HAMILTON, settled in Ulster, and was, in 1618, a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, espoused the heiress of Sir William Hamilton, of Manor Elieston, County Tyrone, and died in 1629, leaving issue,

SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON (c1604-62), Knight, of Manor Elieston, County Tyrone, who, by Beatrix Campbell, his second wife, was father of

CLAUD HAMILTON (c1648-c1695), of Monterloney [sic], County Tyrone, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1671 and 1683, who espoused Isabella Wingfield, and had issue (with five daughters, viz. Beatrix, Mary, Agnes, Margaret, and Rebecca), two sons,

William, his successor;
CLAUD, of whom we treat.

The younger son,

CLAUD HAMILTON, of Monterloney, County Tyrone, married Isabella, daughter of ______ Lowry, of Pomeroy, County Tyrone, and had, with other issue,

CLAUD HAMILTON, of Strabane and Monterloney, who was father of

JAMES HAMILTON (c1714-1806), of Woodbrook and Strabane, who wedded Eleanor, sister of Andrew, 1st Earl Castle Stewart, and daughter of Robert Stuart, of Stuart Hall, County Tyrone, and had issue,

JOHN JAMES, his heir;
Claud, died unmarried 1768;
Robert, died unmarried 1785;
Andrew, married Mary, daughter of Sir Samuel Hayes Bt;
James;
Stuart;
Harriett; Eleanor.

Mr Hamilton died at the advanced age of 92, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN JAMES HAMILTON (1755-1835), a distinguished military commander, who was created a baronet in 1814, designated of Woodbrook, County Tyrone.

Sir John wedded, in 1794, Emily Sophia, daughter of George Paul Monck and the Lady Aramintha Beresford, sixth daughter of Marcus, 1st Earl of Tyrone, and had issue,

JAMES JOHN, his successor;
Emily Louisa; Harriet Georgiana; Aramintha Anne; Eleanor Frances Elizabeth.

He died at Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, London.

Sir John's London residence was 19 Baker Street.

The only son and successor,

LIEUTENANT-COLONEL SIR JAMES JOHN HAMILTON JP DL, 2nd Baronet (1802-76), espoused, in 1834, Marianna Augusta, only daughter of Major-General Sir James Cockburn, Bt, though the marriage was without issue.

From County Families of the UK:

Hamilton, Lady, of Woodbrook, County Tyrone.

Marianna Augusta, daughter of the late Major-General Sir James Cockburn, Bart. (who died 1852) by the Hon Marianna, eldest daughter of John, 13th Viscount Hereford; married 1834 Sir James John Hamilton, Bart., of Woodbrook, a J.P. and D.L. for Middlesex, and for Cos. Carmarthan and Pembroke (High Sheriff of Co. Carmarthan 1887, of Co. Tyrone 1860) and formerly M.P. for Sudbury 1837-8, who d.s.p. 1876. Plas Llanstephan, Carmarthan; Woodbrook, Co. Tyrone; 6 Portman Square, W.

The 2nd Baronet had an address at Plâs Llanstephan, Llansteffan, Carnarvonshire.

I have discovered a further entry which mentions the 2nd Baronet:

"Greys, Governor of Bermuda in 1811, Major-General and Inspector of Marines in 1819. He died in 1852. By his wife, the Hon Marianna Devereux daughter of the 13th Viscount Devereux, he had a daughter, Marianna Augusta who succeeded to the Jordanston estate, and married Colonel Sir James John Hamilton, Baronet, of Tyrone, who died in 1876".

In the 1870s Sir James's address was given as Portman Square, London; and he owned 1,283 acres in County Tyrone.

There is a memorial fountain at Portman Square  in memory of the 2nd Baronet.

I'd be interested to hear from any readers who have information regarding the connection between the Hamiltons and Woodbrook.

First published in April, 2012.

Leap Castle

THE DARBYS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN THE KING'S COUNTY, WITH 4,637 ACRES

JOHN DARBY, son of Edmund Darby, of Gaddesby, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, was a captain of horse in the Earl of Sussex's army, at the siege of the O'Carroll stronghold of Leim O'Bannon (the Leap of O'Bannon). 

John Darby died in 1608, and was succeeded by his grandson, 

JONATHAN DARBY, of Leap, King's County, High Sheriff of King's County, 1674, who left issue by Deborah his wife,

JONATHAN, his heir;
George;
John;
William;
Mary.

His eldest son,

JONATHAN DARBY, of Leap, living in 1708, left issue, one son and two daughters, viz.

JONATHAN;
Sarah; Mary.

The only son, 

JONATHAN DARBY JP, of Leap, espoused Anna Marie, daughter of Benjamin Frend, of Boskell, County Limerick, and had issue,

JONATHAN, his heir;
George, Vice-Admiral;
Damer, of Dublin;
Japhet;
Anne; Anne; Lucy.

The eldest son,

JONATHAN DARBY (1713-76), of Leap, wedded Susanna, daughter of Jonathan Lovett, of Dromoyle, King's County, and had issue,

JONATHAN;
Robert, 1747-64;
Henry D'Esterre (Sir), KCB, Admiral, of Leap Castle;
JOHN, of whom presently;
William Lovett;
Verney;
Christopher, a general in the army;
Edward Hawke;
Sarah.

The fourth son, 

JOHN DARBY (1751-1834), of Marklye, Sussex, and afterwards of Leap Castle, married, in 1784, Anne, daughter of Samuel Vaughan, and had issue,

Jonathan, b 1784, died unmarried;
WILLIAM HENRY, his heir;
Christopher Lovett (Rev);
George, MP for E Sussex;
Horatio D'Esterre;
John Nelson;
Susannah; Sarah; Letitia Lovett.

The eldest surviving son,

WILLIAM HENRY DARBY (1790-1880), of Leap Castle, married firstly, Laura Charlotte, daughter of Edward Jeremiah Curteis, of Windmill Hill, Sussex, and had issue,

JONATHAN, father of JONATHAN CHARLES;
Mary Charlotte.

He wedded secondly, in 1848, Elizabeth, daughter of W Drought, and had further issue,

William Henry;
John Nelson;
Elizabeth Henrietta; Wilhelmina Katharine Anne; Laura Susan Eleanor;
Theodora Lovett; Laura Caroline; Monica Gertrude; Maude Mary; Anne Vaughan.

Mr Darby was succeeded by his grandson, 

JONATHAN CHARLES DARBY JP DL, of Leap Castle, High Sheriff of King's County, 1883, who wedded, in 1889, Mildred Henrietta Gordon, younger daughter of Dr Richard Dill, of Burgess Hill, and Brighton, both in Sussex, and had issue,

Jonathan, died in infancy, 1892;
HORATION GORDON, his heir;
Augusta; Cicily Mildred O'Carroll; Florence Patricia O'Carroll.

Mr Darby died in 1943, and was succeeded by his only surviving son,

HORATIO GORDON O'CARROLL DARBY (1898-1971), of Shannon Vale, Dromineer, Nenagh, County Tipperary, wedded, in 1926, Celia Margaret, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Burton Henry Capel Philips, and had issue,

HORATIO ANTHONY FIONN O'CARROLL;
Jonathan Brian O'Carroll;
Christopher Henry D'Esterre O'Carroll.

The eldest son,

HORATIO ANTHONY FIONN O'CARROLL DARBY MBE (1927-), Controller of Electricity, Monserrat, lived, in 1973, in Australia.

LEAP CASTLE, near Rosscrea, County Offaly, passed to the Darby family through marriage.

It is a 16th century, three-storey tower house, with remains of a Jacobean house constructed to the north.

Leap Castle was altered and enlarged by the Darby Family ca 1760, to include flanking Neo-Gothic two-storey castellated blocks and door surround.

There are roughcast, rendered walls to the tower house with a castellated parapet with bartizans and machicolations.

The castle has a variety of window openings, including limestone pointed-arched twin lights to the tower house and pointed-arched window openings with sandstone sills to the 18th century flanking bays.

A pointed-arched door opening with flanking pointed-arched sidelights to front elevation has a "Batty Langley" style door surround comprising sandstone clustered colonnades and hood mouldings.

The tower-house and flanking bay to the south are in use as a private dwelling; whereas the two and three-storey castellated bays to the north of the tower-house are derelict.

The Darby Family remained at Leap Castle until 1922, when the castle was destroyed and the family moved from the estate.

The Castle lay in ruins until it was bought in the 1980s and it being restored at present.

To study the developments and phases on construction at Leap Castle and associated structures, including the gate lodge and stables, is to study the architectural history of Ireland.

It has been the site of practically continued occupancy since the 16th century with alterations and additions to the Castle during each century.

Leap Castle is a landmark building in the area and, in the past, played an important social and historic role in the region.

The tower-house contributes an archaeological significance to the site; while the striking door surround is of artistic interest.

Leap Castle and associated structures are important features in the architectural heritage of County Offaly.

First published in April, 2013.