The Skeffington Baronetcy

The very ancient family of SKEFFINGTON derived its name from the village of Skeffington, Leicestershire.

THOMAS SKEFFINGTON, of Skeffington, Leicestershire, was father of

SIR WILLIAM SKEFFINGTON (c1465-1535), Knight, who was appointed by HENRY VIII, in 1529, His Majesty's Commissioner to Ireland, arrived there in August of that year, empowered to restrain the exactions of the soldiers, to call a Parliament, and to provide that the possessions of the clergy might be subject to bear their part of the public expense.

Sir William was subsequently a very distinguished political personage in Ireland and died in the government of that kingdom, as Lord Deputy, in December, 1535.

He married firstly, Margaret, daughter of Sir Everard Digby, of Drystoke, and had issue; and secondly, Anne, daughter of Sir John Digby, of Kettleby, Leicestershire, by whom he had issue,

SIR JOHN SKEFFINGTON, of Fisherwick, Alderman and High Sheriff of London, 1521, who married Elizabeth Pecke, and by her had issue,

WILLIAM SKEFFINGTON, of Fisherwick, and of White Ladies, who wedded Isa, daughter of James Leveson, of Trentham, Staffordshire, and died in 1550, being succeeded by his son,

JOHN SKEFFINGTON, of Fisherwick, Staffordshire, who espoused Alice, seventh daughter of Sir Thomas Cave, of Stanford, and was father of

SIR WILLIAM SKEFFINGTON, Knight, of Fisherwick, who was created a baronet by CHARLES I in 1627, designated of Fisherwick, Staffordshire.

He wedded Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Dering, and had issue, two sons and six daughters.

The second son,

SIR RICHARD SKEFFINGTON, Knight, MP for Staffordshire, 1646-7, married Anne, youngest daughter of Sir John Newdigate, Knight, of Arbury, Warwickshire, and died in 1647, leaving a son,

SIR JOHN SKEFFINGTON, who succeeded his cousin as 4th Baronet, and married Mary Clotworthy, only daughter and heiress of

SIR JOHN CLOTWORTHY, who, for his activity and zeal in promoting the restoration of CHARLES II, was elevated to the peerage, in 1660, in the dignity of Baron Lough Neagh and VISCOUNT MASSEREENE, with remainder, in default of male issue, to his son-in-law, the said Sir John Skeffington, and his issue male, by MARY, his said wife; in default of which, to the heirs general of his lordship.

His lordship died in 1665, and the honours devolved, according to the reversionary proviso, upon the said

SIR JOHN SKEFFINGTON, Baronet, as 2nd Viscount; who died in 1695, and was succeeded by his only son,

CLOTWORTHY, 6th Baronet and 3rd Viscount (1660-1714), who married, in 1684, Rachael, daughter of Sir Edward Hungerford KB, of Farley Castle, Somerset, and had issue,

CLOTWORTHY, his successor;
Jane; Rachael; Mary.

His lordship was succeeded by his son,

CLOTWORTHY, 7th Baronet and 4th Viscount, who married, in 1713, the Lady Katherine Chichester, eldest daughter of Arthur, 3rd Earl of Donegall, and had issue,

CLOTWORTHY, his successor;
Arthur, MP for Co Antrim;
John (Rev);
Hungerford;
Hugh;
Catherine; Rachael.

His lordship died in 1738, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

CLOTWORTHY, 8th Baronet and 5th Viscount (1715-57), who was created, in 1756, EARL OF MASSEREENE.

His lordship espoused firstly, in 1738, Anne, eldest daughter of the Very Rev Richard Daniel, Dean of Down, but by that lady had no issue; and secondly, in 1741, Elizabeth, only daughter of Henry Eyre, of Rowter, Derbyshire, and had issue,

CLOTWORTHY, his successor;
HENRY, successor to his brother;
William;
John;
CHICHESTER, who inherited as 4th Earl;
Alexander;
Elizabeth; Catherine.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

CLOTWORTHY, 2nd Earl and 9th Baronet (1743-1805), who wedded firstly, in 1789, Mlle Mary-Anne Barcier; and secondly, Elizabeth Lane, but had no issue.

He was succeeded by his brother,

HENRY, 3rd Earl and 10th Baronet, who died unmarried, when the peerage and baronetcy devolved upon his next surviving brother,

CHICHESTER, 4th Earl and 11th Baronet, who wedded, in 1780, the Lady Harriet Jocelyn, eldest daughter of Robert, 1st Earl of Roden, by whom he had an only daughter, HARRIET.

His lordship died in 1816, when the earldom and baronetcy expired, while the viscountcy of Massereene and the barony of Lough Neagh devolved upon his only daughter, HARRIET, as 9th Viscountess Massereene.

First published in May, 2011.

Belle Isle: IV

Corrard ca 1970 (Image: Julian Brown)

JULIAN BROWN REMINISCES ABOUT CORRARD, HIS CHILDHOOD HOME NEAR BELLE ISLE, COUNTY FERMANAGH

The summers of our childhood were always sunny; or, looking back, that is how it seems.

I recall my father Esmond saying just that.

His youthful recollections of life on the family farm, Corrard, in County Fermanagh, were of days filled with sunshine.

He was born in the 1920s, and his early memories included being ‘glued’ to an old Bush valve radio during World War Two, listening to Lord Haw-Haw broadcasting propaganda from Germany.

His long summer days were spent on the land or on Lough Erne.

Once the chores and daily tasks of the farm were in hand, he would go fishing or rabbiting or shooting. 

My father told a story of how, as a young man, he put his hand down a rabbit hole and a rat bit him. 

The rat clamped its teeth and would not let go of his finger.

My grandfather, John James Brown (Esmond’s father) removed the rat by cutting the end of my father’s finger away with a pen knife!

My grandmother Margaret Brown’s larder was well supplemented during the war; the family was insulated from the full effects of rationing due to my father’s activities.

In addition, my grandmother was practically self-sufficient: Vegetables were grown and stored; fruit was abundant in the Corrard orchard and was bottled, preserved and made into wine; hens, ducks, geese and turkeys were kept, as were dairy animals, beef cattle, pigs and sheep.

My grandmother had a pony and trap, and every few weeks she would ride into Enniskillen to buy those provisions that she could not grow, like sugar and tea.

I recall her as a very industrious and intelligent woman who did not suffer fools gladly!

Corrard is just across the lake from Belle Isle.

The road into Corrard is less than a mile from the road to the island of Belle Isle.

Corrard had once been the seat of the King baronets, and Sir Charles had owned it until his death in 1920.

The two estates, Belle Isle and Corrard, are separated by a thin ribbon of the water at one point, a mere hundred yards or so.

In winters gone by, Lough Erne could surround Corrard and it became an island, when the waters rose in winter.

I recall flooding during winters in the 1950s and 1960s, when the Lough came up and Corrard did become an island for a short time.

The approach into Corrard is by means of a steep, downward hill, through a pair of imposing stone gate-posts.

I remember beautiful white gates hung here, when I was a child, but they were removed many years ago.

At this point there is a crossroads, and it was here that the road could flood.

Beyond the crossroads is a steep hill leading to what was the mansion at Corrard.

The roads that fork to the left and the right led, in former times, to cottages that belonged to the estate.

There were, at one time, five cottages.

For anyone who knows Corrard the cottages were, on the point hill, at Innishbeg gravel pit, at what became the Glenn farm, in the Church Meadow and near the Lough shore behind Corrard House.

Corrard House was badly damaged by fire in 1921.

My grandfather knocked half of the house down and restored the remainder when he and my grandmother acquired Corrard in 1921.

My father was brought up on the land and the Lough.

He worked the land with love and knew every mood of the Lough.

He would go out in a boat in all weathers and was fearless.

As a young man, having finished his schooling at Portora, in Enniskillen, he worked with his father on Corrard.

His brother Cyril was, during the Second World War, a ‘Pathfinder’ in the Royal Air Force.

My father’s war contribution was made by increasing the yield from the farm.

Esmond was enterprising and modern in outlook: he wanted a tractor and machinery.

To this end, he began logging timber and floating it down the Lough for milling and sale.

Esmond is famous, too, for driving a tractor across the Lough from Corrard to Belle Isle in the hard winter of 1963 when Lough Erne was frozen!

This, and other hair raising escapades, are another story for another time! 

First published in May, 2012.

Rowallane House

THE MOORES OWNED 510 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY DOWN

Early in 1600 three brothers, claiming to be a branch of MURE, or MUIR, of Rowallan, Ayrshire, removed from Scotland to Ulster. Two brothers settled in County Down, and one brother in County Tyrone.

COLONEL JOHN MUIR or MURE, of WILLIAM III's army, obtained a grant of lands in the Province, and was father of

HUGH MOORE (1696-1777), Captain, 9th Regiment of Dragoons, who married, in 1720, Elizabeth Clarke, of Clough House, County Down, and was father of

JOHN MOORE (1724-1800), of Clough House, land agent to the Annesley estate, who wedded Deborah, daughter of Robert Isaac, of Holywood, County Down, and Anne his wife, daughter of James Bailie, of Inishargie, in the same county, a descendant of John Knox.

Mr Moore was succeeded by his son,

HUGH MOORE (1762-1848), of Eglantine House and Mount Panther, both in County Down, Captain, 5th Dragoon Guards, Colonel, Eglantine Yeomanry (which he raised) in the Irish Rebellion.

Colonel Moore was Aide de Camp to General Needham during the Irish rebellion, and raised and commanded the Eglantine Yeomanry.

He married, in 1798, Priscilla Cecilia, daughter of Robert Armytage, of Kensington, London, and widow of Robert Shaw, of Terenure, County Dublin, and had issue,

JOHN ROBERT, his heir;
William Armytage (1806-83); father of HUGH ARMYTAGE;
Jane Deborah, died unmarried;
Priscilla Cecilia, m 3rd Earl Annesley;
Caroline Anne Elizabeth, m Rev J P Garrett;
Maria Clarissa, m W Humphrys.

Colonel Moore was succeeded by his eldest son, 

THE REV JOHN ROBERT MOORE (1801-88), of Rowallane, County Down, Vicar of Kilmood, 1830, who wedded, in 1850, Jane, daughter of R Morris, of Carmarthen, and widow of Henry Davidson; though dsp, and was succeeded by his nephew,

HUGH ARMYTAGE-MOORE JP (1873-1954), of Rowallane, County Down, who married, in 1910, Jane Christian, eldest daughter of Kenneth Mathieson, of 50 Prince's Gate, London;

2nd lieutenant, 3rd Battalion, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 1891; Manager, Annesley Estate, 1909-17; Chairman, County Down section, Ulster Volunteer Force.

*****

Charles James Eglantine Armytage-Moore (1880-1960), son of William Armytage-Moore and Hugh Armytage-Moore's cousin,

Founding partner of the London stockbrokers Buckmaster & Moore and owned an estate called Winterfold, a Queen Anne style residence with 219 acres near Cranleigh in Surrey, with a remarkable collection of furniture and art.

ROWALLANE HOUSE, near Saintfield, County Down, is a long, low, plain house of two storeys, with a higher block at one end.

It was built in 1861 by the Rev John Moore, who had purchased the property as a farm.  

In 1858 he had bought a townland called Creevyloughgare. 

After this initial acquisition, Mr Moore then acquired the neighbouring townland, Leggyowan, in the early 1870s and named it Rowallane, meaning Beautiful Cleanrig, after the ancestral home of his Scottish forebears.

He gradually enlarged the farmhouse, added the walled garden and stable block and planted The Pleasure Grounds.

I’ve produced a short video clip of the House on YouTube:

The house has irregular fenestration, with a few first-floor windows having little, iron balconies.

The grounds contain various turrets; an obelisk made of spherical stones from the river bed; and other 20th century follies.

The house and grounds, comprising ca 220 acres, were walled-in and converted from farmland to the fifty acre layout as seen today.

The land has pockets of good acid soil and much rock near the surface, so planting is mitigated by these conditions.

The planting is informal, for the above reason, and it also reflects the style of the era.

Initially shelter trees were planted, and the Pleasure Grounds developed to the west of the house.

Entrance Front ca 1890

Ornamental plants were added, but the important plant collection that can be appreciated today occurred between 1903-55 by Hugh Armytage Moore ~ whose sister, incidentally, was the first wife of Percy French.

This has become one of the finest gardens in Northern Ireland and is appreciated for the impressive variety of plant material, which can be enjoyed at all times of the year.

The size is not intimidating ~ fifty acres; and the layout is varied by being in compartments, often using earlier stone-walled field boundaries.

There is the Spring Ground (above), Stream Ground, and the New Ground, to name some of the areas.

The Rock Garden Wood lies at the southern end of the garden and, as a large natural rock outcrop, provides an ideal spot to grow a wide range of alpines and unusual shrubs.

The walled garden, originally a conventional fruit, vegetable and flower garden, became a focus for the plant collection and, at the present time, is fully maintained and contains many interesting species, including the national collection of penstemons.

Rhododendrons are a speciality and they can be seen in many parts of the grounds.

Wild flowers are encouraged in the Pleasure Ground.

A great deal has been written about Rowallane in horticultural journals.

Rowallane demesne was acquired by the National Trust in 1955 and, since then, the gardens have been improved and the plant collection added to.

The ground floor of Rowallane House is now open to visitors with a new café, shop, and exhibition on the ground floor.

The house has recently undergone internal alterations and visitors can now enjoy new enhanced facilities.

Alterations include: the formation of structural openings to the ground floor to provide a new café, shop and interpretation area; a new tea room, designed to bring the outdoors indoors, with the colour scheme depicting the four seasons; while customers can also enjoy a new outdoor patio area.

There is also a pottery.

First published in September, 2012.

1st Baron Mountjoy

The origin and history of this most ancient and distinguished family has been elaborately investigated by Sir Alexander Croke, of Studley Priory, Oxfordshire, who traces it from the Counts of Guînes, in Picardy, France, a race of nobles descended themselves from the Scandinavian rulers of Denmark.

It gave birth to three distinct races of peers, viz. the Lords of Guînes, in France; the Barons of Ixworth, in Suffolk (which barony ceased with Sir William Blount, Baron of Ixworth, who was slain fighting under the banner of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, at the battle of Lewes, and subsequently attainted, by Parliament, in the reign of HENRY III); and the Barons Mountjoy, of Thurveston, Derbyshire, which barony expired in 1681.

RUDOLPH, 3rd Count of Guînes, had three sons by his wife, Rosetta, daughter of the Count of Saint-Pol, all of whom accompanied the NORMAN in his expedition against England, in 1066; and, contributing to the triumph of their chief, shared amply in the spoils of conquest.

One of the brothers returned to his native country; the other two adopted that which they had so gallantly helped to win, and abided there.

Of these,

SIR ROBERT LE BLOUNT was the first feudal Baron of Ixworth, but of him presently.

SIR WILLIAM LE BLOUNT was a general of foot at Hastings, and had grants of seven Lordships in Lincolnshire.

MARIA LE BLOUNT, sole heiress of her line, marrying, in the next century, SIR STEPHEN LE BLOUNT, united the families of the two brothers.

The elder son,

SIR ROBERT LE BLOUNT, had the command of WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR's ships of war, and was styled "DUX NAVIUM MILITARIUM."

His portion of the Spolia Opima embraced thirteen manors in Suffolk, of which county he was the first feudal baron of Ixworth (the place of his abode), and Lord of Orford Castle.

Sir Robert married Gundreda, youngest daughter of Henry, Earl Ferrers, and had a son and heir,

GILBERT LE BLOUNT, 2nd Baron of Ixworth; from whom we pass to

WILLIAM LE BLOUNT, 6th Baron of Ixworth, who was standard-bearer to Simon de Montfort, and fell at the battle of Lewes, 1264.

He was attainted, and the Barony of Ixworth forfeited.

Sir William left no issue, so that the representation of the family devolved upon his uncle,

SIR STEPHEN LE BLOUNT, who wedded, as stated, MARIA LE BLOUNT, heiress of Saxlingham, and had two sons,

ROBERT, his heir;
JOHN.

The elder son,

SIR ROBERT BLOUNT, espoused Isobel, daughter and co-heir of the feudal Lord of Odinsels, by whom he acquired the Manor of Belton, Rutland, and had issue (with two other sons),

SIR WILLIAM BLOUNT, who married the Lady Isobel de Beauchamp, daughter of William, 1st Earl of Warwick, and had a son,

SIR WALTER LE BLOUNT, of Warwickshire, who wedded Johanna, third sister and co-heir of Sir William de Sodington, and acquired the Estate of Sodington, Worcestershire.

Sir Walter died in 1332, and was succeeded by his elder son,

SIR WILLIAM LE BLOUNT, who wedded Margaret, daughter and co-heir of Theobald, 2nd Baron de Verdon, but dying issueless, left his property to his brother,

SIR JOHN BLOUNT, of Sodington, who espoused Isolda, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas Mountjoy, of Derbyshire, whence the title of MOUNTJOY was afterwards assumed as a barony by a member of the family.

Sir John's third son,

SIR WALTER BLOUNT, was father of

SIR THOMAS BLOUNT (1378-1456), who wedded Margery, daughter of Thomas Gresley, and had issue,

Thomas (Sir), 1414-68;
WALTER, of whom hereafter;
Agnes.

The younger son,

SIR WALTER BLOUNT KG (c1416-74), of Thurveston, Derbyshire, espoused firstly, before 1443, Helena, daughter of Sir John Byron, of Clayton, Lancashire, and had issue,

WILLIAM (1442-71), father of EDWARD, 2nd Baron;
JOHN, 3rd Baron;
James;
Edward;
Anne; Elizabeth.

He married secondly, ca 1467, Anne, widow of Humphrey, 1st Duke of Buckingham.

Sir Walter was elevated to the peerage, in 1465, in the dignity of BARON MOUNTJOY.

His lordship's eldest son, William, was slain at the battle of Barnet, 1471, and he was succeeded by his grandson,

EDWARD, 2nd Baron (1464-75), who dsp, and was succeeded by his uncle,

JOHN, 3rd Baron (c1450-85), who married, ca 1477, Lora, daughter of Edward Berkeley,  and had issue,

WILLIAM, his successor;
Roland;
Lora; Constance.

THE family line passed uninterruptedly until we come to

CHARLES, 8th Baron (1563-1606), KG, LORD DEPUTY OF IRELAND, 1600-3, LORD LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND, 1603-4, who was created, in 1603, EARL OF DEVONSHIRE.

The 1st Earl died without legitimate issue at Savoy House, London, when the titles expired.

MOUNTJOY CASTLE is located near the village of Mountjoy, County Tyrone, on a hill overlooking Lough Neagh.

The castle was built by the 8th Baron Mountjoy in 1602, and partly burned in 1643 by Captain Turlough Gruama O'Quin.

It is a two-storey brick building and the lower storey is stone-faced on the outside.

The castle comprises a central rectangular block with four spear-shaped angle towers with gun loops.

The northwest tower is partly demolished and the west curtain wall destroyed.

The entrance was on the south side of the east curtain wall.

On the first floor there are some wide windows.

Mountjoy Fort

MOUNTJOY FORT, which stood near the castle on the south-western edge of Lough Neagh, was discovered by a team of archeologists in 2018.

First published in July, 2018.

Belfast's ill-fated Grand Canal

SELECTED EXTRACTS FROM GEORGE BENN'S HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF BELFAST (1877)

DONEGALL PLACE runs from 36 Castle Place to Donegall Square North.

In 1784 there was an advertisement for a plan of an intended new street leading from 36 Castle Place to the White Linen Hall (now City Hall, Donegall Square).

This new street, known as Linen Hall Street, was intended for private dwellings of the wealthy inhabitants of the town.

The leading gentry had exclusive possession, Lord Donegall's own house being at the corner of the new street.

A more detailed account of the opening of Donegall Place, through the old castle's gardens, has been put on record:-

"June 3rd 1785.  The ground for building the new street from our White Linen Hall to the Parade [Castle Place] is now thrown open, and brick and other materials for the work laid down ..."

"The entrance from the Parade to the right and left will be finely introduced by elegant iron pallisading and adequate globe stands raised from clean brick walls coped with free stone on front of Lord Donegall's and the Collector's houses curving beautifully towards the northern ends of each."

"The new buildings to commence at the southern extremity of said pallisading, and run forward to the banks of the intended canal which is to pass in front of the Linen Hall, and so separate the said street from that great building, the view of which forms a pleasant termination  to the south." 

"A drawbridge will be thrown across  the canal in front of the Linen Hall, and another range of buildings incline to the east along the banks of the canal quay." 

"The new street [Donegall Place] to be 80 feet wide ..."

Chart dated 1796 from Benn's History of Belfast. Click to Enlarge

These grand schemes were not executed, except the construction of Donegall Place.

The beautiful pallisading and the adequate globe stands were left to be perfected by the next generation, the members of which appear to have neglected the duty ... but, above all, the intended canal with its quay and drawbridge never went beyond a paper representation. 

To that extent the canal, passing in front of the Linen Hall, is shown on maps of the period; so certain did its completion appear that the sanguine map-maker imagined he might safely stamp it as an accomplished fact.

Belle Isle: III

JULIAN BROWN CONTINUES HIS MEMORIES OF LIFE AT BELLE ISLE, COUNTY FERMANAGH

THE TALE OF MISS ELLEN McDOUGAL

Miss McDougal arrived at Belle Isle from her home in Lockerbie, Scotland, when she was a very young woman in the 1920s.

She came to Belle Isle to work under the direction of her aunt, an earlier Miss McDougal, who was the housekeeper at Belle Isle in the halcyon days between the great wars.

At that time a full complement of servants were on hand to ensure the smooth running of the castle.

Miss Ellen McDougal joined the brigade as a humble scullery maid.

By the time of my arrival on the scene in 1948, the indoor servants had reduced to three and been transformed with changing times from servants into domestic help!

These were Minnie Cathcart, my mother Pearl Brown and Miss Ellen McDougal. 

By the early 1950s Miss McDougal, known to all as ‘Dougie’, was a very accomplished cook, keeper of the kitchens and chief bottle washer!

I don’t know when she gained full charge of culinary activity but she was firmly in control from my earliest memories and remained so up until almost the end of the 1960s.

The Dougie  of my childhood was approaching fifty years of age: slight of stature, her grey hair firmly held within the confines of a hairnet and usually dressed in a lengthy ‘wrap around’ floral pinafore. 

A pair of steel rimmed glasses were perched on her sharp nose but could not hide the bright gleam in her all seeing eyes.

Dougie worked tirelessly from early morning till late at night all day, every day (she did have the odd half day off but grumbled about it).

It was not that she was put upon but just that it was her kitchen and she loved being in it.

She did all this for the princely sum of £5.00 per month, but did live in, all found!

Dougie was of the old school; she knew her place and wanted everyone else to know theirs.

She had immense respect for Mr Henry Archdale Porter, ‘The Master’, and he often popped his head round the kitchen door for a cheery word with Ellen. 

I remember him being slightly ill at ease in her presence, her clear devotion somewhat unsettling him but he was very fond of her and valued her highly.

It was prudent to be ill at ease with Dougie.

For while she had a solid heart of gold there was also a fierce temper, easily lost.

It did not matter who you were, if you were in the firing line heaven help you! 

A tirade of abuse was common and she was not averse to throwing the odd implement or chasing the offender with her rolling pin!

It did not matter if you were Mr Porter or Mrs Leigh attired in her finest new London creation or a naughty little boy like me! 

When the temper was up - flee, "scarper" quickly! Stand on your dignity at your peril!

On one memorable occasion I boldly rode my tricycle into the kitchen and pedalled as fast as I could round and round the central table.

Dougie was making pastry at one end of the table and gave chase with a threatening fist raised and shrieking at the top of her voice “he’s a little bugger that’s what he is, wait till I get my hands on you.” 

I was always playing pranks on Dougie but her bark was worse than her bite as far as my sister Audrey and I were concerned.

She loved us with a passion.

She had no family of her own and made us hers.

She was a great help to our mother by looking after us while she was at work elsewhere in the castle during the day.

Wary we were, but everyone adored her.

She had been there forever, as far as most people were concerned and could have given any of today’s television chefs and celebrity cooks a run for their money. 

An earlier cook at Belle Isle had trained her in basic skills but she had a natural talent.

It was astonishing to watch her ‘throw’ ingredients together without weighing scales or any apparent measures.   

The most wonderful, cakes, breads and puddings would result, even soufflés!

 She could turn out any entree or concoction to a very high standard.

The most amazing smells wafted from the Aga, oxtail, jugged hare, partridge, and the best rice pudding ever made!

All manner of braises and ragouts would bubble away in huge cooking pots on the Aga hobs.

An old metal Nabisco-Frears biscuit tin was permanently lodged at the back of the Aga hotplate filled with meringues the like of which I have never seen anywhere.

Golden and tasting of honey. 

Dougie could always rise to the occasion and dinner in the evening was eagerly anticipated.

Whenever a special occasion or party event took place the food was of exceptional standard, beautifully cooked, presented with style and garnished to perfection. 

All this in the days before cooking became a national obsession and even pre-Elizabeth David.

Of course as a boy this all this seemed absolutely normal, it was not till later when out in the world I appreciated just how good Miss McDougal was.

Dougie’s kitchen was the central room in a complex of rooms. 

A cavernous room with two large windows.

One to the west and one facing the southern front of the castle.

The south facing kitchen block is recessed and not in line with the main block, which houses what were then, the Dining, Drawing and Morning Rooms. 

The south facing kitchen window was placed high up in the wall.

Presumably so that in the former days of elegance to which the castle belonged, ladies and gentlemen strolling in the formal gardens at the front of the castle did not have their view sullied by ‘scullery maids a scrubbing’ behind the kitchen window.

The kitchen had two huge tables.

One in the centre under an old blackened gas fitting where the preparation of food was carried out.

The home-made gas supply had been a product of a bygone period and no longer functional.

The fitting was used now to hang sticky papers to catch flies! 

The other table under the high window was where the household dined in the evening and where the workforce dined at other times.

This included some of the men who worked on the home farm who came in for luncheon and tea, except during hay-making when tea was taken out to the field in large enamel jugs and generous wicker baskets.

The huge Aga commanded one wall almost in its entirety.

The west facing window wall had floor to ceiling wooden dressers atop of wider cupboards.

The dressers filled the entire wall and framed the window.

These fixtures were painted a dirty brown colour and some of the shelves were of scrubbed pine.

The dressers were filled with large gleaming copper domed covers for meat serving dishes and an assortment of porcelain. 

I never saw any of the copper covers used, they belonged to another era but they sparkled and gleamed in the oil lamps glow reflecting in what I now know were rare and valuable plates.

To the rear of this kitchen was a scullery with an assortment of sinks and I remember a mechanical ‘separator’ that Miss McDougal filled with milk to make butter?

Beyond this were some pantries and at least one of these had wire mesh in the windows and not glass.

This was before refrigerators arrived in Belle Isle. 

In a covered outhouse adjoining this (now demolished) game was hung to season: pheasants, hares, and other birds.

This was a source of consternation to my father, Esmond.

He used to say that they hung there till they were rotten and stinking and that they were crawling with maggots! 

He could not understand how they could then be eaten! 

The Belle Isle folk used to laugh at him and try to educate his palate:

“Come now Esmond, you shot it and should be rewarded, now do try some, it is delicious! “ – “No thank you madam, I will take your word for it!” Gales of laughter. “We really will have to see what we can do with you!” “No fear of that, madam!”

One last memory of the old kitchen at this time is of my sister Audrey and I climbing up onto the cupboards from a chair and standing in the large west window recess as small children.

The window sill was wide and deep and there were curtains that could be drawn by a cord. 

We would sing and recite and I suppose we thought we were most entertaining. 

Everyone was amused and indulgent (on most occasions!) but with reflection they were being kind we must have been an awful nuisance!

Finally at the end of the day Miss McDougal would trundle up the steep scrubbed wooden back stairs to her room. 

This was fitted with a large brass bed and an assortment of unmatched Victorian furniture. 

There was a real fire with logs burning in the winter and some shabby black curtains a remnant of the blackout in the war at the windows.

My father, mother and we children shared a set of rooms with Dougie for many years and on occasion as small children we would sleep with her in her big bed if our parents were away. 

This happened rarely but was an adventure!

We would open a sleepy eye as Dougie came into the room and watch her divest herself of her glasses, hairnet, footwear and finally her outer garments.

In the flickering firelight she was revealed in her bed attire.  

An all in one garment with leggings attached of quite course material that covered her from top to almost the ground known as ‘combinations’.

A fierce garment of immense fascination to us. ... and so to bed....clean combinations and another day tomorrow....

Dougie lived out her life at Belle Isle. 

When she became old and infirm they created a beautiful bedroom for her on the ground floor and put in a ramp for a wheelchair.

Her final days were spent in the county hospital. 

She is buried along with the Belle Isle household of her era and rests beside Mr Henry Archdale Porter, Mrs and Miss Brunt and Mrs Leigh.

They are all together on the grassy bank at the top of the gentle slope behind Derrybrusk Church. 

There was no distinction in death. She had become part of the Belle Isle family. 

She was a lovely lady. The salt of the earth. A rare character.

I cannot do her justice.

I knew her all my life and yet I did not really know her.

I wish I had spent more time with her.

The photograph above is of Miss Ellen McDougal; Julian Brown's mother Pearl Brown; his sister Audrey; and Julian himself, as small children. A rare day out for Miss McDougal.

First Published in 2010.

The O'Neill Baronetcy (1643)

This was a branch from the Milesian stock from which the present noble family of O'NEILL claims descent.

HUGH BOY O'NEILL, from whom the territories called the Claneboys, in counties Down and Antrim, received their name, grandson of HUGH MEYTH, King of Ulster, 1122, recovered those lands from the English (which had been wrested from his family at the invasion during the reign of HENRY II), and his descendants enjoyed them until the reign of JAMES I.

When a portion was conquered by force of arms from the O'Neills, more purchased by JAMES I by them, and some part left in their possession, which has descended to the O'Neills of Shane's Castle.

His Majesty, when he instituted the Order of Baronets, had chiefly in view the subduing of the clan O'Neill in Ulster, and the Ulster hand ~ the Red Hand of O'Neill ~ was given as a badge to the order.

BRIAN O'NEILL, in consideration of his gallant services at the battle of Edgehill, was created a baronet by CHARLES I in 1643, designated of Upper Claneboys.

Sir Brian married Jane Finch, of the family of the 1st Earl of Nottingham, and dying in 1670, was succeeded by his son, 

SIR BRIAN O'NEILL, 2nd Baronet, of Backerstown, County Dublin, one of the judges of the Court of King's Bench in Ireland during the reign of JAMES II, who married Mary, sister of Christopher, 10th Baron Dunsany, and dying in 1694, was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR HENRY O'NEILL, 3rd Baronet (c1674-1759), of Kellystown, near Drogheda, who married firstly, Mary, daughter of Mark Bagot, of Mount Arran, County Carlow, and had an only son,

BRIAN, his successor;

RANDALL, 5th Baronet.

He wedded secondly, Rose, daughter of Captain James Brabazon (son of Sir Anthony Brabazon, and nephew of William, 1st Earl of Meath), and had further issue,

Brabazon;
Henry;
FRANCIS, 6th Baronet.

Sir Henry was succeeded by the eldest son of his first wife,

SIR BRIAN O'NEILL, 4th Baronet, of Kellystown, who died without male issue, when the title devolved upon his brother,

SIR RANDALL O'NEILL, 5th Baronet, of Kellystown, surveyor of excise at Rush, County Dublin, who married, about 1750, Mrs Margaret Tompkins, by whom he had a son, William, and a daughter, Rachel.

Sir Randall died in 1799, and was succeeded by his only son,

SIR WILLIAM O'NEILL, 6th Baronet (c1754-84), of Kellystown, who died childless, when the baronetcy reverted to his uncle (of the half blood) and heir male, being sixth and youngest son of the 3rd Baronet, 

SIR FRANCIS O'NEILL, 7th Baronet (c1730-99), of Kellystown, who was ejected from his property under the Popery Acts, and after renting two small farms near Kellystown, kept "a small huckster's shop and dairy" at Slane.

He married a daughter of ________ Fleming, of County Louth, by whom he had fourteen or fifteen children.

Sir Francis was in possession of the patent of the baronetcy in 1798, but died in 1799, being buried (with his father) at Mount Newton.

His widow died 18 months later.

Following his death the baronetcy expired.

*****

AS TO aristocratic kinsmen abandoning such claimants, again we may cite Burke's account of the support, moral and financial, given to the above mentioned Sir Francis O'Neill by his distant Protestant kinsman John, 1st Viscount O'Neill:

In that humble cottage the aged and poverty stricken baronet was visited in May, 1798 by John, the first Viscount O'Neill, and his two sons, Charles and John, the late Earl and the last Viscount ... for John, the first Lord O'Neill, princely in mind and he was exalted in station, never turned his face from a poor relation.

BACKWESTON HOUSE was once the residence of Sir Brian O'Neill, 1st Baronet.

He was a descendant of the Chiefs of Claneboy, and proved himself a gallant soldier, first in Holland and afterwards on the royalist side in the Civil War in England.

In relating the vicissitudes of the O'Neill family, Sir Bernard Burke has told how Sir Brian, with a few others, tried to rally the royal troops at the rout of Newburn, and how on the hard fought field of Edgehill he rallied the dragoons with undaunted courage, and finally saved CHARLES I from being taken prisoner.

Honours came to Sir Brian, but without corresponding wealth, and after the Restoration, he appears to have tried to add to his slender income by sending wool to France, a trade for which, on account of his constant loyalty and good service he was given a licence by the King.

Sir Brian, who was twice married, first to Jane Finch and secondly to Sarah Savage, whose mother was a daughter of Hugh, first Viscount Montgomery, of the Great Ards, died about 1670, and was succeeded by his son, who bore the same name.

Sir Brian O'Neill, the 2nd baronet, has been already mentioned in the history of Stillorgan in connection with his marriage to the widow of James Wolverston, who was a sister of Christopher Plunkett, 10th Lord Dunsany.

He was educated as a lawyer at Gray's Inn, which he entered in 1664, and, as stated in the history of Stillorgan, was appointed by JAMES II, in 1687, as one of the justices of the King's Bench in Ireland.

By his first marriage, Sir Henry O'Neill, 3rd Baronet, was father of Sir Randal, 4th Baronet, surveyor of customs at Rush, County Dublin, and died having had a son and a daughter, who both died unmarried. 

Sir Henry O'Neill, by his second marriage, left Sir Francis O'Neill, of Kellystown, in the county of Meath, 7th Baronet, who married Miss Fleming, of County Louth.

• Sir Brian O'Neill, 1st Baronet (d 1670)
• Sir Brian O'Neill, 2nd Baronet (d 1694);
• Sir Henry O'Neill, 3rd Baronet (c1674-1759);
• Sir Brian O'Neill, 4th Baronet;
• Sir Randall O'Neill, 5th Baronet (d 1779);
• Sir William O'Neill, 6th Baronet (c1754-84);
• Sir Francis O'Neill, 7th Baronet (c1730-99).

First published in April, 2011.