Middleton Park

THE BOYD-ROCHFORTS WERE THE GREATEST LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY WESTMEATH, WITH 16,397 ACRES

THE REV JAMES BOYD (1725-75), Rector of Erris, County Mayo, married, in 1752, Mary, daughter of Abraham Martin and widow of Arthur Vernon, and left an only son,

ABRAHAM BOYD (1760-1822), Barrister, King's Counsel, who wedded firstly, in 1786, Catherine Shuttleworth, widow of John Davies, by whom he had a daughter, Helena; and secondly, in 1815, Jane, Countess of Belvedere, daughter and eventually sole heiress of the Rev James Mackay, and by her left at his decease an only son,

GEORGE AUGUSTUS ROCHFORT-BOYD JP DL (1817-87), of Middleton Park, County Westmeath, High Sheriff of County Westmeath, 1843, who wedded, in 1843, Sarah Jane, eldest daughter of George Woods, of Milverton Hall, by Sarah his wife, daughter of Hans Hamilton, of Abbotstown (for many years MP for County Dublin), and had issue,

ROCHFORT HAMILTON, his heir;
George, died in infancy;
Charles Augustus, CMG;
George Warren Woods;
Francis;
Alice Jane; Edith Sarah Hamilton; Florence.

Mr Rochfort-Boyd inherited from his mother, the Countess of Belvedere, a great portion of the Rochfort estates situated in County Westmeath, and assumed the surname and arms of ROCHFORT by royal licence in 1867.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

ROCHFORT HAMILTON BOYD-ROCHFORT JP (1844-91), of Middleton Park, who married, in 1875, Florence Louisa, daughter of Richard Hemming, of Bentley Manor and Foxlidiate, Worcestershire, and had issue,

GEORGE ARTHUR, his heir;
Harold;
Cecil Charles (Sir), KCVO;
Ethel Victoria; Alice Eleanor; Winifred Florence; Muriel.

Major Boyd-Rochfort assumed the surname of ROCHFORT in 1888 on succeeding to the Rochfort estates left by his grandmother, Jane, Countess of Belvedere.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

GEORGE ARTHUR BOYD-ROCHFORT  VC (1880-1940), of Middleton Park, who married, in 1901, Olivia Ellis, daughter of Christopher Ussher, of Eastwell, County Galway.

MIDDLETON PARK HOUSE, near Mullingar, County Westmeath, was built by George Boyd-Rochfort in 1850.

He commissioned George Papworth, Architect and President of the Royal Academy, to design and oversee the building of the House.

Drawings of part of the interior were exhibited by Mr Papworth during the Royal Hibernian Annual Exhibition of 1850.

Only the very best craftsmen and materials were used in the building and it is a testimony to those craftsmen and materials that Middleton Park House has stood the test of time since then.

It is a fine example of late Georgian architecture favouring the classic Georgian style over the Gothic style evident in other houses of that era.

Acclaimed features of the House are its under-floor heating system, stone bifurcated staircase leading to the Gallery Landing and three-storey high atrium lantern located in the Main Hall.

Middleton Park House also boasts one of a few Richard Turner Conservatories to be found in Ireland.

The House and estate remained in the Boyd-Rochfort family until the early 1960s when it was sold.

Since then it has seen many owners, the most colourful of whom was Barney Curly who famously raffled the House in 1986.

In quite a state of disrepair when acquired by its current owners, it took a lot of time, effort and care to attention to bring it back to life, bringing in specialist professionals to ensure that the original aesthetic and atmosphere remained.

Built between 1840 and 1850, it is unusual in that context, as the Irish famine not only reduced the peasant farmers of Ireland to penury and starvation; it also destroyed the economic basis of the large landed estates held by the old Anglo-Irish aristocracy, as rents could not be paid.

It replaced an older house on the site, which was demolished.

The name Middleton comes from a previous owner of the estate, Mr George Middleton Berry, who subsequently lived in Ballingal House.

Middleton Park House was designed by George Papworth to be a technical wonder of its age.

It had its own gas-house where coal was converted to gas to fuel the house boilers, and an extraordinary heating system buried in its walls, which circulated heated air.

It utilised the most modern materials of the time including cast iron beams for structural supports in the vaulted basement, instead of the usual timber.

Although built well into the Victorian era, it was created in a classical Georgian style, as opposed to the prevailing Victorian Gothic.

It has one of only six turner conservatories left in Ireland.

Richard Turner also built Kew Gardens in London and the Botanic Gardens in Dublin.

Its entrance hall and sweeping stone, cantilevered bifurcated staircase is regarded as one of the finest of its kind in Ireland, and was famously described as “suitable for Citizen Kane” in Burke's Country Houses.

Middleton Park House was built for George Boyd-Rochfort, whose wife was the eldest daughter of the last Earl of Belvedere.

GEORGE III stood as godfather to one of them, and they were high-ranking members of the peerage.

Mr Boyd was granted permission to change his name to Rochfort-Boyd in 1867 by a petition to the House of Lords.

Although the behaviour of George Boyd-Rochfort was questionable during the Irish famine, being cited by the House of Lords for his actions, his successors are remembered today as having been good, progressive landlords.

The various land acts and subsequently the Irish land commission reduced the estates to a fraction (470 acres) of what they were.

A noted stud was established on the estate and it was the venue for point-to-points, and a starting or finishing point for the Westmeath Hunt.

The Westmeath Hunt Ball was also held at Middleton for many years, as well as hare coursing.

The estate was a large employer in the area.

A great many valuable horses were bred here, including Airborne, Winner of the Derby in 1946.

One of the Rochforts (Sir Cecil) also became the royal horse trainer for both KING GEORGE VI and our current sovereign, ELIZABETH II.

*****

THE FAMILY sold the House in the early 1960s, when many of the contents were auctioned, including a Persian rug, now said to be worth in the region of $15m.

A German family bought the estate, which was sold again in the 1960s to the O’Callaghans who, in turn, sold it to Barney Curley, who famously raffled Middleton Park in 1986.

Subsequent owners broke up the estate up into many smaller parcels.

The stud farm ceased to operate around this time as well.

Many of the original fixtures and fittings in the house were sold or removed at this time.

The house, having lost its land, and now existing on only 26 acres, went through a series of owners.

It was, at this stage, in need of major restoration as the roof had deteriorated badly with serous water damage evident throughout the house.

It also lacked modern wiring, plumbing and heating.

The sheer scale of the great mansion, at over 36,000 sq feet, made it impractical as a family home for anybody but the seriously rich.

The current owners purchased it in December 2004.

They set about converting it into a Country House Hotel and planning permission was obtained for this.

The immediate requirement was to repair the roof and make it watertight.

Investigations revealed that the roof in the wing and most of the floors were completely beyond repair, as the roof trusses were rotten and some had been cut in a manner that left the roof liable to collapse.

The Turner conservatory had lost its original glass and the metal work was seriously corroded.

The timber supporting beams in the spectacular entrance hall had also rotted and it was in danger of falling in.

These all had to be replaced also.

A specialist iron working firm from Germany was brought in to repair the conservatory and some new castings to replace those corroded beyond use were sourced in the UK.

Specialist roofers from Austria replaced the wing roof structure.

Bangor Blue slates were used.

The external render on the house had failed and had to be removed and replaced using, as originally, lime plaster.

New Roman cement decorative reveals also had to be cast.

The decorative plasterwork inside the house had to be extensively repaired.

Extensive fire protection works were undertaken.

Three generations of old plumbing and electrics, often surface mounted, were removed and the house completely rewired and re-plumbed.

A new waste treatment plant was installed.

A specialist engineering firm designed the new heating system which includes underfloor heating in the basement to minimise the visual impact of radiators and some elements of the original system are used to duct hot air into the hall.

There are many legends about the house locally most notably that both Napoleon and  T E Lawrence (of Arabia) were conceived here (clearly not true in the case of Napoleon, as the house was not built until 1840 and he had died in 1821!).

The link that Lawrence of Arabia has to the house is that his father was married to one of Mr Boyd-Rochfort’s daughters - Edith - but who also had five illegitimate sons by Miss Sarah Lawrence his children’s Governess.

One of these was T E Lawrence of Arabia.

It is not recorded where he was actually conceived, but he was born in Wales.

Many of the original drawings of the house were lost in the destruction of the RAI archive in 1916, but an extensive file is held by the Irish National Architectural archive in Merrion Square in Dublin, and some of the estate papers and deeds are held by the National Library of Ireland.

First published in July, 2011.

Cairnburn: 1903

Norwood Tower

A FANCIFUL DAY-TRIP FROM BELFAST IN 1903

I have just come from the magnificent new City Hall being built in Donegall Square, Belfast.

The old Linen Hall has been razed to the ground and the magnificent new civic building is taking shape very nicely indeed.

The coronation of our new King, Edward the Seventh, has taken place.

Old Queen Victoria rests in peace.

I've taken a Hansom cab to an up-and-coming district near Belfast called Strandtown.

I'm visiting the Ewarts at their fine new residence, Glenmachan.

Glenmachan House

The cab driver is taking me via a semi-circular road to a junction with Cairnburn Road, and I alight there in order that I may stroll the rest of the way.

These country roads are narrow: another cab passed us as it turned up the drive of Norwood Tower, the Hendersons' rambling Tudor-Revival mansion, and my cab-driver had to slow right down to avoid it!

Norwood Tower has two gate-lodges, each about a quarter of a mile apart.

The first lodge we passed on this circular road was a little beyond the entrance to Clonaver House, the Hendersons' former dower house, which now belongs to James Girdwood; while the second lodge was almost opposite Ardvarna House.

The Henderson grounds are extensive and extend to the top of Circular Road.

It is said that they own fifty acres.

The gate lodges are both battlemented, while the house, set in a landscaped park, is dominated by a lofty, castellated tower.

Passing Norwood, I notice a gardener working in the grounds with a scythe; and a paddock with a number of horses grazing.

On the left-hand side of the road, the first gate-lodge belongs to Ardnagreena House, home to the solicitor, Charles Black; and further along, we pass Ballymisert House's gate lodge.

Ballymisert, I am told, belongs to the tea merchant, Masterson.

My cab reaches the top of the hill, and we veer left as we pass yet another gate lodge for Garranard House which belongs to William Patterson, who is the proprietor of a flourishing ironmongery business.

At last I have arrived at the junction with Cairnburn Road.

I pay the cabbie a few shillings ~ daylight robbery! ~ and begin my stroll.

There are fields to the right; Glenfurlough House to the left, where James Taylor, the linen merchant, lives.

A few minutes' walk further along, I pass the red-brick labourers' cottages which belong to Glenfurlough.

These workers' cottages are beside a steep decline, where there is a pretty glen.

I cross the old bridge, surrounded by woodland and the song of birds.

From here the lane ascends and cuts through more woodland.

At the top of the road, there is a cross-roads, where the old Holywood Road traverses Cairnburn Road.

I pause and observe: the woodland and the roads are so narrow with no traffic at all, except one solitary horse and cart.

I catch a glimpse of some workers' cottages on the other side of the Holywood Road.

Immediately ahead is my destination: Glenmachan, seat of my friends, the Ewarts, standing in thirty-three acres of grounds.

First published in December, 2009.

The Cairnes Baronetcy

The founder of this family,

THOMAS CAIRNES, a scion of Cairns of Orchardton, Kirkcudbrightshire, went over to Ireland with his kinsman, the Earl of Annandale, and settled there.

He married Jane, daughter of John Scott, of Colefadd [sic], in Scotland, of the house of Buccleuch, and was father of

JOHN CAIRNES, of Parsonstown (Knockmany or Cecil), County Tyrone, MP for Augher, 1639-40, who wedded Jane, daughter of Dr James Miller, of Millheugh, Lanarkshire, and had issue,

ALEXANDER, of whom presently;

William;

Henry;

Frances; Mary.

The eldest son,

ALEXANDER CAIRNES (1665-1732), who espoused, in 1697/8, Elizabeth, daughter of John Gould, and sister Sir of Nathaniel Gould, Knight, of Newington, Middlesex, by whom he had issue, an only daughter and heiress,

MARY CAIRNES, married to Cadwallader, 7th Baron Blayney, but dsp.

Alexander Cairnes, MP for Monaghan Borough, 1710-13, County Monaghan, 1713-27, Monaghan Borough, 1727-32, was created a baronet in 1708, designated of Monaghan.

Sir Alexander died at Dublin, 1732, and leaving no son, the title passed under the limitation to his brother,

Sir Henry Cairnes, 2nd Baronet, MP

SIR HENRY CAIRNES, 2nd Baronet (1673-1743), of Monaghan, MP for Monaghan Borough, 1733-43, who wedded, in 1711, Frances, daughter of John Gould, of Hackney, Middlesex, brother of Sir Nathaniel Gould; but died without issue, in 1743, when the baronetcy expired.

First published in April, 2022.

Dromana House

THE VILLIERS-STUARTS WERE THE SECOND LARGEST LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY WATERFORD, WITH 30,882 ACRES

LORD HENRY STUART (1777-1809), third son of John, 1st Marquess of Bute, married, in 1802, the Lady Gertrude Amelia Mason-Villiers, only daughter and heir of George, 2nd Earl Grandison, of Dromana, and had issue,

HENRY, his heir;
William;
Charles;
Gertrude Anelia.

Lord Henry was succeeded by his eldest son,

THE RT HON HENRY STUART (1803-74), of Dromana, County Waterford, Privy Counsellor, MP for Banbury, 1830-1, Colonel, Waterford Militia, who was alleged to have wedded, in 1826, Theresia Pauline Ott, and had issue, an only child,

HENRY WINDSOR.

Mr Stuart, Lord-Lieutenant of County Waterford, 1831-74, was elevated to the peerage, 1839, in the dignity of BARON STUART DE DECIES, of Dromana, within the Decies, County Waterford.

He added the surname of VILLIERS to his name in 1822.

Without a lawful heir, the peerage expired following Lord Stuart de Decies's decease in 1874.

His only son,

THE HON HENRY WINDSOR VILLIERS-STUART JP DL (1827-95), of Dromana-within-the-Decies, County Waterford, MP for County Waterford, 1873-85, Vice Lord-Lieutenant of County Waterford, 1871-73, High Sheriff of County Waterford, 1889, wedded, in 1865, Mary, second daughter of the Ven. Ambrose Power, Archdeacon of Lismore, fourth son of Sir John Power Bt, and had issue,

HENRY CHARLES WINDSOR, his heir;
Gerald;
Maurice Ambrose;
Horace Gervase;
Patrick;
Mary Therese; Gertrude Gwendoline; May; Winifred Frances.

Mr Villiers-Stuart was the author of Nile Gleanings, Egypt After the War, and other works; and was commissioned by the Government in 1882 to visit Egypt, and report upon the condition of the populace after the Battle of Tel-el-Kebir.

His eldest son,

HENRY CHARLES WINDSOR VILLIERS-STUART JP (1867-1908), of Dromana, High Sheriff of County Waterford, 1898, espoused, in 1895, Grace Frances, only daughter of J A R Newman DL, of Dromore House, County Cork, and had issue,

ION HENRY FITZGERALD, his heir;
Geraldine Mary; Nesta Mona.

Mr Villiers-Stuart was succeeded by his son,

ION HENRY FITZGERALD VILLIERS-STUART (1900-48), of Dromana, who wedded, in 1928, Elspeth Richardson, and was succeeded by his only son,

JAMES HENRY ION VILLIERS-STUART (1928-2004), of Dromana, who married, in 1952, Emily Constance Lanfear, daughter of Major Charles Plenderleath Graham, and had issue,

Caroline Elspeth, b 1955;
Barbara Emily, b 1955.

THE MEDIEVAL CASTLE of Dromana occupied a spectacular site, high above the River Blackwater.From the 13th century onwards this was the seat of the FitzGeralds, Lords of the Decies, a junior branch of the Earls of Desmond.

In the 1670s the FitzGerald heiress, Katherine, the ‘Lady of the Decies’, ward to CHARLES II, married Colonel Villiers, son of Lord Grandison.

Their descendants succeeded as the Earls Grandison until 1800, when the only child of the 2nd Earl (of the second creation) married Lord Henry Stuart, younger son of Lord Bute. 

Their son was subsequently created Lord Stuart de Decies, a title that recalled his long family connection with the region. 

The castle of Dromana was attacked and damaged in the wars of the 1640s and 50s, though its base can still be identified from the river, and indeed is still inhabited. 

About 1700, instead of rebuilding the castle, two new ranges were built at right angles to one another along the courtyard walls. 

Both were simple gable-ended two storey structures, possibly just intended for occasional occupation, their only decoration being a robust, pedimented block-and-start door case in the manner of James Gibbs.

Work on a larger new house commenced in about 1780, directly in front of the longer 1700s range.

The principal façade was of two storey and nine bays, quite plain, with a parapet and a rather curious segmental-headed armorial doorcase.

The river façade contained a shallow double-height bow and was actually an extension of the smaller 1700s range.

Together these three buildings faithfully followed the line of the original bawn or courtyard.

The interior was elaborately fitted out for Lord Stuart in the 1840s, with a suite of very grand reception rooms and a massive imperial staircase but by the 1960s Dromana had become something of a white elephant.

The estate was sold and subdivided, and the house bought by a cousin who demolished the 1780s block and reduced it to more manageable proportions.

Happily, James Villiers-Stuart was able to repurchase the house in the 1980s.

His widow Emily still lives there, along with her daughter and family.

The Dromana demesne extends to 600 acres.

The steeply sloping riverbanks are covered with oak woods and the important mid-eighteenth century garden layout, with its follies, the Rock House and the Bastion, is currently being restored.

To the north of the estate, on a bridge across the River Finisk, is the renowned Hindu-Gothic lodge, originally erected to welcome the owner and his bride on their return from honeymoon in 1826.

They were so taken with this temporary structure in the latest Brighton Pavilion mode, that they had it rebuilt in more durable materials.

The most notable person associated with Dromana was Katherine, Dowager Countess of Desmond.

Born a daughter of the house, she died there in 1604, supposedly from falling out of a cherry tree at the reputed age of 140, having allegedly worn out three natural sets of teeth.

Another remarkable man was Lord Stuart de Decies himself, a Protestant aristocrat and large landowner with radical views.

As a young man he defeated the Waterford establishment in the famous 1826 election to give Daniel O'Connell and the Catholic Emancipation movement their first Member of Parliament.

First published in October, 2011.   SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY: THE DROMANA HOUSE WEBSITE.

Ballyedmond Castle

THE LORD BALLYEDMOND, OBE, AND THREE OTHERS PERISHED IN A HELICOPTER CRASH ON THURSDAY, 13TH MARCH, 2014, CLOSE TO HIS NORFOLK RESIDENCE, GILLINGHAM HALL. 

Ballyedmond Castle, near Rostrevor, is the County Down residence of the Lady Ballyedmond.

The demesne lies within the Mourne Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

An earlier house is shown on the site on Taylor and Skinner’s map of 1777.

This house was built by a Mr Pollock and was owned in 1806 by Mrs Hamilton when her niece, Maria Edgeworth, visited it.

It was described in an 1836 Ordnance Survey Memoir as a “good plain two storey house with additions and in good order,” the residence of Alexander Stewart.

Ballyedmond Castle Hotel

It is believed by Major Reside that this house was demolished in 1848 and that Stewart built the current house the following year.

The architect was reputedly Sir Charles Lanyon, although no documentary evidence has been found to substantiate this claim.

However some of the details, e.g. tower, turret, corbel heads and window openings, are very similar to those of the Lanyon building at Queen’s University, Belfast, which is contemporary.

It is shown in its present form (without ballroom wing) on an 1859 map.

Ballyedmond House was sold to Mr Kelly Patterson ca 1880, who subsequently sold it to a Mr Douglas.

It was raided in the 1920s by Irish republicans searching for concealed UVF guns.

It is said that the garden terraces were constructed with compensation money the family was awarded for damage incurred to floors during the IRA raid.

The house was occupied during the 2nd World War by the United States Air Force, who constructed a camp (now gone) in the demesne.

In 1966 it was sold to Harris Hotels Ltd and converted into a ten-bedroom hotel at a cost of about £100,000 (£1.6 million in today's money).

The hotel was fire-bombed in a terrorist attack in 1979.

It remained a gutted shell until it was purchased by Dr Edward Haughey in the mid-80s.

Dr Haughey was created a life peer in 2004, as BARON BALLYEDMOND, of Mourne, County Down.

Restoration on the present mansion began about 1987.

In the past (before the construction of the present Killowen Road), the demesne extended further north than it does today and was bounded by the Killowen Old Road.

The original drive still remains between the Killowen Road (opposite the present front gates) and the Killowen Old Road entrance.

No architect was employed in the 1987 refurbishment; the most recent plans were executed by local craftsmen.

The grand staircase from Robinson & Cleaver’s Belfast department store dates from 1886-8 and was built by Robinson & Son of York Street, Belfast, to designs by Young and Mackenzie.

The original house (above) was a ca 1855 Victorian Tudor-Baronial mansion, with pointed gables, mullioned windows; a battlemented tower and conical-roofed turret.

Two gate lodges, since demolished, pre-dated the house and were built for Alexander Stewart.

In the 1870s the demesne extended to 347 acres.

One advertisement boasted of the former hotel as being

"Set amid acres of private parkland and terraced gardens with magnificent views over Carlingford Lough ... is one of the most luxurious in Northern Ireland; beautifully appointed apartments all with private bathroom, telephone, television and radio offer a high standard of comfort to the most discerning guest. Finest cuisine and wines."

The much altered mid-19th century mansion was in a splendid position between the Mourne Mountains and Carlingford Lough.

An even earlier house, Fort Hamilton, was visited and commented on by Maria Edgeworth in 1806.

According to the report in the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of 1836, the garden was "neat."

The surrounding 200 acre demesne had mature deciduous shelter and parkland trees and later conifer additions, included when the park was extended to the west.

The site is exposed to winds coming across the lough but otherwise the climate is mild.

The gardens today have undergone extensive landscaping since 1988, on a 19th century framework.

Terraces on the south side of the house are linked by steps that lead to features at a lower level, where the lay-out is arranged in compartments on a circular theme.

The Lord and Lady Ballyedmond at Ballyedmond Castle

The north side of the present residence has balustrading at the carriage drive and ornamental planting since the 1980s.

The three-sided walled garden is cultivated, with a glasshouse.

The two aforesaid pre-1834 gate lodges, which belonged to the earlier house, have gone.

First published in July, 2011.

The Ireland Lake

Pomeroy Demesne: Historic OS map of 1838-62

I recently visited the marvellous Pomeroy forest park. 

The villagers of Pomeroy are indeed fortunate to have it, especially since the local council is developing the existing trails, particularly the Renardine Trail, which is being transformed into a "children’s magical storybook adventure trail with iconic sculptures, interactive fun/art pieces and natural inclusive play areas."

A handsome new visitor centre has been built on the site of the 1960s forestry school and, before that, Pomeroy House.

Pomeroy House, by the way, was a mere eighty feet from the extant stable-yard; very regrettably the big house was demolished about 1970, like so many others in Northern Ireland that the forestry service discarded.

I spent four hours exploring the forest park, examining various locations, including the outbuildings, former sheep-wash, kennels, farm-yard, and the Alexander Vault.

I searched in vain, however, for a lake or pond in the shape of Ireland.

The Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, dated 1837, remarks:-

"In the demesne, which consists of 556 acres, is a small lake, the borders of which resemble in shape the coast of Ireland, on a scale of about one foot to a mile."

Whereas the present Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesne of Special Historic Interest in Northern Ireland states:-

"In the south-west section of the park, flanking the west avenue, were a series of three inter-linked artificial lakes, which was fed from water from the north-east. According to Samuel Lewis in 1837 the main lake was made in the shape of Ireland at a scale of 1- inch to 1-mile and stated by him to lie adjacent to 'an abundant' spring; this lake remains as a shallow boggy area enclosed in what is now coniferous woodland."

I have studied several historic maps of Pomeroy Demesne.

I could not see any lake or pond in the map of 1829-35; in the next version, however, dated 1838-62, there are what could have been a few lakes at one time, including a larger one that vaguely resembles the coast of Ireland.

It's a boggy area, and by 1900 these ponds or lakes had vanished from the map, though the location is marked Lake Wood and Town Bog.

I am convinced that, if there was ever an Ireland-shaped lake, the boggy area to the south-west of the mansion house contained it; especially given that it is marked as Lake Wood on a map.

Cabin Hill

CABIN HILL COMPRISED 39 ACRES OF LAND DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA

CABIN HILL, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, is a fairly large and considerably extended two-to-four storey house, built around a sandstone Tudor-Revival gentleman’s residence of ca 1860, itself extended in similar style ca 1903-5.

A large, modern, flat-roofed, four-storey, rendered block was added to the rear by the school in 1946 with an adjacent, equally large and equally modern, brick wing of about 1980.

When it was built, Cabin Hill was originally closer to the village of Dundonald - or, indeed, Knock - than the city of Belfast.

This small farm in the townland of Ballycloghan was adjacent to the Belmont estate and the Clelands' Stormont estate.

The name Cabin Hill refers to a farmhouse built in 1786-7 by Samuel McTier and his wife, Martha (née Drennan), on a small parcel of land they had acquired for £50 (about £6,700 today).

The house itself, as the name implies, was a single storey, thatched farmhouse; however, a painting of 1847 shows that, by the standards of the day, it had a fairly prosperous appearance, being relatively large and prosperous looking ~ not the "cabin" one might have expected.

After Samuel McTier's death in 1795, Martha continued to use Cabin Hill as a country retreat, being joined on frequent occasions by her brother, the Belfast radical and founder of the United Irishmen, Dr William Drennan.

Historic map of Cabin Hill ca 1830

Drennan died in 1820 and Martha in 1837; however, the property appears to have been disposed of some time before the latter date, for in the 1833 valuation it is recorded as the home of a Mr Tomb.

David Tomb was connected with the Batesons in Belfast, and acquired considerable property in the neighbourhood. His sons were Henry Joy Tomb (d 1840), a Belfast merchant, and George Tomb QC. 

Benn believes that the Tombs were amongst the oldest families in Belfast. Henry Joy Tomb was a brother to the first wife of the Rev Dr Drummond.

By 1852, it had been acquired by John Dinnen, a Belfast solicitor.

Dinnen appears to have retained the original house for some years, though, by 1861, a new, much larger building appears to have been built.

This new dwelling, a two-storey gentleman's villa in the Tudor-Revival style, remained in possession of Dinnen's descendants until 1903, when it was acquired by Robert James McMordie QC, Lord Mayor of Belfast.

About 1903-5, McMordie greatly extended the house by adding the large section to the eastern side and the new entrance conservatory, all to designs by Hugh Brown.

Mr McMordie died at Cabin Hill in 1914.

Between 1920 and 1922, his widow leased the property to Sir James Craig Bt (afterwards 1st Viscount Craigavon), the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

Several cabinet meetings were held at the house.

In 1924-25, McMordie's widow sold Cabin Hill to Campbell College, which converted it for use as their preparatory school.

Ca 1935, the school added a porter's lodge to the main gateway and, in 1946, the large four storey modern style wing was added to the rear of the main building itself.

Further separate classrooms were built to the north east side of the building in 1973, with a further modernist extension added to the main school later.

These books give no indication of major building work at Cabin Hill between 1864 and the McMordie extension of ca 1903-5, suggesting that the original section of the Tudor Revival house is pre 1864.

Cabin Hill was for sale in April, 2021.

It is currently (2026) being redeveloped into a new residential community featuring private detached homes and two and three-bedroom apartments.

First published in May, 2014.