THE McNEILES, OF PARKMOUNT, OWNED 7,011 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ANTRIM
It had a six-bay front, with a single-storey Ionic portico.
Coupled columns were added later.
There were also Ionic loggias at the end of the house.
The portico was subsequently glazed and the loggia filled in with a one-storey projection.
The roof had a lofty, solid parapet.
To one side there was a substantial Victorian conservatory running parallel with the front of the house, though set back.
This concealed a lower service wing to the rear.
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| Parkmount ca 1832 |
Parkmount was originally (c1666) a hunting-lodge or country residence of the Chichesters, Earls (later Marquesses) of Donegall.
The district now known as and called Oldpark should not be confused with the New Park, formed by the Lord Deputy's nephew, Arthur, 1st Earl of Donegall, which is recorded as having been in process of formation in 1666. It extended in an easterly direction from the Cave Hill towards Belfast Lough, terminating at Parkmount.Thereafter it was acquired by Thomas Ludford.
This lodge was rebuilt ca 1796 by Hugh Cairns:
Mary Harriet, wife of 1ST EARL CAIRNS, was the eldest daughter of John McNeile, who purchased Parkmount from Captain William Cairns ca 1828.The finest house on this road, or perhaps in the parish, is Parkmount, built by the late Mr Cairns, on or near the site of a residence, or hunting lodge, formerly belonging to the Donegall family.
The McNeiles were of the same family as the Very Rev Hugh Boyd McNeile, Dean of Ripon, whose brother John (1788-1855), a banker, had made his fortune in South America.
John McNeile, DL, was married to Charlotte Lavinia Dallas, daughter of Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Dallas GCB.
They continued to reside at Parkmount for most of the 19th century; while the Cairnses moved to Cultra, County Down, at the opposite side of Belfast Lough.
In 1905, SIR ROBERT ANDERSON, first and last Baronet, bought Parkmount from the McNeiles.
Parkmount House was demolished in 1932.
First published in May, 2013.
3 comments :
Thanks for this info. Sitting outside my old house I grew up in as a toddler on Parkmount Road and just Googled the name. So now I know what the street was named after!
I am sorry but I do not know if I had succeeded in sending the following message.....
My Dearest Lord Belmont -
My great great grand uncle Samuel Riddle, Sr the son of Leander Riddell emigrated from his family's estate at Parkmount, Belfast in 1823...
The estate that he thereupon established in Glen Riddle, Delaware County, Pennsylvania was named Parkmount after his family's estate in Belfast...
He also established the Riddle textile mills in Glen Riddle and was the father of Samuel Doyle Riddle...the owner of the race horse Man O War...and married my great grand aunt Elizabeth Dobson...the daughter of John Dobson...my great great grandfather and the founder of the once immense Dobson textile mills in Philadelphia..
Could you tell us how the Riddle/Riddell family fits into the story of Parkmount in Belfast...??..
Sincerely..
Elizabeth Dobson Jeffords
Dromore, Tyrone & Denver, Colorado
I'm researching my family tree. My great-great uncle Benjamin Ledger Firth 1856 - 1916 was a publican in Belfast. The family lived in Cyprus street and he died in Park Mount, Cyprus Park. I'm presuming this was a public house. Does anyone know anything about it please?
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