Crevenagh House

THE AUCHINLECKS OWNED 2,616 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY TYRONE

IN MEMORY OF FIELD-MARSHAL SIR CLAUDE JOHN EYRE AUCHINLECK GCB GCIE CSI DSO OBE

THE REV JAMES AUCHINLECK (1646-c1685), Rector of Cleenish, County Fermanagh, married Margaret Keith, and had issue (with others who died young),

JAMES, of whom presently;
William;
Alexander;
Katherine; Margaret; Jean.

The Rev James Auchinleck was succeeded by his son,

JAMES AUCHINLECK (1675-1746), of Thomastown, County Fermanagh, who wedded, ca 1698, Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel James Corry MP, of Castle Coole, and had, with other issue (who died young),

JAMES, his heir;
Alexander;
Rebecca; Margaret; Mary; Sarah; Elizabeth.

The elder son,

JAMES AUCHINLECK (1704-52), of Thomastown, married, in 1734, Susanna, daughter of John Corry, of Lisanock, and had issue,

Leslie;
Armar;
James;
John;
William;
George;
Corry;
ALEXANDER, of whom presently;
Anketell (Rev);
Elizabeth; Sarah.

Mr Auchinleck's eighth son,

THE REV ALEXANDER AUCHINLECK (1749-1833), of Castle Lodge, and Mullans, Fintona, County Tyrone, Rector of Rossory, wedded, in 1784, Jane, daughter of James Corry Eccles, of Shannock, County Fermanagh, and had issue,

James Eccles (Rev);
William;
John (Rev), grandfather of FIELD-MARSHAL SIR CLAUDE AUCHINLECK;
DANIEL ECCLES, of whom presently;
Anna.

The youngest son,

DANIEL ECCLES AUCHINLECK (1797-1849), of Crevenagh, espoused, in 1833, Elizabeth Dorothea, daughter of the Rev Thomas Lindsay Stack JP, Rector of Badony, and had issue,

THOMAS his heir;
William Lowry, Brigadier-General;
Daniel;
Margaret; Anna.

The eldest son,

THOMAS AUCHINLECK JP DL (1837-93), of Crevenagh, and Shannock Green, County Fermanagh, Major, Royal Tyrone Fusiliers, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1872, married, in 1868, Jane, daughter of George Henry Loxdale, of Grassendale, Liverpool, and had issue,

DANIEL GEORGE HAROLD, his heir;
Bessie Sarah; Norah Lilian Loxdale.

Major Auchinleck was succeeded by his son,

DANIEL GEORGE HAROLD AUCHINLECK (1877-1914), of Crevenagh, Captain, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, who wedded, in 1902, Charlotte Madeleine, only daughter of Robert Scott, of Dungannon, County Tyrone, and had issue, an only son, ROBERT PATRICK AUCHINLECK, who died in infancy, 1906.

Captain Auchinleck was killed in action during the 1st World War.

*****

CREVENAGH was eventually to be inherited by Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Reginald Auchinleck Darling JP (1897-1958), who fought in the 1st World War; was commissioned in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers; fought in the 2nd World War, 1939-43, when he retired due to ill-health.

His eldest son,

Gerald Ralph Auchinleck Darling RD QC DL (1921-96), was educated at Harrow; was an officer in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve; fought in the Second World War; was Fleet Fighter Pilot and Test Pilot Eastern Fleet; Chief Test Pilot, British Pacific Fleet.

On the death of his father in 1958 he had inherited Crevenagh House, near Omagh, where, from his school days, he had spent many happy holidays with his extended family. 

He was proud of his descent from the Auchinleck family who had always lived there, and resolved to maintain it as a family home despite his ties to life in London (in his London office there was a Donegal landscape and a map showing the wartime achievements of Ulster).

In 1990 he became a Deputy Lieutenant of County Tyrone and, in 1993, High Sheriff. 

In his obsequies address, the Right Rev Brian Hannon, Bishop of Clogher, paid tribute to Gerald Darling's contribution to the work of Edenderry parish, where he had served as parish secretary.

The Bishop related how, before a major court appearance, Darling would ease the tension by thinking of his favourite spots on the river, the snipe bogs and the mountains of Tyrone.

Strangely, after a lifetime of trout-fishing, he caught his first salmon only in 1995.

One of his family remembers the fishing picnics in childhood - "as, unfortunately, a mizzly day is good for fishing, the picnics were often rather damp affairs".

But that was balanced by the warmth of bedtime stories in the family flat in the Middle Temple where it is said the family below, willy-nilly, added to the appreciative audience for Darling's dramatic readings of Winnie the Pooh. 

He would, friends say, have been equally at home as a farmer, taking great pride in his forestry and Belted Galloway cattle and never more at home than working in ragged jeans with his chainsaw.

A permanent record of Gerald Darling his distinction as a lawyer will be his contribution to that definitive work, Halsbury's Laws of England (Admiralty and Ship Collisions), the third edition of 1952. 

In 1992 he was made an Honorary Bencher of the Northern Ireland Bar.

Born at Erganagh, Co Tyrone, 8th December, 1921; called to the Bar, Middle Temple 1950, Bencher 1972, Treasurer 1991; Barrister, Northern Ireland 1957, Honorary Bencher 1992; RD 1967; QC 1967; member, Panel of Lloyd's Arbitrators in Salvage Cases 1967-78, Appeal Arbitrator 1978-91; member, Panel of Wreck Commissioners 1967-96; QC, Hong Kong 1968; Judge, Admiralty Court of the Cinque Ports 1979-96; trustee, Royal Naval Museum 1985-90; Lloyd's Silver Medal 1991; married 1954 Susan Hobbs (one son, one daughter); died Londonderry 13 September 1996.

Photo Credit: Gordon Dunn

CREVENAGH HOUSE, near Omagh, County Tyrone, is a two-storey house built ca 1820 by Daniel Eccles Auchinleck, great-uncle of Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck. 

It has a three-bay entrance front with Wyatt windows in both storeys and a projecting porch.

The side is also of three bays.

A lower, two-storey range was subsequently added by Auchinleck's son, Major Thomas Auchinleck, behind the original block and parallel with it.

Photo Credit: Stephen Paskin

The principal rooms in the main block have fine plasterwork ceilings; while the hall floor is of mosaic depicting the Seven Ages of Man.

There are doors made of mahogany from the Auchinleck family plantations in Demerara.

The surrounding parkland is of the same age as the house, graced by mature parkland trees and clumps of rhododendron.

Shelter woods of mature trees are maintained to the north, south and west.

The walled garden is part-cultivated, having three walled sides and one of water.

The farm buildings are listed and there is a gate lodge in good condition.

First published in November, 2010.