Donard Spa House

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The Picturesque Handbook To Carlingford Bay, published in 1846, is dedicated to HRH Prince Albert, Patron of Carlingford Lough Regatta.

It contains intriguing information about Lord Annesley's "maritime residence", DONARD LODGE, Newcastle, County Down, and its surrounding demesne:-

"The eye is wearied with the gorgeous display of commingled beauties lavished around by Nature and Art."

"This great range of mountains, upon whose chief we stand, extend their domain from the bay of Dundrum, westward, to the bay of Carlingford, about fourteen miles in length and eleven in breadth; and are principally composed of granite, flanked by greenstone, hornblende, and the slate formations."

"About half a mile above Newcastle, on the side of Slieve Donard, is the celebrated Spa, of whose waters we partook rather freely, and paid the penalty of our temerity in a night's severe sickness."

"Descending from the Spa House, we pass Donard Lodge, the picturesque seat of the young [4th] Earl Annesley, and of his mother, the Countess Annesley [née Priscilla Cecilia Moore]; a spot of rarest charms, which wealth and taste have converted, as with an enchanter's wand, from a sterile waste, into an Eden of perpetual beauty."

"At the extremity of the delicious gardens in front of the Lodge, which slope gently down towards the sea, we enter the small sea-port and romantic, healthful bathing residence of Newcastle."

First published in July, 2019.