Kilmood Vicarage

The Vicarage (Image: Rev Dr Stanley Gamble, Vicar of Kilmood)

The Rev Dr Stanley Gamble has sent me a photograph of the vicarage, parish of Kilmood, County Down.

This handsome glebe house was built in 1825, partly by a gift of £415 [about £40,000 in 2020] from the patrons, Lord Downshire and Mr Gordon, and a loan of £129 from the Board of First Fruits.

The Gordon Family, in consideration of getting the alternate presentation, gave 10 acres of land as a glebe, and endowed the vicarage with a rent charge of £40 payable out of their estate of Florida.

The Vicarage, Kilmood, 2021 (Image: Anon)

This is a lofty dwelling, with two storeys over a basement; its main entrance at a protruding porch on a side gable.

Georgian sash windows enhance its appearance.

The other side of the house has a single-storey extension, thought to have been used as storage.

The Rev Thomas Tenison was possibly the first incumbent to reside in the vicarage; followed by the Rev Frederick Flood.

Side Porch at the Vicarage, 2021 (Image: Anon)

It is thought that the property continued to serve as the vicarage until ca 1923, when the parish of Kilmood (and Tullynakill) united with that of Killinchy.

The old vicarage is located at Ballybunden Road, about a mile outside Kilmood.

First published in April, 2021.