Portglenone House

THE ALEXANDERS OWNED 4,215 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ANTRIM

The elder branch of this family was ennobled, in 1663, by the title of EARL OF STIRLING, in the person of WILLIAM ALEXANDER, of Menstrie, Clackmannanshire. The name of ALEXANDER was assumed from the Christian name of its founder, Alexander Macdonald, of Menstrie. This branch, on removing into Ireland, adopted into the family shield the Canton charged with the Harp of Ireland, and settled at Limavady, County Londonderry.

JOHN ALEXANDER, of Eridy, County Donegal, 1610, had issue,

ANDREW, his heir;
John;
Archibald;
William;
Robert.

The eldest son, 

THE REV DR ANDREW ALEXANDER, of Eridy, married Dorothea, daughter of the Rev James Caulfeild, and had issue, 

CAPTAIN ANDREW ALEXANDER, of Derry, who wedded firstly, Miss Philips, daughter of Sir Thomas Philips, and had issue, JACOB.

He espoused secondly, Miss Hillhouse, daughter of the Laird of Hilles, and had another son,

JOHN ALEXANDER (c1670-1747), of Ballyclose, County Londonderry, and of Gunsland, County Donegal, who married Anne, daughter of John White, and had issue,

William;
NATHANIEL, of whom hereafter;
John;
Martha.

The second son,

NATHANIEL ALEXANDER (1689-1761), of Gunsland, Alderman of Londonderry, 1755, who married Elizabeth, daughter of William McClintock, of Dunore, County Donegal, and had issue,

William, of London; barrister; d 1774;
John;
Nathaniel;
ROBERT, of whom we treat;
James, created EARL OF CALEDON;
Mary Jane; Rebecca; Elizabeth; Ann; Jane.

The fourth surviving son, 

ROBERT ALEXANDER (1722-90), of Boom Hall, wedded, in 1759, Anne, daughter of Henry McCullogh, and had issue,

NATHANIEL, his heir;
Henry, of Boom Hall;
William, Lieutenant-General;
James;
Joseph Josias Du Pré;
Elizabeth; Jane; Anne; Rebecca; Dorothea.

Mr Alexander was succeeded by his eldest son,

THE RT REV AND RT HON NATHANIEL ALEXANDER (1760-1840), of Portglenone House, Lord Bishop of Meath, Privy Counsellor, who wedded, in 1785, Anne, daughter of the Rt Hon Richard Jackson MP, of Coleraine, and had issue,

Richard Jackson;
ROBERT, of whom we treat;
James;
Nathaniel;
Henry;
George;
William Stuart;
Anne; Elizabeth Rebecca; Henrietta Frances; Jane Mary.

His second son,

THE VEN DR ROBERT ALEXANDER (1788-1840), Archdeacon of Down, married firstly, in 1813, Catherine, daughter of Rt Hon John Staples and Hon Henrietta Molesworth, and had issue,

NATHANIEL, his heir;
John Staples;
Robert, father of ROBERT ARTHUR MALONEY ALEXANDER;
George William;
Harriet Catherine; Alicia Anne; Louisa Maria; Mary Jane;
Grace Frances; Melosine Elizabeth Charlotte; Catherine Staples.

Dr Alexander married secondly, in 1837, Hester Helena, daughter of Colonel Alexander McManus, but had no further issue.

The Archdeacon was succeeded by his eldest son,

NATHANIEL ALEXANDER (1815-53), of Portglenone House, MP for County Antrim, 1841-52, who espoused, in 1842, Florinda, daughter of Richard Boyle Bagley, and had issue,

ROBERT JACKSON, his heir;
JOHN STAPLES, succeeded his brother.

Mr Alexander was succeeded by his elder son,

ROBERT JACKSON ALEXANDER JP DL (1843-84), of Portglenone House, High Sheriff of County Londonderry, 1870, County Antrim, 1875, who died unmarried, and was succeeded by his brother,

JOHN STAPLES ALEXANDER JP DL (1844-1901), of Portglenone House, Lieutenant RN, who died unmarried, and was succeeded by his cousin,

ROBERT CHRISTOPHER ALEXANDER JP DL (1900-68), of Portglenone House, Major, Irish Guards, High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1938 (son of Robert Arthur Moloney Alexander), who married, in 1933, Laura Ina Madeline, daughter of Edward Fraser Lenox-Conyngham.

Major Alexander died without issue.

Portglenone House comprises a square, late-Georgian block of three storeys over a basement.

It was built in 1823 by the Rt Rev Nathaniel Alexander.

The house has a three-bay front, the central bay being recessed.

There is a fine classical hall, with a screen of columns separating it from the corridor and stairs.

The columns, subtle mushroom pink marble with stone capitals of Adam's "Dioclesian" order, were originally at Ballyscullion, along with some the the house's chimney-pieces.

In 1850, a wing was added by Nathaniel Alexander MP, containing a new staircase lit by a stained-glass dome.

The entrance front was also given a large porch and Ionic porte-cochere.

The main rooms were enhanced with cornices and heavy moulded door-cases in the form of aedicules.

Portglenone House was sold by Major Alexander in 1948 and is now part of Our Lady of Bethlehem Abbey, run as a guest-house.

The guest house provides for those who wish to make private retreats, and can cater for groups who seek to make days of recollection. As such, it does not function as a B&B, nor as a half-board hotel. Guests are encouraged to enter into the silence and solitude which characterize the monastic life in this place, and to take the opportunity for spiritual renewal which is offered.

Portglenone House is set in parkland by the River Bann.

An earlier house in the vicinity is recorded.

The present house now forms part of the Abbey, which also has further buildings added from 1962 in the grounds.

This includes the Our Lady of Bethlehem Abbey, which was built in 1948 to the designs of Patrick Murray.

Part of the gardens are private for the monks (the walled garden); parts are ornamental grounds for the Abbey; and parts are cultivated for organic vegetables.

There are mature trees in the remnants of former parkland, an ice house, the Bishop’s Well and two 19th century gate lodges.

Within the walls, part of the demesne is administered by the Department of Agriculture as a forest, which was planted from the 1950s.

There is public access and paths are laid out.

In a glade in the forest there is a commemorative plot to Augustine Henry, who was reputedly born nearby.

It was laid out in 1969 with examples of some of the plants that he discovered or introduced from the far east.

First published in August, 2012.

Antrim Castle

THE VISCOUNTS MASSEREENE AND FERRARD WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY ANTRIM, WITH 11,778 ACRES

SIR WILLIAM SKEFFINGTON (c1467-1535), Knight, who was appointed by HENRY VIII, in 1529, His Majesty's Commissioner to Ireland, arrived there in the August of that year, empowered to restrain the exactions of the soldiers, to call a parliament, and to provide that the possessions of the clergy might be subject to bear their part of the public expense. Sir William was subsequently a very distinguished politician in Ireland, and died in the government of that kingdom as Lord Deputy, 1535.

His great-grandson,

JOHN SKEFFINGTON, of FISHERWICK, Staffordshire, married Alice, seventh daughter of Sir Thomas Cave, of Stamford, and was father of

SIR WILLIAM SKEFFINGTON, Knight, of Fisherwick, who was created a baronet in 1627, designated of Fisherwick, Staffordshire.

He married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Dering, and had issue,

JOHN, 2nd Baronet, whose son WILLIAM, 3rd Baronet, dsp;
RICHARD, 4th Baronet;
Elizabeth; Cicely; Mary; Hesther; Lettice; Alice.

The second son,

SIR RICHARD SKEFFINGTON, was father of

SIR JOHN SKEFFINGTON, 5th Baronet, who wedded MARY, only daughter and heir of

SIR JOHN CLOTWORTHY, who, in reward for his valuable services in promoting the restoration of CHARLES II, was created, in 1660, Baron Lough Neagh and VISCOUNT MASSEREENE, both in County Antrim; with remainder, on failure of his male issue, to his son-in-law, Sir John Skeffington, husband of his only daughter MARY, and his male issue by the said Mary, and failing such, to the heirs-general of Sir John Clotworthy.

Sir John Clotworthy (Image: Clotworthy House)

His lordship died in 1665, and the honours devolved, according to the reversionary proviso, upon the said

SIR JOHN SKEFFINGTON, 2nd Viscount (1632-95), MP for County Antrim, 1692-3, Governor of Londonderry, 1699, who married, in 1654, Mary, only daughter and heir of John, 1st Viscount Massereene, by whom he had issue (with three daughters), a sole surviving son,

CLOTWORTHY, 3rd Viscount (1661-1714), who married, in 1684, Rachael, daughter of Sir Edward Hungerford KB, of Farley Castle, Wiltshire, and had issue,

CLOTWORTHY, his successor;
Jane, m Sir Hans Hamilton Bt;
Rachael, m Randal, 4th Earl of Antrim;
Mary, m Rt Rev Edward Smyth, Lord Bishop of Down and Connor.

His lordship was succeeded by his son,

CLOTWORTHY, 4th Viscount, who wedded, in 1713, the Lady Catherine Chichester, eldest daughter of Arthur, 4th Earl of Donegall, and had issue,

CLOTWORTHY, his successor;
Arthur, MP for Co Antrim;
John, in holy orders;
Hungerford;
Hugh;
Catharine; Rachael.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

CLOTWORTHY, 5th Viscount (1715-57), who was advanced to an earldom, in 1756, in the dignity of EARL OF MASSEREENE.

1st Earl of Massereene (Image: Sotheby's)

His lordship wedded, in 1738, Anne, eldest daughter of the Very Rev Richard Daniel, Dean of Down; and secondly, in 1741, Elizabeth, only daughter and heir of Henry Eyre, of Rowter, Derbyshire, and had issue,

CLOTWORTHY, 2nd Earl;
HENRY, 3rd Earl;
William, Constable of Dublin Castle;
John;
CHICHESTER, 4th Earl;
Alexander;
Elizabeth, m Robert, 1st Earl of Leitrim;
Catharine, m Francis, 1st Earl of Landaff.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

CLOTWORTHY, 2nd Earl (1743-1805), who married, though having no male issue the family honours devolved upon his brother,

HENRY, 3rd Earl, Governor of the City of Cork, who died unmarried in 1811, and was succeeded by his only surviving brother,

CHICHESTER, 4th Earl, who wedded, in 1780, Harriet, eldest daughter of Robert, 1st Earl of Roden, and had issue,

HARRIET, VISCOUNTESS MASSEREENE.

The 4th Earl died in 1816, when the earldom expired; but the viscountcy of Massereene and barony of Loughneagh devolved upon his only daughter and sole heiress,

HARRIET, VISCOUNTESS MASSEREENE, who married, in 1810, Thomas Henry, Viscount Ferrard, by whom she had issue,

JOHN, VISCOUNT MASSEREENE AND FERRARD (1812-63).

• Clotworthy John Skeffington, 11th Viscount Massereene, 4th Viscount Ferrard (1842–1905) - 1870 Married Florence Elizabeth Whyte-Melville, only daughter of Major George John Whyte-Melville, the Victorian sporting novelist, and great granddaughter of the 5th Duke of Leeds.
• Algernon William John Clotworthy Skeffington, 12th Viscount Massereene, 5th Viscount Ferrard (1873–1956)
• John Clotworthy Talbot Foster Whyte-Melville-Skeffington, 13th Viscount Massereene, 6th Viscount Ferrard (1914–1992)
• John David Clotworthy Whyte-Melville Foster Skeffington, 14th Viscount Massereene, 7th Viscount Ferrard (born 1940)

The heir apparent is the present holder's son the Hon. Charles Clotworthy Whyte-Melville Foster Skeffington (born 1973).

Sir John Clotworthy took his title from the half barony of Massereene in County Antrim, where he established his estates.

In 1668, the Marrereenes owned about 45,000 acres in Ireland; however, by 1701, the land appears to have shrunk to 10,000 acres; and, by 1713, the County Antrim estates comprised 8,178 acres.

Land acquisiton through marriage etc meant that the land-holdings amounted to 11,778 acres in 1887.

In the 1600s the Massereenes possessed the lucrative fishing rights to Lough Neagh by means of a 99-year lease and they were also accorded the honour, Captains of Lough Neagh, for a period.

The Chichesters, Earls of Belfast, were Admirals of Lough Neagh.

Historical records also tell us that Lord Massereene had the right to maintain a “fighting fleet” on the Lough.

The 12th Viscount Massereene and Ferrard, DSO, was the last of the Skeffingtons to live at Antrim Castle:

The 12th Viscount was educated at Winchester and Sandhurst; commissioned into the 17th Lancers in 1895; saw action throughout the South African War, 1899-1902; was wounded, mentioned in dispatches and awarded the DSO; and retired as a brevet major in 1907.

Lord Massereene became a TA major in the North Irish Horse later in that year. He later served in the early years of the First World War and is said to have found Lawrence of Arabia 'impossible'. In 1905 he married and succeeded to the title.

He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for County Antrim. Although his father-in-law was a Liberal MP and Home Ruler, Lord Massereene was a staunch Conservative and Unionist. Notwithstanding his position as a DL for County Antrim, he is supposed to have sat in his chauffeur-driven car, looking on with approval, as guns were run into Larne Harbour in 1912!

His lordship was Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim from 1916-38.

From 1921-29 he was Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and a member of the Northern Ireland Senate.

ANTRIM CASTLE, County Antrim, stood at the side of the River Sixmilewater beside the town of Antrim.

It was originally built in 1613 by Sir Hugh Clotworthy and enlarged in 1662 by his son, the 1st Viscount Massereene.

The Castle was rebuilt in 1813 as a three-storey Georgian-Gothic castellated mansion, faced in Roman cement of an agreeable orange colour.

The original doorway, most elaborate and ornate and complete with Ionic pilasters, heraldry and a head of CHARLES I became a central feature of the new 4-bay entrance front, with a long, adjoining front of 180 feet with 11 bays; mullioned oriels and a tall, octagonal turret were added in 1887 when the Castle was again enlarged.

The image of the Castle above was taken in 1921, just before the disastrous fire.

Clicking on the images shall provide considerable detail.

The demesne boasts a remarkable 17th century formal garden and parterre with a long canal bordered with tall hedges; and another canal at right angles to it making a “T” shape.

There are abundant old trees, masses of yew and walls of rose-coloured brick.

An ancient motte stands beside the ruinous Castle.

The motte was transformed into a magnificent 'viewing mount' in the early 18th century with a corkscrew path lined on the outside with a yew hedge.

Lord and Lady Massereene and their family were hosting a grand ball in Antrim Castle when it was burnt by an IRA gang on the 28th October, 1922.

It is thought that one of the servants was an Irish Republican sympathizer; provided information to the gang; and left the Castle having packed his bags.

Many items of historical importance were destroyed in the fire; but the presence of mind of Lord Massereene and his staff, and the length of time which it takes for a very large house to be consumed by a fire, saved much that would otherwise have been lost.

The daughter of the Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Rev Charles D'Arcy, who was staying at the time, jumped out of a window to save herself.

A 900-piece dinner service of Foster provenance was thrown from the drawing-room windows into the Sixmilewater river; however, very little of it survived intact.

A great deal of furniture, some of it large, was rescued.

More would have been rescued, except that the townspeople of Antrim, who turned out in large numbers to help, thought that the most important thing to be saved was the billiards table!

Thirty men managed to get it out of the castle.

Among the major survivals were the family portraits. A comparison with the portraits itemised by C.H. O'Neill in 1860 and those surviving in family possession today, suggests a rescue operation of astonishing success (although it has to be remembered that many portraits and other important pieces were probably in the London town house in 1922, or with the Dowager Lady Massereene at her house in Hampshire).

The 13th Viscount , who was a small boy at the time, recalled the blaze vividly.

He remembered being trapped with his mother in a light well from which they narrowly escaped, and being told by her that they were going to die there.

He particularly remembered the nursery cat with its fur on fire. I wonder if it survived.

Following the fire, Lord Massereene went to live in the nearby dower house, Skeffington Lodge (which subsequently became the Deer Park Hotel). Further losses of family treasures – this time by sale, not by fire – now followed.

The family considered building a two-storey, Neo-Tudor house on the site of Antrim Castle but nothing came of this.

Apparently no insurance compensation was paid, because arson could not be proved.

The ruin of the great mansion was finally removed about 1970.

After the Second World War, Skeffington Lodge was abandoned; the Antrim Castle stable block was converted for use as a family residence, and was re-named Clotworthy House.

It was let for about ten years following the death of Lord Massereene in 1956.

Clotworthy was then acquired by Antrim Borough Council, and was converted for use as an Arts Centre in 1992.

The gardens are of great importance as they retain, in reasonable condition, features from the 17th century.

Whereas, at other sites in Ulster, later fashions dictated alterations in garden layout, at Antrim the formal style typical of European gardens of the 17th century remained little changed throughout successive generations.

The gardens are listed, naming the Long pond and Round Pond.

A great deal of the latter was wooded; became a deer park; and was set out in the early 19th century in clumps and shelter plantations in the landscape manner, but no longer survives in that form.

A fine stone bridge, the Deer Park Bridge, spans the river at a shallow point and formed a link between the demesne and the rest of the estate.

The Anglo-Norman motte adjacent to the house was made into a garden feature, with a yew-lined spiral walk leading to the top, from which views of the grounds, the town of Antrim and the river could (and can still) be enjoyed.

The castle and the motte were enclosed within a bawn and protected by artillery bastions, which were utilized for gardens from the 18th century.

The formal canals, linked by a small cascade and lined with clipped lime and hornbeam hedges, are the main attraction.

The wooded Wilderness is interspersed with straight paths that lead to vistas outside the demesne, which added to the impression that the area it covers is larger than it is.

Unfortunately most of the vistas have now been blocked.

A round pond is a feature in the wilderness.

A small former parterre garden is now the family memorial ground.

A larger parterre was reconstructed in the 1990s and now forms a considerable ornamental area planted in the manner of a 17th century garden, including plants that were known to have been grown at that time.

The model for the layout comes from Castle Coole in County Fermanagh.

This area is bounded by a fine clipped lime hedge and a venerable yew hedge.

Use of the site as an army camp in the last world war possibly accounts for the paucity of fine mature trees.

Other sections have suffered; the kitchen and ornamental Terrace Garden were destroyed in the 1960s, when a road was laid through part of the area.

The main gate lodge from the town, the Barbican Gate, was possibly built in 1818 to the designs of John Bowden and has been separated from the site by the intrusion of the road.

An underpass now connects the lodge entrance to the grounds.

Another gate lodge, at the farm and stables entrance on the Randalstown Road, has been demolished.

The stable block, built in the 1840s and now known as Clotworthy House, is used as an arts centre.

It replaced an earlier stable block immediately to the east of the house and assumed the name ‘House’ when the family went to live in it some time after the fire at the castle.

The estate and gardens are now owned by Antrim Borough Council and are open all the time for public access.

The 14th and present Viscount formerly lived with his family at Chilham Castle in Kent till it, too, was sold in 1996.

First Published in March, 2010.  

Stranmillis House

In 1603, Sir Arthur Chichester was granted expansive lands in Ulster, including all of the County Antrim side of the River Lagan from Carrickfergus to Dunmurry and the site of the future city of Belfast.

The date of the grant marks the date of the foundation of the town.

Sir Arthur leased his Stranmillis lands in 1606 for 61 years to his associate Sir Moyses Hill (ancestor of the Marquesses of Downshire), who built a plantation castle.

This castle was the predecessor of Stranmillis House and was probably built to control a Lagan crossing.

The ford as indicated on the Donegall estate map of 1770 was situated just below the tidal limit and provided a crossing point for carts.

The Hills moved before their lease expired, and the property reverted to the Donegall family (to become Lady Donegall's deer-park). 

Richard Dobbs, writing in 1683, described the deer-park thus:

"From Lambeg the way leads direct to Belfast, which is all along for the most part furnished with houses, little orchards and gardens and on the right hand the Countess of Donegall hath a very fine Park well stored with venison and in it a Horse Course of Two Miles, and may be called an English Road."

A Donegall family document of 1692 more precisely defines the deer park, ..."100 acres were then enclosed in a Deer Park, and called Stranmellis Park."

It is probable that this estate included all of the area now enclosed by the Stranmillis and Malone Roads and that the horse course followed its perimeter, possibly formed by the roads themselves.

On the Donegall estate map of 1770 the area is referred to as the course lands, almost exactly 100 acres enclosed by about two miles of road.

From 1770 most of the demesne was put up for lease after being divided into small parcels of land, the size and shape of the farms perhaps relating to the hilly topography of the area. 

An area of 40 acres in the southern part of the former deer-park was leased by prominent merchants, the Black family, who built a summer residence, the predecessor of the present Victorian Stranmillis House.

They later acquired the freehold and, in 1857, sold the property to Thomas Batt, a director of the Ulster Bank who, within a year, rebuilt Stranmillis House in the Gothic-Revival style. 

Batt had a town-house at 4 Donegall Place in Belfast.

He was from one of Belfast’s most prominent business families, founders of the Belfast bank and owners of Purdysburn House (later a hospital).

They also gave their name to Batt’s Mountain in the Mournes.

South Belfast, including Stranmillis, developed rapidly in the latter half of the 19th Century and especially during the 1870s.

However, building on the eastern slopes of the Malone Ridge was restricted by land ownership and hampered by stream erosion so that the Stranmillis Road itself remained little more than a country lane.

Cart traffic moving south took the Malone Road to avoid Stranmillis hill and it was not until 1882 that the city's tram line was extended to Stranmillis.

Some development of note did take place, however, with the construction in 1863 of the fine terrace at Mount Pleasant adjoining Summer Hill, itself built a few years earlier around 1854-56. 

The arrival of the tram line also saw the construction of the impressive Chilworth terrace in 1893-4 and the Kinahan Mansions followed around 1901.

The Victorian Stranmillis House was built for Thomas Batt by Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon.

Originally it had an open belfry and ogee pyramidal roof on the corner tower, but these features were removed.

The original entrance porch and low wing to the north have been replaced by a large extension in simplified Elizabethan style in 1924 after the house became part of Stranmillis (University) College.

About 46 acres of undulating grounds are walled in.

The demesne originated in the early 17th century, though the present house dates from ca 1855.

It replaced an earlier house of ca 1801 and much of the present planting is associated with these two buildings.

The site became a college in 1922 and was subsequently adapted.

The well developed and attractively planted ornamental grounds enhance the many buildings that now occupy the site, many of which are listed - the main building of 1928-30; two gate lodges of 1933 and 1940s. 

There is some interesting plant material amongst the maintained landscape.

There are fine mature shelter belt and woodland trees, including an impressive turkey oak and a sycamore avenue now hidden in woodland.

First published in January, 2011.

Malone House

THE LEGGES WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY ANTRIM, WITH 8,565 ACRES

This family claims descent from the noble house of LEGGE, Earls of Dartmouth. THOMAS LEGGE served the office of High Sheriff for the City of London in 1343, and was Lord Mayor in the years 1346 and 1353. His grandson, WILLIAM LEGGE, who removed to Ireland, married Anne, only daughter of John, son of Miles, Lord Bermingham. His son, EDWARD LEGGE, was Vice-President of Munster during the Lieutenancy of his kinsman, Sir Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy.  His eldest son, WILLIAM LEGGE, was brought out of Ireland by his godfather, Henry Danvers, Earl of Danby, and sent by him to serve as a volunteer under Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden.

In 1676, WILLIAM LEGGE, an officer in the army, with recommendations from JAMES II, then Duke of York, served under the Duke of Schomberg in Flanders, and accompanied him to Ireland, 1690.

His son, 

WILLIAM LEGGE, settled at Malone, near Belfast, County Antrim, and acquired lands from Arthur, 3rd Earl of Donegall, where he operated a farm and built dwellings.

Mr Legge died in 1723, leaving, with other sons,

BENJAMIN LEGGE, who leased a plot of ground from the Earl of Donegall extending along the west side of North Street, Belfast, for 108 feet and bounded on the south side by Rosemary Lane.

Specifically mentioned are house, sugarhouses, warehouses and other dwellings.

Legg's Lane ran next to the sugar-house from Rosemary Lane.

Benjamin Legge died in 1760, and his obituary stated that it was chiefly owing to his skill and activity that the refining of sugar was brought to such perfection in Belfast.

Another son,

WILLIAM LEGGE, who died in 1750, was father of

ALEXANDER LEGGE (1706-77), of Malone House, High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1770, who had issue,

WILLIAM, his heir (d 1821);
Eleanor, m Hill Wallace; mother of WILLIAM;
Marcella, m Anthony Semple.

The son and heir,

WILLIAM LEGGE, of Malone House, High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1780, died in 1821, and was succeeded by his nephew,

WILLIAM WALLACE JP DL (1789-1868), of Malone House, Belfast (eldest son of Captain Hill Wallace), High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1823, who adopted the surname of LEGGE.

Mr Legge wedded, in 1838, Eleanor Wilkie, third daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Forster, of Adderstone, Northumberland, and had issue,

WILLIAM WALLACE, his heir;
Florence Wallace, m 1861, 6th Viscount Harberton.

Mrs Wallace wedded secondly, in 1874, the Hon Robert Jack Needham.

Mr William Wallace Legge died in 1868, and was succeeded by his only son,

WILLIAM WALLACE LEGGE (1841-68), of Malone House; on whose decease, the property was acquired by Lord Harberton through marriage.

Harberton Avenue, Drive and Park, Belfast, are all named after the 6th Viscount Harberton, who owned the land.

The Neo-Georgian Malone House today

MALONE HOUSE, Barnett's Demesne, Belfast, was built on the site of a very extensive 17th century fort which was called Castle Cam, or Freeston Castle, but there are no remains of the ancient fort now to be seen. 

One member of the Legg family, Benjamin Legg, was a prosperous merchant and sugar refiner during the 18th century in Belfast. His premises were at Legg's Lane, now Lombard Street; and the sugar-house was located at the corner of Rosemary Street and North Street.

The Georgian mansion-house was built in the 1820s for William Wallace Legge, a prosperous Belfast merchant, who had inherited the surrounding land in 1821.

A keen landscaper, Legge designed and planted most of the demesne, which remains relatively unchanged today. Legge's daughter Florence married, in 1861, the Hon James Spencer Pomeroy (1836-1912), son of the 5th Viscount Harberton, and had issue, Ernest Arthur George, 7th Viscount Harberton.

In the 1870s the Malone estate extended to a considerable 8,565 acres, when Mrs Legge was the owner.

The Legges have a plot at Drumbeg Church where the inscription reads:-

To the memory of Alexander Legge of Malone, Esq. son of William Legge, Esq., who departed this life on the fifth day of September 1777, aged 71 years and of Mary, his wife who departed this life, on the first day of March 1783, aged 63 years. Also of their son-in-law, Hill Wallace, Esq., Captain 14th Regiment of Foot who departed this life, on the 29th day of April 1794, aged 40 years. Also of Ellen Legge, wife of the above Hill Wallace, Esq. died in London aged 90 years and their daughter, Ellen Wallace died, and was interred, at Cheltenham on the 12th of April 1879 in her 91st year.

The last private owner to reside at Malone House was William Barnett, who presented it to the city of Belfast in 1946.

Following its presentation to the city, Malone House was leased to the National Trust in the early 1970s.

It was nearly destroyed by fire in 1976, though was rebuilt by Belfast City Council and was re-opened in June, 1983.

HISTORY OF MALONE HOUSE

The building of the first Malone House has been described in the Plantation Commissioners' report of 1611. 

It tells of a strong fort built upon the plains of Malone with a sturdy palisade and a drawbridge called "Hilsborowe"; within it a fair, timber house walled with bricks and a slated tower.

Some other homes were built within it containing families of English and Irish settlers.

During the plantation of Ulster, the land now known as Barnett’s Demesne was granted to Sir Arthur Chichester who leased it to Sir Moyses Hill.

He built a fort in the area where the present house is situated.

In the rebellion of 1641 the house was burnt.

Subsequently the Hill family acquired their own land in County Down (Hillsborough became their main seat) and they left Malone. 

Hill was granted 2,000 acres in County Antrim and 40,000 acres in County Down for his services to the Crown.

The next tenants were the Legge - or Legg - family.

Alexander Legge probably built the second Malone House, which was on the site of the old stables of the present house.

The house at this point was a large farm-house.

Thereafter the family became successful merchants.

They part-owned the old sugar house in Rosemary Lane, which was Belfast’s first factory.

Legg’s Lane, which later became Lombard Street, was named after them. 

Alexander Legg (1706-77) was a successful linen merchant:-

WILL OF ALEXANDER LEGG, OF MALONE, BELFAST, GENT.

‘I Alexander Legg of Malone in the County of Antrim, Gent .... do make my last will and testament. I bequeath;’

‘To Gilbert Mathews his children my house and lands in Malone’.
‘To my nephew Robert Legg my farm in Kilwarlin, County Down’.
‘To John Rice of Malone £30 out of my personal estate’.
‘To my little cousin Alexander Legg my Bay Golding’.
‘To my natural daughter Esther Legg £10’.
‘To the poor of the parish of Belfast £3’.

Executors William Legg and Gilbert Mathews. I desire my executors to have me buried in a decent manner in the Church of Drumbo.

Witnessed by Matt McLorinan, Dan: Cunningham, Patrick McCormick, St. John Turnley.

Probate granted December 15, 1729, to Gilbert Mathews (William Legg renounced).

Alexander Legg appears to have purchased the Mulligan farm in 1725 and the lease he purchased fallen in by 1735, when his nephew, Robert Legg took out a new one in his own name. Interestingly, one of his the lives named in his lease is Patrick Mullican.

Remnants of the 18th century building can still be seen to the north-west of Malone House. 

William Legg died childless in 1821 and left the house to William Wallace (Legge), his nephew.

In the late 1820s William Wallace Legge built a new house on the site of Moses Hill’s original 17th century fort.

He married late in life and his only son was a wild young man who squandered his money and was disinherited.

The late 18th century Legg map shows a 17th century edifice with the remains of Moyses Hill's Plantation fort above, described on the map as "a moat in the orchard".

Donegall Estate records tell the progress of the Legge lands during the late 18th century: 260 acres in 1775 became 400 acres by 1810.

Malone House in the 1950s

The third Malone House was built ca 1825.

Even before inheriting his uncle's property in 1821, William Wallace Legge, builder of the third house on the site, had been fascinated with buildings and landscape.

A sketchbook survives from 1816 in which he made a series of over seventy neat pencil drawings of topographical subjects in the Malone area and the Lagan valley, and also around the home of another uncle and aunt, Anthony and Marcella Semple at Malahide. 

At Malone he took the opportunity to turn paper ideas into reality.

His predecessors found it convenient to live close to the main coach road between Belfast and Dublin.

Their house was clearly visible at the end of a short drive.

Such simplicity, or rather, lack of subtlety, held little appeal for W W Legge.

He chose to build anew on the site of the old fort.

Nevertheless the public thoroughfare still seemed too close for proper privacy, and so, with an uncomplicated efficiency which might be expected of the son of an army officer who happened to be high sheriff for the county at the right moment, he moved the road away.

Though unimpressed with the remains of the fort, Legge recognised the advantages of the site.

His new entrance front was to face a wide prospect past the old house to the north-west, while the main rooms were to enjoy views across the Lagan valley.

The house which did finally emerge from its cloak of scaffolding provided a sharp contrast to the informality of its landscape setting.

Its main façades are clear essays in classical symmetry.

The repetition of equal openings, the severely simple Tuscan portico, the dominating cornice and parapet, and the firmly regimented chimney stacks, all combine into a rather stark unity. 

Even the gentle bow on the south front, which might have provided an opportunity for a little light-hearted regency decoration, avoids any hint of frivolity.

External window shutters, though now comparatively rare, were briefly popular in late-Georgian Ulster.

Those at Malone, likely to be original for they appear in an Edwardian photograph, give the house a rather colonial flavour.

The present house has not been precisely dated, nor has the involvement of any architect been discovered, but such evidence as there is suggests that the building was erected in the late 1820s. 

As Trevor Carleton has shown (Ulster Journal of Archaeology, 1976, 62-3), there is a map of 1825 with the outline of a house - a plain rectangle with a shallow bow on one long side - superimposed on the earthworks of the old fort. 

The outline is similar to, though significantly smaller than, the house as built.

Malone House thereby passed to William’s daughter, who had married Lord Harberton in 1861.

He was a renowned academic and she was an early feminist supporting votes for women, wearing bloomers (a kind of trouser suit for women)!

However, the Legge family did not live in the house after the death of William Wallace Legge in 1868. 

There followed a series of tenants, including Thomas Montgomery, of Ballydrain; Edmund Kertland, manager of John Shaw Brown & Co in Edenderry; and William Higgin who was proprietor of the Avoniel distillery.

In 1921 William Barnett, a very rich man with a keen interest in horse-racing (his horse Trigo won the Derby and the St Leger in 1929), bought Malone House.

He died in 1943 and left the house and grounds to the city of Belfast.

In 1940 the house had been taken over by the Ministry of Aircraft Production (Short Brothers and Harland had their drawing office there).

There were concrete air raid shelters built alongside the house, one of which still remains with its front removed.

After the war, the grounds were open to the public and the Barnett Demesne officially opened in 1951.

In 1970 the National Trust leased it for their headquarters and the Ulster Museum housed their costume collection there.

In 1976 a bomb destroyed the house and its contents.

The present house was built in 1982 and is a replica of the 1825 building. 

William Barnett, the last private owner, bequeathed Malone House and approximately 103 acres to the city of Belfast to be preserved as a public park for the recreation of the public.

The earlier house of ca 1665 was near the existing stable block.

The layout retains an early 19th century ‘landscape’ style, which was developed round the site of the present house.

The position of the house affords excellent views to and over the River Lagan valley.

The view back across to the house is depicted by Molloy in Proctor’s Belfast Scenery in Thirty Views, of 1832. 

There are good stands of mature trees set in parkland, which is maintained and replanted as an informal landscape.

The gate lodge was rebuilt in 1921 to the designs of Blackwood and Jury.

First published in January, 2011.

Craigdun Castle

EDWARD McNEILL OWNED 609 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ANTRIM

TORQUIL MacNEILL, chief of the Clan Neill, of Taynish and Gigha, born ca 1380, was constable of Castle Sween, in Knapdale, Argyllshire.

LACHLAN McNEILL, of Terfergus and Losset, Argyllshire, fourth son of Torquil MacNeill, married firstly, Mary McNeill, of Colonsay, and had a large family.

The third son,

NEILL McNEILL, settled in Cushendun, County Antrim, about 1676, and married Rose Stuart, of Garry, in the same county, and was father of

LACHLAN McNEILL, who wedded Jane Macnaghten, of Benvarden, and had several children, of whom the eldest son, 

NEILL McNEILL, of Cushendun, County Antrim, espoused Christian Hamilton, of Londonderry, and was father of

EDMUND McNEILL, of Cushendun, married Elizabeth, daughter of John Hamilton, of Londonderry, and died in 1790.

The eldest son,

EDMUND ALEXANDER McNEILL JP (1787-1879), of Cushendun, County Antrim, married, in 1817, Rose, eldest daughter of Alexander McNeile, and had an only son,

EDMUND McNEILL JP DL (1821-1915), of Craigdun and Cushendun, County Antrim, High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1879, who married, in 1851, Mary, eldest daughter of Alexander Miller, of Ballycastle, and had issue,  

1st Baron Cushendun (Image: National Portrait Gallery, London)

THE RT HON RONALD JOHN [McNEILL], 1ST BARON CUSHENDUN PC

CRAIGDUN CASTLE, near Cullybackey, County Antrim, is a Victorian-Baronial style house built of basalt, in 1867, by Edward (Eddie) McNeill.

It comprises two storeys with a gabled attic.

There is a substantial five-storey tower with pepper-pot bartizans.

The drawing-room is notable for its Classical plasterwork ceiling.

The house is said to have thirty rooms in total.

Craigdun Castle is believed to have been designed by Sir Charles Lanyon, who was responsible for many of Northern Ireland’s best known Victorian buildings, including Belfast Castle and Ballywalter House.

The Scottish baronial architecture was a fashionable style of the period, incorporating crow step gables and conical turrets and mock defensive features such as crenellations and arrow slits.

The McNeills owned 609 acres in County Antrim during the 19th century.

Although their original seat was Glenmona House, Cushendun, which was increasingly used for holidays, the family tended to reside at Craigdun.

Today Craigdun comprises a more manageable ten acres.

In 1912, the estate was purchased by a Belfast man, John Percy Stott, and it passed to his daughter Doreen on his death in 1949.

Upon the death of her son, Peter Stott-Martin, from Multiple Sclerosis in 1952, she and her husband, Commander Stott-Martin, bequeathed the castle to the National Health Service as a respite care home for MS sufferers.

Much work was carried out during the 1960-80s, including many internal alterations for the installation of a lift in the early 1980s.

The NHS sold the castle in the early 1990s. William and Romayne Baird owned Craigdun for nine years, till it was bought by Andrew Clark in 2002.

Andrew and Julie Clark were married at Craigdun in 2010 and together they restored the building into a comfortable family home, which featured in the final of the BBC House of the Year programme in 2011.

Craigdun Castle itself remained a private family home, though the walled garden and grounds could be hired as a venue for marquee weddings, receptions and photographs.

The gardens are associated in the past with the early 17th century Craigs Castle.

There are fine mature trees in the shelter belts and parkland, including exotics.

A champion parkland sycamore has a circumference of eleven yards at the base.

The walled garden is adjacent to the house and has a circular pavilion, with a conical slated roof, in one corner.

The two gate-lodges have been demolished.

First published in July, 2012.

Ballydrain House

HUGH MONTGOMERY OWNED 3,909 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ANTRIM

The family of Montgomery claims to be a branch of the great Scottish house of MONTGOMERY. 

ROBERT EGBERT MONTGOMERY (1711-92), of Glenarm, County Antrim, married, in 1742, Isabella Stewart, and had issue,

HUGH, his heir;
William;
James;
Rose; Jane.

The eldest son,

HUGH MONTGOMERY (1743-1832), of Glenarm, who wedded, in 1785, Margaret, daughter of John Allen, of Kilmandil, County Antrim, and had issue,

John, his heir, of Benvarden, Co Antrim;
HUGH, of whom we treat;
Alexander, of Potter's Wall, Co Antrim;
Thomas, JP, of Birch Hill, Co Antrim;
Barbara; Isabella; Marion; Victoria.

Mr Montgomery's second son,

HUGH MONTGOMERY (1794-1867), of Ballydrain, County Antrim, married Emily, daughter of John Ferguson, of Ballysillan, and had issue,

Hugh (1830-54), killed in action;
John Ferguson (1832-76), accidentally killed;
Alexander Richard, d 1861;
James Charles, d 1870;
THOMAS, his heir;
GEORGE, of whom hereafter;
Emily Sarah; Mary Isabella; Florence Jane; Eva Victoria; Blanche Marjorie; Ellen Georgina.

Mr Montgomery's fifth son,

THOMAS MONTGOMERY JP DL (1837-1909), of Ballydrain, High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1885, wedded, in 1866, Isabella, daughter of the Rev Thomas Walker, and had issue,

Hugh Ferguson (d 1908);
Emily Sarah; Mary Isabella; Florence Jane; Eva Victoria; Blanche Marjorie; Ellen Georgina.

The sixth son of Hugh Montgomery and Emily Ferguson,

GEORGE MONTGOMERY (1843-c1881), Captain, Royal Horse Artillery, wedded Blanche, third daughter of John Eveleigh Wyndham, of Sock Dennis, Somerset, and had an only son,

HUGH WYNDHAM MONTGOMERY (1875-1965), High Sheriff of County Kildare, 1911, who married, in 1898, Annie Selina Emma, daughter of Thomas Benyon Ferguson by his wife, Emma Amelia Cary, sister of 12th Viscount Falkland, and had issue,

GEORGE WYNDHAM CLAUD, his heir;
Noel Hugh, b 1910;
Shelagh Blanche; Daphne Lena.

The eldest son,

GEORGE WYNDHAM CLAUD MONTGOMERY (1899-1978), espoused, in 1923, Estella M Crane, of Dorchester, Dorset.

The Montgomerys sold Ballydrain in 1918.  

BALLYDRAIN HOUSE, Dunmurry, now Malone Golf Club, is situated opposite Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park on the outskirts of south Belfast.

The early history of the demesne, from the beginning of the 17th century until 1834, is bound up with that of the Stewart family. The first house to be built on the site, in 1608, was a bawn (or fortified farmhouse) by William Stewart, whose family was of Scottish lesser royal blood.

Little remains from those early days, except the family tombstones in Drumbeg Parish Church and a stone inscribed 'A Free Howse 1675' in the church porch. John Stewart died in 1691. The property then passed to his son Thomas (1660-1715); and later to Thomas's son John (1701-84), who married Jane Legge (1698-1778).

John and Jane had seven children. One of the grandchildren, George, inherited Ballydrain. George married Martha Rainey and had two sons, William and Robert, both of whom died abroad in early life.

Shortly before his death in 1805, George sold Ballydrain to his cousin, John Younghusband.

The estate remained in Mr Younghusband's possession until 1834, when he sold it to Hugh Montgomery for £13,500 (£1.3 million in today's money).

Image: Hugh Montgomery, of Benvarden

The present house is thought to have been built in 1835, though documents of 1837 record that Montgomery was in the process of erecting 'a fine castle' on the estate, an indication that the house was still incomplete in 1837.

The building was certainly finished by 1843, as evidenced in a survey of the estate carried out by Hugh Hanna.

Hugh Montgomery's 'fine castle' was not erected on the site of the 18th century house, but some distance north-east of this.

The house was built in the Tudor-Revival style, with coursed but undressed stone, tall diamond-set chimney stacks, shouldered gables and mullioned windows.

The new owner of Ballydrain, Hugh Montgomery (1794-1867), was the second son of Hugh Montgomery (1743-1832) of BENVARDEN, County Antrim, President of Belfast Chamber of Commerce 1802-03 and founder, in 1809, of Montgomery's Bank, forerunner of the Northern Bank.

The bank was located at Donegall Place, neat Fountain Lane.

Like his father, Hugh was involved with the Northern Bank, being a director for forty-three years.

After his death in 1867 the estate became the property of his second son, John Ferguson Montgomery, (the eldest son, Hugh, having been killed in the Charge of the Light Brigade, at the battle of Balaclava, October 1854).

John Ferguson Montgomery (1832-76) was, by all accounts, a dashing figure: Nicknamed 'Rufus', on account of his red hair and beard, he was an outgoing character, cheerfully extrovert and a fearless sportsman.

He was well-known in Turf circles throughout the British Isles, being familiarly called 'The Captain', a title he was permitted to use after his retirement from the Queen's Royal Antrim Rifles.

His tragic early death was the result of an accident at the Maze racecourse in 1876.

After his death, Ballydrain passed to his brother Thomas, Hugh Montgomery's fifth son (the third and fourth sons, Alexander Richard and James Charles having died in 1861 and 1870).

Shortly after coming into possession of Ballydrain, Thomas Montgomery began a series of alterations to the house: the main entrance door was moved from beneath the oriel window and put into a projecting porch with a Tudor arch which was part of a major insertion with a dominant gable.

The garden front was also altered, the first floor oriel window being removed and replaced by a central two-storey canter bay inserted between the one-storey bays of the ground floor.

The alterations were very well handled and gave the building a unity and clarity it had hitherto lacked.

Though family tradition held the architect to be Sir Thomas Drew, the alterations were in fact the work of William Henry Lynn.

Thomas also added a conservatory (designed by James Boyd & Sons, of Paisley, in 1880) and a billiards-room.

Montgomery coat-of-arms on headstone at
Drumbeg parish church (Timothy Ferres, 2022)

After Thomas Montgomery's death in 1909 (his only son, Captain Hugh Ferguson Montgomery having died in 1908), his wife Isabella continued to reside at Ballydrain until her death in 1917.

The estate then passed to Thomas's nephew, Hugh Wyndham Montgomery, who sold it, in 1918, to John Barbour Morrison, director of the Ulster Spinning Company.

The house was inhabited until about 1940 and, like Wilmont, was occupied by the Army during the 2nd World War.

Following Mr Morrison's death in November, 1947, Ballydrain became the property of his son, John Maynard Morrison, of Mullaghbuoy, Donaghadee and his (John Barbour's) brother, James Morrison, of Balloo, Groomsport, County Down.

Though the land continued to be farmed, the house lay empty for several years, until the estate was purchased by Malone Golf Club in 1960.

Play commenced on the course on the 2nd June, 1962, and the house was officially opened, as Malone Clubhouse, on the 19th September of that year, by the Rt Hon Sir Basil Brooke Bt, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

Part of the grounds and the house were changed considerably by the golf club: One of the main alterations was the removal of the flower garden to make way for a car park; while the walled garden was turned into tennis courts and a bowling green.

The gate lodge at the main entrance was demolished. However, while the character of the estate - with its magnificent trees and lake - has been allowed to remain reasonably intact, this unfortunately has not been the case with the house: the Tudor chimneys and balustrades have been removed, as have the mullioned windows; and the main entrance has been altered considerably.

The present Ballydrain site is Malone Golf Club's fourth location since it was founded in 1895, moving from Newforge Lane, to Stranmillis, to the Upper Malone Road, and finally to its current location on the Upper Malone Road.

First published in December, 2010.