Lanowlee - An Indian House

Lanowlee or Lanowlee Hall as it was called for a time was a large Victorian villa situated on Londonderry's Limavady Road. The 1911 census discloses that it was a twelve room property with nine outhouses including a coach house. For many years it was a ruinous shell. It has now been demolished. I don't know quite when this occurred but gone it has. Sad in some ways. Another foot note in local history.

The name of the property came from an area in India and was bestowed upon the dwelling by the person I believe to have been its first owner, Brigade-Surgeon Hamilton Mitchell. This gentleman was born on 22nd January 1832 and obtained his LRCS from Edinburgh in 1853. The following year he entered the Army Medical Department as an assistant surgeon. Within two months he was ordered to the Crimea where he served from 8th November 1854 until 18th February 1855 and was present at the fall of Sebastapol. He was awarded the Crimea Medal with clasp and the Turkish Medal.

In May 1855 he was gazetted Assistant Surgeon to the 96th Regiment of Foot in which he served for over twenty one years. On 9th March 1867 he was promoted to the rank of Staff Surgeon. This was followed by promotion to Surgeon Major on 21st July 1874. From 1865 until 1875 his regiment was stationed in India.

In 1876 he moved to the Staff at Colchester Barracks. His career subsequently took him to Malta in 1877 but in July 1878 he was forced to return to England on sick leave. On 6th March 1880 continued heart problems resulted in him retiring from the Service on half pay with the rank of Brigade- Surgeon. He and his wife then returned to his native Co Londonderry where he took up residence at Lanowlee. His wife, Hannah, daughter of his regiment's Colonel died on 22nd February 1894. On the 26th August of the same year Hamilton Mitchell passed away.

Sources: The London Gazette, "Medical Officers of the Malta Garrison," and Medical News 22nd September 1894.

Strabane Gasworks.

Strabane's municipal gasworks were established on a site extending to some three acres and three roods situate between what was originally called Port Street, (now Port Road) and the Strabane Canal. As with most of the land in the environs of the town the site belonged to the Abercorns. On 10th May 1904 The Urban District Council of Strabane took a two hundred and fifty year lease of the lands at an annual rental of ten pounds. The term of years ran from 1st November 1903 and the UDC covenanted to construct by 31st October 1905 "such gasworks and other buildings as are contemplated ..... by the Strabane Gas Order 1902."

It appears that the establishment of the Strabane Gasworks was very much dependant upon the Treasury giving a loan of £15,000 to Strabane UDC. On the 11th February 1904 Mr. Hemphill, MP for Tyrone North queried the First Lord of the Treasury, (Austen Chamberlain), about the delay in providing the loan. Chamberlain's response makes clear that the figures presented to the Treasury cast a question mark over the viability of the venture. Clearly however the funds were made available by the Treasury - ultimately.

This was not Strabane's first gasworks. There was apparently a gasworks some 400m South of the Park Street locus. On 20th May 1854 a Mr George Mearns who was described as the manager of the Strabane Gasworks married a Susan Arbuckke at 2nd Presbyterian Church, Strabane.

The Port Road Gasworks ultimately closed down on 9th August 1986. Some two years later the freehold reversion in the site was acquired from the Abercorn Estate by Strabane District Council, (successor to Strabane UDC).

 

 

Lisadell - a house with a past.

As well as visiting Lisadell Parish Church on Monday I visited Lisadell House. It is a rather austere limestone edifice. Its literary and artistic associations along with the, "terrible beauty," of Constance Gore-Booth aka Countess Markevitch are I suppose the pulling factors for its tourist traffic. I have to say that I would have preferred to have visited the property knowing that it was still owned by the Gore-Booth family. Unfortunately the ninth baronet decided to , "sell up," and it is now owned by two SC's from Dublin, The 2004 sale price of circa €3.5m for the mansion and 400 acres does not seem at all unreasonable.

Clearly a considerable sum has been spent in renovating the house and the stable yard but the result leans somewhat to a theme park result. I cannot but think that the now owners have profit to the forefront of their minds rather than preservation. That said maybe in today's economic environment the former is a prerequisite of the latter.

The house was constructed between 1830 and 1835 to the designs of Francis Goodwin. It is a nine bay two storey over basement dwelling with a three bay pedimented central projection forming a porte-cochere to the north. The southern aspect looks over Sligo Bay. The former croquet lawn is no longer present nor are the immediate flower beds. The haha remains but a former pond is now devoid of water. The walled alpine garden which is next the shore is well maintained and deserving of inspection and contemplation. The two acre kitchen garden requires years of effort before it attains a standard worthy of inspection.

 

A Contested Settlement

One Family - A Tale of Division, Devotion and Restitution - Henry Macrory - Curly Burn Books

I bought my father this book for his last birthday. Whilst it contains something of the generational history of the McCausland family of Drenagh its emphasis is on the inter family court case and the preamble to same that threatened to divide the family for most of the 1940's. The prize was not insubstantial, the Drenagh Estate with the Lanyon designed five bay mansion house at its centre.

The basic facts of the case were familiar to me. The estate was entailed and when it was resettled upon Connolly McCausland's twenty first birthday in 1927 his father, (Maurice), caused a forfeiture clause to be inserted which became operative should a successor become a Roman Catholic or indeed profess that religion. Such an eventuality would, as drafted, not only disinherit the successor but also his heirs even if they did not profess to be Roman Catholics. This clause was repeated in Connolly's marriage settlement in 1932. Maurice was to die in 1938. In 1940 Connolly converted to the Roman Catholic faith. By virtue of the terms of the forfeiture clause Drenagh passed to Connolly's elder sister Helen and her family. Initially Connolly seemed to accept the situation but eventuality prodded by his wife he instigated proceedings that aimed to cause the forfeiture clause to be declared null and void.

Macrory says in his introduction that he has been at pains not to take sides. That being the case Helen and in particular her husband Lucius Thompson - McCausland come across as very reasonable and honourable individuals. The author's portrayal of Connolly and his wife Peggy is not descriptive of individuals who are quite as personable as the Thompson-McCaulands.

Mention is made of mole hills on the lawns of Drenagh. A bit of a zoological faux pas that. Thankfully moles are absent from the fauna of Northern Ireland.

 

Bishop Street Cathedral Schools - A Cary Connection

 

The property presently known as Bishop Street Community Centre in Londonderry has I think quite an interesting history. In the middle of the nineteenth century the lands were, with others, held by one Alfred Alexander Julius of 19 Buckingham Street, Strand London, a solicitor by profession. He had acquired the fee simple from the Irish Society. Tristram Cary of Cumber Claudy a doctor of medicine and his kinsman Arthur Lunell Cary of Beech Cottage Co Donegal in their turn held from Julius under a lease in perpetuity and consequently were able to acquire the fee simple under the terms of the Renewable Leasehold Conversion Act. By paying the sum of forty three pounds and fifteen shillings to Julius the Carys were able to obviate the necessity of paying of the ground rent that they would have been committed to pay by virtue of the provisions of the Act. The assurance in favour of the Carys is dated 4th November 1861 and they were to hold the property as tenants in common as to five sixths by Tristram and one sixth by Arthur.

The lands at Bishop Street were not the only lands which the Carys co-owned and by way of a deed of partition dated 1st November 1873 they divided their joint property between themselves with Tristram paying Arthur one hundred and thirty five pounds by way of equality of exchange. It was Tristram who was to end up as the owner of the Bishop Street property. By this time he was living at Ballybrack Co Donegal and Arthur was resident at Castlecary. Arthur was the father of Arthur Pitt Chambers Cary who in his turn was the father of the author Arthur (Joyce) Lunell Cary. Joyce Cary's mother was Charlotte Louise Joyce.

In July 1890 Tristram, who by then was resident at 48 St. Thomas' Road, Victoria Park London, sold a portion of his Bishop Street lands to a Robert Alexander for the sum of £230. Some four years later the bulk of these lands were conveyed to the Representative Church Body upon trust as and for a site for a Mission Church and School in connection with the Parish Church of the Parish of Templemore, ( St. Columb's Cathedral). The then Dean, Andrew Ferguson Smyly raised the necessary funds by way of public subscription. The building which was erected became known as Bishop Street Cathedral Schools. Ownership remained with the Church of Ireland until 21st November 1962 when the property was sold to British Oxygen Chemicals Limited. That Company converted the building into a social club for its staff and it remained as such until it was disposed of to the local authority in 1975.

 

 

 

Augherea House - a running visit.

 

This past weekend I made my third trip of the year to Athlone and its indoor athletic arena. Rather than tackle a one day return trip as on the the first two occasions I decided to treat myself to an overnight stay. The establishment selected goes under the name of Augherea House and it is situated on the outskirts of Longford.

The B & B business is operated from a converted stable block behind and to the right of the Georgian house. It isn't a huge venture, four bedrooms all on the first floor of the conversion. On the ground floor there is a large and airy breakfast room/sitting area as well as the necessary domestic offices. Mine host informed me that he had raised the height of the building by some four feet so that he could make maximum use of the first floor.

I had read a few laudatory reviews of the breakfasts. These proved to be totally accurate. I succumbed to fresh fruits followed by scrambled egg with salmon and wild mushrooms garnished with fresh herbs and a baby tomato.

The access to the first floor is via an open tread staircase. Slightly disconcertingly the single bannister is on the wall side. I suppose this feature is a nod to the original use of the first floor as a hay store, but it is perhaps something that would not be over appealing to crumblies and families with young children.

Adjoining the stable yard there is a walled garden with impressively tall walls. Unfortunately this is lying fallow. It cries out to be brought back into production.

 

The Georgian house was constructed circa 1785 and is a five bay two storey residence over basement.

 

 

 

Londonderry's First Fire Station

The property now known as 1A Hawkin Street, Londonderry is situate just outside the City Walls adjacent to New Gate. The then vacant site was demised to the City Corporation by the Irish Society for a term of nine hundred and ninety years from 25th March 1881 by a lease dated 3rd December 1885. This lease reserved an annual ground rent of ten shillings and was granted pursuant to the terms of an agreement to lease dated 26th September 1882. It was a pre condition to the granting of the lease that the Corporation should construct an eight foot high wall around the site. The term of years granted by the lease is conditional upon the property being used for, "public purposes for the benefit of the Citizens of Londonderry."

 

The Corporation constructed a two storey red brick gabled fire station on the site. This was completed in 1891 and was the first fire station in the City. The Ulster Architectural Heritage Society state that it is the only surviving example of a late nineteenth century Fire Station in Northern Ireland. The building is listed B1 and is situated within a conservation area. It was considerably damaged by fire in 2006 but has since been renovated with a substantial extension having been added on the right hand side where previously an electricity sub station had existed since 1963.

 

When it was built the station was staffed by three permanent fire fighters who were assisted by a number of auxiliaries. The initial fire appliance was mounted on a hand drawn cart but this was superceced by a motorised fire engine in 1908. This was the first motorised fire engine in Ireland. One of the first blazes which it attended was that of April 1908 when the Guildhall was gutted.

 

During the Second World War the City's Fire Brigade was incorporated into the National Fire Service. Post 1945 responsibility for fire fighting in the City rested with the Western Fire Authority and they moved to premises at the Waterside end of Craigavon Bridge. The Northern Ireland Fire Authority replaced the Western Fire Authority in 1950 and in 1961 the local fire brigade moved into purpose built premises on the Northland Road.

 

Sources: DOE Historic Buildings database; Ulster Architectural Heritage Society www.uahs.org.uk

 

The Harbour Office, Londonderry

Derry City Council's Harbour Museum is situated at what is now called Harbour Square. Previously this was referred to as King's Quay. My recollection is that this area was cobbled until at least the late 1960's as were the lands on the riverside of the Guildhall where there was a carpark which was superintended by the Harbour Police, in particular Sgt. Lyttle.

 

This Italiante building was constructed for the Londonderry Port and Harbour Commissioners in 1882 by a Mr M McClelland to the designs of a John Kennedy. Both architect and builder were local. The original harbour office had been at Ship Quay but during the 1870's the Commissioners moved to the site now occupied by the Bank of Ireland at the junction of Strand Road and Sackville Street.

 

It is a two storey seven bay building with a square clock tower and aedicule doorway and dentilled cornice. Ownership passed to the Commissioners on 6th March 1885 consequent upon a tripartite deed between the Irish Society, (first part), Londonderry Corporation (second part,) and Londonderry Port and Harbour Commissioners, (3rd part.) The building is erected on the lands coloured green and blue on the terchart shown below. The Council purchased it from the Harbour Commissioners by deed dated 13th May 1991. The price paid was two hundred and thirty thousand pounds.

 

 

Sources: "City of Derry," An Hisorical Gazetter to the Buildings of Londonderry by Daniel Calley.

NIEA - Historic Building Database.

 

 

 

Notes on Boomhall, Londonderry

 

The Boom Hall estate on the outskirts of Londonderry was sold by James Dupre Alexander, Earl of Caledon to Daniel Baird of Cassino, Londonderry on 29th October 1849 for the sum of £6,000. The estate extended to one hundred and twenty five acres. Some forty five acres were held under two leases for lives renewable for ever. These leases were dated 10th August 1848 and 3rd July 1849. The centui que vie were Queen Victoria, Prince George of Cambridge and Augusta Caroline, Duchess of Mechlenburgh Strelitz. On 30th September 1854 Baird obtained Fee Farm Grants of these forty five acres under the provisions of the Renewable Leadehold Conversion Act 1849.

 

Daniel Baird passed away on 2nd March 1862 having previously made his last will on 15th June 1861 with codocil dated 3rd July 1861. Boom Hall and the immediate demesne being the lands comprised in and assured by the aforesaid fee farm grants was left to his wife Barbara for her life (died 22nd January 1879) with remainder in strict settlement to his grandson David Baird Maturin at age twenty five conditional upon him adopting the name Baird as his surname. Not unsurprisingly his grandson applied to adopt the surname of Baird pursuant to the terms of the, "name and arms clause," imposed by his grandfather. The ground rents reserved by the 1849 Fee Farm Grants were purchased from the Irish Society on 22nd January 1878 for the sum of £416.3.4.

 

Daniel Baird Maturin Baird died on 6th June 1924 resident in England. His eldest surviving son was Lieut. Col Charles Edgar Maturin-Baird who became tenant in tail male. A disentailing deed was executed on 8th December 1924 so as to vest the fee simple in Lieut Col Maturin Baird. The feoffee to uses was his solicitor, King Houston of Omagh. Coincidentally I have a writing set presented to King Houston by Omagh Solicitors Association. Strange that.

 

On 3rd November 1949 Lieut Col Maturin Baird sold Boom Hall and a total of 26a 3r 38p to Michael Henry McDevitt of Red House, Castlerock for £3,000. He was to die a bachelor and intestate on 18th May 1969. Letters of administration were granted to a niece, Helen Mary McCann on 8th September 1969. Certain of the lands were vested for roadworks in connection with the construction of the Foyle Bridge. Certain other of the lands were sold by Mrs McCann in her capacity as personal representative with the rump of the lands being sold to Derry City Council in 1996.

 

Caw House, Londonderry

I suppose one would have to be at least fifty to have any real memory of Caw House. This property, originally owned by the Alexanders was for the most part of the twentieth century owned by the Cooke family. The house and immediate lands were ultimately sold for development. Today, "Bridgewater," and its thirty odd dwellings occupies the site of the house and its immediate grounds. The above photograph is of a watercolour by Emerson H . Babington, (son of Sir Anthony Brutus Babington.) This watercolour was I think painted in the late 1960's. The Babingtons and Cookes were related by marriage. During the inter war years Caw House was oft the venue for the emptying of the local hunt's stirrup cup. Thomas Fitzpatrick Cooke and his wife were the last owner occupiers of the property.

 

A Clerical B. & B.

Photo by permission J. Collins of the Glebe House

 

 

The weekend of my attendance at what some of my acquaintances refer to as the zimmer frame games but which are more correctly labelled as the Irish Masters Athletics Championships resulted in me staying at The Glebe House Rathowen, Co Westmeath.

 

This property was constructed in 1817 as the residence for the Perpetual Curate of the parishes of Rathaspeck and Russagh. The total cost was £461.10.9 1/4 of which £415.7.8 1/4 appears to have been a gift from Dame Frances Elizabeth Fetherston of Ardagh Co Longford. The balance of the cost came from a small loan from the Board of First Fruits. The glebe lands extended to nine acres.

 

Not quite Georgian in looks nor yet having what would become the traditional Victorian look the property none the less has an appealing aspect with commodious accomodation which lends itself to its now use as a bed and breakfast establishment. The house is three bay, two storey over basement with a projecting single-bay, single-storey porch to the front. A rectangular plain overlight tops the doorway which is flanked by Doric type pillars. Immediately to the rear of the house is a well maintained and enclosed stable yard and adjoining this is a walled garden which extends to something over a rood. This garden is planted out with fruit trees including a fig and mulberry. Well tended lawns open out from the treelined avenue and wrap around the house. A small terrace invites contemplation by guests on the south side.

 

Internally the two principal reception rooms are entered from the vestibule and they provide secondary admittance to the two minor reception rooms behind. The latter two rooms are also entered via the inner hallway. The domestic offices are to the rear, off the living room. An open balustrade stairway rises to the first floor and its two sided gallery landing. A long pendulous light fitting hangs below an oval skylight. Five bedrooms run off the landing.

 

In one of the many codocils to her will Dame Frances adverted to an oak book case and books which she had placed in the Glebe House for the use of the incumbent for the time being and which was to be known as the, "Rathaspit Trust." The library of books which she provided for the curate's use included such potboilers as, Meditations on Death and Eternity, Dialogues on Universal Salvation and Aunt Trudy's Letters. Rathaspit is an old name for the church.

 

The Glebe House is definitely a cut above the average b & b, both internally and externally. It has history, it has properly proportioned rooms and it has comfort and appetising breakfasts. Methinks that I will be staying there again.

 

 

St. Thomas' , Rathowen.

 

I spent last Saturday night at a small village called Rathowen in County Westmeath. By no stretch of the imagination could you describe it as a heaving metropolis. Even the most ardent resident would, I suspect, accept that it is for the most part one of those places that you pass through when travelling somewhere else. That said it does have several buildings and structures which are listed on the Irish National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Included amongst these is St Thomas' Church of Ireland Church. Not having any particular plans for the evening apart from the need to stoke up on food, which I had pencilled in for eight o'clock, I ambled along to the Church to have a stroll around its grounds ie the graveyard.

 

St. Thomas' is the parish church of Rathaspeck and Russagh in the Barony of Moygoish within the combined Diocese of Kilmore Elphin and Ardagh. It is rather sad that it no longer has its own resident rector. It is now part of a Union of six churches. A reflection of twentieth century population movement and the secularisation of society no doubt.

 

The building is approached via a gravelled tree lined avenue with neatly cut verges. It was constructed in 1814 with additions in 1821. The original construction was achieved using a loan of £800 from the Board of First Fruits. A further loan of £200 allowed the two single-bay and single storey vestibules to be added to either side of the three stage tower. The castellated parapets and corner pinnacles to either side of the tower add to the gothic look of the structure. The graves of two former incumbents are in the shadow of the chancel, their headstones looking down the approach to the church.

 

When St. Thomas' was built the living was what is termed an impropriate curacy. Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) states that it was in the patronage of Sir John Bennett Piers Bt. The tithes amounted to £128.5.0 which sum was paid in its entirety to the patron, the impropriator. The curate's stipend was £92.6.7. 1/2, of which £82.2.0 was derived from Primate Boulter's Augmentation Fund with the balance being provided by the impropriator. The Ecclesiastical Register of 1827 refers to Sir John as the reputed patron. The use of the word, "reputed," may point to some debate on the matter. The will of Dame Frances Elizabeth Fetherston of Ardach in the County of Longford seems to confirm this view. In it she states that during his lifetime her late husband, Sir George Ralph Fetherston, was, "the undoubted patron of the perpetual impropriate curacy and impropriator of the parish." Her husband had died on 12th July 1853 and under his will his widow was granted the patronage during her lifetime. She states that she had built the Glebe House, (constructed 1817) for the use of the incumbent and that she had endowed the perpetual curacy in the sum of £4333.6.8.

 

 

 

 

 

Culdaff in the Sun

 

 

With the spell of good weather continuing I shoehorned the aged parents into my horseless carriage on Thursday and headed off into the heat. They had expressed a preference for a coastal destination so I determined upon Cudaff in County Donegal as an appropriate venue.

 

The temperature was more akin to the Mediterranean than the most northerly county of what is now the Republic of Ireland. We parked at Bunagee Pier which overlooks the beach. A fishing boat was unloading a catch of lobsters swiftly followed by the now empty, "pots." A youngish papa circled the bay on a jet ski accompanied by his slightly terrified children. He was enjoying himself and his offspring were dam well going to enjoy themselves!

 

Overlooking the pier is a now disused RNLI station. The funds to erect the station were provided by a Mrs Montgomery of the Views, Littleover, Derby in memory of her only son, William Arthur Patrick who died on 12th April 1891. In view of the relative proximity to Moville, it strikes me that the deceased may have been related to the Field Marshall's family.

 

Spring day at Springhill.

 

Having invested in National Trust membership I decided to recoup some of my expenditure yesterday. Accordingly I wended my way to Springhill House just outside the village of Moneymore. This small Plantation estate had been in the ownership of the Lennox-Conyngham family, albeit not in direct line, for some three hundred and fifty years before economic realities found Captain William Lowry Lennox-Cunningham deciding in 1957 to bequeath the estate to the National Trust. He died three days after the signing of his will. The term , "O'Hagan Clause," springs to mind.

 

It is not a huge house, really nothing more than a substantial farmhouse with more formal rooms occupying the additions to the original seventeenth century seven bay structure. The symmetry is surprisingly pleasing. On a similar vein the replacement beech walk to the rear of the property will be quite impressive when it reaches maturity.

 

I cannot say that I was overly impressed with the National Trust staff that I came across. The house guide was trying too hard. She may have a desire to be a standup comic but her attempts at humour and bonhomie were cringing. In the coffee shop the waitress decided not to clear the detritus from my table's previous resident before delivering my order minus milk for my tea. With a total of three tables occupied she also managed to forget the order of a young couple who had arrived in the eatery in advance of myself. Hopefully these rather obvious mistakes are a reflection of the start of the season and not inherent staff failings.

 

Londonderry's Guildhall - Notes on its history.

 

The formal agreement between The Hononorable the Irish Society and Londonderry Corporation by which the former agreed to provide a site for a new Town Hall to replace the by then inadequate civic building in the centre of the Diamond was entered into on 28th April 1886. In addition to agreeing to grant the Corporation the necessary land for what was to be known as the Guildhall the Irish Society also agreed to provide funding up to the sum of sixteen thousand pounds to include all expenses and the costs of fitting out.

 

It was a term of the agreement that the Irish Society should see and approve any tender for the construction works before it was formally accepted by the Corporation. It was further agreed that once the building was completed and furnished and possession had been taken by the Corporation that at that stage the Irish Society would grant the Corporation a lease in perpetuity, (a fee farm grant), of the site reserving an annual ground rent of £400. It was stipulated that the deed would contain a covenant to the affect that the land and buildings could not be used for any purpose save for the purposes of, "a Town Hall, Corporation Offices and other similar purposes for which Town Halls and the buildings erected therewith are commonly used." For some years prior to 1886 the Irish Society had been making an annual allowance of £1283 for certain specific purposes. The Fee Farm Grant was to include a clause stating that if the annual fee farm rental of £400 was not paid by the Corporation that the Irish Society could retain the said sum from the monies paid by way of the annual allowance. The Fee Farm Grant to the Corporation was ultimately dated 6th July 1892.

 

Some six years later by way of a deed dated 28th June 1898 the Irish Society conveyed the rental to the Corporation, the Corporation having agreed to forego an annual allowance of £400 which the Irish Society was to give the Corporation for ten years to assist with the Killea water supply. The restrictive covenant as to use contained in the Fee Farm Grant was reaffirmed in the 1898 assurance.

 

 

 

Bogay House

Photo Courtesy of National Inventory of Architectural Heritage

Bogay House in County Donegal is a property which brings back many happy childhood memories. The above photograph must have been taken circa 1967. Shortly after that the driveway was tarmaced,

The property was owed by a cousin of my father and we visited he and his wife on a very regular basis. The demesne was a veritable adventure ground for a young schoolboy. The rear of the house has a southerly aspect and the lawn immediately below the the house had and presumably still has an Italianate pond. Both this pond and the rather more informal pond adjacent to the northerly turning circle were full of frogspawn every Spring and newts could always be seen amongst the pondweed.

The surrounding woodland provided me with a seemingly limitless playground. I remember visiting Bogay to view a red deer stag that had escaped from Glenveagh and found its way to this little piece of rural tranquility. There were several Spanish Chestnut trees in the woods and I recollect collecting the nuts to eat.

Below the house was the walled garden. Apparently this is one of only nine walled gardens in Co. Donegal. Unfortunately this garden is now unused and overgrown. My dad's cousin kept it in good order, indeed it was a working and productive garden. The lower half of this two acre enclave was planted with apple trees. The remainder of the garden was devoted to soft fruit and vegetables. Uncle Willie, (that's what I called him), operated the garden as a vaguely commercial venture and sold the excess produce. Self sufficiency was definitely something which he approved of. He kept bees and up until the last three or so years of his life he had a couple of dairy cows. Learning how to milk a cow by hand is another memory that remains with me. I wonder if it is one of those skills, like riding a bike, that you don't forget?

He was a nice old buffer. Certainly from another generation. Born in 1890 he was educated at Campbell College, Cambridge and St. Thomas' Hospital. Having qualified as a doctor he served as such in the RAMC during the Great War where he was awarded the MC (For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He personally assisted in getting his wounded away from the dressing station under heavy machine-gun and rifle fire. Previous to this he had gone out from the dressing station on several occasions to tend ....).

Much of his subsequent working life was spent in Palestine as a senior medical officer. He was awarded an OBE in 1936. After he had retired to Co Donegal in 1946 he and his wife, (Dorothy) would travel to East Africa for the winter months, visiting friends and relatives in Kenya, (then pronounced Keen ya, not Ken ya). Not such a bad idea methinks. He was a good source of stamps for my schoolboy collection.

The house contained various artefacts from William's colonial career. I was particularly fascinated by the huge snail shells sitting on top of the bookcases in the large three bay drawing room. He was a keen ornithologist and his notebooks are contained within the manuscript collection in the Natural History Museum in Tring.

Cutting up firewood was another of his pleasures. Unfortunately he was rather too enthusiastic at this task on one occasion and managed to sustain a ten percent reduction in digits. This however did not result in a trip to hospital. He self treated.

Built as a hunting lodge on the Abercorn Estates the Record of Protected Structures for Co Donegal states that the house was constructed in the early to mid eighteenth century. It has five bays and is two storied over a basement and with a dormer attic. There is a single bay basement to the east. A projecting porch was added to the northern aspect circa 1890. In or about 1800 the house was given to the Reverend Thomas Pemberton, rector of Taughboyne for use as a Rectory and it remained as such for in excess of a hundred years. At the time of the 1911 census, Rev A. G. Stewart had the benefit of the glebe and the twenty one room house. The ancillary buildings are listed as being, two stables; coach house ; harness room; calf house; dairy; fowl hose; broiling house; barn; potato house; workshop; shed; laundry and wood house. The census goes on to reveal three other houses on the lands, one of which was vacant and one of which was occupied by a family by the name of Best, whose head of household is described as Land Stewart. For a large part of the nineteenth century Bogay House was the residence of Rev Edward Bowen and his family. His eldest son, Sir George Ferguson Bowen, (1821 -1899) became the ninth Governor of Hong Kong on 30th March 1883, remaining in this post until 21st December 1887.

Tiffin at Ballymaclary House

 

I decided to indulge in a taste of tiffin at Ballymaclary House at Magilligan today. It has recently reopened as a bijou b & b as well as purveying morning coffee, light lunches and afternoon teas. A conservatory has been added to the original house and this addition now provides the entry to the establishment as well as providing space for some sixteen covers. Existing rooms provide further accommodation. It is a pity that this addition to the building has not been designed and executed in a more sympathetic manner. Why aren't the windows fifteen paned? Why is the render not the same colour as that of the original house? Presumably this architectural faux pas is the responsibility of the owners and or the architects and or the planners.

 

What then of the comestibles? Well I only consumed a latte and a scone so I can't provide very extensive views. The former was of a commendable size and temperature. The latter was somewhat crumbly and the consistency of the butter curls tended to that of concrete. My wallet was denuded to the tune of £3.70.

 

Prehen House and the German Connection

I purchased a copy of the booklet concerning Prehen House which has been published recently. It is by no means a weighty intellectual tome, but it does what it is meant to do very well. It is something which a visitor to the house will buy and I think retain. The photographs are clearly not just snaps and they have not been diminished by the use of inferior paper. Obviously the potted history of the house and its owners includes reference to "Half Hanged McNaghten," but the story of the confiscation of the house and estate after the outbreak of the 1914-18 war is also well told. When Lieut-Col. George Knox died in 1910 he left his estate to his German born grandson, Baron George Carl Otto Louis Von Scheffler-Knox , (the Kaiser had permitted the addition of Knox to his name).

I never met the Baron, although I do remember his funeral in 1966 when his ashes were interred in the Knox family vault in Londonderry's City Cemetery. I did however meet his widow, Baroness Kathryn Von Scheffler-Knox and his son Johann Ludwig Prehen Von Scheffler-Knox. Both of them were very typically Germanic and both of them walked with sticks, she because of age related infirmity, he because of leg wounds sustained on the Russian front. It must have been in the early 1980's that the Baroness passed away. Johann died in 2011, the last of his line.

Mount Stewart in the Sun

Yesterday afternoon my personal charabanc conveyed me to Mount Stewart on the Ards peninsula. The reason for my visitation was to view the display of rhododendrons. These are not the two foot examples found at the local garden centre. These are truly specimen plants. Many of them are thirty feet in height, with a similar width. Lady Edith Londonderry who laid out the gardens which we now see, in the 1920's and 1930's ,certainly thought on a grandiose scale. Mind you she wasn't starting with a blank canvas.

 

The sunny afternoon had attracted perhaps upwards of a couple of thousand people to the gardens. A good many of these did not venture further than the lawns behind the house. The younger members of this assemblage sprawled on the grass. The older and more organised individuals had arrived with their collapseable chairs and bottles of chilled wine. The dear old National Trust, unbeknownst to myself, had organised a jazz band to entertain the populace. Had I had the perspicacity to arrive with a supply of vinous liquid I might well have been tempted to join this throng and doze contentedly in the sun rather than perambulate around the gardens. A lesson learnt!

 

 

Ballymacool House, Letterkenny - A Name and Arms Clause

Grant of Arms to William Henry Porter d 1st June 1891

Ballymacool House and its surrounding estate was purchased by John Boyd in 1798. It then passed to his son, also John Boyd, a barrister by profession. Upon his death in 1836 the property passed to his son John Robert Boyd who died on 30th March 1891 without issue. The Estate then passed to the latter's nephew, William Henry Porter, but conditional upon him taking the name and arms of the Boyd family.

Such testamentary clauses would not have been unfamiliar to the nineteenth century solicitor. As with the strict settlement such devices had as their aim the retention of land within the family. Unfortunately the estate passed out of the Boyd family in 1941. The purchasers, Kelly by name, sold off a lot of the timber and disposed of the property for development in the mid 1980's.

The Grant of Arms in favour of William Henry Porter DL, JP, (pictured above), confirms that he and his issue, "may take and henceforth use the surname of Boyd and instead of that of Porter and bear the Arms, Crest and Motto of Boyd.' It is signed and sealed by Sir John Bernard Burke, Ulster King of Arms and Knight Attendant on the Illustrious Order of St Patrick.

An interesting, "by the by," is that one of the Boyd family, one Patti Boyd, married George Harrison and subsequently Eric Clapton.

Case for the Grant of Arms