Castlereagh

Killala, Co. Mayo

Castlereagh located near Killala, Co. Mayo was the ancestral home of the Knox family. 

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One of the surviving features of Castlereagh is its gate lodge which was located next to the main gate, the entrance to the demesne. This entrance was found just below Palmerstown Bridge, but today nothing of the main gate remains. It was intended at one stage to align the bridge with this gateway however this pipe dream was never implemented. The main gate was removed during the 1930’s but the associated gate lodge remains and was lived in until the 1950’s. Castlereagh was the first Knox residence established in the area but the original structure was damaged in 1798 and as a result a new house was built. It possibly incorporated sections of the older building as it took the name of ‘castle’ from a tower that formed the left wing of the building. It would appear that a castle did indeed exist on the site as Castlereagh is the anglicised version of the Irish for grey castle, caislean riabhach.  In the eighteenth century when it was the home of John ‘Diamond Knox’, the house was described as a large mansion but it was remarked that it was ‘unbeautiful’.

One of the surviving features of Castlereagh is one of its gate lodges.

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The Knox family originally hailed from Scotland and came to Ireland when a William Knox settled in Donegal in the seventeenth century. This Donegal settler's son named William Knox came to Killala in the Cromwellian period and had a son Arthur who married Hannah Palmer, a member of the family who gave their name to the nearby Palmerstown. Arthur Knox died in 1744 and is buried in St. Patricks Cathedral in Killala. His son John ‘Diamond’ Knox was born in 1728 and married Anne King in May 1750. John's wife was extremely well connected as her father was Sir Henry King, and her mother was Isabella Wingfield of Rockingham, the sister of Viscount Powerscourt. John 'Diamond' Knox was branded with his unusual middle name due to the large dowry he gave his daughter upon her marriage which included a large suite of diamonds. He was a magistrate for Mayo, Sligo and Roscommon and was elected to Parliament in the 1760's. He died in February in 1774 supposedly as a result of a riding accident and was buried in the family vault in Boyle Abbey.

Portrait of Anne King who married John 'Diamond' Knox. This portrait once hung in Rockingham House in Roscommon.

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John 'Diamond' Knox's son and heir was named Arthur, who was born in September 1759 , settled at Woodstock in Wicklow an estate that he purchased from Lord St. George and served as High Sheriff of that country in 1791. He married in 1781 Lady Mary Brabazon eldest daughter of Anthony 8th Earl of Meath.  He died in Bristol in October 1798 and is buried in New Castle in Wicklow in a vault which he had constructed for the use of family.

The Knox Sporting Screen painted by Roper for John 'Diamond' Knox

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One of John 'Diamond' Knox's possessions still survives today, a painted screen known as The Knox Sporting Screen and was sold in 1985 for £247,500 in Sotheby’s.  The work of art ,which is signed R.Roper and dates from 1759, comprises of twelve paintings of hunting subjects on the front of the screen while the reverse has eighteen portraits of celebrated race horses of the time with their grooms. This screen which is considered a masterpiece appeared at auction again in 2011 in Christie's and sold for £241,250.

A map showing the layout of the mansion at Castlereagh and its associated out buildings.

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In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the vast wealth and land holding of the Knox family can not be underestimated. The family had estates all over Mayo and as different branches of the family grew so did the families collection of houses. Names of family homes in Mayo, some of which still exist, include Rappa Castle, Mount Falcon, Belleek Castle, Castle Lacken, Netley Park, Greenpark, Errew Grange and Cillaithe House. The towns of Ballina and Ballyhaunis with which the Knox family were most associated with had their main streets named after the family. In 1798, Castlereagh was the seat of Arthur Knox when it was pillaged by an organised band of marauders during the rebellion which is said to have led to the rebuilding of the house. This was possible as by 1800 as the rent roll of Castlereagh brought in the substantial sum of £18,000 a year which would be an annual income of over €2 million in today's terms. By this stage the estate had passed to John Knox who was born 13th May 1783 who eventually married Maria Anne Knox on the 12th March 1808. They led an extravagant lifestyle and maintained houses in Dublin and the UK together with Woodstock in Co. Wicklow. The debts associated with their spending is something that neither the family nor the estate at Castlereagh could ever shake off in future generations. By the time of the death of John in 1861, the family were nearly bankrupt. Maria and John had four sons Arthur Edward, Ernest, Robert Augustus and Edward William John. The eldest son, Arthur Edward married Lady Jane Parsons in Petersham, Surrey in December 1835. She was the elder daughter of Lawrence, 2nd Earl of Ross and sister of William Parsons, the 3rd Earl of Rosse of Birr Castle.  Arthur was the eldest son of  John Knox and after his  death, his estates in Mayo were sold in the Encumbered Estates Court in 1853. It appears that the estate was possibly entailed to the eldest son as Arthur's son, Lawrence (who was a minor at the time) was also mentioned as being an owner in press advertisements when the estate was sold. The first sale of land owned by Arthur Knox extended to over 16,000 acres with the second sale amounting to over 25,000 acres. Arthur Knox appears to be living in Sussex at this time and his younger brother Ernest purchased the Castlereagh Demesne together with lands at Cortoon, Killybroone and Leadymore, Mullinacrush, Killeencreevagh which extended to 1,600 acres. Ernest married Charlotte Catherine Knox Gore in 1861, the daughter of James Knox Gore of Broadlands Park in Mayo.

The staircase in Cillaithe House, Killala which was said to be modelled on one of the many staircases that existed at Castlereagh.

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Ernest made a number of changes to the house, none of which improved its appearance internally or externally. He divided up the entrance hall to create unneeded additional rooms and as per the attitude of the previous generations never completed the endeavor. He decided to close up the original main entrance to Castlereagh and re-orientate the house. The new entrance that was created was through a small glass door which seemed very odd in a building of such a vast size. Lots of projects were begun in the house but were never completed which were often lamented by later generations.  Pictures were removed from the walls to be re-hung but were still on the floor over fifty years later. Apparently in later years as areas of the house deteriorated the inhabitants moved to other parts of the house that were unaffected. This resulted in there being four incarnations of the kitchen as it followed the family around their decaying home. The house was adapted over the generations in an ad hoc manner, there were five staircases one of which was said to be the inspiration for the staircase that exists today in Cillaithe House in nearby Killala also owned by a Knox relative. In 1812, the north west side of the house was rebuilt, to form a new wing. This new section of the house was two high stories instead of the three stories of which the older part of the house was comprised of.  As a result of the differing floor levels, parts of this new addition were left uncompleted and interconnecting passages between the old and new wing were never resolved. The house was surrounded by a complex of outbuilding which included the stable block that incorporated a clock tower and was possibly architecturally superior to the house. To the rear of the house were vast walled garden enclosing acres of land. Also situated within the demesne and closer to the river was the Knox family's private burial ground.

This is Castlereagh after the improvements of Ernest Knox, he moved the original entrance door that was situated in the tower on the left and created a new entrance which consisted of two glass doors which can be seen in this image.

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With a large rambling country house of its size, there was tales of ghosts especially a deceased butler who would make his way through the passages of the house at night dropping crockery. Naturally enough there was also a haunted room that no one was meant to disturb. The room contained an apparition that would rearrange the belongings of any guest foolish enough to stay there. It wasn’t unusual for rooms to be locked and forgotten about in Castlereagh, one such room was locked after one of the estate's agents drowned who occupied it. The room remained locked for over sixty years and was only opened to retrieve the contents after the floor began to collapse in that section of the house. In fact it appeared to be a tradition, that as the family members died and the size of the family began to decrease, the bedroom of the deceased was locked and remained as it was at the time of the person’s death. It was said that whenever a member of the Knox family who lived in the house was about to die, a ghostly horse and carriage would descend from the heavens and arrive at the door of Castlereagh to carry the recently deceased to heaven...... or hell, it was never determined where its destination was.

Lawrence Knox , the founded of The Irish Times, whose father and wife desended from the house at Castlereagh near Killala in Co. Mayo and not Roscommon as a number of publications ascribe his origins to.

It was Ernest's nephew Lawrence Knox who established the Irish Times in 1859 although it is said that he made no money from it.  He was the son of Arthur Edward Knox who sold Castlereagh. Lawrence was born in 1836 in Ballina, Co. Mayo according to The Freeman's Journal of 1873. Also when Lawrence Knox was baptised in Sussex in January 1837, his birthplace is not recorded. In time he joined the army where  he served in the Crimea during the Russian War. He was eventually elected to Parliament as a representative for Sligo. Lawrence married Clara Charlotte Knox, who was his first cousin, the daughter of Ernest Knox of Castlereagh. Lawrence and Clara Charlotte Knox are recorded as being married in St. Patrick's Cathedral in Killala in 1858. It is very odd to read that when Laurence Knox died in 1873, Ernest Knox of Castlereagh was described not only as his uncle but also as his father-in-law. After Lawrence’s death, The Irish Times was sold for £35,000, his desk which had ‘The Irish Times’ inscribed on it passed to another member of the family. Ernest Knox of Castlereagh Mayo died 8th September 1883, leaving his widow Charlotte Katherine Knox in control of Castlereagh. By the time of the census in 1901, Ernest's eldest son, John Valentine Knox aged 62 is living in the house with his widowed mother Charlotte Katherine aged 91 together with his two spinster sisters Maria Louisa aged 64 and Helen aged 57.  They have two live in servants, Mary Tighe aged 23, a house maid and Agnes Mc Gurrin aged 17 who is said to be the cook. Castlereagh is described in the census documents as having 19 out buildings with the house itself having 36 windows in its entrance front and extending to 15 rooms. Charlotte Katherine Knox, Ernest senior's widow is recorded as dying in 1901 followed by her daughter Maria Louisa who died in 1905 and Lawrence's widow, Clara Charlotte Knox, who died in 1908.

A newspaper advertisement indicating that contents of Castlereagh are to be sold

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By 1911, John Valentine Knox is resident in the house with his sister Helen but they are now joined by their brother Ernest and another sister Gertrude. Ernest Knox who was born in 1846, retired from his position in the banking profession in 1910 and returned to his Mayo home. They have four live in servants in the house.  It is said that John and Ernest’s sister Gertrude always wore a hat all the time and was never seen without it for the sole reason that she had no hair. John Valentine died in 1919 followed by Gertrude in 1923. The last residents of the house was Ernest Knox and his sister Helen. The attitude of the previous generations to lock up rooms and forget about parts of the house was still prevalent in Ernest. Once when showing a guest around the house they enquired what a large heavy timber cupboard situated on the landing contained. Now one must remember that Ernest had lived in the house since childhood for over eighty years so his response might surprise some. He replied that he had never had the sufficient curiosity to open it. One relative whose boxes of possessions returned to the castle after their death in 1876 remained unopened by the time it came to clear the castle in 1933. Another box which was transferred from Woodstock in Wicklow was found to have remained unopened in Castlereagh for over one hundred and twenty years. Obviously curiosity was not a vice that the Knox family suffered from.

The stables at Castlereagh Killala where the clock, that once over looked the stables at Castlereagh,  ended up after the auction of Castlereaghs contents and its subsequent demolition in 1937.

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In April 1930, Ernest Knox aged 84 was laid to rest in the private cemetery within the demesne, today this area is marked by a group of trees, and though it exists on private lands it is said that the grave markers remain. Only Ernest's elderly sister Helen aged 90 and a few relatives attended his funeral.  Ernest spent his time at Castlereagh in his notable library or trout fishing on the nearby river. His herd of deer, which galloped around the demesne, was said to be second only to the one that the Guinness family kept at Ashford Castle. At the time of Ernest’s death it was said that Castlereagh was one of the oldest mansions in the county and was still in a reasonable state of repair despite large sections being neglected. Prior to the first Land Acts, the estate rental was £20,000 a year but it was one of the first estates to be sold under the Encumbered Estates Court.    In June 1936,  a notice appeared in The Irish Independent inviting tenders for the demolition of Castlereagh and its associated out buildings. Previously, in February 1936 the contents of Castlereagh, Killala were advertised for auction by the order of Cyril St. George Knox. The auction of the contents would take place over three days and would extend to rare antique furnishings, oil paintings, china, glass, a valuable library of books and even a herd of deer. The auction was attended by a large number of antique dealers who came from many parts of Ireland and the UK. Two antique dealers in particular from Birmingham attended and bought heavily. The auction was also attended by a representative from the National Museum of Ireland, as the Knox family were known to collect ancient Irish antiquities, however it is not recorded if they purchased anything. A Chippendale table was purchased for £21 by a man from Manchester and the 2,000 volume library held no first editions but twenty-eight late seventeenth century books which were sold for £9. An exciting incident occurred during the disposal of the contents of the library, one of the workmen pulled out one of the wall panels by accident which uncovered a hidden room. This room had been used as an armoury which contained a number of guns and musketry. Everything had to go, including twenty of the deer roaming the grounds which were sold for £24 to the Ward Union Hunt. Nearly every item in the catalogue was cleared. The clock over the stable yard was purchased and made its way to the stable yard in nearby Cillaithe House in Killala and still exists today. The clock when purchased was in pieces in a box, like a lot of the Knox’s projects at Castlereagh, it had been taken down years before to be repaired but never reinstated.

In December of the same year, tenders were invited for the purchase of the timber on the lands of the estate which comprised of 2,500 trees made up of Ash, Oak, Elm, Beech, Sycamore and Larch. The house was bought by Arthur West of Ballina who intended to demolish it for materials. In 1937 the demolition of Castlereagh began but resulted in a tragedy. Michael Burke, aged 18, was killed during the demolition of the house when a wall collapsed on him. Even during the demolition of the house Castlereagh had one more secret to reveal, as another staircase was uncovered having being built up decades before. The destruction of the great house was now complete, it was wiped from the landscape as if it never existed and today the field where it once stood gives no hint to what was once there.

The remains of a decorative arch of the walled gardens at Castlereagh which survives today.

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Bartragh House

Bartragh Island, Killala, Co. Mayo

Bartragh House is found on Bartragh Island situated in the 

Moy Estuary near Killala in Co. Mayo

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The only house on Bartragh Island (also known as Bartra Island) near Killala, Co. Mayo is a distant and isolated place sitting in the Moy estuary, inaccessible most of the time except by boat. The question must be asked is why did Charles Kirkwood choose to build a house in such a location in the early nineteenth century? Access to the house, even in the twenty-first century, is still controlled by the tides and there are many tales of people being stuck on the island having misjudged the returning waters. Today the house, which is a perfect setting for an Agatha Christie novel, lies derelict having been the focus of a number of failed ambitions to restore it. Also it now appears from my research that the man who instigated the construction of the house on Bartragh Island in the 1830's, Charles Kirkwood, spent the last decade of his life in an asylum. Is Bartragh Island a harsh environment that takes its toll on all those who dare to make it their home?

Charles Kirkwood decided to create his own domain on Bartragh Island in the 1830's

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Bartra Island pictured in the 1920's when it was still the residence of the Kirkwood Family

The earliest mention of an association between the Kirkwood family and Bartragh Island is when Miss Dorothy Kirkwood held a lease dated 1741 for lands at Moyne from Lord Tyrawley for a term of 999 years at a rent of £22 a year. However it appears that this lease was at some stage abandoned, for in 1827 the estate of Lord Tyrawley was sold by the Court of Chancery to a Thomas Jones, who again leased the lands to the Kirkwood’s in 1831 for 910 years at a rent of £21 5s 10d. The person who is responsible for the construction of the house on Bartragh Island is Captain Charles Kirkwood who was a midshipman on the gunboat ‘Fame’ and fought with Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar. Following his retirement from the Navy, Captain Kirkwood began a new career when he purchased a vessel and traded between England and India. As a result of this enterprise he became very wealthy and bought the townlands of Moyne, Bartragh, Kilcummin and Townparks West. His new home would be the only house ever built on the 350 acre island in the Moy estuary which is surrounded by other smaller islands known by names such as Calf and Horse Island. 

The house is U shaped and is built around a central courtyard which 

can be seen in this series of photographs

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The single-storey house with half dormer attic wing to the rear was in use in 1838 and it appears that whoever designed the house certainly took heed to make it suitable for its environment. The house is nestled into a hill with a large land bank in front that protects it from the full force of the sea during a storm. The house is entered through a large entrance porch from which you enter through an off centre door to an inner hall that runs perpendicular. This hallway traverses the length of the main entrance front block and provides access to two large reception rooms with high ceilings. Accommodated in the entrance porch but accessed from the inner hall is a curved staircase that leads to the upper floor. The stairs is entered from the inner hall through a Gothic arch with plaster detailing that gives some impression of how the house was decorated when it was originally built. The house is U shaped and is built around a central court yard, the wing that extends from the rear of the main block is half dormered and appears to have once been bedrooms on both the ground and first floor. A long corridor on the ground floor provided access to these bedrooms on the courtyard side. This in turn led to a secondary or servant’s staircase which was located adjacent to the kitchen wing. At the time of the census in the early 1900’s it is recorded that the house comprised of 17 rooms.

The Gothic arch surrounding the entrance to the staircase 

gives an impression of how the house was once decorated

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In April 1837, it was reported that three men were charged with breaking windows and ‘Gothic’ sashes of the house of Charles Kirkwood on Bartragh Island. The motive given for the vandalism by these men was that Kirkwood was selling mutton in Killala under market price.  The vandals tore away the ‘Plaster of Paris ornaments’ off the lower part of the house and flung the pieces at the windows in order to break them. They broke 156 panes of glass, damaged railings and pulled up the newly planted shrubbery. At the time of the attack on the house on Bartragh Island, the Kirkwoods were living in a house in nearby Killala town. The reasons giving as to why the house on the island was unoccupied was due to it being winter and the building was ‘new’. Charles Kirkwood married a Miss Henrietta Knox in December 1838 and this may have been his reason for building the house on Bartragh Island. In September 1840, a son and heir was born at Bartragh House to Charles Kirkwood and his wife and by the end of the decade they would have five more children. Charles was a lieutenant in the Navy and since his retirement had resided in Mayo. Life on the island was obviously harsh which was illustrated in 1843 when a boat with six men were fishing for herring near Bartragh . A storm broke out and they were driven on to the shore of the island where four of the men successfully made their way to the home of Captain Kirkwood.  Servants were sent in search of the two missing men who were found on the shore. They were ferried back to Bartragh House where one man was revived, however the other was not so fortunate.

The front of the house where the main receptions are located is single story

whereas the bedroom wing to the rear is two storey

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Bartra House seen in the early 1990's during the renovations carried out by Mary Molloy, 

as can be seen from comparing the these photos with the building as it exists today, 

 the house has sustained serious damage and vandalism over the last 20 years.

Picture Copyright ( above and below) Mary Molloy

It is often speculated that Captain Kirkwood would have had to have been mad to build a house on an island, however the events of 1849 show that this assertion may have had foundation. A commission had been set up at this time to enquire into the state of mind of Charles Kirkwood to confirm if he was a lunatic. A Mr. Martley, Q.C. and Mr. Wall, Q.C. appeared on behalf of Charles 's wife, Mrs. Kirkwood, to ascertain if her husband had become insane. The purpose of the commission was also to find out if Charles could manage his own substantial financial affairs and land holdings. It was determined that Charles had become insane around the 15^th of April of that year and that he had always had an excitable temperament particularly in recent years as a result of an addiction to alcohol. He was having hallucinations and made claims that he had made recent voyages to China which had never occurred. He was also talking to himself and when questioned he said he was speaking to people who had been dead for a number of years who had begun to visit him. The children’s governess, Miss Pike, appeared as a witness and she attested that Charles was drinking heavily and that he was delusional as he told her about conversations he was having with his dead father. Kirkwood was comfortable in terms of his finances, his settled real estate brought £320 a year, his chattel property was £540 and his railway shares amounted to £10,133. Mr. Kirkwood ascertained that he was of sound mind and the ‘doctors’ were only wasting the court's time. The jury returned a verdict that he was of unsound mind and in order to avoid publicity he was placed in an asylum in Finglas, Dublin however it was feared that there was ‘ no ultimate prospect of his recovery’. At this time Charles was aged 61 and it appears that he spent the rest of his life in the Dublin Asylum. In the record of his will, it states that he died on the 23^rd April 1859 in Finglas Dublin which obviously indicates that he was still ensconced in the asylum at the time of his death. The executors of his will were Joseph Kirkwood of Killala and Henry William Knox of Netley, Ballina.

The windows in the entrance front of the house are large to take full 

advantage of the marine views 

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The deterioration of the house over the last 20 years is evident when

compared with this image of the house during renovations in the 1990's.

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After his death in 1861, Charles Kirkwood was succeeded by his son Captain Charles Knox Kirkwood who had been a Lieutenant in the Royal Horse Artillery and who was stationed in Gibraltar for four years prior to his father’s death. He had become Captain upon his retirement and returned to Ireland to take up his inheritance and married Emma Louisa Knox of Rappa Castle, who considering his mother’s lineage possibly meant that they were related. In September 1864, Charles Knox Kirkwood, late of the Royal Artillery and eldest son of Captain Charles Kirkwood, married the third daughter of Annesley Knox of Rappa Castle. The marriage took place at the nearby, but now derelict, Ballysokerry Church. Charles had his brother John as best man and the bride was given away by her brother, Annesley Arthur Knox ( my own great-great grandfather). After the ceremony the whole group left for further celebrations at Rappa Castle located near Ardagh in Crossmolina. The marriage was not to be a long one as Emma Louisa died in 1877 and is buried near her former home. 

The grave of Emma Louisa Kirkwood who died in 1877 is found

 in the Knox Family burial ground in Crossmolina

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It appears through the generations that the Kirkwood family always had a number of members with military involvement. Charles Kirkwood’s brother, John, had joined the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry after his return from duty in the suppression of the Indian Mutiny between 1857 and 1859. He was appointed an Ensign in 1863 followed by Lieutenant in 1865, becoming a Captain in 1873 and a Major in 1883. He retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in February 1886. He was involved in campaigns in Egypt in 1882 and the Sudan in 1885. After his retirement in 1886 he spent a lot of time in Glencar near Killorglin in Co. Kerry in a former hunting lodge on the Marquis of Lansdowne 's estate. Colonel Kirkwood died at a nursing home in Dublin in May 1917.

Charles Kirkwood died in 1926 and is buried on the island where 

this headstone marks his final resting place

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In 1893, tragedy struck the Island when the death took place of Gerald John Kirkwood, at the residence of his father on Bartragh Island. He was the third and youngest son of Captain K. Kirkwood and his interment took place in the family burial ground near Rappa Castle which would have been his mother’s ancestral home. At the time of the census in 1901, Charles K. Kirkwood, aged 60 is in residence in Bartragh House on the island with his son Annesley Charles aged 33, daughters Mabel Emma aged 31 and Laura Maud aged 29, also in residence are their two male servants. By 1911, Charles is living in the house with only one daughter Laura Maud together with two servants. His other daughter Mabel Emma had died in March 1910 and is buried in Mullafarry Churchyard near Killala.  The house at this time is described as having 17 rooms and 20 out buildings. Over the years many local people have often visited the island and in 1912, members of the branch of Ballina’s Tailors society had their annual excursion to Bartragh Island where they were entertained by Captain Kirkwood. Captain Charles Knox Kirkwood died on Bartragh in 1926 and was buried on the island. His head stone can still be seen on the hill to the rear of the house, his burial ground overlooks a spectacular vista of Enniscrone, Co. Sligo. The headstone marking his last resting place was erected by his daughter Maud and it is said locally that it doesn’t actually mark his final resting place which is located further up the hill. The story goes that when the men charged with erecting the headstone were transporting it up the hill, it fell off the vehicle they were using. So much effort was involved with putting it back on the cart or trailer that it was installed where it landed. Now whether this story is true we shall never know but it is a funny anecdote. Charles's son, Claud Arthur Kirkwood inherited the house and island, he had been born in 1871 together with his twin sister Maud. Claud had worked for the Bank of Ireland until 1904 but then became an evangelical preacher who traveled to the USA and Canada. In July 1927, the household furniture and effects of the late Captain Kirkwood were advertised for sale by his son C.C. Kirkwood (Claud). The house at the time was listed as having a drawing room, hall, dining room, gun room with workshop, several bedrooms and a kitchen. Potential purchasers were warned in the advertisement that the sale started at 2 o’clock and that they must leave the island before the return of the tide.

An advertisement for the auction of the contents of the house in 1927

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In November 1927 during a fierce storm a ship named the S.S. Sine, which was anchored in Killala Bay, was torn free from her moorings and was driven by the wind on to Bartragh Island. The lives of the crew were saved by two civic guards and a number of men from nearby Killala town. The vessel, which was chartered from Denmark by Isaac Beckett to carry a cargo of timber from Sweden to his building providers that he operated in Ballina. A number of men seen the ship's distress rockets and headed out in a 14 foot boat from Killala pier in the raging storm. They reached the beached ship and began to rescue the crew by means of attaching a cable to the ship's side and using a basket or small metal cage to remove the crew of the stricken vessel, one by one. In the weeks that followed the dramatic rescue, the cargo was eventually salvaged but the wreck of the ship remained. Today timbers can be seen protruding from the sand around the island which are all that remain of the SS Sine. A fitting conclusion occurred in 1995, when the 80 year old Gunnar B. Lindberg, a member of the crew of the Sine returned to see what remained of the wreck from which he was rescued in November 1927. He owed his life to those local men who risked their own lives rescuing him nearly 70 years previous.

Details still survive in the house which hint at 

the glamour of its previous occupants

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Claud Kirkwood lived a solitary life on the island, preferring his own company and never married, as a result he was once referred to in a newspaper article as 'the loneliest man in the world'. However it appears that he preferred it that way and became infuriated with unwanted visitors. In 1941, Claud Kirkwood placed an advertisement in the local paper saying that the island was closed to visitors ‘Due to the thieving proclivities of certain individuals, Bartragh Island is now closed from this date, except with the written permission of Claude A. Kirkwood'. Just after the Second World War, Claud sold Bartragh to a man named Captain Verner. Kirkwood moved to Dublin where he died in 1953 and is buried in Deans Grange in Dublin. In 1947, it was reported that a CIE lorry was damaged while delivering turf to Bartragh Island for Captain and Mrs. Mac Kenzie-Verner who had purchased the island. The lorry had become stuck in the sand having previously delivered all the new owners furniture to the island. Captain Verner’s wife was a sister of the actress Joyce Redman who eventually purchased the house and visited it regularly.  In 1952, the owner of the island was Captain Charles Wynne-Roberts, the husband of Joyce Redman, who was a director of Calor Gas and a son of the founders and directors of General Electric. Joyce Redman was the daughter of Major and Mrs. Redman, and was a niece of Niall Mc Cormick of Carramore Lacken. The house at this time was used as a summer residence, where they entertained friends and it is said that the Gone with the Wind actress Vivien Leigh attempted a visit but the weather did not permit. During the tenure of Joyce Redman the house now had its own power plant with both hot and cold running water. Their caretaker on the island at this time was an Armagh born man, named Tom Duff, who only left the island once a week to go to mass in nearby Cooneal Church. A major concern of the owners of the island at this time were the rates which were inordinately expensive. The rates were leveled against Bartragh Island and three of its satellite islands which the owners described as ‘Simply fabulous’, one wonders if they were talking about the rates or the islands. While the occupiers of the island may have lacked human company, animal life abounded,  they had a cow, calf, eight sheep, a donkey with foal and fifty chickens.  This did not include over two thousand rabbits who were making a nuisance of themselves in terms of the efforts to cultivate a garden around the house. One link with the outside world was the post which was delivered to the Carroll cottage on the main land three times a week.

The interior of the house is decimated however a section of 

decorative plaster work survives

Picture Copyright ( above and below) ICHC

In 1978, the island was offered for sale for £95,000, the island was not mentioned by name when the advertisement was published in the national press but it was clear that it was Bartragh by its description ‘ large island, 3 miles long, lying in River Estuary and Atlantic off the coast of North West Ireland’. At this time, Ms Redman’s uncle Niall Mc Cormick was looking after the island for his niece but the house had begun to fall in to disrepair. In 1989, Mary Molloy purchased the island for a figure thought to be around £120,000, she had great plans to refurbish the house and transform it in to a Natural Health and Education Centre. There were calls at the time by local people that both Mayo and Sligo County Councils should buy Bartragh and turn it in to a local amenity to be enjoyed by the general public. Mary Molloy planned that the walled garden would be re-established which would produce organic vegetables and the remainder of the island would become either a deer farm or golf course. The restoration of the house began in earnest and a phone line was established in 1992, there were plans for a light railway link or even that an old amphibious troop carrier be used to transport guests to the island. The house was re-roofed and new windows were fitted however in 1993 during the renovations a number of cases of theft and vandalism occurred. Unfortunately Mary Molloy’s proposed business did not materialize and since then the Island is said to be owned by a consortium that has associations with the golfer Nick Faldo. Over the last twenty years, there have been newspaper reports detailing a proposed €30 million development that would consist of a hotel and golf course but these ideas never developed further than the drawing board. Of course now the house on Bartragh Island is derelict and falling to pieces despite being a protected structure. While I can understand that maybe there are legal reasons for not restoring the house, it should at least be protected. Windows are broken and sheep call the once grand reception rooms home. Surely if the window and door opening were sealed up and the house mothballed at least some of the original details might survive to allow an authentic restoration to take place some day. Again the complacent attitude of the powers that be in Ireland allow our heritage to be degraded to a point that its eventual salvage is a lost cause.

Ballybrooney House

Killala, Co. Mayo

I have always toyed with the idea of purchasing an old country house with the dream of restoring it, however accumulating the necessary funds have always alluded me. So when Ballybrooney House near Killala in Co. Mayo appeared in the Irish Independent last year with an asking price of €40,000, of course I had notions of finally realising that dream. Unfortunately Ballybrooney House, that I visited in 2015, was a shadow of its former self having suffered at the hands of a developer and their abandoned botched restoration which was reflected in the low asking price.

Ballybrooney was an 18th century house that was occupied by a person by the name of Fallon in the late 1770’s. It is described as a detached five-bay, two storey over basement house faced with cut limestone which had a servant’s tunnel, which still survives. A lease had previously been granted on lands at Ballybrooney in August 1753 by Sir Arthur Gore to man by the name of John Perkins Senior. By the 1830’s, Ballybrooney House was recorded as being the residence of J.Perkins, Esq. who was a magistrate. It was also said that John Perkins was the land agent for property owned by the Gores, Earls of Arran another reason possibly as why Perkins leased the lands. At the time of Griffith's Valuation when the property was valued at £17, it was said that Perkins “lives in a comfortable house, pleasantly situated, with the land around it neatly planted. He lets a considerable part of the townland to tenants at will, at 28s per acre per annum. Soil, light gravelly clay. Usual produce, barley, oats, flax and potatoes. Houses are of stone, and the inhabitants in middling circumstances. There are about 15 acres of plantation and 190 acres of bog in this townland.” It was also noted at this time that Perkins also held some land in the parish of Ballysakeery, barony of Tirawley, Co. Mayo. In April 1829, in the church at Ballysakerry, Archdeacon Veschoyle conducted the marriage ceremony of Alexander Hamilton of Donegal who married Susanna, eldest daughter of John Perkins of Ballybrooney. In November 1832, John Perkins, Junior of Ballybrooney was appointed magistrate by the Lord Chancellor. In a letter from October 1845, it was said that the late Mr. Perkins (John Perkins Junior) of Ballybrooney held the tolls and customs of the town of Killala under lease from the Bishop. He built a superior shambles, sunk a pump and enclosed a large and commodious market place, with a wall twelve feet high. However it was said that a Mr. Kirkwood prevented Mr. Perkins from collecting any toll and also had the market moved off the street. By 1845 the tolls of Killala had become the responsibility of Robert Kirkwood of Greenpark Lodge. One gentleman who had his pigs on the public street was told by Mr. Kirkwood that he would remove him and his pigs to the local police barracks. As the man refused the request, both he and the pigs were detained in the police barracks. The trader who wrote the letter said there were no tolls boards displayed in the town by Mr. Kirkwood and that he had done little to improve the town unlike his predecessor.

Ballybrooney House has a symmetrical facade which include circular sweeps which extend out from either side of the house 

Picture Copyright ( above) David Hicks 

The Perkins family intermarried with the Fetherstonhaughs and the Dundas family. John Perkins Senior died in 1795 and his son John Perkins Junior, who was born on March 1st in 1772, married Lydia Fetherstonhaugh. John Perkins Junior died in March 1836 followed his wife Lydia who died in 1851. During their marriage they had a number of children Arthur, William, John, Anna, Lydia, Harriet, Elizabeth, Susannah, Matilda and Sidney. John and Lydia’s son, Arthur Saunders Perkins married Frances Radcliff and the marriage produced a daughter named Frances Sarah Eleanor Perkins. In 1907, it was noted in the press that the death occurred of Frances Perkins at The Villa, Moynalty and it was also recorded that she was the widow of Arthur Saunders Perkins of Ballybrooney. Arthur Saunders Perkins had died a number of years earlier on the 28th May 1868, his last will and testament was proved by the executor Thomas Radcliff of Wilmount Kells, Co. Meath in 1869. However it appears that parts of the will were left un-administered and in 1882, the will was proved again by Godfrey Fetherston of Wyatt Villa near Ballybrack, Dublin. This second administration was necessary as elements of the will were left previously ‘un-administered by Thomas Radcliff’. Thomas Radcliff was the only son of the Rev. Stephen Radcliff, rector of Kilmoon, County Meath who was married to Sydney, daughter of John Perkins of Ballybrooney, Co. Mayo. In 1876, Mrs. Perkins of Kells (probably Arthur Saunders Perkins wife Frances), county Meath, owned 844 acres in county Mayo but two years later in 1878, George Dundas of Moynalty now owned the land. This would appear to be correct as in November 1877, tenders were invited for the reroofing of the house and out-offices at Ballybrooney. The completed tenders were to be forwarded to either George H. Dundas, the Villa, Moynalty, Co. Meath or John V. Knox of Castlerea Killala, Co. Mayo. In February 1893, an advertisement was placed in The Western People giving notice of the auction to dispose of the contents and effects of John A. Knox at his residence Ballybrooney House. The sale extended to horses, cattle and household furniture and it was stated in the advertisement that Mr. Knox was leaving the area. Eleanor Perkins, Arthur Saunders Perkins daughter, had married Doctor George Dundas and she was recorded as the occupier of Ballybrooney House and 258 acres of untenanted land in 1906 however by 1911 the house was vacant.

Ballybrooney House has always had an association with the Melvin family who came to own it in later years. In 1901, Matthew J. Melvin, aged 44 and a farmer, is living in the locality of Ballybrooney with his brother John, aged 42, who is a rate collector. In 1904 the birth of a son to Matthew J. Melvin and his wife Bridget, at Ballybrooney was announced in the press. Unfortunately four years later, in November 1908, Bridget Melvin, nee Mulherin died. She was the wife of Matthew J. Melvin and the daughter of Patrick Mulherin and Mary Sweeny. In the 1911 census, Matthew J Melvin is still living in Ballybrooney and is aged 54 with his daughter Sarah aged 8, son Hugh aged 6 and two servants Bridget Loftus and Anthony Melody. However I do not think that the Melvin Family were living in Ballybrooney House at this stage and that they moved in after March 1912 when the estate was vested in the Congested Districts' Board. The house, the Melvin Family are living in 1911 is described as having a thatched roof and only three windows in the front elevation.

A number of extensive outbuildings exist to the rear of the house

Picture Copyright ( above) David Hicks 

Matthew J. Melvin who came to own Ballybrooney House appears to have been a notably individual who was closely associated with the movement to secure better rights for tenant farmers and was a contemporary of Michael Davitt. As a result of being a member of the land movement, Melvin was convicted in 1883, of being a member of a group of criminal conspirators and spent 5 years in jail. He was released in 1888 and a number of years later, he became a member of Ballina Board of Guardians, Chairman of Ballina District Council, an ex-offico Justice of the Peace and a member of Mayo County Council. During his time on the council he was appointed to accompany Rev. Dr. Conmy and Very Rev Cannon Munnelly among others to London to secure funding for the construction of a railway line from Ballina to Belmullet. Matthew was also sent to Belgium to report on the agricultural industry in these countries paying particular attention to flax. In 1936 the death of Matthew J. Melvin occurred at Ballybrooney House. It was said at this time that ‘Both his parents were personalities of practical charity to their neighbours, especially to the poor’. Matthew was buried in League cemetery and at the time of his death, newspaper reports said that 'In times gone by he had suffered torture in a British jail to ameliorate the lot of tenant farmers’. In November 1955, the property was registered in the ownership of Sarah Melvin a daughter of Matthew J. Melvin and in September 1979, Ballybrooney came in to the procession of Alice Melvin.

A advertisement from 1893 advertising the sale of the effects of the house

Picture Copyright ( above) David Hicks 

The house was lived in until around 2006 when it appeared for sale with 70 acres of land for €1.3million. It should be noted that the house at this time was awash with original features including fireplaces with servant call bells, solid hardwood doors and an impressive staircase. The accommodation of the house spread over three floors, consisted of a tack room, two kitchens, two servants’ rooms and a scullery in the basement. The ground floor or entry level had two reception rooms together with a formal dining room and two smaller occasional rooms. The first floor had four large bedroom suites, one of which was said to be impressively and extensively panelled. In October 2008, Ballybrooney was purchased by a developer or builder who decided to carry out a restoration of the house. No planning permission was sought despite the fact that this house was a protected structure. The botched restoration involved removing most of the original material, the staircase was taken to pieces, fireplaces, doors and anything of value was either sold or stolen at this time. The original slates on the house and outbuildings also were removed. By the time that the property was reprocessed by banks for loans taken out against it, Ballybrooney House was nothing more than a shell. Further indignation was to be suffered when the remaining lands of Ballybrooney House were sold separately. As these lands had been sold previously, the sale of the house now only included 1.9 acres. This did not include its walled garden or the area immediately in front of the house, so in essence the future owner did not own the front garden of Ballybrooney. In the end Ballybrooney was not to be mine, I had intended to immediately stabilise and complete the roof protecting the few original details that survived. In the following years I had hoped to embark on a restoration of the interior however it was not to be, spirited bidding meant that other people also had the same dreams and the house was sold to another individual. Hopefully now Ballybrooney will endure and be restored, while its interior may be decimated, hopefully enough details remain to complete a sensitive restoration. 

While Ballybrooney House interior had been destroyed a number of elements such as this window case remain

Picture Copyright ( above) David Hicks