The Eccles Family + Bel-Air Hotel Ashford Wicklow + Ecclesville Fintona Tyrone

The Writing on the Wall

Is Ashford the Los Angeles of Ireland? No. But it does have its very own Bel-Air. Mansion, not zip code. Originally called Cronroe, Bel-Air in County Wicklow not surprisingly got its name from an early 20th century American owner, clearly feeling homesick. The original name lives on in nearby Cronroe Lane. Right from the get go, it’s had a back yard for dilettantish partying. In the 18th century, fairs were held on the real estate. Tents erected, punch and whiskey sold, and a good time had by all. A forerunner of Glastonbury or Electric Picnic. These days, the party is more likely to be indoors.

Missing from Mark Bence-Jones’ Irish country house guide, here’s the architectural summation. The current house harks back to 1890. Period. Typical of the twilight moments of the 19th century, extreme Victoriana is clearly on the wane allowing the early plainer trappings of Edwardiana to emerge. Red brick has given way to grey render. Detailing is concentrated on the entrance: a gabled campanile rising past the hipped roofs forms a pyramidal silhouette. The timber panelled double front door below a large plain fanlight is framed by floral capped columns. Segmental arched two pane sash windows are either single, in couples or threesomes. Some are set in canted or boxy days. Stepping inside, the timber staircase takes off with great gusto. Not quite Lissan House in County Tyrone; nevertheless a flight of fancy.

It all really got going in 1716 when Sir John Eccles, the Collector of the Port of Dublin, arrived. He was descended from the Scottish Barony of Eccles. Settling down, his son Hugh built the original house in 1750. An Eccles generation or two later, Cronroe was sold to Julius Casement in 1862. After it was burned down in the 1880s, Julius built the present house. A rather better known relative was his cousin Sir Roger Casement. Roger spent many summer vacations at Cronroe. Outbuildings and stables with light Gothick touches appear to predate the house.

In 1934 its American owner Nicholas Burns took over. Despite selling the house to the Murphy family just three years later, the name stuck. Tim and Bridie Murphy converted Bel-Air into a hotel and riding school with the help of their three daughters Ena, Ita and Fidelma. In 1980 Fidelma and her husband Bill Freeman took over. A third generation of siblings Aileen, Margaret, Noni and William now run the show. It’s perfect for a house party; no carriages required. Disco in the drawing room. Speakeasy in the library. Encapsulation of feeling in the bedroom.

William Murphy explains, “This is a home rather than just a hotel. It’s full of history too. There are ghosts – but they’re all good! The painting over the hall fireplace is of Lady Casement. She appears to be watching everything going on around her. My mother was redecorating a bedroom and uncovered Roger Casement’s signature under the wallpaper. She had his signature certified – it’s protected now in a glass display on the wall. The poet Seamus Heaney was a regular at Bel-Air and spent time writing here. We’ve a 200 acre farm and 50 horses.”

It’s still very much a country house so Bel-Air although it stopped operating as a hotel in 2019. Not even a modern extension. The same can’t be said for an Eccles manor north of the Black Pig’s Dyke. Ecclesville in Fintona, County Tyrone, was the seat of another branch of the Barony. Two refined early Georgian main elevations were placed at right angles to each other like Castle Grove in County Donegal: a six bay slightly asymmetric entrance front and a five bay symmetric garden front. Breakfronts, dentil corniced setbacks and ground floor windows set in blind segmental arches gave rhythm and subtle character. The interior was equally fine, especially the plasterwork in the interlinked drawing room and music room.

The last owner of Ecclesville was the rather jolly cross dressing multi barrelled man about town Raymond Saville Connolly de Montmorency Lecky-Browne-Lecky. His chauffeur driven two toned green Austin 16 was often spotted around Fintona and nearby Omagh. Clad in his trademark mauve suits, a penchant for performing convinced him to convert a barn into a theatre. He died in 1961 aged 80, leaving his estate to the nation. Three centuries of heirlooms were auctioned by Ross’s Auctioneers of Belfast raising £23,500. No buyer was found for the house and after a stint as a nursing home, it was demolished in 1978. Traces of Ecclesville still remain. The name lives on in the Ecclesville Equestrian Centre built on the estate. Its entrance piers and sweep of railings are mostly intact. A salvaged stone Eccles family arms dated 1703 which was placed over the front door of the house is on an outbuilding.

At the top of Church Street in Fintona, rising out of the overgrown cemetery of the medieval ruins of the old Church of Ireland church is a statue of a female clinging to a cross. On its plinth are the words: “In memory of my beloved husband John Stuart Eccles of Ecclesville County Tyrone who died 24 April 1886 aged 38 years. Eldest son of the late Charles Eccles Esq who died 4 November 1869. Also of my two infant boys. This monument is erected by his sorrowing widow. ‘Suffer little children to come onto me and forbid them not; for such is the Kingdom of God.’” The widow is buried beneath the statue: “This tablet has been placed here by Rose and Dosie Eccles in memory of their beloved mother Frances Caroline Eccles who died 12 February 1887.” A stone dog guards her final resting place. Down the hill of Church Street, an old photograph of Ecclesville stands on the mantlepiece of Jack’s coffee shop. Bel-Air and Ecclesville: two houses, an overlapping family history, sashes and Casements, two fates.