Ladies First
Hansard, the Government record of the Houses of Parliament, logged on 25 April 1907 a question raised by Thomas Kettle, MP for Tyrone East, “To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland when, and in what manner, the land and buildings known as Loughry Manor, situated near Cookstown, County Tyrone, were acquired by the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction; and what use, if any, has been made of them since they were acquired?”
The response from Augustine Birrell was, “The Department of Agriculture received possession of Loughry Manor in the summer of last year, having acquired it by purchase in the superior courts. The property was acquired for the purpose of establishing a school of rural domestic economy for girls in the north of Ireland. The work of adapting the house to the required purpose is now about to be carried out. It was not possible to undertake this work at an earlier date, but it is hoped that the school will be ready to receive pupils next winter.”
An initial visit to Loughry in 1969 stimulated Nicholas Lindesay’s interest and he has researched his family history and connection to County Tyrone ever since. “The Lindesays originated from Leith, Scotland, and like the Stewarts of Killymoon Castle they were a Plantation family,” Nicholas explains. “My great grandfather times seven, Robert Lindesay, was the first to take advantage of the grant from James I in 1610, settling first on the hilltop at Tullahogue. The second Robert built Loughry, which means King’s Gift, in 1632. Ownership of Loughry passed out of the family on 1 February 1895. In some ways it was lucky that it became the Ulster Dairy School and later taken over by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs because the estate remained as one.”
The original Loughry Manor was destroyed in the 1641 Rebellion and a replacement house not commenced until three decades later. A second house was completed in 1674 just after Robert’s death and continued to be the Lindesay residence until it was accidentally burnt down circa 1750. The handsome five bay two storey steep double pitched stuccoed main block of the current Loughry Manor is the third Lindesay house on this site. The Tuscan porch, decorative mouldings, two pane sash windows, and wings would follow. The mid 19th century owner Fritz Lindesay lived a little too well and by his death in 1877 had amassed debts in excess of £42,000. His successor Joshua lived frugally and vacated Loughry for Rock Lodge, a smaller property to the south of the estate.
Joshua died in 1893, leaving the family’s financial issues unresolved, and the entailed estate was sold by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Richard Ponsonby Lindesay of Devon to local businessman John Wilson Fleming, the last private owner. A long two storey Arts and Crafts style wing terminating in a square three storey tower was added by the Ulster Dairy School in 1906. Then in 1949 it became Loughry Agricultural College for female students. It took another 13 years before male students were admitted. Standalone educational buildings were built from the 1960s onwards but the 80 hectare parkland setting can still be appreciated.
Nicholas Lindesay confirms that turn of the 18th century owner Robert Lindesay wrote, “There is an old summerhouse at Loughry, a square turret surrounded by ivy and built upon a cliff impending a beautiful meandering river full of rugged rocks even which its waters rush with impetuosity and grandeur, particularly after rain, and on the opposite side a wooded bank rises abruptly to a considerable height, presenting to the eye a variety of majestic timber and environmental trees of oak, beech, elm, fir and ash… this square turret consists of one single room and a wine cellar hewn out of the limestone rock below, with two massive oak doors eacj about a foot and a half wide on which are affixed tremendous hinges, locks and keys.”
Robert was the fourth of the 10 Lindesay owners of Loughry. He was MP for County Tyrone, a Judge of the Common Pleas and a friend of Jonathan Swift who was Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin and author of Gulliver’s Travels. Nicholas notes, “The Dean was a frequent visitor to Loughry and it is said that he wrote many of his books and poems in the peace and tranquillity of the summerhouse accompanied by his friend Robert Lindesay who also possessed literary talent.” Loughry Manor and Dean Swift’s summerhouse are still intact but currently unused. A faded sign on the ground floor of the return wing “Swifts Bar” (missing an apostrophe and clientele) hints at happier times.
