Blessingbourne

THE MONTGOMERYS OWNED 7,996 ACRES IN COUNTIES FERMANAGH AND TYRONE

HUGH MONTGOMERY, a cadet of the Braidstane branch of the Scottish family of Montgomery, who was settled at Derrybrusk, County Fermanagh, by his kinsman, the Rt Rev Dr George Montgomery DD, Lord Bishop of Clogher, and Meath, between 1605-21.

This prelate, sometime Dean of Norwich, was, after a vacancy of many years in the See, appointed, by JAMES I, Lord Bishop of Derry, Raphoe and Clogher, in 1605; the two former of which he quitted for Meath, in 1610.

While he was Bishop, the King, among many other donations, gave the abbey of Clogher, and the revenues thereof, to this See; by which liberality it was considered one of the richest in Ireland.

Hugh Montgomery had a son, 

THE REV NICHOLAS MONTGOMERY, a lieutenant in Sir James Montgomery's Regiment, and afterwards rector of Carrickmacross, and of Derrybrusk, County Fermanagh, who had with two younger sons, 

1  ROBERT MONTGOMERY, of Derrybrusk, a captain in the army; and Andrew, who succeeded his father as rector of Carrickmacross; an elder son, 

2  HUGH MONTGOMERY JP, of Derrygonnelly, Captain of Horse under WILLIAM III, who married Katherine, daughter and heir of Richard Dunbar Esq, of Derrygonnelly, and granddaughter of Sir John Dunbar, knight, of the same place, and had issue, his 2nd son, 

HUGH MONTGOMERY, of Derrygonnelly, who married Elizabeth, daughter of the Venerable William Armar, Archdeacon of Connor (by Martha his wife, daughter of Capt William Leslie, of Prospect), and sister of Margetson Armar Esq, of Castle Coole, County Fermanagh, and was father of Hugh Montgomery Esq, of Castle Hume).

The eldest son, 

HUGH MONTGOMERY, of Blessingbourne, born in 1779, married Maria Dolores Plink, of Malaga, Spain, and died in 1838, leaving an only son, 

HUGH RALPH SEVERIN MONTGOMERY (1821-44), of Blessingbourne, who, in 1843, married Maria, daughter of Philipp Emanuel von Fellenberg, of Hofwyl, Switzerland; and by her (who died in 1846) left at his decease, 1844, a son and heir, 

THE RT HON HUGH DE FELLENBERG MONTGOMERY DL MA, of Blessingbourne.

Located just north of Fivemiletown in County Tyrone, much of the Blessingbourne estate used to be in the neighbouring County of Fermanagh. 

This country estate came to the Montgomery family through marriage to the Armor family early in the 18th century.

This is a Regency period demesne, created for a modest dwelling of 1810, referred to as, ‘a romantic thatched cottage’ built as a bachelor pad for Hugh Montgomery. 

When the family left County Fermanagh, their former seat was Derrygonnelly Castle which was burnt in the late 18th century. 

Hugh Montgomery, known as ‘Colonel Eclipse’, married in 1821 and travelled abroad, needing the cottage only for very occasional visits.

The present house is much more substantial. It is a large restrained Elizabethan style manor-house designed by F Pepys Cockerell and built between 1870-74 for Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery, grandson of Hugh Montgomery. 

Its grey stone elevations overlook a natural lough, Lough Fadda and is surrounded by a present-day garden around former sunken lawns, Fastigate yews and a gravel terrace, vestiges of the garden made for the present house. 

A planted area and lawns on the south east side, which leads to the lough, is now a grazing field. Views were opened up in the 1960s.

There is also a late 19th century rhododendron walk. There are fine mature woodland and parkland trees. A walk through the woods goes round the lake; a lake walk, via a rockery (now unkempt). 

There is public access in the woods and the Ulster Wildlife Trust undertakes some management here. This wood dates from the time of the present house.

The boat house and summer house have gone. The part-walled garden is partly cultivated and dates from the time of the first dwelling. 

The Gardener’s House was replaced by a bungalow in the 1970s. There is a very pretty Tudor style gate lodge, built ca 1845 by Hugh Ralph Severin Montgomery after he succeeded to the property in 1838.

Major-General Hugh Montgomery's brother was Field-Marshal Sir Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd.

Peter Montgomery, former president of the NI arts council, stylishly redecorated much of the interior of Blessingbourne.

In December, 2007, the Daily Telegraph published an obituary of Hugh (Montgomery) Massingberd: 

". . . He was born Hugh John Montgomery at Cookham Dean, in Berkshire, on December 30, 1946. His father was in the Colonial Service and later worked for the BBC; his mother was a "Leftward-leaning schoolmistress". 

His remoter background, however, was distinctly grand, even if it promised a great deal more than it delivered.The Montgomerys, seated at Blessingbourne in Co Tyrone, were a Protestant Ascendancy family, albeit exceptionally conscious of the need to right the wrongs suffered by Roman Catholics. 

In his youth Hugh stayed at the Montgomerys' pseudo-Elizabethan (actually 1870) pile in the full expectation that one day it would be his. There was a strong military tradition in the family. Hugh's paternal grandfather was Major-General Hugh Montgomery, while his great-uncle, the major-general's younger brother, ended his career as Field Marshal Sir Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd, Chief of the Imperial General Staff from 1933 to 1936  

. . As a teenager, Hugh seemed to add substance to his dreams when he went to stay with his Uncle Peter at Blessingbourne. Peter Montgomery was something of a figure in Ulster, to such a degree that his homosexuality, at that date unknown to Hugh, did not prevent him from becoming Vice-Lord Lieutenant of Tyrone

... It was, therefore, a shattering blow to be told in his mid-teens that a cousin who intended to be a farmer would inherit Blessingbourne. This youth, it was judged, would be better qualified than Hugh to return the estate to order after years of benign neglect under Peter Montgomery".

The estate was eventually inherited by Captain Robert Lowry, a great-great grandson of Colonel Hugh Montgomery. 

I recall Captain Lowry voluntarily "skippering" the Westminsters'  motor yacht, Trasna, about twenty years ago at Crom.

The Westminster family had an absolutely beautiful, classic, wooden motor yacht which they used to keep at Ely Lodge. It was called Trasna; it was the finest vessel I'd ever seen on Lough Erne. It was about fifty feet in length and held sixteen persons in comfort. Trasna sported a magnificent kind of figurehead on her bow: a golden sheaf, or bundle, of wheat (or corn). The vessel was acquired by the National Trust for a short period before acquisition by the Duke of Abercorn for Belle Isle.

Colleen and Nicholas Lowry now run luxury self-catering apartments on the estate.

First published in December, 2009.