Culloden House

ROBINSON OF CULLODEN HOUSE

William Auchinleck Robinson JP (ca 1830-84), originally from Scotland, married, in 1847, at St Anne's Shankill, Belfast, Elizabeth Jane (1819-89), daughter of Patrick Culloden (1768-1843), of Stranmillis, Belfast.

Mr Robinson was a stockbroker, and initially settled on the Antrim Road, Belfast. He conducted his business at 67 High Street.

This gentleman's commercial prowess and acumen was such, that he purchased land at Craigavad, County Down.

Culloden House was built in 1876 by the Belfast firm, Young & Mackenzie.

Most of the stone came from Scotland by boat, landed at Portaferry, and was conveyed by horse and cart to the Craigavad site.

The mansion took two years to build, during which time the Robinsons lived in a modest cottage within the grounds.

Mr Robinson died in 1884, a mere eight years after his new home was built.

Culloden House, named after his widow, Mrs Elizabeth Jane Robinson (née Culloden) was presented to the representative body of the Church of Ireland.

Consequently, at the end of the 19th Century, Culloden House became the official residence of the Lord Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore, and was known as the Bishop’s Palace.

Previously the bishops' palace was “Ardtullagh”, at Knocknagoney, near Holywood, but this property was acquired in 1886 by the War Department (Ministry of Defence) for use as a barracks.

The barracks is still in use today by the Army and is known as Palace Barracks.

The Rt Rev Thomas James Welland was the first prelate to live at Culloden, in 1898.

In subsequent years, three further bishops lived at the Bishop's Palace.

During the tenure of Bishop Crozier (subsequently Archbishop of Armagh), a private chapel, the Jeremy Taylor Memorial Chapel, was dedicated within the house.

During this period, the celebrated songwriter and entertainer Percy French often stayed at the palace.

Indeed, Bishop Crozier was godfather to French’s second daughter.

In the 1920s, the Church sold Culloden House to Sir John Campbell MD FRCS LL.D, a celebrated Belfast gynaecologist and MP.

In 1959, Culloden was purchased from Sir John’s son, Robert, for £10,000, by Thomas C Reid, sometime chairman of the Northern Ireland Ploughing Association.

Mr Rutledge White, proprietor of White’s Home Bakery, purchased Culloden in 1962. It was opened as a hotel, comprising eleven bedrooms, the following year, under the management of Mr White’s son-in-law, Mr Roberts.

The well-known hotelier, Sir William Hastings, CBE, purchased the premises in 1967 and Culloden House has been transformed into the Culloden Hotel,  Northern Ireland's longest-established deluxe hotel.