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Baronscourt, Barons-Court or Baronscourt Castle is a Georgian country house and estate 4.5 km southwest of Newtownstewart in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and is the seat of the Duke of Abercorn. It is a Grade A-listed building.

Baronscourt is the caput or chief residence in Ireland of the Dukes of Abercorn. It was called Baronscourt because, in the Peerage of Ireland, the Abercorns are the Barons Hamilton of Strabane. The house is surrounded by the Baronscourt Estate.

History

Baronscourt and its surrounding demesne are located on lands that originally belonged to a senior-ranking branch of the Ó Néill (English: O'Neill) clan,^[2] a powerful and wealthy Gaelic royal family that ruled Tír Eoghain (Tyrone), a túath or Gaelic kingdom in Ulster. The senior-ranking line of the Ó Néill clan of Tír Eoghain were the leading family within the wider Cenél nEógain dynastic group.^[3] The particular branch of the Ó Néill dynasty that dominated the north-western swathe of Tír Eoghain had several 'castles' or towerhouses, including one that was located on Island McHugh, a crannóg situated in what is now known as Lough Catherine, a short distance to the north of the current Baronscourt.^[2]^[4]

Most of the Ó Néill dynasty had their lands confiscated by the English Crown in the early seventeenth century, shortly after the end of the Nine Years' War. Some of the confiscated Ó Néill lands in the Barony of Strabane Lower in West Ulster were then handed over by the Crown, around 1610 or 1611, to Sir George Hamilton, a Lowland Scots 'Planter' from Renfrewshire, at the very start of the Plantation of Ulster. Sir George, a Catholic and a younger brother of the 1st Earl of Abercorn,^[5] proceeded to have Derrywoone Castle built on these lands as his chief residence. Derrywoone Castle, now ruined, is a Lowland Scots-style castle and 'bawn' which was probably built between 1619 and 1622.^[2]^[6] The castle and its surrounding village were built just to the east of Lough Catherine and a short distance to the north-east of the later Baronscourt.^[2] Nothing now remains above ground of Derrywoone village.

The first 'Baron's Court' or Baronscourt to be built for the Hamilton dynasty was designed by the architect William Chambers in 1742.^[7] However, it was rebuilt and modified on many occasions. Notably, it was largely rebuilt between 1779 and 1781 for the 8th Earl of Abercorn.^[8]^[9] The house is a neo-classical mansion surrounded by ornate Italian-style gardens, and woodland. The estate also features an 18-hole golf course which celebrated its centenary in 2014.^[10]

The traditional burial place of the Dukes of Abercorn and their families is the graveyard at Baronscourt Parish Church.^[11]

The current Baronscourt was originally designed by George Steuart in 1778, and it was built 1779–1782. The house is seven bays wide and three stories high with a loggia of coupled Tuscan columns and a rotunda at the centre of the plan. The pediment contains the coat of arms of the Duke of Abercorn's family. The house was soon remodelled in 1791 by John Soane. Robert Woodgate was responsible to oversee the works.

The agent of the 1st Marquess of Abercorn described the alterations as:

"He just reverses the house, what was the backside is to be the entrance, and the front part of the rere. The drawing room, parlour and as far back in the hall as the pillars, is to be thrown into one gallery."

Soane also designed a glasshouse in 1789.

Soon after the works were completed, they were destroyed by a 1796 fire which damaged everything except the wings. Robert Woodgate was brought back to oversee the reconstruction of the house 1797–1798.

In 1835–1843 Richard and William Vitruvius Morrison were brought in to undertake further modifications to the house including the library. In the early part of the 20th century A.T. Bolton made copies of Soane's original drawings. In the late 20th century, David Hicks remodelled the library.

An agent's house was designed and built by James Martin in 1741–1745. David Sheehan, stonecutter, made 3–4 chimney pieces for the 8th Earl in 1745. Was this for a house which no longer exists? James Bloomfield undertook landscape improvements in 1746. James Miller built stables in 1749. James Dick and Alexander Stewart were employed as stonecutters on the new house 1778–1781. Mr. Hawkshaw was the foreman on the new house. James Lee worked as a plasterer in 1794. Peter Frederick Robinson built Rock Cottage in 1832 and Newtownstuart Gate in 1835. Joseph Bell designed and built new stables in the baronial style for the 2nd Duke of Abercorn in 1889.

Burials in the cemetery of Baronscourt Parish Church

References

^ Morris 1880, p. [1]: between pages 50 and 51
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Excavations.ie - Database of Irish Excavation Reports: 2013:187 - Derrywoone Castle, Baronscourt, Tyrone. https://excavations.ie/report/2013/tyrone/0023671/
^ Robert Bell, The Book of Ulster Surnames, p. 214. The Ulster Historical Foundation, Belfast, 2021 (2022 reprint).
^ Baronscourt Estate: Archaeology. https://barons-court.com/facilities/archaeology/
^ Robert Bell, The Book of Ulster Surnames, p. 86. The Ulster Historical Foundation, Belfast, 2021 (2022 reprint).
^ Alistair Rowan, The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster (popularly known as the Pevsner Guide to North West Ulster), p. 135. Yale University Press, London, 2003 (originally published by Penguin, London, 1979).
^ Morris 1880, p. 51: "The house was originally built by Sir William Chambers in 1742 ..."
^ Paul 1904, p. 65: "He possessed a great estate in Ireland, where he built a magnificent house at Baron's Court in the barony of Strabane."
^ "Place Names NI – Home".
^ "'A Hundred Years of Golf at Baronscourt'". 8 November 2014.
^ Baronscourt Parish Church