Image reproduced with the permission of: Lord Belmont in NI Blog

history

“Little Clandeboye” as it was later known, has a rich history. From a managed woodland dating back as far as 1625, it was developed to include a grand country house in landscaped grounds in the 19th century.

Conlig House was a fine mansion said to have been originally built in 1830 in the Neo-Tudor style, then significantly altered and extended in 1855 in the Gothic-Revival style. Shown in the photograph above, it was architecturally similar to the village church built in 1848 and Glencraig House in Holywood, (both still exist).

By 1850, Conlig House was the childhood home of William James Pirrie. Born in Quebec in 1847, he joined Harland & Wolff Shipyard as an apprentice in 1862, later rising to Chairman (1895-1924). He also became Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1896, ennobled as Baron Pirrie in 1906, knighted in 1908, and a Viscount in 1921.

The Pirrie family sold the house and grounds to Lord Dufferin to became part of his 2000 acre Clandeboye Estate . This is when it became known as “Little Clandeboye”.

The house may have been originally designed by Scottish architect, William Burn, who was later consulted in the 1840s by Lord Dufferin to remodel Clandeboye House and went on to complete Bangor Castle with many similarities in 1852. Another possibility and known for his Gothic-Revival style, is English architect, Benjamin Ferrey. He undertook various projects on the adjoining Clandeboye Estate in the mid-1850s and perhaps was involved in the house’s 1855 redesign.

With north and south projecting wings and a castellated Gothic-arched portico, the house interior reportedly had a grand staircase, a Music Room, Smoking Room and seven cellars! Set in extensive grounds, the mansion was said to have had beautiful gardens, with a large pond and an impressive sundial, which sold at auction in Edinburgh in 2022: Bonhams Listing – 19th Century Irish Brass Sundial

In the 1930s the house became a mental hospital, before returning to residential use up until the 1950s, but eventually fell into disuse. It deteriorated into what was described as a “romantic ruin” before finally being demolished in the 1990s. Sadly little remains of it today. More…

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