Glengormley House

[Newgent_for_life]

The Cave Hill with its majestic "nose" overlooks Belfast, as we all know. I grew up in the vacinity of Antrim Road, Glengormley and was always quite familiar with that area. There is one area called Colinward near to Glengormley and adjacent to the Whitewell area and it has its own castle; Colinward Castle (long since gone). One other thought worth mentioning is that the Cave Hill got its name from the caves, when its proper name was Colinward.

Yours, etc.,

Newgent.

[liscoole]

Sorry to butt in here New gent...where was collinward castle?? I've been researching this area for a while and am very interested. Do you also know anything of Glengormley House (built 1834) which was only recently demolished? It was located on the edge of cave hill where the Collinbridge estates now are. The appartments which have replaced the old house are called Collinward Manor.
Again,apologies for hijacking the thread and thanks for any info!
Liscoole 

[Newgent_for_life]

My Dear Liscoole,
You are not butting in or, for that matter, hijacking anything. It is always refreshing to read any new comment.
If you are familiar with the Antrim road, come with me and I will take you to Collinward Castle or at least to where it once stood. " We are standing at the traffic entrance to Bellevue Zoo. We cross over the motorway (M2) and head towards Glengormley. We pass the traffic lights at O'Neill's Road and at the next set of lights turn left into Glengormley Park. Not far up Glengormley Park, on the left, we turn into Collinbridge Road. Might we just pause here a minute and reflect on the name of this park. Collinbridge was built in the late 1950's and named after Collinward and the new bridge which would straddle the motorway. As we progress up Collinbridge Road, we cross the bridge and take the next turn on the left. This takes us into what is known as Vadegan and it was in this field that Collinward Castle stood".

Newgent.

[liscoole]

New Gent this is really really interesting... I have PMd you.

Lis

[Newgent_for_life]

Dear Liscoole,

I was over at Glengormley last Saturday and had a look round Collinbridge. By the appearance of the house I would say that it was not completely demolished as it seems to retain the front facade. Originally there would have been one main front entrance between two circular bays. When the house was converted to five separate units there were two front entrances between the bays. Now the developers have reverted back to one entrance. I notice you have dated the house at 1834. It is difficult to put an exact date on when it was built without referring to the deeds etc., however a well known Belfast artist, Basil Blackshaw was born there in 1932. His father, being a horsey man, rented the whole property but would later move to Boardmills where Basil was known from. I will have to do more research into the occupants as I have heard of a German family who also lived there. One other interesting point of note is that at the foot of Glengormley Park there is a house which bears no resemblance to any other house near by. This is because it was a gate lodge. As it is finished in rusticated stone work it appears rather grand for Glengormley House; finished in mere pebbledash. So it is possible it might be the gate lodge of Collinward Castle. I will let you know if I get anymore information.
I think it is better if this post is made public so that others may contribute.
Yours etc.,  Newgent.

[liscoole]

Hi New Gent

Thanks for your info and research! Interesting what you say about the area. I got the date for Glengormley House from the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of 1838-39 which say that the house was built in 1834 by Alan Gardner Brown. His family were originally from Peter's Hill in Belfast. His brother was Rev John Brown, who was employed in the House of Correction in Belfast c 1820. The brothers owned several properties in West Belfast around that time. It seems that John went over to Aberdeen and various other members of the Brown family went to live in Dublin. I dont know what happened to Alan, but one way or another the house changed hands many times over the years.

The ordnance survey memoirs also say that Alan Gardner Brown owned a threshing wheel not far from the house which was driven by a waterfall- and today there is still a fast-flowing waterfall which emerges between two houses not far from where the old house used to stand.

I think you are right about the gate lodge too. I had never thought of that. I have checked the old Ordnance Survey Maps and Collinward House was situated not very far from Glengormley House so it could well be that this house was the gate lodge for the estate, right at the bottom of the hill. Ive yet to find out about Collinward House itself- it isnt mentioned in the Ordnance Survey Memoirs so it must have been built after 1838/9. I'll see what I can find out about it. As you know, Collinward Cottage is still standing today and is a working farmhouse.

I imagine the area would have been quite a bleak place to live in those days, so high up on the hill and exposed to the elements! However there would have been a superb view of Belfast Lough!

Liscoole

[Newgent_for_life]

Dear Liscoole,
As the Collinward that we are interested in is different than the Collin Hill topic, I thought it better if we had a separate topic. Lets hope the topic "Glengormley House" will be of interest to others.

So the question remains; when was Glengormley house built?

Moderator's Note: previous Glengormley posts split from other thread and place here in new topic

[liscoole]

Hi Newgent

We've established that Glengormley House was the first house to be built in 1834 and Collinward house was built quite a while after that.
Interestingly enough, I have been looking at the Ordnance Survey Maps again and Collinward House was there even after the collinbridge estates were built circa late 60's? So it was probably only demolished when they started building the Vaddegan estate.
I think that it was also built by the Brown family, who owned the nearby Glengormley House, but am not 100% sure of this. The ecatalogue at PRONI mentions Alan Gardner Brown " the owner of Glengormley House and Collinward".

Do you remember the house at all Newgent? If so, what was it like? Was it occupied/unoccupied? Any thoughts at all would be great.

In the meantime I will keep searching

Lis

[Newgent_for_life]

Dear Liscoole,
What I remember of Collinward is this;
In the late 1940s, early 1950s as a boy I would have played in the fields surrounding Glengormley House and  Collinward Castle. (I call it castle because that is what I always new it as and I'm sure if I was wrong, my mother would have corrected me). In saying that it could have been a substantial house. I knew all the residents of Glengormley House; the Baird's; the McAllister's; the Dobb's; and the Erskine's. I never knew who lived in Collinward House. In those days this house/castle had been badly damaged by fire and the residents continued to live in the remaining rooms. This gave the house an eerie appearance so, even though we played in their fields, we never ventured near the house. From the Antrim Road the house was approached by Collinward Park. At the top of the park where there is now a hedge there was an ordinary iron gate; something similar to a farm gate. This was the only entrance and it was by a rough path, cut in a crescent shape across the gentle upward sloping field.
You are right in your assumption that the house was demolished when Vaddegan was built. The house would have stood roughly where No. 34 Vaddegan Road is now. There must have been some long term planning for that whole area. The original spans to support Collinbridge Road and Hightown Road bridges were dated 1952 and it was the mid sixties before that section of the M2 was laid. Collinward House was going to lose its entrance, so a new entrance was made which is now Vaddegan Road. The first bungalow on the right as you turn into Vaddegan Road was originally numbered on Collinbridge Road. This bungalow was built for a retired Sea Captain, hence the raised entrance that looks like a ship's bridge.
In those days Glengormley House and lands was owned by Samuel McBride. After the Second World War his son, Major Tom McBride commenced building what is now known as Collinbridge.

Yours sincerely,

Newgent.