Impressive Derry ruins feature in photographer Rebecca Brownlie’s new tome Abandoned Ireland 2

In Abandoned Ireland 2 the County Down photographer again travels off the beaten track to explore and showcase Ireland's forgotten buildings.

Among the buildings featured are Learmount House in Park and Liscloon House near Donemana.

Ms. Brownlee got permission from the owner of Learmount House to photograph the Tudor Gothic-style mansion which, she explains, is ‘an extension of an older building from 1710, originally built by a Captain Montgomery’ that was ‘extended in 1830 by Henry Barre Beresford, who was a land agent for his cousin George, the 1st Marquess of Waterford’.

"Currently in private ownership the coach house in the estate is in use as an Airbnb, but the old mansion house is derelict. Nevertheless, its beauty remains intact,” she notes.

Liscloon House is another building Ms. Brownlee received permission from the owner to catalogue.

An impressive gothic run, also known as Ogilby’s Castle or Altinaghree Caslte it was built in 1860 by William Ogilby, a zoologist from London.

"The castle was made entirely of Irish cut stone transported by horse and cart from nearby Dungiven. Upon completion, it was considered a marvel of modernity for its time. The banquet hall was renowned as one of the finest in all of Ireland, hosting elaborate dinner parties attended by high-ranking bishops and politicians from London, Dublin and Belfast,” writes Ms. Brownlee.

The author tells us that a famous love story is associated with Liscloon.

"The love story concerns [one] of William’s seven children, James, who fell in love with a local seamstress named Mary when he was twenty-seven and she was just sixteen.

"Despite concerns about their differing social statuses, they pursued a passionate romance, leaving love letters for each other in a nearby tree.

"When James’ family learned of the relationship, they forbade him from marrying Mary and he was sent to America to study wildlife, where he focused on cataloguing birds in Navarro, Texas, for The Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society.

"However, James never forgot Mary, and seven years later he travelled back to Ireland in search of her. The two finally married in 1884 in Donagheady, without either of their families in attendance. They left for Australia to start anew, leaving Ogilby’s Castle and their past behind them,” we are told.

Another unique ruin featured is located a little farther afield in Garvagh forest.

"Hidden away in Garvagh forest, this one was commissioned in the nineteenth century by the first Baron Garvagh, George Canning, after he had taken a grand tour of Egypt. Like the pharaohs of old, he had decided that he wanted to be buried in a grand mausoleum when the time came, and so he chose to have his own pyramid constructed for the purpose.

"Unfortunately for Lord Garvagh, his wishes were not granted after he died in Paris in 1840, and he was instead buried in Derry.

"His wife, who outlived him by many years, chose not to use the pyramid as her final resting place either, and eventually it was closed up and sealed forever.

"The pyramid is accessible to the public in Garvagh forest,” the book relates.

Rebecca Brownlie grew up in a small rural village in County Down, Northern Ireland. Her passion for abandoned buildings and love of photography have led her to appear on several local television shows featuring some of Ireland’s lost buildings. Her first book, Abandoned Ireland, was published in 2022 by Merrion Press.

Stories abound of ghostly apparitions at Derry’s Boom Hall