GLENDUN LODGE

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-storey five-bay white painted rough-cast rendered house with basement; rectangular plan-form with a projecting bay to the right side of elevation with a slated hipped roof over; pitched slate roof to main house has four stone chimney stacks and a metal ridge; there are a number of outbuildings to the NE and SE side arranged around large courtyard accessed from the South side. Built c. 1812-33 to designs by unknown architect, however the house was built by General Edmund McNeill, a local landowner likely to have also built Rockport Lodge [HB05.03.023]; the presence of a panel carved with the McNeill crest in the dining room chimney brace supports McNeill's connection. Glendun Lodge is situated within parkland to the SW of the Glendun Road 'looking up' the Glen and within close proximity to Glenmona Lodge [HB05.03.020] to the SE side and a caravan park to the North side. Glendun Lodge underwent internal renovations in 1980, due to fire damage in 1979. Located to the north of the Village of Cushendun.

White painted rough-cast rendered walling, wide timber sliding sash windows with horns and exposed box frames painted in contrasting colour; replacement small-pane Georgian timber casement windows to right side projecting bay; pitched slate roof has a metal ridge, four stone chimney-stacks at mid-ridge having octagonal buff clay pots; overhanging eaves has timber panelled soffits and wide timber fascias with half round cast-iron guttering discharging to a circular section downpipes to front elevation and mix of cast-iron and uPVC rainwater goods to rear elevation.

Principal elevation faces South-west overlooking the Glen, accessed via a gravel avenue to the North side from the Glendun road; ground floor is five bays wide, ground floor bays are aligned with bays on first floor above; there is a central recessed doorway containing a painted timber door with decorative glazed top panes, side lights to either side and a transom light over, above the door is a canopy supported on carved painted timber brackets on carved pilasters with a doorbell to the right side and a wall-mounted lantern light to the left side; there are two window bays on either side of doorway.

North-west elevation is blank; walling is of rough-cast render with white painted finish.

North-east elevation to the rear is set within a closed courtyard surrounded by a range of stone outbuildings; main elevation is of three-storeys high with a doorway from the basement leading to the tarmac and grassed rear yard; the fenestration pattern is irregular having a mix of timber sliding sash and timber casement windows (all having a green painted finish; there are two small roof dormers centred on overall elevation; basement and ground floor bays are aligned with first floor windows above; there is a small window on first floor centred on elevation; ground and first floor bays to the right have a tripartite window; with linear window bays at basement level.

South-east elevation is of rough-cast render with white painted finish; main house has two small timber casement windows to attic level, SE side of projecting bay to front elevation has two large multi-pane casement windows with glazing bars, one on ground floor and one on first floor level; the ground gently slopes towards the NE, there is a small timber casement window at basement level to the left side of the main gable end elevation; outbuilding no. 3 abuts the main elevation to the right side.

Stone outbuildings to the NE and SE side arranged around the rear garden are accessed via a corrugated metal gate to the South side; outbuilding no's 1 & 2 to the NW side (positioned parallel with main house) have white-washed stone walling with brick vaulted ceilings to the interiors; outbuilding no.3 to the SW (parallel to main house) has white-washed render finish to stone walling with a slate roof over, there are three door openings, two on left are disused and contain vertically sheeted painted timber farm doors, right side opening contains timber door frame (right side missing), internally walls are lime rendered with a partially exposed ceiling having lath, plasters and exposed ceiling joists. Outbuilding no.4 is positioned perpendicular and to the SE side of the main house, SE walling is of white-washed render with a slated pitched roof over having a rendered chimney stack over grown with greenery, right side opening is concealed with corrugated metal sheeting, there is a passageway on the left side leading through to the rear garden of the main house; to the right of passage opening is a window opening concealed with strips of timber nailed to the window frame, NW wall of outbuilding no. 4 has a timber casement window to either side of passageway opening, NE wall abuts outbuilding no. 5 and SW wall abuts outbuilding no. 3. Outbuilding no. 5 to the NE end the courtyard is of six-bays wide consisting of window and two square headed door openings to the left side and a segmental arch headed opening to the right side having a pair of vertically sheeted timber farm doors with metal ironmongery, there is a small dormer aligned above a square headed door opening, almost centred on elevation, walling is of rough-cast render with white painted finish, brick detail to eaves with a pitched slated roof over having back clay ridge tiles and a rendered chimney stack.

Setting:
Situated within parkland to the South-west of the Glendun Road overlooking the Glen to the North side within close proximity to Glenmona Lodge to the South-east side and a caravan park to the North side. Located to the North of the Village of Cushendun.

Materials:
Roof: Slate
RWGs: Cast-iron painted / uPVC
Walling: White rendered
Windows: Timber sliding sash / timber casements.

Historical information

Glendun Lodge, a two-storey five-bay early-19th century house possessing a square two-bay extension, dates from between 1812 and 1833 and was one of first summer residences, or bathing lodges, to be constructed in Cushendun. The village, located along the River Dun, was developed from the early-19th century when travel across mainland Europe was cut off by the Napoleonic wars. Ireland became a popular destination for British tourists during this period, necessitating the development of new routes and hotels between Belfast and popular picturesque sites along the Antrim Coast such as Dunluce Castle and the Giants Causeway. The previously isolated Glens of Antrim at once became accessible with the development of the Coastal Road between 1832 and 1842. Villages along the coast such as Cushendall and Cushendun were transformed from minor settlements into popular seaside resorts that soon became thronged with seasonal visitors. A number of summer houses (or ‘Bathing Lodges’) were constructed along the coast by city-based professionals and merchants, including the impressive residences of Glenmona Lodge and Glendun Lodge at Cushendun (Lewis; Bassett, p. 137; Cushendun Conservation Area Guides).

In his Five Big Houses of Cushendun (1997), Brett noted that Glendun Lodge was built by General Edmund McNeill, a local landowner of Cushendun House, and that it was likely that Glendun and Rockport Lodge (HB05/03/023) ‘had a common progenitor, whether owner, architect or builder.’ The presence of a panel carved with the McNeill crest in the dining room chimneypiece supports McNeill’s connection. Glendun Lodge was not shown on William Martin’s map of 1812, although it had been erected by the first edition map of 1832. The first edition map depicted the house (unnamed) but shows that the original layout of the site has been altered since the 1830s; the map depicted a number of indistinct structures arranged around a courtyard (replaced by the 1850s). The Ordnance Survey Memoirs (1835) described the property as ‘Glens Cottage’ and noted that it was ‘the summer residence of Major James Higginson, a roomy two-storey house … within half a mile of the sea [with] some planting around it.’ The contemporary Townland Valuations (1834) described the house as a 1B class dwelling (that is a slated building of medium age that was slightly decayed, but still in good repair) that was valued at £11 and 2 shillings and measured 41ft in length by 28ft in depth and stood 22ft in height. The site possessed a number of outbuildings which included a stable, coach house and a barn (OSM; Brett – Five Big Houses, pp 32-34).

Glendun Lodge had passed from Higginson to Richard C. Dobbs, a local magistrate, by Griffith’s Valuation (1859) which increased the value of the building to £22. The contemporary second edition Ordnance Survey map (1857) depicted the building along its current layout by the mid-19th century, suggesting that the site’s current outbuildings date from at least that period. Glendun Lodge passed to Conway Edward Dobbs, a barrister of Dublin, who remained at the site until his death in 1870. Dobbs’ relative, Madeline Dobbs, then took over the property by in c. 1885 the property was leased by the McNeill family to the Rev. Samuel Brennan, the curate of Cushendun Parish Church (HB05/03/019). Samuel Brennan appears to have remained at Glendun Lodge until c. 1901. In that year the Census of Ireland noted that the curate resided in a 1st class dwelling that consisted of seven rooms and possessed a number of outbuildings including a stable, a coach house, a cow house and a fowl house.

The Annual Revisions note that ownership of Glendun Lodge passed to Ada McNeill in c. 1904. McNeill, who had been granted the residence by her cousin, Ronald John McNeill (1861-1934) of Glenmona Lodge (HB05/03/020), did not initially live at Glendun Lodge but leased the site to a Captain John Casement. Brett recounts the following sketch of Ada McNeill: ‘A redoubtable individual, known throughout the Glens as “Miss Ada,” she was one of the group of ladies who were enthusiastic in the local promotion of the Celtic Revival. “It seems that it was through [the Antiquarian] “Francis Joseph Bigger that Ada McNeill got interested in Irish. She was an early member of the Gaelic League and was on the organising committee of Feis na nGleann” held first in Glenariff in 1904.’ Through his relative, Captain John Casement, Ada McNeill became a close friend with Sir. Roger Casement, the Irish diplomat, writer and nationalist, who was executed in 1916 for his role in the Easter Rising. O'Cleireachain notes that Casement stayed many times at Glendun Lodge when on holiday and that Ada McNeill held a ‘romantic attachment’ to him and visited Casement during his imprisonment in 1916 (Brett – Five Big Houses; O'Cleireachain, P. 45). Ada McNeill continued to reside at Glendun Lodge until her death in 1959. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the total rateable value of the residence was increased to £40. Following Ada McNeill’s death in 1959 Glendun Lodge was acquired by Patricia English of Broughshane who subsequently presented the site (as well as Craigagh Wood and Cushleake Mountain) to the National Trust (PRONI Wills). By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) the value of the site stood at £44.

In 1972 the UAHS Guide for the Glens of Antrim described Glendun Lodge in the following terms: ‘About 1810: a very handsome tall four-bay two-storey house, roughcast and whitewashed, looking up the Glen; the 16-paned Georgian-glazed windows unusually wide; a curious wide bracketed three-light doorcase with an uncommon geometrical ornamental pattern; very wide eaves’ (UAHS Guide, p. 40). Glendun Lodge was listed in 1980. The NIEA HB Records note that the building was safely damaged by a fire in 1979 but was subsequently restored to its original condition in 1980. In that year the property was included in the Cushendun Conservation Area which was designated as a means of ‘protecting and enhancing the special qualities of the village.’ Glendun Lodge continued to be utilised as a private dwelling by the time of the Second Survey (Cushendun Conservation Area Guide; NIEA HB Records)

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/15/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/15/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/15/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1903-04)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/15/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1922)
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/15 – Townland Valuations Map (c. 1830)
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/133 – Townland Valuations (1834)
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/27B – Griffith’s Valuation (1859)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/8A-D – Annual Revisions (1864-1923)
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/15D – Annual Revisions (1909-30)
10. PRONI VAL/12/E/25/1 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1909-c. 1935)
11. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/5 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
12. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/11 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
13. Ordnance Survey Memoirs (1835)
14. Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837)
15. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918)
16. Bassett’s County Antrim: A guide and directory (1888)
17. PRONI Wills Catalogue (10 July 1959)
18. First Survey Record – HB05/03/021 (1971)
19. NIEA HB Record – HB05/03/021

Secondary Sources
1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings and areas of architectural importance in the Glens of Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972.
2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of Co. Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1996.
3. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Five big houses of Cushendun and some literary associations’ Belfast: Lagan Press, 1997.
4. O'Cleireachain, P., ‘Feis Na NGleann: A Century of Gaelic Culture in the Antrim Glens’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2005.
5. ‘Cushendun Village Conservation Area’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 1980.
6. ‘Cushendun Conservation Area’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 1996 – includes Ordnance Survey Town Plan of 1922.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
U. Historic Associations
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A large five-bay white painted rough-cast rendered house with basement; rectangular plan-form with a projecting bay to the right side of elevation; here are a number of fine outbuildings to the NE and SE side arranged around large courtyard accessed from the South side. Built c. 1812-33 to designs by unknown architect, for General Edmund McNeill, a local landowner likely to have also built Rockport Lodge [HB05.03.023]. The presence of a panel carved with the McNeill crest in the dining room chimney piece supports McNeill's connection. The exterior of the building exhibits good detailing and its interest is enhanced by the fine outbuildings arranged in an unusual layout. It has an excellent setting set in extensive parkland. The house is also of interest as it was owned, in the first half of the twentieth century by Ada McNeill. She was involved in the Celtic Revival, was a member of the Gaelic League and was friends with Roger Casement the well known Nationalist.