(574) Beresford of Learmount

Beresford of Learmount

The Learmount estate in Co. Derry came to the Beresfords in 1774 on the marriage of Barbara Montgomery (d. 1795), a noted beauty, with the Hon. and Rt. Hon. John Beresford (1738-1805), second surviving son of the 1st Earl of Tyrone. John Beresford was a leading political figure in 18th century Ireland, and had his seat at Abbeville (Co. Dublin). Learmount at this time seems to have a very modest house, of which almost nothing is known. On John Beresford's death, the estate formed part of the legacy inherited by his second surviving son, John Claudius Beresford (1766-1846), a Dublin banker and MP, who commissioned designs for a castle-style mansion at Learmount in 1808. Soon afterwards, however, he became severely financially embarrassed, and was obliged to sell Abbeville altogether and abandon his plans for major building works at Learmount. He never succeeded in clearing his debts, and at some point around 1830 he sold Learmount to his half-brother, Henry Barré Beresford (1784-1837), with whom the genealogy below begins. Henry acted as agent for the Ulster estates of his kinsman, the Marquess of Waterford, and in the late 1830s he made extensive additions to Learmount Castle, creating the Tudor Gothic house which (just about) survives today. He died while work was still in progress, and was succeeded by his eldest son, John Barré Beresford (1815-95), who also succeeded him as Lord Waterford's agent. Whereas Henry was a popular figure, in whose memory the estate tenantry erected a memorial obelisk at Ballyquin in 1840, John seems to have been a more divisive character, perhaps partly because of the backdrop of the famine years - he was High Sheriff of Co. Derry in 1846-47 and a long-serving workhouse Governor - and because of Lord Waterford's decision to sell the Ulster estate in the 1860s. In 1853 he took, as his second wife, Caroline Hamilton Ash (1830-1901), and on her father's death in 1866 they inherited her family's estate at Ashbrook (Co. Derry), subsequently using both properties, rather than letting either.

Both John Barré Beresford's two sons by his first marriage died in his lifetime, so at his death he left Learmount to his grandson, Ralph Henry Barré de la Poer Beresford (1886-1925), who came of age in 1907, while Ashbrook passed to the elder son of his second marriage, William Randal Hamilton Beresford (later Beresford-Ash) (1859-1938). Ralph died unmarried in 1925, leaving the estate to his half-uncle, Marcus John Barré de la Poer Beresford (1868-1944), a career soldier. Marcus, however, never occupied Learmount but first found a tenant and then let it stand empty in the 1930s. During the Second World War it was occupied again by a girls' school, but after he died in 1944 his widow and daughter sold it to the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture. The house was let from 1953-83 to the Youth Hostels Association, which demolished one wing in the 1970s and failed to maintain the rest, and the surviving part of the house has stood empty and decaying since their lease expired.

Learmount Castle, Park, Co. Derry

The house stands at the centre of a densely wooded demesne about fifteen miles south-east of Londonderry. The first house on the site, a small low rectangular building, seems to have been erected about 1740 by Capt. Montgomery, and it passed to the Beresfords through the marriage in 1774 of Barbara Montgomery to the Hon. & Rt. Hon John Beresford (1738-1805). John's third son, John Claudius Beresford (1766-1846) inherited it, and in 1808 the architect Richard Elsam produced a scheme for a three-storey villa at Learmount. 

Learmount Castle: largely unexecuted scheme by Richard Elsam for a new house, 1808.

The plan and elevation were later published as the frontispiece to his Practical Builder's Perpetual Price-Book (1825), and show that his designs were very much in Robert Adam's castle style. The accompanying descriptive text states that:

This plan and elevation was prepared in the year 1808 for Mr ALDERMAN JOHN CLAUDIUS BERESFORD of Dublin and of Learmont in the County of Derry in the North of Ireland. The Plan which is considered nouvelle was formed to suit some delightful romantic views and at the same time to unite with part of an old favourite cottage which is appropriated to the butler's room and servants hall the rere of which consists of a kitchen housekeeper's room a series of servants bed chambers & c The principal front as represented is three stories high The ground story comprises three handsome apartments en suite consisting of dining room library and drawing room connected with a vestibule at the entrance and a conservatory at the extremity There is likewise provided a handsome geometrical stair case connecting the old and new parts The basement story comprises a magisterial room and clerk's office with a few select apartments for children nurses governesses & c and the one pair floor comprises three capital bed chambers with dressing rooms &c making altogether a gentleman's elegant compact country residence upon a moderate scale.

In practice, only the rear portion of this scheme seems to have been realised, for in 1811 Beresford got into financial difficulties which continued to plague him for the rest of his life, and he was able to make only very modest improvements to the existing house. In 1832 the Ordnance Survey Memoirs described the building as having a 'small low rectangular front, built about a century ago by Capt. Montgomery with a square building in the rear flanked by 4 small round towers built by John Claudius Beresford'. By then, J.C. Beresford had sold the Learmount estate to his half-brother, Henry Barré Beresford (1784-1837), who obtained more modest proposals for a new house in the 1830s, perhaps from John Benjamin Keane of Dublin, a former assistant of Richard Morrison. The house he designed was in Tudor Gothic style, and consisted of a five-bay main block of two storeys over a basement, with a central, battlemented porch, linked to a three-storey castellated wing with a slender round tower at the extreme end.

Learmount Castle in about 1970. Image: Gareth Austin.

In 1837, when Samuel Lewis compiled his Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Learmount had become 'the elegant residence of Mr Beresford, which he is enlarging and finishing in the Elizabethan or Tudor style'. Inside, the house has a generous hall containing a staircase which rises in one flight and returns in two, with an elaborately moulded cast iron balustrade, and several other rooms with richly ornamented plaster ceilings. Some images of the interior can be found here.

The house remained in the Beresford family until 1925, after which it was let for about four years. It then stood empty until being used by a girls' school during the Second World War. In 1944 the estate was sold to the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, which in 1953 let the house to the Youth Hostels Association. The three-bay wing on the left of the photograph above was pulled down in the 1970s, and the YHA did not renew its lease when it expired in 1983. Since then the house has been sold into private ownership, but stands empty and decaying, although the the coach house to its rear has been restored as a private dwelling and self-catering holiday accommodation. Sadly, after forty years of neglect, with some floors and ceilings having collapsed, it may be almost too late for a similar restoration of the main house.

Learmount Castle: the remaining fragment of the house today.

Descent: Capt. Montgomery... Sir William Montgomery (1717-88), 1st bt.; to daughter Barbara, wife of Hon. & Rt. Hon. John Beresford (1738-1805); to son, John Claudius Beresford (1766-1846), who sold c.1830 to his half-brother, Henry Barré Beresford (1784-1837); to son, John Barré Beresford (1815-95); to grandson, Ralph Henry Barré de la Poer Beresford (1886-1925); to uncle, Marcus John Barré de la Poer Beresford (1868-1944); to daughter, Patricia Douglas Methven de la Poer Beresford (1924-2012), who sold 1944 to Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, which let it to the Youth Hostel Association, 1953-83.

Beresford of Learmount

Henry Barré Beresford (1784-1837) 

Beresford, Henry Barré (1784-1837). Second son of Hon. and Rt. Hon. John Beresford (1738-1805) and his second wife, Barbara, second daughter of Sir William Montgomery, 1st bt., born 25 September 1784. Educated at Eton. Joint Storekeeper of the Port of Dublin in the Customs Service by 1818; agent to the Marquess of Waterford's estates in County Londonderry. He was commemorated by an obelisk erected at the expense of the estate tenantry at Ballyquin, 1840. He married, 29 February 1812 at St Paul, Bristol, Eliza (k/a Betty) (d. 1831), daughter of John Bayly of Hambrook (Glos) and had issue:

(1) Anne Jane Beresford (1812-24), said to have been born 8 December 1812; died young, 18 December 1824 and was buried at St Marylebone (Middx), where she is commemorated on her father's monument;

(2) Mary Barbara Beresford (1814-68), born about 1814; married, 9 February 1836 at Muff (Co. Donegal), Thomas William Fountaine (1811-94) of Glenview, Hereford, second son of Andrew Fountaine of Narford Hall (Norfk), and had issue at least two sons and one daughter; died 8 July 1868;

(3) John Barré Beresford (1815-95) (q.v.);

(4) Henry Barré Beresford (1816-71), born 23 July 1816; joined the Royal Navy, 1829 (Lt., 1842; Cdr., 1856; retired 1870); died without issue at Newtownlimavady, 28 January 1871;

(5) Rev. William Montgomery Beresford (1817-68), born 17 October 1817; educated at Eton and Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1835; BA 1840; MA 1859); ordained deacon, 1840 and priest, 1840; held curacies, 1841-47; vicar of Dunany, 1847-48; perpetual curate of Tullyallen, 1848-53 and of Holy Trinity, Wilton (Wilts), 1853; curate of Templemore (Co. Derry), 1859; rector of Lower Baldoney (Co. Tyrone), 1866-68; married, 18 February 1851 at Hove (Sussex), Rosa Ellen (1821-1908), daughter of John Hornblow Turner of Brighton (Sussex), and had issue two sons and three daughters; died 4 April 1868;

(6) James David Beresford (1819-78), born 2 April and baptised at St Marylebone, 21 April 1819; educated at Royal Military College, Sandhurst; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1838; Lt., 1839) and subsequently Adjutant of the Londonderry Militia (Capt., 1855; retired as hon. Maj., 1861); JP for County Derry (Chairman of Claudy Petty Sessions) and clerk of the peace for the county and city of Londonderry by 1871; married, 3 October 1868 at Ballyeglish (Co. Derry), Charlotte Melosina (c.1826-80), daughter of William Lenox Conyngham (1792-1858) of Springhill (Co. Derry), but had no issue; died at Dunmurry (Co. Antrim), 27 October 1878;

(7) Eliza Frances Beresford (1822-59), baptised at Narborough (Leics), 19 April 1822; married, 15 May 1854 at Barony (Lanarks), Capt. Albert Kövy, formerly an officer in the Austro-Hungarian army but then a political refugee; died at Waterford, 29 December 1859 and was buried at Kilculliheen Cemetery; administration of her goods was granted to her husband, 24 February 1860 (effects under £100);

(8) George de la Poer Beresford (1826-65), born 13 February 1826; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1844; Lt., 1847; Capt., 1852; retired 1855); a member of the Hon. Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, 1856; married, 15 December 1849 at Corfu (Greece), Anne (c.1828-54), daughter of Lt-Gen. Charles Edward Conyers CB, and had issue three sons and one daughter; died in Paris (France), 5 June 1865.

He purchased Learmount Park (Co. Derry) from his half-brother, J.C. Beresford, and greatly extended and modernised it. 

He died in London, 15 December, and was buried at St Marylebone (Middx), 21 December 1837. His wife died 15 December 1831.

Beresford, John Barré (1815-95). Eldest son of Henry Barré Beresford (1784-1837) and his wife Eliza, daughter of John Bayly of Hambrook (Glos), born 19 April 1815. Educated at Eton, Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1832; BA 1836; MA 1865) and the Inner Temple (admitted 1835). He succeeded his father as agent to the Marquess of Waterford's County Londonderry estates, and acted as such until they were sold c.1865. JP and DL for County Londonderry and JP for Co. Donegal; High Sheriff of County Londonderry, 1846-47. A member of the Londonderry Board of Guardians, 1839-95 (Chairman, 1868-95) and a governor of the county asylum. He was a Conservative in politics, and stood unsuccessfully for parliament in the Derry constituency in 1874. He married 1st, 23 April 1840 at Derry Cathedral, Sophia (c.1817-50), third daughter of Hugh Lyons-Montgomery (1780-1826) of Belhavel (Co. Leitrim) and Laurencetown (Co. Down), and 2nd, 7 July 1853 at Glendermott (Co. Derry), Caroline Hamilton (1830-1901), only child of William Hamilton Ash (1801-66) of Ashbrook (Co. Derry), and had issue:

(1.1) Hugh Barré Blacker Beresford (1848-82), born 4 May 1848; an officer in the Royal Navy (Midshipman, 1863; Lt. 1871; retired 1875) and in the Mid-Ulster Artillery (Capt.); JP for County Londonderry; died unmarried, 14 February 1882;

(1.2) John Claudius Montgomery Beresford (1850-94) (q.v.);

(2.1) Emma Clare Beresford (1856-1927), born 18 June 1856; married, 20 December 1881 at Glendermott, Capt. Francis Coffin Macky (1847-1920) of Belmont (Co. Derry), and had issue two sons and three daughters; died 19 November 1927;

(2.2) William Randal Hamilton Beresford (later Beresford-Ash) (1859-1938) [for whom see my article on the Ash, later Beresford-Ash, family of Ashbrook];

(2.3) A daughter (b. 1861), born 12 November 1861; probably died in infancy;

(2.4) Mary Elizabeth Beresford (1864-1936), born at Glendermott, 19 February 1864; married, 6 February 1899 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster (Middx), Henry Joseph Cooke (1852-1923), of Boom Hall (Co. Derry), son of Joseph Cooke, and had issue at least four children; died 22 January 1936 and was buried at Derry City Cemetery; will proved 30 June 1936 (estate in Northern Ireland, £3,377; estate in England & Wales, £11,217);

(2.5) Marcus John Barré de la Poer Beresford (1868-1944) (q.v.); 

(2.6) Louisa Gertrude Douglas Beresford (1870-1941), born 28 September 1870; married, 22 August 1894, Maj. John Edward Pine-Coffin (1866-1919) of Portledge (Devon), and had issue two sons and two daughters; died 12 March 1941;

(2.7) Barbara Caroline Beresford (c.1873-1937), born about 1873; lived in London SW5; died unmarried, 13 May 1937; administration of goods granted 12 August 1937 (estate £205).

He inherited Learmount Park from his father in 1837 and Ashbrook in right of his second wife in 1866; they subsequently used both properties.

He died 30 August 1895; his will was proved 16 November 1895 (effects £14,249). His first wife died 21 March 1850. His widow died 13 January 1901; administration of her goods was granted 5 March 1901 (estate £1,659).

Beresford, John Claudius Montgomery (1850-94). Second son of John Barré Beresford (1815-95) and his first wife, Sophia, third daughter of Hugh Lyons-Montgomery of Belhavel (Co. Leitrim), born 3 February 1850. Educated at Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. An officer in the Royal Engineers (Lt., 1870; Capt., 1882; Maj., 1889); ADC to Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 1874-80. He married, 16 January 1884 at St Peter, Drogheda (Co. Louth), Rosa Sophia Montgomery (1848-1911), daughter of Ralph Smith of Greenhills (Co. Louth), and had issue:

(1) Ralph Henry Barré de la Poer Beresford (1886-1925) (q.v.).

He died in the lifetime of his father, 19 September 1894; administration of his goods was granted to his widow, 7 March 1895 (effects £600). His widow died 15 September 1911; administration of her goods was granted 6 January 1912 (estate £8,765).

Beresford, Ralph Henry Barré de la Poer (1886-1925). Only son of John Claudius Montgomery Beresford (1850-94) and his wife Rose Sophia Montgomery, daughter of Ralph Smith of Greenhills (Co. Louth), born 26 November and baptised at Rawalpindi (India), 18 December 1886. An officer in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers (2nd Lt., 1906; retired 1910). High Sheriff of Co. Derry, 1924-25. He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited Learmount Park from his grandfather in 1895 and came of age in 1907. At his death the property passed to his half-uncle, Marcus John Barré de la Poer Beresford (1868-1944).

He died 18 December 1925; his will was proved 13 August 1926 (estate £5,478).

Beresford, Marcus John Barré de la Poer (1868-1944) of Learmount. Second son of John Barré Beresford (1815-95) and his second wife, Caroline (d. 1901), only child of William Hamilton Ash of Ashbrook (Co. Derry), born 10 April 1868. Educated at Cheltenham College. An officer in the South Wales Borderers (2nd Lt., 1889; Lt., 1892; Capt., 1897; Maj., 1907; Lt-Col., 1919), who served in Boer War and First World War. He married, 19 December 1914 at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), Alma (c.1881-1967), daughter of David Methven of London and Argentina, and had issue:

(1) Patricia Douglas Methven de la Poer Beresford (1924-2012), born 5 March 1924; married, 22 May 1974, Maurice William Alfred Carter (1920-94), but had no issue; died 3 January 2012; will proved 22 June 2012.

He inherited Learmount Park from his nephew in 1925, but never occupied it and after retiring from the army lived in London NW3 and at Haslemere (Surrey). He let Learmount Castle to the Osgood family, c.1925-29, and it then stood vacant until being occupied by Ashleigh House Girls' School during the Second World War. His daughter sold Learmount to the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture in 1944.

He died as a result of enemy action, 26 July 1944; his will was proved 11 January 1945 (estate £10,569). His widow died 27 October 1968; her will was proved 26 February 1969 (estate £265,080).

Principal sources

Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 2003, pp. 4084-92; R. Elsam, The Practical Builder's Perpetual Price Book, 1825, frontispiece; A. Day & P. McWilliams, Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland, Vol. 28 (1832), 8-9; A. Rowan, The buildings of Ireland: north-west Ulster, 1979, p. 450; T. Blake, Abandoned mansions of Ireland II, 2nd edn., 2017, pp. 46-53;

https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2014/12/learmount-castle.html;

https://www.archiseek.com/2024/1830-learmount-castle-park-co-derry/

Location of archives

No significant accumulation is known to survive.

Coat of arms

Quarterly, 1st and 4th, argent semée of cross crosslets fitchée three fleurs-de-lis within a bordure engrailed all sable (for Beresford); 2nd and 3rd, argent a chief indented sable (de la Poer).

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide photographs or portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 5 May 2024.