Derry’s forgotten historic buildings beautifully showcased in Abandoned Ireland 2

When 12-year-old Rebecca Brownlie rang into a local Saturday-morning TV show, little did she know she was taking the first step in her amazing career in photography.

Originally from County Down, Rebecca has just published Abandoned Ireland 2, in which she showcases Ireland’s forgotten buildings “before nature or the demolition man claims them for ever”.

Recalling that all-important morning, Rebecca said: “I first discovered my love for photography as a young teenager. Like many my age, I was a fan of a local Saturday-morning TV show called SUS, hosted by Patrick Kielty, who now hosts The Late Late Show. 

“I remember phoning in to participate in a competition, although I can’t recall the exact question I had to answer – most likely it had something to do with New Kids on the Block, with whom I was completely obsessed at the time. 

“To my excitement, I answered correctly and won a new camera. This moment marked the beginning of my passion for photography,” said Rebecca, who has appeared on several local television shows featuring some of Ireland’s lost buildings. 

Rebecca’s interest in travelling Ireland “recording the fascinating and often beautiful pieces of our heritage that have been left to fall into ruin and decay” was initially aroused when she joined  a paranormal group, led by Mike Hirons, called ‘Paranormal Ulster’ in the early 2000s.

Learmount House in County Derry.

She said: “I became the team photographer and location finder, and started discovering interesting buildings to investigate. 

“But beyond the paranormal I soon found myself intrigued by the history of the buildings themselves – why were they left empty, who were the previous occupants and what were their lives like? Soon my focus shifted away from the paranormal and became solely concentrated on abandoned photography.”

One of Rebecca’s most unusual finds was one of Ireland’s handful of pyramids. 

“It lies hidden away in Garvagh forest [County Derry],” said Rebecca. “It 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,” said Rebecca.

Garvagh forest pyramid in County Derry.

Another of the Derry buildings featured in Abandoned Ireland 2 is Learmount House.

The Tudor Gothic-style mansion is an extension of an older building from 1710, originally built by a Captain Montgomery. 

It was extended in 1830 by Henry Barre Beresford, who was a land agent for his cousin George, the 1st Marquess of Waterford. 

According to Rebecca, the estate includes various gate lodges, a coach house and a large walled garden that provided vegetables for the house and workers. 

She added: “The last Beresford to live on the estate was Henry Ralph, who was only eleven years old when he inherited. 

“By 1924 he was the High Sheriff of Londonderry. When Henry died in 1925, the estate began to fall into disrepair. The house remained in the family and was rented out by Colonel Marcus John Barre Beresford to the Osgood family for about four years.

“During this time, they brought the house and estate up to modern standards, installing electricity, a telephone and a water wheel in the grounds. 

“Despite owning the estate, Marcus Beresford never lived there. After the Osgoods left, the house and estate were unoccupied until the Second World War. During the war, the house was used for the girls of the Ashleigh House School when they were evacuated from Belfast due to the risk of German bombing. The war had another impact on the history of the house – in 1944 Marcus was killed in action by enemy forces. As a result, Learmount passed to his daughter, Patricia, who decided to sell it,” said Rebecca.

Learmount House and the surrounding land was bought by the NI Forestry Service. The Youth Hostel Association then rented the house and grounds. However, their lease expired in 1983 and they vacated the premises. 

Learmount House is 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,” said Rebecca. 

Just over the county border in Tyrone, another of Rebecca’s abandoned locations is Liscloon House -  with its own tragic love story attached.

Liscloon House built with stone from Dungiven.

She said: “This impressive Gothic ruin, also known as Ogilby’s Castle, was built in 1860 by William Ogilby, a zoologist from London. The castle served as a project for him to work on while pursuing his dream of writing a book. 

“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.

“Shortly after William completed the castle, he passed away, leaving the estate to his son Claude. Known for his heavy drinking, Claude succumbed to kidney failure at the age of forty-three in 1875. It was reported that he had abandoned the castle six years prior to his death, and by 1909 the castle was considered a ruin,” said Rebecca.

The love story concerned another 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,” said Rebecca. “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. James worked tirelessly and excelled in his field of zoology, earning recognition from the prestigious Linnea Society of London as a Fellow in 1887.

“The couple’s happiness was not to last. Tragically, Mary contracted tuberculosis and passed away at the young age of twenty-nine, leaving James heartbroken. They had no children. Devastated by her death, James turned to alcohol and eventually lost his job. 

“Despite this setback, he continued to pursue his passion for science and became the author of numerous scientific papers on reptiles. He even discovered new species of turtles and lizards. James passed away in a hospital in Brisbane in 1925 at the age of seventy-two, leaving behind a legacy of scientific discovery and a bittersweet love story that defined his life.”

Abandoned Ireland 2  by Rebecca Brownlie is published by Merrion Press (www.merrionpress.ie) and costs £24.99.