A Memory of A Memory
A shimmer of morning light rushes across the motionless water and in a flash illuminates the house in a golden glow. The dash and hue of nature dictate the hurried glory of sunrise. Is this Ireland’s most beautifully situated house? Where are the contenders? Little wonder it has sent countless photographers into ecstasy, numerous architectural historians into a frenzy, and even inspired a novel. County Donegal: that’s the location. Donegal Town: that’s the nearest cèilidh. St Ernan’s House on St Ernan’s Island: that’s the never forever home.
First the literary giants who paved the way. Mark Bence-Jones gives it his best shot in A Guide to Irish Country Houses, 1978, “A house on an island in the estuary of the River Eske, built early 19th century by John Hamilton of Brownhall; then passed by John Hamilton’s daughter Annabella, wife of A H Foster. Subsequently owned by Henry Stubbs, who largely rebuilt the house, so that it became late Victorian in character, with gables and ornate bargeboards; but with a pillared porch, which was probably a surviving early 19th century feature. In the present century, it was the seat of the Honourable Matthew Fitzmaurice-Deane-Morgan, afterwards 6th Lord Muskerry.”
And then there’s Professor Alistair Rowan who spoke so eloquently and movingly at the much loved Dorinda Lady Dunleath’s Memorial Service in 2022. He writes in his Guide to Northwest Ulster, 1971, “This was the island retreat of John Hamilton of Brown Hall (1800 to 1884), the author of Sixty Years Experience as an Irish Landlord. Mr Hamilton took a romantic fancy to the island, laid out a pretty garden on it, with a wall round the shore, and built a two storey Regency style cottage there between 1824 and 1826. It is five windows long with a continuous verandah running the length of its front across canted bays at either end. The setting is indeed glorious, but the romantic whim of a young and newly married proprietor proved inconvenient. For most of each day the island was cut off either by the tide or, worse, by impassable shallows of mud. The construction of a causeway, despaired of by professional engineers, was achieved by Hamilton with free labour from the surrounding country.”
The most complete history is The Story of St Ernan’s, an undated booklet compiled by George Seaver and based mainly on John Hamilton’s Memoirs as well as “memories of some old folk communicated verbally to the compiler”. It opens with references to the eponymous saint, an acolyte of the better known St Columbanus. In circa 640, St Columbanus was buried in a monastic settlement to the south of Donegal Town. Red Hugh O’Donnell would build a Franciscan Abbey in the same area in 1474. “It may well have been the Friars there who gave the name of St Ernan to the island,” George reckons.
He writes, “The house owes its existence to a moment of impulse on the part of a wealthy young landowner of ancient Scottish lineage named John Hamilton, proprietor of Brown Hall in the neighbouring parish of Ballintra.” John was born in Dublin in 1800 and orphaned age seven, he and his siblings were brought up by their grandmother Lady Longford of Pakenham Hall in County Westmeath (now known as Tullynally Castle) and their relatives in Dublin. He married Mary Rose of Dublin in 1823 and they took up residence at the family estate of Brown Hall before selling their share to John’s brother. Around that time, John took a novel approach to solving a local argument: “There was a dispute between two of his tenants who had grazing rights for sheep on St Ernan’s Island, and he rode over from Brown Hall to settle it. It was, he wrote, a beautiful day in September; the tide was in, the sun was shining, the view was delightful. ‘I settled the dispute by taking the island for myself.’” Two years later, the happy couple moved into a newly built cottage on the island.
There was a practical issue as Professor Alistair Rowan observed. Accessibility. At low tide one could wade across to the island; at high tide one could row; at half tide, neither. “A rapid current flowed through the channel from south to north,” George records. “John Hamilton resolved to block it up entirely and thus deflect the current from its course to form a new channel through a sandbank that lay between St Ernan’s and Rooney’s Island to the south of it. Employing up to 100 men at a time he started building a dam reinforced with large round stones across the channel from both ends at once.” Equal opportunities were at work although it would be even more surprising if indeed it was free labour as Alistair claims. “One morning, hardly had a strong party of Orangemen from a Yeomanry Corps arrived from a village six miles away, than another party of equal force who were Roman Catholic Ribbonmen appeared from a mountain property even farther distant in an opposite direction.” The combined workforce got to it and completed the causeway over six weeks during a hot and dry summer.
“The completion of the causeway enabled him to transform the house on the island from a cottage to a substantial mansion with stables and coach house, a barn and various sheds, which grew with the years,” George notes. “The immense quantity of stone for their construction came from the Drumkeelin quarries above Mountcharles. These abound in a hard durable sandstone of a tawny mottled blue, laid in horizontal strata of convenient thickness easily sawn into the required size and shape like slabs of cake.” The rubble used to mortar the freestone was a soft limestone found on the shore close to where the gatelodge was later built, mixed with sand and ox blood. Horse drawn carts of building materials trundled across the causeway as the beauty of the house took shape.
He continues, “It is certain that the back door, heavily buttressed and with an early 19th century fanlight above it was the original front door; and the present front door, with two flights of steps below it leading down to an open space for cars, was a much later addition. Indeed, the entire south front of the house including the morning room and large drawing room and bedrooms and attic above them are also comparatively modern. The ‘garden close’ of 1826 became in course of time a high walled space of flowers embowered with various trees and some rare shrubs (from Ardnamona), interwoven with a maze of wood walks which led to a large stone bench at the end of the Island. It is still there and still known as Abraham’s Seat (the Reverend Abraham Hamilton was once John’s guardian uncle) and it commands a view of one of the most significant seascapes in Ireland.”
John Hamilton became a Christian in 1827. “What was traditional religion now became personal, and to the end of his life a vivid and earnest faith showed itself by a self denial, a thoughtfulness for the good of others and a sense of justice, combined with a liberality of mind and a freedom of enquiry not easily confined within the then popular systems or religious beliefs. He was in fact ecumenically minded generations before the idea had occurred to churchmen, because the Christian faith was for him personal discipleship rather than a system of ecclesiastical or doctrinal shibboleths.” John launched a Sunday school and Bible class in a schoolhouse he built on the edge of his estate, attracting 1,200 attendees. John donated to both Church of Ireland and Catholic church building. “In 1829, the year of Catholic Emancipation, he was active in suppressing, more than once at personal risk, demonstrations of belligerent Orangemen.”
John continued to put his faith into practice at the most traumatic time in Ireland’s history. According to George, “His exertions for the welfare of his tenantry during the terrible years of the Potato Famine were such that not one became an inmate of the union workhouse or died of starvation, and the only death that occurred on his property was attributable to other causes. It must have been during these years that as a measure of finding employment he encircled the entire island with a ‘famine wall’ 10 foot high, and extended the same operation to the opposite shore.”
Father John Doherty was the Parish Priest of Donegal Town and, despite his general opposition to the landlord system, told the Derry Journal in October 1880, “In all Ireland there never was, nor is there, a more considerate and humane landlord than the good and kind hearted proprietor of St Ernan’s. I know the pulse of his tenants well, and I know of my own knowledge that they honour him, respect him, and love him for personal kindness and friendliness towards them, and for his sympathy in all their worldly fortunes and mishaps. They regard him more in the light of a friend and benefactor, like his Master ‘going and doing good’, than as a landlord.” John Hamilton would die four years later.
His daughter with her husband Arthur Hamilton Foster inherited St Ernan’s. The property was sold after Arabella’s death in 1905 to Henry Stubbs (suggesting the Victorianisation mentioned by Mark Bence-Jones would have more likely been carried out by the Fosters). It was next bought by the Muskerry family and passed to Alma Elimina Blanche West in 1954. George Seaver notes, “Having a home of her own in Wokingham and a sufficiency of worldly goods, she wanted neither to occupy nor lease it.” Instead, Alma donated St Ernan’s to the Representative Body of the Church of Ireland and until 1983 it was used as a retirement home for clergy families before becoming a hotel.
Gillian Berwick includes St Ernan’s in Splendid Food from Irish Country Houses, 1990, “St Ernan’s House (now Ernan Park) on the 8.5 acre St Ernan’s Island near Donegal Town is close to some of the most beautiful scenery in this scenic county. Its creator sited his house on the low point of the island to protect it from the wild Atlantic winter gales. He built protective walls so that he could cultivate trees, and laid out attractive walks around his little domain. The restored interior of this manor house is strikingly beautiful with antiquity, colour and pattern inspiringly blended. As befits such a house, service is personal and charming. The views along the Atlantic Coast are of miniature white farmhouses and tiny sheep dotting the distant hills like a stage setting. It is an image of Ireland that people dream about. The gracious dining room glows with warmth. The cuisine is well nigh perfect. To stay at Ernan Park is to live a little.”
Hotel recipes in Gillian’s book include Stuffed Aubergine, Baked John Dory with Fennel Sauce and Strawberry Cheesecake with Irish Whiskey. Sounds like the components of a great three course dinner! An accompanying sketch by the Dublin based late architect Jeremy Williams shows the interior of the bay window with its coffered semi dome. The guide states there were 11 bedrooms: bed and breakfast was priced from 28 to 39.50 Irish Punts. Five course dinner, 17.50 Punts. The proprietors were Brian and Carmel O’Dowd and the hotel was open from Easter to the end of October each year. The hotel closed in 2010 and the building and island returned to use as a private residence and demesne.
St Ernan’s Blues is the intriguingly named 2016 novel principally set on the island. It is part of a mystery series by Magherafelt County Derry born London based Paul Charles featuring Inspector Starrett. “A lone building on a small island off Ireland’s Donegal coast, St Ernan’s is politely known as a ‘retirement home’ for priests. The exiled residents are guilty of such serious offences as entrepreneurship, criticising the Church, or getting too friendly with the flock. But things take a turn when Father Matthew McKaye is found dead in the kitchen. Has one of these isolated outcasts committed murder?” Although never used to house errant priests, the clergy connection is historically accurate albeit relating to ‘the other sort’ to use a colloquialism.
“Situated right at the mouth of the River Eske in Donegal Bay, Donegal Town or Fort of the Foreigners, was the town that gave its name to the county,” explains Paul. He describes how tricky it is to find St Ernan’s Island despite its position close to the town, before eulogising on the local natural beauty. “The thing about autumnal mornings in Donegal is that the sun, as it lights up every corner of the rich tapestry of fields; hills; mountains; trees; rugged hedges; blue heavenly skies; faint white clouds and all creatures great and small, does tend to show off our Creator’s magic in all its spiritual glory.” And on wintry mornings as well.
An entry in Ireland’s Blue Book of Charming Country Houses and Restaurants, 1996, states: “Quietly situated on a wooded tidal island, connected to the mainland by a causeway, St Ernan’s offers the perfect respite from the hectic pace of everyday life. There is a unique warmth and sense of serenity at St Ernan’s. It recaptures the charm of the past – quietude in a relaxing friendly atmosphere. The house, built in 1826 by John Hamilton, a nephew of the Duke of Wellington, has 12 bedrooms, each with a private bath or shower, telephone and television. Most have stunning views of the sea and countryside. The dining room is one of country elegance where the cuisine is based on fresh local produce. From this perfectly situated house the countryside may be explored. There are several excellent golf courses nearby. Horse riding, fishing and bicycle hire are also available locally. St Ernan’s offers the perfect escape from the pressures of modern life to the finest traditions of Irish country house hospitality.” As well as recording an additional bedroom, the Blue Book includes increased rates. Bed and breakfast ranged from 55 to 52 Punts. Dinner was 26 Punts.
The house is as deep as it’s wide: the north, east and south fronts are arranged around a west facing courtyard. Until recently it was painted pink, except for the window surround quoins and verandah columns which were picked out in white. An early 20th century photograph shows the ground floor either painted a dark colour or unrendered. The current pale cream colour scheme works well, changing tone as often as the unpredictable Donegal weather. The two storey east front is the most visible elevation from the mainland. A full width slimly columned verandah stretches across the whole of the ground floor and beyond, terminating in angled walls providing further shelter. The three middle bays of both floors have typical Georgian sashes. The outer bays of the ground floor have three sided chamfered projections: the righthand one has typical Georgian sashes; the lefthand one has very narrow sashed openings. This narrowing is the only element of asymmetry on the otherwise perfectly balanced elevation. The outer bays of the first floor have paired sash windows divided by a mullion.
In contrast to the late Georgian or Regency appearance of the east front, the two storey plus attic south front looks more Victorian. Gabled projections with frilly bargeboards stand tall on either side of an asymmetrical two bay setback. The lefthand projection has two paned sash windows; the righthand projection has quoined corners and Georgian sash windows to the first floor and attic above a large Doric pilastered and corniced bowed extension with five two paned windows. A conservatory projects from the central setback under two paired sash windows divided by mullions. The two storey six bay with attic and visible basement north front is plainer and looks the most Georgian due to a proliferation of multipaned sash windows, except for the two storey extension with its larger pane sash windows. It has just one gable to the left of the slate pitched roof. The west front comprises the courtyard with irregular gabled late 19th century extensions.
Rubblestone walls line the 190 metre long causeway linking the island to the small peninsula of Muckros. The 3.4 hectare roughly oval shaped island, now densely wooded, stretches to just over 300 metres at its widest point. At the far end of Muckros, close to the main road between Donegal and Ballyshannon, stands the gatelodge to St Ernan’s House. Kimmitt Dean (mostly) admires it in Gatelodges of Ulster, 1994, “Circa 1845. A pretty little lodge delightfully situated defending the entrance to a ‘furlong of causeway built by his grateful tenantry’ for John Hamilton, to save him from Atlantic tides on his approach to a retreat which he built in 1825. He had become disenchanted with Brown Hall which he had inherited on his father’s death in 1811 [which contradicts George Seaver’s account of John being orphaned age seven]. A one and a half two up two down Picturesque cottage with ornamental serrated bargeboard to gables. One elevation aligned obtusely with the entrance gates, a single storey canted bay window looks on. In uncoursed square masonry now painted over, a flat roofed rear return and entrance hall recently added are hardly compatible.” The gatelodge is closest in style to the south front of the big house. County Donegal: wild. Donegal Town: wild night out. St Ernan’s: wildness tamed.
