TOPICS

DUNGIVEN TOWN
DUNGIVEN CASTLE
DUNGIVEN PRIORY
DUNGIVEN TOWNLANDS
BANAGHER GLEN
BANAGHER CHURCH
THE SKINNER’S COMPANY
PELLIPAR ESTATE
ACCOMMODATION
GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES
FOLKLORE
SONGS OF DUNGIVEN
BOOKS OF DUNGIVEN
XTRAS

PELLIPAR ESTATE AND HOUSE

(NOTE: PELLIPAR HOUSE IS A PRIVATE RESIDENCE AND TRESPASSERS TO THE ESTATE WILL BE PROSUCUTED)

"The Skinners called their Manor (49,000 acre land, which, by the way was broken up into different divisions making it very difficult to *defend because it was sprawled across the county) Pellipar because it was translated in Latin as Skinner." Taken from the Skinners. 

GEOGRAPHICAL & AGRICULTURAL PROPERTIES OF PELLIPAR MANOR (ESTATE): 

• 49,000 acre piece of land (but it's really more)

• 'a huge land-locked proportion in mid, southern and mountainous parts of the county'

• Largest of all estates, and the worst

• 73½ townlands

• Divided into 5 main areas: Cumber (lower and upper), Claudy, Banagher, Dungiven and Ballinascreen

• Dungiven 28 townlands, Cumber 26 townlands, Ballinascreen 11½, & the rest?

• Fertile land around Dungiven and Cumber

• Banagher & Ballinascreen had excellent woodlands

• Estate was well served by rivers: R. Roe, R. Owenreagh, R. Owenbeg, R. Moyola, R. Burntollet

The Manor Houses of Pellipar (MHoP)

1. Skinners' Hall, Dungiven Castle and bawn (Formerly 'the Old Priory' & 'O' Cahan Castle' 

2. Lady Anne Cooke's Castle (which we discovered was not hers really, but Carey's Castle)

3. Pellipar House (See below)

4. Dungiven Manor House (demolished 1985)INFORMATION TO COME

All of the MHoP have interesting stories etc. to tell but as we are in the Pellipar Section we will look at, to me, the most interesting of all the Manor Houses, Pellipar House...

PELLIPAR HOUSE & ITS LAND

The Ogilby family wasn't the first to have lived at the house. Before it had been passed on to Ogilby 1st, R Ogilby, the house wasn't nearly as impressive and grand, but still quite a luxurious dwelling. When reading a source, it says 'A big frenchified mansion ingeniously contrived in 1907 out of an earlier house'. The first family to live in the house was the Fannings (1716-1751). Now, the last Ogilby, R J L Ogilby, was the one whom 'ingeniously contrived' it in 1907.

Amazing Facts

• Pellipar House has, as counted by a youthful inhabitant some years ago, as a mind-blowing 72 chimneys

• The same youth, tells of her uncle inhabiting only a quarter of the house in the declining days of Pellipar. He was a paid Landsteward.

• Yet again, the same youth tells of her and friends patrolling the empty house (declining days) on bicycles.

• Rumour has it that the house, when given the make over by R J L Ogilby, the house had 356 windows, a different one to gaze from every day of the year

And note also, for reference purposes, Pellipar House is on a site which is related to 5 townlands (see townlands & maps): Ballygudden, Lackagh, Scriggan, Derryware and Derryard.