Marlagh Lodge is first mentioned in the Ordinance
Survey map of 1857. The valuation of c.1859 tells us that
it was at that point occupied by Henry Hutchinson Hamilton
O’Hara and ‘all new and in superior order’.
It is probable that Henry, one of the more colourful characters
in the history of Ballymena, built the house.
Henry was a member of the gentry O’Hara family of
Crebilly Castle, one of the few houses in Northern Ireland
to be burnt down during the Troubles of the 1920s. During
his early life, his mother fell ill and Henry engaged the
services of a French maid, Madelaine, to care for her. In
time, Henry married Madelaine and subsequently sent her back
to France to bring her parents to live in London. While she
was away, Henry declared that the marriage, having been conducted
by a Catholic priest (the O’Hara family had converted
to Anglicanism), was null and void. He then married a beautiful
local girl, but she died shortly after.
Henry then sent to London for Madelaine and they lived together
for some years. According to local tradition, Madelaine never
found out that Henry had married another woman while she
was safely out of the way! They had a son, Henry, but the
Squire soon became unsettled and again sent Madelaine and
their son to stay with her parents in London. He then married
for a third time - a Miss Dufferin, daughter of a local footman.
After some time, Madelaine, suspicious at the lack of contact
from her husband, returned uninvited to Ballymena. She was
confronted not only by the new Lady O’Hara, but also
by a new son (also called Henry). Henry disowned Madelaine
and his first son, who are reputed to have lived out their
days begging.
Henry squandered much of the family fortune. He earned the
title ‘Fool O’Hara’ because of his incompetent
gambling and love of high living. Local tradition claims
that his gambling opponents would place him strategically
in front of a mirror in order to spy on his cards! He died
in 1875 at the young age of 46 - apparently in poverty. He
is buried in the churchyard across the road from Marlagh
Lodge and his monument, a marble column, has been deliberately
broken to represent his being ‘decayed gentry’.
For all his shortcomings, however, Henry appears to have
been well liked by his tenants. The local Harryville area
was named after him, but his reputation also lives on in
another way. Tradition tells that he died after being thrown
by his favourite white horse and impaled on the spikes of
the Crebilly Castle gates. There have been many sightings
over the years of a headless man on a white horse, galloping
around the estate on Hallowe’en and just after Christmas,
the anniversary of his death.
After his death, Marlagh Lodge passed to his sister and was
subsequently sold. When we bought the house in June 2003,
it was in a rather sorry state. All of the windows were rotten,
the ground floor was suffering from rising damp and rot, and
part of the single storey return at the rear was totally derelict
- we were faced with a mammoth restoration job both inside
and out! We were adamant that the house should be restored
and completely repaired as sympathetically as possible, and
we have tried to ensure that our Marlagh Lodge isn’t
just another modern house in an old shell. We are indebted
to our architects, builders and others who advised and helped
us throughout this very stressful 15-month project and hope
that our remedial work will ensure that Marlagh Lodge will
be here to be enjoyed by generations to come. We hope that
Henry would approve…
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