16th century big house opens doors

Ashbrook House in Ardmore is the latest addition to Londonderry’s tourist trail after becoming the 226th member of the Derry Visitor and Convention Bureau (DVCB). since its inception in 1996.

Set in 30 acres of mature parkland in Ardmore is one of the oldest historic houses in the North West and has been the family home of the Ash family since before 1595.

More recently FDR-confidant General George C. Marshall visited Ardmore in the early 1940s and a surviving rhododendron on the estate is actually named after one of the greatest figures of the last century.

General Marshall, Chief of Staff of the US Army during WW2, was one of a number of illustrious American visitors to Ashbrook during the conflict.

Alongside the neighbouring Beech Hill estate Ashbrook - between 1942 and 1944 - became a curious hybrid of Anglo-Irish big house and US army boot camp due to the billet of hundreds of US Marines in the area.

The estate was originally built by Thomas Ash circa 1610 on the site of a previous dwelling the original front door and upstairs windows remain, although they are incorporated into the present day house.

The house was made famous during the Ulster Plantations and the Siege of Derry and has its historic connections are renowned . The Honourable The Irish Society records the Ash family as one of only four ‘native land owners’ prior to the plantation. It has been continually owned and lived in by the original family - The Ash Family, and this is certainly unique in the North West.

Mrs Beresord-Ash said: “We are excited to open the doors of Ashbrook House to visitors and offer them the opportunity to immerse themselves in the quirky tales and unique memories of the Beresford-Ash family. We are thrilled to offer visitors a guided tour of the house and gardens to unravel the story behind our historic home.”

Odhran Dunne, Interim Chief Executive of DVCB said: “I am delighted to welcome Ashbrook House to the city’s tourism trail and as a new member to the organisation. This historic property encapsulates generations of the city’s fascinating heritage story and will appeal to visitors from across the globe.

“We believe the increasing level of interest in membership is testament to business growth within the tourism sector in the region. DVCB continues to work in partnership with our members and key stakeholders to increase the market profile of the city as a tourism destination and is looking forward to welcoming thousands of visitors during ni2012 and City of Culture 2013.”

Mrs Beresford-Ash’s husband’s ancestor, General Thomas Ash, was originally granted the estate by Queen Elizabeth 1 as reward for fighting the O’Neill and the O’Donnell during the Nine Years War.

This was before the Plantation of Ulster and the early establishment of the Beresford-Ash family on the outskirts of Londonderry makes the family one of the oldest Protestant familys in Ulster.

Back in the early 1940s with the establishment of ‘Base One Europe’ in the city and the encampment of hundreds of US Marines at Ashbrook and Beech Hill the sound of war was in the air once more in Ardmore.

Amazingly, it was the estate’s early military-duty fortifications that also served the family as a make-shift air raid shelter during the Luftwaffe bombing raid which resulted in the Messines Park atrocity.

A huge wall between the kitchen and scullery formed part of General Thomas Ash’s original pioneering outpost in Gaelic Ulster in the 1590s and continued to protect the family right up until the 1940s albeit in a way that could never have been imagined.

Accompanying General Marshall on his vist were the US diplomats Harry Lloyd Hopkins and William Averell Harriman both of whom were close to Roosevelt and Churchill and both of whom were assigned on missions to Moscow to deal with Joseph Stalin.

Visitors to the estate can still see Marshall’s rhododendron in the grounds and also a bottle of 1929 Bordeaux drunk by the Americans during their stay.

According to Mrs Beresford-Ash: “My father-in-law had gone to get one of his very best bottles of claret. I’ve still got the bottle in the house inscribed by my father-in-law in his own hand: ‘This bottle was drunk by General Marshall and Averell Harriman.’”