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Council to study Moira Castle grounds after foundations reappear

A drawing of the house at Moira Castle circa 1799, and right, an aerial view showing the outline of foundations in Moira Demesne. Pictures from Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council and the Royal Irish Academy
A drawing of the house at Moira Castle circa 1799, and right, an aerial view showing the outline of foundations in Moira Demesne. Pictures from Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council and the Royal Irish Academy A drawing of the house at Moira Castle circa 1799, and right, an aerial view showing the outline of foundations in Moira Demesne. Pictures from Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council and the Royal Irish Academy

A COUNCIL is to conduct fresh research on a historic castle estate after the recent spell of hot weather caused the foundations of buildings to resurface.

Part of the foundations on the estate at Moira Castle became visible after the warm spell caused the ground to recede.

The site at the current Moira Demesne is understood to have contained a lavish three-storey, nine bay house until the early 1800s.

The resurfaced foundations have attracted interest from residents and local historians, and now Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council plans to further research the location to update its records.

Officials from the local authority hope to keep residents informed of their updated research.

It is believed Major Edward Burgh built a brick house on the site in 1651 after purchasing the site in 1639.

His commander Sir George Rawdon owned the house in the 1650s. He was land agent to the Conway family, the landlord of the territory in and around south Antrim and east of Lough Neagh from the 17th century onwards.

The Rawdon family had an interest in botany and were responsible for creating the garden at Moira.

At great expense, Sir Arthur Rawdon employed James Harlow to bring back more then 1,000 trees and shrubs from Jamaica and had a conservatory – considered possibly the earliest in Ireland – erected in the Demesne in 1690.

By the mid-18th century the three-storey, nine bay house was prominent in the fledgling town of Moira, and directly opposite St John's Church which was consecrated in 1723.

William Sharman, MP for Lisburn from 1783-90, leased the estate from Sir John in the 1770s.

In 1799, artist and antiquarian Gabriel Beranger published perhaps the most detailed view of the house, in a watercolour painted by one of Mr Sharman's daughters.

In circa 1805 Sir Robert Bateson, of Belvoir Park, bought the house and land, but written accounts suggest the house was in ruins by the 1830s.