Brownlow House, also known as Brownlow Castle and Lurgan Castle, is a Grade A listed 19th century house located in

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a population ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It was built for Irish politician

Charles Brownlow, 1st Baron Lurgan Charles Brownlow, 1st Baron Lurgan PC (17 April 1795 – 30 April 1847), was an Anglo-Irish politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1818 to 1832 and was raised to the peerage in 1839. Life Brownlow was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Charl ...

in 1833 by Scottish architect

William Henry Playfair William Henry Playfair FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century, who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town and many of Edinburgh's neoclassical landmarks. Life Playfair was born on 15 ...

and was used as a military headquarters in both world wars.

History

The house was constructed in 1833 by Scottish architect

for

and his family. The property remained in the family until the start of the 20th century, when it was purchased by Lurgan Real Property Company Ltd. It was later sold to Lurgan Loyal Orange District Lodge (the local contingent of the

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It also ...

), who continue to own the property today. Throughout the world wars of the 20th century, the building played an important role as a headquarters for various military purposes. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the house acted as the headquarters of the 16th Battalion

Royal Irish Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal County ...

and the 10th Battalion

Royal Irish Fusiliers The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's) was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of the 87th (Prince of Wales's Irish) Regiment of Foot and the 89th (Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot in ...

, while in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

it was a base for American troops. In 1996 the building was badly damaged by an arson attack. Lurgan architectural firm DSC Partners designed the building's refurbishment, which also involved an expert from the restoration that followed the

1992 Windsor Castle fire On 20 November 1992, a fire broke out in Windsor Castle, the largest inhabited castle in the world and one of the official residences of the British Monarch. The castle suffered extensive damage and was fully repaired within the next five yea ...

. In 2014 a museum was opened in the basement of the building to commemorate its role during World War I. In August 2015 a World War II exhibition was added, highlighting the building's usage as a military outpost as well as the wider participation of Northern Ireland in providing temporary facilities for the British and American armies at the time.

References

External links

{{commonscat, Brownlow House, Lurgan
Brownlow House official web site
Edwardian architecture Grade A listed buildings Military and war museums in Northern Ireland Houses completed in 1833