Seaforde Gardens And Tropical Butterfly House - Geograph
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Seaforde is a small
village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
in
County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
,
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 is within the
townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...
of Naghan,Ordnance Survey Ireland: Online map viewer
(choose "historic" to see townland boundaries) one mile (1.6 km) north of
Clough Clough ( ; ) is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It sits about 3 miles from Dundrum, County Down, Dundrum on the A2 road (Northern Ireland), A2 between Newcastle, County Down, Newcastle and Belfast. The A2 road (Northern ...
on the main
Ballynahinch Ballynahinch may refer to: Northern Ireland * Ballynahinch, County Armagh, a townland *Ballynahinch, County Down, a town Republic of Ireland *Ballynahinch (barony), in County Galway *Ballynahinch, County Galway, a townland in County Galway * Bally ...
to
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
road. It is part of the
Newry, Mourne and Down Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: ''Newrie, Morne an Doon'' , settlement_type = District , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Sovereign state , subdivision_type1 = Countries of the United Kingdom, Constituent ...
area.


History

The village is named after the Forde family, who descend from Nicholas Forde of Dunboyne
County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...
, who held the post of Deputy Victualler in
Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
in 1580, as supplier to
Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
's army in Ireland. The village lands were purchased by Nicholas's fifth son, Mathew Forde (who later sat in the
Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...
in 1642) as part of a wider acquisition of estate lands in Kinelarty in County Down, which he purchased from Thomas Cromwell, Viscount Lecale between the years 1615 and 1636. Mathew Forde, who also owned properties in Fishamble-street in
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, had already purchased estate lands in and around the village of Coolgreany in
County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...
in 1617. Although Coolgreany was the principal seat of the Forde family during the 17th century, after the
Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ga, Cath na Bóinne ) was a battle in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and ...
Seaforde became the family's principal place of residence.


Seaforde House

Mathew Forde (1675-1729) built the original mansion on the Seaforde demesne, which lies to the north of the village. It was rebuilt in 1819, after a destructive fire, by
Mathew Forde Mathew Forde, also spelt 'Matthew Forde' (17 May 1785 – 5 August 1837) was an Irish landowner and politician. He was born the eldest son of Mathew Forde of Seaforde, Co. Down and Coolgreany, Co. Wexford and educated at Trinity College, Dublin ...
, MP (1785-1837) to create the present house, a neo-classical building of seven bays and three storeys over a basement, the top storey being treated as an attic. There is a five-bay frontage faced in sandstone ashlar. The estate was at one time the home of the Lecale Hunt, and later the East Down Hunt. Seaforde was the birthplace of Colonel Francis Forde (1718 to 1770), who fought and served with
Clive of India Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British ...
. The Forde family still resides at Seaforde House. The present occupant being Lady Anthea Forde, widow of Patrick Mathew Desmond Forde J.P. D.L. and daughter of the Earl of Belmore of
Castle Coole Castle Coole (from ga, CúlLogainm
– Castle Coole – scanned record 2
) is a
in Co. Fermanagh.


See also

*
List of towns and villages in Northern Ireland This is an alphabetical list of towns and villages in Northern Ireland. For a list sorted by population, see the list of settlements in Northern Ireland by population. The towns of Armagh, Lisburn and Newry are also classed as cities (see city sta ...


References

;Notes
Seaforde Gardens and Butterfly HouseCulture Northern Ireland
*Blackwood Papers - History of the Forde Family P.R.O.N.I {{Coord, 54, 18, N, 5, 50, W, region:GB_type:city, display=title Villages in County Down Civil parish of Loughinisland Planned communities in Northern Ireland