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 and roughly southwest of Belfast. The town is linked to Belfast by both the M1 motorway (Northern Ireland), M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin rail ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. 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, during which time he recanted his Orange Order opposition to Catholic emancipation. He was ...

in 1833 by Scottish architect

William Henry Playfair William Henry Playfair Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town, Edinburgh, New Town and many of Edinb ...

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. It also has lodges in England, Grand Orange Lodge of ...

), 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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 light 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 ...

and the 10th Battalion

Royal Irish Fusiliers The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's) was an Irish line infantry (later changed to light 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 ...

, while in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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. 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

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