Craigavon House, with Carol Walker MBE

Historical Belfast

On the outskirts of East Belfast is a house that might be considered as one of the most important houses in modern Irish history; Craigavon House.
Built for James Craig senior in 1870 to the designs of the Waterford-born architect Thomas Jackson it was once a glorious mansion but now sits in a state of semi-dereliction off the Holywood Road.
For me, Craigavon House evokes the imagery of the Home Rule crisis in Ulster, whether that be the unveiling of Edward Carson as the leader of Unionism in September 1911 on the lawns outside, or whether that be the footage of Carson reading the text of the Ulster Solemn League & Covenant from the steps outside to assembled journalists in September 1912, or indeed the audacious gunrunning operation by the Ulster Volunteers in April 1914 which was planned and executed from the Billiard Room of this house. This place acted as a nerve-centre for Unionist’s resistance to home rule in Ireland.
However, its history goes back much further than 1911 and I’m very grateful to have been shown around this wonderful house by Carol Walker – Director of the Somme Association – and I began by asking her about the origins of the house…
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