Q How long have you worked at Castle Ward in Co Down?
A I’ve been at Castle Ward for 18 months but have worked for the National Trust for more than five years. Before I came here, I was house manager at Mount Stewart. That was my first ‘live-in’ position with the Trust.
Then after three-and-a-half years of loving every second, the opportunity came to move across Strangford Lough and come to Castle Ward. It was a property that was facing so many challenges at the time, but you could see opportunity everywhere, so I jumped at the chance.
Just like I have now at Castle Ward, at Mount Stewart I had an apartment in the mansion house and my next-door neighbour was Lady Rose Lauritzen and her husband, Peter, which was bizarre even for me, but she was great, and she was a fabulous companion.
I hadn’t met my partner Kris at that time, and they were both so welcoming and were such kind people.
Lady Rose of course, had far more fabulous style than I could ever have, so it was always a treat to be invited over for a gin and tonic or a cup of tea and sit out on the terrace overlooking the Italian gardens.
She really was a fabulous neighbour — a really caring neighbour.
Q What exactly does your job involve at Castle Ward?
A I look after the main mansion house and the 13,000-plus items of the historic collection within the house. I also look after the farm buildings, the Tower House — anything that you would describe as built heritage or having a collection would fall under my remit.
Essentially, my main job is to conserve the collection. Conservation is a big part of my role and also to curate the collection and the stories of the house and the things within and around.
Of course, I have a fabulous team of workers and volunteers helping me. And I’ve got conservation assistants who make sure that the house is cared for on a day-to-day basis. They do everything from dusting to hoovering to conserving books to cleaning ceramics.
And then of course, the wonderful volunteers. A huge amount of my team is voluntary.
Q Why did you decide to get into this line of work?
A I’ve always had a passion for the Irish country house. My father is a farmer in Tyrone and on one of the farms was a huge derelict Victorian house. As a young boy, I was always intrigued by it, and by the people who would have lived there. Seeing a worn step or looking at the different rooms really captivated me, and that fascination has stayed with me.
I studied English literature and history at Queen’s University and specialised in Irish history and Irish literature. Then I decided I should get a sensible job and started to study Law intending to become a barrister, but it wasn’t for me.
A chance meeting with one of my old history teachers from Queen’s prompted a return to history and I obtained a Master’s in Women of the Irish Country House, specialising in Lady Constance Leslie from Castle Leslie in Co Monaghan. Then whenever I finished that I did a PhD in Women of the Irish Country House, 1860 to 1920.
Whenever I was growing up there was another big house near me called Lissan House which belonged to a wonderful old lady called Hazel Dolling (nee Staples) who had fought really strongly to ensure that her house would survive after her death.
She inherited the estate with her sister Elizabeth, but Elizabeth sadly passed away and Hazel lived on there with her husband, Mr Dolling.
Growing up she knew I loved the ‘big house’ and used to bring me in and tell me stories about the place and her family.
As an adult, I became one of the trustees of Lissan House Trust, a charitable organisation set up to restore the building.
After the death of Mrs Dolling in 2006, we realised that in order to make the house a success and take it somewhere, there needed to be someone who would work full-time at it and try and make it go somewhere.
So, I resigned as a trustee, and applied for and got the job.
I was property manager of Lissan House for just over two years and had the most wonderful experience. We didn’t have much money, but we had the most beautiful house, with a wonderful history, a fabulous archive and more than 260 acres of glorious gardens and estate and the most wonderful volunteers.
We all worked very hard, and it really started to fly. Then a friend spotted an advert for House Manager at Mount Stewart. I applied for it not really expecting to be successful, but the then manager said to me that if I could make a success of Lissan with no resources, it showed that I had the passion and the stomach to really put my all into a job, and so I came to Mount Stewart.
Q Is your staff apartment modern or is it in keeping with the rest of the house?
A Just like the rest of the house the flat is very big and has lovely high ceilings and Gothic windows and Gothic doors. The centre has a lovely domed atrium with a balcony, so I can look down into the bedroom corridor below and I can look up through a big dome, up to the sky. It really is lovely.
We live on the top floor and can stand and wash the dishes looking out over the Classical Lawn — my sitting room and bedroom faces out over Strangford Lough.
In past times, this part of the house would have been family bedrooms. It was also a nursery at one point.
Q When staff and visitors all go home, have either of the big houses you’ve lived in felt spooky?
A The only way to describe it is that the house has a personality, and I don’t really know what that is — whether it’s ghostly activity or energies or what it is, but the house certainly lets you know that it’s there and that it’s alive.
There are strange noises. If Kris and I are out, the girl that works with me is maybe busy in the little office at the back stairs and she often says that she has heard footsteps going up and down.
And sometimes I think I catch sight of the figure of a man in a tweed suit, but whether that’s my imagination or not, I don’t know.
Another worker said she was tapped on her leg whenever she was hoovering the library. And interestingly, the same thing happened to me. I wondered was it a little child.
Even though I say that, it’s the most lovable house with the loveliest feeling about it. It’s not scary at all. You get a sense of the house being so loved and if Kris or I are here on our own, we never feel lonely.
Mount Stewart always felt incredibly serene, and I always wondered was that because there’s a consecrated chapel in the house. It was the most peaceful of houses.
Q Do you ever feel isolated? It must get very lonely?
A Not at all. There is a lovely community here. There are a lot of people who live on the estate — a lot of tenants. There’s a sense of family, a sense of community, not just on the estate, but also among the people of Strangford, who are wonderful.
Kris and I were slightly worried about being a modern gay couple moving into the big house and into a very small village, but the people of Strangford welcomed us with open arms.
And many of them came up and helped us during lockdown. Covid regulations permitting, they came and assisted with conservation work and in the garden.
Q Is Castle Ward now open to the public to visit?
A The house is open Thursday to Sunday from 11am to 4pm throughout the summer. A tour of the house is self-guided, but I’ve done a little audio for every room. There are also volunteers if visitors want to know anything extra.
The tea rooms are open from 10.30am until 4.30pm, every day, and our little gift shop is open as well.
We’ve just reopened Temple Water which is the beautiful canal down in the old early 18th century part of the estate that was put in by the Ward family.
It’s undergone huge restoration. Another project I oversaw during lockdown was working with the Department of Communities and the Northern Ireland Museums Council to make an accessible path from the car park to the Mansion House as one of the biggest grumbles that we had was that it was very difficult to get to the house.
You either had to climb a steep slope or take a very circuitous route.
We found in a 19th century watercolour of the gardens that there had been a historic path that was beautifully sloping up to the Gothic side of the house, so thanks to funding from the government, it’s all ready to go.
Q What would you say is the biggest challenge of your job?
A Keeping the vision alive. I feel it’s my duty as house manager to have a vision for the house and the collection — to fill the house with stories so that when visitors come, they get Castle Ward, and they know Castle Ward.
This particular house has a very special spirit all of its own. I believe that if you pour love into a house, it gives it back to you tenfold.
