Paul McElhinney: From the Siege of Derry to the Act of Union, Boomhall on the River Foyle has a unique heritage

The house – in hopes of restoration - is situated where the boom was laid across the Foyle by Jacobite forces in 1689 to prevent Williamite forces from lifting the siege of the city. The name ‘Boomhall’ was in recognition of that historic event.

Built in 1777, it is situated less than a mile from the historic city walls. It is thus linked with Ulster’s seminal battle, the political ramifications of which resonate forcibly right down to the present era. The Boomhall Trust was established as a conservation charity formed to restore the Mansion House and is currently developing proposals for conservation and re-use of the historic buildings and landscapes.

The original Alexander owners hailed from Scotland, settling first in Limavady in the 17th century. Scion of the family, Nathaniel Alexander moved to Londonderry in 1757, became a successful merchant in the city. Subsequent generations of Alexanders formed strong associations with India and the East India Company, thus cementing their commitment to the Empire.

In time, the family were conferred with a viscountcy and eventually the Earldom of Caledon. They were becoming successful and established figures in Ulster society. A house in Dublin and one in London followed as the Alexanders began to get involved in politics and public life more widely. In more recent times, readers will recall the illustrious war hero, Field Marshal Harold Alexander (Lord Alexander of Tunis), perhaps the family’s most famous son.

In October 1849, Boomhall was sold by the last Alexander owner for £6,000 to Daniel Baird, a leading Derry shipowner and harbourmaster. The Bairds and Maturin-Baird families owned Boomhall until 1949 when it was purchased by Michael McDevitt, a Derry businessman. Before buying the house, McDevitt and his family rented the house from the mid-1930s.

During World War II, the property was commandeered by the Royal Navy Wrens, resulting in the McDevitts retreating to their summer home in Castlerock for the duration of the war. On McDevitt’s death in May 1968, Boomhall passed to his two sisters, Annette and Marcella McDevitt. The main property is now owned by Derry City Council.

The second historical fact of significance was that the house was used for high-level discussions with the leading proponents of the 1800 Act of Union, Lords Castlereagh, Cornwallis and its Alexander owner. Castlereagh was to become one of Britain’s most illustrious foreign secretaries and hero of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, while Cornwallis was the leader of British forces during the American War of Independence and a major public figure in Britain at the time.

The three were endeavouring to convince Ulster that the Act of Union was in the province’s best long-term interests. It is not hard to imagine current day Ulstermen being convinced of the merits of the Union but in 1800 this was not necessarily a given. Despite the strong attachment to the link with Britain ever since the 16th century, securing Ulster support was never seen as guaranteed given the intrusion of continental political developments into Irish politics in that era.

Many Ulster Protestants (Presbyterians in particular) at the time had imbibed the republican ideals of the French Revolution and of the United Irishmen. Union with a royalist, monarchic Britain was to many in the dissenter tradition antithetical to their political and religious ideals. Alexander, Castlereagh and Cornwallis were acutely aware of this and honed their campaign to assuage their fears, highlighting the benefits to be achieved through union. This, they eventually achieved through an effective publicity campaign which garnered Ulster support, resulting in the Act’s eventual passage.

The property was originally set in attractive parkland with gardens landscaped to enhance the house’s Georgian architecture. The property contained two old replica cannons from the time of the city siege of great historical value. When the property was burgled and left derelict in the 1970s, these and many artefacts from the house were lost. Only the house’s sturdy walls remain.

Another remaining item of significance is the boom stone that secured the boom during the siege. Another remaining feature of interest is King James’s Well, named for the Jacobite leader, James II, who set up camp there for his troops during the siege.

The lifting of the siege had many more important implications than generally recognised. The success of William in the Williamite Wars generally paved the way for the demise of the ancient ‘divine right of kings’ espoused by the Stuarts and its replacement by Enlightenment values, including the extension of wider civil and political rights in society.

These values travelled across the Atlantic to the new colonies of North America, eventually becoming the bedrock values of the United Sates of America. A direct thread thus links the Siege of Derry with the development of constitutional law and civil liberties in the US and worldwide.

Since the late 16th century many Ulstermen and women settled in large numbers in the eastern and southern parts of the now United States. In Appalachia and the South in particular, the Ulster imprint is still strongly evident. The values fought for during the Williamite Wars including at the Siege of Derry, moreover, became transplanted in fertile American soil and in turn passed on to many other countries.

The current shell of Boomhall now stands as a symbol of a bygone era but its importance to Londonderry and the whole of Northern Ireland remains. It is without doubt one of the most historically important sites in the province. The dedicated people of the Boomhall Trust continue to develop interest in the site among a wider audience. With hope, those efforts will bear fruit.

Paul McElhinney is a writer and lecturer and the author of ‘Lion of the RAF’, a biography of Air Marshal Sir George Beamish. He is a former official of the Department of the Taoiseach in Dublin, an oil and gas sector executive, a university lecturer and public affairs consultant. His relatives (including his mother) once owned and lived in Boomhall where he spent enjoyable holidays in his youth. He currently lives in Co. Wexford.