Miss Abbie Whinnery, wrote an account of her visit to the Carroll homestead in Antrim, Ireland in 1884. She was accompanied by her father, Dr. James Carroll Whinnery (whose mother was Nancy Sally Carroll). The letter was addressed to her father’ cousin, Robert William Carroll in Cincinnati.
Royal Avenue Hotel, Belfast, July 13 1884.
My dear Robert,
I know that you will be glad to learn that we have found the old homestead and in excellent repair. I hasten to tell you the whole story. We arrived in Belfast at about 11.30 am yesterday. Being advised by the head Porter at the hotel to drive to the police barracks at Moira and then ask advice as to the best way to search for the old house, we secured a jaunting car and as soon as we had lunched set out. We soon found ourselves in the midst of an enchanting landscape which grew in beauty as the distance from Belfast increased, which remark I feel to be invidious for the whole country hereabouts is so beautiful as to excite delightful admiration.
As we drove southwest from Belfast over a very fine road bordered on each side by thrifty hawthorn hedges and a range of hills which our driver called “the Moreen Mountains” (Mourne Mountains) bounded the view on our right. On the left the country opened out indefinitely into country seats and farms; the fields are divided by innumerable hedges, while clumps of trees and several small groves dotted here and there, added richness to the scene.
As we approached Lisburn the hills were left behind, the view enlarged on the right, while on the left, in the very far distance the shoulder of the Mourne Mountains clothed in a purple haze was turned warmly towards us. The sun shone brightly with a genial warmth; the earth was teeming with verdure; little white cottages were scattered along the roadside with here and there a farm house, white distant villages and church spires among the trees would occasionally glide into the panorama. When we admired the fine crop of hay; the wonderful wealth of the oat fields; the perfection of small amount of wheat we saw growing and even the heavy yield of grass our driver told us this was only a second or third class year because of the cold winds in May and of the want of rain in June. If such be the case it is scarcely possible to imagine the fullness of vegetation in a first rate year. Everything grows to a fine perfection. There is no rank overgrowth; no coarse fibre; every leaf seems to be evenly developed and everything is graceful.
Seven miles from Belfast we passed through Lisburn, a long town apparently built in one street consisting principally of respectable and in some cases of rather stylish dwellings with one very large and elegant mansion the residence of Sir Richard Wallace. We went on by the new Lisburn road to Moira which is a very ancient looking village. The police sergeant at the barracks came out to speak to us and called two or three persons who were near at hand, and we had not exchanged many sentences when we were put on the right track by a young fellow who advised us to call on Mr. Isaac Bell of Trummery House. As soon as father heard the name he said “we are all right now”.
So we drove back about 3⁄4 mile to Trumera House where we were hospitably received. Isaac Bell is the son of the Isaac Bell of whom Grandmother used often to speak. I suppose you know more about the relationship between the Bell and Carroll family than I can tell you. Isaac who is sixty years of age has a very pretty young wife and seven fine children. He lives in a very fine large house and cultivates 150 acres of land. He is an exceedingly stringent orthodox Quaker, a well-informed man and evidently held in high esteem in his neighbourhood. He said he could direct us to the very house where “old Ned” used to live, but urged us to take tea before starting; so it was 5.00 pm when we left his house. James Bell a lad of about 13 years accompanied us to show us the way. As we turned into the old Lisburn road we noticed some dark clouds in the sky a sign of rain. We drove for a mile over a very good solid road, passing many wretched cottages which are so numerous here, and one or two decent farmhouses and drew up before a very substantial stone house a storey and a half high, 45 feet long and 21 feet deep.
The walls are covered with a rough finish of cement and gravel, and whitewashed. The roof of thatch is in keeping with the little old fashioned windows in the upper storey, consisting of four panes each, the lower windows are much larger. The entrance which I can only describe as an enclosed portico with a tiled roof is evidently modern although of the same material and finish as the house. A tasteful well kept flower garden in front is enclosed by a new stone wall. A new stone barn just east of the house with a horse yard wall surrounded a row of very old but well-preserved outbuildings, stretching out for sixty feet from the back of the house, complete the establishment.
Carroll Family History 