Ballyscullion House

Ballyscullion House refers to two country houses built for the Hervey family near Bellaghy in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, close to Lough Beg at north-west corner of Lough Neagh.

The first Ballyscullion House, sometimes called "Bishop's Folly", was a large house intended for Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry. Construction began in 1787 but it was not completed when he died in Italy in 1803. His heir decided to live at his other Irish house, Downhill House, also in County Londonderry, and the partially built Ballyscullion House was demolished by 1825.

A second and much smaller Ballyscullion House was built in 1840 for Admiral Sir Henry William Bruce, and is now owned by the Mulholland family. A military camp was built on the estate in the Second World War by the 202nd Engineering Combat Battalion and occupied by the US 82nd Airborne Division before D-Day.

Hervey was the son of John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey, and grandson of John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol. He became Bishop of Cloyne in 1767 and was translated to become Bishop of Derry in 1768. He succeeded his elder brothers as the 4th Earl of Bristol in 1779.

The original Ballyscullion House was the second of three palatial country houses built by the Earl Bishop, two in Ireland and one in England. The first, Downhill, was built on the north coast of County Londonderry between about 1775 and 1785, and includes Mussenden Temple. Downhill was damaged by fire in 1851, restored, fell into disrepair while occupied by the Royal Air Force in the Second World War, and now lies in ruins.

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