The house you visit at Ballyscullion Park is the modest sequel to a far grander failure. In 1787 Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry – the ‘Earl-Bishop’ – began a vast domed palace on this shore of Lough Beg. He died in Italy in 1803 with it unfinished, his heir chose to live at Downhill instead, and the half-built ‘Bishop’s Folly’ was demolished by 1825. Its great Corinthian portico was saved and rebuilt as the front of St George’s Church on Belfast’s High Street, where it still stands.
One thing to be clear about before you set off: this is a private family home and wedding venue, not a turn-up-and-wander attraction. There are no daily opening hours. Visits to the gardens and grounds are by prior arrangement only, usually as a group with coffee, lunch or dinner laid on, and the highlight is a history talk from Richard Mulholland himself. Book that and the three-acre walled garden, and you’ve had the best of the place.
The two houses
The present house is a smaller, Italianate design of 1840 by Charles Lanyon – the architect behind much of Victorian Belfast – built for Admiral Sir Henry William Bruce. (A common slip names Sir Henry Hervey Bruce as the client; that was a different man.) The Bruce family held the estate until 1938, when it was bought by Sir Harry Mulholland, first Speaker of the Northern Ireland parliament. His grandson Richard and his wife Rosalind live there still.
During the Second World War the grounds were a US Army camp: the 202nd Engineering Combat Battalion, and later the 82nd Airborne Division, were stationed here in the run-up to D-Day. The fields and woodland that saw their training are now grazing and parkland again.
Visiting the estate
The walled garden is the set piece – three acres of structured borders, heritage fruit trees and seasonal bedding that carries colour from spring through autumn. Beyond it, paths run out through the courtyard and grounds towards the reed beds and grazing land along the lough.
Each May the estate hosts the Ballyscullion Park Book Festival – in 2026 on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 May – a weekend of authors, poets and family events in the gardens and parkland, in the heart of Heaney country. It’s the busiest the place gets, so book early. The courtyard also has six self-catering cottages, each sleeping up to six, plus a bridal suite known as the Apple House; these are let for weekend stays as well as to wedding parties. It’s a notably dog-friendly estate – dogs are welcome on the grounds and may stay in the cottages, within reason.
Church Island and Heaney’s strand
Just offshore in Lough Beg lies Church Island, with the ruins of St Taide’s church beneath a tall planted spire. It’s a place of pilgrimage on the first Sunday in September; a rag tree and a stone said to carry the imprint of St Patrick’s knee mark the spot. Lough Beg is a Ramsar wetland and Site of Special Scientific Interest, best for waders, swans and migratory songbirds early or late in the day.
Seamus Heaney grew up a few miles off, and his father grazed cattle on the Lough Beg strand; the lough and its island run through his poetry. The poet is buried in Bellaghy, the village just up the road.
Practical information
- Address: Ballyscullion Road, Bellaghy, County Londonderry BT45 8NA
- Contact: +44 (0) 28 7938 6235 | https://www.ballyscullionpark.com
- Opening: By prior arrangement only – there are no daily public opening hours. Contact the estate to arrange a visit, group tour or meal.
- Admission: Fees are quoted individually for tours, meals and events rather than published as a set charge, so ask when you book.
- Accessibility: The main garden paths and courtyard are level and suitable for wheelchairs; some historic sections and woodland trails have uneven surfaces or steps.
- Parking: Free on-site car parking for visitors.
Getting there
The estate is signposted from Bellaghy, the nearest village, and sits about 35 minutes from Belfast and 50 minutes from Derry/Londonderry. There’s no useful public transport to the gate: the nearest train stations are at Coleraine and Derry, so you’ll need a car or taxi for the last stretch.
Nearby
Bellaghy is two miles away, and with it the Seamus Heaney HomePlace – the best companion to a visit here, telling the poet’s life across the very landscape you’ve just been standing in. Pair the two for a full day of house, garden and poetry on the Lough Beg shore.