Drumbanagher House near Poyntzpass

Poyntzpass

Poyntzpass is a village on the border between County Armagh and County Down in Northern Ireland. It is within the Armagh City and District Council area. In the 2001 census it had a population of 1987 people....

, County Armagh

County Armagh

-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...

, was a large country house in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 designed for Maxwell Close by William Playfair in 1829, being "one of his grandest country houses."

Following occupation by the American and British armies during World War Two Drumbanagher was demolished by its owner in 1951 due to the expense in up keeping the property; the estate remains in the possession of the Close family. Writing in the Belfast Telegraph in 1962 the then owner said;

"No mortal could have afforded to keep the castle going. So I had it demolished. Death duties, upkeep and financial difficulties meant I just had to get rid of it...It was perfectly sound and in good order when it was demolished...Now it looks like a nuclear bomb hit it."

Today, all that remains of the house is the "vast arched porte-cochere

Porte-cochere

A porte-cochère is the architectural term for a porch- or portico-like structure at a main or secondary entrance to a building through which a horse and carriage can pass in order for the occupants to alight under cover, protected from the weather.The porte-cochère was a feature of many late 18th...

" (Bence-Jones), which Sir Charles Brett

Charles Brett

Sir Charles Edward Bainbridge Brett CBE . Born in Holywood, County Down, was a Northern Irish solicitor, journalist, author and founding member, and first chairman, of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society...

 described as "resembling a Roman Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe

-The design:The astylar design is by Jean Chalgrin , in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture . Major academic sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe: Jean-Pierre Cortot; François Rude; Antoine Étex; James Pradier and Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire...

."